Last time I left you in 1980, when Mike Fox had moved to Birmingham, leaving me in charge of Richmond Junior Club, whose membership included a growing number of very strong and talented young players, inspired by Mike’s teaching and charismatic personality to excel at chess.
I had been the backroom worker to Mike’s front man, but now, reluctantly, I was the front man as well.
My forte was organising rather than teaching, and, wanting to provide experience of serious competitive chess, I ran regular training tournaments for our strongest players.
Here, for instance, is a game from a 1981 training tournament. Aaron Summerscale is now a grandmaster and chess teacher. Nick von Schlippe is now an actor, director and writer, but maintains his interest in chess. Nick was one of a quartet of outstanding players from Colet Court/St Paul’s along with Harry Dixon (now playing chess in South East London), Michael Arundale and Michael Ross.
Click on any move of any game in this article for a pop-up window.
[pgn]
[Event “Richmond Training Tournament (2)”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “1981.05.30”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Summerscale, Aaron”]
[Black “Von Schlippe, Nicolas”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “E30”]
[Annotator “Tactical Analysis 5.2 (1s)”]
[PlyCount “69”]
[EventDate “2011.10.22”]
[SourceVersionDate “2011.10.23”]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 c5 6. Bg5 {[#]} b6 $146 {
E30: Nimzo-Indian: Leningrad Variation.} ({Predecessor:} 6… Nc6 7. Nf3 Qa5 8.
Qc1 cxd4 9. Bd2 dxc3 10. Bxc3 Qf5 11. e3 e5 12. h3 O-O 13. g4 Qxf3 {0-1 (13)
Paniagua,B-Garcia Padron,M (1940) Buenos Aires 1978}) 7. e4 {And now e5 would
win.} h6 8. Bxf6 (8. Be3 $5) 8… Qxf6 9. Qd2 d6 10. Nf3 Nc6 11. Be2 O-O 12.
O-O Ba6 13. Rfe1 Na5 14. Qa2 {Inhibits Nb3.} Rac8 {aiming for …cxd4.} 15.
Rac1 Rc7 16. d5 exd5 $2 (16… Re7 $17) 17. cxd5 $14 Bxe2 18. Rxe2 Re8 19. Nd2
Rce7 20. Qc2 c4 21. Rce1 g5 22. Re3 Qg6 23. Qa4 Kf8 24. f3 ({Don’t take} 24.
Nxc4 Rxe4 25. Qxe8+ Rxe8 26. Rxe8+ Kg7 $14) 24… Rc8 25. e5 $2 (25. Qb4 $18)
25… Rxe5 $2 (25… dxe5 $11 {and Black has nothing to worry.} 26. Rxe5 Rxe5
27. Rxe5 Qf6) 26. Rxe5 $18 dxe5 {[#]} 27. Rxe5 $2 (27. Qd7 $1 $18 Ra8 28. Ne4 (
28. Rxe5 Qf6 $14)) 27… Qd6 $2 {[#]} (27… Qf6 $1 $11 28. Re3 Qf5) 28. Qb4 $2
(28. Rf5 $1 $18) 28… Rc5 $11 {The position is equal.} 29. Rf5 {Strongly
threatening Ne4.} Qd7 30. g4 {Black must now prevent Ne4.} Kg7 (30… Kg8 $2
31. Ne4 Qd8 32. Nxc5 $18) 31. Ne4 Rxd5 32. Nf6 Rd1+ 33. Kg2 {The board is on
fire.} Qd8 {Threatens to win with …Nc6.} 34. Nh5+ Kg8 35. Nf6+ {Weighted
Error Value: White=0.49/Black=0.61} 1/2-1/2
[/pgn]
To give you some idea of our strength four decades ago, the leading scores in the 1982 Richmond U14 Championship were:
Nick von Schlippe 5/6
Demetrios Agnos (now a GM) 4½/6
Michael Ross 4/6
Philip Hughes 3½/5
Gavin Wall (now an IM and, for many years Richmond London League captain), Ben Beake, Harry Dixon, Sampson Low (currently secretary of Richmond & Twickenham Chess Club) 3½/6
Ali Mortazavi (now an IM) 3/5
Mark Josse (now a CM), Rajeev Thacker 3/6
and 6 other players, including Chris Briscoe (now a CM).
