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DTSTART:20200101T000000
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210108
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210109
DTSTAMP:20220108T100057Z
CREATED:20191230T114046Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220108T100057Z
UID:2642-1610064000-1610150399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Keith Arkell (08-i-1961)
DESCRIPTION:We send birthday wishes to GM Keith Arkell\, born this day (January 8th) in 1961. \nKeith Arkell\nHere is Keith’s Wikipedia entry \nGM Keith Arkell (ENG)\nThis was written about Keith aged 18 prior to the 1979 Spassky vs the BCF Junior Squad simultaneous display : \n“Rednal\, Birmingham. Rating 188. 2nd Lloyds Bank junior international\, 1979.” \nKeith was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 2014-15 season sharing with Jonathan Hawkins \nHere is an interview with ChessBase from 2016. \nGM Keith Arkell\n\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nArkell’s Odyssey\nArkell’s Endings\, Keith Arkell\, GingerGM\, 2020\, ISBN-10 : 1527265595\nBCN has reviewed Arkell’s Endings in depth \n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-keith-charles-arkell-08-i-1961/
CATEGORIES:4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/jua6332_lv.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210109
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210110
DTSTAMP:20220108T163914Z
CREATED:20210919T133057Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220108T163914Z
UID:18870-1610150400-1610236799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Shreyas Royal (09-i-2009)
DESCRIPTION:BCN sends birthday wishes to FM Shreyas (known as “Shrey” by his friends) Royal born on Friday\, January 9th\, 2009. “Hallelujah” by Alexandra Burke was number one in the UK hit parade. \nShreyas attended The Pointer School in Blackheath\, London\, SE3 whose motto is “The Lord is my Shepherd”. \nIn October 2021 BCN secured an interview with Shreyas via his father Jitendra and below is mostly from that interview: \nBCN: What caused his initial interest in chess and at what age? \nHis initial interest in chess was capturing or as he used to call it ‘eating’ pieces but as he grew more mature\, he loved that there were so many possibilities in chess\, so much still left to explore! At the Age of 6 he learnt and got an interest in chess. \nBCN: Has Shreyas had any chess teachers or coaches? \n\n\nJyothi Lal N. with a peak of 2250 FIDE but is very knowledgeable and helped from just above beginner to 1800. He was Shreyas’s first coach.\nMeszaros Gyula (Julian) who was an IM with a peak of 2465 FIDE and was an endgame master which helped him from 1800-2100.\nHis Current Coach is GM John Emms with a peak of around 2600 FIDE\, he is an expert in many fields such as Positional Play\, Openings\, Strategic chess etc and has also made a big impact on how to prepare against opponents. He had helped him from 2100-2300 so far in just under a year!\n\n\nBCN: Which chess clubs and/ or Teams does Shreyas represent? \nHe represents SV Erkenschwick from Germany and Wasa SK from Sweden for online events as he has joined them during the pandemic. He started his 4NCL career with KJCA Kings in January 2019 but now mainly represents Wood Green which he has played for in online events in and will also represent them in the upcoming 4NCL weekends. \nHis first appearance in Megabase 2022 comes from the 2015 British Under-8 Championship in Coventry\, the eventual winner being Dhruv Radhakrishnan. \nProgress from those early days has only been interrupted by school examination breaks and the Covid pandemic: \nFIDE Rating progress chart for FM Shreyas Royal\nIn August 2016 in Bournemouth Shreyas scored an impressive 6/6 to win the British Under-8 Championship. \nShreyas Royal at the 2016 UKCC Delancey Terafinal in Loughborough courtesy of John Upham Photography\nBCN: What was his first memorable tournament success? \nThis was the 2016 European Schools Under-7 championship where he was runner-up without any preparation or work on chess! \nShreyas Royal at the 2016 UKCC Delancey Southern Gigafinal in Reading courtesy of John Upham Photography\nIn 2021 Shreyas was awarded the FM title by FIDE: \nFIDE FM Certificate for Shreyas Royal\nBCN: Which chess players past & present are inspirational for him? \n\n\nMagnus Carlsen\, world champion and broke many FIDE records also is an inspiration for most of this generation. He likes his slow grinding and almost winning from any opening or ending. This is his favourite player of all time.\nGarry Kasparov played brilliant attacking chess and calculated like a machine.\nBobby Fischer played a similar style to Kasparov but was more talented than both Magnus and Kasparov in his opinion as he worked all by himself at a time in the USA when chess was not so popular while for the Russians\, they had brilliant coaches and had one good player after the other. He rates him a bit lower because Fischer quit competitive chess a bit too early and could not reach the heights he was worthy of.