BCN remembers GM Dr. Jonathan Penrose OBE who passed away on Tuesday, November 30th, 2021.

In the 1971 New Years Honours List Jonathan was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) The citation read “For services to Chess.”

In 1993 following representations by Bob Wade and Leonard Barden FIDE granted the title of Grandmaster to Jonathan. Here is a detailed discussion of that process. Note that this was not an Honorary title (as received by Jacques Mieses and Harry Golombek).

From British Chess (Pergamon Press, 1983) by Botterill, Levy, Rice and Richardson : (article by George Botterill)

“Penrose is one of the outstanding figures of British chess. Yet many who meet him may not realize this just because he is one of the quietest and most modest of men. Throughout the late 1950s and the whole of the 1960s he stood head and shoulders above any of his contemporaries.

His extraordinary dominance is revealed by the fact that he won the British championship no less than ten times (1958-63 and 1966-69, inclusive), a record that nobody is likely to equal in the future.

At his best his play was lucid, positionally correct, energetic and tactically acute. None the less, there is a ‘Penrose problem’: was he a ‘Good Thing’ for British chess? The trouble was that whilst this highly talented player effectively crushed any opposition at home, he showed little initiative in flying the flag abroad. There is a wide-spread and justifiable conviction that only lack of ambition in the sphere of international chess can explain why he did not secure the GM title during his active over-the-board playing career.

It would be unjust, however, to blame Penrose for any of this. The truth is simply that he was not a professional chessplayer, and indeed he flourished in
a period in which chess playing was not a viable profession in Britain. But even if the material awards available had been greater Penrose would almost certainly have chosen to remain an amateur. For he was cast in that special intellectual and ethical tradition of great British amateurs like H. E. Atkins, Sir George Thomas and Hugh Alexander before him.

His family background indicates early academic inclinations in a cultural atmosphere in which chess was merely a game something at which one excelled through sheer ability, but not to be ranked alongside truly serious work. It is noteworthy that Penrose, unique in this respect amongst British chess masters, has never written at any length about the game. He has had other matters to concentrate on when away from the board, being a lecturer in psychology. (His father, Professor L. S. Penrose, was a distinguished geneticist.)

Being of slight physique and the mildest and most amiable of characters, it is probably also true that Penrose lacked the toughness and ‘killer instinct’ required to reach the very top. Nervous tension finally struck him down in a dramatic way when he collapsed during play in the Siegen Olympiad of 1970. We can take that date as the end of the Penrose era.

Since, then though he has not by any means entirely given up, his involvement in the nerve-wracking competitions of over-the-board play has been greatly reduced. instead he has turned to correspondence chess, which is perhaps the ideal medium for his clear strategy and deep and subtle analysis. So Penrose’s career it not over. He has moved to another, less stressful province of the kingdom of chess.

For the first game, however, we shall turn the clock right back to 1950 and the see the Penrose in the role of youthful giant killer.

[pgn]
[Event “Southsea”]
[Site “Southsea”]
[Date “1950.??.??”]
[Round “3”]
[White “Penrose, Jonathan”]
[Black “Bogoljubow, Efim”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B56”]
[Annotator “George Botterill & BCN”]
[PlyCount “61”]
[EventDate “1950.??.??”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventCountry “ENG”]
[SourceTitle “EXT 1999”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1998.11.16”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1998.11.16”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,61,19,31,72,53,68,72,74,26,26,35,78,54,64,49,91,81,85,45,69,69,49,55,
46,30,64,74,93,97,132,124,124,98,152,152,152,76,65,59,51,64,64,64,20,20,38,14,
116,159,216,216,216,223,223,223,511,570,615,900,1224,2338,29993,29994]} {
Jonathan was 17 years old when this game was played.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4
cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nbd7 {A pretty rare continuation, not hitting White’s
centre but maybe aiming for c5 at some point.} 6. g3 a6 7. Bg2 e6 8. O-O Be7 9.
b3 (9. Be3) 9… Qc7 10. Bb2 O-O 11. Kh1 $146 {This was a novelty in 1950} (11.
a4 Rb8 12. a5 b5 13. axb6 Qxb6 14. g4 {was Dubov – Korobov, 2017.}) 11… Rd8
12. Qe2 $146 (12. f4 Nc5 {was Rayner – Arakhamia Grant, 2001, 0-1.}) 12… Nf8
$2 {“With a knight on f8 I cannot be mated”, as Larsen is fond of saying. But
here it is more important that Black loses control over e5.} (12… Bf8 {
to be followed by …Rb8, …b5 and …Bb7 seems a better scheme of
development. With the rooks on d8 and b8 Black must beware of White’s little
tactic e5 dxe5 Nc6 forking the rooks. But in most cases Black should get at
least one pawn and fair value for the exchange.}) 13. f4 $16 Rb8 14. Rad1 Bd7
15. e5 (15. g4 d5 16. e5) 15… Ne8 {[#]} 16. Nf5 $1 {A familiar trick in the
Sicilian} Ng6 ({if} 16… exf5 17. Nd5 $18) 17. Nxe7+ Nxe7 18. Ne4 d5 19. Nd6
$1 Qa5 $2 (19… Bc6) 20. Qh5 (20. g4) 20… Nxd6 21. exd6 Nf5 22. g4 Nxd6 {[#]
} ({Of course not} 22… Ne3 $4 23. Qe5 $18 {with a double attack on g7 and e3}
(23. Qg5 {is crushing also} g6 24. Qf6 d4 25. Bxd4 e5 26. fxe5 Nxg4 27. Qxf7+
Kh8 28. e6+ Ne5 29. Qf6+ Kg8 30. Bxe5 {and its mate in 6.})) 23. f5 $1 Qxa2 24.
Be5 (24. fxe6 Bxe6 25. Qe5) 24… Ne8 {Giving up the exchange does not help
much.} (24… Bb5 25. Rf2 {[%cal Gd1a1] threatening Ra1} Qa5 26. fxe6 {wins
quickly}) 25. fxe6 Bxe6 26. Bxb8 Rxb8 27. Qe5 $1 Rc8 28. Bxd5 Nf6 29. Bxe6 Re8
30. Bxf7+ Kxf7 31. Rxf6+ $1 1-0
[/pgn]

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

“British international master and ten times British Champion, Penrose was born in Colchester and came from a chess-playing family.

