Best wishes to GM Dr. Jonathan Mestel on his birthday

Early Years

A(ndrew) Jonathan Mestel was born in Cambridge on Wednesday, March 13th 1957. On this day the Presidential Palace in Havana was attacked with the object of killing Fulgencio Batista, the incumbent President.

Jonathan’s parents were Leon and Sylvia Louise Mestel (née Cole) who were married in 1951. Leon was a world-class astronomer and astrophysicist whose PhD supervisor was Fred Hoyle. Jonathan has a brother Ben and sisters Rosie and Leo.

Growing Up

Living in Cambridge he attended Newnham Croft Primary School and at the age six was taught chess by his father Leon. By the age of seven Jonathan was matching his father and not long afterwards he was beating him consistently. East Cheshire Chess Club was his first club and therefore the opportunity to play adults other than his father.

MGS and Beards

The Mestel family moved to Manchester in around 1967 and Jonathan attended Manchester Grammar School along with chess players Emmanuel Rayner and Ian Watson. Famously he grew a substantial beard and moustache and apparently “they (MGS) disapproved of it” resulting in a ban until the beard was removed. Jonathan duly obliged and returned to school but was sent home once more since he had retained the moustache: “They did not mention the moustache!” we are told. A further ban was resolved when the offending item was also removed.

Mathematics

Jonathan obtained a PhD in mathematics from Trinity College, Cambridge and the associated thesis was entitled “Magnetic Levitation of Liquid Metals”.

Jonathan is Professor of Applied Mathematics at Imperial College London. As well as teaching, his research interests include magnetohydrodynamics and biological fluid dynamics.

Marriage

In the third quarter of 1982 Jonathan married Anna O’Donovan in Cambridge and they soon settled in the central Cambridge area where they remain to this day. They have a son, David. Sadly, it was reported in The Problemist that Anna passed had away on December 26th, 2022.

Bridge

Jonathan has represented England at bridge joining a group of English players such as Peter Lee and John Cox who also represented their country at bridge. Paul Littlewood, Paul Lamford and Natasha Regan are amongst many others who have combined bridge and chess to a high level . Here is Jonathan’s English Bridge Union page. He remains highly ranked in the bridge world to this day.

Jonathan noted:

I should mention that all my hair fell out for no obvious nor serious reason – neither my bidding nor partner’s dummies are responsible. Few would argue with that last statement.

Serious Chess & Prize Money

His earliest recorded appearance in chess databases is from the Rhyl based British Under-14 championship in 1969 where he beat DA Winter. The eventual winner of that event was  Jonathan Speelman. Jonathan M. recounts that he shared 3rd place with two others and that the prize allotted to the three of them was a whopping £2 10s to be divided equally. This amounted to 16s 8p each. Since the entry fee was 15s it meant he had cleared a notable profit of 1s and 8 pence!

The following year all British Championships competitors were sent to Coventry and Jonathan and Jonathan shared the Under-16 title whilst Bob Wade won the main event with 8/11.

1971 was no less successful and Jonathan travelled to the location of England’s Eiffel Tower (Blackpool) returning home with the British Under-18 title. Jonathan mentioned that he should have entered the Under-21 event instead.

First British Championship

Brighton 1972 was Jonathan’s first appearance in the “main event” having  broken the record for the youngest qualifier. This record was later broken by Richard Webb and then by Nigel Short. His final score was a creditable 6.5/11 giving him =5th overall aged 15 years and seven months. In 1972 this was an incredible achievement. Regrettably, these days achievements such as this appear to pass unreported.

At Eastbourne 1973 he was =7th with possibly the best hair cut of anyone:

International Events

1974 was a breakthrough year internationally as Jonathan won the (unofficial) World Cadet Championship in Pont Sainte Maxence in southern France. The following year IM David Goodman followed up by winning the same title.

Interestingly travel arrangements for the above event were not so smooth as was the crossing of the English Channel. The hovercraft broke down; Jonathan arrived much later than anticipated and unable to find civilised accommodation leading to an Orwellian style “Down and Out in Paris” sleeping arrangement in a Paris gutter.

At Clacton 1974 Jonathan was one of seven who finished on 7/11, the title going to George Botterill after an all-play-all play-off in Wales.

1975 started well with a bronze medal in Tjentiste (former Yugoslavia now Bosnia Herzegovina) for the World Junior Championship (happening at the same as the British in Morecambe preventing a 1975 British Championship appearance).

First IM Norm

1976 brought further success at Portland School, Edgbaston with a first place scoring 8/10 and an IM norm in the Birmingham International tournament:

and here is a sparkling game from the 1976 Robert Silk Fellowship Tournament:

[pgn]
[Event “Robert Silk”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “1976.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Littlewood, Paul E”]
[Black “Mestel, A Jonathan”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B70”]
[Annotator “Murray Chandler & BCN”]
[PlyCount “52”]
[SourceTitle “TECE, page 14”]

{[%evp 0,2,20,21,52]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6.
Be2 Bg7 7. O-O Nc6 8. Nb3 O-O 9. Bg5 Be6 {[#]} 10. f4 $2 ({Better is} 10. Kh1
$1 Rc8 11. f4 Na5 12. f5 Bc4 13. Bd3 b5 14. Qe1 b4 15. Nd1 d5 16. e5 Ne4 17.
Bxe7 Qxe7 18. Nxa5) 10… b5 $1 11. Bxb5 ({BCN : Superior is} 11. Bf3 Rc8 12.
Kh1 Bc4 13. Re1 Nd7 14. Rb1) 11… Nxe4 (11… Qb6+ 12. Kh1 Nxe4 13. Bxc6 Qxc6
{transposes}) 12. Bxc6 (12. Nxe4 Qb6+ {was no better; essentially the game now
becomes a war of movement, with White’s queen’s bishop cut off from the action.
}) 12… Qb6+ 13. Kh1 Qxc6 (13… Nxc3 14. Qf3 Rac8 15. Bxe7 $1 Rxc6 16. Bxf8
Kxf8 17. bxc3 Rxc3 18. Qd1 $17) 14. Bxe7 $2 $146 (14. Nxe4) ({Better was} 14.
Na5 $15 Nxc3 15. Nxc6 Nxd1 16. Nxe7+ Kh8 17. Raxd1 {and White is still on the
board.}) 14… Nxc3 15. bxc3 Bd5 $19 16. Rg1 Rfe8 17. Bh4 Bxc3 18. Rb1 Re4 19.
Qd3 {Giving up a pawn in the hope of some play} ({If} 19. Bg3 {Black increases
the pressure by} Rae8 ({or} 19… a5)) 19… Rxf4 20. Bg3 {[#] and now it is
time to “pause the video”….} Rf3 $1 21. Qd1 (21. Nd4 Rxd3 22. Nxc6 Re3 23.
Bf2 Re2 24. Bd4 Bxd4 25. Nxd4 Rf2 $19) (21. gxf3 Bxf3+ 22. Qxf3 Qxf3+ 23. Rg2
Re8 24. Kg1 Re3 $19) 21… Re3 22. Bf2 Re4 23. Nd4 Qc4 24. Nb5 Be5 {White sees
that Rh4 is threatended, so makes a hole for his king.} 25. h3 {[#]} Rh4 $1 26.
Bxh4 Qf4 {and White resigned. Easy to understand but a game of real class.
Mestel at 19, was to be the youngest player in the England team for the 1976
Olympiad.} 0-1
[/pgn]