\nAlireza Firouzja\nFabiano Caruana\n\n\nBCN: What are his favourite openings with the White pieces? \nHe plays 1.d4 pretty much all the time. \nMegaBase 2020 has 294 games with 1.d4 and one solitary 1.g3 from March 2021. The 1.d4 games feature main line Queen’s Gambit / Catalan type positions championing 5.Nge2 against the King’s Indian Defence and the exchange variation against the Grunfeld. \nBCN: and what are his preferred defences as the second player? \nReally depends on what they play\, against every opening he has got one or two lines which he enjoys equally. \nMegabase 2022 informs us that Shreyas defends the main line Closed Variation of the Ruy Lopez and main line Giuoco Piano. Previously he essayed the Sicilian Najdorf. \nBCN: Does he have any favourite chess books? \nNot really as he is not such a big fan of chess books\, but he likes My 60 Memorable Games by Bobby Fischer. Fundamental Chess Endings and Encyclopedia of Chess Combinations. \nBCN: Which tournaments are planned for 2022? \nWe have pencilled in a couple of norm and Open (France\, Spain\, Germany etc.) tournaments in European countries. \nBCN: What are his favourite subjects outside of chess? \nHis favourite subjects outside chess are Science\, History\, Maths with Science as his favourite\, History as his second favourite and Maths as his third favourite. \nBCN: Does Shreyas play any physical sports? \nHe does Football\, Cricket and a bit of Lawn Tennis. \nBCN: What are his plans and aspirations for the future? \nTo become a world chess champion one day\, but it’s very expensive to even get to the level of IM! Currently we are looking for sponsors who can help support Shreyas to get there. \nHere is his personal website. \nIn late December 2021 Camberley Chess Club had Shreyas as their weekly Zoom meeting guest speaker. \nand finally three of SRs favourite games: \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nand from more recent times: \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nand finally: \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFM Shreyas Royal at the London Chess Classic\, 2021 courtesy of John Upham Photography\n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-shreyas-royal-09-i-2009/
CATEGORIES:4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Junior
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210115
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210116
DTSTAMP:20230109T222958Z
CREATED:20200409T181200Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230109T222958Z
UID:4293-1610668800-1610755199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Andrew Horton (15-i-1998)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday of IM Andrew P Horton (15-i-1998) \nAndrew became a FIDE Master in 2015 and an International Master in 2018. \n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-andrew-p-horton-15-i-1998/
CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210118
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210119
DTSTAMP:20230118T102641Z
CREATED:20200409T133012Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230118T102641Z
UID:4258-1610928000-1611014399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Paul Littlewood (18-i-1956)
DESCRIPTION:BCN wishes Happy Birthday to Paul Littlewood \nPaul Edwin Littlewood was born on Wednesday\, January 18th\, 1956 in Skegness\, East Lindsey\, Lincolnshire. His parents were John and Jean Littlewood (née) Hadwick. Paul’s chess playing uncle was Norman Littlewood. \nJohn and Paul on Skegness beach circa 1958. Kindly supplied by Paul Littlewood. George and Ringo are out of shot !\nJohn\, Jenny and Paul Littlewood\, circa 1962. Kindly supplied by Paul Littlewood.\nPaul attended Glenburn Comprehensive School in Skelmersdale from 1967 and then read Natural Sciences at Christ’s College\, Cambridge from 1974. \nPaul played badminton for Lancashire and Cambridge and\, in 1971\, won the English Schools Mixed Championship when he was 15 years old. \nPaul and family receive a chess lesson from John following John’s win in the 1972 Southport Open\nOn leaving University Paul taught science at Southbrook Comprehensive\, Daventry. Four years later Paul became a dealer at Phillips & Drew and followed this as an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs. Stays at Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan were followed by a change of direction and since then Paul has been director of various food supply companies retiring in 2014. \nPaul is married (3rd November 2006) to (his second wife) Fiona and lives in St. Albans\, Hertfordshire. \nPEL won the ECF President’s Award in 2007 and from the 2008 ECF Yearbook we have the following citation : \n“International Master and accomplished bridge player. From British Chess champion (1981) Paul has presided over the 4NCL as chairman during its most successful period. When he became chairman over ten years ago the league consisted of two divisions and 32 teams. The league has now expanded to four divisions and a total of 72 teams. Most of England’s juniors play 4NCL. During this time 4NCL became one of the strongest leagues in Europe\, at one time boasting a Division 1 rivalling the Bundesliga in strength in the top matches. \nPaul has demonstrated the sound judgement of Solomon when dealing with league disputes and has drawn on his business