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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201116
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201117
DTSTAMP:20201116T143818Z
CREATED:20190823T184126Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201116T143818Z
UID:1108-1605484800-1605571199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Edward Sergeant OBE (3-xii-1881 16-xi-1961)
DESCRIPTION:We remember Edward Sergeant OBE (3-xii-1881 16-xi-1961) \nEdward Guthlac Sergeant was born on Saturday\, December 3rd 1881 : in the same year British Chess Magazine was founded by John Watkinson. \nHe was born in Crowland\, South Holland\, Lincolnshire. The registration district was Peterborough and the inferred county was Northamptonshire. His father was William R Sergeant (aged 27) and his mother was Frances E Sergeant (aged 25). He had a sister\, Hilda who was one year older. William was a registered general medical practitioner. \nHe was named Guthlac after a monk who “came to what was then an island in the Fens to live the life of a hermit.” \nSignature of EG Sergeant from a Brian Reilly “after dinner” postcard from Margate 1936.\nAccording to the 1891 census EGS was aged 9 and living with his father\, mother\, sister and their domestic servant Margaret A George who was their general domestic servant who hailed from Scotland. They lived at 2\, Gladstone Terrace\, Gateshead\, NE8 4DY. This was in the Ecclesiastical parish of Christchurch. \n2\, Gladstone Terrace\, Gateshead\, NE8 4DY\nIn the 1911 census aged 29 as nephew to the head of the household (5 St Peters Terrace\, Cambridge) EGS is listed as a solicitor who is single. The size of the household in 1911 was relatively modest at 12. He was living with George Edward Wherry (59\, surgeon university professor) and his wife Albinia Lucy Wherry (53). Albinia Lucy Wherry was a nurse and also writer. During WWI she was stationed in Paris at the Gare du Nord where she supported British forces from 1915-18. the sub-registration district was St Andrew the Great. \nAccording to Edward Winter in Where did they live? in April 1916 EGS was living at 39 Chichele Road\, Cricklewood\, London NW2 3AN\, England. EGWs source for this is : Chess Amateur\, April 1916\, page 202. \n39 Chichele Road\, Cricklewood\, London NW2 3AN\n1918 was an important year for Edward when he married Dorothy Frances Carter (born 1887) in Gravesend. In the same year Dorothy and Edward had a son Richard who passed away in 2014 \nTwo years later Dorothy and Edward had a son Lewis Carter Sergeant born on January 30th 1920. The birth was registered in Paddington. Lewis lived at 3 Woodhill Court\, 175 Woodhill\, London\, SE18 5HSL and passed away in 2004 the death being registered in Greenwich. \nOn the 1920 Electoral Roll\, EGS was now living with Dorothy Frances Sergeant at St. Stephen’s Mansions\, 5\, Monmouth Road\, Edmonton. \nIn 1923 they upped sticks and moved to 27. King Edward’s Grove\, Teddington.  \nSadly Dorothy passed away in 1926 at the modest age of 39. \nCoventry Evening Telegraph 10 October 1933\nAccording to the 1939 census EGS was listed as a widowed\, civil servant living at 24\, Gloucester Road\, Kingston Upon Thames\, KT2 7DX. This would be the address that Edward saw out the rest of his life. \n24\, Gloucester Road\, Kingston Upon Thames\, KT2 7DX\nHe shared this address with Edith Carter (born 4th May 1878) who is described as being of “Private Means” and Ada M Wenman (6th August 1881) who is described as being a “domestic”. \nIn 1949 he was awarded the OBE in the Birthday Honours in recognition of his 39 years’ service in the office of the Solicitor to the Board of Inland Revenue. \nAccording to John Saunders : EGS died in the New Victoria Hospital\, New Malden\, Surrey\, on 16 November 1961. His residence at death had been 24 Gloucester Road\, Kingston Hill. Probate (26 Jan 1962) granted to Lewis Carter Sergeant\, a Lieutenant-Colonel in HM Army. Effects £6\,586. \nE.G. Sergeant in characteristic pose v. Miss Vera Menchik at Margate\, 1939\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE : \nA British master who had a long and solidly distinguished career in British chess but never quite succeeded in breaking through the barrier to international success. A civil servant by profession\, he was awarded the OBE for his services in the Inland Revenue and Sergeant on Stamp Duties was regarded as an authoritative work. \nSergeant’s earliest performance in the British Championship\, at the Crystal Palace in London 190\, was one of his best. He came =2nd with JH Blackburne. RP Mitchell and GE Wainwright with 6.5 points\, a point below the winner of the title\, HE Atkins. \nHe was 3rd at Edinburgh in 1920 and his best result in the competition came in Brighton 193\, where he came equal second with H. Golombek\, a 1/2 point below the winner\, CHO’D Alexander. \nA stalwart supporter of the City of London Chess Club\, he won its championship in two successive years\, 1916 and 1917. He played for Britain against the USA in the 1908 and 1909 cable matches and also played on a high board for London against various American cities in the Insull Trophy matches in the years 1926-31. \nAs a player he was strongly influenced by the scientific principles of Siegbert Tarrasch and did well during the period when the Tarrasch school enjoyed its heyday. But he was at a loss when confronted with more modern methods.” \nBoth Sunnucks and Hooper & Whyld are silent on EGS : surprising! \nEGS was a cousin of PW Sergeant. \nWe asked  Leonard Barden of his memories of EGS and he was kind enough to reply :  \n“People have different ways of expressing satisfaction with their position. Botvinnik adjusted his tie\, Kasparov put his watch back on\,  Sergeant rubbed his hands together….He liked to counter the Queen’s Gambit Declined in the classical way with a kind of Lasker Defence.” \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXXII\, March\, 1962\, Number 3\, pages 76 -80 we reproduce an obituary from Bruce Hayden entitled “E.G. Sergeant – An Appreciation” as follows : \n(note the incorrect birth location presumably based on the 1891 census information) \nEdward Guthlac Sergeant\, part one\nEdward Guthlac Sergeant\, part two\nEdward Guthlac Sergeant\, part three\nEdward Guthlac Sergeant\, part four\nEdward Guthlac Sergeant\, part five\nSergeant on Stamp Duties\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nHere is his Wikipedia entry \n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-edward-guthlac-sergeant/
CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,History,Player
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201117
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201118
DTSTAMP:20211117T160434Z
CREATED:20190822T164355Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211117T160434Z
UID:1004-1605571200-1605657599@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Gordon Crown (20-vi-1929 17-xi-1947)
