Thomas Rayner Dawson

Thomas Rayner Dawson (28 November 1889 – 16 December 1951) was an English chess problemist and is acknowledged as "the father of Fairy Chess". He invented many fairy pieces and new conditions. He introduced the popular fairy pieces grasshopper, 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, 885 , 97 selfmates, and 138 endings. 120 of his problems have been awarded prizes and 211 honourably mentioned or otherwise commended. He cooperated in chess composition with Charles Masson Fox.

Dawson was founder-editor (1922–1931) of The Problemist, the journal of the British Chess Problem Society. He subsequently produced The Fairy Chess Review (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: 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

This problem is a strange case of coincidence: thematic tourney prescript problems with grasshoppers without limiting number of the moves. The identical problem was sent independently by four composers.

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).