We send best wishes to GM Nigel Davies on his birthday, this day (July 31st) in 1960.
Nigel Rodney Davies was born in Southport, Merseyside.
He lived in the Wirral, Merseyside, moved to Sidcup and then to St. Helen’s, Merseyside where he resides with his chess playing son, Sam who is ECF 1928A currently.
In July 2020 Nigel graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Computing from Edge Hill University.
Nigel Davies (centre) at a Lloyds Bank event
He became an FIDE Master in 1980, an International Master in 1982 and a Grandmaster in 1993.
Nigel Davies
He won the British Under-21 Championship in 1979 (Chester) and the British Rapidplay Championship in 1987.
Nigel receives a much welcome prize (in Manchester) from Miss Benedictine in 198?
He won The Regency Ramsgate Masters 1980, Wrexham 1994, Katrineholm 1995 and the Blackpool Hilton Premier in 2003.
In 2015 Nigel transferred his international allegiance from England (the English Chess Federation) to Wales (Welsh Chess Union). He maintains an ECF standard play rating of 2448E.
William Watson, Jonny Hector, Alexander Khalifman, Jonathan Tisdall and Nigel Davies at the 1991 Watson, Farley, Williams tournament in London.
His peak FIDE rating was 2530 in January 1995 at the age of 35.
Nigel is an active user of Twitter and may be found @GMNigelDavies
In 2020 the Welsh Chess Union successfully endorsed Nigel’s application to FIDE to become a FIDE Senior Trainer which he became in 2021:
Nigel Davies, FIDE Senior Trainer
Nigel has had many books and DVDs published :
The Chess Player’s Battle Manual. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-7043-7The Power Chess Program. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-8415-2.The Grünfeld Defence. Everyman Chess. ISBN 1-85744-239-3.The Veresov. Everyman Chess. ISBN 9781857443356.The Dynamic Reti. Everyman Chess. ISBN 9781857443523.The Trompowsky. Everyman Chess. ISBN 1857443764.King’s Indian Attack. Hamburg: ChessBase. ISBN 978-3-86681-071-6.Starting Out: The Modern. Everyman Chess. ISBN 9781857445664.Play the Catalan. Gloucester Publishers plc (formerly Everyman Publishers plc). ISBN 9781857445916.
From https://achievement.org/achiever/demis-hassabis-ph-d/ :
Demis Hassabis, the eldest of three, was born in London on July 27, 1976, to a Greek Cypriot father and a Chinese Singaporean mother.
(Originally his surname was spelt Hassapis and his brother George retained this spelling.)
“Demis Hassabis was born in London, England. He is of both Greek and Chinese ancestry; his father came from Cyprus, his mother from Singapore. Demis and his family moved frequently as his father pursued a variety of business and creative ventures.
Demis was four years old when he saw his father and an uncle playing chess and asked them to teach him the game. He took to it quickly and was soon beating both of them. He showed a precocious aptitude for all games employing logic and strategy. ”
Demis Hassabis
When 13 (in 1989) Demis achieved a FIDE rating of 2300 which, at the time, was the second highest rating for his age. First highest was Judit Polgar.
Demis was SCCU Under-18 champion in 1989 and was presented with the “old Trophy” according to the SCCU report.
Lawrence Cooper, Demis Hassabis, Cathy Haslinger and Dharshan Kumaran in around 1986. Possibly at a Lloyds Bank event.
Demis was a Candidate Master and brother of George Hassapis.
Demis started off with Hampstead Junior Chess Club.
He then played for Barnet Knights, Queens College College Union and Finchley chess clubs.
Demis Hassabis courtesy of Cathy Rogers
According to Tryfon Gavriel :
Demis wrote a hit computer game called “The theme park”, that was at the top of the charts for six months and sold than more 3.5 million copies. He also did quite well in the 1997 Mind Sports Olympiad.
Demis Hassabis, IMMO KLINK/CONTOUR BY GETTY IMAGES
Hassabis returned to academia to obtain his PhD in cognitive neuroscience from University College London (UCL) in 2009 supervised by Eleanor Maguire. He sought to find inspiration in the human brain for new AI algorithms.
“Demis Hassapis is a former chess prodigy who recently sold his company to Google for £400 million. Demonstrating that if you have the brainpower to be good at chess, you are far better off putting that intelligence to use in some other activity where you might actually get rewarded. Then in fairness, even most strong chess players aren’t as bright as Demis.”
In May 2021 Demis was cited by Dominic Cummings in his evidence to the Commons Heath, and Science and Technology committees as having played an important contribution to managing and understanding the PHE and NHS data during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK.
“Professional Chess Player. A native of Croydon, England, Gilbert became the youngest person ever to win the Women’s World Chess Federation Master Title.
A talented chess player since the age of 8, she also won the Women’s World Amateur Championship when she represented England in 1999 at the age of 11.
In a career that spanned over seven years she played in over 153 matches in such events as the Gibtelcom Chess Festival, the 7th European Championship, Ilsan 1st, 37th Chess Olympiad, Hastings Chess Congress, Hastings Master Op, Coventry Op, and the Gausdal Byggern Masters.