DESCRIPTION:We remember Gordon Crown who died this day (November 17th) in 1947. \nGordon Thomas Crown was born on Thursday\, June 20th\, 1929 to James Crown (born 18th November 1899) and Hilda M Crown (born 3rd October 1900\, née Sharrott). \nJames was a refrigerating engineer and Hilda carried out unpaid domestic duties. The birth was registered in the district of West Derby\, Lancashire. \nGordon attended Holt Secondary School which is now known as Childwall Sports and Science Academy. \nAccording to the electoral register of 1939 they lived at 8 Ingledene Road\, Liverpool\, Liverpool C.B.\, Lancashire\, England. (This is L18 3HJ in this day and age.) \nAccording to Zoopla : “This 4 bed freehold semi-detached house is located at 8 Ingledene Road\, Liverpool L18 3HJ and has an estimated current value of £581\,000. Ingledene Road has 19 properties on it with an average current value of £492\,220\, compared to an average property value of £325\,035 for L18. There have been 5 property sales on Ingledene Road\, L18 over the last 5 years with an average house price paid of £474\,900. There are currently 108 properties for sale in L18 with an average asking price of £372\,163 and 59 properties to rent in L18 with an average asking rent of £408 pw.” \n8 Ingledene Road\, Calderstones\, Liverpool\, L18 3HJ\nLiverpool Echo 15 April 1946\nBoth Sunnucks and Hooper & Whyld are silent on GTC : surprising! \nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE : \n“Gordon Crown is one the sad might-have-beens of the world of chess. In his short life he had already shown himself to be of master strength and a potentially very great player when suddenly\, at the age of eighteen\, he died during an operation. \nHe learnt chess when aged nine and soon became one of the best players\, first in Liverpool\,\, his home town\, and then in Lancashire\, of which county he won the Junior Championship three years in succession. \nCrown first came into national prominence when he came second in the British Boys Championship in 1946. (Ed : the winner was John Fuller) In the Hastings Congress of 1946/7 he won first place in a strong Premier Reserves Section. \nThe last year of his life even saw him reaching out to international success\, Playing on board 9 for Britain against The Netherlands he scored 1.5 out of 2 against L.J. Tummers. Then he won third prize in the British Championship at Harrogate. As a result of this success he was promoted to board 4 for Britain against Australia in a radio match when he beat Dr. M. Gellis. \nHarry Golombek and Gordon Crown in around 1946-47.\nIn September 1947 he was hurried to hospital suffering from peritonitis and\, being a diabetic\, succumbed under the operation. \nAs a player he excelled in both the opening and endgame phases and possessed a style of play that stamped him as a future grandmaster. As a person he was modest\, clever and a very agreeable companion. This was great loss for British and\, almost certainly\, world chess.” \nWe have reproduced his obituary from British Chess Magazine\, Volume LXVII (1947)\, Number 12 (December)\, Page 387-8 and we assume that this was written by TJ Beach: \n“The tragic death of Gordon on November 17th  after an operation\, will be felt keenly-by chess players throughout the country. Although only l8 years of age he had risen to a high place in British chess circles. Learning the elements of the game in 1938\, he had won the Lancashire Junior Championship in three successive years\, was champion of the Liverpool Chess Club and Merseyside champion with 100 per cent scores last season\, headed his section of the Premier Tournament at the last Hastings Christmas Congress\, and\, filling the vacancy caused by the late withdrawal of R. F. Combe the 1946 champion\, took third prize in the British Championship played at Harrogate in August of this year. \nIn three international team matches he scored l.5 points on Board 9 against Tummers\, of Holland; was one of the two British players to score a full point against the visiting U.S.S.R. team\, sharing honours with Kotov in two finely played games on Board 4; and followed this with a win over Dr. Gellis\, of Victoria\, in the recent radio match with Australia\, despite the earlier loss of the exchange through an oversight. His full match record for the past twelve months in international\, county\, and club matches read: won 16\, drawn 2\, and lost l. (to Kotov). \nHis play was notable for his exceptional knowledge of opening and end-game strategy\, but his prowess was not by any means confined to “book” knowledge. Possessing deep positional insight\, real combinational ability\, and chess experience beyond his years\, his concentration\, tenacity\, and\ndetermination to win had already made him one of the most formidable match and tournament players in the country. Many of us felt that he would become a worthy British champion within the next few years\, and possibly reach even greater heights in the international sphere\, and it is\, perhaps\, not too much to say that many chess players were already looking forward to the day when Gordon Crown would lead British chess to a high place in international esteem: Now those dreams have been rudely shattered\, and the loss to British chess is great indeed. \nGordon Crown was not merely a youthful chess prodigy. Although suffering for many years from the physical disability which has now caused his premature death\, he had a distinguished record at the Holt High School\, Liverpool\, and had entered Liverpool University only a month ago to read for the degree of B.A. Unable to play football and cricket\, in which latter he was deeply interested\, he became a tennis and table-tennis player of well above average ability and was an excellent exponent of billiards and snooker. Among other interests were cycling\, and military history and strategy\, in which he had read and studied widely. \nNo study of Gordon Crown would be complete without reference to his personality quite apart from his ability. Possessed of a quiet assurance and confidence in matters pertaining to chess\, he was modest in victory\, generous in his rare defeats\, and ever ready to help small clubs by means of a lecture or simultaneous display. \nNever too busy to play the humblest novice\, he gave untold pleasure and a new interest in life to many men who had suffered during the war by introducing them to the\nfascination of chess\, and by this means helped materially in the vital task of rehabilitation. With charm and dignity Gordon Crown won a warm place in the hearts and affections of those who were fortunate enough to be counted among his friends\, and whilst our deepest sympathy goes out to his parents in their tragic loss\, they may well ae proud that their son achieved so much that was really worth while within so few years\, for we shall remember Gordon with affection long after his chess exploits are but a dim memory.-T. J. B.” \nThe following is one of the last games\, if not the last; played by Crown in competitive chess. Score and notes from “The Field” \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 here is the scan of the original article: \nObituary of Gordon Thomas Crown\, part one\nand \nObituary of Gordon Thomas Crown\, Part Two\nWe are grateful to Leonard Barden on the identity of T.J.B. : \n“Thomas John Beach\, wartime RAF navigator with Distinguished Flying Cross\, leading light of Liverpool chess\, regular British championship player for many years\, chairman of BCF junior selectors\, father of a leading Midlands expert\, a good and dedicated man” TJB was the father of Richard Beach who won the British Boys Under 18 title in 1961. \nAccording to the British Chess Magazine\, 1943\, March\, page 56 GTC lived at 8 Ingledene Road\, Calderstones\, Liverpool 18\, England. \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            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nGordon Thomas Crown\, from CHESS\, 1948\, January\, page 86\nOn 17 November 1947 he was admitted to hospital\, complaining of a stomach upset. Diagnosed too late with appendicitis\, complicated by his diabetes\, he died in the operating theatre. \nHis friend (and former British champion) Leonard Barden speculates that had he lived\, Crown would have become at least a strong