{{Infobox organization | name = British Chess Problem Society | formation = {{Start date and age|1918|08|10}} | image = | caption = | abbreviation = BCPS | type = Chess problem society | headquarters = London, United Kingdom | region_served = International / United Kingdom | leader_title = First President | leader_name = B. G. Laws | publication = ''The Problemist'' | website = {{URL|https://www.bcps.org.uk/}} | remarks = Considered the oldest chess problem society in the world. }}
'''The British Chess Problem Society''' is considered the oldest chess problem society in the world.
The inaugural meeting of the British Chess Problem Society took place on 10 August 1918 at St George's Restaurant, 37 Martin's Lane London WC at 3pm. The meeting was chaired by the mathematical puzzle expert Henry Ernest Dudeney who was chairman of the Sussex Chess Problem Fraternity (SCPF). Officers elected were: President B. G. Laws, Treasurer H. D'O. Bernard, Auditor P. H. Williams, Secretary H. W. Butler.<ref name=valois>{{cite news |first=Paul |last=Valois |title=The Founding of the BCPS |work=The Problemist |pages=432–434 |date=July 1988 }}</ref>
The first meeting of the new Society was on 2 November 1918, at the same venue, when its constitution was approved. The BCPS Minute Book gives a full list of the 18 vice-presidents and 63 members who had been enrolled, plus 34 SCPF members. The ''British Chess Magazine'' for December 1918 reported the membership as being 126.<ref name="valois"/>
A short-lived ''British Chess Problem Journal'' was started by H. W. Butler in April 1919, but he had to resign due to ill health and G. W. Chandler took over as Secretary. The doings of the BCPS were then mainly published in G. W. Chandler's chess column in the ''Hampshire Telegraph and Post'' until the founding of ''The Problemist'' in 1926.<ref name="valois"/> ''The Problemist'' was published with the subtitle "Proceedings of the British Chess Problem Society" until it was dropped in 1985.<ref>[http://chesscollectorshop.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1776 Problemist: Proceedings of the British Chess Problem Society, The] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171117002057/http://chesscollectorshop.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1776 |date=2017-11-17 }}, ''Chesscollectorshop.com''</ref>
== See also == * Fairy chess
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.theproblemist.org/ Official website]
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Category:Chess problems Category:Chess organizations Category:Chess in the United Kingdom Category:1918 in chess Category:Sports organizations established in 1918 Category:1918 establishments in the United Kingdom
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