Here’s a game from that event for your enjoyment.
[pgn]
[Event “Richmond U14 Ch (2)”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “1982.05.29”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Agnos, Demetrios”]
[Black “Wall, Gavin”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “D05”]
[Annotator “Tactical Analysis 5.2 (1s)”]
[PlyCount “85”]
[SourceVersionDate “2011.10.23”]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e3 e6 4. Bd3 c5 5. c3 Nc6 6. Nbd2 Bd6 7. Qe2 O-O 8. O-O
e5 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Nxe5 {D05: Colle System with …e6.} Bxe5 11. e4 Qc7 12. h3
{Inhibits Bg4. Black is slightly better.} Re8 {[#]} 13. Kh1 $146 ({Predecessor:
} 13. Qf3 Be6 14. c4 d4 15. Re1 b5 16. b3 b4 17. Nf1 a5 18. Rb1 a4 19. Qd1 axb3
20. axb3 {0-1 (37) Franklin,M-Dodson,P corr 1973}) 13… Bd7 {And now …Bf4
would win.} 14. exd5 {[#]} Bxc3 $1 15. Qf3 Bd4 (15… Bxd2 $5 16. Bxd2 Qd6 $11)
16. Nc4 Bb5 {aiming for …Qd7.} 17. Rb1 $2 (17. a4 $11 Bxc4 18. Bxc4) 17…
Rad8 $2 (17… Qd7 $19 {…Rad8 is the strong threat.} 18. b4 Bxc4 19. Bxc4 b5)
18. Bf4 (18. a4 $5 Ba6 19. Bg5 $11) 18… Qd7 19. d6 Bc6 20. Qg3 b5 $36 {
Black is in control.} ({Inferior is} 20… Nh5 21. Qh4 g6 22. Bh2 $17) 21. Nd2
(21. Na5 {was the only chance.}) 21… Nd5 $19 ({And not} 21… Nh5 22. Qh4 g6
23. Bh2 $17) 22. Qh4 h6 23. Bg3 f5 24. Nb3 $2 (24. Nf3 $17) 24… Bf6 25. Qh5
f4 26. Bh2 Qxd6 27. Bg6 $2 (27. Na5 c4 28. Nxc6 Qxc6 29. Bf5) 27… Re5 28. Qd1
Rg5 29. Be4 Qe7 30. Qf3 c4 31. Nc1 (31. Na5 Ba8 32. Bxf4 Nxf4 33. Bxa8) 31…
Nc3 32. Bxc6 Nxb1 33. Bxf4 Nd2 34. Bxd2 Rxd2 35. b3 Qc5 {[#] Strongly
threatening …Rf5.} 36. Be4 Bd4 37. Kg1 $2 (37. bxc4 {was the only defense.}
bxc4 38. Ne2) 37… Qe5 (37… Re5 $142 38. Ne2 Qd6 39. Nxd4 Rxd4) 38. bxc4 Rg3
$2 (38… bxc4 $19 39. h4 Rh5) 39. Bd5+ $11 Kh7 40. Be4+ g6 $2 (40… Kg8 $1
$11 41. Bd5+ Kh7 42. Be4+ Kg8) 41. Qf7+ $18 Qg7 42. Qxg7+ {Dancing on a razor
blade.} (42. Qf4 $18 Rxf2 43. Rxf2) 42… Kxg7 $11 43. Nb3 {Weighted Error
Value: White=0.86/Black=0.89} 1/2-1/2
[/pgn]
The results of our 1983 Under 14 Championship told a fairly similar story.