Grandmaster\, further noting that he was ” … open\, friendly and modest as well as a clear and enthusiastic explainer of his chess ideas; I think he would have been like Keres or Gligoric in their countries\, a model for our young players.” \nHarry Golombek was similarly impressed with Crown’s play\, stating that “In his short life\, he had already shown himself to be of master strength and was potentially a very great player.” \nWe are grateful to be able to use comments from long time friend\, Leonard Barden posted under the nom de plume of Roberts Partner on chessgames.com : \n“As to the circumstances of Crown’s death. The finger of blame must be pointed at the family doctor for failing to make a timely correct diagnosis. On Sunday 16 November 1947 a chess friend visited the Crown home at Ingledene Road\, Liverpool\, and found Crown in bed. He explained that his doctor had diagnosed a stomach upset and had recommended rest. The friend and Crown played and analysed together for several hours\, and Crown did not appear in any physical discomfort. But that night after the friend left his condition deteriorated and he was rushed to hospital where he died in the early morning hours of 17 November. There was also a belief among some Liverpool chess players that the hospital procedures could have been better.” \nand \n“On another thread some CG posters expressed surprise at the Ritson Morry v Crown game where Morry fell into a well-known opening trap. \nThe British championship at Harrogate in August 1947 was played in a spa building where the underfloor heating was still switched on. This coincided with one of the warmest summers on record (it was the year in which Compton and Edrich made their memorable cricket achievements for Middlesex). By the second week of the BCF congress older and overweight players (the latter group including Ritson Morry) were wilting. Ritson also had some long adjourned games\, and by the time of his game with Crown in the final round was exhausted. The game finished in 15-20 minutes so by the time other players went to spectate after their opening moves there was just a reset board with no sign of the players and no indication of what had transpired. Other final round results went Crown’s way so that he finished third outright and thus got selected on a high board for the USSR match.” \nWestern Daily Press 22 September 1947\nand here is an article by ddtru (?) in chess.com : full article \nWe are grateful to renowned chess historian\, Taylor Kingston for supplying these scans of an article from Chess Life in 1947 about Gordon Crown written by Reuben Fine : \nChess Life article about Gordon Thomas Crown\, Part One\nand \nChess Life article about Gordon Thomas Crown\, Part Two\nFrom Wikipedia: \n“Gordon Thomas Crown (20 June 1929 – 17 November 1947) was a promising British chess player who died of appendicitis at the age of eighteen. He is best known for his win against the Russian Grandmaster Alexander Kotov shortly before his death. \nCrown was born in Liverpool in 1929. He finished second in the British under 18 championship in 1946 and improved rapidly\, winning the Premier Reserve section of the 1946/7 Hastings International Chess Congress. This led to his being placed on the reserve list for the 1947 British Chess Championship. Following the withdrawal of the defending champion Robert Forbes Combe\, he was allowed to play in the championship\, where he finished third (Harry Golombek won). \nConsequently\, he was selected to play for the British team in the 1947 Britain-USSR match\, where he caused a sensation by defeating the Soviet Grandmaster Alexander Kotov\, though he lost the return game. He also defeated Max Gellis in a Britain-Australia radio match.” \nInterestingly\, via the EC Forum\, Geoff Chandler pointed out a note by Edward Winter in which Bill Hartston recounts advice from David Bronstein : “Look at the games of Gordon Crown. He really understood chess”. From NOW! magazine\, (6-12 February 1981\, page 80.): thanks Geoff ! \nGordon Thomas Crown\n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-gordon-thomas-crown/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201118
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201119
DTSTAMP:20201117T182639Z
CREATED:20190823T184658Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201117T182639Z
UID:1112-1605657600-1605743999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Jim Slater (13-iii-1929 18-xi-2015)
DESCRIPTION:BCN remembers Jim Slater (13-iii-1929 18-xi-2015) \nJames Derrick Slater was born on Wednesday\, March 13th\, 1929. On the same day “Leon Trotsky gave his first interview to the foreign press in his apartment in Turkey\, saying he was writing a book tracing the history of his opposition to Joseph Stalin and expressing a desire to go to Germany because he preferred the care of German physicians.” \nHe was born in Heswall\, Cheshire (Wirral\, Merseyside was the registration district) to Hubert Slater and Jessica Alexandra Barton. \nHe arrived (aged 31) in Southampton on board the Pretoria Castle as a first class passenger whilst resident in 16\, Stafford Terrace\, Kensington and his occupation was given as Company Director. \nHe died on 18th November 2015 in Cranleigh\, Surrey aged 86. He had four children one of which is Mark Slater. \nJames Slater\, Chairman Slater Walker Securities plcDirector\, British Leyland. (Photo by Photoshot/Getty Images)\nJim wrote his chess autobiography as follows : \n(This text was retrieved using the Wayback machine via https://web.archive.org/web/20110909053137/http://www.jimslater.org.uk/views/chess/) \n“As a boy Jim Slater enjoyed playing Monopoly and draughts but his main indoor hobby was chess. He stopped playing chess after leaving school as he found it took too much time and concentration while studying for accountancy. \nIt was not until a colleague asked Jim to teach him to improve his game in the late 1960s that his interest in chess was rekindled. For a short while Jim joined a London chess club (Richard James reveals that this is West London Chess Club as mentioned in their internal magazine) but found he preferred correspondence chess which he could play much more conveniently when he returned home in the evening. Jim did quite well in his correspondence club\, going up a few grades\, until he reached a level at which it became hard work. \n\nJim had maintained a link with Leonard Barden\, who was a British Champion and a chess correspondent. With his help Jim began subsidising the annual Hastings Tournament with a view to expanding it so that leading players would have a chance to qualify as international masters. Other countries would not invite British players to play in their tournaments until they became international masters so they were in an impossible situation. The small amount of help Jim was able to give to Hastings was arranged in a very low-key way and attracted very little publicity. The World Chess Championship would prove to be a very different proposition. \nBritish accountant\, investor and business writer Jim Slater (1929 – 2015) signing documents at a desk\, UK\, 11th May 1965. (Photo by Reg Burkett/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)\nFor the previous two decades the Russians had dominated world chess and then the West produced two exceptional players – Bobby Fischer of the USA and Bent Larsen of Denmark. In particular\, Fischer had fantastic potential but he was handicapped by being extremely temperamental. \nIn the final rounds of the World Chess Championship the players were playing the best of ten games. In the quarter finals Fischer won six games to nil. In the semi-final Fischer was paired with Larsen and also beat him six games to nil. This had never happened before in world chess\, and for the first time it looked as if the Russians were going to get a run for their money. \nPersonalities\, Crime\, pic: 3rd December 1976\, Financier Jim Slater arriving at London’s Mansion House Police Court to face fraud charges involving more than 4\,000\,000 (Photo by Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)\nIn the last qualifier Fischer came up against Petrosian\, a brilliant defensive player. Fischer won the first game but lost the second. The next three games were drawn. It was said by some that Fischer had a bad cold and everyone wondered if he could regain his earlier momentum. After this relapse he won the next four games. This made Fischer challenger to Spassky. Spassky too was a brilliant attacking player and had been a chess genius since early childhood\, so it promised to be an exceptional match. \nWhile preparations were being made for the World Championship in Iceland\, Fischer started to complain about the prize money which he thought should be doubled.