Category Archives: 2020

2020, Books, Middlegame, New in Chess, Reviews

Mastering Positional Sacrifices : A Practical Guide to a Vital Skill in Chess

November 13, 2020 Richard James 4 Comments

Mastering Positional Sacrifices : A Practical Guide to a Vital Skill in Chess : Merijn van Delft

Mastering Positional Sacrifices: A Practical Guide to a Vital Skill in Chess.New In Chess, August 2020, Merijn van Delft

From the publisher :

“Merijn van Delft is an International Master from the Netherlands. He has been a chess trainer for more than two decades and created instructional material both online and offline.”

From the book’s rear cover :

“Most chess games of beginners and post-beginners are decided by fairly straightforward tactics. Anyone who wants to progress beyond this level and become a strong club player or a candidate master, needs to understand that somewhat mysterious-looking resource, the positional sacrifice.

International Master Merijn van Delft has studied and loved positional sacrifices for as long as he can remember. This non-forcing tool is not just a surprising and highly effective way of creating a decisive advantage during a game. Positional sacrifices are also instruments of superior beauty.

Van Delft has created a unique thematic structure for all types of positional sacrifices. He shows the early historical examples, explains which long-term goals are typical for each fundamental theme and presents lots of instructive modern examples. He then concentrates on those sacrifices that have become standard features of positional play. Solving the exercises he has added will further enhance your skills.

Playing a positional sacrifice will always require courage. Merijn van Delft takes you by the hand and not only teaches the essential technical know-how, he also helps you to recognize the opportunities when to take the plunge. Mastering Positional Sacrifices is bound to become a modern-day classic.”

Dutch IM Merijn van Delft introduces readers to one of the most complex and fascinating aspects of chess: the positional sacrifice. He’s not the first author to tackle this subject: previous books by McDonald and Suba, which I haven’t read are discussed in the bibliography.

A few quotes from the introduction will give you some idea of what this book is about, and who the target readership is.

“I am trying to write for as broad a readership as possible, but let me give a mild warning to beginning chess players: this book may not be the best place to start for you. … Here is a mild warning for very experienced players as well: you may come across a fair amount of examples you already know. I considered it my job to combine the most impressive classical games with new material, and to find a nice balance there.

“A feel-good book is what this is meant to be. It should be fun to play through the games and the book can easily be used for entertainment purposes only. If you are simply seeking inspiration, feel free to open it at a random page and check the diagrams. The most exciting moments are always covered with a diagram and described in the text that follows.

“Having said that, my main intention has been to present the material as systematically as possible. My goal was to create a unique framework of positional sacrifices. The structure should have an inner logic and should help the reader to build up his knowledge systematically.”

Let’s look inside and see whether or not the author has achieved his aim. There are 115 complete games in the main body of the book, ranging from Morphy to Wijk aan Zee 2020, so it’s nothing if not up to date. All but the first two (in the introduction) feature positional sacrifices. All games are fully annotated, mostly verbally, with variations only given when necessary. It’s particularly good to see the complete games, so that readers can witness how the positional sacrifices arose from the opening.

The first part of the book deals with the four basic reasons for positional sacrifices: piece play, pawn structure, colour complexes and domination.

Chapter 1 teaches us how we can use positional sacrifices to create play for our pieces: by opening files, opening closed positions or opening diagonals.

Here, for example, is a position from Leko – Vachier-Lagrave (Batumi Ol 2018), with Black just about to use a positional sacrifice to open some files on the queen side.

“For now White seems to have everything under control, but what follows is a true thunderbolt.

23… Nxa4!

Vachier-Lagrave’s handling of the opening stage may have been unfortunate, but now he displays very deep understanding of the position with a truly amazing piece sacrifice.”

The game continued 24. Bxa4 b5 25. Bxb5 a4 26. Nd4 a3 and Black won on move 71.

Chapter 2 looks at how we can use positional sacrifices to help our pawns. We can create a Perfect Pawn Centre, a Pawn Steamroller or a Mighty Pawn Chain.

This is Gemy Vargas – Fier Sao Paolo 2019. White’s f-pawn has just moved two squares, and van Delft points out the alternative 30… exf3, which is the engine recommendation. But instead…

30… e3!

“The artist is taking over. Black sacrifices a piece to increase the size of his pawn steamroller. As Alexandr said at the Masterclass he gave recently at Apeldoorn, during his early years as a chess player he was heavily influenced by Kasparyan’s book with endgame studies on the theme of domination.”

By move 41 he’d reached this position, where White resigned.

“A pretty picture, the ultimate pawn steamroller, minding a bit of the famous McDonnell – De la Bourdonnais finish with black pawns on d2, e2 and f2.”

Chapter 3 moves onto the idea of positional sacrifices to control colour complexes. As van Delft explains, because this is a more abstract concept than pieces and pawns, it’s harder to understand.

Chapter 4 then puts everything together: we can play a positional sacrifice to achieve domination of the entire board.

In Wojtaszek – Hracek (Aix-les-Bains 2011) White, who had already sacrificed a pawn, now gave up the exchange to dominate the board.

17. Rxc5! “The key move, a strong positional exchange sacrifice.”

Now we understand the reasons why we might want to play a positional sacrifice, we can move onto Part 2, where we can learn about typical sacrifices and store the ideas in our long-term memory. Many of them, though, will already be familiar to experienced players.

Chapter 5 concerns pawn sacrifices: as you might expect the Benko and Marshall Gambits are among the openings considered. Chapter 6, concluding Part 2, moves onto typical exchange sacrifices.