On July 26, 2006, while in Pardubice, Czech Republic, to play in the Czech Open, she mysteriously fell to her death from the balcony of her room on the eighth floor of the Hotel Labe. Gilbert was only 19 years old.”
We send best wishes to GM Julian Hodgson on his birthday, this day July 25th) in 1963.
Julian Michael Hodgson was born at St. Mary Abbott’s Hospital, Marloes Road, Kensington, West London son of (Ronald) George Hodgson and Johanna Hodgson (née Birch) and the birth was registered in the district of Hammersmith.
Julian’s father has asserted to be a descendent of George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys and we are looking to establish this claim following further research.
Julian attended St. Paul’s School (See below) and then attended The University of Leicester for one year.
Julian married Lizette and David Norwood was his Best Man.
Julian and Lizette Hodgson
(Curiously both Felice and Gaige state Julian was born in Saint Asaph in Wales. This is incorrect.)
Julian Hodgson
Harry Golombek wrote this about Julian in a 1980 Dataday chess diary :
“I think that the first time I saw Julian Hodgson in play was some four years ago in a London tournament. Upon my arrival Leonard Barden told him that he must now be careful how he played as Golombek was watching.
Julian and Nigel Short play Korchnoi in a simul. Leonard Barden observes.
“Who”, enquired the twelve-year old Julian, “is Golombek?”
Neil Carr and Julian Hodgson at the 1976 Lloyds Bank Match by Telex, London – New York. From BCM, volume XCVI (96) Number 11 (August), Page 494. The venue was the Bloomsbury Hotel, London. Photo courtesy of Lloyds Bank.Julian Hodgson aged 13 in 1976 giving a simultaneous display at the Guildhall in London scoring +14=2-4. Photograph courtesy of the Keystone agency.
I felt grateful at the time that he did not say who or what is Golombek but I tell this story chiefly to show the cheerful insouciance with which Master Hodgson treated all comers whether chess masters or chess rabbits.
Julian playing Simon L Triggs. Event and photographer unknown
Julian astonishing maturity as a player has been impressive ever since at the age of ten, he won the Southern Counties Under 14 Championships in 1973. Since then he has acquired a host of such championships culminating in the British Under-21 Championship in 1977.
Streatham & Brixton becoming BCF National Club Champions in 1989. The team was Tony Kosten, Mark Hedben, Daniel King, Nigel Povah (Captain), Joe Gallagher and Julian Hodgson : quite a strong team
Perhaps his most remarkable performance so far has been his equal 3rd in a strong challengers section at Hastings where he scored 7.5 out of 10. 1977 was a good year for him and here, from the Lloyds Bank Silver Jubilee Tournament of that year is his fine win over a strong opponent :
Here is his entry (written by Richard W O’Brien) in British Chess (Pergamon Press, 1983, Botterill, Levy, Rice and Richardson) :
“Following a series of excellent results Julian, at the tender age of 11, became the second youngest ever to play in an international tournament when he took part in the London Chess Club International Invitation tournament in September 1974. Only Reshevsky had been younger. Julian’s first opponent was Michael Woodhams, an Australian international who had just scored 15.5/18 in the recent Olympiad (Nice)
The following year he became the youngest player ever to win the London Amateur Championship. A year later he reached a grading of 200 (BCF), only Reshevsky, Pomar, Karpov and Kasparov had done so at an earlier age.
By now he was at St. Paul’s School, which was in the process of becoming one of the strongest chess playing schools in the country. In 1977 he shared first place with WN Watson (also St. Paul’s) in the British U21 Championship. Progress was however not as fast as had at one time been anticipated
It was at Ramsgate, late in 1980 before his first IM norm. A month later he finished second in the Hastings Challenger. Other good results followed in 1981. First he was selected for the Glorney Cup and shortly afterwards did well to come fourteenth in the British Championship (Morecambe). He represented England in the World Youth Team championships scoring 4/6. His second IM norm followed when he shared fifth place at Manchester in the same year. Good results in weekend congresses meant that he finished fourth in the Leigh Grand Prix. The year had finished with Julian needing a draw in the last round at Ramsgate to get his title. He lost and was to wait another 12 months to achieve his final norm.
The England Team from the 1990 Novi Sad Olympiad : John Nunn, Jon Speelman, Julian Hodgson, David Anderton OBE (Captain), Nigel Short, Michael Adams and Murray Chandler
When the final norm came it arrived out of the blue. With a score of 2.5/5 at Lewisham in November 1982 the chances seemed remote, 3.5/4 was required against a strong field and it even seemed doubtful whether he could actually play those he needed to play. He scored 2.5/3 and now had to play Jon Tisdall, who still had a chance of winning the tournament.
Julian finished second equal in the tournament behind Jim Plaskett who had beaten him earlier.
Julian Hodgson
The next six weeks saw Julian come equal first in the Pergamon sponsored British Lightning championship, a highly creditable sixth in the Nightflight International at Brighton (equivalent to an IM rating) and second place yet again in the Hastings Challengers.
John Delaney plays Julian Hodgson at the Bath Zonal Tournament in 1987
Earlier in 1983 he scored 6.5/9 at Lugano, probably Europe’s strongest ever Swiss (Swiss !) tournament, losing narrowly to Jan Timman.