British Champion

Jonathan followed this at the Portsmouth 1976 British Championships with a splendid outright first place with 9.5/11 , the highest score since Malik Mir Sultan Khan in 1933. Also, nine consecutive wins from the starting gun  was most definitely a record!

Leonard Barden assessed Mestel’s performance this in the Guardian:

“Jonathan Mestel’s reaction at Portsmouth to become British Champion at age 19, the youngest ever, and with a record series of nine wins, was characteristically low-key. He declined an interview with BBC’s World at One in favour of a continued sojourn on the beach, declined an invitation to the Chorley Congress (where the inducements for him to play were rumoured to include a chauffeured Rolls-Royce from station to town hall, and where the points might well have enabled him to overhaul the leader in the £1,000 Cutty Sark Grand Prix) in favour of a holiday in France, and even ‘declined’ the chance of a record total in the final round when he gifted a pawn in the opening to Whiteley in simple fashion”

Barden went on to praise Mestel as, along with Miles, one of the two young players ‘with genuine promise of ultimately reaching the world super-class.’

[pgn]
[Event “British CF-63 Championship”]
[Site “Portsmouth (Southsea)”]
[Date “1976.08.10”]
[Round “2”]
[White “Neat, Kenneth P”]
[Black “Mestel, A Jonathan”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “A42”]
[WhiteElo “2315”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “52”]
[EventDate “1976.08.09”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “11”]
[EventCountry “ENG”]
[SourceTitle “EXT 1999”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1998.11.16”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1998.11.16”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,52,28,17,95,31,31,31,32,33,57,49,27,25,18,18,17,21,25,11,-1,-39,-21,
-38,-22,-22,-22,-22,-24,-17,-25,-34,-33,-69,-40,-56,-63,-66,-61,-61,-63,-63,0,
-119,-114,-116,-234,-302,-334,-466,-458,-484,-467,-612,-693]} 1. d4 d6 2. c4 g6
3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 e5 5. Nf3 exd4 6. Nxd4 Nc6 7. Be3 Nge7 8. Be2 O-O 9. O-O f5
10. exf5 Bxd4 11. Bxd4 Nxf5 12. Be3 Nxe3 13. fxe3 Rxf1+ 14. Qxf1 Be6 15. Rd1
Qe7 16. Bf3 Ne5 17. c5 dxc5 18. Bxb7 Rf8 19. Qe1 c6 20. Qg3 Rf5 21. Rf1 Rg5 22.
Qf4 Bh3 23. Rf2 Rg4 24. Qh6 Bxg2 25. Rxg2 Rh4 26. Nd5 Qd8 0-1
[/pgn]

1977 led to the International Master title and in 1982 the Grandmaster title. In reality, the GM title should  have been awarded two years earlier from Esberg 1979 but more on this FIDE blunder later.

In the 1979 Dataday Chess Diary Harry Golombek OBE wrote this:

“I wrote in last years diary that I doubted whether Jonathan would ever change his variability, adding ‘Probably there will always recur this rise to the heights and fall to lower levels.’

To some extent this is still true. But his play in 1977 and 1978 has shown a greater firmness of purpose and revealed more powers of endurance and stamina than I had realised he possessed earlier on. Thus, for instance, in the last round of the European Team Championship finals at Moscow in 1977, playing the black pieces against the West German master Kestler, he was the last to finish and he defeated his opponent after nearly 12 hours play and some 105 moves.

He is one of our players who is nearing the grandmaster title, both in play and, as it were, in figures. At the Lord John Cup Tournament in London, September 1977, he obtained the g.m. norm by coming equal 2nd with Quinteros and Stean below Hort. He did this with a score of 6 when 5.5 would have been sufficient for the norm.

To my mind he is the ideal tournament competitor since he can always be relied upon to delight the onlooker with some fresh and original piece of chess. It is this talent which makes me think there is practically no limit to the heights he may attain as a player.

In the following game, played at the European Team Championships at Moscow 1977, Mestel gives signs of a new and mature sureness of purpose, whilst retaining all his incisive and ambitious qualities.

[pgn]
[Event “EU-chT 06th Final”]
[Site “Moscow (Russia)”]
[Date “1977.04.??”]
[Round “2.5”]
[White “Mestel, A Jonathan”]
[Black “Kirov, Nino”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B22”]
[WhiteElo “2420”]
[BlackElo “2435”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “81”]
[EventDate “1977.04.13”]
[EventType “team-tourn”]
[EventRounds “7”]
[EventCountry “URS”]
[SourceTitle “EU-chT”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceVersion “2”]
[SourceVersionDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceQuality “1”]
[WhiteTeam “England”]
[BlackTeam “Bulgaria”]
[WhiteTeamCountry “ENG”]
[BlackTeamCountry “BUL”]

{[%evp 0,81,19,38,40,41,41,1,30,33,41,40,42,40,18,25,42,47,46,48,48,48,52,63,
111,76,56,54,33,53,52,46,43,35,49,58,114,35,48,37,35,77,57,-30,-17,-14,-14,-58,
-24,-68,-43,-85,-61,-80,-18,-37,-79,-88,60,45,52,63,59,58,75,97,74,50,252,228,
203,138,138,179,235,230,301,215,484,465,480,235,1855,29988]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6
3. c3 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. d4 cxd4 6. cxd4 d6 7. Nc3 Nxc3 8. bxc3 Nc6 9. exd6 Bxd6
10. Bd3 Ne7 11. O-O Ng6 12. Re1 O-O {[#]} 13. c4 $146 b6 14. Be4 Rb8 15. Bb2
Qc7 16. Rc1 Bf4 17. Rc2 Ba6 18. d5 f5 19. Bd3 e5 20. Bf1 e4 21. Nd4 Bxh2+ 22.
Kh1 Be5 23. Ne6 Qe7 24. Kg1 Rf6 25. Bc1 h6 26. Re3 Rc8 27. Ra3 Bb7 28. Rxa7 Ra8
29. Ba3 Qd7 30. Rxa8+ Bxa8 31. Qb1 Qa7 32. Bb2 Qb8 33. Be2 $16 Nh4 $2 34. Bxe5
Qxe5 35. Qb2 (35. Qb5 $18) 35… Qd6 36. Qb5 (36. Bh5) 36… Rxe6 $2 (36… Kh7
) 37. dxe6 Qxe6 38. Rd2 e3 39. Rd8+ Kh7 40. Qe8 Bxg2 41. Qxe6 {and Black
resigned.} 1-0
[/pgn]

