Born in Sherman, Maine and a resident of Perry, Maine, Wren graduated from Sherman High School and joined the US Army in 1917 at the age of sixteen and served from April 1917 until May 1919.
After World War I he attended the University of Maine for two years after which he taught French and coached high school basketball. Wren also coached the Royal Canadian Engineers intermediate basketball team in Halifax and in his first year led them to the city title. He also coached numerous YMCA teams and won the city title four times. For four years during World War II, he served as president of the Nova Scotia Basketball Association and was a member of the YMCA Board and chaired their Physical Committee.
During summer vacations he worked as a cruiser and scaler for a lumber company. For those who are unfamiliar with the timber industry, timber cruising “is the process of measuring forest stands to determine stand characteristics, such as average tree sizes, volume, and quality. The primary purpose of cruising is to obtain a volume estimation to appraise and prepare timber sales.”
A log scaler measures the cut trees to determine the scale (volume) and quality (grade) of the wood to be used for manufacturing. When logs are sold, in order to determine the basis for a sale price in a standard way, the logs are scaled which means they are measured, identified as to species, and deductions for defects assigned to produce a net volume of merchantable wood.
In August 1924, Wren began his career with the U S Government as a patrol inspector with the Immigration Service in which one of his responsibilities was dealing with rum runners, a person or ship engaged in bringing prohibited liquor ashore or across the border.
Originally stationed at a number of ports in Maine, in 1927 he was transferred to Ellis Island, New York. Subsequently, Wren worked for the Immigration Service as a technical advisor in the American consulates in Rotterdam and Antwerp.
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| Fred Wren |
In addition to writing his entertaining and humorous chess articles, he served as editor of Chess Life from 1958 to 1960. Wren was Canadian Maritime Champion in 1941 and again in 1945. He was instrumental in organizing chess in Halifax Public Schools.
In the following game we see how woodpushers push wood when the Old Woodpusher takes out Boris Garfinkel (November 18, 1904 - March 29, 1999). You can read Garfinkel's biography in the Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society:
Boris Garfinkel–Fred Wren0–1C37Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo1933Stockfish 14.1
Muzio Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.c4 g5 4.f3 g4 5.0-0 You have to
love this...the Muzio Gambit in which white sacrifices a N for a large lead in
development and attacking chances.Its popularity reached its peak popularity
in the mid-19th century, the Romantic Era, when sacrifices and early attacks
were considered the pinnacle of chess art. Its popularity declined with the
improvements in defensive technique. gxf3 Did anybody ever NOT take the N?
If Black plays 5...d5 white supposedly obtains a strong attack beginning
either 6.exd5 or 6.Bxd5. My database has four GM games from the early 1900s
and in three Marco (black) defeated Marshall, Mieses and Schlechter. In the
other game Leonhardt (black) lost to Spielmann. Engines give black the
advantage after 5...d5 6.xf3 f6 6...h6 trying to keep the P didn't
work out too well in Nakamura,H (2741)-Andreikin,D (2683) Moscow 2010 7.d4 h4 8.c3 c6 9.d5 d8 10.c3 White is slightly better and black's
position is going to require careful defense. 7.e5 This is very risky.
Best is 7.d3 7.c3 was a bust in Arribas Lopez,A (2559)-Aguera Naredo,J
(2358) Linares 2015 d6 8.d4 h6 9.a3 e7 10.e5 dxe5 11.dxe5 g6 with a
significant advantage. 7...f5 7...xe5 Leaves black with the better
game. With can play the solid 8.d3, but more in the spirit of the opening was
Marshall's continuation. 8.xf7+ 8.d3 h6 9.xf4 xf4 10.xf4 xf4 11.xf4 After 11...f5 black is better. Tartakower,S-Leonhardt,P Vienna 1908 8...d8 9.d4 xd4+ 10.h1 h6 11.d2 g7 12.b3 c6 13.c3 e5 14.d5 d6 15.d1 Marshall,F-Moreau,C Monte Carlo 1903. Black is winning, but in the
game he managed to lose. 7...b6+ This is a promising alternative if
black follows it up correctly. 8.h1 h6 Which he did not. 8...d5 equalizes.
9.d3 e7 10.xf4 f8 11.c3 White is practically winning. Wan,Y (2462)
-Bai,J (2151) Kuala Lumpur 2011 8.d4 c6
Black simply must play ...d5 if he wants to have any chances. 9.c3 This is
too passive. Attacking the Q gains time and keeps things equal. 9.d3 xd4 10.d5 e2+ 11.xe2 e7 12.f3 equals. 9...b6 Once again. black should
have played ...d5 9...d5 stays on course. 10.xd5 ge7 11.e4 g4 12.xf4 xf3 13.xf3 e6 with the advantage. 10.g4
This blooper loses. Going after the f-Pawn was correct. 10.e2 h6 11.xf4 xf4 12.g3 g6 13.xf4 and white is in good shape. 10.xf4 This obviou
move allows black to equalize after h5 11.e3 d8 12.d3 g4 13.h3 g7 14.d2 e6 10...xe5 Two question marks for this totally unsound
move. 10...g6 11.d2 b7 12.d3 g7 13.e4 f5 Stunning! 14.exf6 xf6 15.xf6+ xf6 16.xf4 xf4 17.xf4 is winning for black. 11.dxe5 11.gxf5 is much less precise. xf3+ 12.xf3 b7 13.f2 d6 14.xf4 xf4 15.xf4 Black's position is the more active. 11.xa8 White must avoid this
because it allows black complete equality after xg4+ 12.f2 12.h1 e7 13.xf4 d1+ draws after 14.f1 g4 15.f4 etc. 12...h4+ 13.e2 g4+ 14.e1 xc4 15.xc8+ e7 16.xc7 e6+ 17.d1 g4+ draws because if 18.c2 e2+ 19.b3 xf1 20.xc4 d1+ 21.a3 d8+ 22.b4 xc1+ wins 11...xg4+
Giving up the Q was a good practical decision even though he gets nowhere near
enough compensation for it. 11...c5+ 12.h1 g6 13.xa8 is winning for
white because, unlike in the previous line (11.Qxa8) black cannot immediately
get to white's K. 12.xg4 Strongly threatening Bxf7+ c5+ 13.h1 b7+ 14.f3 h6 15.xf4
0-0-0 16.d2 hg8 17.h4 17.h3
taking g4 away from the N was an absolute must. g1+ 18.h2 dg8 19.f1
and black is busted. 17...g1+ 18.h2 g4+ 19.h3 g8 White is totally
oblivious to the lurking danger. After 20.Nf1 or 20.Bxf7 or 20.Ne4 the
position is equal and would probably be drawn. 20.xf7 With
this move white has just fallen into a mate in 3. 20.xf7 h1+ 20...f2+
fails to 21.xf2 h1+ 22.h2 xh2+ 23.xh2 and wins because of all the
extra material. 21.g2 g1+ draws 20...f2+ White resigned. 20...f2+ 21.xf2 21.h2 h1# 21...h1+ 22.h2 g2# 0–1
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