Julian Hodgson. Event and photographer unknown.
He left Leicester University after just one year preferring to concentrate on chess.
FM Andrew Whiteley, IM Julian Hodgson and FM Byron Jacobs at Cappelle Le Grand, 1988. Photograph by Caroline Winkler
He plays fairly regularly for Streatham & Brixton Chess Club which encouraged juniors for several years. Daniel King is another junior who also played frequently for Streatham. ”
{[%evp 0,100,19,31,113,114,97,101,108,123,114,88,126,84,87,67,62,65,48,47,76,
43,42,36,44,47,73,45,42,45,105,117,116,98,112,88,88,90,134,64,83,41,87,41,63,
77,64,62,55,71,112,32,83,73,87,110,149,-23,-26,-81,-60,-54,-76,-80,-9,-28,-11,
-44,4,-33,-17,-123,-67,-272,-74,-73,20,-57,-18,-47,-100,-100,-148,-346,-346,
-449,-488,-507,-507,-507,-525,-554,-554,-838,-920,-920,-920,-994,-681,-703,
-692,-712,-453] This game was important to me. I needed to win with the Black
pieces against a strong International Master to gain my third and final IM
norm. It was a game of many errors but nevertheless for me a satisfying one.}
1. d4 b5 $5 {This may seem an unusual move to play in such important
circumstances. But it has served me well in the past and I wanted an
unbalanced position.} 2. e4 Bb7 3. Bxb5 {White accepts the challenge. This is
one of the strongest continuations against the Polish Defence.} Bxe4 4. Nf3 e6
5. O-O Nf6 6. Re1 Be7 7. Bg5 Bb7 8. c4 $1 {This is much better} ({than} 8. Nc3
{when it is Black who will have the advantage due to to far greater control of
the centre.} O-O 9. Qe2 d6 10. Rad1 Nbd7 11. Bc1) 8… O-O 9. Nc3 d6 $2 {
It may seem strange to give this move a question mark but it was essential} ({
to play} 9… h6 {first and commit the black squared bishop first.}) 10. Qe2
Nbd7 11. d5 $1 e5 {White has bind on the Queenside and, as will become evident
Black will find it extremely difficult to organise counterplay on the kingside.
} 12. Rad1 h6 {Now it is too late !} 13. Bc1 $1 Qc8 {The start of a faulty
plan.} ({I dismissed} 13… Ne8 {on account of} 14. Nd4 $1 {when white has a
clear advantage.}) {I underestimated white’s next move.} 14. Nh4 $1 ({I had
expected} 14. b4 a5 15. a3 axb4 16. axb4 c6 17. dxc6 Bxc6 {when I thought
White had only a slight advantage. The move played was much stronger.}) 14…
Nb6 15. Qf3 $1 Qd8 $16 {[#] An admission of defeat. White’s last five moves
have been extremely accurate and he now stands much better. Fortunately my
opponent spent quite a long time finding the “best moves”.} 16. Nf5 Bc8 17. c5
Bxf5 18. Qxf5 Nbd7 19. cxd6 cxd6 {It was about this time that my opponent
seemed to become agitated. My position was more resilient than he thought.
Nevertheless he does miss several very strong continuations in the next couple
of moves.} 20. Qh3 h5 {I could not think of anything else. As you will see
this pawn has a great future.} 21. Ne4 Nxe4 22. Rxe4 f5 23. Rc4 ({Stronger is}
23. Ra4 {when Black is losing a pawn} {though after} Nc5 24. Ra3 Bg5 $1 {
Black is not without chances}) 23… h4 $1 24. Be3 g5 25. Qf3 Rf7 (25… g4 $2
{is met by} 26. Rxg4+ $1 $18 fxg4 (26… Kh7 27. Bd3) 27. Qxg4+ Kh8 28. Qh5+
Kg8 29. Rd4 $1 Rf7 30. Rg4+ Rg7 31. Rxg7+ Kxg7 32. Bh6+ Kh8 33. Bg5+ Kg8 34.
Qg6+ Kh8 35. Qh6+ Kg8 36. Qe6+ Kg7 37. Bxe7 $18) 26. Bc6 Rb8 27. Bxa7 Rxb2 28.
Qc3 $2 $13 {The position is now unclear but I feel that Black is over the
worst.} ({White should have played} 28. Qa3 $1 Re2 $8 29. Kf1 Re4 30. Rxe4 fxe4
$16 {when the white a-pawn will take some stopping}) 28… Rxa2 29. Ba4 Nb6 $1
$17 {My opponent had overlooked this move.} 30. Qb3 Nxc4 31. Qxa2 Nb6 32. Rb1
Nd7 33. Qc2 Bf8 34. h3 e4 $1 {White now should have considered exchanging his
white squared bishop for Black’s knight.} 35. Rb7 (35. Bxd7 Rxd7 36. Be3 Bg7)
35… Ne5 36. Rb8 Qf6 $2 (36… Qa5 $1 {is winning.} {At the time I had seen}
37. Be3 Qe1+ 38. Kh2 g4 {when I thought} 39. Bf4 {was holding} {but now comes}
e3 $1 (39… g3+ 40. fxg3 (40. Bxg3 Ng4+ 41. hxg4 hxg3+ 42. Kxg3 f4+ 43. Kh4
Qh1+ 44. Kg5 Qh6#) 40… hxg3+ 41. Bxg3 Ng4+ 42. hxg4 Rh7+ 43. Bh4 Rxh4#)) 37.