Beating the Russians

In 1978 Jonathan was part of the English team of Mestel, Speelman Taulbut, Goodman and Jonathan Kinlay that travelled to Mexico and won  the World Under-26 Student Team Championships. This was a huge achievement as beating the USSR in a chess team event simply did not happen. It is not clear even that the Russian team were all bona fide students: some looking decidedly unstudent like!

The splendid Aztec calendar trophy you can see Jonathan clutching above was taken back to England and generously donated to Bob Wade who, in turn, wrote in his will that it should be returned to Jonathan. To this day this wonderful trophy proudly lives with Jonathan and Anna in their house in Cambridge.

When is a Norm not a Norm?

From British Chess (Pergamon Press, 1983), Botterill, Levy, Rice and Richardson we have this appreciation by George Botterill:

“The tournament at Esbjerg in 1979 was a bitter-sweet experience for Mestel. He won many fine games on the way to sharing first place with the hefty score of 9.5 out of 13.

But the real prize for which he was competing was the final norm that would have completed his qualification for the title of grandmaster. In the last round a draw would have been sufficient, but it was not day for peaceful negotiation since his adversary was also his nearest rival, Vadasz, who needed to win in order to tie for first place.

The nervous strain of having two aims in sight, first place and the coveted norm, told on Mestel who played rather beneath himself to lose. It was some consolation that the following victory over Finland’s leading player was hailed as the best game of the tournament.”