\n‘I was driving into London early one Monday morning in mid-July feeling disappointed that after all this build-up Fischer might not be taking on Spassky\, when it suddenly occurred to me that I could easily afford the extra prize money personally. As well as providing me with a fascinating spectacle for the next few weeks it would give chess players throughout the world enormous pleasure for the match to proceed.’ \nJim Slater \nFrom The Complete Chess Addict (Faber&Faber\, 1987) \, Mike Fox & Richard James: \n“Jim Slater\, the financier and children’s author\, was a strong schoolboy player. He gave up chess for finance. This turned out a very good thing for chess\, since he was able to tempt Bobby Fischer (with a £50\,000 increase in stake-money) into playing Boris Spassky for the world title in 1972. Here’s what the young Slater was capable of:” \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nBobby Fischer Goes to War\, Faber&Faber\, 2004\nFrom Bobby Fischer Goes to War \, David Edmonds and John Eidinow\, Faber & Faber\,  2004 we have a fuller account as follows : \n“Driving to work in London early on Monday morning\, 3 July\, Jim Slater was upset by a radio report on the challenger’s non-appearance in Reykjavik. Slater was a businessman who had set up his own company\, Slater Walker Securities\, in 1964\, when he was in his mid-thirties. His partner\, Peter Walker\, had left the business to become a Conservative member of parliament and a government minister under Edward Heath and\,later\, Margaret Thatcher. At the time of the Fischer-Spassky match\, the company reportedly had a controlling interest in 250 companies around the world. Supremely confident\, decisive\, ruthless in business\, Slater had by then amassed a fortune of\, in his own words\,’£6 million and rising’. A gambler by nature\, the one big luxury he allowed himself was to play bridge for thousands of pounds with stronger opponents. \nHe was also a chess fan and supporter of the game\, subsidizing the annual Hastings tournament. In the years following Fischer-Spassky\, he would\, alongside the former British champion and journalist Leonard Barden (who provided the vision and organization)\, transform the state of British chess by channelling funds into junior competition. Now he decided that he could easily afford the money to send Fischer to Reykjavik – or expose the American as a coward. He would double the prize\, putting an additional £50\,000 ($125\,000) into the pot. Arriving at his office that Monday morning\, he passed on his offer through Barden\, who then spoke to Marshall\, giving the US attorney some background details about this championship angel. Marshall then talked to Fischer. Slater says he also telephoned his friend David Frost\, who in turn rang his friend Henry Kissinger’ Kissinger then contacted Fischer. What motivated Slater?’As well as providing me with a fascinating spectacle for the next few weeks\, I could give chess players throughout the world enormous pleasure’ \nSlater’s offer made headlines in London’s Evening Standard and his house was soon swarming with reporters. When he returned from work\, he told his astonished wife\,’I had a good idea on the way to the office.’The good idea was couched in challenging terms: ‘If he isn’t afraid of Spassky\, then I have removed the element of money’ \nHere is the famous headline from the July 3rd\, 1972\, London edition of the Evening Standard retrieved from Edward  Winters‘ https://chesshistory.com/winter/extra/spasskyfischer.html \nLondon Edition of the Evening Standard\, July 3rd\, 1972. Retrieved from https://chesshistory.com/winter/extra/spasskyfischer.html\nIt is not altogether clear how the British offer finally persuaded Fischer. Paul Marshall certainly had a hand\, initially pushing it as the answer to all Fischer’s financial demands.’But he wouldn’t accept it; he says.’His experiences with people promising things had taught him not to believe them\, particularly with money. And he wanted proof. And he said no.’Marshall tried to change his mind. Phoning Barden\, the attorney took his place in the gallery of callers that saved the match.’I said if I were them I would rephrase the offer. Slater should say he didn’t think his money was at risk\, because Fischer was just making excuses. He should say that deep down Fischer was frightened. I said Bobby might be piqued by that challenge – and he was. I knew Bobby was very very competitive and combative and would not like to be thought of as a chicken.’ Slater denies this version of events. He maintains it was always his idea to express his offer as a taunt. He never spoke to Fischer and never received a word of gratitude from him.’Fischer is known to be rude\, graceless\, possibly insane\,’he says.’I didn’t do it to be thanked. I did it because it would be good for chess.'” \nThe match between Fischer and Spassky was a most exciting one and fully up to everyone’s expectations. Fischer won the match. \nA few months later\, in an endeavour to help our young players\, Jim Slater offered on behalf of The Slater Foundation to give a prize of £5\,000 (about £75\,000 in today’s money) to the first British grand master and £2\,500 to the next four. Over the next few years Great Britain went from having no grand masters to twenty and became one of the strongest teams of young chess players in the world.” \nHere is an obituary written by Stewart Reuben \nand here is an obituary from Liberal England \nHere is an item from the Slater Foundation \nand here is his entry from chessgames.com which lists  one game from 1947 : “James Derrick Slater\, better known as Jim Slater\, was an English accountant\, investor and business writer. Slater became a well-known chess patron in the 1970s\, when he stepped in to double the prize fund of the Fischer-Spassky world championship match at a time when Fischer was threatening not to play\, thereby enabling the match to go forward. Afterwards he provided significant financial backing for the development of young British players\, many of whom later contributed to Britain becoming one of the world’s strongest chess countries in the 1980s.” \nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess (OUP\, 1984) by Hooper and Whyld : \n“British chess patron\, financier\, children’s author\, Slater achieved wide fame in the chess world on the occasion of the Spassky-Fischer world championship match of 1972. Fischer showed reluctance to play and apparently decided to do so when Slater added £50\,000 