Bb6 Kh7 38. Be8 Rg7 39. Qc8 g4 {Black now threatens 40…Nf3+ and 41…Qa1+
mating} 40. hxg4 Rxg4 41. Kf1 $8 h3 $1 42. Bd8 {[#] An incredible postion has
been reached in which all White’s pieces are on Black’s back row. Black is
winning by just one tempo.} hxg2+ 43. Ke2 Be7 ({Simplest is} 43… g1=Q 44.
Bxf6 Rf4 {but I wanted two queens and almost paid for my greed.}) 44. Bxe7 Qxe7
45. Bh5 $1 {White’s only chance. This move came as a complete shock.} ({After}
45. Qxf5+ Kg7 {White can do nothing.}) 45… Qf6 $1 ({I had visions of such
lines as} 45… Qg7 46. Qxf5+ Kh6 47. Bxg4 Qxg4+ 48. Qxg4 Nxg4 49. Rb1 {
and Black will certainly not win.}) 46. Bxg4 fxg4 47. Qg8+ Kh6 48. Rf8 Qf3+ $1
49. Rxf3 exf3+ ({Prettier would have been} 49… gxf3+ 50. Ke3 Ng6) 50. Ke3
g1=Q {White will soon run out of checks.} 0-1
[/pgn]
This is what was written about Julian prior to the 1979 Spassky vs the BCF Junior Squad simultaneous display : “St Paul’s and Shepherds Bush. Rating 210. Standard London Amateur Champion at age 12, 1975.
Standard London under-18 champion, 1976. British under-21 co-champion, 1977. Youngest ever to beat two grandmasters in successive games, 1978.”
Aside from more formal achievements, he developed a sharp, relentless, attacking style of play and against lesser opponents this frequently resulted in devastating quick wins, earning him the epithet “Grandmaster of Disaster”.
Hans Ree plays Julian Hodgson at the Cannes Team Tournament, 1992
Hodgson’s greatest legacy as a chess player may however lie in his resurrection of an almost forgotten opening system. The Trompowsky Attack (1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5) had floundered in the doldrums for many years, prior to his adoption and development of the opening. In interviews, he reveals that this was born out of laziness and a reluctance to learn established chess opening theory. It soon became his weapon of choice with the white pieces, leading to a surprising popularisation of the system, the spawning of a whole generation of devotees and ironically, a number of theoretical guides, containing a high quota of Hodgson’s own games and analysis. Indeed, his expert treatment of the system once prompted fellow grandmaster Joe Gallagher to write that it should be renamed the Hodgson–Trompowsky Attack, a view shared by many other masters. A chess journalist once wrote that Hodgson put the ‘romp’ into Trompowsky.
A related, but more obscure version of the system (1.d4 d5 2.Bg5), has been dubbed by some the Hodgson Attack and by others the Pseudo-Trompowsky or Queen’s Bishop Attack.
[fen]rnbqkb1r/pppppppp/5n2/6B1/3P4/8/PPP1PPPP/RN1QKBNR b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]
and
[fen]rnbqkbnr/ppp1pppp/8/3p2B1/3P4/8/PPP1PPPP/RN1QKBNR b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]
Julian, Dominic Lawson and Matthew SadlerChess Traveller’s Quiz Book, Julian Hodgson, Cadogan Press, 1996, ISBN-13 : 978-1857440300Attack with Julian Hodgson, Book No.1Attack with Julian Hodgson, Book No.2Quick Chess KnockoutsJulian Hodgson drawn by Rupert van der Linden
We are delighted to offer (Arthur) John Roycroft best wishes on his birthday, this day (July 25th) in 1929.
John was born in Hendon, London and his mother’s maiden name was Banks.
AJR aged 9, courtesy of the BCPS web site.
John moved to Brighton and then evacuated to Calcot, North Wales and returned to Brighton when the threat of war had subsided.
He married Betty in 1961 and they had a son and a daughter and now have several grand children.
He claimed that he had never suffered a common cold.
John is Platinum Life Member of the English Chess Federation and an “ECF Supporter”.
The Chess Endgame Study
“From The Oxford Companion to Chess (Oxford University Press, 1984) by David Hooper and Ken Whyld :
English study composer and author, International Judge of Chess Compositions (1959), Computer systems analyst.
In 1965 he founded EG, a quarterly publication which became the world’s first and only long-running magazine devoted wholly to studies.
His Test Tube Chess (1972), the best English language guide to the art of studies., was revised and republished as The Chess Endgame Study (1981).
Test Tube Chess, AJ Roycroft, Faber and Faber Limited, 1972, ISBN 0 571 09573 9
Studies are commonly classified by means of the GBR code of which he was co-inventor.”