[pgn]
[Event “Esbjerg North Sea Cup-A 4th”]
[Site “Esbjerg”]
[Date “1979.07.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Westerinen, Heikki MJ”]
[Black “Mestel, A Jonathan”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B78”]
[WhiteElo “2465”]
[BlackElo “2450”]
[Annotator “George Botterill & British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “82”]
[EventDate “1979.07.06”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “13”]
[EventCountry “DEN”]
[EventCategory “7”]
[SourceTitle “EXT 2010”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2010.11.25”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2010.11.25”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,82,24,24,56,47,77,57,57,54,58,28,57,54,43,42,37,39,39,28,35,-6,27,-1,
36,19,24,10,32,-129,-122,-77,-72,-108,-63,-91,-91,-101,-51,-29,43,-88,-88,-68,
-6,-38,-38,-39,-43,-29,-26,-33,-32,-32,-79,-76,-30,-72,-44,-62,-95,-93,-104,
-110,-101,-117,-112,-119,-107,-119,-112,-175,-173,-212,-227,-310,-290,-427,
-472,-535,-535,-963,-2273,-29977,-29978]} {Comments are, in the main, from
George Botterill as author of a piece on Mestel in British Chess, Pergamon
Press, 1983, page 175. The game was also cited on page 69 of The English Chess
Explosion, 1981 by Murray Chandler and Ray Keene.} 1. e4 {[%mdl 1]} c5 2. Nf3
d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 ({It is generally held that} 4. dxc5 Nxe4 5. cxd6 Nxd6 {
is not dangerous for Black, through later in the year, at the Riga Interzonal,
Tal was to defeat Gheorghiu with precisely this continuation.}) 4… cxd4 5.
Nxd4 g6 {So it is to be the famous Dragon Variation in which Black puts his
faith in the destructive fire of his king’s bishop against the white queenside.
This has always been one of Mestel’s favourite weapons and it has brought him
many victories, for the uncompromising tactical struggle that ensues could not
be better suited to his style.} 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. Bc4 Bd7 10.
h4 Rc8 11. Bb3 h5 {Very much Mestel’s own patent. He refuses to allow White to
assume the initiative by opening the h-file with h5.} (11… Ne5 {BCN: is the
main alternative.} 12. h5 Nxh5 13. g4 Nf6 14. Bh6 Bxh6 15. Qxh6 Rxc3 16. bxc3
Qa5 17. O-O-O Qxc3 18. Kb1 Rc8) 12. O-O-O Ne5 {[#]} 13. Bg5 {This is an
important position for the theory of the Dragon Variation.} ({In addition to
the move selected by Westerinen, White has also tried} 13. Bh6 Bxh6 14. Qxh6
Rxc3 15. bxc3 Qa5 16. g4 Qxc3 17. Kb1 a5 18. gxh5 a4 19. hxg6 axb3 20. cxb3
fxg6 21. h5 Nxh5 $1 22. f4 $6 ({White should have tried} 22. Rxh5 $1 gxh5 23.
Rg1+ Bg4 24. Ne6) 22… Nd3 23. Qxg6+ Ng7 24. Rh2 {and now} Qxd4 25. Rdh1 Bh3
$1 {would have won quickly, though Mestel’s 24…Rc8 was also good enough in
the end.}) ({Meanwhile} 13. g4 hxg4 14. h5 Nxh5 15. Bh6 e6 $1 {hardly seems
sufficient for White.}) ({Also interesting is the play after} 13. Kb1 Nc4 14.
Bxc4 Rxc4 15. Nde2 {when Matulovic-Mestel, Birmingham 1975 continued:} Qc7 ({
Miles rightly prefers the more sprightly} 15… b5) 16. Bd4 Be6 17. b3 Rc6 {
with an obscure position, which again Mestel managed to win from eventually.})
{So, Westerinen’s choice, certainly the most fashionable, is probably also the
most testing.} 13… Rc5 {Rather an unusual move, but the rook does good
service here in both defence and attack.} ({Besides, the earlier try} 13… Nh7
14. Bh6 Bxh6 15. Qxh6 Rxc3 16. bxc3 Qa5 {was discredited by the game Tal-Mista,
Dubna 1973:} 17. Ne2 Bb5 18. Rhe1 Nf6 19. Rd4 Rc8 20. Rb4 e6 21. Nd4 {and
Black’s attack was repelled.}) 14. g4 {Westerinen chooses the most
straightforwardly aggressive plan. This is the natural reaction to Black’s
attempt to block the kingside with …h5, but it is doubtful if White can
afford to be quite so belligerent.} ({Instead} 14. f4 Nc4 15. Qd3 b5 16. e5 Ng4
({Instead} 16… dxe5 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 {is also playable.}) 17. Ne4 Rd5 18. Nxd6
Ngxe5 {as in Ljubojevic-Miles, Riga 1979 is extremely complicated and probably
favourable to White – even though Miles won the game.}) ({For a little while
it was thought that Black could be tested by the less precipitate} 14. Rhe1 b5
15. f4 Nc4 16. Bxc4 bxc4 ({But then Black hit back with} 16… Rxc4 $1 17. Bxf6
Bxf6 18. e5 Bg7 19. Ncxb5 Qb6 $1 {and secured a decisive attack along the open
lines on the queenside in Nunn-Miles, London 1980.}) 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. e5 {
as in Karpov-Sosonko, Tilburg 1979.}) {Evidently you must arm yourself most
carefully in advance before entering into these perilous regions!} 14… hxg4
15. f4 $6 {This looks rather like a mixture of inconsistent plans.} ({More
single-minded is} 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. h5 g5 17. Nd5 {as in Georgadze-Miles,
Dortmund 1979.}) 15… Nc4 16. Qe2 b5 17. e5 {Westerinen hopes to take
advantage of the potential pin in the d-file. He can hardly be blamed for
overlooking Mestel’s brilliant refutation of his idea.} dxe5 18. Ndxb5 {[#]}
Nxb2 $1 $146 {BCN: This was the first (but not the last) to feature this
bombshell.} 19. Kxb2 {An unfortunate position for the white king, as soon
becomes apparent.} ({But he has little choice since} 19. fxe5 Nxd1 20. Rxd1
Bxb5 21. Rxd8 Bxe2 {gives Black a simple win on material.}) (19. Kxb2 exf4 20.
Kc1 {[%eval -302,36] Stockfish 13}) 19… Qa5 20. Rxd7 ({The attempt to place
at least one obstacle in the way of Black’s terrible king’s bishop by} 20. fxe5
{is defeated by} Bxb5 21. Nxb5 Nh5 {threatening …Rxe5 and …Ng3 and either .
…Rxb5 or …Qxb5}) 20… Nxd7 21. Bxe7 {[#] and another shattering blow on
the long diagonal is} Rxc3 $1 {For the time being Black remains a piece down
in material stakes, but in reality the cruel pin and the dark forest of passed
pawns on the kingside give White no chance at all.} 22. Nxc3 $2 ({BCN: It
turns out that} 22. Bxf8 $1 Rxb3+ 23. axb3 Kxf8 {would have kept White in the
game.}) 22… exf4 23. Qc4 Nb6 24. Qb4 Qxb4 (24… Qxb4 25. Bxb4 g3 {[%eval
-467,36] Stockfish 12 NN S19}) 25. Bxb4 Rc8 (25… g3 26. Bxf8 Kxf8 {[%eval
-223,27] Komodo 9.02 64-bit}) 26. Rf1 f3 27. a4 {[#]} Rc4 $1 {No doubt there
were other ways to win, but Mestel chooses the most elegant course.} 28. Bxc4
Nxc4+ 29. Kc1 ({Or} 29. Ka2 a5) 29… Bh6+ (29… Bh6+ {[%eval -216,23] Deep
Fritz 14}) 30. Kd1 (30. Kd1 Ne3+ 31. Ke1 {[%eval -560,32] Stockfish 12}) 30…
Ne3+ (30… Ne3+ 31. Ke1 Nxc2+ {[%eval -211,22] Fritz 15}) 31. Ke1 (31. Ke1
Nxc2+ {[%eval -643,36] Stockfish 13}) 31… Nxc2+ 32. Kf2 (32. Kf2 Nxb4 33. Rd1
{[%eval -581,40] Stockfish 13}) 32… Nxb4 {The rest needs little comment. The
passed pawns are an overwhelming force.} (32… Nxb4 33. Rd1 f5 {[%eval -287,
27] Houdini 6.03 Pro x64-pext}) 33. Rd1 (33. Rd1 f5 34. Rd6 {[%eval -570,30]
Stockfish 11 64}) 33… f5 (33… f5 34. Nd5 Bf8 {[%eval -154,21] Fritz 11 SE})
34. Rd6 (34. Nd5 Nc6 35. Rb1 {[%eval -162,20] Fritz 11 SE}) 34… Bf8 (34…
Kf7 35. Kg3 Bf8 {[%eval -713,30] Stockfish 060820}) 35. Rd8 (35. Rxg6+ Kf7 36.
Rg5 Bc5+ {is equally hopeless.}) 35… Kf7 (35… Kg7 36. Kg3 Bc5 {[%eval -400,
21] Fritz 15}) 36. Kg3 (36. Kg3 Bc5 37. Rd1 {[%eval -889,27] Stockfish 13})
36… Bc5 (36… Bc5 37. Rd7+ Ke6 {[%eval -412,25] Deep Fritz 13}) 37. Nd1 (37.
Rd1 Ke6 38. a5 {[%eval -878,27] Stockfish 141220 6T}) 37… Ke6 (37… Ke7 38.
Rd2 Bd6+ {[%eval -788,24] Deep Fritz 14 x64}) 38. Rd2 (38. Rd2 {[%eval -979,29]
stockfish 11 64 BMI2 _20011801_x64_bmi2}) 38… Nd5 39. a5 (39. Rd3 Nf6 40.
Rxf3 {[%eval -8752,33] Houdini 6.03 Pro x64-pext}) 39… Nf6 (39… Nf6 40. Kh2
Nh5 {[%eval -1938,29] Houdini 3 x64}) 40. Rc2 (40. Kh2 Nh5 41. Nc3 {[%eval
-1253,24] Deep Fritz 13}) 40… Nh5+ (40… Nh5+ 41. Kh2 g3+ {[%eval -29981,23]
Fritz 15}) 41. Kh2 (41. Kh2 g3+ 42. Kh1 {[%eval -29990,109] Stockfish 13})
41… g3+ (41… g3+ 42. Kh1 Nf4 {[%eval -29990,111] Stockfish 13}) 0-1
[/pgn]

If the previous game gives you the idea that Mestel is especially skilled in the handling of an attacking phalanx of pawns, just take a look at this contribution to England’s bronze-medal result in the 1980 European Team Championship.