to the prize fund. Slater has also made contributions to many other chess causes and in 1973 set-up the Slater Foundation\, a charitable trust which\, among other activities\, pays for the coaching of young players and provides help for their families if needed. Leonard Barden advises the trust on chess matters. In the 1970s\, partly owing to this patronage\, junior players in Britain became as strong as those in any other country.” \nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977) by Harry Golombek: \n“An English financier\, a great patron and benefactor of chess\, both on a national and world level. Passionately devoted to chess from schooldays. He said that on leaving school he hesitated between the alternatives of become a chess master and of going into business\, opting for the latter on the grounds that he was not sure of his chess-playing prowess. \nIt is perhaps a fortunate thing for chess that he did not become a chess-master\, since he offer of a £50\,000 increase to the stake at the match at Reykjavik in Iceland in 1972 may well have swayed Fischer into consenting to play. He established a Slater Foundation Fund which helps young English players to go and play abroad.” \nHere is his Wikipedia entry \nHere is a small item from Dennis Monokroussos \nThe Zulu Principle\, Jim Slater\nInvestment Made Easy\, Jim Slater\nReturn to Go\, Jim Slater\nThe Tricky Troggle\, James and Christopher Slater\nThe Great Gulper\, James and Christopher Slater\n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-james-derrick-slater/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,Fischer,History,Sponsor
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201119
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201120
DTSTAMP:20260817T135628Z
CREATED:20210224T120404Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T135628Z
UID:14503-1605744000-1605830399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of SIM Graham Mitchell (04-xi-1905 19-xi-1984)
DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of SIM Graham Mitchell (04-xi-1905 19-xi-1984) \n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-sim-graham-mitchell-04-xi-1905-19-xi-1984/
CATEGORIES:Correspondence,Death Anniversary,English,History,Remembering
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201122
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201123
DTSTAMP:20201121T151805Z
CREATED:20190823T185607Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201121T151805Z
UID:1116-1606003200-1606089599@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of WIM (Patricia) Anne Sunnucks (21-ii-1927 22-xi-2014)
DESCRIPTION:We remember WIM Patricia Anne Sunnucks who passed away this day\, November 22nd\, 2014\, aged 87 years. \nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1983)\, Harry Golombek OBE : \n“International Woman master and British Women’s Champion 1957\, 1958 and 1964. Her best international result was a 2nd in the 1954 Western European Zonal. This qualified her for the 1955 Women’s Candidates tournament\, but as this held in the USSR and she was at the time serving as a Major in the British Army\, the authorities would not give her leave to participate. \nMiss Sunnucks has represented England a number of times in Olympiads and team matches. She has compiled The Encyclopedia of Chess\, London\, 1970.” \nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale\, 1970 & 1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“International Woman Master (1954) and winner of the British Ladies’ Championship in 1957\, 1958 and 1964. \nBorn on 21st February 1927 Anne learned the moves at the age of 8 but did not take up chess seriously until she was 21\, when she joined the same club as International Master\, Imre König” whose pupil she became. \nIn the 1954 Western European Zonal tournament\, she came 2nd and qualified for the 1955 Women’s Candidates tournament but was unable to compete. \nShe played for Great Britain v. the USSR in 1954 and for the British Chess Federation team in the Women’s Chess Olympiads of 1966 and 1972. She also represented the BCF in the Western European Zonal tournaments of 1963 and 1966.” \nAnne Sunnucks vs Chaudé de Silans (Amsterdam\, 1962)\nThe Encyclopedia of Chess by Anne Sunnucks\nAnne created Camberley Chess Club in 1972. She offered to open her spacious home at 28\, Brackendale Close\, Camberley for weekly club nights and matches. \nAnne Sunnucks (third from left) playing in the 1971 British Ladies Championship in Palatine School\, Blackpool. Courtesy of Lancashire Evening Post.\nAnne was a director of BMS (?\, Mothersill\, Sunnucks) Chess Supplies Ltd. which retailed chess books and equipment which the grateful membership purchased ! \nIn September 1984 in Bracknell\, Berkshire Anne married Richard C Mothersill. \nAnne passed away on November 22nd\, 2014 at a retirement village in Meadow Park\, Braintree\, Essex. \nFrom Brian Towers : It is also worth noting that she was an occasional contributor to the weekly chess ‘Magazine’ programme which was broadcast on the Third Network (the precursor to Radio 3) between Autumn 1958 and Summer 1964. \nAccording to Megabase2020\, her highest Elo rating was 2045 but we suspect it was in reality\, quite a bit higher. \nIn 1972 Anne was awarded with a FIDE Medal of Merit. \nWIM Patricia Anne Sunnucks\nFor much of her early chess life Anne was coached by IM Imre (Mirko) König. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nWIM Patricia Anne Sunnucks\nFull Caption\nFrom Wikipedia :\nPatricia Anne Sunnucks (21 February 1927 – 22 November 2014[1]) was an author and three-times British Women’s Chess Champion (1957\, 1958\, 1964). During her chess career she was always known as Anne Sunnucks. \nShe was educated at Wycombe Abbey School[2]\, Buckinghamshire. Although she learned how to play chess at the age of 8\, she did not play seriously until the age of 21\, when she joined the same chess club as Imre König\, who became her tutor. By finishing tied for second place in the 1953 British Women’s Championship she became one of three British representatives in the 1954 Western European Zonal. \nSunnucks earned the Woman International Master title by placing second in the 1954 Western European Zonal. Although this result qualified her to play in the next event in the Women’s World Championship sequence\, she was a major in the Women’s Royal Army Corps and the authorities would not allow her to travel to the USSR where the 1955 Women’s Candidates tournament was being held. Sunnucks represented England several times in Olympiads and team matches\, including Great Britain vs. USSR 1954\, the Anglo-Dutch match in 1965\, and top board for the British Chess Federation (BCF) team at the 1966 Women’s Chess Olympiad at Oberhausen. She participated in the Women’s World Championship cycle two more times\, representing the BCF in the Western European Zonal tournaments of 1963 and 1966. Sunnucks won both the Army and the Combined Services Championships in 1968\, and was the only woman to compete in either. Sunnucks compiled The Encyclopaedia of Chess (1970\, second edition: 1976). \nHer married name was Anne Mothersill.” \n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-patricia-anne-sunnucks/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201122
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201123
DTSTAMP:20201121T152309Z
CREATED:20191026T200914Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201121T152309Z
UID:1653-1606003200-1606089599@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Mary Rudge (06-ii-1842 22-xi-1919)