From The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale, 1970 & 1976) by Anne Sunnucks :
“FIDE Judge of Endgame Studies. Born on 25th July 1929. Founder of the Chess Endgame Study Circle in London in March 1965.and its quarterly magazine EG, the first and only publication exclusively devoted to the composed chess ending. Roycroft who is a computer systems analyst and lives in London, has composed about 20 endgame studies.”
AJ Roycroft
“EG” July 1965
[fen]5B2/8/7N/1pK5/2p5/2Rbn3/1k6/8 w – – 0 1[/fen]
Marcus Harvey at the 2013 Hastings International Congress, Courtesy of John Upham Photography
BCN wishes Happy Birthday to IM Marcus Ross Harvey born on this day (Wednesday, July 24th) in 1996. Killing Me Softly by the Fugees was top of the hit parade.
Marcus was born in Oxford and attended The Marlborough School, Woodstock, Oxfordshire and then (in 2014) at The University of Southampton he studied mathematics.
Originally playing for Bicester Marcus now represents Witney Chess Club in local leagues.
Marcus first played in the British Championship in 2011 (Sheffield).
Marcus Harvey at the 2013 King’s Place Rapidplay, courtesy of John Upham Photography
Originally playing for Oxford he now plays for Wood Green in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) and Southampton University in the Southampton League.
Marcus playing IM Yang-Fan Zhou at the 2013 Delancey UKCC Terafinal at Loughborough Grammar School. Courtesy of John Upham Photography.
In 2014 Marcus won the title of “Strat” (the overall Terafinal winner) of the 2014 Delancey UK Chess Challenge at Loughborough Grammar School.
Marcus Harvey at the 2013 Delancey UKCC Terafinal at Loughborough Grammar School, courtesy of John Upham Photography.
Marcus has a FIDE rating of 2440 and an ECF grading of 240.
2014 Delancey UKCC Terafinal winner, Marcus Harvey at Loughborough Grammar School. Courtesy of John Upham Photography
In 2018 he won the Witney Open outright with 4/5 and, in the same year, was runner-up to David Howell in the UK Blitz Open with 12.5/15 and a of 2589.
In 2019 he was =1st (with Mark Hebden) in the 4NCL Easter Open in Stevenage. Later that year Marcus was losing semi-finalist (to Gawain Jones) in the London Classic Blitz Knockout.
Marcus, on home ground, won the 43rd Kidlington Open in 2020 and followed this with and is the current 2020 English Online Blitz Champion beating IM Andrew Greet, FM Jonah Willow, IM Ameet Ghasi and IM Andrew Horton in the final.
Marcus overcame Rory McLean, Theo Koury, Steven Coles, FM Alexis Harakis, CM Jonathan Pein and rapidplay / blitz specialist IM Ameet Ghasi to share first place.
Over the 19th – 23rd August 2021 Marcus played in the Wood Green Invitational round-robin event at Oddfellows Hall, Stafford.
Marcus scored 6/9 and secured his second International Master Norm and a TPR of 2532.
<img class=” wp-image-18696″ src=”http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/untitled_wgi.jpg” alt=”Wood Green Invitational Round-Robin event at Oddfellows Hall, Stafford. August Bank Holiday Weekend, 2021″ width=”654″ height=”229″ /> Wood Green Invitational Round-Robin event at Oddfellows Hall, Stafford. August Bank Holiday Weekend, 2021
Over the August Bank Holiday weekend of 2021 Marcus played in the Northumbrian Masters GM Tournament at the splendid Marriott MetroCentre, Gateshead scoring 6/9 and TPR of 2559 and earing his fourth IM norm. His standard play rating of 2451 (September 2021) is sufficient and now only requires the next FIDE Congress to ratify the IM title.
Marcus enjoys playing the Smyslov-Larsen opening with white
[fen cal=Gb2b3] rnbqkbnr/ppp1pppp/8/3p4/8/1P3N2/P1PPPPPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq – 0 1 [/fen]
and the classical French and the Nimzo-Indian Defence.
It is clear that Marcus is now surely a strong candidate for England’s next Grandmaster.
We wish Tony Kosten best wishes on his birthday, this day (July 24th) in 1958.
Tony was born in North Eastern Surrey, and eventually relocated to France where he now resides.
Tony is married to Gyongyver Kosten-Forintos, the daughter of Hungarian Grandmaster Győző Forintos.
Streatham & Brixton becoming BCF National Club Champions in 1989. The team was Tony Kosten, Mark Hedben, Daniel King, Nigel Povah (Captain), Joe Gallagher and Julian Hodgson : quite a strong team
Tony played for Lower Earley Chess Club in the Berkshire League and for Streatham & Brixton in the National Club competition.
He was =3rd in the 1982 British Championship in Torquay (won by Tony Miles)
He was =2nd in the 1984 Robert Silk Young Masters.
He won the Berkshire Chess Association Quickplay title in 1985.
Tony was runner-up to Yuri Balashov at Minsk 1986.
He won Naujac 2000 with 7.5/9
Tony won many other events : See his Wikipedia entry for details.
