Monthly Archives: August 2020

2021, Biographies, Birthday, British Championships, Players, Writers

Happy Birthday IM William (“Bill”) Hartston (12-viii-1947)

13 Comments
IM William Hartston, FIDE Candidates, 2013, courtesy of John Upham Photography
IM William Hartston, FIDE Candidates, 2013, courtesy of John Upham Photography

On the “glorious twelfth” of August we celebrate the birthday of one of England’s most popular chess players and writers, IM Bill Hartston.

William Roland Hartston was born in Willesden, Middlesex on Tuesday, August 12th, 1947. His father was William Hartston, a significant member of the Royal College of Physicians who was married to Mary Roland. Bill has a sister.

Bill Hartston
Bill Hartston

He studied at the City of London School and then studied mathematics at Jesus College, Cambridge and graduated with a BA in 1968 and an MA in 1972, but did not complete his PhD on number theory.

An early Bill Hartston, event unknown
An early Bill Hartston, event unknown

While studying for his PhD at Cambridge, Hartston developed an intricate system for balancing an entire chess set on top of a single rook. Here is an article with an explanation letter from Bill.

Some of the participants in the Paul Keres display on November 25th, 1962, at St Pancras Town Hall, London WC1. Back row : AJ. Whiteley, D, Floyer, PJ Collins, PJ Adams, RC Vaughan, KB Harman, D. Parr, DNL Levy, Front row : MV Lambshire, AE Hopkins (selector) Paul Keres, Miss D. Dobson, RE Hartley, BC Gillman, WR Hartston and PN Lee. Photograph by AM Reilly. Source : BCM, 1963, page 13
Some of the participants in the Paul Keres display on November 25th, 1962, at St Pancras Town Hall, London WC1. Back row : AJ. Whiteley, D, Floyer, PJ Collins, PJ Adams, RC Vaughan, KB Harman, D. Parr, DNL Levy, Front row : MV Lambshire, AE Hopkins (selector) Paul Keres, Miss D. Dobson, RE Hartley, BC Gillman, WR Hartston and PN Lee. Photograph by AM Reilly. Source : BCM, 1963, page 13

Bill married Dr. Jana Malypetrova in January, 1970 in Cambridge. In 1978 Bill married Elizabeth Bannerman, also in Cambridge and from that marriage he had two sons, James and Nicholas.

Bill and Dr. Jana Hartston (née Malypetrova)
Bill and Dr. Jana Hartston (née Malypetrova)

Bill became an International Master in 1972 and his highest FIDE rating was 2485 in January 1979.

William Hartston
William Hartston

With the white pieces Bill almost exclusively played 1.e4 and the Ruy Lopez.

With the black pieces Bill played the Sicilian Taimanov and the Czech Benoni.

Bill plays his trusty Sicilian Taimanov against an unknown opponent
Bill plays his trusty Sicilian Taimanov against an unknown opponent

Bill is a self-proclaimed follower of Prof. AJ Ayer (See the Acknowledgements in “Soft Pawn”) Clint Eastwood and Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.

Bill and Jana Hartston are shown with some of their many chess sets. CHESS, August 1973, page 323
Bill and Jana Hartston are shown with some of their many chess sets. CHESS, August 1973, page 323

Bill was the chess correspondent of The Independent and The Mail on Sunday. He was also a regular presenter and commentator for television. He worked with Jeremy James on the BBC’s Master Game. and has appeared on ITVs Play Chess

 

Bill Hartston on Play Chess
Bill Hartston on Play Chess

In modern times Bill has made regular appearances with World Cluedo champion, Josef Kollar on Channel Four’s Gogglebox with a pair of painted breasts as background.

In modern times Bill has made regular appearances with World Cluedo champion, Josef Kollar on Channel Four's Gogglebox
In modern times Bill has made regular appearances with World Cluedo champion, Josef Kollar on Channel Four’s Gogglebox

Bill revived the Beachcomber column in the Daily Express.

 

The Master Game, Series 6&7 with Jeremy James and Bill Hartston
The Master Game, Series 6&7 with Jeremy James and Bill Hartston

Bill is an industrial psychologist.

Curiously the 1984 edition of the usually reliable The Oxford Companion to Chess by Hooper and Whyld does not have an entry for the twice British Champion : was this simply an oversight ? Jana is also not mentioned.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1DYzR7wc8w[/embedyt]

Bill wrote about himself in British Chess (Pergamon, 1983) :

“To summarise more than 20 years of playing competitive chess in a few hundred words is an impossible task. My attitude to the game has changed a great deal, especially in recent times, but I have always enjoyed and felt at home in the tense and lively atmosphere of chess tournaments, whether as a competitor, spectator or journalist.

Caption as per photograph below
Caption as per photograph below
Caption for above photograph
Caption for above photograph

I consider myself lucky to have been a ‘promising junior’ just at the time when chess was beginning to be taken seriously as a sport in England. The English team consisted mainly of amateurs and there were clear opportunities for anyone willing to work at the game.

As a result of the changing attitudes to the game in this country, the development between 1965, when I first played for the national team, and 1975 was far greater than in any other decade.

One statistic which I have always found personally amusing is that I progressed from youngest player in 1967 for the Clare Benedict tournament to become the oldest in the 1971 team. From promising junior to veteran in four years = is this a record ?

Bill Hartston commentating on games from the Phillips & Drew King's 1982
Bill Hartston commentating on games from the Phillips & Drew King’s 1982

Since my second British Championship win in 1975, I have been writing more and playing less. I always realised that I was not going to become a sufficiently strong player to be happy just wandering round the tournament circuit, but giving up chess entirely is, of course, unthinkable.

I believe now that the time is ripe for chess to be presented to far wider audiences and I like to think that some of what I do will help in that aim. If the Master Game television series and “Soft Pawn” cannot sell chess to the masses then nothing will.”

Bill was always a keen supporter of junior chess. Here at the Teachers Assurance National Schools Championships in 1980
Bill was always a keen supporter of junior chess. Here at the Teachers Assurance National Schools Championships in 1980

[pgn]
[Event “Olympiad-21 Final A”]
[Site “Nice”]
[Date “1974.06.25”]
[Round “10”]
[White “Hartston, William R”]
[Black “Portisch, Lajos”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C19”]
[Annotator “William R Hartston”]
[PlyCount “57”]
[EventDate “1974.06.15”]
[EventType “team-tourn”]
[EventRounds “15”]
[EventCountry “FRA”]
[SourceTitle “EXT 2000”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1999.11.16”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1999.11.16”]
[SourceQuality “1”]
[WhiteTeam “England”]
[BlackTeam “Hungary”]
[WhiteTeamCountry “ENG”]
[BlackTeamCountry “HUN”]

{[%evp 0,57,19,38,30,51,38,32,32,44,31,32,25,31,25,15,30,3,25,25,26,10,17,10,
15,30,13,-5,0,25,20,-11,-11,-18,32,-11,-4,-17,-9,-51,-57,1,4,-3,20,49,36,102,
594,624,29991,29992,29993,29994,29995,29996,29997,29998,29999,-30000]} {
Bill described this game as one of four nice Nice games in the British Chess
Magazine Games Department of Volume XCIV (94), Number 9 (September), 1974.
Additional comments were from Bill’s entry in “British Chess”, by Botterill,
Levy, Rice and Richardson, Pergamon Press, 1983.} 1. e4 e6 2. Nc3 {This is
just a joke really, but usually worth between 20 seconds and five minutes on
the clock.} d5 ({White invites Black to change his mind and play a Sicilian
with} 2… c5) 3. d4 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 $1 {One of the most horrible things
about playing Portisch is that it is almost impossible to avoid his detailed
opening preparation without playing something dubious., with which he is also
well equipped to deal. Hartston goes straight into the critical line. The
exclamation mark is for bravery.} Bxc3+ ({The unusual} 5… Ba5 {is much
better than its reputation. The Swiss master, Werner Hug, always obtains good
positions against me with that move.}) 6. bxc3 Ne7 (6… Qc7 {is a good move
order for those} {fear} 7. Qg4 {when} f6 $1 8. Nf3 c4 $1 {takes the sting out
of the attack. But, what are you playing the Winawer for if you ever
considered Qg4 to be a threat !}) 7. Nf3 ({The complications arising from} 7.
Qg4 {have never been fully solved, but nowadays (1974) most players prefer the
positional continuation chosen} Qc7 8. Qxg7 Rg8 9. Qxh7 cxd4 10. Ne2 Nbc6 11.
f4 Bd7 12. Qd3 dxc3 13. Nxc3 a6 14. Rb1 Na5 15. h4 Nf5 16. Rh3 O-O-O 17. h5 Nc4
18. h6 Rg6 19. h7 Rh8 20. Rb4 {is the way to go in 2020.}) (7. a4 {is another
decent option.}) 7… Bd7 {[%cal Gd7a4]} (7… Qc7 8. a4 b6 9. Bb5+ Bd7 10. Bd3
Nbc6 11. O-O {is the move usual order referred to after Whites 11.Bd3!? below.
}) ({In 2020} 7… Nbc6 8. a4 Qa5 9. Bd2 Bd7 10. Bb5 c4 11. O-O {is the way to
go in 2020.}) 8. a4 {Already necessary before Black stifles the queen’s win
with Ba4} Nbc6 ({More usual is} 8… Qa5 {when} 9. Bd2 {is the fashionable
response} ({though I still believe in} 9. Qd2)) 9. Be2 ({After} 9. Bd3 Qc7 10.
O-O {Black may elect for the plan of castling long} {with} c4 11. Be2 O-O-O ({
or attacking the centre with} 11… f6 {I usually prefer to discourage this by
leaving the bishop on e2 but it may be that 9.Bd3 is the better move.})) 9…
Qc7 10. O-O b6 11. Bd3 $5 {I played this move because it transposed into a
position I had analysed and played a great deal about three years ago.
Unfortunately,as the game demonstrates, I had forgotten almost all of this
analysis!. The more usual move order is referenced above after 7…Qc7} (11.
Re1 Na5 12. Bd3 h6) 11… h6 {having played b6, Black is less ready to castle
long since his King’s position would be more vulnerable; the text move
prepares 0-0} ({if} 11… O-O $2 {immediately} {then} 12. Bxh7+ Kxh7 {and} 13.
Ng5+ {with the standard mating attack.} Kg6 14. h4 $18 (14. Qg4 $5 f6 15. exf6
Kxf6 16. Qh5 $16) (14. Qd3+ Nf5 15. g4 f6 $16) 14… Qc8 15. Qg4 $18) 12. Ba3
$5 {This whole variation was thoroughly tested at Hastings 1971-2 when Peter
Markland lost a lot of games with the black pieces from this position.
Possibly Byrne’s continuation is the strongest; white has good chances of
sacrificing the bishop on h6 for a mating attack in the middlegame.} ({Robert
Byrne played} 12. Re1 Na5 13. Be3 (13. Qd2 {Mecking and Karpov} Rc8 (13… O-O
14. Qf4 f5))) 12… Na5 13. Re1 $6 {An “innovation” – because I could not
remember what I had played in the earlier game. The point of 12.Ba3 I soon
remembered is to continue 13.Nd2! 00 14.dc bc 15.Nb3 with some advantage to
White as in Hartston – Markland, Hastings 1971-2 and Williams-Keene , British
Championship, 1973.} O-O 14. dxc5 bxc5 15. Nd2 {[%cal Gd1g4,Gd1h5] An
important move to allow White’s queen to enter the attack.} Ng6 $1 {And
meeting with the correct reply.} ({The obvious} 15… f6 {would have
completely justified the White move order} {when} 16. exf6 Rxf6 17. c4 $16) (
15… Bxa4 {fails to} 16. Qg4 $1 Bd7 17. Nf3 Kh8 18. Bc1 $1 {with a dangerous
attack.}) 16. Qh5 {Apparently aggressive but really the only way to defend the
King’s pawn.} Be8 {The move played threatens f5 embarrasing the white queen.
She hastens to get out of the way.} (16… Nf4 17. Qg4 Nxd3 18. cxd3 {is a
little better for White since his bishop is more effective. With the text move
Black threatens …f6 or …f5 with a veiled attack on the queen. According
to “Excellent notes” from Krogius this position is fantastic for White who has
at a stroke created the opportunity for direct attack with Re3 – g3 or h3
depending on circumstances.}) (16… Bxa4 {was more double-edged but, here too
in all lines White keeps the initiative viz :} 17. Bxg6 fxg6 18. Qxg6 Bd7 (
18… Qc6 19. Bc1) (18… Rae8 19. Bc1 Bd7 20. Nf3) ({and probably Black’s
best try should be} 18… Qe7 19. Nf3 (19. Bc1 Be8 20. Qg3 Nc6 21. Nb3 {
with the idea of Ba3}) 19… Be8 20. Qg3 Nc4 21. Bc1 Kh7) 19. Nf3 Nc4 20. Bc1)
17. Qe2 {The third consecutive queen move along the same diagonal It’s lucky I
won this game or my play would have been open to terrible criticism.} {After
an hour’s thought Portisch played} Bxa4 $2 {which I had not even considered.
Perhaps I was so used to losing the a pawn in this line that I did not see
that it was en prise.} ({More prudent was} 17… f6 {giving White no chance to
develop an attack.}) ({Black should have been consistent and maintained his
vigil with} 17… f5 18. exf6 Rxf6 {when he has good chances. Hartston now
launches a dangerous attack.}) 18. Qg4 $1 Bd7 19. Nf3 $1 ({All methods of
winning the pawn back such as} 19. Bxg6 fxg6 20. Qxg6 {leave Black with some
advantage owing to the weaknesses remaining in the white camp. In this
position the initiative is of far more importance; after all Blacks a pawn
will not be serious threat for some time.}) 19… Nc4 {Perhaps Black’s
position is already untenable. The threat of Bc1 and an eventual sacrifice on
h6 is difficult to prevent.} (19… Bc8 20. Bc1 Nc6 21. Bxg6 fxg6 22. Qxg6 Qf7
23. Qg3 $16) 20. Bc1 Bc8 $2 {The decisive mistake} (20… Ncxe5 21. Nxe5 Nxe5
22. Qg3 f6 23. Bxh6 Rf7 24. Bf4 {looks just as bad}) ({The only chance for
defence was pointed oout by Krogius.} 20… Ngxe5 21. Nxe5 Nxe5 22. Qg3 f6 23.
Bxh6 Be8 24. Bf4 c4 25. Bf1 a5 {and Black can create enough detours to keep
White at bay. Now he is flattened.}) 21. Qh5 {Suddenly it is all over; there
is really no defence to 22. Bxh6!} Rd8 22. Bxh6 $1 gxh6 23. Qxh6 Nb2 {Keene
wrote that even at this stage Portisch was still moving rapidly and looking
confident. One can imagine his feelings when the knight appeared on h7!} 24.
Ng5 Nxd3 25. Nh7 $1 {Black resigns. I was specially pleased by this game
because I had lost the previous day to Hort also in 25 moves. A fighting game
by Bill Hartston} {26.Nf6 mate can only be prevented by} f5 {when} 26. Nf6+ Kf7
27. Qh7+ Kf8 28. Qg8+ $1 Ke7 29. Qg7# {is even stronger than winning a queen.}
1-0
[/pgn]