His father and mother (Margaret)  both played chess and his father, Professor Lionel Sharples Penrose, in addition to being a geneticist of world-wide fame, was a strong chess-player and a good endgame composer. Jonathan’s older brother Oliver, was also a fine player.

Roger Penrose won the Nobel prize for physics in 2020.

Shirley Hodgson (née Penrose) is a high flying geneticist.

Jonathan learnt chess at the age of four, won the British Boys championship at thirteen and by the time he was fifteen was playing in the British Championship in Felixstowe in 1949.

A little reluctant to participate in international tournaments abroad, he did best in the British Championship which he won a record number of times, once more than HE Atkins. He won the title consecutively from 1958 to 1963 and again from 1966 to 1969.

He also played with great effect in nine Olympiads. Playing on a high board for practically all the time, he showed himself the equal of the best grandmasters and indeed, at the Leipzig Olympiad he distinguished himself by beating Mikhail Tal, thereby becoming the first British player to defeat a reigning World Champion since Blackburne beat Lasker in 1899.

[pgn]
[Event “Olympiad-14 Final A”]
[Site “Leipzig”]
[Date “1960.11.08”]
[Round “11”]
[White “Penrose, Jonathan”]
[Black “Tal, Mikhail”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “A65”]
[Annotator “Knaak,R”]
[PlyCount “77”]
[EventDate “1960.10.28”]
[EventType “team-tourn”]
[EventRounds “11”]
[EventCountry “DDR”]
[SourceTitle “EXT 1999”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1998.11.16”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1998.11.16”]
[SourceQuality “1”]
[WhiteTeam “England”]
[BlackTeam “Soviet Union”]
[WhiteTeamCountry “ENG”]
[BlackTeamCountry “URS”]

{[%evp 0,77,14,29,8,5,0,0,58,58,90,90,99,98,98,98,92,41,71,54,67,47,50,50,60,
17,11,11,11,29,25,-24,26,32,78,97,133,100,113,100,96,82,124,87,113,107,150,179,
179,220,220,229,229,229,269,201,201,201,201,201,206,205,252,252,252,252,308,
319,432,402,479,480,534,549,866,881,888,888,895,895] Jonathan Penrose war
Jahre lang einer der führenden englischen Spieler. 1979 spielte er seine
letzten Partien, die auch von der Mega Datenbank erfasst sind; seine
Schachlaufbahn war damit aber noch lange nicht beendet, denn nun stieg er im
Fernschach zur absoluten Weltspitze auf. Doch im Nahschach wird sein Name wohl
für immer mit dieser einen Partie von der Schacholympiade in Leipzig verknüpft
sein. Die Sowjetunion war auf einem Triumpfmarsch sondergleichen – jedes
einzelnen Match wurde gewonnen und bis zur letzten Runde gab es auch keine
einzige Niederlage in einer Einzelpartie, bis eben zu dieser.} 1. d4 $1 {
Penrose war ein e4-Spieler und warf Tal nun aus der Vorbereitung.} Nf6 2. c4 e6
3. Nc3 c5 {Tal will den vollen Punkt. Objektiv ist Ben-Oni aber leider
minderwertig.} 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 g6 6. e4 d6 7. Bd3 Bg7 8. Nge2 O-O 9. O-O {
Ich spiele diesen Aufbau selbst und glaube an ihn. Weiß wird das Feld g4 mit
h2-h3 schützen und steht dann schon zu f2-f4 bereit. Schwarz krankt an seiner
Raumnot – ein Zug wie Bg4 steht hier nicht zur Verfügung.} a6 {Alternativen
wie Na6-c7 und erst dann a6 sowie auch 9…b6 gelten heute als
aussichtsreicher. RR: Diese aus schwarzer Sicht pessimistische Einschätzung
gilt seit dem Buch von John Watson über die Ben-Oni-Verteidigung nicht mehr.
Viel mehr scheint der Aufbau mit 9…a6 sogar am besten zu sein.} 10. a4 Qc7
11. h3 Nbd7 12. f4 Re8 13. Ng3 c4 14. Bc2 Nc5 (14… Rb8 $1 15. Be3 Nc5 {
ist die Hauptvariante.}) 15. Qf3 (15. Be3 Nfxe4 16. Ncxe4 Nxe4 17. Bxe4 f5 18.
Qe2 fxe4 19. f5 $13) 15… Nfd7 ({Schwarz sollte} 15… Rb8 {spielen, um
möglichst schnell b5 durchzusetzen. Nach} 16. e5 dxe5 (16… Nfd7 17. Nce4 Nxe4
18. Nxe4 dxe5 19. f5 $36) 17. fxe5 Rxe5 18. Bf4 Nfd7 {erhält Schwarz Spiel für
die Qualität.}) 16. Be3 b5 17. axb5 Rb8 18. Qf2 axb5 {Das nun folgende
Bauernopfer ist zum Standardverfahren für diesen Stellungstyp und die ganze
Variante mit Ld3 und Sge2 geworden.} 19. e5 $1 dxe5 20. f5 $1 (20. fxe5 Rf8 21.
d6 Qc6 22. Nce4 Bxe5 $13) 20… Bb7 21. Rad1 Ba8 $2 ({Es gibt eine Grundregel
bei dieser Bauernstruktur: Wenn Schwarz den “störenden” Bauern e5 zurückopfern
kann, sollte er es auch tun.} 21… e4 $1 {mit unklarer Stellung; Schwarz kann
z.B. nach Bf4 immer ganz gut die Qualität opfern, weil der Bg7 dann noch mehr
zum Riesen wird.}) 22. Nce4 $16 {Ein Traumfeld für jeden Springer.} Na4 $6 {
Verliert glatt.} 23. Bxa4 bxa4 24. fxg6 fxg6 25. Qf7+ Kh8 26. Nc5 Qa7 27. Qxd7
(27. Nge4 $1) (27. Rf2 $1 {droht Springerabzug}) 27… Qxd7 28. Nxd7 Rxb2 29.
Nb6 Rb3 30. Nxc4 Rd8 31. d6 Rc3 32. Rc1 Rxc1 33. Rxc1 Bd5 34. Nb6 Bb3 35. Ne4
h6 36. d7 Bf8 37. Rc8 Be7 38. Bc5 Bh4 39. g3 1-0
[/pgn]

