Hugh Blandford

Hugh Francis Blandford (born January 24, 1917 in Southampton , † September 20, 1981 in Hertfordshire ) was a British chess composer .

Chess composition

Blandford learned to play chess during his school days and began composing at the same time in 1930, which he did not give up until the end of his life. He mainly composed studies and preferred elegant and airy positions. About 200 studies by him have been published. He also became known through his participation in the GBR Code .

Hugh Blandford
Springaren , 1949
themed tournament, 1st prize

	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H
8th									8th
7th									7th
6th									6th
5									5
4th									4th
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	G	H

White to move wins

Solution:

1. Bc3 – d4 + Ka7 – a8!
2. c2 – c4 Sf1 – d2
3. c4 – c5 Nd2 – b3
4. c5 – c6 Nb3 – a5
5. c6 – c7 Sa5 – c6!
6. c7 – c8T +! this sub-transformation wins,
but not 6. c7 – c8D +? Nc6 – b8 + and after a king move Black is stuck or even 6. Kd7xc6? patt

In August 1951 he took over from Richard Guy the small column for finals in British Chess Magazine , which he continued until February 1972. From July 1972 to the end of 1977 he created the index for the magazine EG . In 1961, Blandford was appointed International Chess Composition Referee . However, he was probably never a judge.

Life

Blandford spent several years of his childhood in Jamaica with his parents and two younger brothers . His father worked there as a pastor.

Blandford married Marjorie Cox in 1946. The couple had three children, David, Susan and Sally, all three of whom were studying at the University of Oxford . He made expertise in metallurgy . Shortly after his retirement he died of a heart attack .

literature

• John Roycroft (Ed.): Hugh Blandford: Published Works & Notebooks. Russell Enterprises, 1998, ISBN 1-888690-03-8

Web links

• Compositions by Hugh Blandford on the PDB server

Individual evidence

1. ↑ International judges for chess compositions