UK Armed Forces Chess Association

February 1973 Newsletter

A quiet edition with an in-depth 'Games Section' and a report of The Lincolnshire County Championship 1973.

August 1972 Newsletter

A short report on the Combined Services in Cyprus, and an entry form for the Combined Services at Cosford where the entry fee is 50p!

May 1972 Newsletter

With details of the RAF vs The Civil Service and a Lincolnshire side as well as a report from the Hove Chess Congress.

February 1972 Newsletter

Reports on matches by the RAF and Combined Services against: Middlesex, The GLC, The Civil Service and London Universities. Bob Kermeen takes a look at computer chess in the early 1970s.

Flt Lt Bob Kermeen takes over editor duties from John Laming, and kicks off with a self-penned 'How To Lose At Chess'.

If there is a high watermark of Service chess activity, then maybe this is the time. This edition reports on matches against London Universities, Civil Service, US Forces in Europe (held at Greenham Common), the GLC, Hunts & Peterborough and two Army-RAF matches, all are reported on.

This edition is a special from the 1970 Combined Services Chess Championship at RAF Lindholme.

April 1970 Newsletter

Older editions of Open File and the Newsletter highlight the thriving Postal Chess scene which existed until computers and the internet arrived. The Correspondence Corner in this edition shows how much fun postal chess was before the digital age.

January 1970 Newsletter

This edition has quite an in-depth review of the Wilkes-Barre defence (a line of the Two Knights Defence). It is probably one of the most aggressive lines of all for Black. There is also good advice on how to start a station chess club.

July 1969 Newsletter

N Holloway offers a short survey on the Open Ruy Lopez - always an interesting line. There is also an entertaining article on chess stamps.

April 1969 Newsletter

In this edition the highlight is a Combined Services match against a London University side.

December 1968 Newsletter

An interesting discussion takes place on the first few pages of this edition - should the RAF Chess Championships take place in June rather than the traditional September? There is also a guess the next move by Mike Basman - and no, it's not a Grob!

October 1968 Newsletter

This appears to be a land-mark edition. It appears that 1968 was the first time the Army, Navy and Air Force played together in a Combined Services Chess Championship. But.... who won? It was a shock!