Reginald Walter Bonham (31 January 1906 – 16 March 1984) was a blind

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

player from

St. Neots St NeotsPronunciation of the town name: Most commonly, but variations that ''saint'' is said as in most English non-georeferencing speech, the ''t'' is by a small minority of the British pronounced and higher traces of in the final syllable ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

known for his achievements in both blind and sighted chess. After founding the

International Braille Chess Association The International Braille Chess Association (IBCA) is organization for blind and visually impaired chess players. The IBCA is a FIDE-affiliated chess organization as well as a part of the International Blind Sports Federation. The International ...

in 1951, he became the Blind World Chess Champion in 1958 and the Correspondence Blind World Champion in 1957, 1959, 1961, 1964 (jointly) and 1966.Reginald Bonham at Bill Wall's history of chess
Retrieved 13 September 2009 He died in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

, England at the age of 78.A short biography of Reginald Bonham
Retrieved 12 September 2009
Retrieved 12 September 2009

Biography

Reginald Bonham was born in

, 1906 to a family of

butcher A butcher is a person who may Animal slaughter, slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesal ...

s. Like others in his family, Bonham was born

visually impaired Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

, and was sent to enter

Worcester College for the Blind New College Worcester (or NCW; formerly RNIB New College) is an independent boarding and day school for students, aged 11–19, who are blind or partially sighted. It caters for around 80 students. It is located in the city of Worcester, England ...

at age 16. During 1922–1925 at Worcester, he revealed a talent for both rowing and

, which he learned in 1922. In 1926, he attended St Catherine's College, Oxford where he won the Oxford sighted chess championship in 1929, as well as made the final trials for the Oxford rowing team.International Braille Chess Association History
Retrieved 13 September 3009

Teaching career

In 1929, Bonham returned to the Worcester College for the Blind as a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

. He taught

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

and

braille Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are Blindness, blind, Deafblindness, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on Paper embossing, embossed paper ...

as well as coached rowing, amateur

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

, and chess. "Bon", as he was known by staff, headed four separate

chess team Chess Team is a series of 20 military science-fiction fantasy novels written by American author Jeremy Robinson, featuring the ex-Delta Force operator Jack Sigler. Premise Formed under special order from the President of the United States (Th ...

s in the local and county leagues, of which all won multiple championships. In his later years, one of his students was Peter White, who later became a prominent radio broadcaster. Bonham is described in detail in White's 1999

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, ''See It My Way''. Bonham taught at Worcester until he retired in 1970.

Chess achievements

Reginald Bonham won numerous

tournaments A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

himself throughout

and the

English Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

. In 1934, he founded the

Braille Chess Magazine Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are blind, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille display ...

(BCM), which he wrote and edited for 25 years, and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he took up

correspondence chess Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, traditionally through the postal system. Today it is usually played through a correspondence chess server, a public internet chess forum, or email. Less common ...

, and founded the first correspondence chess tournament for the blind in 1951. In 1951 he founded the

which became affiliated with

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...

in 1964. Bonham won the first English Blind Chess Championship in 1956. In addition to his achievements against the visually impaired, Bonham also had many victories against sighted competition. He won the Hastings Reserve Tournament in 1931, the Birmingham Tournament on three consecutive occasions, was

Worcestershire County Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

Champion twenty times, was champion of the nine Midlands Counties three times and won the Birmingham Post Cup twice. On six occasions he competed in the British Chess Championship where his best result was ninth place.

References

External links

*
Reginald W. Bonham at OlimpBase.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonham, Reginald 1906 births 1984 deaths English chess players English blind people Sportspeople with a vision impairment 20th-century chess players