Scores out of games played (there are either two missing scoresheets or two players took byes in Round 4 and two didn’t play in Round 6) were:
Gavin Wall 6/6
Demetrios Agnos 4½/6
Philip Hughes 4/6
Harry Dixon, Ben Beake, Chris Briscoe 3½/6
Aaron Summerscale 3/5
Michael Ross, James Cavendish, Rajeev Thacker, Mark Josse, Bertie Barlow 3/6
Ali Mortazavi 2½/5
Leslie Faizi 2½/6
Grant Woodhams 2/6
Alan Philips, Chris Bynoe 1/5
Daniel Falush 0/6
At some point I’d acquired a copy of Chess Life and discovered that the members of our small suburban junior chess club were, over the top few boards and applying the conversion factor in use at the time, stronger than the juniors in the whole of the USA.
The significant factor in all this is, for me, not just the strength of the players, but how many are still playing, or at least keeping up with the chess world, and, even more so, how many I’m still in touch with, or have spoken to on social media, almost 40 years on. Talking to them now, they always have very fond memories of their time at Richmond Junior Club.
What we were doing, although I wasn’t aware of it then, was building a lifelong chess community. Producing future GMs and IMs was merely a by-product of the actual purpose.
But it was clear that, as the younger players coming into the club were less strong and less interested than their predecessors, changes had to be made. Perhaps I needed someone who was a much better chess teacher than me and, like Mike Fox, had the charisma to attract strong new members into the club. There was no doubt who the best chess teacher was in my part of the world: Mike Basman. He agreed to help and, for a time in 1983-84 we worked together.
Of course, Mike was, and still is, brilliant, but he’s also a maverick, someone who, like me, prefers to do things in his own way. There were a couple of issues, in particular, where we disagreed.
Mike has always been known for his love of eccentric openings, and he’d sometimes give lessons on these. My view was different: children should, in the first instance, be given a thorough grounding in all the major openings. If they decide later that they want to experiment, that’s fine, but understand the basics first.
My second point was that we were inviting near beginners to training tournaments where clocks and scoresheets were used. My view was, and still is, that children should be able to play a reasonably proficient game without giving away pieces before clocks and scoresheets are used. Clocks and scoresheets add to the game’s already bewildering complexity and, if children are not used to them, they will concentrate too much on remembering to press their clock and working out how to write their moves down and forget about how to play good chess.
This is still one of my big problems with junior chess today: we’re putting children who barely know how the pieces move into tournaments with all the accoutrements of proper grown-up chess: clocks, arbiters, strictly observed silence, touch and move. My view is that this is totally wrong, but, even more so today than 40 years ago, I appear to be in a small minority. Very often, these days, parents are insisting that their children should take part in serious external competitions before they’re ready in terms of both chess and emotional development.
You’ll find out next time how I addressed these two issues over the following years. I had to find my own methods of doing exactly what I wanted. If anyone else wanted to come in with me, that was fine, but I was never going to compromise on doing it someone else’s way rather than mine.
Meanwhile, in April 1984 we were offered the chance of a simul given by Hungarian GM Zoltan Ribli, who at that time was ranked 13th in the world with a rating of 2610. Although we had to pay quite a lot for the privilege, this was too good an offer to turn down. According to the scoresheets that were handed in he scored +13 =4 -2: again, a pretty good performance for a suburban junior chess club! Here’s one of his losses.
[pgn]
[Event “RJCC Simul”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “1984.04.24”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Ribli, Zoltan”]
[Black “Summerscale, Aaron”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “E12”]
[Annotator “Tactical Analysis 5.2 (1s)”]
[PlyCount “92”]
[EventDate “2011.08.12”]
[SourceVersionDate “2011.10.23”]
1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. a3 Bb7 5. Nc3 Be7 6. d5 O-O 7. e4 exd5 8. exd5
Re8 9. Be2 {E12: Queen’s Indian: Unusual White 4th moves, 4 a3, 4 Nc3 Bb7 5 a3
and 4 Nc3 Bb7 .} d6 10. O-O Nbd7 {[#]} 11. Re1 $146 {White is clearly better.}
({Predecessor:} 11. b4 a5 12. Bb2 Nf8 13. Nd4 Ng6 14. Nf5 Bf8 15. Qd4 Qd7 16.
Bd3 axb4 17. axb4 {1-0 (50) Brostrom,G-Fridh,A Norrkoeping 1968}) 11… Nf8 12.