[pgn]
[Event “EU-chT 07th Final”]
[Site “Skara”]
[Date “1980.01.24”]
[Round “5.6”]
[White “Mestel, A Jonathan”]
[Black “Nemet, Ivan”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B92”]
[WhiteElo “2450”]
[BlackElo “2460”]
[Annotator “Botterill & Mestel & BCN”]
[PlyCount “151”]
[EventDate “1980.01.20”]
[EventType “team-tourn”]
[EventRounds “7”]
[EventCountry “SWE”]
[SourceTitle “EU-chT”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceVersion “2”]
[SourceVersionDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceQuality “1”]
[WhiteTeam “England”]
[BlackTeam “Yugoslavia”]
[WhiteTeamCountry “ENG”]
[BlackTeamCountry “YUG”]

{[%evp 0,151,19,29,40,40,81,72,62,51,51,33,55,44,45,36,44,17,17,2,2,-18,18,0,0,
-15,20,13,20,12,32,34,37,31,72,30,75,61,78,84,47,37,82,40,52,119,127,125,125,
120,120,163,192,200,190,201,251,253,232,229,283,283,484,488,505,539,539,500,
701,307,310,305,284,320,319,318,322,322,327,296,352,258,319,353,331,329,323,
227,238,241,248,248,255,261,259,260,259,240,247,240,276,268,262,262,262,262,
289,262,262,101,262,262,262,285,283,285,285,293,288,293,293,301,301,293,301,
304,305,305,305,305,312,312,312,312,318,315,315,327,339,340,340,339,334,334,
338,343,338,338,441,480,577,577,587,587]} {Comments are, in the main, from
George Botterill as author of a piece on Mestel in British Chess, Pergamon
Press, 1983, page 177. The game is also annotated by Mestel in the above
book (!) plus on page 60 of European Team Championship: Skara 80 by Tony Miles.
} 1. e4 {[%mdl 1]} c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 {
Karpov’s preference for this move has done so much to restore it to popularity
after a long period during which the more} ({overtly aggressive} 6. Bg5 {
was all the rage.}) 6… e5 7. Nb3 Be7 {In this variation the positional
objectives of the two side are easy to understand. White aims to secure
unchallenged control of the outpost at d5 – the hole in Black’s pawn-formation
created by his strategically double-edged sixth move. Black would like to
eliminate his backward queen’s pawn and secure a mobile central majority by
enforcing the advance ….d5 In practise of course both sides often have to
settle for less than the ideal implementation of their plans. For the position
has been rather thoroughly explored in master games and most of the misguided
ideas have already been tried once (or twice!) by the knowing player.} 8. a4
O-O 9. O-O Be6 10. f4 Qc7 11. Kh1 {Tucking the king away like this so often
turns out to be a useful precaution in the Sicilian. (cf. move 24).} Nbd7 12.
a5 {Like 12.Be3 Mestel’s move retains the tension in the centre.} (12. f5 {
used to be played here but Karpov gave that up after Robert Byrne held him to
a draw in the 1973 Leningrad Interzonal.}) ({For his 1974 match with
Polugaesvky Karpov switched to} 12. Be3 {achieving little in the 4th game} exf4
13. Rxf4 Ne5 14. Nd4 ({but then improving significantly in the 6th game with}
14. a5 $1 Nfd7 15. Rf1 Bf6 16. Nd5 Bxd5 17. Qxd5 $5) 14… Rad8 15. Qg1 Rd7 16.
Rd1 Re8) {Nemet, however ops for a more conventional course.} 12… exf4 ({
A critical question now is whether White has anything good against} 12… b5)
13. Bxf4 Ne5 {[#]} 14. Nd5 $5 $146 {quite a surprising move, since in such
positions White regularly seeks to occupy the squares d5 and f5 with pieces,
not with pawns.} ({Other moves that must have come into consideration are} 14.
Nd4 {AJM:} Nc4 $1 {with the idea of …Nxa5.}) ({and} 14. Qd2) (14. Qe1 Nc4 15.
Qg3 $6 Nxb2 16. e5 Ne8) (14. Ra4 $5 {idea Rd4}) 14… Bxd5 15. exd5 Rfe8 $6 {
naturally Black ought to build up strength in an open e-file. An} (15… Nc4
16. Qd4 Rac8 17. Ra4 Ne5 18. c4 $14) (15… Nfd7 {has been played more
recently.}) 16. c4 $1 {From the first advance of the white pawns is aided and
abetted by tactical niceties.} Bf8 (16… Nxc4 $2 17. Rc1 $18) ({It looks
better to play} 16… Nfd7 {in some variations the bishop would be better on
f6.}) 17. Rc1 Nfd7 18. Qd2 g6 19. Nd4 {White prepares the further advance of
his Q-side pawns with b4. The black position is growing rather uncomfortable.}
b6 $5 {This is about the only constructive move at Black’s disposal.} 20. Nc6
$5 ({e.g.} 20. axb6 Qxb6 21. b4 a5) 20… Nc5 $2 {A naive threat, and the
main cause of Black’s defeat.} ({Clearly} 20… Nxc6 21. dxc6 Qxc6 {was bad} ({
but} 21… Nc5 $1 {leaves everything to play for.}) (21… Ne5 22. Bxe5 Rxe5
23. Bf3 Kh8 24. Bd5 f5 25. Ra1 $16) {because of} 22. Bf3) 21. Bxe5 dxe5 22. b4
$1 Nb3 {The exchange winning fork is no match for White’s pawn-phalanx.} 23.
Qe3 $1 Nxc1 (23… Nd4 24. axb6 Qxb6 25. c5 $1) 24. axb6 Qd7 ({Note how
important it is that} 24… Nxe2 {does not come with check at this moment (cf.
move 11).}) 25. Rxc1 e4 26. Rd1 h5 27. c5 {White’s pawn are all set to push
forward, trampling all opposition under-foot.} Kh7 28. Na5 Bh6 29. Qb3 Bf4 30.
d6 ({According to Mestel} 30. Rf1 {would have won more easily.}) 30… e3 31.
b7 (31. Rf1 $1 Qf5 32. g3 $18) 31… Rad8 32. c6 Qf5 33. c7 Rxd6 34. Rxd6 ({
Perhaps} 34. c8=Q {at once would have been stronger since Black’s bishop at f4
would have been loose after White’s Qxf7+} Rxd1+ 35. Bxd1 e2 36. Bxe2 Rxe2 37.
Qd1 Qe4 38. Qg1 (38. b8=Q $4 Qxg2#) 38… Rxg2 $1) 34… Bxd6 35. c8=Q Rxc8 36.
bxc8=Q Qxc8 37. Qxf7+ Kh6 38. Nc4 Bxb4 39. Qf4+ Kg7 40. Qxe3 a5 {[#] The time
control is reached and White is a piece for a pawn up. Black struggles on for
another 36 moves before bowing to the inevitable. There is some justification
for his stubbornness.: few pawns remain and White must beware of of being left
with bishop and “wrong-coloured” rook’s pawn. But it can truly be said that
the rest is just a matter of technique, which we include for the sake of
completeness.} 41. Qe5+ Kh6 42. Bd3 Qd8 (42… Qg4 43. Ne3 Qh4 44. g3 Qh3 45.
Nf5+ $18) 43. Qf4+ Qg5 44. Qxg5+ Kxg5 45. Bc2 Kf6 46. Kg1 g5 47. Kf2 g4 48. Kg3
Kg5 49. h4+ Kf6 50. Kf4 Be1 51. g3 Bb4 52. Ba4 Bc5 53. Be8 Bb4 54. Ke3 (54.
Bxh5 a4 55. Nb6 Bd2+ $1) 54… Be1 55. Kf4 (55. Nd2 $2 Ke7 $1) 55… Bb4 56.
Ba4 Bc5 57. Nd2 Bd6+ 58. Ke3 Ke7 59. Ne4 Be5 60. Kd3 Bb2 61. Kc4 Be5 62. Kd5
Bb8 63. Bb3 Kf7 64. Kc5+ Kg6 65. Be6 Bc7 66. Kc6 Bb8 67. Kb6 a4 68. Kb5 a3 69.
Kb4 a2 70. Bxa2 Kf5 71. Bb1 Ke5 72. Kc4 Bc7 73. Kd3 Bd8 74. Ba2 Bxh4 75. gxh4
Kf4 76. Nf6 1-0
[/pgn]

