“Probably the best home reared player to come out of the county, John Cox started to play at age 6 with his father Jeff (see above) joining Shrewsbury Chess Club at age 7. At age10 he became joint Shropshire lightning champion. He was 16 when he won the 1979 county championship though much of his early success was outside the county. He gained his first FM norm at the 1980 Lloyds Bank Masters where he became the first Shropshire player to beat a GM (see below), also drawing with IM’s Ligterink and Pytel. In 1981 he gained his third norm and the FM title at Ramsgate together with his first IM norm. Though now based in London, he is still a regular visitor to the local Wrekin Congress.”
John Cox (first from left) at a Lloyds Bank event.John Cox (left, rear)John Cox (left, rear) at a Lloyds Bank Varsity matchIM John Cox, courtesy John Upham PhotographyStarting out 1.d4 ! by John CoxDangerous Weapons : The Ruy LopezStarting Out : Alekhine’s DefenceDealing with d4 DeviationsStarting Out : Sicilian SveshnikovThe Berlin Wall
BCN wishes IM Andrew Martin many happy returns on his birthday (18-v-1957)
From ChessBase :
Andrew David Martin (born 18th May 1957 in West Ham, London) is an English chess player with the title of international master. Martin has won various national and international tournaments. He has been playing for years in the Four Nations Chess League, at present (July 2009) for Wood Green Hilsmark Kingfisher, previously for the Camberley Chess Club. Martin received his title as international master in 1984. He earned his first grandmaster norm in the British Championship of 1997 in Brighton. Martin was a commentator on the chess world championship between Kasparov and Kramnik in 2000.
On the 21st February 2004 Martin set a new world record for simultaneous chess.
He faced 321 chess players at the same time. His result was: 294 wins, 26 draws and only one loss. Martin is known as a professional chess teacher and head trainer of the English youth team. He trains eight schools (Yateley Manor, Aldro, Millfield, Sunningdale, Waverley School, St Michael’s Sandhurst, Wellington College, Salesian College). Martin is a chess columnist, an author of chess books and the author of various instructional videos. He was the publisher of the series Trends Publications. Martin lives in Sandhurst, England, is married and the father of two daughters and two sons. His present Elo rating is 2423 (as of July 2009).
Andrew coaching students
The above is somewhat inaccurate and out of date. Andrew came from East Ham rather than West Ham. He was the editor rather than the publisher of Trends Publications and he lives in Bramley, Surrey with his partner Naomi.
Andrew and friends at the NatWest Bank Young Masters
On July 23rd 1981 a world record attempt of continuous blitz games was undertaken at the National Film Theatre in London with much support of the membership of London Central YMCA.
Yours Truly (John Upham) plays Andrew Martin at the NFT
Andrew now plays for Camberley and Guildford clubs in the Berkshire and Surrey Border Leagues and is former member of East Ham, Ilford, London Central YMCA (CentYMCA), Wood Green and Barbican clubs.
Andrew plays JJ Ady whilst Simon LeBlanq observes at the London Central YMCA
Andrew has written many books starting as Editor of the “Trends Series” for Tournament Chess owned by Richard W. O’Brien (Not of The Crystal Maze). He has authored numerous DVDs for Foxy Videos and ChessBase and has a YouTube Channel focused on young and improving players called “Andrew Martin – Chess Explorations“.
Below Andrew annotates his game (with black) versus GM Stephen Gordon from 4NCL in 2005 :
Andrew’s first book as author was this one:
Winning With the King’s Indian, Caissa Publishing, Andrew Martin, 1989
Here is one his favourite games:
Trends in the Slav Defence, Tournament Chess, Andrew Martin, 1990The Contemporary Anti-Dutch, 1990
BCN wishes GM Matthew Sadler all the best on his birthday, this day, in 1974.
From Wikipedia :
“
Sadler won the British Championship in 1995 at the age of 21 and again in 1997 (jointly with Michael Adams).[2] He represented England in the 1996 Chess Olympiad, scoring 10½/13 and winning a gold medal for the best score on board four (England finished fourth), and also played in 1998 scoring 7½/12. He made 7/9 on board four for England at the European Team Chess Championship in Pula in 1997.[3] His was the best individual score of the five-man English team and so contributed significantly to England’s first (and to date only) gold medal in a major competition.
