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08/08/2024 Paul Blackman 1945 - 2024
Rotherham’s Paul Blackman died in hospital last week (believed on Tuesday 30th July 2024) aged 78. The cremation took place on Monday 5th August at Rotherham crematorium. Information came somewhat at short notice, but Chris Williams, Geoff Frost, Chris Shepherd and John Baker were able to attend.
Seven members of the Sheffield team which won the Woodhouse Cup in 1973/74 Left to right standing: Andrew McCaig, Brian Jones, Paul Blackman, Steve Mann Left to right sitting: Mike Littlewood, Geoff Frost, Chris Williams
Here follows a primarily biographical piece by Steve Mann followed by a personal contribution by Geoff Frost.
Origins
Paul Blackman’s father was George Taylor Blackman, born 26/07/1908, at Dob Cross (now spelt Dobcross), 4 miles ENE of Oldham in the Saddleworth area.
The 1911 census found the George Taylor Blackman as a 2-year-old living with his parents and older siblings at Mow Cop, near Stoke-on-Trent. His father was a blast furnace labourer while an older brother and sister(!) were mineworkers. The family was still in the same locality in 1921.
At the time of the General Strike of 1926, George Taylor Blackman was working (or striking) on the railways. After the strike, he was sent “with all the other troublemakers” to Yorkshire.
Paul’s mother was Grace Margaret Blackman, née Lilley, born 27/07/1905 in Congleton, Cheshire, where she was still living in 1921, so quite how they met is not apparent unless their parents maintained communications. George and Grace’s birthdays were two days apart. Their marriage was registered in the fourth quarter of 1933, at Congleton.
By the time Paul’s older brother, Roy, was born, the Blackmans were living at 19 Hatherley Road, Rotherham, and father, George, was a railway goods guard.
Paul was born on 04/12/1945, at Rotherham, and was nearly ten years younger than Roy. The family moved around 1958 to 21 Midland Road, two doors away from no. 25 where Chris Willey’s family already lived. No. 21 had hitherto long been run by its previous owners as a tobacconist’s shop, but “Mrs. G. Blackman” ran it as a “general dealer”. George was presumably still working on the railway for which Midland Road would be more convenient than Hatherley Road.
Chess
He started playing chess at Rotherham chess club at the age of nine. A strong member of the club in those days was W. Colin Evans who won the Sheffield Championship a number of times. Paul would ask Colin to play him, but without success. However, the two eventually were paired in the Bingham Cup competition for the Rotherham Championship. They met in the final, which was best of three games; after two draws Paul managed to win the third game, and the Rotherham Championship. Paul was then about twenty.
His chess career is known to most people likely to read this, mainly his playing in the Sheffield & DCA competitions and Yorkshire’s Woodhouse Cup. He particularly excelled at lightning chess, winning the Yorkshire Lightning Championship on occasion.
Paul was not a natural organiser. At the first match of the season after he’d assumed the Rotherham Woodhouse Cup team captaincy, he’d made no provision for getting the playing equipment to the match venue, and Chris Williams and the writer had to go and get it. For a while he assisted Dave Hawley at the Rotherham Junior Chess Club in the old Rotherham Technical School building, though helping not as much as Dave would have wished (so he told the writer)!
At an individual level, Paul promoted the development of juniors by individual coaching, travelling around to his pupils. He claimed no especial skill as a teacher, but felt he had a particular ability to instil enthusiasm for the game.
Working Career
Paul’s working career was mixed. In the late 1970s, after a spell working at Daniel Doncaster & Son Ltd, he worked in the sales office of a wholesale distributor of industrial fasteners by the name of Wragg, a job he combined with attempts to sell the same products, but cheaper, on his own account. He attempted to sell such things as woodscrews to the present writer, who at the time worked in the buying department of William Monks (Builders’ Merchants) of Sheffield. About ten years later he was working for British Oxygen at Brinsworth, Rotherham, at one stage operating the machinery which compressed oxygen into the cylinders, and later driving delivery lorries. (Turning up at chess matches in his BOC lorry was not unusual!!) For a while he worked in Scunthorpe, which meant a twelve-hour working day, from leaving home in the morning to returning home at night, with the result he could fall asleep during a chess match. The writer lost sight of his later working.
Residence
For a while during the 1970s he lived at Sharrow View, Sheffield, which was convenient for Sheffield YMCA Chess Club. At other times he lived with his parents on Ferham Road, Rotherham. After his third marriage he lived with his wife in the Wickersley/Flanderwell area of Rotherham. At other times he lived at Roy’s flat at 30 Spring Walk, Rotherham. Later he had a flat at Guest Road.
Parkinson’s Disease
By around 2010 Paul developed Parkinson’s disease. From the outset he took the positive outlook of living life as fully as possible, making as few concessions to his disease as possible. At first, he did not always take his medication, it seems.
He moved into a ground-floor flat in Guest Road, Rotherham.
In February (?) 2013 he underwent a relatively new type of brain surgery, deep brain stimulation, aimed at some remedial effect on his condition, but the implanted electrode had to be removed due to an infection. In April 2013, he had become thin in face and body, and though getting out to shop, at Tesco’s say, he was doing so only with a lift by car/taxi and then getting about with a zimmer frame.
He was admitted to Moorgate Lodge care home, Rotherham, in 2013. There he occupied room 1, and in September 2013 got the news that another attempt at DBS might be attempted.
From Moorgate he was moved to somewhere in Treeton, and the writer lost track of him at that stage, partly due to the intervention of COVID.
Marriage
Paul married three times, in 1967 to Susan Howarth, in 1976 to Elaine Brown, and in 1985 to Elaine P. Emeny. The writer had on the odd occasion met the two Elaines.
Steve Mann
Paul Blackman a personal view
I first met Paul in 1967 when I played Colin Evans in the Sheffield Championship final (it was a KO then). It was Colin’s last win, and the first of my 3 final losses.
Following a fall out at Rotherham in 1970, Paul and Pete Jeal left the club and joined YMCA where I played. This was the start of a friendship that lasted 50 years. We were successful at YMCA but it folded, or at least ceased to be a strong team in about 1974. Paul moved back to Rotherham and I joined him. The following years saw great success for Rotherham, for both Sheffield and Rotherham in the Woodhouse Cup, and we played for Yorkshire. It was Chess, Chess and more Chess!
During that time Paul had assisted at Rotherham Junior Chess Club which was sponsored the Rotherham Council and a modest remuneration.
There was a fallout; I cannot remember what it was about but Paul saw what he considered his true calling and ran Rotherham Junior Club with Rev Matthew Joy. They entered teams in the Sheffield league, where one evening I sat down to play a very young Oskar Hackner.
Eventually as we near present day, Rotherham Juniors joined SASCA which is where Paul played his last games.
The last time we played he was very ill and moving the pieces and pressing the clock was an effort. I eventually won but took no pleasure from it.
I have omitted a riotous two weeks at the “Chess” congress in Southport 1970. British Lightning tournaments. I was best man at both his last 2 weddings. He shared the same birthday as my wife.
Writing this has made me think back to the 1970s and 1980s. It was all chess hard fast (OMG he was fast) maybe a little too aggressive.
There will only be a few that remember those crazy years.
I visited him at Moorgate and drove him to and from matches. But when he was transferred to Treeton I lost touch. There was Covid of course but I could have tried harder to find and visit him.
I have lost a very dear friend
Geoff Frost
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