Robert Wade: Chess champion who helped Bobby Fischer beat Boris Spassky

Of all the men who dominated British chess in the two decades after the Second World War, Robert Wade was the only true professional. For British chess, this was, after all, the generation of the gifted amateur. The game was dominated by men such as the brilliant Hugh Alexander, who had a distinguished career at GCHQ in Cheltenham, Harry Golombek, whose playing quickly took second place to his chess writings, and JonathanPenrose who never let chess distract from his career as a psychologist. But Bob Wade, who settled in England in the late 1940s after twice winning the championship of his native New Zealand, was a chess player pure and simple, motivated by a real passion for the game that lasted until the end of his life.

His results, it must be admitted, were less than magnificent. Indeed, in the mid-1960s, he often self-deprecatingly described himself as the man who had lost more internationaltournament games than anyone else, but he was playing mainly against top professionals, and his systematicapproach and good technique made him always a stubborn opponent for even the very best. Wade's best results in individual games include wins against world title candidates including Viktor Korchnoi and Lajos Portisch, and a draw with the great Bobby Fischer in 1965. His own personal favourite, however, was probably a friendly game played against Che Guevara during a tournament in Cuba in the early 1960s.

In the less rarefied climate of British chess, Wade was a highly valuedmember of the national team for almost 20 years, and won the British championship in 1952 and 1970. His influence on British chess, however, was enormous and came through his eagerness to spread his knowledge of the game to young players. In that respect, he was perhaps more influential than any other person in instilling a proper professional attitude towards the study of chess into the generation from which Britain's first grandmasters sprang in the late 1970s. He was also instrumental in founding the series of Batsford books that led the field in chess publishing.

This was the age before computer databases of chess games, and almost every young English player would, at some time or other, have made the trek out to Wade's home, first in Ilford, then in south London, to be introduced to his vast library of chess books, including magazines and tournament books stretching back for decades. There we would all learn how to collect and collate material, and organise it in a manner that would enable us to compete against the world's best. His time and expertise were given freely, solely for the reward of sharing his chess passion.

When Bobby Fischer needed toprepare for his world championship match against Boris Spassky in 1972, it was Wade to whom he turned – once again, for no payment, other than the vicarious joy of being associated with the most famous chess match of all time, Wade donated his time and energies to preparing Fischer with as complete a dossier of Spassky's games as could have been imagined. And when Fischer complained that he wanted the moves of the games written in columns, not along lines, Wade uncomplainingly wrote them all out again.

He was awarded the International Master title in 1950, and served on numerous committees of the International Chess Federation for morethan 40 years. He also continued playing club, county and tournament games at a high standard until well into his eighties.

William Hartston

Robert Graham Wade, chess player: born Dunedin, New Zealand 10 April 1921; died London 29 November 2008.