DESCRIPTION:We remember Mary Rudge who passed away one hundred and one years this day on Saturday\, 22-xi-1919. \nShe was born in Leominster\, Herefordshire on February 6th\, 1842. Her father was Henry Rudge (born 1794 in Gloucestershire) who was a surgeon and General Practitioner. Her mother was Eliza Rudge (née Barrett) who was born in Ledbury\, Herefordshire in 1802. \nMary was part of a typically large household and according to the 1851 census she had sisters Sarah (23)\, Caroline (18)\, Emily H (12)\, brothers Henry (14) and Alfred (10). Assisting Henry with medical matters was Wiliam S Boyce and acting as a “General Servant” was Thomas Rotheroe (18).  Their address is given as “21\, Middle Marsh\, Leominster\, Herefordshire\, England” (HR6 8UP). According to HM Land Registry : “Middlemarsh is in the Leominster North & Rural ward of Herefordshire\, County of\, Herefordshire\, Worcestershire and Warwickshire.” \nBy 1861 the household had relocated to 62\, Broad Street\, Leominster and the servants were James Price (18) whose occupation is given as a Groom and Sarah Gardener (21) who was the House Servant. \nMary moved\, “helpless from rheumatism”\, at some point\, to Truro and then to the British Home for Incurables\, Streatham. She died in Guys Hospital\, London\, on 22 November 1919.  \nEditor of British Chess Magazine at the time of her obituary was Isaac McIntyre Brown who afforded Mary a pathetic three lines.  \nFrom Wikipedia : \n“Mary Rudge (6 February 1842 in Leominster – 22 November 1919 in London) was an English chess master. \nRudge was born in Leominster\, a small town in Herefordshire\, England. She began playing chess in a correspondence tournament in 1872. The first mention of over the board competition is in August 1874 when she played in the second class at the Meeting of the Counties’ Chess Association at Birmingham. After the death of her father\, Henry Rudge\, she moved to Bristol where she started playing chess seriously. \nRudge was the first woman member of the Bristol Chess Club\, which did not allow women to be members of the club until she joined in 1872. She played against Joseph Henry Blackburne\, who gave a blindfold simultaneous display against ten opponents. The following year she played in another blindfold simultaneous display given by Johannes Hermann Zukertort. In March 1887 she played and drew on board six for Bristol against Bath at the Imperial Hotel in Bristol. At the beginning of 1888\, Rudge played and won on board six for Bristol & Clifton against City Chess & Draughts Club. The following year\, she won the Challenge Cup of Bristol & Clifton Chess Club. In 1889\, she became the first woman in the world to give simultaneous chess exhibitions. She won the Ladies’ Challenge Cup at Cambridge 1890\, and won the second class at the Southern Counties’ tournament at Clifton 1896.[1]” \nMiss Stevenson  & Mary Rudge\n“First Women’s International Chess Congress\nShe was a winner of the first Women’s International Chess Congress under the management of the Ladies’ Chess Club of London in conjunction with the Women’s Chess Club of New York. Lady Newnes was president of the Tournament Committee\, and Sir George Newnes\, Baron Albert Salomon von Rothschild\, Mr. Harry Nelson Pillsbury and some others offered prizes. The tournament was played at the Hotel Cecil in the Masonic Hall for six days\, but the final rounds were decided at the Ideal Café\, the headquarters of the Ladies’ Chess Club\, from 22 June to 3 July 1897.[2] Miss Rudge was 55 years old and the oldest of the 20 players\,[3] and had substantial experience playing chess at the time. She was a well-known English player\, ranking in chess strength with the first class of the leading men’s clubs. She won the event with 18 wins and 1 draw\, followed by Signorina Louisa Matilda Fagan (Italy)\, Miss Eliza Mary Thorold (England)\, Mrs. Harriet Worrall (USA)\, Madame Marie Bonnefin (Belgium)\, Mrs. F.S. Barry (Ireland)\, Lady Edith Margaret Thomas (England)\, among others.” \nHere is an in-depth article about this event from Chesscafe.com \nMrs. Bowles (Hon. Sec.); Miss Rudge; and Mrs. Fagan from chesscafe.com\n“Over the next years\, she took part in various competitions\, playing in Bristol and Dublin. In 1898\, she played against world champion Emanuel Lasker in a simultaneous display at the Imperial Hotel. Lasker was unable to finish all the games in the time available\, and Rudge’s was one of those unfinished. He conceded defeat because he would be lost with best play.” \nMary Rudge\nHere is an article from the Bristol Chess Times \nand another from the same source. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nThe International Ladies Congress\n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-mary-rudge-02-xi-2019/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201124
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201125
DTSTAMP:20201123T173646Z
CREATED:20190823T091032Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201123T173646Z
UID:1058-1606176000-1606262399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Rev. John Owen (08-iv-1827 24-xi-1901)
DESCRIPTION:We remember Reverend John Owen who passed away on the 24th November 1901) \nJohn Owen was born on April 8th\, 1827 to John and Sarah Owen in Marchington\, Uttoxeter\, Staffordshire. \nHe was baptised at Marchington\, St. Peter on April 9th\, 1827 by H. Bennett and their residence was recorded as “Brook House”. His father is recorded as being a gentleman. \nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess (OUP\, 1984) by Hooper & Whyld : \n“English player\, vicar of Hooten\, Cheshire\, from 1862 to 1900. In 1858\, playing under the pseudonym ‘Alter’\, he lost (=2-5) a match against Morphy\, who conceded pawn and a move. (Hoffer attributed this poor result to Owen’s just being married.) Subsequently Owen played better. He drew a match with Kolisch in 1860 (+4-4) and at the London tournament of 1862 took third prize after Andersen (whom he defeated) and L. Paulsen ahead of Dubois\, GA MacDonnell\, Steinitz and Blackburne. \nFrom 1857 to 1898 Owen played in more than a dozen tournaments\, all of them in Great Britain. \nHe liked close openings and often played the Queen’s Fianchetto Defence\, sometimes named after him\, and the Larsen Opening.” \nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE : \nProbably\, the strongest of all the chess-playing reverends of the nineteenth century. Owen came 3rd at Birmingham 1858\, below Löwenthal and Falkbeer\, but ahead of Saint-Amant\, Staunton and Bird; but is should be pointed out that the method of play was still by the old knock-out system. \nHe was also =3rd with MacDonnell in the first congress of the British Chess Association at London in 1862. \nHe also had the distinction of losing matches to Morphy\, Zukertort and Burn\, though he beat Burn in a later match. He drew a match with Kolisch in 1860. \nSunnucks is silent on Owen. \nAccording to The Complete Chess Addict (Faber&Faber\, 1987)\, Mike Fox & Richard James : \n“For the record (and because it’s so impressive) here is the most devout team of all time\, If there is anything in the efficacy of prayer they’d be tough to stop : \n\nFr Ruy Ruy López (de Segura)\nFr William Lombardy\nRevd GA MacDonnell\nRevd J Owen\nHis Holiness Pope Leo XIII\nHis Holiness Pope Innoncent III\nSt Teresa of Ávila (capt.)