View source for Cecil Purdy

{{Short description|Australian chess player and writer (1906–1979)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2014}}
{{Use Australian English|date=February 2014}}
{{Infobox chess biography
| name = C. J. S. Purdy
| image = CecilPurdy.jpg
| caption =
| full_name = Cecil John Seddon Purdy
| country = [[Australia]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1906|3|27|df=yes}}
| birth_place =[[Port Said]], [[Egypt]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1979|11|6|1906|3|27|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Sydney]], Australia
| title = [[International Master]] (1951)<br>[[International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster|ICCF Grandmaster]] (1959)
| ICCFworldchampion = 1950–53
}}

'''C.J.S. (Cecil John Seddon) Purdy''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AM}} (27 March 1906<ref>The Times, 26 May 1906, p.1 - As Edward Winter has demonstrated in his article on Purdy, his year of birth was incorrectly given as 1907 in several issues of his magazine ''Chess World'' and editions of his ''Guide to Good Chess'', as well as in chess reference books up to the time of his death. The (London) Times (Births announcements) of 26 May 1906, p.1 reports—"PURDY - On the 27th March, 1906, at Port Said, to Emily and J.S. Purdy M.D., F.R.G.S., Surg.-Capt. New Zealand Militia, a son (Cecil John Seddon)"</ref> – 6 November 1979) was an Australian [[chess]] player and writer. He was awarded the [[International Master]] title in 1951 and the [[International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster|Grandmaster of Correspondence Chess]] title in 1959. Purdy was the first [[World Correspondence Chess Championship|world correspondence chess champion]]. He was also an influential chess magazine writer, editor, and publisher.

==Early life==
Purdy was born in [[Port Said|Port Said, Egypt]], where his father [[John Smith Purdy]] was stationed as a doctor in the [[Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service|Quarantine Service]].<ref>[https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/purdy-john-smith-8132 John Smith Purdy], Australian Dictionary of Biography, 1988</ref> When he was a child, Purdy moved with his family to [[New Zealand]], and then to [[Tasmania]], [[Australia]], before they settled in [[Sydney]] when he was 12. He was educated at [[Cranbrook School Sydney|Cranbrook School]]. While in Tasmania, one of his classmates was future film star [[Errol Flynn]].<ref>[https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/purdy.html "C.J.S. Purdy" by Edward Winter]</ref>

==Career==
Purdy began his chess career at age 16. He soon decided to become a full-time chess writer and player. Initially an over-the-board (OTB) player, he soon began to mix OTB play with [[correspondence chess|correspondence play]]. He was a four-time winner of the [[Australian Chess Championship]], in 1935, 1937, 1949, and 1951. He also won the [[New Zealand Chess Championship]] in 1924/25.  In [[Auckland]] in 1952, Purdy drew a hard-fought match with [[Ortvin Sarapu]], at the time by far the best player in New Zealand. They were thus declared [[Australasia]]n co-champions.<ref>[https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=83610 Sarapu–Purdy Australasian Championship Match], chessgames.com.</ref>

Purdy won the first two [[Australian Correspondence Chess Championship]]s, in 1938 and 1945; and the inaugural World Correspondence Chess Championship in 1953.

Purdy founded and edited the magazine ''Australasian Chess Review'' (1929–1944), which became ''Check'' (1944–45), and finally ''Chess World'' (1946–1967). He was described by [[Bobby Fischer]] as being a great chess instructor. Some of his writings are still in print. A famous remark of his is "Pawn endings are to chess what putting is to golf."<ref>*{{cite book
 | author= Purdy, C.J.S.
 | title=Guide to Good Chess 
 | year=1950
 | page=71}}
</ref>

In 1976 he was awarded the [[Order of Australia]] for services to chess.<ref>{{Cite It's an Honour |ausawardid=886441 |date=26 January 1976 |recipient=Mr Cecil John Seddon PURDY |award=Member of the Order of Australia |postnominal=AM |citation=AM (CIVIL DIVISION) AUST DAY 1976 |postscript= |accessdate=21 April 2019 }}</ref>

