Robert Forbes Combe
| Robert Forbes Combe | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Robert Forbes Combe |
| Country | Scotland |
| Born |
16 August 1912 Logie Buchan, Aberdeenshire, Scotland |
| Died | 12 February 1952 (aged 39) Aberdeen |
Robert Forbes Combe (16 August 1912 – 12 February 1952) was a Scottish lawyer and chess player who caused a major upset when he won the 1946 British Chess Championship ahead of several more established players.
Combe was born in the parish of Logie-Buchan, Aberdeenshire in 1912. His father George A. Combe was a diplomat who served in Jinan, China, where Combe spent his early childhood. He returned to Scotland to attend Aberdeen Grammar School. On holiday in London, he bought his first chess book at the age of 16, from which he taught himself the game, and entered his first tournament shortly afterwards. At the age of 18 he suffered a bout of rheumatic fever which left him with chronic rheumatic heart disease, eventually leading to his early death.
Combe played in the British Chess Federation Congress in London in 1932, finishing in a tie for fourth place with a score of 7½/11 in the First Class Section B tournament. In his first Scottish Championship in 1933, he finished with 3½/6, tying for third place behind William Fairhurst.
Subsequently he was selected to play for Scotland at their first Chess Olympiad appearance in Folkestone, Kent. The Scots were outclassed and finished last of the 15 teams, but Combe was one of their better performers, scoring 5/12, including a win against the future Belgian champion Paul Devos. In this tournament, his only international appearance, Combe rather famously blundered a piece and resigned after four moves (an Olympiad record) against the Latvian master Wolfgang Hasenfuss. There is some disagreement as to the exact score of the game; the most commonly accepted version is 1.c4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.Nf3 e5 4.Nxe5 Qa5+ 0–1.
Combe played in his second Scottish Championship in 1934, scoring 2/5. He gave up chess for several years thereafter to concentrate on his law studies at the University of Aberdeen, where he graduated with distinction in 1938.
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