Be3 N6d7 13. h3 Bf6 14. Qc2 Ne5 15. Nxe5 Bxe5 16. Bf1 Qf6 17. Ne4 Qg6 18. Bd3
Bc8 19. f4 Bxb2 20. Qxb2 Bf5 {[#]} 21. g4 $1 Rxe4 (21… Bxe4 $2 22. f5 $1 Qf6
23. Bd4 $1 $18) 22. Bxe4 Bxe4 23. Kh2 f5 24. Rg1 {Black must now prevent gxf5.}
Qh6 25. Rg3 {Re1 is the strong threat.} Ng6 26. Rag1 Nh4 $2 ({Black should play
} 26… Re8 $14) 27. Qf2 $2 (27. gxf5 $18 Nf3+ {[#]} 28. Rxf3 $1 Bxf3 29. f6)
27… fxg4 $11 28. f5 $1 Qh5 29. Rxg4 Nf3+ 30. Qxf3 Bxf3 {Dancing on a razor
blade.} 31. Rxg7+ Kf8 $1 {aiming for …Re8.} (31… Kh8 $2 {is a self mate.}
32. Bd4) 32. Bd4 $2 (32. R1g5 $15 Qxg5 33. Rxg5) 32… Re8 $19 33. Rg8+ Ke7 34.
f6+ Kd8 $1 35. R1g7 Rxg8 36. Rxg8+ Kd7 37. Rg7+ Ke8 38. Rxc7 Bg4 39. Re7+ Kf8
40. Re3 Qh4 41. Rg3 {[#]} Bxh3 $1 42. Bf2 (42. Rxh3 Qxd4) 42… Bf5+ 43. Kg1
Qxf6 44. Be3 Be4 {Threatens to win with …Qh4.} 45. Kh2 Qh4+ 46. Rh3 Qe1 {
Never resign too early! Weighted Error Value: White=0.65/Black=0.31} 0-1
[/pgn]
At that time, we were constitutionally part of Richmond & Twickenham Chess Club, and our accounts were incorporated in theirs. Up to that point we’d made a reasonably healthy profit each year, but in 1983-84 we had only just broken even. At the 1984 AGM the RTCC treasurer wasn’t impressed, thinking we might jeopardise the club’s finances in future, and uttering the immortal words ‘What’s a Ribli Simul?’. (Strangely enough, the other day I chanced upon a record of him playing in a simul some 35 years or so earlier!)
Our turnover was also much larger than that of RTCC so it seemed sensible that we should declare financial independence. I would remain on the committee as the officer responsible for junior chess, providing a link to RJCC. (I still hold that post today, but without the RJCC link.) We already had a parent, Derek Beake, serving as our Treasurer, a role he’d occupy for 22 years, long after his son Ben had given up competitive play.
In 1985 we were again offered the chance of a simul given by a world class player, in this case by local GM John Nunn, who, at the time, was ranked joint 11th in the world (one place behind Ribli) with a rating of 2600. This time we invited a few of our friends from Richmond & Twickenham Chess Club to join us.
Out of 23 games, John scored 14 wins, 6 draws and 3 losses, to RTCC’s Paul Johnstone, a slightly pre-RJCC Richmond Junior (someone suggested the other day I should write something about the pre-RJCC Richmond Juniors, which perhaps I should), to future GM Demetrios Agnos and to the unheralded Leslie Faizi, who had also drawn with Ribli the year before.