A deep strategist who could also hold his own tactically, he suffered from the defect of insufficient physical stamina and it was this that was to bring about a decline in his play and in his results. He collapsed during a game at the Ilford Chess Congress, and a year later, at the Siegen Olympiad of 1970, he had a more serious collapse that necessitated his withdrawal from the event after the preliminary groups had been played. The doctors found nothing vitally wrong with him that his physique could not sustain.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6mlebk_34c[/embedyt]

He continued to play but his results suffered from a lack of self-confidence and at the Nice Olympiad of 1974 he had a wretched result on board 3, winning only 1 game and losing 6 out of 15.

Possibly too his profession (a lecturer in psychology) was also absorbing him more and more and too part less and less in international and national chess.

Yet, he had already done enough to show that he was the equal of the greatest British players in his command and understanding of the game and he ranks alongside Staunton, Blackburne, Atkins and CHO’D Alexander as a chess figure of world class.”

Here is his Wikipedia entry

From The Oxford Companion to Chess by Hooper & Whyld :

“The leading English player during the 1960s, International Master (1961), International Correspondence Chess Master (1980), lecturer in psychology. Early in his chess career Penrose decided to remain an amateur and as a consequence played in few international tournaments. He won the British Championship from 1958 to 1963 and from 1966 to 1969, ten times in all (a record); and he played in nine Olympiads from 1952 to 1974, notably scoring + 10=5 on first board at Lugano 1968, a result bettered only by the world champion Petrosyan.

In the early 1970s Penrose further restricted his chess because the stress of competitive play adversely affected his health.”

The second edition (1996) adds this :

“He turned to correspondence play, was the highest rated postal player in the world 1987-9, and led the British team to victory in the 9th Correspondence Olympiad.”

[pgn]
[Event “olm8 fin B4 corr”]
[Site “ICCF corr”]
[Date “1977.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Penrose, Jonathan”]
[Black “Tompa, Janos”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B48”]
[Annotator “Andrew Martin & BCN”]
[PlyCount “61”]
[EventDate “1977.??.??”]
[EventType “team (corr)”]
[EventRounds “12”]
[SourceTitle “Corr 2002”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2002.05.23”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2002.05.23”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,59,19,38,40,41,41,32,50,22,81,63,88,56,68,60,55,48,91,78,64,64,36,62,
41,29,56,56,50,30,34,3,32,38,18,31,48,48,41,40,90,31,30,51,183,-72,-72,177,164,
164,160,310,262,262,275,253,253,299,726,726,29991,29992]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3.
d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 {The Sicilian Kan or Paulsen} 5. Nc3 {It’s a matter of
taste between this} ({and} 5. c4 {although in correspondence play the more
lively alternative is generally preferred.}) 5… Qc7 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Be3 Nf6 8.
O-O Ne5 ({Alternatives are} 8… Nxd4 9. Bxd4 Bc5) ({or} 8… b5) 9. Be2 $1 {
Perfectly justified by the fact that Black is wasting time with his knight.
White withdraws in order to kick back with f4.} ({9.Be2! is a clear
improvement on} 9. h3 {, which does rather weaken the king position for no
other reason than to prevent the illusory threat of Ng4.}) 9… b5 10. f4 Nc4
11. Bxc4 Qxc4 12. e5 {[#]} Nd5 ({Some thought must have been given to the
complicated alternative} 12… b4 {which gives White a dangerous attack but
nothing clear.} {A sample line illustrates the difficulty Black would face is}
13. Qf3 {[%cal Gf3a8]} (13. exf6 bxc3 14. b3 Qd5 15. fxg7 Bxg7) 13… Rb8 (
13… bxc3 $1 14. Qxa8 cxb2 15. Rab1 Nd5 16. Bf2 Bb4 17. Qb8) 14. exf6 bxc3 15.
b3 Qc7 16. f5 Bb7 17. Bf4 d6 18. Qe3 e5 19. fxg7 Bxg7 20. f6 $1 {Perhaps he
could survive such a position but the king would be trapped and uncomfortable
on his central perch.}) 13. Nxd5 Qxd5 14. Qe2 Bb7 15. Rad1 Qe4 {It is
essential for the black queen to remain in the centre to try and inhibit the
white attack by keeping active.} ({To that end grabbing material with} 15…
Qxa2 {would be equivalent to suicide; after} 16. b3 $1 {shutting off the white
square escape followed quickly by f5 White would have a winning attack.}) 16.
Qf2 Be7 17. f5 Bh4 $146 (17… O-O $2 18. f6 $18) (17… O-O-O 18. Rd3 {
[%cal Gd3c3]}) 18. Qd2 {[%cal Gf1f4] threatening Rf4 and a double capture on e6
} Qd5 19. c3 h5 {[%cal Gh5h3] attempting to get the pawn to h3. a very slow
procedure which is rapidly punished.} ({better was} 19… Bd8 20. a4 {keeping
the black king centralised.}) 20. a4 $1 {Stopping any thoughts of queenside
castling and weakening Black’s hold on the critical white squares.} Be7 21.
axb5 Qxe5 $2 {[#]} (21… axb5 22. fxe6 dxe6 23. Qf2 O-O-O $16) 22. Nc6 $1 dxc6
23. Qd7+ Kf8 24. Bd4 $18 Bc8 ({If} 24… Qb8 25. fxe6 f6 26. Bxf6 {wins}) 25.
Qxc6 Qb8 26. fxe6 f6 27. Bc5 $1 {[%cal Gd1d8]} Bxe6 28. Bxe7+ Kf7 ({If} 28…
Kxe7 29. Rfe1 Qc8 30. Rd6 $18 (30. Rxe6+ Qxe6 31. Qb7+ Kf8 32. Qxa8+ $18)) 29.
Bxf6 {An excellent final stroke.} gxf6 30. Rd7+ {and Black resigned.} {If} Bxd7
31. Qxf6+ {is a quick mate.} 1-0
[/pgn]