\nThomas à Becket”\n\nA much fuller biography may be found at the excellent Yorkshire Chess History web site  \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\nFrom Wikipedia : \n“John Owen (8 April 1827 – 24 November 1901) was an English vicar and strong amateur chess master. He ranked among the world’s top ten chess players for certain periods of the 1860s. He was a major figure in English chess from the mid 1850s to the 1890s. \nOwen was born in Marchington\, and obtained his early schooling at Repton School\, Derbyshire. In 1850 he graduated from Trinity College\, Cambridge\, and received his M.A. from Cambridge three years later. He was ordained by the Church of England in 1851\, and served as Vicar of Hooton\, Cheshire from 1862 to his retirement in 1900. \nIn 1858 he won a chess game against the young American master Paul Morphy\, the world’s best player\, who was then touring Europe. ” \nThis led to a match between the two. Despite being given odds of pawn and the move (meaning he started the game with an extra pawn and always moved first)\, Owen lost the match 6–1\, never winning a game. \nHis performance in the very strong 1862 London tournament\, the first international round-robin event (in which each participant plays every other) was more impressive. He finished third\, ahead of future world champion Wilhelm Steinitz\, and was the only player to win against the eventual tournament winner\, Adolf Anderssen. Louis Paulsen placed second. This result was arguably Owen’s top lifetime chess achievement. \nOwen continued to play frequently and often successfully in British tournaments into the 1890s\, and performed strongly in several matches against top British players\, who were essentially chess professionals. He never competed outside the British Isles. He died in Twickenham. \nOwen is the eponym of Owen’s Defence\, a chess opening characterised by the moves 1.e4 b6. Owen was the first strong player to play this frequently\, including in his victory over Morphy.” \nAmos Burn (left) and Rev. John Owen circa 1885.\n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-rev-john-owen/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201125
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201126
DTSTAMP:20201125T163549Z
CREATED:20190822T163322Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201125T163549Z
UID:998-1606262400-1606348799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Amos Burn (31-xii-1848 25-xi-1925)
DESCRIPTION:We remember Amos Burn who passed away on November 25th\, 1925. \nAmos Burn was born in Kingston-upon-Hull on Sunday\, December 31st 1848 to Amos and Mary Burn (née Webster). His father is recorded as a merchant. Amos and Mary were residents of Bourne Street at the time of the birth. \nOn February 15th 1849 Amos was baptized in All Saints Anglican Church\, Sculcoates\, Kingston-Upon-Hull \nAmos married Martha Ann Jäger in Birkenhead on Dec 27th 1879. They had two daughters Elsie Martha\, born 24th Oct 1880 and Hilda Marian\, born  26th Oct 1881. \nFor further detail of ABs family please consult the excellent Amos Burn : A Chess Biography by Richard Forster \nIn 2006 an article by WD Rubinstein was published in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography \nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess (OUP\, 1984)\, Hooper & Whyld : \n“One of the world’s top ten players at the end of the 19th century. Born in Hull : he learned chess when 16\, came to London at the age of 21\, and rapidly established himself as a leading English player\, A pupil of Steinitz\, he developed a similar style; both he and his master were among the world’s best six defensive players\, according to Nimzowitsch. Not wishing to become yet another impecunious professional. Burn decided to put his work (first a cotton broker then a sugar broker) before his chess\, and he remained an amateur. He made several long visits to America\, and was often out of practice when he played serious chess. \nUntil his thirty-eighth year he played infrequently and only in national events\, always taking first or second prize. From 1886 to 1889 he played more often. In 1886 he drew matches with Bird (+9-9) and Mackenzie (+4=2-4); at London 1887 he achieved his best tournament result up to this time\, first prize (+8—1) equal with Gunsberg (a play-off was drawn +1=3—1); and at Breslau 1889 he took second place after Tarrasch ahead of Gunsberg\, After an isolated appearance at Hastings 1895 he entered another spell of chess activity\, 1897-1901\, The best achievement of his career was at Cologne 1898\, first prize ( + 9=5-1) ahead of Charousek\, Chigorin\, Steinitz\, Schlechter\, and Janowski. At Munich 1900 he came fourth (+9=3—3). His Last seven international tournaments began with Ostend 1905 and ended with Breslau 1912. A comparative success\, in view of his age. was his fourth prize shared with Bernstein and Teichmann after Schlechter\, Maroczy\, and Rubinstein at Ostend 1906; 36 players competed in this five-stage event\, 30 games in all for those who completed the course. \nRetired from both business and play he made his home in London and edited the chess column of The Field from 1913 until his death. A shy and retiring man\, a loyal companion to those who came to know him\, he freely gave advice to young and aspiring players.” \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nThe front cover of the November 1975 issue of the British Chess Magazine featured Amos Burn : \nAmos Burn – See W.H.Cozen’s ‘Half a Century Back’…from the front cover of the November 1975 issue of British Chess Magazine\nFrom British Chess Magazine\, 1975\, November\, pp. 481-483 : \nHalf a Century Back\nChess in 1925\nby W.H. Cozens\n  \nAmos Burn was a very different figure and his career is poorly documented. He is overdue\, not for a reappraisal but simply an appraisal\, He was born (in Hull) in 1848 – an incredible 127 years ago. All the years that could have been his prime as a chessplayer he devoted to business. (Marine insurance was his speciality.) He was based in Liverpool but travelled considerably\, including several crossings of the Atlantic – quite an undertaking in those days. He played some casual chess\, soon overshadowing the Rev. John Owen to become Liverpool’s answer to Manchester’s Blackburne. He also played for the City of London Chess Club; but it was not until he was nearly 40\, presumably with his financial position secured\, that he entered the international chess arena. Between the ages of 38 and 64 he played in 22 international tournaments. At Breslau (1889) he was second to Tarrasch\, above Louis Paulsen\, Blackburne\, Schallop … In Amsterdam the same year he was first\, ahead of Emanuel Lasker. His finest achievement was first place at Cologne 1898\, in front of Charousek\, Chigorin\, Steinitz\, Schlechter et al.