The writing of a formal history of the club is already well
advanced in the hands of Richard Hitchcock and Alan Maynard, so
this is more of an informal history. Our hundredth anniversary
coincides with a moment in computing history when it is relatively
easy for lay people to produce their own literature, so Bill Gates
has a lot to answer for. I intend this book as a celebration of our
club, its champions and its grassroots, its games and stories, as
seen through the eyes of its "ordinary" members, who are all in
their own ways as vivid and interesting to me as any yarns about
the World Champions. Who cannot identify with the joy of a humble
member who becomes giantkiller for a day, or recall with a smile
the day the car carrying the Exeter team, travelling to play away
against Teignmouth, passed the Teignmouth team car coming towards
Exeter...
I have taken some liberties with the older material, converting
to algebraic and making some minor stylistic changes to keep the
book as a whole consistent. More abrupt editorial interruptions are
marked by my initials (DR).
Many thanks are due to everyone that contributed a game or
notes; thanks also to Chris Bellers, Mark Blackmore, Dan Hill,
Peter Lane, Bob Lee, Alan Maynard and Tom Stephenson for editing
and proofreading; and thanks to Bob Jones, Dave Beckwith and Alan
Maynard for searching the local archives. I would particularly
like to thank all those folk who have never been members of the
club but who generously contributed and who helped in numerous
ways: Ken Bloodworth, Rowena Bruce, Mike Conroy, Brian Denman,
Stephen Jackson (who is writing a biography of Sir George Thomas),
"jcl", Nick Pope, Chris Ravilious, John Saunders (custodian of
"BritBase"), Trefor Thynne, Philip Trussler and Ken Whyld.
— Dave Regis