Here is a discussion about Jonathan on the English Chess Forum

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

“International Master (1961) and British Champion in 1958 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969.

Jonathan Penrose was born in Colchester on 7th October 1933, the son of Professor LS Penrose, the well-known geneticist, who was also a strong player and composer of endgame studies.

The whole Penrose family plays chess and Jonathan learned the game when he was 4. At the age of 12 he joined Hampstead Chess Club and the following year played for Essex for the first time, won his first big tournament, the British Boys’ Championship, and represented England against Ireland in a boy’s match, which was the forerunner of the Glorney Cup competition, which came into being the following year.

By the time he was 17 Penrose was recognised as one of the big hopes of British Chess. Playing in the Hastings Premier Tournament for the first time in `1950 – 1951, he beat the French Champion Nicholas Rossolimo and at Southsea in 1950 he beat two International Grandmasters, Effim Bogoljubov and Savielly Tartakower.

Penrose played for the British Chess Federation in a number of Chess Olympiads since 1952. In 1960, at Leipzig, came one of the best performances of his career, when he beat the reigning World Champion, Mikhail Tal. He became the first British player to beat a reigning World Champion since JH Blackburne beat Emmanuel Lasker in 1899, and the first player to defeat Tal since he won the World Championship earlier that year. Penrose’s score in this Olympiad was only half-a-point short of the score required to qualify for the International Grandmaster title.

His ninth victory in the British Championships in 1968 equalled the record held by HE Atkins, who has held the title more times than any other player.

Penrose is a lecturer in psychology at Enfield College of Technology and has never been in a position to devote a great deal of time to the game. He is married to a former contender in the British Girls Championship and British Ladies’s Championship, Margaret Wood, daughter of Frank Wood, Hon. Secretary of the Oxfordshire Chess Association.

Again from British Chess : “In updating this report we find striking evidence of Penrose’s prowess as a correspondence player. Playing on board 4 for Britain in the 8th Correspondence Chess Olympiad he was astonishingly severe on the opposition, letting slip just one draw in twelve games! Here is one of the eleven wins that must change the assessment of a sharp Sicilian Variation.”

 

[pgn]
[Event “olm8 corr7384”]
[Site “ICCF corr”]
[Date “1973.??.??”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Penrose, Jonathan”]
[Black “Krantz, Kjell Erik”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B33”]
[Annotator “George Botterill & Hugh Myers”]
[PlyCount “53”]
[EventDate “1973.??.??”]
[EventType “team (corr)”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[SourceTitle “Myers”]
[Source “Myers”]
[SourceDate “2012.11.12”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2012.11.12”]
[SourceQuality “1”]
[WhiteTeam “England”]
[BlackTeam “Sweden”]
[WhiteTeamCountry “ENG”]
[BlackTeamCountry “SWE”]