Part 3 goes way beyond this, to more difficult and dangerous ideas. Chapter 7, Extreme Sports, asks how much you can get away with sacrificing. You’ll find double exchange sacrifices, queen sacrifices for a couple of minor pieces, and even positional rook sacrifices.

In Firouzja – Karthikeyan (Xingtai Asian Championship 2019) Black sacrificed his queen on move 9:

9… Qxc3+! “A great positional queen sacrifice.”

10. bxc3 dxe3

“Black now has two minor pieces and a pawn for the queen. White has many weak pawns and squares, which makes Black’s position much easier to play.”

In Chapter 8, Heroes, van Delft introduces us to some of the games that have inspired him over the years, played by the likes of Shirov, Aronian and Carlsen.

Finally, Chapter 9 goes beyond human positional sacrifices to the Superhuman, including recent games by Leela Chess Zero and Stoofvlees.

Now it’s time to put your new found knowledge and skills into action with a final chapter of Exercises.

“In total there are 48 exercises, on four different levels, with 12 exercises each. Every reader should have a fair chance at Level 1, while at Level 2 things are already becoming more difficult. Level 3 is serious business, and at Level 4 most people will be running into a wall. Level 4 is mainly there to remind us how rich chess is, and that we will not easily be done learning.”

The answers always include the play up to the question, and in some cases the complete game as well.

As you’ll realise, there’s a lot of great chess in this book. The author has also achieved his aim of treating a difficult subject in a logical and well structured way. But what really appeals to me is van Delft’s style of writing. There are many strong players who excel at writing or talking about chess, but not all of them understand how their readers or viewers might learn. He is at pains to differentiate between material which provides specific lessons you can employ in your own games and more difficult material which might serve as an inspiration. Although the English isn’t always totally idiomatic, the meaning is never less than totally clear. Not for him the fanciful analogies and flowery language preferred by some authors to make their books fun: for van Delft the fun comes from the moves themselves. Although the intent is serious, his approach is warm, friendly and encouraging. Enjoy your chess and don’t be afraid to try out new ideas: this is how you improve. He comes across to me as, above all, an excellent teacher. I look forward to reading whatever he writes about in future.

Personally, I’d have liked a broader historical perspective. Those 19th century favourites the King’s Gambit and Evans Gambit are positional sacrifices for, amongst other things, an Ideal Pawn Centre, and many other 19th century gambits have aims relating to themes in the book. While there are a few 19th century games along with some discussion of the Steinitz Gambit and a brief mention of its context, a chapter on the history of positional sacrifices would have been interesting.

Nevertheless,, this is yet another outstanding book from New in Chess in what has been an exceptional year for chess literature. Very highly recommended: I’m sure you’ll find it both enjoyable and instructive, and, if you’re rated, say, 1800+, this book will add a new dimension to your chess.

Richard James, Twickenham 13th November 2020

Book Details :

Paperback : 320 pages
Publisher: New in Chess (1st June 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-9056918835
Product Dimensions : 6.82 x 0.82 x 9.3 inches

Official web site of New in Chess

Mastering Positional Sacrifices: A Practical Guide to a Vital Skill in Chess. New In Chess, June 2020, Merijn van Delft

2020, Biographies, Birthday, Players

Best wishes WGM Sheila Jackson (11-xi-1957)

November 11, 2020 John Upham 3 Comments

WGM Sheila Jackson, courtesy of John Upham Photography

Best wishes to WGM Sheila Jackson on her birthday.

Sheila Jackson was born on Monday, November 11th in 1957 in Liverpool, Merseyside.

(The following article is a composite from various sources including Sheila via email {many thanks!}, Richard O’Brien in British Chess, Wikipedia and others)

Sheila attended Broad Square CP School, Liverpool and started playing chess in year five when ten years old. In her final year she played on board one for the school team helping to win the first (organised by the BCF) National Primary Schools’ Team Knockout Championship. The final was played in St. Ermin’s Hotel, London in 1969.

Following this Sheila was Board 1 for Liverpool Under 11 winners of National Team Championship held in Liverpool 1969. Part of their success was due to teacher Mike Price, later to become a member of the local club Atticus, who coached Sheila.

Following this she attended Liverpool Institute High School.

At Coventry in 1970 Sheila won the British Girls Under-14 Championship (she was the first ever winner) aged 12 and she was the Under-18 Girls championship at Blackpool 1971 aged just 13.

Spurred on by keen but friendly rivalry from Susan Caldwell, eleven months her junior who had also won both the British U14 and U8 titles by the age of thirteen, Sheila went from strength to strength. At the age of 13 she represented England Girls (U18) in the Faber Cup and other events.

1973 saw her becoming Lancashire Under 15 Open Champion and two years later (aged 17) in 1975 the Lancashire Under 18 Open Championship. These events were for both boys and girls. During the event Sheila beat Manny Rayner who was later to represent Wales in the World Junior Championships.

During this year she has reached British Ladies Championship standard. John Littlewood was now her coach. John at the time was also coaching his son Paul, who was later to become British Champion.

John Nunn, Sheila Jackson and ? at the Lloyds Bank Masters

Just a few days past here sixteenth birthday she took part in a six-player Women’s International event sponsored by Guardian Royal Exchange in London. She shared first place ahead of two IMs, both of whom had taken part in the Interzonals.

Since 1974 she has been a regular member of the full England team and has played in the last five Olympiads.

Aged 16 Sheila made her debut in the 6th Women’s Olympiad in Medellin, Colombia.

