Chess

TODAY marks 150 years since the birth of Sir J M Barrie in Kirriemuir, Angus. The Peter Pan author was the uncle of William Winter, a chess professional and two-time British champion (1935-36).

Winter was introduced to chess at the age of 12 by his Scottish-born father, a tutor in classics and mathematics. Winter's real chess career began at the age of 15, when he joined the City of London club. He stayed with Barrie during these trips to London., and a shared love of cricket was the main subject of conversation for the pair. Barrie ran his own team, the Allahakbarries, which featured many famous literary figures – such as Arthur Conan Doyle, P G Wodehouse and A A Milne. Winter played once for a Barrie team and made two catches. Peter Pan's First XI, by Kevin Telfer, is published this week.

Winter was selected for the Scotland team for the Buenos Aires Olympiad in 1939. The SCA struggled to raise a team that could devote three months away and finally withdrew. Winter had participated at the Scottish Championship in Aberdeen earlier that year, finishing as runner-up to the American student Max Pavey. From the diagram, Winter (White) scores an easy win against N Bernstein, another American visiting the 1939 championship. 16 Bxf7+ Rxf7? 17 Qb3 Nf8 18 Qxf7+ Qxf7 19 Nxf7 Bc7 20 Nxe5 Ne6 21 Bxf6 gxf6 22 Nf3 b5 23 Nc3 a6 24 Nd5 Bd8 25 Nd4 Nxd4 26 Rxd4 Ra7 27 Rc1 Bd7 28 e4 Be8 29 Rc8 Rd7 30 Rxd8 Rxd8 31 Nxf6+ 1-0.

The Lost Boys International tournament, which started in the 1990s, ran in Antwerp and Amsterdam for several years. Peter Pan's companions in Neverland inspired the name for this Dutch digital marketing company.

• This article was first published in the Scotland on Sunday, May 9, 2010