[pgn]
[Event “Olympiad-24”]
[Site “Valetta”]
[Date “1980.12.04”]
[Round “13”]
[White “Mestel, A Jonathan”]
[Black “Renman, Nils Gustaf”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C15”]
[WhiteElo “2450”]
[BlackElo “2425”]
[Annotator “George Botterill & BCN”]
[PlyCount “97”]
[EventDate “1980.11.20”]
[EventType “team-swiss”]
[EventRounds “14”]
[EventCountry “MLT”]
[SourceTitle “EXT 2000”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1999.11.16”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1999.11.16”]
[SourceQuality “1”]
[WhiteTeam “England”]
[BlackTeam “Sweden”]
[WhiteTeamCountry “ENG”]
[BlackTeamCountry “SWE”]

{[%evp 0,97,19,29,69,36,32,48,28,41,24,18,14,13,7,-15,19,11,8,-11,-11,-11,41,
22,23,-44,-7,11,18,-7,20,52,35,59,38,49,49,67,75,47,66,7,43,-85,-62,-66,-66,
-54,31,27,19,0,0,-3,23,24,6,14,5,-23,38,31,31,8,34,49,52,39,0,-7,98,136,522,
522,577,577,578,587,589,591,650,648,643,643,647,658,648,655,658,664,670,670,
664,711,768,767,767,895,1783,1109]} {Originally annotated in CHESS. Comments
are, in the main, from George Botterill as author of a piece on Mestel in
British Chess, Pergamon Press, 1983, page 180. Finally this game which won
Mestel the brilliancy prize in November 1980, Malta Olympiad.} 1. e4 {[%mdl 1]}
e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nge2 (4. e5 {is played in the vast majority of games.
}) 4… dxe4 5. a3 Be7 (5… Bxc3+ 6. Nxc3 f5 {keeps the pawn but is loosening.
}) 6. Nxe4 Nf6 7. Qd3 ({Ambroz v Uhlmann, Trencianske Teplice 1979 continued} 7.
Nxf6+ Bxf6 8. Be3 c5 9. dxc5 Qxd1+ 10. Rxd1 Bxb2 11. Rb1 Bf6 12. g3 $1 {
with an unclear position. The game was drawn in 30 moves.}) 7… Nbd7 8. Bf4
O-O 9. O-O-O Nxe4 10. Qxe4 c5 11. Nc3 Nf6 12. Qe1 cxd4 13. Be5 ({Stronger than
} 13. Nb5 Nd5 14. Rxd4 Bg5 $1 {when Black has a satisfactory position}) 13…
Qa5 14. Rxd4 Rd8 15. Ra4 $146 (15. Rxd8+ {was Gipslis-Krogius, Moscow, 1991.})
15… Qb6 ({Not} 15… Qc5 16. Rc4 {followed by Bc7 which would pick up the
exchange.}) 16. Rc4 Rd7 17. Bd3 a6 {[#]} {White’s bishops and active rook
dominate the board, and now begins a ferocious kingside attack.} 18. g4 Qd8 19.
g5 Nh5 20. Rg1 g6 21. Rh4 $1 Bxg5+ ({If now} 21… Rxd3 22. Rxh5 Rxc3 23. Bxc3
gxh5 24. Qe5 {wins}) 22. Rxg5 Qxg5+ 23. f4 Qe7 24. Rxh5 f6 ({Not} 24… gxh5
25. Qg1+ Kf8 26. Ne4) 25. Qg1 Rxd3 (25… fxe5 26. Bxg6 hxg6 (26… Qg7 27.
Bxh7+ (27. Rg5 h6 28. Rg2 {both leave White on top.}) 27… Kf7) 27. Qxg6+ Qg7
28. Qe8+ Qf8 29. Rh8+ {wins}) 26. cxd3 fxe5 27. fxe5 Qg7 28. Rg5 Bd7 29. Ne4
Rc8+ 30. Kb1 Bb5 31. Nf6+ Kh8 32. Qe3 Qc7 33. Rg2 Qc6 34. Rf2 {Now Black
launches a counter-attack which proves fatal to himself as it leaves how own
king undefended.} Qh1+ 35. Ka2 Rc1 36. Qh6 Ra1+ 37. Kb3 Qd1+ 38. Kb4 Qa4+ 39.
Kc5 b6+ 40. Kxb6 Qd4+ 41. Kb7 {and Black resigned without resumption.} {After}
Bc6+ 42. Kxc6 Qa4+ 43. Kd6 Qd4+ 44. Kxe6 Qb6+ 45. Kd5 Qb7+ 46. Kd4 {and Black
quickly runs out of checks.} Qb6+ 47. Ke4 Re1+ 48. Kf3 Qc6+ 49. Ne4 1-0
[/pgn]

It is nice to be able to conclude that since the above was written Mestel’s chess status has changed and the story of his near miss at Esbjerg in 1979 turns out to have a happy ending. His GM title was ratified by the FIDE Congress at Lucerne 1982*.”

*It transpired that the initial norm calculation in 1979 was incorrect and it should have been awarded after all. Better late than never!

Quite a good day!