In 1975 at Morecambe she won the first of four British Ladies Championship titles. The others were in Ayr 1978, Brighton 1980 and back to Morecambe in 1981.

Sheila Jackson gets her British Ladies' Championship cup from Carrefour's Manager at Cardiff. Source : CHESS, Volume 41, Numbers 739-4, page 137. — Sheila Jackson gets her British Ladies’ Championship cup from Carrefour’s Manager at Cardiff. Source : CHESS, Volume 41, Numbers 739-4, page 137.

The following year (1975, aged 17) she made her debut in the Women’s Zonal held in Karlovy Vary, Czechoslovakia.

In 1976 Sheila was part of the England Team that won silver at the Haifa Olympiad. The England team was Jana Hartston, Sheila, Elaine Pritchard and Susan Caldwell. Sheila scored 6/9.

In total Sheila played in ten consecutive Olympiads and in 1982 she won the individual silver for her board two performance in Lucerne. She scored 8.5/12, a score that won only bettered by Nana Alexandria of the Soviet Union who was shortly to be rated joint number one in the world. This result naturally improved here Elo rating and by January 1983 she was rated in the top 30.

In 1977 she was member of the Atticus squad that surprisingly won the BCF National Club Championship against all the odds. Although not playing in the final she attended as first reserve displaying her tee shirt ‘Atticus for the Cup’. After that poor John Nunn and rest of the Oxford University team had no chance.

Five times, from 1977 to 1981 inclusive she won the Grande Prixette, the women’s equivalent of the Leigh Grand Prix.

Her employers, Lambeth Council in London where she works as an accounts clerk and to a lesser extent her previous employers in Liverpool, have allowed here extra leave to play in the more important events. Her most successful results abroad have been second places at both Pernik 1979 and Wijk aan Zee the following year. In 1980 she finished fourth at Bydgoszcz ahead of two WGMs.

Sheila Jackson and players at the Lloyds Bank Masters

Sheila, being a great believer that women players are more likely to improve if they played in mixed tournaments, has certainly proved her point. In 1978/9 she scored 6/10 in the Challengers at Hastings – a 210 (BCF) performance. This included the better of a draw against IM Bert Enklaar of The Netherlands.

1979 saw her debut in the British Championship and she was top woman this year and subsequent three more years (1982, 1983 and 1984) whilst there was still a separate Ladies’ Championship running concurrently. On the first occasion she scored a respectable 4.5/11 and on the second an excellent 5.5. This latter performance equivalent to a WGM norm was one of the best every by a woman player in this country. Of her eleven opponents one is now a GM, four are IMs and four are FMs. This included a marathon against Ray Keene which went on for four days. she has twice proved wrong those who thought that women players will always bring up the rear in this event.

British Speed Chess Championship Grandmaster Nigel Short Playing Chess In The Park With L-r Susan Arkell Sheila Jackson And Dr Jana Miles. Courtesy of Shutterstock

In the 1984 event at Brighton she scored a 2400+ rating performance and a WGM result.

1981 saw Sheila being awarded the Women’s International Master title and in 2001 she became a Woman’s Grandmaster.

Sheila made her in 1991 debut at the Women’s Interzonal Subotica, Yugoslavia.

For some considerable time she has been a leading light in women’s chess not just on the board but off it as well. One of only two female BCF coaches in the county she has helped out in various coaching seminars in London and the Midlands.

In August 1982 she became President of the British Women’s Chess Association at a rather stormy meeting in Torquay. For a time she has also acted as treasurer of the association.

In 1993 she Played in one European Team Championship in Hungary as reserve player (there were only two boards).

1994 contained a disappointment and some measure of retribution : Sheila secured annual leave to play in the Moscow Olympiad but wasn’t selected despite her high rating and grandmaster norms. Following that she scored an excellent 5/7 in the 1994 Guernsey Open (just before the Olympiad) finishing a full point ahead of the Women’s number 1.

Sheila Jackson at the 2014 British Championships in Aberystwyth

In 4NCL Sheila became Female Player of the Year when playing for Wood Green.

Sheila and friends during a Lloyds Bank Masters

In 2018 She made here Senior 50+ Open World Team Championships debut, winning both individual Bronze plus Team Bronze playing on board 1 for England Women.
Following that Rhodes 2018 in the European 50+ Open Team Championship she played in a mixed England 2 team and Croatia 2019 on Board 1 for a mixed England 2 Team.
She played board 1 for England Women in the Prague World Team Open in March 2020 which was cut short by the 2020 pandemic.

Sheila Jackson at the final 4NCL weekend of 2012

A believer (Ed : comments were current in 1983) in reform she has been campaigning (together with other younger members of the BWCA – Susan Caldwell, Maria Eagle and Angela Eagle in particular) for both women and girls to compete with the opposite sex at the British Championships. Slowly but surely support has grown from both inside and outside the BWCA. In junior events, which are now mixed, the girls titles are awarded to the highest placed girl competing. However the relevant organisations object to the title of Ladies Champion being awarded to the highest placed woman player in the championship itself. This means that Sheila and other women players are are strong enough to play in the main championship and thus gain opportunities to achieve WIM and WGM norms and improve their basic standard of play will be denied the realistic right to play for the British Ladies title. Hopefully notice will eventually be taken of the BWCA’s wishes and Sheila will one day compete for the title again.

According to Felice Sheila’s peak FIDE rating was 2295 in January 1987.

With the white pieces Sheila is a die hard 1.e4 player being a big fan (along with Susan Lalic) of the Sicilian Alapin and she allows the Marshall Attack.

