John Frederick Keeble

John Frederick Keeble (27.8.1855 - 19.2.1939) Chess composer of chess problems

John Frederick Keeble (27.8.1855-19.2.1939) was born 150 years ago. Keeble was active in many areas and was a prominent player, composer, solver and author; among other things, he was in charge of the chess column in the Norwich Mercury. This newspaper organised a self-mating tournament in the years 1908-1910, the competition for which A.C. White included in his "Christmas" book Les Mille et un Mats Inverses, published in 1907, which attracted a great deal of international attention, making it by far the largest self-mating tournament, at least for those times, with over 200 entries. Keeble compiled a selection of the problems submitted in a booklet entitled The Caduceus. Incidentally, the tournament ended in a great triumph for Godfrey Heathcote, who took first prize in all three divisions (s#2, s#3 and s#4). Keeble later contributed to White's Christmas series as an author for the memorial volume to B. G. Laws, An English Bohemian (1933), in White's Christmas series.

He was a Problemist (chess composer) and chronicler who lived in Norwich all his life. He edited the chess column of the Norwich Mercury from 1902 lo 1912, contributed many significant articles elsewhere, investigated a number of chess questions, and established the burial place of several great players and arranged the tending of their graves. He lived at only two addresses for 73 years, worked for the railway company for 53 years, and was a member of the Norfolk and Norwich chess dub for 61 consecutive years. Winner of the club championship in 1884, he did not compete again until 1933 and then won it three years in succession.

Source: dieschwalbe.de