Tony Kosten (fourth from left) at a NatWest Bank sponsored event
Tony is the founder of chesspublishing.com, a subscription based web site specialising in cutting edge opening theory with many contributors.
He plays for Guildford in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) is registered as a member of the French federation. He also plays for Schott Mainz in the German Team Championship.
According to Megabase 2020 his highest FIDE rating was 2551 in July 2002 at the age of 44.
With the white pieces Tony prefers the Ruy Lopez and Giuoco Piano with the English coming a close second.
With black Tony defends the Lopez and the Nimzo-Indian defence.
{[%evp 0,101,27,41,73,77,92,75,87,68,70,67,65,46,40,45,61,35,38,10,5,16,33,3,
13,22,22,17,20,7,27,18,75,19,22,-2,32,18,24,22,78,54,60,52,69,35,64,88,97,106,
137,113,135,63,148,112,115,101,110,122,153,169,169,159,166,170,150,123,116,81,
96,93,138,125,119,148,148,163,192,192,183,177,177,192,179,196,195,196,222,222,
363,398,579,586,586,386,29989,29988,29989,29990,29991,29992,29993,29994]} 1. e4
{Somewhat unusual for me. I haven’t played this very often in serious games
for many years, as I normally prefer the English Opening. Why, you are
probably wondering, did I play it here, then? For the simple reason that, in
my preparation, I noticed that my opponent liked to play Hanham’s Variation of
Philidor’s Defence. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it is a good
defence, it is just that I have played it many times myself, as Black, and
have even written a book about the Philidor. So, I hoped that my opponent
would play the Philidor against me, but I didn’t think that he would dare!} d6
{Phew! I don’t know what I would have done if he had played something else!} 2.
d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 {I believe this to be the best way to reach this position for
Black, as the endgame following 4 dxe5 dxe5 5 Qxd8+ Kxd8 is nothing much for
White.} 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. Bc4 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. a4 c6 {Thus, we have reached one
of the main Hanham positions. There were several different lines that I wanted
to try, but eventually I decided to play an aggressive one.} 8. Ba2 b6 9. Be3
Bb7 10. Nd2 {This is a good move, sometimes the knight can come to c4, to
pressurise the d6-square, but I had another idea in mind.} a6 {Correct, Black
prepares his queenside counterplay with …b5, if White does nothing he can
easily find himself at a disadvantage.} 11. f4 {The point, and similar to a
plan Alekhine once employed, White opens the f-file.} b5 12. Qf3 exd4 {I think
that this is the right moment for this, otherwise, White might play dxe5, and
f5, g4-g5, with a powerful attack.} 13. Bxd4 b4 14. Ne2 c5 15. Be3 Qc7 16. Ng3
Rae8 {Black targets the e4-pawn, and restricts White’s mobility.} 17. Bf2 {
This seems like a waste of a move, but e4 needed defending.} Bd8 18. Rfe1 {
The f-rook comes here, because the a-rook has its place ready on the open
d-file.} Qc6 {I had half-expected my opponent to try the pawn sacrifice} (18…
d5 $5 {when} 19. exd5 Nb6 20. Nde4 Nxe4 21. Nxe4 c4 {offers Black reasonable
compensation, as the black pieces seem active.}) 19. Bb3 {Played with the
intention of continuing 20 a5, and 21 Ba4, which explains my opponent’s reply.}
a5 20. Bc4 $1 {Coming to b5, there are a lot of black pieces on the a4-e8
diagonal!} Qc7 {With this pawn structure, Black can ill-afford to exchange
light-squared bishops by} (20… Ba6 21. Rad1 {as if} Bxc4 22. Nxc4 {the
d6-pawn becomes a real problem.}) 21. Rad1 g6 {Finally, Black defends against
the threat of Nf5.} 22. Bb5 Re6 $6 {Perhaps Black should have taken the
opportunity to get rid of his backward d-pawn by} (22… d5 23. e5 d4 {
although, it is true, after} 24. Nge4 {Black’s light squares are weak.}) 23.
Nc4 Rfe8 24. f5 $1 Rxe4 {Of course, Black is forced into giving-up the
exchange as} (24… gxf5 $2 25. Nxf5 Nxe4 26. Bxd7 Qxd7 27. Qg4+ {wins,} Rg6 $4
28. Nh6+ {and the queen is lost.}) 25. Nxe4 Rxe4 26. Rxe4 Bxe4 27. Qe2 d5 28.
Bg3 Qa7 29. fxg6 $1 {The sting in the tail, which reduces Black’s compensation
for the exchange to just one pawn.} hxg6 30. Nd6 {The second point, White will
exchange Black’s powerful e4-bishop.} c4+ 31. Bf2 (31. Kh1 $1 {may have been
even better, but I had seen a way to a simple win, and so I didn’t hesitate.})
31… Bb6 32. Bxd7 Nxd7 33. Nxe4 dxe4 34. Bxb6 Qxb6+ 35. Kh1 Qc6 {The position
is quite lost for Black, for instance, the tactical} (35… Nf6 {loses a pawn
to} 36. Qxc4 {as} Ng4 $4 {is impossible:} 37. Qc8+ {picking-up the knight.})