As the second player she plays the open games and the Nimzo-Indian Defence.

From Wikipedia :

“Sheila Jackson played for England in the Women’s Chess Olympiads:

In 1974, at first reserve board in the 6th Chess Olympiad (women) in Medellín (+2, =2, -5),
In 1976, at second board in the 7th Chess Olympiad (women) in Haifa (+5, =2, -2) and won the team silver medal,
In 1978, at second board in the 8th Chess Olympiad (women) in Buenos Aires (+5, =3, -4),
In 1980, at second board in the 9th Chess Olympiad (women) in Valletta (+5, =4, -3),
In 1982, at second board in the 10th Chess Olympiad (women) in Lucerne (+7, =3, -2) and won the individual silver medal,
In 1984, at second board in the 26th Chess Olympiad (women) in Thessaloniki (+5, =7, -2),
In 1986, at second board in the 27th Chess Olympiad (women) in Dubai (+6, =2, -4),
In 1988, at third board in the 28th Chess Olympiad (women) in Thessaloniki (+6, =2, -3),
In 1990, at third board in the 29th Chess Olympiad (women) in Novi Sad (+5, =4, -3),
In 1992, at third board in the 30th Chess Olympiad (women) in Manila (+3, =6, -2).
Sheila Jackson played for England in the European Team Chess Championships:

In 1992, at second board in the 1st European Team Chess Championship (women) in Debrecen (+0, =3, -1).
In 1981, she was awarded the FIDE International Women Master (WIM) title and received the FIDE International Women Grandmaster (WGM) title seven year later.

In 1991, in Subotica Sheila Jackson participated in the Women’s World Chess Championship Interzonal Tournament where she stayed at 31st place.

Since 2000, participate in chess tournaments rarely.”

2020, Books, Reviews, Thinkers Publishing, Tournament

Candidates Tournament 2020 : Part 1 Yekaterinburg

November 11, 2020 Colin Purdon Leave a comment

From the rear cover :

“Vladimir Tukmakov, born in Odessa 1946, was one of the strongest Ukrainian grandmasters. He was the winner of several strong tournaments, including the Ukrainian Championship in 1970, and he came second in three Soviet championships in 1970,72 and 83. After his successful period as active player, he became a coach, trainer and author. This is his second book for Thinkers Publishing, after his major success in 2019 with ‘Coaching the Chess Stars’.”

Also from the rear cover

“The official story of the 2020 Candidates Tournament began on November the 11th, 2019 with the signing of a contract between FIDE and the Russian Chess Federation detailing the hosting duties of said tournament in Ekaterinburg from the 15th of March to the 5th of April, 2020. At that point no one could have even imagined how difficult the road to that tournament would be nor how unexpected the outcome. Yet the significance of the actual numbers in this dramatic epic is hard to overestimate which is why the author will attempt to play the role of chronicler and try to describe as accurately as possible the key moments of this historic event. Vladimir Tukmakov was our close observer, author and wrote a historically important book on the first part of the Candidates 2020.”

Tournament books, once a staple of chess literature, have been rare in recent years and books about half a tournament have always, naturally, been rarer still. This book by GM Vladimir Tukmakov is just such a book – and in my opinion it is a very welcome one.

Of course, 2020 has been an exceptional year (in a bad sense of exceptional) and the Candidates Tournament stands out as the exceptional (in a good sense of exceptional) over-the-board elite event of the year. It is unfortunate that Covid-related reasons forced the tournament to be suspended before its conclusion. (Or was the suspension necessary? The author’s comments on the decision are interesting.)

Although the tournament started on schedule in March, it was already in somewhat controversial circumstances because Teimour Radjabov had withdrawn – citing the rapid spread of the pandemic – and had been replaced by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The tournament was suspended exactly half way through following an announcement by the Russian government that all international air travel had been suspended indefinitely. The eight Candidates had been due to play each other twice, and seven of the fourteen rounds had been completed.

The author of this book, now aged 74, has been pretty much inactive as a player in recent years but he was a top player for a number of years, coming second in the Soviet Championship on three occasions, and reaching number 12 in the world rankings. This quality is reflected in his game annotations even if they are – as he modestly admits – sometimes helped by his “Iron Friend” (as he refers to chess engines).

The book consists of the following sections:

Introduction: Three pages of he author’s reflections on why he chose to write this book.

Prelude: Nine pages which describe the tournament itself, its participants and its occurrence in the time when the pandemic was developing.

The Play: 121 pages of games, with each of the 28 games annotated by the author and with a summary of the situation after each round.

Unexpected Conclusion: A brief two page description of the suspension.

Interim Results: An eight page summary of the tournament (so far!) including general observations of the players and their prospects for the remainder of the tournament, whenever that will be.

The Prelude and Interim Results chapters are informative and are engagingly written. They include a number of personal reflections by the author. The annotations in The Play chapter are, I think, superb, with both textual comments and given variations always hitting the spot in their relevance. An example of this is taken from his notes to the Ding-Caruana game:

12 d5!?
Another complicated decision. The position demanded 12.e3 in the hope of completing development after 12… Bb3 which was like the game. Also, worth considering was 12… Bg6!? 13.Bc4 (Although 13.Nd3 led to an even more complicated struggle. For instance, 13…Na6 14.Nxb4 Nxb4 15.dxc5 Nc2 16.Rb1 Qa5) 13… Bxc4 14.Nxc4 cxd4 15.exd4 (15.Qxd4 Qe7) 15… Nc6 with enough compensation for the pawn.
It is very revealing, that having found himself in a difficult psychological situation, the Chinese grandmaster does not rush towards simplification instead choosing a more difficult and principled continuation each time.