Harry Golombek wrote the following in a 1980 Dataday chess diary :

“Hartston played hardly at all during the period from my last entry of him in the 1977 diary and that little, though respectable, was hardly the performance of an active master. His equal 3rd to 5th at the big Aaronson’s Masters Tournament (a swiss system event with 72 players) did not really affect his rating and indeed he finished up without changing his Elo rating at all.

Tony Miles & Bill Hartston admire a Rolls-Royce
Tony Miles & Bill Hartston admire a Rolls-Royce

Nevertheless, this glimpse of his true powers was impressive as can be seen in the following game which was played in the 6th round of the Aaronson tournament.”

[pgn]
[Event “London Aaronson Open”]
[Site “London”]
[Date “1978.??.??”]
[Round “6”]
[White “Wicker, Kevin J”]
[Black “Hartston, William R”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “E61”]
[WhiteElo “2305”]
[BlackElo “2475”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “72”]
[EventDate “1978.03.23”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventCountry “ENG”]
[SourceTitle “MCD”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,72,19,-31,22,6,7,7,3,5,17,10,23,15,4,0,33,0,33,15,57,37,47,27,24,1,-5,
-42,-10,-14,-16,-23,-16,-21,-6,-86,-59,-67,-72,-66,-50,-51,-38,-43,-9,0,-13,-7,
1,-3,14,-43,-46,-92,-104,-112,-108,-111,-57,-142,-135,-143,-146,-156,-154,-168,
-164,-269,-296,-323,-299,-333,-244,-572,-355]} 1. b3 b6 2. Bb2 Bb7 3. e3 Nf6 4.
c4 g6 5. Nf3 Bg7 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O c5 8. Nc3 d6 9. d4 a6 10. Qc2 Nbd7 11. d5 b5
12. a4 $6 $146 (12. e4) 12… b4 13. Na2 e5 14. Nd2 Qe7 15. Bd3 Rae8 16. e4 h5
17. f3 $6 (17. Nc1) 17… Bh6 18. Rfe1 h4 19. Nf1 Nh5 20. Nc1 Kg7 21. Ne2 Bc8
22. Bc1 Bxc1 23. Qxc1 Ndf6 24. Ra2 Nh7 25. Bb1 Ng5 26. f4 $6 (26. Nd2) 26…
exf4 27. Nxf4 Nxf4 28. Qxf4 h3 29. g3 f5 $17 30. e5 dxe5 31. Rae2 Qf6 32. Qf2
e4 33. Rd1 $2 f4 $1 34. gxf4 Bg4 35. Ng3 Qxf4 36. Rf1 $4 (36. Qxf4 Rxf4 37. Rf1
Nf3+ 38. Kh1 e3 $19) 36… Qe5 $1 0-1
[/pgn]

From The Encyclopedia of Chess(Robert Hale, 1970 & 1976) by Anne Sunnucks :

“International Master (1972) and British Champion (1973) William Hartston was born in London on the 12th August 1947. He was taught to play chess by his father when he was seven and five years later joined Enfield Chess Club. His results in junior events included 1st in the London Boys’ Under 16 Championship and 2nd in the British Boys’ Under 15 Championship in 1962 and =2nd in the British Boys Under 18 Championship in 1963.

Bill had a keen interest in computer chess and technology
Bill had a keen interest in computer chess and technology

In 1965, Hartston made his first appearance in the British Championship and came =5th. In the same year he won the Ilford and Paignton Premier tournaments. Playing on board 3 for England in the 1966 Olympiad. Hartston scored the best result of any British player, 66.7%.

England plays Italy at Haifa 1976. Miles played Tatai, Keene played Toth, Hartston played Grinza and Mestel played Micheli
England plays Italy at Haifa 1976. Miles played Tatai, Keene played Toth, Hartston played Grinza and Mestel played Micheli

In the Olympiad of 1970, he had the best overall score on board 3, 12.5 out of 16 and in the Olympiad of 1972 he won the prize for the 3rd best score on board 2, 12.5 out of 18. In 1972 he narrowly failed to qualify for the Interzonal tournament, when he came 3rd in the Zonal tournament at Vranjacka Banja.”

Mike Basman plays Bill during the play-off for the 1973 British Championship
Mike Basman plays Bill during the play-off for the 1973 British Championship

From The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford, 1977) by Harry Golombek :

“British International Master and twice British Champion. Hartston was born in London and his early chess was played there., where he became London Boy (Under-16 Champion in 1962.

He was educated at the City of London School and Jesus College, Cambridge, where he took a degree in mathematics.

Bill Hartston (far left) at the Lloyds Bank Masters
Bill Hartston (far left) at the Lloyds Bank Masters

It soon became clear that he was one of the leading young players in England and a rivalry developed between him and Raymond Keene in which first one and then the other obtained the upper hand.

After a number of near misses he won the British Championship at Eastbourne in 1973 and again at Morecambe in 1975.

Jana & Bill Hartston celebrate a family double at the British Championships in 1973 at Eastbourne
Jana & Bill Hartston celebrate a family double at the British Championships in 1973 at Eastbourne

Internationally he has already had a distinguished career and has been especially good and consistent in his representation of England at the Olympiads. At Havana in 1966 he scored 66.7% on board 3 but did not play at Lugano in 1968. Again on board 3 at Siegen in 1970 he obtained the best score on board 3 with 78.1%.

From the 1985 Varsity Match : Laura Cohen (Newnham), Brian Reilly (BCM), Bill Hartston (Cambridge), Adrian Hollis (Oxford), Anita Rakshit (St. Hilda's), Leonard Barden (The Guardian etc) and Bob Wade (BCF)
From the 1985 Varsity Match : Laura Cohen (Newnham), Brian Reilly (BCM), Bill Hartston (Cambridge), Adrian Hollis (Oxford), Anita Rakshit (St. Hilda’s), Leonard Barden (The Guardian etc) and Bob Wade (BCF)

At Skopje 1972 he fulfilled the second norm of the international master title with 12.5 points out of 18 on second board. Playing on first board at Nice 1974 he attained 52.7% and had a most meritorious and well fought draw with the World Champion, Karpov.

Bill Hartston draws with Anatoly Karpov at Nice 1974
Bill Hartston draws with Anatoly Karpov at Nice 1974

He achieved a breakthrough in the field of international tournament chess when he came third in a strong Premier tournament at Hastings 1972/3

Hastings, England, 4th January 1972, Chess, Russian Grand Master Viktor Korchnoi (right) is pictured in a match with William Hartston (UK) during the 47th Hastings International Chess Tournament (Photo by Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images
Hastings, England, 4th January 1972, Chess, Russian Grand Master Viktor Korchnoi (right) is pictured in a match with William Hartston (UK) during the 47th Hastings International Chess Tournament (Photo by Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)

and in 1973 he scored a first at Alicante.

[pgn]
[Event “Alicante”]
[Site “Alicante”]
[Date “1973.11.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Hartston, William R”]
[Black “Westerinen, Heikki”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C24”]
[Annotator “William R Hartston”]
[PlyCount “53”]
[EventDate “1973.??.??”]
[SourceTitle “chessgame.com”]

{[%evp 0,53,30,18,18,17,17,25,39,20,4,26,70,47,39,58,134,140,152,131,190,180,
185,116,121,122,163,285,285,187,187,190,263,250,333,54,58,38,-3,-36,73,184,184,
138,138,138,161,210,224,379,375,387,29991,29992,29995,29994]} 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4
Nf6 3. d3 Be7 4. Nc3 O-O 5. f4 exf4 6. Bxf4 c6 {the threat of 7…d5 is
awkward since White’s king is liable to be trapped in the centre.} 7. e5 d5 $6
(7… Nd5 8. Bxd5 cxd5 9. Nxd5 Qa5+ 10. Nc3 f6 11. exf6 Bxf6) 8. exf6 Bb4 {
Black wins his piece back and hopes that his active pieces will also give him
a strong attack, but he has not calculated with sufficient precision.} 9. Bb3
d4 10. Nge2 dxc3 11. O-O ({There is no time for} 11. bxc3 {when would follow}
Re8 12. cxb4 $2 (12. O-O $1 Bc5+ (12… Bd6 13. fxg7 $18 Be6) 13. d4) {
threatening} 12… Bg4 $1) 11… cxb2 12. fxg7 Qb6+ (12… Kxg7 13. Be5+ {
must win for white with Black’s king having nowhere to hide.}) (12… Re8 13.
Bxf7+ Kxf7 14. Bg5+ {also wins quite easily}) 13. Kh1 Re8 14. Bxf7+ Kxf7 15.
Be3+ {is probably a mistake} ({I remember looking at} 15. Ng3 $3 {during the
the game but feeling that is it just looked too fantastic !} bxa1=Q 16. Qh5+
Ke7 17. Bg5+ Kd6 (17… Kd7 18. Qxe8+ Kxe8 19. g8=Q+ Kd7 20. Qf7+ Kd6 21. Ne4+
Ke5 22. Bf6#) 18. Qxe8 {gives White a winning attack as pointed out by Dr. JM
Aitken whose analysis confirmed the suspicion of the players after the game.})
({Analysis in 2020 reveals that} 15. Nd4 $3 {is crushing} bxa1=Q 16. Qh5+ Ke7
17. Qxe8+ Kxe8 18. g8=Q+ Bf8 19. Rxa1 Qc5 20. Bg5 Kd7 21. Rf1 Kc7 22. Rxf8 Kb6
23. Rxc8 {etc}) 15… Kg8 16. Bxb6 Bg4 ({After a long think my opponent saw
that} 16… bxa1=Q 17. Qxa1 axb6 18. Qf6 Be6 19. Nd4 Nd7 20. Qf4 Bxa2 21. c4
Re7 22. Nf5 {wins for White. I had seen most of this combined with a little
faith was enough to allow me to play 14.Bxf7+. 16…Bg4 I had not seen at all!}
) 17. c3 bxa1=Q 18. Qxa1 Bxe2 19. Qb2 $1 {There is neither the necessity nor
the time to save the rook; Black’s king must be driven out before his
queenside pieces can come to help.} (19. Qb1 $144) 19… Bxf1 20. Qb3+ Kxg7 21.
Bd4+ Kg6 22. Qxb4 {Black has vast reservoirs of pieces but they are all asleep.
There is no defence to the combined attack of queen and bishop.} c5 23. Qxc5
Nc6 24. Qd6+ Kh5 25. Bg7 Bxd3 ({If Black tries} 25… Rad8 {then} 26. Qh6+ Kg4
27. Bf6 {wins; the text allows a more elegant finish.}) 26. h3 Bg6 27. Qf4 {
and Black resigned as it is mate in three.} 1-0
[/pgn]

