H. V. Mallison aged 50

Harold Mallison was born in Leicester in 1897, the eldest child of George Robert Preston Mallison, a tailor's cutter, and his wife Anne Wilks Mallison. In 1901 they lived at 49, Loughborough Road, and had two other children, Wilfred Gordon and baby Lillian Anne. At that time George was 33 and his wife 30.

Tragedy struck shortly after when their mother died in 1904, leaving three children under 7. One of George's unmarried sisters came to look after them, but she was a somewhat stern character and the children's home life was less than convivial. In fact, Wilfred was so keen to leave home that he lied about his age in order to join up and fight in the Great War. After taking a B.Sc in Mathematics from London University Harold also joined up, and both were badly injured, Harold receiving shrapnel wounds which temporarily blinded him, and left his sight permanently at risk.

After the war, Harold went up to Cambridge University where he spent a year taking an M.A. In the 1920 Varsity Match, he played on Bd. 2 below Lionel Penrose, the father of Jonathan, future many times British Champion, and Oliver.

The Cambridge University Championship that year consisted of two 7 man American sections, with a final between the two section winners. In Mallison's section was Penrose, A. A. Maris, C. M. Precious, C. Rister and R. H. Thouless, all of whom he beat, and J. H. Barnes against whom he lost, finishing on 5/6. Barnes and Penrose were equal 2^nd, half a point behind, mainly through earlier having agreed a draw after just one move. The other section was won by N. H. Smith. Mallison beat him in the final after 56 moves, becoming University Champion 1920. All the games were played without clocks.

At Cambridge, he began his career-long practice of writing the scores of all his own games into booklets that he made himself. He used sheets of heavy, unlined, plain white paper, almost A4 in size, folded them double, and stitched them together. On the left hand page he wrote the moves and filled the opposite page with detailed analysis of the game in neat, minute handwriting. He compiled 20 books of his own games, each containing about 30 games. In addition, there are about 44 similar booklets of varying thickness, containing games from tournaments and matches around the world. They are mostly of the years 1913 - 15, which suggests that this was the period when he first became absorbed with the game and was his method of learning. In his will, he bequeathed them to the Exeter Chess Club where they still reside. All his games will eventually be typed into his games database, although this will take some time. Many of them involve hitherto unpublished and lost games against better-known opponents.

Immediately after graduating, he was appointed as an Assistant Lecturer in Mathematics at Exeter College, and he remained there for the rest of his working life, exactly the same career pattern as his near contemporary, A. R. B. Thomas - Cambridge degree in Mathematics, followed by 40 years in the same Devon educational establishment.

This was very far from the university set-up that we have become familiar with today. At the time of his arrival, the college had about 300 students and was struggling financially, to the point where its closure was a distinct possibility. However the authorities were striving to have it upgraded to the status of university college, and their application was finally accepted by the University Grants Committee in August 1922, the biggest single milestone in the university's history. Never the less, Mallison's salary as assistant lecture was still less than an ordinary schoolmaster on the Burnham Scale at the time.

He was elected as a member of the Exeter Chess Club in 1921 and won the club championship in his first two seasons. He went on to win the club championship ten times in all up to 1946 - 47, and it would doubtless have been more were it not for two reasons; the years that he did not win in the 1920s were those in which he did not participate. This may have been due to the pressure of work as he got established at the University-College, or because he felt it bad for the club if he won it every year for a decade, as he almost certainly could have done. He competed regularly in the 1930s, but his run was then interrupted by the 6 year gap for the 2^nd world war. He was undoubtedly Exeter's strongest player between the wars. A. R. B. Thomas was nearby at Tiverton from 1925, but for some reason chose not to get involved in Devon chess until after the war.

During the inter-war years, Devon was affiliated to the S.C.C.U. the area of which stretched from Penzance to Great Yarmouth, a distance of over 400 miles. To enable a reasonable programme of inter-county matches, the western counties competed in their own section for the Montague-Jones Cup, which was regarded as something of a 2^nd Division, while the metropolitan counties competed for the Shannon Cup. The winner of each section would meet for the overall SCCU championship and a place in the National Inter-County Final.