{[%mdl 41472][%evp 0,53,38,17,41,46,37,22,21,42,22,35,30,61,21,-2,-6,-6,10,-7,
-7,-10,-16,-1,-14,3,6,-16,-5,-13,-11,6,-4,-4,-16,45,29,41,63,0,13,38,13,61,59,
67,84,97,94,299,291,294,294,308,300,294]} 1. e4 {Myers Botterill} c5 2. Nf3 e6
3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bf4 e5 8. Bg5 a6 9. Na3 Be6 10.
Nc4 Rc8 11. Bxf6 gxf6 12. Ne3 Ne7 13. Bd3 Qb6 14. O-O Qxb2 {Larsen} (14… Bh6
15. Ned5 Nxd5 16. exd5 Bd7 17. Qh5 Bg7 18. Rab1 h6 19. Kh1 O-O 20. f4 Rc7 21.
Qf3 Bc8 22. Qg3 Kh8 23. Qf2 Qxf2 24. Rxf2 b5 25. a4 b4 26. Na2 a5 27. c3 bxc3
28. Nxc3 Rc5 29. Rd1 Bb7 30. Bb5 Kg8 31. g3 Rd8 32. Kg1 Kf8 33. Kf1 Ke7 {
1/2-1/2 Koch,H-Bergmann,H/corr 1989/}) (14… Rg8 15. Ncd5 Bxd5 16. Nxd5 Nxd5
17. exd5 h6 18. a4 (18. c3 Rc7 19. Rb1 Qa5 20. a4 Kd8 21. c4 f5 22. b4 Qb6 23.
Be2 f6 24. a5 Qa7 25. Re1 Rcg7 26. Bf1 f4 27. b5 axb5 28. Rxb5 Rc7 29. Qd3 Rg5
30. h4 Rgg7 31. Qf5 Rgf7 32. Be2 f3 33. Bxf3 Rxc4 34. Qe6 {1-0 Miettinen,
K-Pickett,C/corr ICCF 1995/}) 18… Rc7 19. Qf3 Qxb2 20. Qxf6 Qd4 21. Rad1 Qg4
22. g3 h5 23. Rde1 Be7 24. Qh6 Qg5 25. Qxg5 Bxg5 26. Rb1 Ke7 27. Rb2 a5 28.
Rfb1 Rb8 29. Ba6 Bd2 30. Bxb7 Rc4 31. Bc6 Rxb2 32. Rxb2 Rb4 33. Ra2 Bc3 34. Ra3
Bd4 35. Rd3 h4 36. Kg2 hxg3 37. hxg3 Bc5 38. Rb3 {1/2-1/2 Fishbein,A-Agdestein,
E/Stavanger 1989/}) (14… Qc6 15. a4 Kd8 16. Qf3 f5 17. Ned5 f4 18. a5 Rg8 19.
h3 f5 20. Nb6 Rc7 21. Kh1 Bf7 22. Qd1 Rg5 23. Rg1 h6 24. Qd2 Bh5 25. exf5 Nxf5
26. Be4 Qe8 27. Ncd5 Rcg7 28. Ra4 Nd4 29. Nxf4 Bf7 30. Bxb7 Qb5 31. Be4 Qxb2
32. Nfd5 Bxd5 33. Nxd5 Qb7 34. Rb4 Qc8 35. Rgb1 Nb5 36. c4 Na3 37. R1b3 Nxc4
38. Qc3 Nb6 39. Rxb6 Qxc3 40. Rxc3 Kd7 41. Rb8 {1-0 Conde,J-Jordaan,W/corr
2003/}) (14… Bg7 15. Ncd5 Bxd5 16. exd5 O-O 17. Qh5 Ng6 18. Nf5 Rc7 19. Rae1
Re8 20. Re3 Nf4 21. Qg4 Ng6 22. h4 Qxb2 23. h5 Qxa2 24. hxg6 fxg6 25. Nxd6 f5
26. Nxf5 gxf5 27. Qxf5 Qxd5 28. Be4 Qd6 29. Qxh7+ Kf8 30. Rf3+ Rf7 31. Rxf7+
Kxf7 32. Qh5+ Kf8 33. Rd1 Qe7 34. Rd3 Bf6 35. Rf3 Qg7 36. Rg3 Qh8 37. Qf5 Rd8
38. Rh3 Qg7 39. Rh7 Qg5 40. Rh8+ Ke7 41. Rh7+ Kf8 42. Qe6 Rd1+ 43. Kh2 Qf4+ 44.
g3 Qxf2+ 45. Kh3 Bg7 46. Qc8+ {1-0 Borngaesser,R-Gelzenleichter,S/Dortmund op
1987/}) 15. Ncd5 Bxd5 16. exd5 (16. Nxd5 $5 Nxd5 17. exd5 Qd4 (17… Rc7 18.
Qf3 Ke7 19. Qe3 h5 20. a4 Bh6 21. Qa7 Bd2 22. Rab1 Qd4 23. Qxd4 exd4 24. Rb3
Ba5 25. Rfb1 b6 26. Rd1 Rc5 27. Bxa6 Rxd5 28. Bc4 Re5 29. Rxd4 Re1+ 30. Bf1 Rc8
31. c4 Ra1 32. g3 Rc5 33. Rd5 Rxd5 34. cxd5 Rxa4 35. Re3+ Kf8 36. h4 Rd4 37.
Rd3 Rxd3 38. Bxd3 Kg7 39. f3 Be1 40. Kg2 Kh6 41. Kh3 {1/2-1/2 Dickl,E-Kammer,R/
Saarlouis op 1999/}) 18. Qf3 (18. c4 Bh6 19. Re1 Ke7 20. Re4 Qc3 21. Rb1 Rc7
22. Qf3 Bf4 23. Re2 h5 24. Rc2 Qd4 25. c5 Rxc5 26. Rxb7+ Kf8 27. Rxc5 Qxc5 28.