[pgn]
[Event “RJCC/R&TCC Simul”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “1985.09.04”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Nunn, John”]
[Black “Faizi, Leslie”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “B80”]
[Annotator “Tactical Analysis 5.2 (1s)”]
[PlyCount “64”]
[SourceVersionDate “2011.10.23”]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 Be7 7. f3 a6 8. Qd2
O-O 9. g4 Nc6 {[#]} 10. g5 $146 {B80: Sicilian Scheveningen: 6 g3 and 6 Be3,
including English Attack.} ({Predecessor:} 10. O-O-O Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Nd7 12. h4
b5 13. h5 Ne5 14. Qf2 Qc7 15. f4 Nd7 16. h6 g6 17. Bg7 Re8 18. Bg2 Bb7 19. Rhf1
b4 20. f5 Bg5+ {0-1 (40) Chandler,M (2470)-Govedarica,R (2405) Belgrade 1982})
10… Nd7 11. h4 Nde5 12. Qg2 {And now 0-0-0 would win. White is better.} (12.
f4 Nxd4 13. O-O-O Nef3 $15) 12… Nxd4 13. Bxd4 Nc6 14. Be3 {aiming for 0-0-0.}
b5 15. O-O-O Bd7 16. Kb1 Rc8 17. h5 Re8 18. Qg3 Qa5 19. g6 Bf6 20. gxh7+ Kh8 {
Threatens to win with …Nb4.} 21. Bd2 $2 (21. h6 $18) 21… b4 $11 {Black has
compensation.} 22. Ne2 Ne5 (22… Qc5 $5 23. c3 Rb8 $11) 23. Nc1 $2 {[#]} (23.
Bg5 $16 {Strongly threatening Bxf6.} Qc7 24. c3 (24. Nd4 Bxg5 25. Qxg5 Nxf3 $11
) 24… Bxg5 25. Qxg5 Kxh7 26. Rh3) 23… Qc5 $2 {Really sharp!} (23… Kxh7
24. Be3 $14) (23… Qa4 24. Nb3 $16) ({Better is} 23… Rxc2 $1 $19 24. Kxc2
Qa4+ 25. Kb1 Qxd1) 24. c3 $1 $15 {Hoping for h6.} a5 {…Qb6 is the strong
threat.} ({Don’t play} 24… bxc3 25. Bxc3 Nc4 26. Nd3 Na3+ 27. Ka1 Nc2+ 28.
Kb1 Na3+ 29. Ka1 Nc2+ 30. Kb1 Na3+ $11) (24… Ba4 $5 25. Nb3 Bxb3 26. axb3
bxc3 27. Bxc3 Qe3 $11) 25. Nd3 $2 (25. h6 $16) 25… Nxd3 $19 26. Bxd3 Bb5 (
26… bxc3 $142 {( -> …c2+)} 27. Bxc3 Bxc3) 27. Bc2 Be5 $2 (27… bxc3 $19
28. Bxc3 Bxc3 29. Qxd6 Qxd6 30. Rxd6 Be5) 28. f4 (28. Bf4 $5) 28… bxc3 $40 {
White is in trouble.} 29. Be3 (29. fxe5 $17 cxd2 30. Rxd2 Qxe5 31. Rg1) 29…
Qb4 {Black is clearly winning.} 30. b3 {[#]} a4 $1 ({Resist} 30… Qa3 31. Bc1
Qc5 32. fxe5 $18) 31. fxe5 axb3 32. axb3 Ra8 {Weighted Error Value: White=1.36/
Black=0.95} 0-1
[/pgn]
Even our lesser lights from that generation could play pretty good chess. Here’s a draw against Alan Phillips, who had beaten Ribli the year before (and who contacted me on Twitter a few years ago).
[pgn]
[Event “RJCC/R&TCC Simul”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “1985.09.04”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Nunn, John”]
[Black “Phillips, Alan”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “C11”]
[Annotator “Tactical Analysis 5.2 (1s)”]
[PlyCount “97”]
[SourceVersionDate “2011.10.23”]
