photo about 1910

Reginald Borders was born in the Kensington district of London in December 1866, the oldest son of William Borders, who was a cigar and tobacco merchant. His father had business interests in South Africa and in Mozambique, so Reginald was "shipped off" to South Africa as a young man, and his younger brother Frederick later joined him. Borders arrived in Durban aboard the steamship "Dunbar Castle" in the middle of 1890. The steamships carried mail and passengers on a regular basis from Southampton to Cape Town, along the coast to Durban, and then back again.

Borders' entry in "Who's Who in Natal" says that he lived in Overport and was a partner in Wm.Savory & Co., who were clearing, forwarding and shipping agents. His recreations were listed as music, chess and bowls.

It is possible that Borders was a founder member of the Durban Chess Club, which was formed in 1893. He was a strong player, although Len Reitstein remarked that "he was better with his pen than the pieces". Borders was good enough to be invited to play in the 1899 South African championships, held in Durban. Unfortunately he had to withdraw from the event, and only made his debut in the SA championships in 1903.

The early years of the Durban championships were dominated by Lucas Bull, another Londoner, and Borders was not able to win the event until 1909. He then won again in 1912 and in 1913.

Borders was well known throughout the chess world as the chess columnist for the "Natal Mercury" between 1903 and 1930. Len Reitstein's book "A History of Chess in Southern Africa" speaks highly of his writing, and Borders' column was regularly cited by him as source material for his book.

He played in the South African championships on 3 occasions, namely in Johannesburg in 1903, Cape Town in 1910 and Johannesburg in 1912.

Here is a casual game from the pages of the "Natal Mercury":