His best tournament result came three years later when he won 1st prize at Sarajevo 1976.

Sarajevo 1976 Crosstable from English Chess Explosion (1980)
Sarajevo 1976 Crosstable from English Chess Explosion (1980)

His style of play is sound and competent in all the spheres of the game. That he can be brilliant when necessary he demonstrated his beautiful brilliancy game against the Finnish grandmaster Westerinen at Allicante in 1973. He has a fine, broad knowledge of the openings and has written a number of articles and books on that theme.

Bill was always a keen supporter of junior chess. event unknown.
Bill was always a keen supporter of junior chess. event unknown.

[pgn]
[Event “British CF-61 Championship”]
[Site “Clacton on Sea/ Essex”]
[Date “1974.08.14”]
[Round “9”]
[White “Webb, Simon”]
[Black “Hartston, William R”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “A31”]
[Annotator “Simon Webb and Bill Hartston”]
[PlyCount “74”]
[EventDate “1974.08.05”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “11”]
[EventCountry “GBR”]
[SourceTitle “EXT 2000”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1999.11.16”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1999.11.16”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,74,19,29,18,21,56,-11,-17,-25,25,16,18,-3,56,33,50,36,37,36,38,34,59,
54,58,44,43,48,44,23,44,31,47,31,43,36,24,22,8,17,17,-16,-27,-79,-109,-66,-59,
-94,-86,-61,-65,-168,-179,-171,-224,-224,-199,-199,-202,-202,-56,-161,-80,-90,
-162,-338,-326,-489,-539,-548,-311,-401,-465,-389,-337,-616,-671]} 1. Nf3 Nf6
2. d4 c5 3. c4 (3. d5) 3… cxd4 4. Nxd4 b6 $1 {An unusual move allowing White
full control of the centre and with no particular intrinsic merit. Its get an
exclamation mark however, because the player of the white pieces is S. Webb!
I always like to fianchetto my king’s bishop in such positions and this is the
one move which prevents me from doing so. Had it occurred to me that Hartston
might play this move I would have played 3.g3 or 2.c4 and then 3.g3.} 5. Nc3
Bb7 6. f3 d6 7. e4 e6 8. Be2 Be7 9. O-O O-O 10. Be3 Nbd7 {Putting Whte very
much on the spot to find a plan, despite his spatial advantage for four ranks
to three. Again quotes from the two players : “Now the position bears a
strong resemblance to a Sicilian. I felt quite happy now since I seem to have
spent half my life playing positions of this type, while my opponent, not
normally an e4 player, had to be less familiar with the problems” : Hartston.
“Objectively speaking, I knew that this position was good for White but from
this point I had to decide on some sort of strategy. Should I go for f4 and
then f5? Or g4 and then g5? Or try to and get play against the backward d-pawn
by doubling rooks on the d-file? None of these plans looked particularly
convincing so I settled for putting my rooks in the centre and waiting to see
what happened ! Its no good having a good position if you don’t know what to
do with it!”} 11. Qd2 a6 12. Rfd1 Qc7 13. Rac1 $14 Rac8 14. Bf1 Qb8 15. Qf2
Rfe8 {“White has made a series of natural moves and maintains a spatial
advantage; nevertheless I believe that Black already has the better prospects.
The Black pieces, are at first sight a little cramped, are beautifully placed
to leap into action after the thematic d5 breakout, possibly with a pawn
sacrifice” : Hartston Indeed it seems that the best White can hope for is to
try and prevent b5 or d5 by perhaps 16.Nc2 followed by Rd2 and Rcd1 although
even in that case his c-pawn is weak.} 16. Kh1 $2 {Weirdly enough this is the
most popular move here.} (16. g4 {(is the 2020 engine’s choice)}) 16… Bf8 17.
Nc2 Ne5 18. Bxb6 {An ugly sort of move. The loss of the b-pawn is
inconsequential compared with the disappearance of White’s valuable c-pawn
which is restraining Black’s advances.} ({The alternative} 18. b3 $2 b5 $1 {
was even worse.}) (18. Na3 $2 d5 $1) 18… Nxc4 19. Bxc4 (19. Ba7 Qa8 20. b3
Nb2 21. Rd2 Rxc3 22. Bd4 Na4 23. bxa4 Rc6) 19… Rxc4 20. Ne3 Rc6 21. Ba5 {
The bonfire is lit and now the fireworks begin. Hartston immediately activates
his entire force giving Webb no time to reorganise his disjointed position} d5
$1 22. exd5 exd5 23. Nf5 {[#] taking the pawn with either night loses
immediately so Webb tries to put up some sort of blockade on d If he could
indeed achieve this, then he would have defensive chances} ({e.g.} 23. Nexd5
Nxd5 24. Rxd5 Rxc3 $19) ({and e.g.} 23. Ncxd5 Nxd5 24. Rxc6 Nxe3 $19) {By the
following sacrifice Hartston rips open the position} 23… d4 $1 24. Nxd4 (24.
Rxd4 $2 Bc5) (24. Qxd4 Rc5 $1 {[%cal Gc5a5,Gc5f5]} (24… Re5 $1 {[%cal Ge5f5,
Ge5a5]})) 24… Rc5 {[%cal Gc5a5,Gc5h5]} 25. Bb6 Rh5 26. h3 Ng4 $3 {
highlighting the fantastic coordination in the Black camp. Although this move
doesn’t lead to immediate mate White has no way of reorganising his defence to
meet the threats.} 27. fxg4 {This is one offer that cannot be refused.} ({if}
27. Qg1 {then} Qg3 $1) 27… Rxh3+ 28. Kg1 Qh2+ 29. Kf1 Rg3 30. Rc2 Rxg4 $1 (
30… Bxg2+ 31. Qxg2 Rxg2 32. Rxg2 Qf4+ 33. Kg1 Qd6 34. Ba5 Qc5 35. Kf1 Qxa5
$19) (30… Rxg2 31. Qxg2 Bxg2+ 32. Rxg2 Qf4+) 31. Qg1 Qh6 32. Nf5 $2 {A wild
attempt at playing actively which only succeeds in losing back the piece
without blunting Black’s attack. But it is difficult to see how White could
defend.} ({If} 32. Ba5 {the reply} Bc5 {leaves White hopelessly tied up}) ({
while} 32. Nb3 {allows} a5 {[%cal Gb7a6] with the powerful threat of Ba6+}) ({
Possibly} 32. Ba7 {would have been the best chance} {planning to meet} Rh4 ({
After} 32… Re5 {it is difficult to find a move which doesn’t lose something
(Webb)}) {with} 33. Nf5) 32… Qf6 33. Rf2 Qxb6 34. Qh2 a5 35. Qh3 Rg6 36. Nd5
$2 {there was no defence to Ba6+ but this loses a straight piece.} Qb5+ 37. Kg1
Bxd5 {and White resigned} 0-1

[/pgn]

Danish chess grandmaster Bent Larsen (1935 - 2010, left) takes on English player William Hartston (right) during the annual Hastings International Chess Congress, UK, 13th January 1973. Larsen won the game. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Danish chess grandmaster Bent Larsen (1935 – 2010, left) takes on English player William Hartston (right) during the annual Hastings International Chess Congress, UK, 13th January 1973. Larsen won the game. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A lucid and entertaining writer, he has also appeared with success in BBC Television chess programmes.

Bill Hartston at a promotional event
Bill Hartston at a promotional event

Among his chief works are :

The Benoni, London, 1969
The Grunfeld Defence, London, 1971
The Best Games of CHO’D Alexander (with H. Golombek), Oxford, 1976.”

Here is an interesting interview published in the Streatham & Brixton Chess Club blog concerning the alleged “turning down the Hastings draw offer” story.

Here is his Wikipedia article

See his entry from the Jewish Lives Project

The King's Indian Defence
The King’s Indian Defence, 1969
The Benoni, 1969
The Benoni, 1969
How to Cheat at Chess, 1976
How to Cheat at Chess, 1976
The Best Games of C.H.O'D. Alexander, 1976
The Best Games of C.H.O’D. Alexander, 1976
The Grünfeld Defence, 1977
The Grünfeld Defence, 1977
Benoni, 1977
Benoni, 1977
Karpov-Korchnoi, 1978
Karpov-Korchnoi, 1978
Soft Pawn, 1980
Soft Pawn, 1980
The Phillips & Drew King's Chess Tournament, 1980
The Phillips & Drew King’s Chess Tournament, 1980
Play Chess, Hartston & Jeremy James, BBC, 1980
Play Chess, Hartston & Jeremy James, BBC, 1980
The Penguin Book of Chess Openings, 1981
The Penguin Book of Chess Openings, 1981
The Psychology of Chess, 1984
The Psychology of Chess, 1984
Short vs Kasparov, 1993
Short vs Kasparov, 1993
The Kings of Chess, 1995
The Kings of Chess, 1995
The Guinness Book of Chess Grandmasters, 1996
The Guinness Book of Chess Grandmasters, 1996
Teach Yourself Better Chess, Bill Hartston, Teach Yourself Books 08/01/1997, ISBN 13: 9780340670408
Teach Yourself Better Chess, Bill Hartston, Teach Yourself Books 08/01/1997, ISBN 13: 9780340670408
2021, 4NCL, Biographies, Birthday, Players, Poker, Writers

Happy Returns IM Angus Dunnington (09-viii-1967)

Leave a comment
IM Angus Dunnington
IM Angus Dunnington

BCN wishes Happy Returns to IM Angus Dunnington (09-viii-1967)

Angus James Dunnington was born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, his mother’s maiden name was Townend.

He has lived in Castleford, West Yorkshire and most recently in Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire.

Angus became a FIDE Master in 1990 and an International Master in 1991.

Angus has been a recipient of a Chess Journalists of America award and was chess correspondent for The Yorkshire Post. He has been an Olympiad trainer.

Angus has played for 4NCL White Rose and his peak FIDE rating was 2450 in January 1996, aged 29.

He won Toulouse 1993 with 6.5/9, we was first equal (3) in the London Agency tournament on 1997 with 6/9, we was equal first in the 1999 Hampstead IM tournament with 6.5/9.

As White Angus prefers a Reti style double fianchetto, the King’s Indian Attack and also the Queen’s Gambit and is an expert on the Catalan and KIA.

As Black Angus essays the Modern Defence most of the time.

His most recent ECF grading was 212E in 2005 and was 232A in 1996.