(The book actually uses figurines for the pieces.)

Tukmakov is generally very respectful of the great players who are taking part in the tournament (indeed he writes that the book “bears witness to my solidarity with my younger colleagues” in view of their bravery in playing under the circumstances of the pandemic), but this doesn’t stop him from criticising them. For example, their clock handling occasionally comes in for comment. On one occasion he writes:

It is difficult to understand what Giri thought about for 25 minutes.

As may perhaps be expected, Grischuk receives sterner criticism in this area – but criticism that is well reasoned (and somewhat humorous).

In summary, I really like this book. I look forward to the second instalment which I hope arises as and when the second half of the tournament is complete. Who knows, perhaps tournament books are not a thing of the past after all?

Colin Purdon, Crowthorne, Berkshire, November 11th 2020

Book Details :

Flexicover : 160 pages
Publisher: Thinkers Publishing; 1 edition (8 Dec 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9492510928
ISBN-13: 978-9492510921

Official web site of Thinkers Publishing

2020, Books, Opening Theory, Reviews, Thinkers Publishing

The Modernized Scotch Game : A Complete Repertoire for White and Black

November 5, 2020 Andrew Martin 1 Comment

Grandmaster Milos Pavlovic was born in Belgrade in 1964 and was Yugoslav Champion in 2002. He is a well known theoretician specialising in opening theory and has written many chess books and magazine articles. Previously we have reviewed The Modernized Stonewall Defence and The Modernized Colle-Zukertort Attack by this author.

This is another title in the “Modernized” series from Thinkers Publishing with this Scotch Game book being published on December 17th 2019. We first reviewed a title in this series with The Modernized Caro-Kann from GM Daniel Fernandez and then followed by The Modernised Colle-Zukertort from Pavlovic.

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.

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

Book Details :

Hardcover : 280 pages
Publisher: Thinkers Publishing (17 Dec. 2019)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9492510731
ISBN-13: 978-9492510648
Product Dimensions: 17.02 x 1.52 x 23.37 cm

Official web site of Thinkers Publishing

2020, Biographies, Birthday, Players

Best Wishes IM Philip Morris (05-xi-1967)

November 5, 2020 John Upham Leave a comment

Reenen duToit, Philip Gregory, Alan Hanreck, Tony Stebbings, Philip Morris, Conor Murphy

We wish IM Philip J Morris all the best on his birthday, this day (November 5th) in 1967.

Phil plays regularly for Beckenham & Charlton Chess Club in the London Chess League and has played for Invicta Knights Maidstone in the Four Nations League.

2020, Biographies, Birthday, Players, Writers

Happy Birthday IM Eddie Dearing (30-x-1980)

October 30, 2020 John Upham Leave a comment

GM David Howell vs IM Eddie Dearing, Drunken Knights vs Wood Green, June 2014, Courtesy of John Upham Photography

BCN send best wishes to IM Eddie Dearing on his birthday.

Edward J Dearing was born on Sunday, October 30th, 1980 in Scotland.

Eddie Dearing publicity photograph, from EDs Facebook page.

In 2002 Eddie shared first place (with Karl Mah) in the Smith and Williamson Young Masters with 6/9 with a TPR of 2458 :

Cross table for the 2012 Smith and Williamson Young Masters

He became an International Master in 2002 and, according to Felice and Megabase 2020 achieved a peak rating of 2420 in July 2005 aged 25. He is currently ranked 8th in Scotland.

Eddie Dearing by Cathy Rogers, ChessBase profile image

Eddie studied law at the University of Cambridge and did an MBA at the London Business School. Currently Eddie is a fund manager at MFS Investment Management.

In 2004 Eddie made his debut for Scotland in the Mallorca Olympiad.

Eddie is currently registered for Battersea in the London League and previously has played for Drunken Knights but has not been active since 2014.

With the white pieces Eddie prefers the Queen’s Gambit, Exchange Variation.

As the second player Eddie plays the Sicilian Dragon and the Semi-Slav Defence.

Eddie has plus scores against : James Cobb, Richard Palliser, Simon Williams, Karl Mah, Jacob Aagard, Colin McNab to name but a few.

Eddie has written two books, Playing the Sicilian Dragon for Gambit and Playing the Nimzo-Indian for Everyman. In June 2011 Eddie became a columnist for British Chess Magazine and wrote the “Dearing’s Discoveries” feature each month.

Play the Sicilian Dragon by Eddie Dearing

Challenging the Grunfeld, Eddie Dearing, Quality Press, 2005

2020, Biographies, Birthday, Organiser, Player, Players

Best Wishes IM Susan Lalic (28-x-1965)

October 28, 2020 John Upham 3 Comments

BCN wishes IM Susan Lalic Happy Birthday

Susan Kathryn Walker was born on Thursday, October 28th, 1965 in Chatham, Kent. Her mother’s maiden is / was Bacon. She has a brother, Stephen.

She attended Nonsuch High School for Girls from 1977 to 1984.

Susan married Keith Arkell in 1986 and then Bogdan Lalic in Lewes, East Sussex in 1994 and finally Graeme Buckley in Sutton in 2001.

With Bogdan she had a son, Peter D, who is a strong player in his own right.

There are ten players in MegaBase 2020 whose surname is Lalic.

She became a Woman’s FIDE Master in 1986, Woman’s International Master in 1987, Woman’s Grandmaster in 1988 and an International Master in 1996.