Jonathan recounts that on St. George’s Day (April 23rd) 1982 he had an important interview in the morning in Cambridge which went very well followed by round eight of the Phillips and Drew Masters at the GLC in London against Lajos Portisch. Here is that game:

[pgn]
[Event “London Phillips&Drew”]
[Site “London”]
[Date “1982.04.23”]
[Round “8”]
[White “Mestel, A Jonathan”]
[Black “Portisch, Lajos”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B41”]
[WhiteElo “2500”]
[BlackElo “2630”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “65”]
[EventDate “1982.04.??”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “13”]
[EventCountry “ENG”]
[EventCategory “14”]
[SourceTitle “MCD”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,65,28,10,41,46,52,29,38,27,83,34,27,21,21,36,36,4,11,14,4,-28,-8,-14,
-12,-12,39,-19,111,98,98,-8,52,29,29,53,94,53,57,57,42,42,47,39,39,20,31,35,
254,254,254,242,257,204,233,190,281,302,303,295,343,353,353,217,884,934,1088,
1165]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. Bd3 Nc6
8. Bc2 Qc7 9. O-O O-O 10. Kh1 Nxd4 11. Qxd4 Ng4 12. f4 b5 13. Qd1 Nf6 14. e5
Ne8 15. Ne4 Bb7 16. cxb5 axb5 17. Be3 f6 18. exf6 Nxf6 19. Nxf6+ Rxf6 20. Rc1
Bc6 21. Bd4 Rh6 22. Bxg7 Bxg2+ 23. Kxg2 Qb7+ 24. Rf3 Kxg7 25. Qd4+ Kf7 26. Be4
d5 27. Rg3 Rg8 28. Qe5 Ba5 29. Bf3 Qb8 30. Bh5+ Rhg6 31. Rc6 Qe8 32. Ra6 Qc8
33. Ra7+ 1-0
[/pgn]

So quite a good day all in all!

From The Oxford Companion to Chess (OUP,  second edition, 1996) by Hooper & Whyld:

“English player, British Champion 1976, 1983 and 1988, World Under-18 Champion 1974, International] Grandmaster (1982). In the 1976 British Championship he made a record by winning 9 successive games. Mestel’s opportunities for master play are infrequent – he is a lecturer at a University; he scored perhaps his best at London 1977 when he was second ( +4=4—1) equal with Quinteros and Stean after Hort, and he has played several times in the English Olympiad team since 1976. Mestel also an outstanding solver of chess problems, has represented his country in world team solving championships, and was awarded the title of International Solving Master in 1986”

From The Encyclopaedia of Chess (Batsford, 1977), Harry Golombek wrote :

“British Master and British Champion 1976, who was born in Cambridge and packed into the three years 1974-6, in the period of time when he grew from seventeen to nineteen, more chess and more success than most people achieve in a long lifetime.

He first made his presence felt in the international field when he won the cadet championship at Pont Sainte–Maxene in France in 1974. This was an unofficial world under-18 championship and he confirmed this good impression by very nearly winning the British Championship in Clacton in the same year. He figured in a seven-way tie for first place but failed to win the play-off for the title.

The next he gained his first international master norm at the Birmingham international tournament where he finished equal second with Matera (USA) and Miles (England), a point below Matulovic of Yugoslavia whom he beat in their individual game.

He was little disappointing in the World Junior Championship at Tjentiste in Yugoslavia in 1975 in which he came third below the Russian Chekov and the US player Larry Christiansen. It was thought that, talented though he was, Mestel lacked stability and was too variable in his form to achieve the highest honours.

But the next year, 1976, was to show that was quite a false appreciation of his talents and character. First in April he won and international tournament which, if not as strong a the previous Birmingham, was still touch event to win ahead of the Yugoslav Grandmaster Damjanovic.

Then came a most remarkable achievement in the British Championship at Portsmouth where he won his first nine games in succession thereby winning the title and establishing a record for the British Championship with his run of victories.”

[pgn]
[Event “BCF-ch 79th”]
[Site “Plymouth”]
[Date “1992.??.??”]
[Round “8”]
[White “Mestel, A Jonathan”]
[Black “Summerscale, Aaron”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “D19”]
[WhiteElo “2510”]
[BlackElo “2305”]
[Annotator “Bulletin”]
[PlyCount “57”]
[EventDate “1992.08.??”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “11”]
[EventCountry “ENG”]
[SourceTitle “CBM 030 Extra”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1992.11.01”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1992.11.01”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,57,19,-12,30,25,36,25,19,12,11,-12,-14,17,22,22,22,27,23,18,33,68,53,
51,90,90,93,90,86,73,85,61,87,53,53,34,63,36,36,112,100,86,80,113,84,84,87,89,
180,207,280,222,223,218,242,236,255,278,283,289]} 1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d4 Nf6
4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8. O-O O-O 9. Qe2 Ne4 {[ A
relatively unusual move, 9..Nbd7 10.e4 Bg6 is the main line ]} 10. Bd3 $1 {
[ An excellent pawn sacrifice for space and time ]} Nxc3 $5 {[ I think this
may be new, 10..Bxc3 11.bxc3 Nxc3 12.Qc2 Bxd3 13.Qxd3 Nd5 14.Ba3 Re8 15.Rb1 b6
16.Rfc1 with good play was Euwe-Alekhine WCh 1937. ]} 11. bxc3 Bxc3 12. Rb1 Qc8
{[ To defend b7 and f5 ]} 13. Ba3 Re8 14. Bxf5 exf5 15. Ne5 Ba5
16. Qc4 Re6 17. e4 $3 {[#] [ Only this way, the e4 square must be blocked ]} (
17. Nxf7 Kxf7 18. d5 Re4 $1 $19) 17… Rf6 (17… fxe4 18. Nxf7 Kxf7 19. d5 {
[#]} Re5 20. dxc6+ Kf6 21. cxb7 $18) 18. Be7 $1 Re6 19. Bh4 {[ Black is still
defenceless against the coming sacrifice ]} fxe4 20. Nxf7 $1 {[#]} Kxf7 21. d5
b6 (21… Rd6 22. dxc6+ Kf8 23. cxb7 Qxc4 24. bxa8=Q $18) 22. dxe6+ Qxe6 23.
Rbc1 a6 24. Rfd1 Ra7 25. Qxe6+ Kxe6 26. Bg3 $18 Nd7 27. Rxc6+ Kf7 28. Bc7 Ke7
29. Rd4 1-0
[/pgn]

Mestel has his own named variation in the Giuoco Piano first played in Mestel-Doyle, Dublin 1975:

[fen]r1b1k1nr/ppppqppp/1bn5/4p1B1/2BPP3/2P2N2/PP3PPP/RN1QK2R b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

Olympiads and Team Events

According to Wikipedia : “Between 1976 and 1988, he was a frequent member of the English Chess Olympiad squad, winning three team medals (two silver and one bronze). In 1984, he earned an individual gold medal for an outstanding (7/9, 78%) performance on his board. Other notable results for English teams occurred in 1978 at the World Student Olympiad in Mexico and at the 1983 European Team Chess Championship in Plovdiv. Both of these events yielded gold-medal winning performances, the latter being exceptional for the highest percentage score (6/7, 85%) on any board. As a player of league chess, he has been a patron of the 4NCL since its earliest days and represented The Gambit ADs in the 2008/9 season.” Jonathan revealed that his most pleasing OTB performance ever was that of Plovdiv.

