Biography of Micajah "Mike" Wren
Ed Foy
1961.10.01
Reprinted from WVCA Bulletin #136, October 1961
Mike's truly incredible career had its share of triumphs and failures. He had the most fertile imagination; a flair for words, a flair for chess--his hobby of hobbies. He did newspaper work and free-lance writing, wrote radio scripts, wrote for TV, worked for an advertising agency, did public relations work, wrote night club sketches for Josh White and a special FDR-death broadcast for Walter Hampden. CBS thought so highly of his "Battle of Gettysburg" script for the "You Were There" radio show that they issued a Columbia masterworks recording of it. Sure, he had other jobs, too, much more menial and less spectacular. And he played chess.
More than any one person, Wren was responsible for organized chess on the state level in West Virginia. He was the best player in Charleston in the early thirties and a match victory over Landis Marks gave him a strong claim to being the best player in the Mountaineer State.
Then he left Charleston for a quarter-century, returning a few years back. Mike won the state championship in 1959 brilliantly, with an amazing 6-0 score. He won the Charleston title in 1960. Mike was one of the finest chess players ever to come out of this city or out of West Virginia. He knew how to win and lose with dignity and he would play anybody. Chess will not be the same without him.
Addendum: Mike Wren won the Charleston City Championship twice: 1932 (which was the inaugural tourney) and 1960. Mike was consistently known during the 40s as the "unofficial WV chess champion of the 30s", as a testament to his achievements over the board during that era.
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