According to Felice and Megabase 2020 Susan achieved a peak rating of 2405 in January 1997 at the age of 29.

From the Praxis Bath Zonal Tournament of 1987. Susan Walker is at the rear on the left.

Susan has played in the Four Nations Chess League for Slough, Wood Green and Guildford and her most recent games in MegaBase 2020 are from 2012.

Keith Arkell, Susan Walker and Jeremy Morse at the Lloyds Bank Masters

She is five-time British Women’s Champion: 1986, 1990–1992, and 1998 and has represented England in nine Olympiads.

LK Semenova vs Susan Walker at the 1984 Women's Olympiad — LK Semenova vs Susan Walker at the 1984 Women’s Olympiad

Susan is very active is Surrey junior chess and teaches in many schools.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GivfGnl_l1w[/embedyt]

With the White pieces Susan is almost exclusively an e4 player (preferring the Scotch Game) but curiously (and why not you might ask) she has employed The Polish Opening more than once with success. She is well-known for employing the Sicilian Alapin as her main weapon against the Sicilian Defence.

As the second player she defends the Caro-Kann, Larsen-Spassky, Smyslov and the Classical Variations and the Nimzo-Indian Defence.

From Wikipedia :

“Susan Kathryn Lalic (née Walker; born 28 October 1965) is an English chess player, holding both International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM) titles. She is five-time British Women’s Chess Champion: 1986, 1990–1992, and 1998.[2]

Lalic has played for England nine times in Chess Olympiads, from 1984 to 2000, inclusive. From 1986 to 1998, she played on the top board.[3]

Lalic was educated at Nonsuch High School for Girls from 1977 to 1984, and has been married in the past to Keith Arkell and then to Bogdan Lalić. Currently she is married to International Master Graeme Buckley.[4][5]

Highest rating from 1987-2012 is 2356(within 133 games)[6]”

Susan Lalic and friends, rear, second from left. — Susan Lalic and friends, rear, second from left

Your Chess Questions Answered by Susan Lalic,, 1999

2020, Biographies, Books, History, McFarland Books, Player

Steinitz in London : A Chess Biography with 623 Games

October 22, 2020 Richard James 3 Comments

Steinitz in London : A Chess Biography with 623 Games : Tim Harding

“Tim Harding played for Ireland at the 1984 FIDE chess Olympiad in Thessaloniki. He is a FIDE Candidate Master and a Senior International Master of correspondence chess. A well-known writer on many aspects of chess, Tim is a former editor of Chess Mail magazine and for almost 20 years he contributed monthly articles in “The Kibitzer” series. He lives in Dublin, Ireland.”

From the publisher’s blurb :

“Drawing on new research, this first biography of William Steinitz (1836-1900), the first World Chess Champion, covers his early life and career, with a fully-sourced collection of his known games until he left London in 1882. A portrait of mid-Victorian British chess is provided, including a history of the famous Simpson’s Divan. Born to a poor Jewish family in Prague, Steinitz studied in Vienna, where his career really began, before moving to London in 1862, bent on conquering the chess world. During the next 20 years, he became its strongest and most innovative player, as well as an influential writer on the game. A foreigner with a quarrelsome nature, he suffered mockery and discrimination from British amateur players and journalists, which eventual drove him to immigrate to America. The final chapters cover his subsequent visits to England and the last three tournaments he played there.”

Collectors of McFarland’s chess biographies will know exactly what to expect.

A handsome, beautifully produced hardback book based on extensive and exhaustive research, in this case concerning William Steinitz (Harding prefers to use the anglicized spelling of his name), the first official world champion.

He was born under the name Wolf Steinitz into a Jewish family in Prague in 1836, making him a year older than Morphy. He moved to Vienna to study mathematics in 1858, and it was there that he started playing chess seriously. In 1862 he travelled to London to play in an international tournament, and remained there, living the life of a chess professional, for 20 years.

Here’s Harding, in the Preface:

“This is not just a game collection but also an important biographical work. Subsequent to his triumphant comeback at the Vienna international tournament and his resignation as chess editor of The Field, Steinitz left England for a long tour of America. In the spring of 1883 he returned to play in the London 1883 tournament, after which he spent some more time in London; Chapter 12 deals with this. Steinitz then left England permanently and did not set foot in the country for another 12 years. The final chapter deals with his last visits to Britain which included two major tournaments, Hastings 1895 and London 1899. There is much less biography than chess in those two chapters but some information about his European tours is included. The tasks of writing a new biography of the final phase of Steinitz’s life after he left England, and of providing an authoritative game collection of his post-London period, are left for future scholars.

“The primary motivation for embarking on the research for this book was to present a chronological account of Steinitz’s two decades as an English resident, covering both the development of his chess career and significant life events. The chapter about Steinitz in this author’s earlier work, Eminent Victorian Chess Players, may be seen as a first essay in that direction but the present book goes much deeper, including appendices that document various controversies in which Steinitz became embroiled. The book also includes background sections about chess life in London going back to the earlier nineteenth century, dealing with London’s early chess clubs and public places where the game was played, before and during Steinitz’s time.”

Harding chose to include all available games from Steinitz’s time in London, some of which have only recently been rediscovered in old newspaper and magazine columns, so you have in total 623 games, mostly with some annotations from contemporary sources, occasionally, where appropriate, with interjections from Stockfish 10. In those days, of course, there were few tournaments, so he made a living, apart from journalism and teaching (one of his pupils was Lord Randolph Churchill, Winston’s dad), by giving simultaneous displays and playing against amateurs, who would pay for the privilege. If the games were particularly interesting or brilliant, they would find their way into print. In the early part of his career, Steinitz was renowned for his tactical acumen, so the book is crammed full of romantic King’s Gambits and Evans Gambits. Lovers of this style of chess won’t be disappointed.