==Personal life==
He was married in 1934 to Anne Crakanthorp (1915–2013), the daughter of two-time Australian Chess Champion [[Spencer Crakanthorp]]. The marriage produced two children, John (1935–2011) and Diana. [[John Purdy (chess player)|John Purdy]] followed in his father's (and grandfather's) footsteps in winning the Australian Chess Championship in 1955 and 1963. Diana, also a chess player, married leading [[New Zealand]] player Frank Hutchings in 1960.<ref>{{cite book |last = Sarapu |first = Ortvin | title = Chess Championships: 25 years of New Zealand Chess Championships 1952-1977 | publisher = O. Sarapu |date = 1978}}</ref>

===Death===

On 6 November 1979, Purdy collapsed while playing chess at a tournament at the Chess Centre of [[New South Wales]] and died later that day in the [[Sydney Hospital]]. He was survived by his wife, daughter and son John, who twice won the [[Australian Chess Championship]].<ref>[https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/purdy-cecil-john-seddon-11466 Australian Dictionary of Biography - Purdy, Cecil John Seddon (1906–1979)]</ref>

== Published works ==
* {{cite book |last = Purdy|first = C.J.S. <!-- |authorlink = Cecil Purdy --> |title = Guide To Good Chess |year = 1950 |publisher = Horwitz}}
* {{cite book |last = Purdy|first = C.J.S. <!-- |authorlink = Cecil Purdy -->|title = How Fischer Won: World Chess Championship, 1972 |year = 1972 |publisher = E. J. Dwyer |isbn=978-0855742089}}
* {{cite book |last=Purdy |first = C.J.S. |editor-last1 = Tykodi |editor-first1 = Ralph J.|title = C.J.S. Purdy's Fine Art of Chess Annotation and Other Thoughts |publisher = Thinkers' Press | date = 1992 |url = https://archive.org/details/cjspurdysfineart0000purd/mode/2up | url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book |last = Purdy|first = C.J.S. <!-- |authorlink = Cecil Purdy -->|title = C.J.S. Purdy on the Endgame |year = 2003 |publisher = Thinker's Press |isbn=1-888710-03-9}} A collection of articles from his chess publications.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{no footnotes|section|date=April 2019}}
*{{cite book | last=Dunne |first=Alex | title = The Complete Guide to Correspondence Chess | publisher = Thinker's Press | year = 1991 | isbn = 0-938650-52-1}}

==Further reading==
*J. Hammond and R Jamieson, ''C.J.S. Purdy: His Life, His Games and His Writings'', Belmont Printing Co. Melbourne 1982
* C.J.S.Purdy, Frank Hutchings and Kevin Harrison, ''How Purdy Won: The Correspondence Chess Career of a World Champion'', Castle Books 1983, {{ISBN|0-7255-1439-6}}

== External links ==
* {{365Chess.com player|Cecil_John_Seddon_Purdy}}
* {{Chessgames player|31309}}
* [https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/purdy-cecil-john-seddon-11466 Purdy, Cecil John Seddon (1906 - 1979)], ''Australian Dictionary of Biography - Online Edition''
* [http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/purdy.html "C.J.S. Purdy" by Edward Winter]
* {{ICCF|30028|Cecil John Seddon Purdy}}

{{s-start}}
{{succession box
| before= ''none''
| title= [[World Correspondence Chess Champion]]
| years= 1950&ndash;1953
| after=  {{flagicon|Soviet Union}} [[Viacheslav Ragozin]]
}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Purdy, Cecil}}
[[Category:1906 births]]
[[Category:1979 deaths]]
[[Category:Chess International Masters]]
[[Category:Correspondence chess grandmasters]]
[[Category:World Correspondence Chess Champions]]
[[Category:Australian magazine editors]]
[[Category:Australian chess writers]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Port Said]]
[[Category:Australian people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:Writers from Sydney]]
[[Category:People educated at Cranbrook School, Sydney]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of Australia]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian chess players]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian journalists]]
[[Category:Chess players from Sydney]]