1. d4 {Bulletin} e6 2. e4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3
Qb6 8. Na4 Qa5+ 9. c3 cxd4 10. b4 Nxb4 11. cxb4 Bxb4+ 12. Bd2 Bxd2+ 13. Nxd2 b6
14. Kf2 {[#]} Nc5 $146 {C11: French: Classical System: 4 e5 and 4 Bg5 dxe4.} (
14… O-O $11) ({Predecessor:} 14… Ba6 15. Nf3 d3 16. Nb2 Nc5 17. Bxd3 Bxd3
18. Nxd3 Ne4+ 19. Ke3 Rc8 20. Rc1 O-O 21. Qb3 Nc3 22. Rc2 {1-0 (70) Van der
Wiel,J (2515)-Ree,H (2480) Wijk aan Zee 1984 MCL [Bulletin]}) 15. Nxc5 $18 bxc5
16. Nf3 $2 (16. Qc1 $18) 16… Qb6 (16… Rb8 $11 {and Black stays safe.}) 17.
Rc1 $2 ({White must play} 17. Rb1 $18 Qc7 18. Bb5+ Bd7 19. Qa4) 17… c4 $2 (
17… O-O $14) 18. Nxd4 ({Less strong is} 18. Qxd4 f6 $16) 18… Bd7 19. Qd2
O-O 20. Ke3 $2 ({White should try} 20. Be2 $18) 20… Rfc8 $2 (20… f6 $17 {
keeps the pressure on. And now …fxe5 would win.} 21. Ke2 fxe5 22. fxe5 Rf7)
21. Qc3 Rab8 22. Be2 Qb2 23. Qxb2 Rxb2 24. Rc2 Rcb8 25. Rhc1 Ba4 26. Rxb2 Rxb2
27. Bxc4 $2 dxc4 $16 28. Rxc4 $18 {[#] Endgame White threatens Rc8+ and mate.
KRB-KRN} Be8 29. Rc8 Kf8 30. f5 Rxg2 31. Nb5 {aiming for Nd6.} Ke7 ({Don’t do}
31… exf5 32. Nd6 Ke7 33. Rxe8+ Kd7 34. a4 $16) 32. f6+ gxf6 33. exf6+ Kd7 (
33… Kxf6 $5 34. Rxe8 Rxh2 $11) 34. Nd6 Kxd6 $19 35. Rxe8 {KR-KR} Rg6 $2 (
35… Ke5 36. Re7 Kxf6 37. Rxa7 Rxh2) 36. Ra8 Rxf6 {[#] …Rh6 is the strong
threat.} 37. Rxa7 Rh6 $2 (37… Rf1 $19 {Strongly threatening …h5.} 38. a4 h5
39. Ra6+ Ke7) 38. Rxf7 $11 {The position is equal.} Rxh2 39. a4 Ra2 40. Rxh7
Rxa4 41. Rh8 Ke5 42. Rh5+ Kd6 43. Kd3 e5 44. Rh8 Ra7 45. Rd8+ Ke7 46. Rh8 {
Threatens to win with Rh7+.} Ke6 47. Ke3 Rg7 48. Ra8 Kf6 49. Rf8+ {Weighted
Error Value: White=0.84/Black=0.87} 1/2-1/2
[/pgn]
Yes, many of our stronger players from a few years earlier still kept their association with the club, and with chess in Richmond in general (and some of them still keep that association in the 2020s), although they had now outgrown our Saturday morning sessions. We were also no longer successful in attracting strong players into the club. (I suspect, looking back, they just weren’t around in our area: these things come and go.)
I knew I needed to make changes, and that I had to find my own way of running the club rather than trying to work with anyone else.
I wanted to separate the club in order to differentiate between the players who were able to play a proficient game, and who needed experience playing under more serious conditions using clocks and scoresheets, and those younger and less experienced players who were not yet able to play fluently without making regular oversights.
By now home PCs had become available. I was able to use my (admittedly limited) programming skills to write a grading program in BASIC for my BBC Micro into which I entered all our internal club results. I used a pseudo-BCF system with a crude but reasonably effective iterative process providing anti-deflation factor which would take into account my assumption that our members were either improving or remaining stationary at any point.
This gave me the information to decide, by monitoring all the internal results of all our members, which players should be in which group. The decision was made – and my intuition again turned out to be correct (although it’s not how things work today) – that players of primary school age would move up to the higher group when they reached a grade of 50 (equivalent to 1000 Elo). I’ll write a lot more about this, either here or elsewhere, later.
By the start of the 1986-87 season the club had become something totally different. Two things had also happened which would have an enormous impact on the club’s further development.
You’ll find out what they were, and a lot more besides next time.