In his preface, Harding draws the reader’s attention to two games in particular:

All the games have been checked using every primary source with discrepancies noted. So if you want a full and accurate record of every currently available Steinitz game from his time in London, along with some earlier games from his time in Vienna and those from his later English tournaments, look no further.

But what you also get is a lot of background information about chess in London during that period. The clubs, the events, the personalities, the disputes: everything is there. One of my personal interests is the changing position of chess within society over the past 200 years, and the changing demographics of the people who were attracted to the game over the years. In Steinitz’s time, as you would expect, chess clubs were entirely male and largely upper middle class. Most readers will be aware that chess was a particularly popular pastime amongst Church of England clergymen well into the 20th century. Helpfully, at least to me, Harding will often provide the full name and a one sentence biography of Steinitz’s amateur opponents. Although he is very thorough when researching Steinitz and his games, he tends only to consult one source for his opponents.

I decided to follow up a few random names through a quick search of genealogical websites: I found one or two mistakes and was also to provide probable identification in several cases where only the initial and surname were given. I also came across some fascinating stories which I’ll relate another time.

But this is just me: none of this will matter to most readers, who will be more interested in Steinitz than his opponents. It’s unrealistic to expect Harding to research these minor figures with the same diligence afforded to his protagonist.

Make no mistake about it: this is a major addition to the literature of our game, marked by scholarly research and historical accuracy, and, as such, deserves a place in the library of anyone with an interest in chess history. McFarland and their authors are doing an enormous service to the chess community by publishing books of this nature: this volume will sit alongside several other Harding works, notably his biography of Blackburne, Renette’s biography of Bird and Forster’s biography of Burn on your shelf devoted to 19th century British chess history.

But it’s not just a dry as dust history book. It’s a gripping read as well. Harding tells his story with panache, leaving the reader eager to turn the page and find out what happened next, helped, in part, by his subject’s disputatious nature. Whatever you do, don’t miss out on the appendices, in particular where Steinitz describes how he was allegedly assaulted by Blackburne on two occasions: “… he pounced upon me and hammered at my face and eyes with fullest force about a dozen blows, until the bedcloth and my nightshirt were covered with blood.”.

It is to be hoped that a future volume will appear, perhaps written by an American chess historian, covering the latter stages of Steinitz’s career. A Best Games collection, looking at his play through both 19th and 21st century eyes, would also be a valuable edition to chess literature.

A large book with high production values and a niche market is never going to come cheap, but, even if you’ve never read anything of this nature before, you might want to give it a try. With chess clubs closed and pubs offering restricted services, what better way could there be to spend your winter evenings?

Very highly recommended: 2020 has been an excellent year for chess books and this is certainly one of the best.

Richard James, Twickenham 21st October 2020

Book Details :

Format: library binding (8.5 x 11)
Pages: 421
Bibliographic Info: 84 photos, 623 games, appendices, notes, bibliography, indexes
Copyright Date: 2020
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6953-3
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4061-7

Official web site of McFarland

2020, Biographies, Birthday, Players

Best Wishes IM Adam Hunt (21-x-1980)

October 21, 2020 John Upham Leave a comment

We offer IM Adam Hunt best wishes on his birthday.

Adam Ceiriog Hunt was born on Tuesday, October 21st, 1980 in Oxford and his mother’s maiden name was Williams. The UK Number one single was “Woman in Love” by Barbara Streisand. Adam shares his birthday with Kim Kardashian.

(Ceiriog was the bardic name of John Ceiriog Hughes (1832–87)

Adam attended The Cherwell School and The University of Sussex to study general biology.

Jeremy Morse, Adam Hunt, Nick Pert and Nigel Short at the Lloyds Bank Masters — Jeremy Morse, Adam Hunt (12), Nick Pert (11) and Nigel Short at the Lloyds Bank Masters

Adam became an International Master in 2001 and then a FIDE Trainer in 2016. According to Felice and Megabase 2020 his attained his peak FIDE rating of 2466 in January 2008 at the age of 28.

In 2004 Adam was living in Headington, Oxfordshire and in 2007 he moved to Ipswich in Suffolk and was married in 2019. Recently, Adam and his partner became parents to Henry.

As a junior (and together with Harriet) Adam first played for Cowley Chess Club.

Most recently Adam has played for 4NCL Blackthorne Russia, prior to that Bettson.com, Midlands Monarchs and Perceptron Youth with Witney being his original team.

He is Director of Chess at Woodbridge School in Suffolk and is the brother of IM Harriet Hunt

With the white pieces is (almost exclusively) an e4 player playing the main line of Ruy Lopez (8.c3) and favouring the Fischer-Sozin against the Najdorf.

As the second player Adam plays the Sicilian Najdorf and a 50:50 mixture of the King’s Indian and Grünfeld Defences.

Adam is the brother of IM Harriet Hunt

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTZvVe5_c-w[/embedyt]

Chess Strategy: Move by Move, Adam Hunt, Everyman, 2013

2020, Biographies, Books, New in Chess

Timman’s Triumphs : My 100 Best Games

October 17, 2020 Richard James Leave a comment

Timman’s Triumphs : My 100 Best Games : Jan Timman

From the publisher :

“Jan Timman is the author of highly acclaimed books such as Curacao 1962 and The Art of the Endgame. His best-selling Timman’s Titans won the 2017 English Chess Federation Book of the Year Award. His previous book, The Longest Game, is a riveting account of the epic rivalry between Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov.”