In 2018 after a lengthy absence Angus made a welcome return to the Scottish Championship Open with a strong =3rd place.

[pgn]
[Event “BCF-chT2 0203 (4NCL)”]
[Site “West Bromwich”]
[Date “2003.05.03”]
[Round “9.1”]
[White “Dunnington, Angus J”]
[Black “Trevelyan, John”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C41”]
[WhiteElo “2388”]
[BlackElo “2191”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “41”]
[EventDate “2002.11.??”]
[EventType “team”]
[EventRounds “11”]
[EventCountry “ENG”]
[SourceTitle “EXT 2004”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2003.11.25”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2003.11.25”]
[SourceQuality “1”]
[WhiteTeam “White Rose”]
[BlackTeam “SW Dragons II”]
[WhiteTeamCountry “ENG”]
[BlackTeamCountry “ENG”]

{[%evp 0,29,18,18,83,73,82,52,52,72,64,66,50,39,41,34,44,22,34,-14,31,35,45,45,
198,166,158,138,262,250,249,265]} 1. d4 d6 2. e4 e5 $5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nbd7
5. Bc4 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. a4 c6 8. Ba2 h6 (8… Qc7) 9. Nh4 Nxe4 $6 (9… exd4
10. Qxd4 d5 $1) 10. Nxe4 Bxh4 (10… d5 $142) 11. Nxd6 $14 {[#]} exd4 $2 12.
Qh5 $1 (12. Nxf7) 12… Nf6 13. Bxf7+ Kh7 14. Qg6+ Kh8 15. Bxh6 {and Black
resigned} gxh6 16. Qxh6+ Nh7 17. Bg6 Qe7 18. Bxh7 Qxh7 19. Qxf8+ Qg8 20. Nf7+
Kh7 21. Qh6# 1-0
[/pgn]

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y43h4Wc__iQ[/embedyt]

IM Angus Dunnington, photograph by Gisbert Jacoby
IM Angus Dunnington, photograph by Gisbert Jacoby

Here is his Wikipedia entry

The Ultimate King's Indian Attack, 1993
The Ultimate King’s Indian Attack, 1993
Pawn Power !, 1994
Pawn Power !, 1994
Winning with the Catalan, 1997
Winning with the Catalan, 1997
Easy Guide to the Reti Opening
Easy Guide to the Reti Opening
101 Winning Chess Strategies, 1999
101 Winning Chess Strategies, 1999
Winning Unorthodox Openings, 2000
Winning Unorthodox Openings, 2000
Mastering the Middlegame, 2001
Mastering the Middlegame, 2001
Chess Psychology, 2003
Chess Psychology, 2003
Nimzo-Indian Rubinstein: Complex Lines with 4e3, 2004
Nimzo-Indian Rubinstein: Complex Lines with 4e3, 2004
Blunders and How to Avoid Them, 2004
Blunders and How to Avoid Them, 2004
IM Angus Dunnington, photograph by Cathy Rogers
IM Angus Dunnington, photograph by Cathy Rogers
2020, Biographies, History, New in Chess, Reviews

Hein Donner : The Biography

Leave a comment
Hein Donner: The Biography
Hein Donner: The Biography

Hein Donner : The Biography : Alexander Münninghoff

Alexander Münninghoff: 1944-2020
Alexander Münninghoff: 1944-2020

“Alexander Münninghoff is an award-winning author from the Netherlands. He wrote the acclaimed biography of the man that was dethroned by Hein Donner as Dutch champion: former World Chess Champion Max Euwe. His memoir The Son and Heir, which tells  the complex story of the Münninghoff family in the 20th century, is an international bestseller.”

From the rear cover :

“Hein Donner (1927-1988) was a Dutch Grandmaster and one the greatest writers on chess of all time. He was born into a prominent Calvinistic family of lawyers in The Hague.

His father, who had been the Minister of Justice and later became President of the Dutch Supreme Court, detected a keen legal talent in his son. But Hein opted for a bohemian lifestyle as a chess professional and journalist. He scored several excellent tournament victories but never quite fulfilled the promise of his chess talent.

Hein Donner developed from a chess player-writer into a writer-chess player. His provocative writings and his colourful persona made him a national celebrity during the roaring sixties. His book ‘The King’, a fascinating and often hilarious anthology spanning 30 years of chess writing, is a world-wide bestseller and features on many people’s list of favourite chess books. The author Harry Mulisch, his best friend, immortalized Hein Donner in his magnum opus The Discovery of Heaven. In 2001 the book was adapted for film, with Stephen Fry playing the part that was based on Donner. Included in Hein Donner is the interview in which Harry Mulisch tells about his friendship with Donner.

After suffering a stroke at the age of 56, Donner lived his final years in a nursing home. He continued writing however, typing with one finger, and won one of the Netherlands’ most prestigious literary awards. Alexander Münninghoff has written a captivating biography of a controversial man and the turbulent time and age he lived in.”

 

First, a bit of background. This biography was originally published in Dutch in 1994. Only now, a quarter of a century later, has it appeared in an English translation, partly in response to the success of The King, a collection of Donner’s writings.

Sadly, Alexander Münninghoff died at the age of 76 on 28 April this year, just before the publication of this book.

Johannes Hendrikus Donner (Jan Hein to the chess world, Hein to his friends) was one of the most colourful and controversial chess players of his time. His family have been for many years prominent in politics and law: his father was a government minister, his oldest brother was President of the European Court of Justice, and his nephew also a government minister. It was clear from an early age that Jan Hein was different. Troublesome and obnoxious, lazy but gifted. His father had him assessed by a professor of psychology who found him ‘very egocentric and immature/unbalanced’, with ‘a certain angst, with, in contrast, an inclination towards narcissism, and a sense of inferiority, with, in contrast, an inclination to act tough’.

Possibly the ideal combination of attributes for a chess player and journalist.

What should we make of a man who donated his prize from Venice 1968 to the Viet Cong, on the condition that the proceeds were used to buy machine guns rather than medicines? A man who wrote that women were hopeless at chess and would never learn? A man who used his chess columns to insult his fellow Dutch players, most notably a long running feud with his older contemporary Lodewijk Prins?

Someone, I think, who was deliberately provocative, who spoke and acted to gain a response more than anything else.

Like everyone else, I found The King highly entertaining, but my enjoyment was tempered by the feeling that he was someone I wouldn’t have liked had I known him.

Münninghoff, however, knew him and clearly liked him, and, as an outstanding writer and journalist, was the ideal person to tell the story of Donner’s relatively short but eventful life. This is a conventional biography, following his life from birth to death and, as you might expect, is crammed full of entertaining anecdotes. We learn a lot about his often chaotic personal life (he was married three times) as well as his career both as a chess player and a journalist. There’s also a lot of fascinating information about chess in the Netherlands during the post war decades. It’s not an academic biography, though: a rather inadequate index of names, no sources and few footnotes (I’d have welcomed more).

You might have expected a colourful and provocative player to have a similarly colourful and provocative style, but in fact his play was mostly rather dull, with a lot of short draws. His results were wildly erratic: at his best he could win strong grandmaster tournaments, but these triumphs would be interspersed with disasters. He had wins to his credit against most of the top non-Russians, even including Fischer, but an abysmal record against Soviet grandmasters. (Looking at his games in MegaBase it’s also notable how well he scored against English opponents.) He was also famous for losing a remarkable number of miniatures.

Even so, the games selection at the end is slightly disappointing. Games are sometimes discussed in the text but don’t appear in the book. One example is his 1957 win over Troianescu, which he considered one of his best:

[pgn]

[Event “Wageningen Zonal”]
[Site “Wageningen”]
[Date “1957.10.30”]
[Round “3”]
[White “Donner, Jan Hein”]
[Black “Troianescu, Octavio”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “D26”]
[PlyCount “51”]
[EventDate “1957.10.27”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “17”]
[EventCountry “NED”]
[SourceTitle “MCD”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 c5 5. Bd3 O-O 6. Nf3 d5 7. O-O Nc6 8. a3
cxd4 9. exd4 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Be7 11. Re1 a6 12. Ba2 b5 13. d5 exd5 14. Nxd5 Nxd5
15. Qxd5 Bb7 16. Qh5 g6 17. Qh6 Nd4 18. Ng5 Bxg5 19. Bxg5 Qb6 20. Rad1 Rac8 21.
Re7 Qd6 22. Kh1 Qc6 23. Rxb7 Nf5 24. Bd5 Qc2 25. Rc1 Qe2 26. Bxf7+ 1-0

[/pgn]

On p128 we’re told that his 1961 loss to Korchnoi appears at the back of the book as game 23. No, it doesn’t: the index tells us Viktor is on p259, but neither he nor the game is anywhere to be seen.

I’m always happy to oblige:

[pgn]

[Event “Maroczy Memorial”]
[Site “Budapest”]
[Date “1961.10.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Donner, Jan Hein”]
[Black “Kortschnoj, Viktor Lvovich”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “A31”]
[PlyCount “48”]
[EventDate “1961.10.14”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “15”]
[EventCountry “HUN”]
[SourceTitle “EXT 1998”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1997.11.17”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1997.11.17”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 c5 4. Nf3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Qa5+ 6. Nc3 Ne4 7. Nb3 Nxc3 8.
bxc3 Qxc3+ 9. Bd2 Qf6 10. Bg2 Bg7 11. O-O Nc6 12. Rb1 O-O 13. c5 b5 14. Bf4 a5
15. Bc7 a4 16. Na5 Rxa5 17. Bxc6 Ra7 18. Bb6 dxc6 19. Bxa7 Bf5 20. Rb4 Qc3 21.
Rf4 Qb2 22. Rxf5 gxf5 23. Qd7 Qxa2 24. Qxc6 Qc2 0-1

[/pgn]

What we actually get is a short collection of 18 games with brief annotations: wins, losses and draws, followed by another 16 short defeats, intended as a supplement to Tim Krabbé’s collection which you can find online here.

Donner would have been amused that his biography should contain more embarrassing defeats than brilliant victories. “I love all positions. Give me a difficult positional game, I’ll play it. Give me a bad position, I’ll defend it. Openings, endgames, complicated positions, and dull, drawn positions, I love them all and will give my best efforts. But totally winning positions I cannot stand.”

Anyone who was following international chess between the 1950s and the 1970s will undoubtedly want to read this book. For younger readers it will be ancient history, but still a highly entertaining read.

If you’ve read The King this book will need no recommendation from me, and, likewise, if you’ve read this book you certainly won’t want to miss The King.

A thoroughly enjoyable, if informal, biography of a fascinating and unusual personality which comes highly recommended, but is slightly let down by the rather perfunctory games section.

Richard James, Twickenham 6th August 2020

Richard James
. Richard James

Book Details :

  • Paperback : 272 pages
  • Publisher:New in Chess (15 July 2020)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 9056918923
  • ISBN-13: 978-9056918927
  • Product Dimensions: 14.6 x 1.9 x 21.6 cm

Official web site of New in Chess

Hein Donner: The Biography
Hein Donner: The Biography
2020, Books, Everyman Chess, Opening Theory, Reviews

Opening Repertoire : The Sveshnikov

Leave a comment
Opening Repertoire : The Sveshnikov
Opening Repertoire : The Sveshnikov

Cyrus Lakdawala is an IM and former US Open Champion who teaches chess and has written over 25 books on chess openings.

IM Cyrus Lakdawala
IM Cyrus Lakdawala

Writing a modern repertoire book on the Sveshnikov and keeping it below 500 pages is an achievement, but Cyrus Lakdawala has managed it.

One of his latest books, Opening Repertoire – the Sveshnikov, is only 320 pages long, retailing at £18.99 in the UK and published by Everyman Chess (2020).

I say one of his latest books, as Cyrus regularly manages to write 3/4 books a year, all of good quality and they come thick and fast off the press. I can honestly say that I don’t know how he does it. His output is staggering and clearly the product of incredible self-discipline. As a fellow author, nowhere near his league, I salute him.

The Sveshnikov is a current Magnus Carlsen favourite and so if the book is any good at all, it should sell well.