g3 Bg5 29. h4 Kg7 30. hxg5 Qc1+ 31. Kg2 Qxg5 32. Qf5 {1-0 Grabics,M-Gosztola,I/
HUN 1998/}) 18… Bg7 (18… Ke7 19. Rab1 Rc7 20. Rb3 Bh6 21. Rfb1 b5 22. Rb4
Qc5 23. a4 Bd2 24. Rh4 Bg5 25. Rg4 h5 26. Re4 Qxd5 27. axb5 axb5 28. h4 Bd2 29.
Rxb5 Qa8 30. Qe2 Bc3 31. Rc4 Rhc8 32. Rxc7+ Rxc7 33. Be4 Qa1+ 34. Kh2 Qe1 35.
Qxe1 Bxe1 36. Kg1 Rc4 37. Bf5 Rf4 38. Bh3 Bxf2+ 39. Kh2 Rxh4 40. g3 Rc4 41.
Rb7+ Kf8 42. Bf5 Rc3 43. Rb3 Bxg3+ 44. Kh3 Rxb3 45. cxb3 Be1 46. b4 Bxb4 47.
Kh4 d5 48. Kxh5 Ke7 49. Kg4 Kd6 50. Kf3 {0-1 Bely,M-Brinck Claussen,B/Hastings
ENG 1963/}) (18… h5 19. Rab1 b5 20. a4 Qg4 21. Qxg4 hxg4 22. axb5 axb5 23.
Rxb5 Rh5 24. Rb7 Be7 25. Ra1 e4 26. Bxe4 Re5 27. f3 f5 28. Bd3 gxf3 29. gxf3
Rxd5 30. Raa7 Re5 31. f4 Re1+ 32. Kf2 Bh4+ 33. Kg2 Re7 34. Bxf5 Rxb7 35. Rxb7
Rc4 36. Kf3 Be1 37. Bd3 Rb4 38. Ra7 Bd2 39. f5 Bc3 40. Be4 Be5 41. h4 Rb1 42.
h5 Rf1+ 43. Ke2 Rf4 44. Bc6+ Kf8 45. h6 Kg8 46. Bd5 Kh7 47. Rxf7+ Kxh6 48. c4
Kg5 49. Be6 Bd4 {1/2-1/2 Lakos,N-Horvath,S/HUN 1997/}) 19. a4 h5 20. Rfd1 Qc5
21. Rab1 Rc7 22. Rb3 Qa5 23. Qe4 Ke7 24. Rdb1 Rb8 25. Rb6 Qd2 26. g3 a5 27. h4
Bf8 28. Qf5 Qh6 29. R1b5 Qg6 30. Qxg6 fxg6 31. Bxg6 Bh6 32. Rxa5 Rg8 33. Bxh5
Rxg3+ 34. fxg3 Be3+ 35. Kg2 Bxb6 36. Rb5 Bc5 37. Bg6 b6 38. a5 bxa5 39. Rxa5
Kf8 40. Kf3 Kg7 41. Bd3 Rb7 42. Ra8 Rb1 43. Rd8 Ra1 44. Kg4 Ra7 45. Kf5 Re7 46.
Be4 {1-0 Lang,J-Wohlleben,M/corr 1998/}) (16. Rb1 Qd4 17. Nxd5 Nxd5 18. exd5
Rc7 19. Re1 Ke7 20. c4 Bh6 21. Qf3 b6 22. Re4 Qc5 23. Qh5 Bd2 24. Rg4 Be3 25.
Kh1 Qa3 26. Qf5 h5 27. Re4 Bc5 28. f4 Rh6 29. Ree1 Rg6 30. Rf1 Bd4 31. fxe5
dxe5 32. Rbd1 Qxa2 33. Qf3 Rh6 34. Rde1 Qd2 35. Bb1 Rxc4 36. d6+ Kxd6 37. Qb7
b5 38. Bf5 Qc3 39. Qxf7 Kc6 40. Qf8 Qd2 41. Rb1 h4 42. Qc8+ {1-0 Tsenkov,
L-Veloso Fargnoli,R/corr IECG 2006/}) 16… Qd4 (16… Rc7 17. a4 Qd4 18. Qf3
Qf4 19. Qe2 f5 20. g3 Rg8 21. Rfb1 Qg5 22. Bxa6 f4 23. Rxb7 Rxb7 24. Bxb7 Bh6
25. Nf1 Nf5 26. c3 Qh4 27. Rb1 Qh3 28. Bc6+ Ke7 29. Rb7+ Kf6 30. Bd7 Rg5 31.
Qe4 fxg3 32. hxg3 Rh5 33. a5 Bf4 34. Qg2 Qg4 35. gxf4 Qxf4 36. Bxf5 Rxf5 37.
Ng3 Rg5 38. Rb4 Qc1+ 39. Kh2 Kg7 40. Qf3 Kg6 41. Rg4 h6 42. a6 {1-0 Mainka,
R-Kammer,R/Saarlouis op 1998/}) 17. Rb1 $5 {[#] This seems to be much more
dangerous for Black} ({than the immediate} 17. Qf3 Qf4 18. Qh3 e4 (18… Qh6 $5
19. Qg4 Qf4 20. Qxf4 exf4 21. Nf5 Nxf5 22. Bxf5 Rc7 23. Rfe1+ $14) (18… Bg7
$5 19. Rab1 b5 20. a4 e4 {[%cal Gf6f5]} 21. Rb4 $1 $14 {Myers}) 19. g3 Qf3 20.
Nc4 exd3 21. Nxd6+ Kd8 22. Nxf7+ Ke8 23. Nd6+ Kd8 24. Nf7+ Ke8 25. Nxh8 Qf5 26.
g4 Qxd5 27. cxd3 Bg7 28. Qxh7 Kd7 29. Rfe1 Rg8 30. Rab1 b5 31. Ng6 Nc6 32. Nf4
Qf7 33. Qf5+ Kc7 34. Rbc1 Bf8 35. Rxc6+ Kxc6 36. Re6+ Kb7 37. Qd5+ Ka7 38.
Rxa6+ Kxa6 39. Qxf7 Rxg4+ 40. Kf1 Rxf4 41. Qxf8 {1-0 Lombardy,W-Markland,P/