acumen\, honed during a successful career in the City with Goldman Sachs to make 4NCL the financially stable and expanding league it is today.” \nRoll of Honour \n\nBritish U18 Champion 1972\nBritish U21 Champion 1975\nBritish Champion 1981\nAs a junior represented England in Glorney Cup\nInternational Master 1980\n\nFrom British Chess (Pergamon Press\, 1983) by Botterill\, Levy. Rice and Richardson we have this article from Richard W. O’Brien : \n“Paul Littlewood was destined to become a strong player from birth. His father John was for some time one of the strongest players in the country and represented England on many occasions. His uncle Norman was for a few years not far behind. Paul\, however\, has surpassed them both and has become the first in the family to reach IM status. (Ed: JEL was very much worthy of the IM title but insufficient events of the right type held him back). \nA. Howard Williams\, Martyn J. Corden\, Paul E. Littlewood and A. Jonathan Mestel\nAll three are essentially attacking players. There have been times in recent years when play at the Hastings Premier has become dull. However\, Paul one of the English representatives at the last three tournaments\, was certainly not to blame. (His game against Brito of Brazil which follows is a striking example of this).” \nCoached by his father\, Paul became British U18 champion in 1972 and three years later became British U21 champion. \nClearly more interested in an academic career he went up to Cambridge and then followed his father into the teaching profession. Opportunities to play in strong tournaments were thus very limited. These opportunities\, however\, were grasped in both hands. Three times in thirteen months between August 1978 and August 1979 he obtained an IM norm and thus the title. \nPartial crosstable for the Lloyds Bank Open\, 1978\nThe first caused a sensation as it was totally unexpected. He shared first place at Lloyds Bank ahead of several grandmasters including Shamkovich\, who was the first grandmaster he ever defeated. \nLeonid Shamkovich plays Paul Littlewood during the 1978 Lloyds Bank Masters. Paul won the game.\nEight months later Aaronson Masters was won and then came the final norm\, also at Lloyds Bank. \nTournaments abroad were limited although he represented England students. He did play at Kringsja (2nd equal) in 1978 and Borovo where he scored 6.5.13 finishing ahead of 3 GMs. \nIn 1981 came his finest achievement – winning the British Championship with a massive 9/11. \nPartial crosstable from the 1981 British Championship in Morecambe\nHis father who was also competing in the championship was as proud as could be and deservedly so (he also coached Sheila Jackson who retained her British Ladies Championship that year). His excellent all round play took him to the title and only once during the tournament did he stand worse. His endgame play was so good that CHESS even published an article solely on these endings. \nPaul Littlewood and friends during the 1978 Lloyds Bank Masters\nDuties at school in Daventry meant he was\, in February 1982\, unable to take part in the zonal at Marbella. This followed an excellent Hastings when as British Champion he made a plus score – a rare event indeed. \nIM Paul Littlewood during filming for the “Trick of the Mind” series from Derren Brown\nIn the summer he gave up teaching and joined Phillips & Drew (stockbrokers). He now (ed : this was in 1983) lives with his (first) wife Sue and family in the wilds of Essex (Billericay). \nIM Paul Littlewood\, event and photographer unknown\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nPaul gives a simultaneous display in Letchworth. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nChess Tactics\, Paul Littlewood\, Crowood Chess Library\, 1991\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-paul-edwin-littlewood-18-i-1956/
CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210122
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210123
DTSTAMP:20220122T105352Z
CREATED:20200122T110126Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220122T105352Z
UID:2975-1611273600-1611359999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Richard Pert (22-i-1981)
DESCRIPTION:Happy Birthday IM Richard Pert (22-i-1981) \nIM Richard Pert\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nNick and Richard Pert\nNick and Richard Pert\n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-richard-pert-22-i-1981/
CATEGORIES:4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/JB4_9063-scaled.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210122
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210123
DTSTAMP:20230120T152026Z
CREATED:20200122T110505Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230120T152026Z
UID:2981-1611273600-1611359999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Nick Pert (22-i-1981)
DESCRIPTION:We send birthday wishes to GM Nick Pert born this day (January 22nd) in 1981. \nJeremy Morse\, Adam Hunt\, Nick Pert and Nigel Short at the Lloyds Bank Masters\nNick won the Southern Counties (SCCU) championship for the 2016-17 season sharing with Richard Bates. \nNick and Richard Pert\nHere is Nick’s Wikipedia entry \nNick and Richard Pert\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nGM Nick Pert\nGM Nick Pert\n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-nick-pert-22-i-1981/
CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Writer
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/bct_4326_lv.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210123
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210124
DTSTAMP:20230121T131743Z
CREATED:20200122T210240Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230121T131743Z
UID:2990-1611360000-1611446399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Adam Taylor (23-i-1998)
DESCRIPTION:We send best wishes to IM Adam Taylor on his birthday. \nAdam Christopher Taylor was born on Friday\, January 23rd\, 1998 in Colchester\, Essex. Adam has a sister\, Nathalie Leanne Taylor who also plays and studied History & Economics at The University of York. His mother Deborah was always supportive during his chess career. \nHe attended The Gilberd School\, Colchester until 2014 and then Colchester Sixth Form College and currently resides in Colchester\, Essex. \nECF grading profile for IM Adam C Taylor\nAdam’s first recorded rapidplay event was the Basildon Junior Congress resulting in a published grade of 34D and his first graded standard play event was the 2009 London Junior Under-12 Championships and his first published standard-play grading was 73E. \nIn that same year at Torquay Adam won the British Under-12 title sharing with Radha Jain. \nAdam C Taylor at the 2013 UK Chess Challenge Terafinal. Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nAdam made his first 4NCL appearance in May 2012 for SC Stars followed by Anglian Avengers. In 2018 the lure of the big lights of Division One beckoned and Wood Green became Adam’s team now playing for Wood Green Monarchs in the Online 4NCL championship. \nIn 2017 Adam scored an impressive 6/9 (and =2nd) when he travelled to Greece to play in the Heraklion 1st Capablanca Memorial. \nThe Hastings Open in 2018 saw an excellent =7th with 6.5/10. \nAdam’s IM title was ratified in June of 2019 in Baku and currently (January 2021) holds a FIDE standard play rating of 2347 and an ECF standard play rating of 2260A. His highest ECF standard play grading was 230A in July 2019. We expect this to be exceeded once OTB play resumes. \nBattersea Chess Club celebrated Adams’s title in style with this article written by Leon Watson \nFIDE rating profile for IM Adam C Taylor from MegaBase 2020.\nAdam has played for Bury St. Edmunds and Manningtree and now Battersea in the London League and Wood Green in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) and has made many appearances in the UKCC Terafinal. \nAdam is known as Tayip99 on chess.com and as AdamTaylor2301 on LiChess.com and regularly streams on Twitch and other platforms. \nAdam C Taylor\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nOn the 13th of September 2019 Adam became the sole director of MakingGrandmasters Limited which lists on its web site a number of leading young English players engaging in coaching such as Matthew Wadsworth\, Ravi Haria and Daniel Fernandez to name but a few. \nOne of Adam’s more notable students is Guildford Chess Club member Jessica Mellor who\, in 2018\, won Gold in the Under-11 category of the European Schools Championship. \nMore recently Adam has taken a back seat from chess and has become a golf professional. \nWith the white pieces Adam favours a Reti/English set-up where c4 quickly follows a king side fianchetto. Here is a typical game of Adam’s with the white against a strong opponent : \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nWith the black pieces Adam essays the Berlin Defence and the Sicilian Najdorf as well as the Benko Gambit and Nimzo-Indian Defence. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nIM Adam C Taylor\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography\n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-adam-c-taylor-23-i-1998/
CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Coach,Player
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210127
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210128
DTSTAMP:20230126T231702Z
CREATED:20191117T173215Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230126T231702Z
UID:2089-1611705600-1611791999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Richard Bates (27-i-1979)
DESCRIPTION:Best Birthday wishes to IM Richard Adam Bates born on this day (January 27th) in 1979. \nRichard has won the Southern Counties (SCCU) championship in the 2015-16\, 2016-17 (with Nick Pert) and 2017-18 seasons. \nIM Richard Adam Bates\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nRichard Bates\nIM Richard Bates\nSheen Mount Under Eleven Chess Champion Richard Bates and Robin Laisby enjoying a game during time out from the Teachers Assurance National Primary Schools Chess Championships. Malaysian Elephant Leyang Leyang and her keeper Duncan McGinnie help them not to forget their chess moves.\n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-richard-alan-bates-27-i-1979/
CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player
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