Richard Hall writes:
I was at Exeter University, reading law, from 1964-1967, The University team was very strong, with myself, B.D. Dabulawicus, M.B. Sage and D.E.Brown all in the same year.
I believe I joined the Exeter City Club for only one year, 1966-67. This was predominantly so that we could enter a strong Exeter team in the National Club Championship. Brian Dabulawicus, Martyn Sage and myself joined together; A.R.B. Thomas was also a member. That year I also won the Devon Championship, beating D.J. Richards in the final, having beaten Andrew Thomas in an earlier round.
Exeter had a very good run in that year, as follows:
1 st Round bye
2 nd Round 6-0 vs. Barnstaple
3 rd Round 3-3 vs. Torbay (won on board count)
4 th Round 31/2 — 21/2 vs. Islington and North London
¼ Final 3-3 vs. Cambridge Univ. (won on board count)
1/2 Final 1-5 vs. Bradford
Bradford went on to win the final against Manchester.
I effectively gave up over-the-board chess in the 1970s and took up postal chess. I am currently the British Correspondence Champion, a correspondence IM elect, playing in a world Championship semi-final and playing on Board 3 for England in the correspondence chess Olympiad.