Nice FRA 1974/}) (17. Qh5 $5 Rc7 (17… Nxd5 18. Qf3 Rc5 19. Rab1 b5 20. Nxd5
Qxd5 21. Qxd5 Rxd5 22. a4 bxa4 23. Rb8+ Ke7 24. Rb7+ Ke8 25. Rb8+ Ke7 26. Rb7+
Ke8 27. Rb8+ Kd7 28. Rfb1 Rd4 29. R1b7+ Kc6 30. Rxf7 a3 31. Ra8 Ra4 32. Rfa7 d5
33. Bxa6 Kc5 34. Rd7 a2 35. Rxd5+ Kb6 {0-1 Guzek,H-Roelens,R/corr 1995/}) (
17… Rg8 18. Rab1 Rc7 19. Rfd1 Qf4 20. g3 Qh6 21. Qe2 Qh3 22. Rb4 Qd7 23. Qf3
Bh6 24. Nf5 Bf8 25. Nxe7 Kxe7 26. Bf5 Qd8 27. Rdb1 Qa8 28. a4 Bh6 29. Qb3 Bd2
30. Rxb7 Ba5 31. Rxc7+ Bxc7 32. Qb7 Qb8 33. Rb3 Rd8 34. Qc6 {1-0 Brzeski,
M-Roszkowski,R/Grodzisk Mazowiecki POL 2007/}) 18. Rfd1 Qf4 19. g3 Qg5 20. Qf3
f5 (20… Qh6 21. Ng4 Qg5 22. Nxf6+ Kd8 23. Nxh7 Qh6 24. Qxf7 Bg7 25. Qe6 Ng8
26. Bg6 Nf6 27. Nxf6 {1-0 Roberts,A-Adair,D/corr 1993/}) 21. Nxf5 Nxf5 22. Bxf5
Bg7 23. Rab1 Qf6 (23… O-O 24. Rb6 Qe7 25. Rdb1 Re8 26. R1b4 h6 27. Bd3 Rd8
28. Qf5 Kf8 29. h4 Rdd7 30. Qh7 a5 31. Ra4 Rc5 32. Rg4 Qf6 33. Bf5 Rdc7 34.
Rxd6 {1-0 Nemeth,A-Hogye,I/corr 1990/}) 24. Kg2 b5 25. Rb4 O-O 26. a4 Rc5 27.
axb5 Rxb5 28. Rxb5 axb5 29. Rb1 Rb8 30. Rb4 Qd8 31. Bd3 h6 32. h4 Ra8 33. Rxb5
Rb8 34. c4 Qc7 35. Qe4 Kf8 36. Qe3 Ke7 37. Be4 Rxb5 38. cxb5 Qc4 39. b6 Qb4 40.
Kh2 Kd8 41. Kh3 Bf8 42. Kg4 Qd4 43. Kf5 Qa4 44. Kg4 f5+ 45. Kxf5 Qd7+ {1/2-1/2
Popovic,P-Matulovic,M/Vinkovci 1982/}) 17… Rc7 $1 ({The natural} 17… b5 {
would be countered by} 18. a4 $1 {(Botterill) breaking up the black queenside.}
Bh6 ({If then} 18… Qxa4 19. Ra1 {followed by Rxa6}) 19. Qf3 Qf4 20. Qh3 $16)
18. Qf3 (18. g3 Bh6 19. Qf3 Bxe3 20. fxe3 Qxd5 21. Qxf6 O-O 22. Rb4 e4 23. Bxe4
Qh5 24. Rxb7 Rxb7 25. Bxb7 Ng6 26. Qxd6 Qg5 27. Qd4 Rd8 28. Qe4 a5 29. c4 Kg7
30. Bd5 Rd7 31. Rf5 Qd8 32. Qd4+ f6 33. g4 h6 34. g5 hxg5 35. Rxg5 Rd6 36. Rg3
Qb8 37. Qe4 f5 38. Qxf5 Rf6 39. Qd3 Qb2 40. Rf3 Rxf3 41. Bxf3 Qa1+ 42. Qd1 Qxa2
43. Qd4+ Kh6 44. c5 a4 45. c6 a3 46. Be4 Qe6 47. Bd5 Qf5 48. e4 Qg4+ 49. Kf1
Qf3+ 50. Ke1 Qh1+ 51. Kd2 Qxh2+ 52. Kc1 a2 53. Qa1 Ne5 54. Qxa2 {1/2-1/2
Arnason,A-Jonasson,B/Reykjavik ISL 1984/}) (18. a3 Bh6 19. Rb4 Qc3 20. Rc4 Rxc4
21. Nxc4 Nc8 22. Qh5 b5 23. Qxh6 bxc4 24. Qxf6 Rf8 25. Bf5 Ne7 26. Rb1 Nxf5 27.
Qxf5 Kd8 28. Qf6+ Kd7 29. h4 Qxc2 30. Rb7+ Kc8 31. Qe7 Qc1+ {1/2-1/2 Roux,
O-Rouzaud,P/Montigny Le Bretonneux 2004/}) 18… Qf4 (18… Bg7 $1 19. Rb3 O-O
20. Nf5 Qf4 21. Qxf4 exf4 22. Nxd6 Rd8 23. Rxb7 Nxd5 24. Rxc7 Nxc7 25. Ne4 Nd5
26. Rb1 f5 27. Ng5 h6 28. Nh3 Nc3 29. Rb6 Nxa2 30. Nxf4 Nc1 31. Rxa6 Be5 32. g3
Bxf4 33. gxf4 Nxd3 34. cxd3 Kg7 35. Ra3 Rd4 36. Rc3 Rxf4 37. Rc4 Rg4+ 38. Rxg4+
fxg4 39. Kg2 Kf6 40. Kg3 Kg5 {1/2-1/2 Achilles,E-Schuster,P/corr 1996/}) (18…
f5 19. Nxf5 Nxf5 20. Bxf5 Bg7 21. Be4 b5 22. Qg4 Bf6 23. Qf5 Rg8 24. a4 b4 25.
Rfd1 Qc4 26. c3 Ke7 27. cxb4 Rb8 28. Bd3 Qa2 29. Ra1 Qb3 30. Bxa6 Rxb4 31. Rac1