From the book’s rear cover :

“Jan Timman is one of the greatest chess players never to win the world title. For many years ‘the Best of the West’ belonged to the chess elite, collecting some splendid super tournament victories. Three times Timman was a Candidate for the World Championship and his peak in the world rankings was second place, in 1982. For this definitive collection, Timman has revisited his career and subjected his finest efforts to fresh analysis supported by modern technology. The result is startling and fascinating. From the games that he chose for his Timman’s Selected Games (1994, also published as Chess the Adventurous Way), only 10(!) made the cut. Some games that he had been proud of turned out to be flawed, others that he remembered as messy were actually well played. Timman’s Triumphs includes wins against greats such as Karpov, Kasparov, Kortchnoi, Smyslov, Tal, Spassky, Bronstein, Larsen and Topalov. The annotations are in the author’s trademark lucid style, that happy mix of colourful background information and sharp, crystal-clear explanations. Once again Jan Timman shows that he is not only one of the best players the game has seen, but also as one of the best analysts and writers.”

Jan Timman (b 1951) has had an active chess career lasting over half a century. For much of the 1980s he was considered the strongest player in the West, with only Karpov and Kasparov clearly his superior. He also has an enviable reputation as an excellent writer and annotator, as well as an expert on endgame studies.

Here, we have a collection of Timman’s 100 best games. In fact, that’s not quite true. The introduction includes two games which just missed the cut, plus another three extracts where he played a study-like move.

As this is a best games collection, you won’t find any losses. There are two draws, from either end of his career, and 98 wins. As you’ll see from the back cover, there’s very little overlap with Timman’s earlier best games collection, and those games now have totally different annotations.

The analysis has all been double checked using strong engines, so you can be pretty sure of its accuracy. At the same time, Timman’s annotations are resolutely old school, and, for this reviewer at least, none the worse for that. You don’t get reams of computer generated tactics, just lucid explanations, with variations only when necessary.

Take, for example, one of his quicker wins, a victory with the black pieces over Nigel Short from Linares 1992. Here’s how Timman annotates the conclusion.

But, as an endgame connoisseur, he occasionally goes into more detail when a fascinating ending appears on the board.

This position is from a game, again with Black, against Artur Yusupov (the book uses the German spelling Jussupow) played in Belgrade in 1989. This position arose just after the adjournment at the second time control. Here’s how Timman explains this position.

“The analysis during the break had taught me that a transfer to a rook ending was the most convincing path to the win. Jussupow had mainly looked at 63… b2. During the post-mortem, he told me that he had found drawing chances in that line. However, the computer is unrelenting. Black wins also here with two accurate king moves: 64. Rb1 Rd2 65. f5 Kd6! 66. Nf7+ Ke7!, and White cannot take on g6, since Black has the d3-square for his bishop.

“During the analysis, I also looked at the spectacular 63… Rd3+ 64. Kg4 Rd1. If this had worked, it would have been a study-like conclusion to the game. Alas, it doesn’t work. The main line continues as follows: 65. Rxd1 Be2+ 66. Kxh4 Bxd1 67. f5 Be2 68. f6 Kd6

and now White has the incredible finesse 69. Nc6!!. Luckily, I found this study-like save in my hotel room in Belgrade. After 69… Bc4 70. Na5! Bf7 71. Nxb3, a theoretically drawn endgame ensues.”

(The game concluded 63… Bd3 64. Nxd3+ Rxd3+ 65. Kg4 Rd4! 66. Rb1 Kb4 67. Rf1 b2 68. Kxh4 Rc4 69. Rb1 Kb3 70. Kg3 Rc3+ 71. Kg2 Kc2 and White resigned.)

These two examples will give you some idea of Timman’s annotation style.

Timman has always been a universal player who uses a wide range of openings so there’s a lot of variety in the play: no chance of getting bored by seeing the same type of position over and over again. Each game is put into its context regarding the tournament or match in which it took place. The text is also enlivened by many entertaining anecdotes, often concerning Timman’s rather hedonistic (especially in his early years) lifestyle. We read, for instance, about listening to Frank Zappa with Ray Keene, and taking the young Nigel Short to a nightclub on the eve of an important game.

There are many readers and who particularly enjoy best games collections: they will certainly revel in this excellent book. For those of you of Timman’s (and my) generation the book will also bring back many memories. For younger readers, though, much of it will be ancient history: perhaps they’ll get the same pleasure out of it that I got from studying the games of Alekhine and Capablanca many years ago.

You might prefer a more spacious layout for the games. You might have liked a summary of his tournament and match results. You might have liked some tournament cross tables. But of course publishers have to make hard commercial decisions. At least we get an index of players (all players mentioned in the book for any reason, rather than an index of opponents) and an index of openings.

But, most importantly, you get 100 great games from one of the best players of the past 50 years, with lucid and instructive annotations. I’m pleased to give this book a warm recommendation.

One last thought. Timman tells us that someday he might write a book of his most exciting games, which would include more draws and several losses. Yes, please!

Richard James, Twickenham 17th October 2020

Book Details :

Paperback : 352 pages
Publisher: New in Chess (15 Oct. 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10:9056919172
ISBN-13: 978-9056919177
Product Dimensions : 17.15 x 2.18 x 23.77 cm

Official web site of New in Chess

British Chess News

Category Archives: 2020

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Steinitz in London : A Chess Biography with 623 Games

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