Winner of the club championship in 1976.

Paul Carey

By Brian Denman

Paul Carey was a promising Hastings Grammar School player when he made his debut for the Hastings CC in 1974. He competed in the club championship in the 1974-75 season and, although he was not the overall winner, he scored a maximum nine points in the preliminaries and defeated the reigning champion, Bill Dunphy. When in 1975 Hastings paid a visit to Cologne and played matches against Ghent and the Porz Club of Cologne , Paul was the only unbeaten player in the team.

In 1976 at the age of 18 Paul won the club championship. Michael Davis had been younger than him and even his record was to be broken in three years’ time when the name of Stuart Conquest appeared on the championship board at the age of 12. In 1976 Paul also won the Anslow Cup competition.

In the 1976-77 season Paul played a number of games on board one for the club and gained valuable experience. In 1977 he went up to Keble College at Oxford , though he continued to play occasional matches for Hastings whilst at university. In 1979 he represented Oxford University in the annual match against Cambridge University . He lost his game on board six. In 1980 he gained a first class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. The Hastings and St Leonards Observer of 30.8.1980 reported that Paul had been ‘mated’ by a charming ‘flesh-and-blood queen’ in the shape of Miss Anita Gedge. Later that year Paul came second in the Glyde Cup (lightning competition of the club), but after that I have no record of what happened to him. Perhaps someone in the club knows. Paul would now be about 47 years of age.
Paul Carey became a land valuer.

Like many other “promising” juniors produced by “Lego” aks Ian Hardwick he disappeared from chess. Although “promising” he didn’t possess the necessary attributes to get to the next level.

Robin

 
Hi Robin

I just happened across this entry. True, I didn’t possess the extra to go far in chess, peaking at 203 and not playing for many years now, though I still follow the game and well recall the smoke-filled rooms of 1970’s chess!  I trained as an accountant rather than a valuer, and currently specialise in health and social care finance. I’m also an art writer and curator under the name of my second marriage, i.e. Paul Carey-Kent. You can find plenty of that at  .

Best wishes,

Paul