36. Qd2 $1 {Black is given no time to set up his defence.} Nf8 {Unfortunately
for Black, the natural move} (36… Nf6 {allows} 37. Qd8+ Kg7 $4 (37… Kh7 {
is better, but} 38. Qe7 {forces} Qe6 {which is hopeless.}) 38. Rd6) 37. Qd5
Qxa4 38. Qxc4 e3 39. b3 Qe8 40. Re1 {Winning the e-pawn. I expected my
opponent to resign here, but he must have felt that he still had a chance.} Qe5
41. Qd3 Qb2 42. h3 {A precaution against back-rank mates.} Ne6 43. Rxe3 Nd4 44.
Kh2 a4 45. bxa4 Nxc2 46. Re8+ Kg7 47. Qd6 Qc1 {This allows White to force mate
in two different ways, but which one should I choose?} 48. Qf8+ (48. Qe5+ f6 {
amount to the same} 49. Re7+ Kh6 50. Qxf6 {but why allow a spite check?}) 48…
Kf6 49. Qh8+ Kg5 50. Qe5+ f5 51. Qe7+ (51. Qe7+ Kh5 52. Rh8+ Qh6 53. g3 $1 Qxh8
54. Qh4#) 1-0
[/pgn]
Tony KostenWinning Endgames, Crowood, 1987Winning with the Philidor, Batsford, 1992101 Tips to Improve your Chess, Batsford, 1996The Dynamic English, Gambit, 1999
Sir George Thomas, President of the Anglo-Soviet Chess Circle. Captain of the British Team
We remember Sir George Alan Thomas who died on July 23rd, 1972
Signature of GA Thomas from a Brian Reilly “after dinner” postcard from Hastings Christmas Congress, 1945-1946
From The Encyclopedia of Chess (BT Batsford, 1977) by Harry Golombek :
“British international master, born in Constantinople (previously Byzantium and currently Istanbul : Ed.) His mother (Lady Edith Margaret Thomas : Ed) was one of the strongest English women players, winner of the first Ladies tournament at Hastings 1895.
(Ed : his father was Sir George Sydney Meade Thomas)
Thomas was an all-round athlete who excelled at tennis, hockey and badminton as well as chess. He captained the English badminton team and was All England Badminton Singles champion from 1920 to 1923.”
Sir George Alan Thomas : “During his playing career, he won 78 national titles in the United Kingdom and a further 12 French titles; he also competed in 29 out of 30 English internationals, winning 50 matches in the process.”
Here is an excellent article (albeit stating GT was a Grandmaster and was president of the British Chest Federation!) from the National Badminton Museum.
“Thomas won the British chess championship twice, in 1923 and 1934 and represented England in the Olympiads of 1927 where he tied with Norman Hansen for the best score – 80% on board 3, 1930, 1931, 1935, 1937 and 1939.
Passenger list from RMS Alacantra showing Sir George Thomas arriving at Buenos Aires on September 19th, 1939Entry for Sir George Thomas from above image.
In international tournaments his greatest successes were 1st at Spa (ahead of Tartakower) and =1st at Hastings 1934/5 (tied with Euwe and Flohr, ahead of Capablanca and Botvinnik).
Sir George Thomas, British Chess Champion, Southsea Congress, 1923 Photograph by Gilbert N Fulcher, Southsea
He was known for his keen sense of sportsmanship and for his ability to encourage and inspire younger players. He served for many years on the BCF Junior selection committee and was for a time Games Editor of the British Chess Magazine. FIDE awarded him the titles of international master (1950) and International Judge (1952). (article by Ray Keene)”
British chess champion Sir George Thomas playing at the Annual British Chess Federation Championship in Yarmouth, England, July 11th 1935. (Photo by Harry Todd/Fox Photos/Getty Images)
Thomas with the White pieces was predominantly a Ruy Lopez devotee.
With the Black pieces against 1.e4 he defended the Lopez and the Queen’s Gambit Declined was his favourite versus 1.d4
From The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale 1972 and 1976) by Anne Sunnucks :
“International Master (1950), International Judge (1952) and British Champion in 1923 and 1934. All England Badminton Singles Champion, All England Badminton Doubles Champion, Wimbledon tennis player and county hockey player.
Sir George Thomas was born in Constantinople on 14th June 1881. His mother, Lady Thomas, won the first ever ladies’ tournament, which was held in conjunction with the Hastings International Chess Tournament of 1895.
He learned the moves at the age of 4, and as a boy met many of the world’s leading players, including Steinitz, Lasker, Tchigorin and Pillsbury, in his mother’s drawing-room.
Scene at London. From left to right – Seated : Fairhurst, List and Winter in play. Standing König and Sir George Thomas
Apart from serving as a subaltern in the Army during the 1914-1918 war, Sir George has devoted his life to sport. He played tennis at Wimbledon, played hockey for Hampshire, captained the English Badminton team and was All England Badminton Singles Champion from 1920-1923 and doubles champion nine times.