Solving and Composition

Jonathan has maintained a long time interest in problems and studies, both solving them and composing them.  In 1986 he was awarded the International Master title for solving and in 1997 the International Grandmaster title for solving and in the same year he won the World Chess Solving Championship.

He has represented England in the World Team Solving Championships on many occasions winning in 1986, 1990 (shared with USSR), and then a run of 2005, 2006 and 2007.

He has played many times in the Lloyds Bank and (now) Winton Capital sponsored British Solving Championships (quite often located at Eton College, Berkshire). He has won the individual title firstly in 1982-83 and then a further 17 times not to mention many times as runner-up.

Here are a few examples:

Firstly a prize winning study…

J. Mestel
1.p Niekarker Kruujebitter Ty (tt), 2006

[fen]8/4pP1k/5q1p/4p3/ppQpP3/3K1pp1/2P5/6R1 w – – 0 1[/fen]

[FEN “8/4pP1k/5q1p/4p3/ppQpP3/3K1pp1/2P5/6R1 w – – 0 1”]

White to Play
and Draw

SOLUTION

1.Qe6! [1.Qc8? Qxf7] 1…Qxe6 2.f8Q [2.f8N+? Kh8! (2…Kg8? 3.Nxe6 g2 4.Nxd4 exd4 5.Kxd4) 3.Nxe6 g2] 2…f2 [2…Qa6+ 3.Kd2 Qe2+ 4.Kc1 Qe3+ 5.Kb2] 3.Rxg3 f1Q+ [3…Qa6+ 4.Kd2 f1N+ 5.Kc1 Nxg3 6.Qf7+] 4.Qxf1 Qa6+ 5.c4! bxc3+ [5…dxc3+ 6.Ke3! (6.Kc2? b3+!) 6…Qxf1 7.Rg7+ Kh8 8.Rg8+ Kh7 9.Rg7+ Kxg7] 6.Kc2 Qxf1 7.Rg7+ Kh8 8.Rg8+ Kh7 9.Rg7+ Kxg7 ½-½

and another study:

[pgn]
[Event “The Problemist#0947”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2006.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Mestel=J”]
[Black “(+0321.00c1a1)”]
[Result “1-0”]
[SetUp “1”]
[FEN “4r3/2B5/8/8/8/8/N7/k1K4B w – – 0 1”]
[PlyCount “21”]
[EventDate “2006.??.??”]

{The Problemist=12 The Problemist/11.} 1. Bc6 $1 (1. Nb4 $2 Re1+ 2. Kc2 Rc1+ $1
3. Kxc1) 1… Re1+ (1… Rc8 2. Nb4 Rxc7 3. Nc2+ Ka2 4. Bd5+ Rc4 5. Bxc4#) 2.
Kd2 Re7 3. Bd8 Re6 4. Nb4 (4. Bd5 $2 Rd6) 4… Rd6+ 5. Kc2 $1 (5. Kc1 $2 Rxd8)
5… Rxd8 6. Kc1 $1 Rd6 7. Bb5 $1 Rb6 8. Nc2+ Ka2 9. Bc4+ Rb3 10. Nd4 Ka1 11.
Nxb3+ (11. Bxb3 $2) 1-0
[/pgn]

and another:

[pgn]
[Event “WCCC ty”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2006.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Mestel=J”]
[Black “(+0003.32e7h8)”]
[Result “1-0”]
[SetUp “1”]
[FEN “7k/4KPpn/7p/8/6P1/8/7P/8 w – – 0 1”]
[PlyCount “17”]
[EventDate “2006.??.??”]

1. Ke8 $1 (1. h4 $2 g5 $1) (1. h3 $2 g6 $1 2. f8=Q+ Nxf8 3. Kxf8 g5 4. Kf7 Kh7
5. Kf6 h5 $1) 1… Nf6+ 2. Kd8 Nh7 3. Ke7 g6 4. f8=Q+ Nxf8 5. Kxf8 g5 6. Kf7 (
6. h3 {} Kh7 7. Kf7) 6… Kh7 7. h3 h5 8. h4 gxh4 9. g5 1-0
[/pgn]

and

[pgn]
[Event “2.hm WCCC ty”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2005.11.08”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Mestel=J”]
[Black “(=3104.33f5h6) TT U1”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[SetUp “1”]
[FEN “1q6/5P2/n2p2Pk/5K2/1p2N1pP/8/4R3/8 w – – 0 1”]
[PlyCount “10”]
[EventDate “2005.11.08”]

{Uralski Problemist=43 (EG#14507). U1: Van_der_Heijden=H HHdbVI 28-10-2018.} 1.
Ng5 $1 (1. h5 $1 {} Qb5+ 2. Kf4 Qe5+ 3. Ke3 Qe7 4. Rf2 Qf8 5. Rf6 Nc5
6. Nxc5 dxc5 7. Re6) 1… Nc7 2. Re8 $1 Nxe8 3. f8=Q+ Ng7+ 4. Kf6 Qxf8+ 5. Nf7+
Kh5 1/2-1/2
[/pgn]

and

[pgn]
[Event “5.p St.Petersburg Festival”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “1998.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Mestel=J Comay=O”]
[Black “(=0061.31g6f8)”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[SetUp “1”]
[FEN “5k2/4bP2/b5K1/6P1/2p5/8/3P4/6N1 w – – 0 1”]
[PlyCount “13”]
[EventDate “1998.??.??”]

{(EG#11054).} 1. Nf3 Bb7 2. Ne5 Be4+ 3. Kh6 Bd6 4. Nxc4 Bf4 5. d3 $1 Bxd3 6.
Ne5 Bxe5 7. g6 $1 1/2-1/2
[/pgn]

and now a problem:

Jonathan Mestel
British Chess Magazine, 2007

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#3, 7+6

Here is his staff page from Imperial College, London

and his personal page may be found here

A.J.Mestel. Not Your Ordinary Grandmaster. by Neil Blackburn (aka Simaginfan).

Here is his Wikipedia entry

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