Anatoli Vaisser vs Matthew Sadler, Cappelle-la-Grande, 1991
For several years, he was the book reviewer for New in Chess magazine and also wrote books and articles for other chess magazines. In 2000, his book Queen’s Gambit Declined (published by Everyman) was awarded the British Chess Federation’s book of the year award.[4]
. Queen’s Gambit Declined. Everyman. ISBN 978-1857442564.
Latterly a resident of Amersfoort, Sadler returned to chess in 2010 to play in a rapidplay tournament held in nearby Wageningen. He won the event with a perfect score of 7/7, finishing ahead of grandmasters Jan Timman, Friso Nijboer and Daniel Fridman. In August 2011, Sadler continued his resurgence by winning the XIII Open Internacional D’Escacs de Sants, scoring 8½/10, ahead of several grandmasters including Jan Smeets. Right thereafter, in October 2011, he went on to compete in the Oslo Chess International; participants included ten other grandmasters, among them Sergei Tiviakov, Jon Ludvig Hammer and Sergey Volkov, all being 2600+ rated. Sadler won convincingly, with 8/9 points and a performance rating of 2849. Going into 2012, the gain in rating points elevated him to fourth rank amongst active English players and also lifted him back into the World Top 100.”
Matthew Sadler plays Anatoly Karpov at the Amber Rapid in 1998. The game was drawn.
Matthew was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion in the 1989-90 and 1993-94 seasons.
One of Matthew’s favourite games is this quick win against Ladislav Stratil Jr. from the Oakham Young Masters :
Matthew Sadler
In a January 2012 interview, Sadler stated that chess was now primarily a “hobby” for him.[5] While relishing his return to tournament play, Sadler noted that he was now an amateur, and would not be coming back as a professional. He contrasts his present lighthearted attitude with his demeanor during his time as a professional, when he was “working ten hours a day and incredibly intensively”.
Mark Taimanov and Matthew Sadler
Here is a second favourite game of Matthew’s versus Eran Liss at Budapest, 1993 :
Matthew Sadler
and thirdly this game of Matthew’s vs Jan Smeets is another favourite :
The Slav. Everyman. ISBN 978-1901259001.The Semi-Slav. Everyman. ISBN 978-1901259087.Tips For Young Players. Everyman. ISBN 978-1857442311.. Queen’s Gambit Declined. Everyman. ISBN 978-1857442564.Study Chess With Matthew Sadler. Everyman. ISBN 978-1857449907.Chess For Life. Gambit. ISBN 978-1910093832.Game Changer. New In Chess. ISBN 978-9056918187.
BCN wishes a Happy Birthday to IM Jack Rudd (13-v-1979)
Jack Timothy John Rudd was born in Scunthorpe and the family moved to the West Country in 1981/82. Jack became a FIDE Master in 2006 and an International Master in 2008 (confirmed in 2009). He became a FIDE Arbiter (FA) in 2012 and an International Arbiter (2014) in 2014.
Jack achieved his highest Elo rating of 2385 in April 2007 at the age of 28.
Jack plays for “West is Best” in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL), Somerset Chess Association and Barnstaple in local leagues.
Jack has selected two of his favourite games as follows :
IM Jack Rudd, photograph courtesy of John Upham Photography
BCN wishes Happy Birthday to GM Joseph Gerald Gallagher (04-v-1964)
Streatham & Brixton becoming BCF National Club Champions in 1989. The team was Tony Kosten, Mark Hedben, Daniel King, Nigel Povah (Captain), Joe Gallagher and Julian Hodgson : quite a strong team
GM Joe GallagherWinning With the King’s Gambit, Batsford, ISBN 0-7134-6944-7Beating the Anti-Sicilians, Batsford/Henry Holt and Company, ISBN 0-8050-3575-3Beating the Sicilian 3Beating the Anti-King’s Indians, Batsford/International Chess Enterprises, ISBN 1-879479-36-2The Trompovsky, Chess Press, ISBN 1-901259-09-9101 Attacking Ideas in Chess, Gambit Publications, ISBN 1-901983-20-XThe Magic of Mikhail Tal, Everyman Chess, ISBN 1-85744-266-0Starting Out: the Caro-Kann, Everyman Chess, ISBN 1-85744-303-9Starting Out: King’s Indian, Everyman Chess, ISBN 1-85744-234-2Starting Out: The Pirc/Modern, Everyman Chess, ISBN 1-85744-336-5Play the King’s Indian, Everyman Chess, ISBN 1-85744-324-1
We focus on the British Chess Scene Past & Present !
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