Cecil Purdy

Infobox chess player
playername =Cecil Purdy


caption=
birthname =Cecil John Seddon Purdy
country = AUS EGY
datebirth = birth date|1906|3|27
placebirth =Port Said, Egypt
datedeath = death date and age|1979|11|6|1906|3|27
placedeath =
title =International Master
worldchampion =
womensworldchampion =
rating =
peakrating =

Cecil John Seddon Purdy, (March 27 1906 Port Said Egypt – November 6 1979 Sydney Australia) was an Australian, who was a chess International Master (IM) and inaugural World Correspondence Chess champion. Purdy earned the Grandmaster title at Correspondence Chess in 1953. He was also an influential chess magazine writer, editor, and publisher.

As a child he moved with his family from Egypt to New Zealand, then to Tasmania, Sydney, before they settled in Sydney when he was 12. While in Tasmania one of his classmates was future film star Errol Flynn.

He began his chess career at the age of 16 and soon decided to become a full time chess writer and player. Initially an over the board (OTB) player, he soon began to mix OTB play with correspondence play. He was four times winner of the Australian Chess Championship, in 1935, 1937, 1949, and 1951. He won the first two Australian Correspondence Chess Championships, in 1938 and 1945. He also won the New Zealand Chess Championship in 1924/25.

He was married in 1934 to Anne Crakanthorp, the daughter of two-time Australian Chess Champion Spencer Crakanthorp. The marriage produced two children, Diana and John (1935-). John Purdy followed in his father's (and grandfather's) footsteps in winning the Australian Chess Championship in 1955 and 1963. Diana was also a keen chessplayer, and married leading New Zealand player Frank Hutchings in 1960.

Purdy founded and edited the magazine "Australasian Chess Review" (1929-1944); this became "Check" (1944-45), and finally "Chessworld" (1946-1967). He was described by Bobby Fischer as being a great chess instructor. Some of his writings are still in print. He is somewhat famous for saying "Pawn endings are to chess as putting is to golf."

In 1976 he was awarded the Order of Australia for services to chess.

He died playing chess over the board from a heart attack, his final words allegedly being "I have a win, but it will take some time" harvcol|Dunne|1991|p=119.

Books

* Citation
last = Purdy|first = C.J.S.
title = C.J.S. Purdy on the Endgame
year = 2003
publisher = Thinker's Press
ISBN=978-1-888710-01-8

References

*citation
last=Dunne |first=Alex
title=The Complete Guide to Correspondence Chess
publisher=Thinker's Press
year=1991
id=ISBN 0-938650-52-1

Further reading

J. Hammond and R Jamieson, "C.J.S. Purdy: His Life, His Games and His Writings", Belmont Printing Co. Melbourne 1982
C.J.S.Purdy, Frank Hutchings and Kevin Harrison, "How Purdy Won: The Correspondence Chess Career of a World Champion", Castle Books 1983, ISBN 0-7255-1439-6

External links

*
* [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A160044b.htm Purdy, Cecil John Seddon (1906 - 1979)] , "Australian Dictionary of Biography - Online Edition"