[pgn]
[Event “Chessable Masters GpA”]
[Site “chess24.com INT”]
[Date “2020.06.20”]
[Round “2”]
[White “Harikrishna, Pentala”]
[Black “Carlsen, Magnus”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B33”]
[WhiteElo “2719”]
[BlackElo “2863”]
[Annotator “IM Andrew Martin”]
[PlyCount “170”]
[EventDate “2020.06.20”]
[EventType “tourn (rapid)”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventCountry “GER”]
[EventCategory “21”]
[SourceTitle “CB26_2020”]
[SourceDate “2020.05.05”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2020.05.05”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,170,23,11,50,43,43,34,26,25,53,43,43,43,43,5,5,-22,25,13,-21,-10,2,
-27,4,4,16,23,30,4,4,8,12,0,15,16,37,32,26,22,21,26,51,51,52,27,42,10,4,12,0,0,
0,-4,0,25,6,9,12,12,12,6,31,13,30,25,22,19,1,0,43,-20,3,1,0,-62,-45,-39,-50,
-47,-26,-88,-107,-105,-103,-119,-115,-141,-120,-122,-72,-92,-82,-95,-85,-101,
-95,-95,-80,-86,-80,-80,-80,-80,-90,-100,-80,-90,-87,-100,-85,-95,-102,-102,
-80,-84,-80,-90,-64,-113,-103,-103,-101,-101,-101,-101,-83,-102,-101,-149,-105,
-120,-92,-93,-99,-101,-101,-101,-101,-101,-101,-101,-101,-101,-111,-129,-135,
-136,-125,-125,-125,-126,-133,-133,-133,-139,-133,-178,-162,-162,-168,-170,
-166,-172,-158,-170,-167,-173,-215,-212,-212,-929,-972]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3
Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7
10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c4 b4 12. Nc2 a5 13. g3 g6 14. Nxf6+ Qxf6 15. Bg2 O-O 16. O-O
Bb7 17. Qd2 Nb8 18. Rfd1 Ra6 19. Qe3 Nd7 20. a3 Rb6 21. axb4 axb4 22. Ra4 b3
23. Ne1 Nc5 24. Ra3 Ra6 25. Rxa6 Bxa6 26. Bf1 Rc8 {[#] The position is
objectively equal. Carlsen typically settles in for a long grind.} 27. Nf3 Bb7
28. Nd2 Bc6 29. Ra1 Rb8 30. Ra3 Ba4 31. h4 h5 $2 (31… Qe7 $11) 32. Be2 $2 (
32. Rxa4 Nxa4 33. Qa7 {would have given White a substantial advantage.}) 32…
Kg7 33. Nb1 Qd8 34. Nd2 Ra8 35. Kh2 Ne6 36. Nf3 Bc6 37. Rxa8 Qxa8 38. Qxb3 Bxe4
{Black is getting on top.} 39. Qe3 Bb7 40. c5 Nxc5 41. Nxe5 Qa1 42. Nf3 Qxb2
43. Ng5 Bd5 44. Bf3 Bxf3 45. Qxf3 Qf6 46. Qe3 Ne6 47. Nf3 Qf5 48. Kg2 Qd5 49.
Kg1 Kf6 50. Qc3+ Ke7 51. Qe3 Qc5 52. Qd3 Qc1+ 53. Kg2 Qc6 54. Kg1 Nc5 55. Qe3+
Qe4 56. Qc3 Ne6 57. Qa3 Ke8 58. Kg2 g5 59. Kg1 g4 60. Ng5 Nxg5 61. hxg5 Qe1+
62. Kg2 Qe5 63. Qa8+ Ke7 64. Qg8 Qe4+ 65. Kg1 Qg6 66. Qc8 Qb1+ 67. Kh2 Qb6 68.
Kg2 Qc5 69. Qg8 Qf5 70. Qb8 Qe4+ 71. Kg1 d5 72. Qc7+ Kf8 73. Qd8+ Kg7 74. Qf6+
Kg8 75. Qd8+ Kh7 76. Qf6 Qg6 77. Qf4 Qe6 78. Qd4 Kg6 79. Kf1 Kxg5 80. Qg7+ Kf5
81. Qh8 Ke4 82. Qxh5 Kd3 83. Qh7+ Qe4 84. Qh6 Kc2 85. Qc6+ Qc4+ 0-1
[/pgn]

One of my first ports of call was to check out what Cyrus recommended against 7 Nd5, which featured in the Carlsen-Caruana World Championship match.

[pgn]
[Event “Moscow op-A 16th”]
[Site “Moscow”]
[Date “2020.01.30”]
[Round “6”]
[White “Pridorozhni, Aleksei”]
[Black “Tekeyev, Zaur”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B33”]
[WhiteElo “2601”]
[BlackElo “2384”]
[Annotator “IM Andrew Martin”]
[PlyCount “55”]
[EventDate “2020.01.25”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “9”]
[EventCountry “RUS”]
[SourceTitle “CB07_2020”]
[SourceDate “2020.02.12”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2020.02.12”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,55,19,21,72,49,51,34,13,24,24,14,24,24,24,24,24,24,24,24,56,33,33,33,
43,32,24,24,24,24,105,95,128,143,137,80,81,80,108,74,111,89,96,101,111,102,243,
243,249,142,652,675,740,501,501,501,501,501]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nge2 Nf6 4.
d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Nd5 Nxd5 8. exd5 Ne7 {[#] Carlsen has
recently preferred this to 8…Nb8, but there are some critical lines, one of
which we see in this game.} (8… Nb8) 9. c4 Ng6 10. Qa4 Bd7 11. Qb4 Bf5 12.
Be3 Be7 13. Nxa7 O-O 14. Nb5 $1 {Tweaking the move order.} (14. Be2 Nf4 15.
Bxf4 exf4 16. Nb5 Bf6 17. O-O Be5 {is given in the book , after which Black
has compensation thanks to his dark-squared control.}) 14… e4 ({After} 14…
Nf4 15. Qd2 {I am not sure Black has full value for a pawn.}) 15. Be2 Nh4 16.
O-O Qd7 17. f4 exf3 18. Bxf3 Rfe8 19. Qd2 Bg6 20. b3 Bf6 21. Bd4 Nxf3+ 22. Rxf3
Bh4 23. Bxg7 Be4 24. Bc3 Qg4 25. Rf4 Qg5 26. Bf6 Qxf6 27. Rxf6 Bxf6 28. Rf1 1-0
[/pgn]

The problem with repertoire books is that they can become outdated very quickly under the gaze of the silicon genius. Having said that, the chapter on
7 Nd5 is very well written ,with a wealth of interesting suggestions.

I guess the biggest challenge that the Sveshnikov presents is the vast amount of theory that has accumulated. You have to know a lot to begin with and work very hard to keep up to date. This is not everyone’s cup of tea. For me, the Sveshnikov is great for strong players, but I am not so sure about club players. Some of the main line positions are very complex and tactical, where Black is relying on accurate move sequences to see him through. Having said that, when you do get this
opening right as Black, I imagine it can be very satisfying.

[pgn]
[Event “PNWCC Online blitz JP 10th”]
[Site “chess.com INT”]
[Date “2020.05.16”]
[Round “3”]
[White “Pichot, Alan”]
[Black “Gelfand, Boris”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B33”]
[WhiteElo “2630”]
[BlackElo “2676”]
[Annotator “IM Andrew Martin”]
[PlyCount “74”]
[EventDate “2020.05.16”]
[EventType “swiss (blitz)”]
[EventRounds “11”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[SourceTitle “CB21_2020”]
[SourceDate “2020.05.20”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2020.05.20”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,74,19,31,72,53,33,26,28,24,24,24,24,24,24,-5,-5,-5,-5,-5,-5,-5,9,-24,
-23,-23,-2,10,-9,-40,-43,-10,-12,-14,2,-6,37,37,42,33,37,17,13,5,22,9,-8,-47,
-40,-59,-35,-131,-27,-114,-50,-42,10,-39,-26,-81,-92,-71,-91,-83,-89,-89,-89,
-88,-109,-93,-83,-88,-83,-88,-94,-104,-106]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3
Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Bxf6
gxf6 10. Nd5 f5 11. g3 $5 {[#] Another pesky sideline to learn.} fxe4 12. Bg2
Bg7 13. Bxe4 Be6 14. O-O Rc8 15. c3 O-O 16. Nc2 f5 17. Bg2 Kh8 18. a4 bxa4 19.
Rxa4 a5 20. Rh4 Ne7 21. Nxe7 Qxe7 22. Ne3 Rb8 23. b4 axb4 24. cxb4 e4 25. Bh3
Be5 26. Qh5 Qf7 27. Qxf7 Rxf7 28. Rh6 Bd7 29. Nc4 Kg7 30. Nxe5 dxe5 31. Rd6
Rxb4 32. Rfd1 Bb5 33. Rb6 Be2 34. Rxb4 Bxd1 35. Rb5 Kf6 36. Rb6+ Kg7 37. Re6
Bf3 0-1[/pgn]

I enjoyed Lakdawala’s book and I think you will too. You will need time and energy to absorb it properly. There are extra chapters on the Anti-Sveshnikov, 3 Nc3 and an opening line Lakdawala calls ‘ the Mamba’, where Black substitutes 6…Bc5!? for 6 …d6.

[pgn]
[Event “Wch Seniors 65 27th”]
[Site “Acqui Terme”]
[Date “2017.11.14”]
[Round “7”]
[White “Gruzmann, Boris”]
[Black “Sveshnikov, Evgeny”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B33”]
[WhiteElo “2218”]
[BlackElo “2480”]
[Annotator “IM Andrew Martin”]
[PlyCount “98”]
[EventDate “2017.11.07”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “11”]
[EventCountry “ITA”]
[SourceTitle “CBM 181 Extra”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2017.12.12”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2017.12.12”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,98,23,33,48,45,52,19,20,19,21,21,24,24,24,-7,-7,3,-4,-6,-5,-5,-6,-2,
13,9,13,10,15,10,18,25,34,18,23,22,16,19,13,3,12,7,16,17,16,2,12,7,-6,4,5,14,
-8,-10,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-10,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-30,-30,-37,-41,-41,
-41,-41,-41,-112,-68,-72,-79,-74,-75,-102,-88,-75,-97,-97,-79,-239,-239]} {
For the time being, let’s leave the last word to the Grandmaster from
a different era, whose phenomenal contribution to this opening came from blood,
toil,tears and sweat and not from the pressing of buttons.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6
3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10.
Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c4 b4 12. Nc2 a5 13. g3 O-O 14. Bg2 Be6 15. O-O Rc8 16. b3 Bxd5
17. Qxd5 Nd4 18. Nxd4 exd4 19. Qh5 Qb6 20. Rad1 g6 21. Qe2 Bg7 22. Rd3 Rce8 23.
g4 f5 24. gxf5 Rxf5 25. Qg4 Rh5 26. f4 Qd8 27. Rh3 Rxh3 28. Qxh3 Kh8 29. Qg3
Qf6 30. Qg5 Qxg5 31. fxg5 Re5 32. h4 Re7 33. Kf2 Be5 34. Ke2 Bg3 35. Kf3 Be5
36. Ke2 Kg7 37. Rf3 h5 38. gxh6+ Kxh6 39. Rh3 Ra7 40. Bf3 a4 {[#] Deep in the
endgame, the veteran GM starts to show his class.} 41. Bg4 axb3 42. axb3 Ra1
43. h5 g5 44. Bf5 Rg1 45. Kf2 Rc1 46. Rf3 Rh1 47. Rh3 Rxh3 48. Bxh3 Kxh5 49.
Bf1 (49. Kf3 Kh4 50. Be6 d3 51. Ke3 Kg3 52. Kxd3 Kf3 {should win:} 53. c5 dxc5
54. Kc4 Bg7 $1 55. Kxc5 Bf8+ 56. Kd5 g4 57. e5 g3) 49… Kg4 0-1
[/pgn]

I rate this book excellent, 4.5/5 stars.