Sir George Thomas And Brian Reilly Sir George Thomas (left), leader of the British chess team, playing Irishman Brian Reilly at the Easter Chess Congress, Margate, April 24th 1935. (Photo by Harry Todd/Fox Photos/Getty Images)
Sir George played chess for England regularly from 1910 to 1939. He played for the British Chess Federation in the Chess Olympiads of 1927,1930, 1931, 1933, 1935, 1937 and 1939, and captained the team which withdrew from the Buenos Aires Olympiad in 1939 on the out-break of war.
A Brian Reilly “after dinner” postcard from Margate 1936.The Grand Hotel, Cliftonville, Margate. Venue for the Margate tournaments.
His first appearance in the British Championship was in he came 2nd. He also came 2nd in 192l and in 1923 won the first time, thus becoming British Chess Champion and Badminton Champion in the same year.
Sir George’s best performance was at Hastings 1934-1935, when he came =1st. In the last round he needed only a draw against R. P. Michell to come lst, ahead of Euwe, Capablanca, Flohr and Lilienthal, but he lost and had to be content with sharing lst prize with Euwe and Flohr.
Nice Masters, 1931. Standing : Daniel Noteboom, Abraham Baratz, George Renaud (Organiser), John J O’Hanlon, Marcel Duchamp, Brian Reilly (winner), Seated : Eugene Znokso-Borovsky,, Arpad Vajda, Sir George Thomas, Jacques Mieses, Stefano Roselli del Turco, Jacob Adolf Seitz. British Chess Magazine, 1931, page 201
During his career he has beaten Capablanca, Botvinnik (in consecutive rounds at Hastings 1934-35), Flohr and and drawn with Nimzowitsch, Rubinstein and Capablanca. He been noted for his sportsmanship and for his interest in and encouragement of young players.
Partie d’échecs Sir Georges Thomas, le célèbre joueur d’échecs britannique, jouant contre sa plus jeune adversaire âgée de 8 ans, à Londres, Royaume-Uni le 24 octobre 1934. (Photo by Keystone-France\Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
Since his retirement until the last few years, Sir George continued to attend tournaments as a spectator.
He is the author of The Art of Badminton, published in 1923.
The Art of Badminton
He died on 23rd July 1972 in a London nursing home.”
In the March issue of CHESS for 1963, (Volume 28, Number 427, pp.147-155) William Winter wrote this:
Sir George Thomas
Another great figure of the period between the wars, Sir G. A. Thomas, is happily still with us, although he gave up competitive play some years ago. I think I must have played more games with him than with any other master and he was my principal rival in the battles for the British Championship which we each won twice.
Although he lacks Yates’ spark of genius he is a very fine player indeed and one of the few Englishmen who is a real master of the endgame. Both nationally and internationally he has an excellent record, probably the best of a number of performances being his tie with Euwe and Flohr for lst prize at Hastings 1934-5. Capablanca and Botvinnik were among the also-rans. Thomas beat both of them, a splendid performance when we consider the small number of games ever lost by either. He is the only native Englishman to have scored a win over Capablanca. He acted as captain of all the British teams of which I formed part and an excellent leader he made, firm when necessary, but always considerate to his men especially when they were doing badly.
Sir Thomas, as he was called, is much missed on the Continent where he was highly popular and did a great deal to increase the prestige of British chess.
Here is Part II of GM Matthew Sadler’s appreciation of Sir George.
From The Oxford Companion to Chess (OUP, 1984) by Hooper & Whyld :
“English player. International Master (1950), International Arbiter (1952), British champion 1923 and 1934. His mother, who taught him chess, was winner of one of the first women’s tournaments, Hastings 1895, He played in more than 80 tournaments and achieved his best result at Hastings 1934-5 (about category 9), when he scored +6-1—2 to share first prize with Euwe and Flohr ahead of Botvinnik and Capablanca. Thomas played in seven Olympiads from 1927 to 1939, and in the first the highest percentage score was made by him ( + 9=6) and the Dane Holgar Norman-Hansen (1899- ) (+11=2—2). A leading English player for more than 25 years, Thomas fought many battles at the famous City of London club, winning 16 of the annual championships from 1913-14 to 1938-9. In his sixty-ninth year he gave up competitive chess when, after a hard game, ‘the board and men began to swim before my eyes,’ He continued his active interest in junior events and his visits, now as a spectator, to chess events.
A man of few words, imperturbable, of fine manners. Sir George Thomas was respected throughout the chess world for his sportsmanship and impartiality, and his opinion was often sought when disputes arose between players. The inheritor of both a baronetcy and private means, he
devoted his life to games and sports. Besides his chess he was a keen hockey player, a competitor in international lawn tennis (reaching the last eight at Wimbledon on one occasion), and winner of about 90 badminton titles, notably the All-England men’s singles championship which he won four times, from 1920 to 1923.”
Bill Hartston wrote this in “On the Knight Shift”, Chapter 20 of the The Chess Player’s Bedside Book (Batsford, 1975) :
“In the days when chess was perhaps a more noble pastime, one of England’s leading players was the Baronet, Sir George Thomas. A true gentleman and sportsman, he considered it rather unprincipled to analyse adjourned games before their resumption and could only be persuaded to look at his own positions after being assured that his opponents were certainly taking full advantage of the adjournment in this manner.”
We focus on the British Chess Scene Past & Present !
