Luis Neftalí Ponce Miranda

5 February 1908, Quito -

Appointed Consul for Ecuador in Scotland in 1934. During his time in the country his name was shown as Ponce, it being quite usual for the last part of a Latin American family name to be dropped.

Source for photo.

Dr Ponce, who, it was reported later, was champion of Quito, Ecuador in 1930, was soon active in chess activities in general, and in particular as a member of Glasgow Chess Club.

On Friday, 2 November 1934 Mieses gave a simultaneous display at Glasgow CC, with Ponce being the only winner.

He played in the West of Scotland Championship for season 1934/35, and in 1935 he played board 2 for Glasgow against a Stirling, Alloa and Falkirk selection. He was also a member of the West of Scotland team in the match against the East of Scotland. He competed in the Scottish Championships of 1935 and 1936, and in that latter year he won the First Class (Section C) at the British Championship at Nottingham, unbeaten with a score of 8/10.

   
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Total
1
 LN Ponce (Glasgow)
■
½
1
1
1
½
½
1
½
1
1
8
2
 FN Jameson (Ilford)
½
■
½
1
½
1
0
1
1
1
1
7½
3
 AT Watson (Brighton)
0
½
■
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
1
6½
4
 LC Birch (Morden)
0
0
0
■
1
½
1
0
1
1
1
5½
5
 CH Taylor (Wells)
0
½
0
0
■
0
1
1
1
1
½
5
6
 EJ Randall (London)
½
0
0
½
1
■
½
½
½
½
1
5
7
 S. Feldman (London)
½
1
0
0
0
½
■
½
1
1
0
4½
8
 HW Calvert (Blackpool)
0
0
0
1
0
½
½
■
1
0
1
4
9
 Lt.-Col. CS Prince (Nice)
½
0
1
0
0
½
0
0
■
½
1
3½
10
 VA Coates (London)
0
0
1
0
0
½
0
1
½
■
0
3
11
 M. Ellinger (London)
0
0
0
0
½
0
1
0
0
1
■
2½

It was only a few years after his arrival that Dr Ponce left Glasgow, the Glasgow Herald chess column of September 5, 1936 reporting that he had been transferred to Washington (DC), and would be leaving Glasgow the following week.

He departed from Glasgow to New York on the Anchor Line ship T.S.S. Transylvania on Friday, 11 September 1936.

(In 1945, the BCM, commenting on D.M. MacIsaac's column in the Glasgow Herald, notes that Ponce "...after his short term as Consul here, spoke English with a Highland accent, and it was suspected of having learned Gaelic, although he would not admit it.")

In 1938, while still based in Washington D.C., Dr Ponce defeated former world champion Emanuel Lasker - the only one to do so - in a simultaneous exhibition on twenty-six boards.

In 1939 Dr Ponce represented Ecuador at the Buenos Aires Olympiad. Playing board one, he scored 4/16, comprising +3, =2, -11. He is shown below, second from the left.

Photo source: http://www.ara.org.ar/chs/ajedrez/perlas/buenosaires1939.html

In 1943, it was reported that Ponce played in the Washington Divan championship (won by Rueben Fine).

Dr Ponce had a distinguished career diplomatic career, as shown below by the extract of his assignments up to 1948 from Who's Who in Latin America.

In January 1962 he was appointed Ambassador for Ecuador to the U.S.A. He would later be appointed Foreign Minister in Ecuador's government.

Presenting his credentials to President J.F. Kennedy,
10 January 1962.

Sources:
BCM 1935, pages 136, 180, 283.
BCM 1936, p 515
BCM 1945, p 114
Glasgow Herald chess columns
http://elajedrezyaesdetodos.blogspot.ca/2012/11/foto-historica.html
http://www.afese.com/img/revistas/revista54/exp1936.pdf
http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/Archives/JFKWHP-1962-01-10-A.aspx

Compiled by Alan McGowan