Four and Half out of Five Stars
Four and Half out of Five Stars

Andrew Martin, Bramley, Surrey, 5th August, 2020

IM Andrew Martin
IM Andrew Martin

Book Details :

  • Paperback : 322 pages
  • Publisher:Everyman Chess (1 Mar. 2020)
  • Language:English
  • ISBN-10:1781945632
  • ISBN-13:978-1781945636
  • Product Dimensions: 17.3 x 1.8 x 24.2 cm

The book is available as a physical book and as a Kindle version.

Official web site of Everyman Chess

Opening Repertoire : The Sveshnikov
Opening Repertoire : The Sveshnikov
2020, Books, Games Analysis, Games Collection, Reviews, Thinkers Publishing

Fundamental Chess Strategy in 100 Games

1 Comment
Fundamental Chess Strategy in 100 Games
Fundamental Chess Strategy in 100 Games

Boroljub Zlatanovic was born in Cuprija, Serbia, 05 August 1977 • Meet chess in 4 years old watching father and his brother playing • Entered first club “Radnicki” Cuprija in 7 years • FM since 1994 ( however, it was recognized in 1998) • Serbian youth champion in 1995 • Champion of Belgrade University in 2001 and 2002 • Many times won Serbian team championship (in youth competition also) • IM since 2014 • FT since 2015 • Winner of many open, blitz and rapid and internet events • Professional coach for more than 15 years • Author and contributor in American chess magazine since 2019

FM Boroljub Zlatanovic
FM Boroljub Zlatanovic

From the rear cover :

“This book would bring something new into your chess library. In computer era focus is usually on openings. Watching broadcasts new generations rather choose games with favorite opening played seeking for some interesting idea or even brilliant novelty. I offer and recommend different concept, based on famous Soviet chess school. Focus should be on understanding strategy concepts, principles and inner logic. Fashionable opening lines will be forgotten (or re-evaluated) sooner or later, but understanding cannot be lost and can be only upgraded. It is sad to see some player well equipped with opening lines, unable to realize big positional advantage in deep endgame. So, our advice is to learn about Strategy and Logic. The book is highly recommended for club players, advanced players and masters, although even higher rated players can find a lot of useful things for themselves. There is no doubt lower rated players will learn a lot about thinking process and making decisions, while some logical principles can be good advice for strong players also.”

Another review :

“Zlatanovic uses a light touch of his notes, limiting the complexity of his analysis and working to clearly explain the logic of positional decisions and ideas. Using examples both well-known and less studied, class and club players are taught quite a bit about basic positional play. I certainly leaned a thing of two. Johh Hartmann – Chess Life – April 2020.”

As with every recent Thinkers Publishing publication high quality paper is used and the printing is clear. The book can easily be laid flat next to the board and does not require weights to prevent it from “self-closing” (a particular bugbear of ours !). Each diagram is clear and the instructional text is typeset in two column format, which, we find, enables the reader to maintain their place easily. Figurine algebraic notation is used throughout and the diagrams are placed adjacent to the relevant text and each diagram has a “to move” indicator.

There is no index which, unfortunately, is a standard omission of Thinkers Publishing books. Also missing is a bibliography.

This is a massive book, over 500 pages and is a collection of classic games, with instructive notes. It is more or less designed for the club player. There is a bit of blurb on the back cover stating that the book will be useful to advanced players and masters, but I am not at all sure about that.

I cannot see advanced players buying this book.

Apparently, the book is based on the same principles as the famous Soviet school of chess. Strategy, logic and understanding should take pride of place, even in our computer era. I agree, but I don’t need the Soviet school of chess to tell me that. I can work that out for myself.

The book is beautifully produced and is very easy to read. It retails at a whopping £29.95 in the UK.

As there are so many books of the same type around, what I was looking for was a bit of originality. At the very least , all of the games should have been from the last 20 years, trying to unravel the complexity of the modern game.

What I found were games that I almost all seen before. There are only 15 games in the entire book that come from the period 2000-2020. None from Magnus Carlsen, for instance. This was disappointing.

Players under 1800 will get the most out of this book and trainers will have a ready source of lesson plans, if they are willing to make what is a hefty investment.

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Three out of Five Stars

IM Andrew Martin, Bramley, Surrey 4th August 2020

IM Andrew Martin
IM Andrew Martin

Book Details :

  • Hardcover : 512 pages
  • Publisher:Thinkers Publishing; 1 edition (19 Mar. 2020)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10:9492510685
  • ISBN-13:978-9492510686
  • Product Dimensions: 7 x 3.6 x 23.4 cm

Official web site of Thinkers Publishing

Fundamental Chess Strategy in 100 Games
Fundamental Chess Strategy in 100 Games
2021, Deaths, History, Player, Players, Remembering

Remembering Captain William Davies Evans (27-i-1790 03-viii-1872)

1 Comment
Captain William Davies Evans (27-i-1790 03-viii-1872)
Captain William Davies Evans (27-i-1790 03-viii-1872)

William Davies Evans was born on the 27th of January, 1790 at Musland Farm in the parish of Saint Dogwells, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, SA62 5DT. His parents were John (a farmer by trade) and Mary Davies. William was baptised on September 21st 1814 in Steynton, Pembrokeshire. The service was conducted by WM Lloyd, Curate of Burton, Pembrokeshire.

It would appear from baptism records (Steynton) that WD had a younger brother Robert Joseph, baptised on the same day in September.

Captain William Davies Evans (27-i-1790 03-viii-1872)
Captain William Davies Evans (27-i-1790 03-viii-1872)

From The Oxford Companion to Chess (OUP, 1984) by Hooper & Whyld :

“Inventor of the Evans gambit, for about half a century one of the most popular attacking weapons. He was born in (Musland Farm in the parish of Saint Dogwells,) Pembroke, Wales, went to sea at the age of 14, was employed by the Postal Department from about 1815, and rose to the rank of captain four years later. In 1824, soon after taking command of the first Royal Mail steam packet to sail from Milford Haven to Waterford, and while aboard, he invented his gambit.

Evans was a keen player. He gathered a small chess circle in Waterford, and when on leave in England played chess in London, notably in 1826 when he showed his gambit to Lewis and McDonnell, and in 1838 when he played a long series of games with Staunton at the Westminster Chess Club.

In Jan. 1840 he was pensioned off on account of ill-health. He went to Greece, became captain of a steamer that sailed the Mediterranean, and returned to London at the end of 1842. During the next 13 years there are several accounts of his presence in London, and then he settled abroad. He died and was buried in Ostend,

Evans claimed to have solved the three pawns problem (See below) , which, however, had already been solved by others.

His claim to the invention of tri-coloured lighting for ships has not been verified independently, although he is known to have investigated the subject. For this invention he states that the Tsar of Russia gave him a gold chronometer, and that he also received money. For a more detailed life of Captain Evans see British Chess Magazine, 1928, pp, 6-18.”

The Evans Gambit is a variation of the Giuoco Piano or Italian Game:

[fen]r1bqk1nr/pppp1ppp/2n5/2b1p3/1PB1P3/5N2/P1PP1PPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

When Evans originally devised his gambit the move order was slightly different :

[fen]r1bqk1nr/ppp2ppp/2np4/2b1p3/1PB1P3/5N2/P1PP1PPP/RNBQ2KR b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

in which White sacrifices the b-pawn for increased central control and development viz :

[pgn]
[Event “London”]
[Site “London”]
[Date “1829.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Evans, William Davies”]
[Black “McDonnell, Alexander”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C51”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “39”]
[EventDate “1829.??.??”]
[EventType “game”]
[EventRounds “1”]
[EventCountry “ENG”]
[SourceTitle “EXT 2010”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2010.11.25”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2010.11.25”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,39,19,38,25,7,30,27,27,-50,-30,-36,35,4,-5,122,37,44,129,125,166,166,
200,219,215,212,212,212,266,383,584,706,690,723,746,874,29995,29996,29997,
29998,29999,-30000]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 $1 Bxb4 5. c3 Bc5 6.
O-O (6. d4 $142 exd4 7. O-O d6 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. d5) 6… Nf6 7. d4 exd4 (7… Bd6
) 8. cxd4 Bb6 9. e5 d5 (9… Ng4 $142) 10. exf6 $18 dxc4 11. Re1+ Kf8 12. Ba3+
Kg8 13. d5 Na5 (13… gxf6 $142 14. dxc6 Qxd1 15. Rxd1 bxc6 $18) 14. Be7 $18 {
[#]} Qd7 15. fxg7 Kxg7 16. Qd2 Qg4 17. Qc3+ Kg8 (17… Bd4 18. Nxd4) 18. Qxh8+
$1 Kxh8 19. Bf6+ Qg7 20. Re8# {[#]} 1-0
[/pgn]

From The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale, 1970 & 1976) by Anne Sunnucks :

“Inventor of the Evans Gambit, an opening described by a player in the last century as ‘A yellow fever attack : if you live through the initial stages and avoid any carelessness that may bring on a relapse, you will come out alright’.

Captain Evans discovered the gambit in about 1824. It was a favourite opening during the last century and was adopted by a number of leading players including La Bourdonnais and Morphy.

For some years Commander in H.M. Royal Mail Packet Service on the Milford and Waterford station, Captain Evans later became Commander in the P.& O. Company’s service and agent for the Royal Mail Steampacket Company, Port Grande. On retirement he lives for many years in Holland and Belgium.

The story is told of how, in 1870, the Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia, brother of the Tsar, was visiting Bruges when he heard that the inventor of the Evans Gambit was living in Ostend. Being a keen chess player he invited Evans to play a game. When Evans had won, the Grand Duke turned to his adversary and said : ‘I believe you invented the Evans Gambit ?’, ‘Yes’ replied Evans ‘and it’s not the only thing I’ve invented for which you have not paid me.’ ‘What’s the other?’ asked the Grand Duke.

Evans then explained that he was the inventor of the ship’s lights which were being used by the Russian Navy, in which the Grand Duke held the rank of Admiral. Several months later Evans was invited to the Russian Consulate in Ostend, where he was handed a letter from the Grand Duke, a gold chronometer, a gold chain and a draft of money, ostensibly in payment for the Russia’s rights to use the captain’s invention in her ships. ”

Enjoy this interesting article from “Introuble2” on chess.com

Evans analyzed the “Little Game of Chess” (an endgame composition involving only two kings with three pawns each)

[fen]4k3/5ppp/8/8/8/8/PPP5/3K4 w – – 0 1[/fen]

to independently discover that it actually won for the player who moves first, not drawn as had been believed for over a hundred years.

From The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford, 1977) by Harry Golombek we have :

“After his retirement Evans went to live abroad and eventually found a haven in Ostend and there, ill, and almost blind and in very straightened circumstances, he dictated a letter on 22 March 1871, which was published in the Gentlemen’s Journal supplement for June 1872, along with an appeal for him organised by George Walker.

The letter gives the authentic facts of his life and is worth quoting in full, if only to refute various unfounded reports about a meeting with the Tsar’s brother, or according to that rich source of misinformation, the Rev GA MacDonnell, that the Evans Gambit was discovered off the coast of Africa by a middle-aged lieutenant in the Royal Navy -perhaps the reverend gentleman was confusing Waterford with the Canary Islands.

The letter runs :

Williams Davies Evans is a native of Pembrokeshire, South Wales, and was born on 27 January 1790. He commenced a naval career at the age of fourteen. He was about twenty-eight years of age when he first learnt the moves of the game of Chess. Having the advantage of frequent practise with Lieutenant H. Wilson, R.N., who was a player of some reputation in his time, beside corresponding on the subject of the game with the late Mr. W. Lewis, and also with George Walker, the able Chess Editor of Bell’s Life , he made a rapid progress in the game. Captain Evans received at first the odds of a Rook from Lieut. Wilson. After a continuance of play for some years, the odds were greatly reduced, until ultimately Captain Evans succeeded in defeating his formidable antagonist playing even.

About the year 1824, being then in command of a Government Mail Steamer, the passages between Milford Haven and Waterford were favourable to the study of the game of Chess and at this time he invented the Gambit, which bears his name. The idea occurred to him while studying a narration of Giuoco Piano in Sarratts’s Treatise on Chess.

