Author Archives: Sean Coffey

This article, co-authored with David McAlister, appeared in the Irish Chess Journal, August 2011, pp. 14-16. (Adapted in very minor ways for this post.) ICJ issues are available on the ICU web site, with the current issue restricted to ICU members and back issues available for all.

From a player profile in a 1971 Australian magazine:

“Brian Tomson is a lecturer in English at the University of Newcastle. Before coming to Australia he had gained fourth place in the Irish National Title, played for Oxford University and represented Ireland in an international universities tournament played in Europe against top class competition including the crack Russians. He modestly stresses the fact that the Irish team finished in last place on this occasion.”

These matters are all relative and your mileage may vary, but I’ll admit that these achievements sounded quite respectable to me (SC). But the name was entirely unfamiliar. No such name appeared in the ICU web site’s tables for Irish championships in the 1960’s: the closest was a “J. Thomas” who was listed as finishing 4^th-6^th in the 1965 championship—and that didn’t seem all that close. OlimpBase listed a “J. Tomson” as playing board 3 for Ireland in the 1967 Student Olympiad at Harrachov (then Czechoslovakia), and the same name appeared in the lists for the 1966 Irish championship. The final piece of the puzzle came from an article from the Ulster Chess Union Yearbook, in which Arthur Pinkerton recalled drawing with “J. B. Tomson” in the 1966 championship, and the mystery player stood revealed as J. Brian Tomson.

(The ICU report on the 1965 championship has been corrected accordingly.)

A University of Newcastle web site had much further information, including collected correspondence and the information that he was a problemist, and had edited the problem column for Chess in Australia from 1984 to his death.

He had even published a book, Fifty Chess Problems, privately printed, and only 7 copies. Continue reading →