Rc3 32. Bb5 {1/2-1/2 Geenen,M-Prasad,D/Novi Sad 1990/} Bh4) 19. Qe2 (19. Qxf4
exf4 20. Nc4 (20. Nf5 Nxd5 21. Be4 Nc3 22. Rxb7 Rxb7 23. Bxb7 a5 24. Bc6+ Kd8
25. Re1 Kc7 26. Be8 d5 27. Bxf7 Bc5 28. Ng7 Rb8 29. Ne8+ Kd8 30. Nxf6 Rb2 31.
Nxd5 Rxc2 32. Rf1 Ne2+ 33. Kh1 Bxf2 34. Rd1 Kc8 35. a4 Kb7 36. Bh5 Nc3 37. Nxc3
Rxc3 38. Bf3+ Kc7 39. Rf1 h6 40. Be2 Be3 41. g3 fxg3 {0-1 Jung,T-Mueller,B/
corr GER 1998/}) 20… Nxd5 21. Na5 Nc3 22. Rb6 Be7 23. Nxb7 O-O 24. Nxd6 Bxd6
25. Rxd6 Nxa2 26. Rxa6 Nb4 27. Rxf6 Nxd3 28. cxd3 Rd8 29. Rxf4 Rxd3 30. g3 Rd2
31. Ra1 Rd6 32. Kg2 Kg7 33. Ra8 h6 34. h4 Rb7 35. Rf5 Rc6 36. Rf4 Rd6 37. h5
Rd5 38. g4 f5 39. gxf5 Rf7 40. f6+ Kh7 41. Rh4 Rxf6 42. Ra7+ Kh8 43. f4 Rff5
44. Kf3 Rxh5 {1/2-1/2 De Groot,K-Noire,E/corr IECG 2003/}) 19… e4 $2 $146 {
[#]} (19… Nc8 20. c3 e4 21. Nd1 f5 22. f3 Qe5 23. fxe4 fxe4 24. Bxe4 Bg7 25.
Rf5 Qe7 26. Qg4 Be5 27. Bd3 h5 28. Qe4 Bg7 29. Qf3 Kd8 30. c4 Qe1+ 31. Bf1 Re7
32. Qd3 Qa5 33. Qc2 Bd4+ 34. Kh1 Rhe8 35. Nf2 Re1 36. Nd3 R8e2 37. Qb3 Rxb1 38.
Qxb1 Qxa2 39. Qxb7 Re7 40. Qb4 Qa1 41. c5 a5 42. Qb5 h4 43. Nf4 Bf6 44. cxd6
Nxd6 45. Qb8+ Nc8 {1/2-1/2 Bussmeyer,H-Zeltwanger,A/corr 1998/}) (19… Bh6 20.
Nc4 Nc8 21. Rb4 Qg5 22. Ne3 f5 23. Nxf5 Qd2 24. Nxd6+ Nxd6 25. Qxe5+ Kd7 26.
Rb6 Ne8 27. Qxh8 Be3 28. Bf5+ {1-0 Ghinda,M-Tseitlin,M/Pernik 1978/}) (19…
Bg7 $5) (19… Rg8 $5) (19… f5 $5) 20. Bxa6 $1 bxa6 21. Rb8+ $1 (21. Qxa6 $1
f5 22. Rb8+ Nc8 23. Rxc8+ Rxc8 24. Qxc8+ $18) 21… Nc8 {Botterill: It is easy
to see that the piece sacrifice is amply justified by the fact that Black’s
king’s rook and king’s bishop canot communicate with the other side of the
board.} (21… Rc8 22. Rxc8+ Nxc8 23. Qxa6 Kd8 24. Rb1 $18) 22. Qxa6 Kd8 23.
Rfb1 Qe5 {[%cal Ye5c3]} 24. Rxc8+ $1 Rxc8 25. Qa5+ Ke8 (25… Rc7 26. Rb8+ Kd7
27. Qb5+ Rc6 28. Qxc6+ Ke7 29. Qe8#) 26. Qa4+ Kd8 27. Rb7 (27. Rb7 Qe7 {
leading to a disastrous endgame.} ({If} 27… Rc7 28. Rb8+ Rc8 29. Qa5+ Kd7 30.
Rb7+ {and mates shortly.} Ke8 31. Qa4+ Kd8 32. Qd7#) (27… Qa1+ 28. Nf1 Rc7
29. Rb8+ Rc8 30. Qa5+ Kd7 31. Rb7+ Ke8 32. Qa4+ Kd8 33. Qd7#) 28. Rxe7 {
Botterill} Bxe7 29. Qxe4 Rb8 30. f3 Rb5 31. Nf5 Rb1+ 32. Kf2 Re8 33. Qa4 h6 34.
Qa5+ Kc8 35. Qa8+ Kd7 36. Qa7+ Kd8 37. Ng7 Rf8 38. Ne6+ fxe6 39. dxe6 Kc8 40.
Qxe7 $18 {Myers}) 1-0
[/pgn]

Penrose was awarded the O.B.E. for his services to chess in 1971.”

Penrose was Southern Counties Champion for 1949-50.

In 1983 Jonathan became England’s fifth Correspondence Grandmaster (CGM) following Keith Richardson, Adrian Hollis, Peter Clarke and Simon Webb.

Sadly, there is no existent book on the life and games of Jonathan Penrose : a serious omission in chess literature.