[pgn]
[Event “Berlin ‘Evergreen'”]
[Site “Berlin”]
[Date “1852.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Anderssen, Adolf”]
[Black “Dufresne, Jean”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C52”]
[Annotator “Kasparov,Garry”]
[PlyCount “47”]
[EventDate “1852.??.??”]
[EventType “game”]
[EventRounds “1”]
[EventCountry “GER”]
[SourceTitle “CBM 059”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1997.08.01”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1997.08.01”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,47,19,38,25,7,30,27,27,-50,-30,-31,-31,-57,-31,-88,0,-21,-3,40,40,-7,
0,-84,-31,34,21,37,40,0,70,65,115,119,122,0,0,0,72,-231,-156,-158,29993,29994,
29995,29996,29997,29998,29999,-30000] Today we will look at a game that
bewitched its contemporaries and became known as the “evergreen”.} {Heute
werden wir eine Partie betrachten, die ihre Zeitgenossen bezaubert hat und als
“Immergrüne” in die Geschichte eingegangen ist. Dufresne war ein deutscher
Jurastudent und Journalist, dessen “Kleines Lehrbuch des Schachspiels” ganze
Generationen von Schachspielern begleitet hat.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5
4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O d3 8. Qb3 Qf6 9. e5 Qg6 10. Re1 Nge7 11.
Ba3 b5 12. Qxb5 Rb8 13. Qa4 Bb6 14. Nbd2 Bb7 15. Ne4 Qf5 16. Bxd3 Qh5 {[#]
White has a huge advantage and it is time for decisive action. In accordance
with his own romantic style and public demand Anderssen played [#] Weiß hat
einen gigantischen Vorteil, die Zeit ist reif für den Sturm. Seinem eigenen
romantischen Stil getreu, und dem Publikumsgeschmack gehorchend, spielte
Anderssen} 17. Nf6+ {?!! The two exclamation marks are for one of the most
beautiful combinations in chess history, which was started with this move. But
objectively the search for beauty created unnecessary complications. The
prosaic ?!! Zwei Ausrufezeichen, weil eine der glanzvollsten Kombinationen der
gesamten Schachgeschichte mit diesem Zug eingeleitet wurde. Aber objektiv
gesehen kann das Streben nach Schönheit unnötige Komplikationen schaffen. Das
prosaische} (17. Ng3 Qh6 18. Bc1 Qe6 19. Bc4 Nd5 (19… Qg6 20. Nh4 Qg4 21.
Bxf7+) 20. Ng5 Qg4 21. Re4 {would finish the game without any troubles, but
then chess would have lost one of the jewels from its crown! hätte die Partie
ohne weitere Schwierigkeiten beendet. Aber damit würde heute dem Schachspiel
ein Juwel in der Krone fehlen.}) 17… gxf6 18. exf6 Rg8 $1 {At first sight an
open g-file gives Black excellent counter-attacking chances, but Anderssen’s
calculations were beyond the fears of an ordinary human being. Auf den ersten
Blick bietet die offene g-Linie Schwarz ausgezeichnete Chancen für einen
Gegenangriff. Aber die Berechnungen von Anderssen waren jenseits der Ängste
von normalen Menschen.} 19. Rad1 $1 {I’ll spare you hundreds of analyses by
following generations of chess players. After endless debate they have agreed
that 19.Rad1 was better than the alternative 19.Be4. Now the best reply was 19.
..Rg4!, which would pose some difficult problems for White, but in the
emerging wild complications White would, in my opinion, retain the upper hand.
Ich werde Ihnen die unzähligen Analysen von Generationen von Schachspielern
ersparen. Nach endlosen Debatten haben sie beschlossen, daß Anderssens Zug
besser als die Alternative 19.Le4 war. Danach wäre 19…Tg4! der beste Zug.
Weiß hätte einige schwierige Probleme zu meistern, aber nach meiner Meinung
behält er in den wilden Komplikationen, die folgen, eindeutig die Oberhand.}
Qxf3 $2 {Now White’s king is suddenly just one step from decapitation. But how
can we reproach Dufresne from not recognising the magic of a genius? [#]
Jetzt steht der weiße König nur einen Schritt vor seiner Hinrichtung. Aber
können wir Dufresne einen Vorwurf machen, weil er die magischen Fähigkeiten
eines Genies nicht erkannt hat? [#]} 20. Rxe7+ $1 Nxe7 $5 {Another proof that
chess masterpieces require the generous cooperation of the loser! Nowadays a
professional player and, of course, a computer, would have without hesitation
resorted to Ein weiterer Beweis dafür, daß die Meisterwerke des Schachs der
großmutigen Kooperation des Opfers benötigen! Heutzutage würde ein Schachprofi
— und natürlich auch ein schachspielender Computer — ohne Zögern den Zug 20..
.Kd8 wählen, um die nahende Vernichtung zu vermeiden.} (20… Kd8 {preventing
the upcoming demolition, but losing anyway later after Aber Schwarz verliert
auch so:} 21. Rxd7+ $1 Kc8 (21… Kxd7 22. Bf5+ Ke8 23. Bd7+ Kd8 24. Bxc6+ {
with mate nebst Matt.}) 22. Rd8+ $1 Kxd8 (22… Rxd8 23. gxf3 {or}) (22… Nxd8
23. Qd7+ $3 {- the same motif mit dem gleichen Motiv}) 23. Be2+ {less clear is}
({weniger klar ist} 23. Bf5+ Qxd1+ 24. Qxd1+ Nd4 25. g3 Rg5 $1 26. Bh3 Bf3 $1)
23… Nd4 24. Bxf3 Bxf3 25. g3 Bxd1 26. Qxd1 {with a boring but winning
endgame. mit einem langweiligen aber gewonnenen Endspiel.}) 21. Qxd7+ $3 Kxd7
22. Bf5+ Ke8 23. Bd7+ Kf8 24. Bxe7# {It was not surprising that chess players
of the time, impressed by this kind of greatness, did not want to listen to
dull positional advice. But the old combinational school, led by its first
knight Anderssen, was doomed in the battle against the modernized warfare
techniques of Paul Morphy, whose tactics had much better positional
foundations. Es ist nicht verwunderlich, daß die Schachspieler jener Zeit
angesichts solcher großartigen Angriffspartien wenig Neigung hatten, stumpfe
strategische Regeln zu lernen. Aber die alte kombinatorische Schule, geführt
von ihrem strahlendsten Ritter Anderssen, war letztendlich zum Untergang
verdammt. Ihre Vertreter konnten den fortschrittlicheren Techniken eines Paul
Morphy, dessen taktische Schläge ein viel solideres positionelles Fundament
besaßen, nicht lange widerstehen.} 1-0
[/pgn]

Captain Evans was the first who gave to the world a true solution of that very difficult end game, the King and three Pawns unmoved against King and three Pawns also unmoved. This position was handed down to us through a period of some centuries as a drawn game, but Captain Evans proved that the first player can always win.

Captain Evans acquired some celebrity as “Inventor of the System of Tri-Coloured Lights for Ships to Prevent Collisions at Night”, which has been adopted by all nations possessing a marine. For this invention the English Government awarded him the sum of £1,500 , and the Czar of Russia a gold pocket chronometer, value £160, together with a donation of £200.

The subscription that amounted to over £200 was too late. He died in 1872 and was buried in Ostend where his grave bears the inscription :

To the sacred memory of William Davies Evans, formerly Commander in the Post Office and Peninsular and Oriental Steam Services, Superintendent In the Royal Mail Shipping Company, and inventor of the system of tri-coloured light for shipping. Also well known in the Chess World as the author of the Evans Gambit

Blue Plaque for Captain WD Evans
Blue Plaque for Captain WD Evans

Here is his Wikipedia entry.

Read here of the Plaque in Wolfscastle

Blue Plaque for Captain William Davies Evans (27-i-1790 03-viii-1872)
Blue Plaque for Captain William Davies Evans (27-i-1790 03-viii-1872)
Play The Evans Gambit (co-author Tim Harding). Cadogan. ISBN 1-85744-119-2.
Play The Evans Gambit (co-author Tim Harding). Cadogan. ISBN 1-85744-119-2.
2022, Biographies, Birthday, ECF, Honour, Honour, Player, Players, Remembering

Remembering CM David Anderton OBE (02-viii-1941 01-iv-2022)

3 Comments
David Anderton OBE from the final 4NCL weekend of 2014, courtesy of John Upham Photography
David Anderton OBE from the final 4NCL weekend of 2014, courtesy of John Upham Photography

BCN remembers CM David Anderton OBE who passed away on Friday, April 1st 2022.

In the 1977 New Years Honours List, Civil Division, David was awarded the OBE. The citation read simply : “For services to Chess”

David William Anderton was born in the district of Walsall, Staffordshire, West Midlands. His mother’s maiden name was Coltart and David resided in Walsall.

David was married to Doreen in 2005.

David Anderton (rhs) congratulates Sir Philip Stuart Milner-Barry for winning the "Board of Honour " game versus Edward Lasker 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
David Anderton (rhs) congratulates Sir Philip Stuart Milner-Barry for winning the “Board of Honour ” game versus Edward Lasker 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

David was an Honorary Life Vice-President of the English (formerly British) Chess Federation.

John Nunn, David Anderton and Jonathan Speelman
John Nunn, David Anderton and Jonathan Speelman

“David won the ECF President’s Award in 2009 following his stepping down as ECF legal expert. This is the citation from the 2010 ECF Yearbook :

“As this is Gerry Walsh’s last year as President it was considered appropriate that he be allowed to choose someone receive the award. Gerry has worked with David for all his time with BCF and ECF and has selected him due to his tireless and selfless devotion to both the BCF and ECF over many years.

David Anderton OBE, ? and Teresa Needham
David Anderton OBE, ? and Teresa Needham

Most of you will know David and will agree that this is a well deserved award. It is fair to state that David’s assistance over the years has been invaluable and that without it many areas of the Federation would have found it difficult, if not impossible to operate.

Jim Plaskett with David Anderton OBE at the 1983 Benedictine International (Manchester)
Jim Plaskett with David Anderton OBE at the 1983 Benedictine International (Manchester)

Since my election David has been a constant friend and confidante. He has invariable given sound advice throughout my term of office. It was John Wickham who rang me and suggested that due to my length of tenure, a special award might be in order.

Jim accepts the 1981 Grand Prix shield from David Anderton OBE
Jim accepts the 1981 Grand Prix shield from David Anderton OBE

After years of selfless and generous devotion serving as ECF President, International Director, Captain of the England Team and legal adviser, this seems to be a fitting tribute.

From the Praxis Bath Zonal Tournament of 1987. David Anderton OBE is second from right
From the Praxis Bath Zonal Tournament of 1987. David Anderton OBE is second from right

David’s advice both legal and general, has been invaluable in such matters as the John Robinson legacy and the change of name from BCF to ECF Limited, and I certainly hope that this advice will continue.

Gerry Walsh”

Bob Wade OBE, Murray Chandler MNZM and David Anderton OBE
Bob Wade OBE, Murray Chandler MNZM and David Anderton OBE

David is a FIDE Candidate Master.

From the BCF 1979-90 Year Book of Chess : Robert Bellin, the new British Champion, explains the secret to the Mayor of Chester (?) and to David Anderton, BCF President
From the BCF 1979-80 Year Book of Chess : Robert Bellin, the new British Champion, explains the secret to the Mayor of Chester (?) and to David Anderton, BCF President

With the White pieces David exclusively plays 1.d4 aiming for a Queen’s Gambit and main lines.

With Black David plays the Winawer and the Classical French plus the Lenningrad Dutch.

Mrs. Joan Agar; Chairman of Leigh Interests, presents the Leigh trophy (for 1981) to Mark Hebden. Left, David Anderton, BCF President; on the right Malcolm Wood, Leigh's Chief Executive. BCM, 1981, page 104
Mrs. Joan Agar; Chairman of Leigh Interests, presents the Leigh trophy (for 1981) to Mark Hebden. Left, David Anderton, BCF President; on the right Malcolm Wood, Leigh’s Chief Executive. BCM, 1981, page 104

Here are his games.