The 1930 - 31 season was markedly successful for the Devon team generally. They had won the Montague-Jones Cup and met Middlesex

at Salisbury on 31^st May 1931, to decide the SCCU county championship. The BCM reported the match in the following manner:-

The Devon team that contested the final of the Southern Area Championship - 1931.

Seated l - r: Tom Taylor; Harold Mallison; Ron Bruce; Frank Pitt-Fox and the Rev. A. Seymour.

Standing: Jack Goodman; A. B. Treloar; F. Mather; Prof. S. B. Slack; H. J. H. Cope; H. J. Stretton; R. W. Hornbrook; W. C. Rickard; G. B. Crowther; Dr. C. L. Lander & J. W. Catling.

Devon's problems were alluded to in the report. In addition to the distances travelled, Jack Goodman, for example, was an orthodox Jew and if the match was on a Saturday, as it usually was, had to travel to each venue the day before and return the day after, and someone had to write down his moves. Pitt-Fox was physically disabled, as one can detect from his posture in the picture. Professor Slack, incidentally, was great friends with A. R. B. Thomas' father, having been at Oxford University together, and 33 years later, Andrew was to marry Slack's niece, Liddy - (see A.R.B.'s biography).

The following year, Mallison played in the BCF Congress in London, but for some reason was placed in a section far too easy for a player of his ability - in the 7^th of 9 twelve man American sections. He won by a country mile, dropping just a half point in the process. Interestingly, the Runner-Up in his section, Nikolai Worobjeff, was himself no mean player, having got a draw against Capablanca in a simultaneous match when just 13 years old. Later in the 1930s he changed his name to Nicholas Worthing, and eventually retired to Budleigh Salterton, where he joined the Exmouth Club. (See their site for his biography).

The following extract from the Devon & Exeter Daily Gazette of 28^th January 1932, gives an idea not only of his ability and expertise, but also his willingness to share that with others around the county.

"Mr. H. V. Mallison, President of the Exeter Chess Club, paid a visit to the Teignmouth Chess Club last Saturday. He had a large and appreciative audience for his lecture on the Ruy Lopez in which he demonstrated the fine attack and the difficulty Black has in meeting it. He analysed various defences, particularly the Steintiz, the Steinitz Deferred, the Berlin and the counterattack by P-KN4.

After tea, Mr. Mallison gave a simultaneous exhibition, giving all eight opponents the odds of a knight. He won every game!"

In 1934, he played in the BCF congress at Chester, entering the Major Open Reserves. He came joint 1^st ahead of 25 year old Barry Wood and the 56 year old William Watts.

Around 1934 he married Grace Lydia Pepper, 7 months younger than Harold and from his home town of Leicester. Though not in her husband's class, she was a player of some ability and won prizes in the lower sections at the Exeter Club. She even played him in the Exeter Club Championship each season from 1935 up to the outbreak of war. As ever, he recorded the games in great detail, making no mention of any relationship between the two. In March 1939, for example, he recorded that at the outset of the Round 7 game against her, that "Black only needed a draw to win the Championship" - and a draw it duly was; she got a draw against one of Devon's top players and he won the championship - satisfaction all round.

In August 1935 she went with him to Great Yarmouth to take part in the B.C.F. Congress, and clearly inspired him to great success.

In 1935 & '36, Sir George Thomas toured the country giving a series of simultaneous matches in order to raise funds for the proposed great international congress at Nottingham. In Devon he visited the Exeter and Plymouth clubs, and in the process raised not only funds but also enthusiasm for the event among Devon. Mallison and his wife both played and other Devonians included Ron Bruce and his future wife, the 17 yr old Rowena Dew, Jack Goodman and R.W, A. W. & F. C. Hornbrook from Plymouth, Kathleen Passmore of Exeter and Douglas Egginton of Teignmouth.

Mallison's final score can only be described as respectable. The solitary half point from the top 4 players indicated a slight difference in class between him and the leaders. Mrs. Mallison played with five other ladies in the 3^rd Class Division 2 "A" where she scored 4 wins and 2 draws from her 10 games.