Sir Theodore Henry Tylor (13 May 1900 – 23 October 1968) was a lawyer and international level

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 dist ...

player, despite being nearly blind. In 1965, he was knighted for his service to organisations for the blind. He was Fellow and Tutor in

Jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning ...

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...

for almost forty years. Born in

Bournville Bournville () is a model village on the southwest side of Birmingham, England, founded by the Quaker Cadbury family for employees at its Cadbury's factory, and designed to be a "garden" (or "model") village where the sale of alcohol was forb ...

, Tylor learned to play chess at age seven. His chess skill increased while he attended Worcester College for the Blind from 1909 to 1918. He studied at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

beginning in 1918, and captained the

Oxford University Chess Club The Oxford University Chess Club (OUCC) was founded at the University of Oxford in 1869.

. Tylor received First-class Honours in Jurisprudence in 1922 and was made an honorary scholar of Balliol College. The next year, he became a Bachelor of Civil Law and a lecturer at Balliol College. Called to the

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar ( ...

by the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

with a certificate of honour, he was made a Fellow at Balliol College in 1928. Tylor competed in twelve British Championships, finishing fourth in his first appearance in 1925. His best result was in 1933, finishing second to

Mir Sultan Khan Sultan Khan (Punjabi and ur, , 1903 – 25 April 1966; commonly referred to with honorifics as '' Mir Sultan Khan'' or ''Mir Malik Sultan Khan'') was a South Asian chess player, and later a citizen of Pakistan, who is thought to have been the ...

. He tied for first at the 1929–30 Hastings Premier Reserves alongside

George Koltanowski George Koltanowski (also "Georges"; 17 September 1903 – 5 February 2000) was a Belgian-born American chess player, promoter, and writer. He was informally known as "Kolty". Koltanowski set the world's blindfold record on 20 September 1937 ...

ahead of

Salo Flohr Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr (November 21, 1908 – July 18, 1983) was a Czechoslovak and Soviet chess player and writer. He was among the first recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. Flohr dominated many tournam ...

, Josef Rejfiř, Ludwig Rellstab, C.H.O'D. Alexander,

Daniël Noteboom Daniël Noteboom (26 February 1910 – 12 January 1932) was a Dutch chess player. He gained notice at the 1930 Chess Olympiad at Hamburg, scoring 11½/15, including a win against Salo Flohr. Chess biography Noteboom was born in Noordwijk. He l ...

, and

Milan Vidmar Milan Vidmar (22 June 1885 – 9 October 1962) was a Slovenian electrical engineer, chess player, Chess theory, chess theorist, and writer. He was among the top dozen chess players in the world from 1910 to 1930 and in 1950, was among the inaugu ...

. Tylor played in the top section, the Hastings Premier, nine times beginning in 1930–1. His best finish was 6th= in 1936–7. He was first reserve for the English team at the Hamburg 1930 Chess Olympiad. Tylor won the British Correspondence Chess Championship in 1932, 1933, and 1934. He shared 5–6th at Margate 1936 with P. S. Milner-Barry, but he won their individual game and

drew Drew may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places ;In the United States * Drew, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Drew, Mississippi, a city * Drew, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Drew, Oregon, an unincorporated community * Drew County, Arkansas ...

with 2nd- to 4th-place finishers

José Raúl Capablanca José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888 – 8 March 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. A chess prodigy, he is widely renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play. Capabl ...

Gideon Ståhlberg Anders Gideon Tom Ståhlberg (26 January 1908 – 26 May 1967) was a Swedish chess player. He was among the inaugural recipients of the title International Grandmaster from FIDE in 1950. He won the Swedish Chess Championship of 1927, became ...

, and Erik Lundin (

won). Although he finished 12th at Nottingham 1936, he had the best score of the British participants, ahead of

C. H. O'D. Alexander Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander (19 April 1909 – 15 February 1974), known as Hugh Alexander and C. H. O'D. Alexander, was an Irish-born British cryptanalyst, chess player, and chess writer. He worked on the German Enigma machine a ...

, G. A. Thomas, and William Winter.1936 tournament crosstables
. Sunnucks 1970 says Margate 1935, but this seems to be a typo.

Mikhail Botvinnik Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, ( – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster. The sixth World Chess Champion, he also worked as an electrical engineer and computer scientist and was a pioneer in computer chess. Botvinnik ...

noted that Tylor was using a tactile chess board that he incessantly fingered, as well as a device for counting the number of moves made. Tylor was President of the Midland Counties' Chess Union from 1947 to 1950, but his work for the university and for the welfare of the blind limited the time he had to devote to chess. Tylor also enjoyed

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 someth ...

. He died in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

on 23 October 1968.

References

External links

*
A photo of Tylor playing against Mir Sultan Khan
* ttp://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U50317 TYLOR, Sir Theodore (Henry) ''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Tylor, Theodore 1900 births 1968 deaths British chess players Knights Bachelor Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford English blind people Members of the Inner Temple Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Chess Olympiad competitors 20th-century chess players 20th-century English lawyers Blind lawyers