Thomas Rayner Dawson (28 November 1889 – 16 December 1951) was an English

chess problem A chess problem, also called a chess composition, is a puzzle set by the composer using chess pieces on a chess board, which presents the solver with a particular task. For instance, a position may be given with the instruction that White is to ...

ist and is acknowledged as "the father of Fairy Chess". He invented many

fairy pieces A fairy chess piece, variant chess piece, unorthodox chess piece, or heterodox chess piece is a chess piece not used in conventional chess but incorporated into certain chess variants and some chess problems. Compared to conventional pieces, fair ...

and new conditions. He introduced the popular fairy pieces

grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshopp ...

, nightrider, and many other fairy chess ideas.

Career

Dawson published his first problem, a two-mover, in 1907. His chess problem compositions include 5,320

fairies A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, o ...

, 885 , 97

selfmate A selfmate is a chess problem in which White, moving first, must force Black to deliver checkmate within a specified number of moves against their will. Selfmates were once known as sui-mates. Example The problem shown is a relatively simple examp ...

s, and 138

endings End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: **End (category theory) **End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games ** End (gridiron football ...

. 120 of his problems have been awarded prizes and 211 honourably mentioned or otherwise commended. He cooperated in chess composition with

Charles Masson Fox Charles Masson Fox (9 November 1866 – 11 October 1935) was a Cornish businessman who achieved international prominence in the world of chess problems and a place in the homosexual history of Edwardian England. Masson Fox was born into a Quake ...

. Dawson was founder-editor (1922–1931) of ''

The Problemist ''The Problemist'' is a bimonthly chess problem magazine which has been in publication since January 1926. It originally had the subtitle "Proceedings of the British Chess Problem Society" but the words "Proceedings of" were dropped in January 1 ...

'', the journal of the

British Chess Problem Society The British Chess Problem Society is considered the oldest chess problem society in the world. The inaugural meeting of the British Chess Problem Society took place on 10 August 1918 at St George's Restaurant, 37 Martin's Lane London WC at 3pm. The ...

. He subsequently produced ''The

Fairy Chess Review ''Fairy Chess Review'' () was a magazine that was devoted principally to fairy chess problems, but also included extensive original results on related questions in mathematical recreations, such as knight's tours and polyominoes A polyomino ...

'' (1930–1951), which began as ''The Problemist Fairy Chess Supplement''. At the same time he edited the problem pages of '' The British Chess Magazine'' (1931–1951).

Motivation and personality

From ''

The Oxford Companion to Chess ''The Oxford Companion to Chess'' is a reference book on the game of chess written by David Vincent Hooper and Kenneth Whyld. The book is written in an encyclopedia format. The book belongs to the Oxford Companions series. Details The first e ...

'':

His genius did not set him apart from his fellows; he could find time for casual visitors, and would explain his ideas to a tyro with patience, modesty, and kindness. Although he won many tourney prizes much of his work was designed to encourage others, to enlarge the small band of fairy problem devotees. He composed less for fame than to amuse himself, confessing to another composer "We do these things for ourselves alone."

Sample problems

''Solution:'' 1. Ka2 2. Ka3 3. Kb4 4. Kc3 5. Kd3 6. Ke2 7. Ke1 8. f1R 9. Rf2 10. Ke2 11. Kd3 12. Kc3 13. Kb4 14. Ka3 15. Ka2 16. Ka1 17. Ra2 Nb3# This problem is a strange case of coincidence: thematic tourney prescript problems with

grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshop ...

without limiting number of the moves. The identical problem was sent independently by four composers. ''Solution:'' 1. Gh3 Gh4 2. Gh5 Gh6 3. Gh7 Gh8 4. Ge7 Gd7 5. Gc7 Gb7 6. Ga7+ Ga6 7. Ga5+ Ga4 8. Ga3#

Publications

* ''Caissa's Playthings'' a series of articles in ''Cheltenham Examiner'' (1913) * ''Retrograde Analysis'', with Wolfgang Hundsdorfer (1915) * ''Fata Morgana'', with Birgfeld, Nanz, Massmann, Pauly (1922) * ''Asymmetry'', with W. Pauly (1928) * ''Seventy Five Retros'' (1928) * ''Caissa's Wild Roses'' (1935) * ''C. M. Fox, His Problems'' (1936) * ''Caissa's Wild Roses in Clusters'' (1937) * ''Ultimate Themes'' (1938) * ''Caissa's Fairy Tales'' (1947) The last five titles were collected as ''Five Classics of Fairy Chess'', Dover Publications (1973), .

References

External links

T. R. Dawson: Biography

by G. P. Jelliss

based on ''Seventy Five Retros''; includes further 64 retro-analysis and 3 fairy retros by Dawson
Retrograde analysis problem by Dawson
from ''Encyclopædia Britannica''
Dawson problems
on

PDB Server This article covers computer software designed to solve, or assist people in creating or solving, chess problems – puzzles in which pieces are laid out as in a game of chess, and may at times be based upon real games of chess that have been p ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, Thomas Rayner Chess composers 1889 births 1951 deaths English male non-fiction writers English non-fiction writers English chess players British chess writers Game players from Yorkshire 20th-century English male writers