[pgn]
[Event “Kilkenny Masters”]
[Site “Kilkenny”]
[Date “1997.11.28”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Anderton, David William”]
[Black “Watson, William N”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B07”]
[WhiteElo “2200”]
[BlackElo “2535”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “80”]
[EventDate “1997.11.28”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “6”]
[EventCountry “IRL”]
[SourceTitle “CBM 061 Extra”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1998.03.09”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1998.03.09”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,80,17,28,70,75,74,61,88,52,41,41,36,30,37,51,39,40,44,28,70,51,60,31,
36,-4,6,41,27,29,47,43,85,65,98,84,94,98,193,74,77,77,79,79,55,48,84,88,88,103,
113,79,85,133,130,120,225,222,275,195,326,194,271,92,92,92,90,91,77,98,148,118,
62,-11,19,-249,-240,-256,-277,-267,-267,-306,-306]} 1. d4 d6 2. e4 Nf6 3. Nc3
g6 4. Nge2 Bg7 5. g3 O-O 6. Bg2 c6 7. O-O e5 8. h3 b5 9. a3 a6 10. Be3 Nbd7 11.
g4 Bb7 12. Ng3 h6 $146 13. Qd2 $14 exd4 14. Bxd4 Nb6 15. b3 Kh7 16. Rad1 Qc7
17. f4 d5 {[#]} 18. Qf2 $1 Nbd7 (18… Nfd7 $142) 19. e5 (19. g5 $1 Ne8 20.
exd5 Bxd4 21. Rxd4 c5 22. Rd2 b4 23. d6 $18) 19… Ng8 20. b4 a5 21. h4 Qd8 22.
h5 axb4 23. axb4 Qh4 $1 24. Qf3 Qe7 25. Rb1 Ra3 26. Rfe1 Bh8 27. Bf1 $18 c5 28.
bxc5 Nxc5 29. Rxb5 Ne6 30. Bf2 (30. f5 $1) 30… Rc8 31. Rb3 $6 (31. f5) 31…
Rxb3 32. cxb3 Nxf4 $1 33. Qxf4 Rxc3 34. b4 Qe6 35. Bd4 Rb3 36. b5 Ne7 $11 37.
Nh1 g5 38. Qf2 Qxg4+ 39. Bg2 Nf5 40. Rf1 Bc8 $19 {White (presumably) won on
time.} 1-0

[Event “Kilkenny Masters”]
[Site “Kilkenny”]
[Date “1997.11.28”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Anderton, David William”]
[Black “Watson, William N”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B07”]
[WhiteElo “2200”]
[BlackElo “2535”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “80”]
[EventDate “1997.11.28”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “6”]
[EventCountry “IRL”]
[SourceTitle “CBM 061 Extra”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1998.03.09”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1998.03.09”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,80,17,28,70,75,74,61,88,52,41,41,36,30,37,51,39,40,44,28,70,51,60,31,
36,-4,6,41,27,29,47,43,85,65,98,84,94,98,193,74,77,77,79,79,55,48,84,88,88,103,
113,79,85,133,130,120,225,222,275,195,326,194,271,92,92,92,90,91,77,98,148,118,
62,-11,19,-249,-240,-256,-277,-267,-267,-306,-306]} 1. d4 d6 2. e4 Nf6 3. Nc3
g6 4. Nge2 Bg7 5. g3 O-O 6. Bg2 c6 7. O-O e5 8. h3 b5 9. a3 a6 10. Be3 Nbd7 11.
g4 Bb7 12. Ng3 h6 $146 13. Qd2 $14 exd4 14. Bxd4 Nb6 15. b3 Kh7 16. Rad1 Qc7
17. f4 d5 {[#]} 18. Qf2 $1 Nbd7 (18… Nfd7 $142) 19. e5 (19. g5 $1 Ne8 20.
exd5 Bxd4 21. Rxd4 c5 22. Rd2 b4 23. d6 $18) 19… Ng8 20. b4 a5 21. h4 Qd8 22.
h5 axb4 23. axb4 Qh4 $1 24. Qf3 Qe7 25. Rb1 Ra3 26. Rfe1 Bh8 27. Bf1 $18 c5 28.
bxc5 Nxc5 29. Rxb5 Ne6 30. Bf2 (30. f5 $1) 30… Rc8 31. Rb3 $6 (31. f5) 31…
Rxb3 32. cxb3 Nxf4 $1 33. Qxf4 Rxc3 34. b4 Qe6 35. Bd4 Rb3 36. b5 Ne7 $11 37.
Nh1 g5 38. Qf2 Qxg4+ 39. Bg2 Nf5 40. Rf1 Bc8 $19 {White (presumably) won on
time.} 1-0

[/pgn]

DW Anderton OBE plays BH Wood MBE in 1981 in a Blitz tournament outside of the National Film Theatre. Photograph courtesy of John Saunders
DW Anderton OBE plays BH Wood MBE in 1981 in a Blitz tournament outside of the National Film Theatre. Photograph courtesy of John Saunders

During 1989-93 David was an Executive Board Member of FIDE.

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
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

In 2002 David was awarded the title of International Master by the ICCF (correspondence chess)

In 2015 David stood down from all of his roles within the ECF.

David Anderton OBE, Paul Bazalgette (Senior Partner at Philips & Drew) and Tony Banks (GLC Arts & Recreation Department) at the 1982 Philips and Drew Kings Tournament Opening Ceremony. Photograph by Clive Field
David Anderton OBE, Paul Bazalgette (Senior Partner at Philips & Drew) and Tony Banks (GLC Arts & Recreation Department) at the 1982 Philips and Drew Kings Tournament Opening Ceremony. Photograph by Clive Field

David has won the British Seniors Championship in 2003 (shared), 2005, 2007 (shared), 2009 (shared) and 2011.

Here is a potted biography from The Express and Star Newspaper

David Anderton OBE at the 2019 British Championships in Torquay
David Anderton OBE at the 2019 British Championships in Torquay, courtesy of John Upham Photography

David was Head of Regulatory Law at Anson’s Solicitors. He was also Secretary of the Erasmus Darwin Foundation (03270753) and Director of Unionist Buildings Ltd., Wallsall Conservative Investments Ltd. and Wallsall Unionist Holdings Ltd.

CM David William Anderton OBE
CM David William Anderton OBE
2021, Biographies, Birthday, Composer, Composition, Problems, Writers

Happy Birthday Barry Barnes (01-viii-1937)

3 Comments
Barry Barnes by Jean Barnes
Barry Barnes by Jean Barnes

BCN wishes happy birthday to Barry Barnes (01-viii-1937)

Barry Peter Barnes was born in Brighton and his mother’s maiden name was Simpole. (Barry is a cousin of Julian Ivan Peter Simpole, who was a Brighton school teacher and who taught Edward Gerard Winter to play chess).

Barry now lives in Halling, Rochester, Kent with his wife Jean.

From The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale, 1970 & 1976) by Anne Sunnucks :

“International Master of FIDE for Chess Compositions (1967) and International Judge of FIDE for Chess Compositions (1967).

Born on 1st August 1937, Barnes works in transport advertising. He has composed about 250 two-move problems. With Lipton and Rice, he has contributed to the advance of the modern two-mover. Problem Editor of Two-Move and Twin sections of The Problemist. Co-author with M.Lipton and JM Rice of The Two-Move Chess Problem : Tradition and Development (Faber and Faber 1966).

Barry Peter Barnes
Barry Peter Barnes

 

BP Barnes
2nd Prize Problem T.T. 1964

[fen]6q1/5p2/1Q6/8/3rPN2/5P1P/2PP1NPp/R1B1K1kr w – – 0 1[/fen]

White to play and mate in two moves

(a) Diagram
(b) With black pawn at KN2 (g7)

(a) Solution
1. B-R3!

(b) Solution 1. K-K2!

From British Chess (Pergamon Press, 1983) by GS Botterill, DNL Levy, JM Rice and MJ Richardson :

Barry wrote about himself as follows :

“A promising career as a county chess player came to an end when I was given Brian Harley’s classic book Mate in Two Moves in the belief that it would help my chess, but it had quite the opposite effect. My interest in competitive chess waned, and I was on the road to an an International Master title for problems!

Early influences in my problem career were the weekly chess problem solving competition in The Observer (my first problem published there was in 1955), a teenage friendship with J. M. Rice and M. Lipton (both now lnternational Masters), Herbert Grasemann’s book Problem Schach / with its near revolutionary post-war German problem ideas, and the expert British problemist, A. R. Gooderson who had I but known it only a few years earlier was the officiating master when my Hove Grammar School played Steyning Grammar at chess.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the genuinely original problems I was making in cooperation and in competition with Rice and Lipton were being published mostly abroad in such specialist problem magazines as Die Schwatbe (with its inspired two-move editor, Hermann Albrecht) where I gained the epithet the English prize-snatcher’! It was also written that the work of the avant-garde composers, Rice, Lipton and Barnes, was like a fresh two-move wind blowing from our island. It was sad but true at that time that the specialist magazine of the British Chess problem Society (founded 1918), The problemist, was unreceptive to change and our often bizarre ideas.

A milestone of sorts was reached when I won lst prize for problem I in 1958, a prize for the best new problem by a member of the British Commonwealth aged under 21. In 1966, I was invited by problemist Grandmaster Comins Mansfield, who was President of the FIDE Problem Commission, to act as Secretary at the Barcelona meeting. With Mr. Mansfield’s retirement, I became the British Member to the Commission, and at the Wiesbaden meeting, 1974, I was elected 2nd Vice-President. (1st Vice-President from 1982)

The FIDE Problem Commission meets annually to discuss matters relating to all branches of problem chess, to organize the World Chess Composing Tournament (WCCT), the World Chess Solving Competition (WCSC), and to publish FIDE Album anthologies of the best problems. It was on the strength of my success in these FIDE Albums that the Commission granted me the titles in 1967 of ‘lnternational Master of the FIDE for Chess Composition’ and ‘lnternational Judge of the FIDE for Chess Composition’. Since 1974, I have been Chairman of the Titles Sub-Committee of the Commission.

Since 1965, I have been the two-move editor of The Problemist and have served almost without break on the BCPS Committee. I have contributed to The Encyclopaedia of Chess by Anne Sunnucks (Robert Hale, 1970), I am co-author, with J. M. Rice and M. Lipton, of The Two-Move Chess Problem: Tradition & Development‘ (Faber A Faber, 1966), and I am the sole author of Comins Mansfield MBE: Chess Problems of a Grandmaster: (British Chess Problem Society, 1976) and Pick of the Best Chess Problems (Elliot Right Way Books, 1976)

To date I have made just over 300 two-movers and some helpmates.”

From The Encyclopaedia of Chess (Batsford, 1977), Harry Golombek OBE, John Rice writes:

“British problem composer, output about 400, nearly all modern style two-movers. Two-move sub-editor of The Problemist. Secretary of the FIDE Problem Commission during C. Mansfield’s Presidency. Co-author of The Two-Move Chess Problem: Tradition and Development (1966).”

The Two Move Chess Problem : Tradition and Development
The Two Move Chess Problem : Tradition and Development

Author of Pick of the Best Chess Problems (1976)

Pick of the best Chess Problems
Pick of the best Chess Problems

Comins Mansfield MBE : Chess Problems of a Grandmaster (1976).

Comins Mansfield MBE: Chess Problems of a Grandmaster, BP Barnes, 1976
Comins Mansfield MBE: Chess Problems of a Grandmaster, BP Barnes, 1976

International Judge (1967); international master (1967).

Source: The Problemist, May 1996. Photo taken March 1996 at the Mansfield Centenary Meeting at Paisley, when Barry Barnes delivered a lecture on Comins Mansfield. Left to right: Geoffrey Mansfield (son of Comins), Robert Gray and Barry Barnes, International Master of Chess Composition.
Source: The Problemist, May 1996. Photo taken March 1996 at the Mansfield Centenary Meeting at Paisley, when Barry Barnes delivered a lecture on Comins Mansfield. Left to right: Geoffrey Mansfield (son of Comins), Robert Gray and Barry Barnes, International Master of Chess Composition.