\, (16 in all) with a win against Steinitz. The lack of a book on Cologne 1898 is – since the publication of Mannheim 1914′: the biggest gap in tournament literature. \nAt Karlsbad 1911 he defeated not only the winner\, as mentioned above\, but also Alekhine\, whom he steered into a knight versus bad bishop ending. His style was unashamedly modelled on that of Steinitz\, and marked by extreme tenacity. To him is attributed the epigram ‘He who combinates is lost’. He could play a combination when in the mood but he much preferred to let the opponent break his own back by attacking too impetuously. Nimzowitsch wrote: ‘The number of really great defensive players is very small’\, adding that he knew of only six: Steinitz\, Emanuel Lasker\, Burn\, Bernstein\, Duras and Louis Paulsen. \nIn the 1911 Cable Match between G.B. and the U.S.A. Marshall came from San Sebastian straight to London and asked permission for his top board game to be played over the board. When he found that his opponent was to be the 64-year-old Amos Burn he must have smiled\, for he had twice defeated him resoundingly – at Paris 1900 (also having some fun at Burn’s expense in his annotations to the game) and again at Ostend 1905. This time he was in for a shock. Within twenty moves the old man had won his queen for two pieces. Marshall played on\, probably with a red face\, until move 37\, rather than have his loss cabled home too early. Against Burn he might have spared himself the trouble. \nBurn was a superb annotator. His work\, notably in ‘The Field‘ from 1913 on\, sets a standard to which one looks back nostalgically in these days of hieroglyphics. The day before he died\, at the age of 77\,he had been at work on analysis and annotation. Tournaments were now plentiful enough for it to be possible to pick out the band of regular professionals\, and to assess their prowess. Tartakower was placed 2\, 5\, l\, 5; Reti 5\, 5’ 5\,-11; Grunfeld 4\,8\,8\,9; Nimzowitsch was erratic with 1\,2\,9; so was Rubinstein with 1\, 2\, 3\, 12. Marshall was consistent with 3\, 4\, 5. Lasker\, Capablanca and Alekhine appeared once each – with distinction\, of course.” \nThe Burn Variation is a line in the french defence dating from the 1870s\, played regularly by Burn at the tournaments of Hastings\n1895\, Cologne 1898\, and Vienna 1898. More recently it has been favoured by Petrosyan. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale\, 1970 & 1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“A leading British player of his day\, Amos Burn was born in Hull on 31st December 1848. He learned the game when he was 16 and an apprentice with a firm of Liverpool cotton-brokers\, but it was not until 1886 that he achieved his first major tournament success by coming 2nd in the London tournament and 1st at Nottingham. These results gained him an invitation to Frankfurt 1887\, which marked the beginning of his career as an international player. \nBurn’s greatest successes were 1st at Amsterdam 1889\, ahead of Lasker\, 2nd at Breslau 1889\, behind Tarrasch but ahead of Mieses\, Von Bardeleben\, Bauer\, Gunsberg and Paulsen; and 1st at Cologne 1898\, ahead of Charousek\, Steiniitz\, Tchigorin and Schlecter. \nAfter the St. Petersburg 1909 tournament\, Burn’s results began to deteriorate and he finally retired from tournament chess after the Breslau 1912 tournament. \nFrom 1913 until his death\, Burn was chess editor of The Field. He died on 25th November 1925.” \nAmos Burn (31-xii-1848\, 25-xii-1925) circa 1920\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE : \n“British Grandmaster and second only to Blackburne in late nineteenth-century British chess. He was born in Hull and learned to play chess at sixteen\, but devoted little time to the game at first\, preferring to establish himself in a commercial career. \nHe returned to chess in his middle thirties\, his first major national success being first prize at Nottingham 1886 and second prize at London 1886. Within three years he had gained an international reputation by winning at Amsterdam 1889\, ahead of Lasker\, and finishing 2nd to Tarrasch at Breslau 1889. Burn continued to appear in international tournaments until the age of sixty-four\, his most notable triumph being first prize at Cologne 1898 in front of Charousek\, Steinitz\, Chigorin and Schlechter. He was chess editor of The Field from 1913 until his death in 1925.” \nEdward Winter wrote a feature article on the game McDonald-Burn\, Liverpool\, 1910 \nHis Wikipedia article is here \nAccording to Edward Winter in Chess Notes Burn lived at 19 Luxemburg Gardens\, London W6\, England (Amos Burn\, The Quiet Chessmaster by R.N. Coles\, page 7). \nAmos Burn (31-xii-1848\, 25-xii-1925)\nand an excellent article from the Liverpool Museum is here \nAmos Burn (left) and Rev. John Owen circa 1885.\nAmos Burn\, the quiet chessmaster\, RN Coles\nAmos Burn : A Chess Biography by Richard Forster\n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-amos-burn/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201125
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201126
DTSTAMP:20201123T173527Z
CREATED:20190823T110243Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201123T173527Z
UID:1078-1606262400-1606348799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary for Anthony Dickins (01-xi-1914 25-xi-1987)
DESCRIPTION:We remember Anthony Dickins who passed away this day (Wednesday\, November 25th) in 1987. \nAnthony Stewart Mackay Dickins was born at 1 Rivers Street\, Bath\, Somerset on Sunday\, November 1st\, 1914. On this day was the Battle of Coronel — The Royal Navy suffered its first defeat of World War I\, after a British squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock met and was defeated by superior German forces led by Vice-Admiral Maximilian von Spee in the eastern Pacific. \n1\, Rivers Street\, Bath\, Somerset\, BA1 2QA\nAnthony’s parents were Frederick and Florence Dickins (née Mackay) Frederick was a Captain in the Royal Artillery and was born on 25th November 1879\, commissioned on May 26th 1900. He became a Colonel on 26th May 1930 and retired November 25th 1936. He was alive in 1972 (aged 92) and living in Bexhill passing away aged 101/102. He was awarded the CIE which is “Companion\, Order of the Indian Empire in 1914”. \nAnthony was baptised on December 29th in Seend\, Wiltshire. Anthony had a brother Frederick James Douglas born in 1907 who married Nellie or Peggie Moist (records are unclear). \nIt would appear that Florence and Anthony (aged 5) travelled to Bombay from Plymouth on board the SS City of York (Ellerman Lines) departing December 26th\, 1919 presumably to visit his father in India. The ships master was J. McKellan. \nAt the time of the 1939 Census Anthony was residing in the Tavistock Hotel in Tavistock Square. His occupation was given as journalist and editor and described as single. \nFrom the Hull Daily Mail (extant and renamed Hull Live) of March 4th\, 1939 we have this part review of a magazine called The Joys of Poetry. Anthony was the editor : \nHull Daily Mail\, 4th March 1939\nHe died in Lambeth Wednesday\, November 25th) in 1987. We have yet to determine where he was buried or cremated. \nFrom http://chesscomposers.blogspot.com/2012/10/november-1st.html : \n“Anthony Dickins wrote A Guide to Fairy Chess (1967) and other books about fairy chess. He edited the column of non-original fairy problems for “The Problemist”. He was specialized in constructional problems and was also an International Judge.” \nAnthony Stewart Mackay Dickins\nFrom British Chess (Pergamon Press\, 1984)\, Botterill\, Levy\, Rice and Richardson : \n(article by JM Rice) \n“Chess first entered my life seriously about 1950 at the well-known Mandrake Social and Chess Club in Meard Street\, Soho\, run by Harold Lommer and Boris Watson. Purely literary connections took me there in the first place\, as it was a rendezvous for the literary fraternity\, such as Dylan Thomas\, David Gascoyne and others. \nAfter the war Harold converted a small wine-vault into a tiny cramped chess-room\, with some dozen tables and boards. Many well-known\npersonalities in the world of Chess were occasional visitors\, such as Grandmasters Ossip Bernstein\, Paul Keres\, Jacques Mieses and Friedrich Sämisch; British Champions Willy Winter\, Bob Wade and Dr. Fazekas; M. J. Franklin\, now a British Master\, and the Problemists\, Dr. E. T. O. Slater and B. J. da C. Andrade. Mieses was then in his late eighties and charged a fee of half-a-crown (12.5 pence) for a game. When his name was mispronounced ‘Mister My-ziz’ he would say ‘I am Meister Mieses\, not Mister My-ziz’. \nSämisch once played fourteen of us blindfold\, defeating all except one\, a very strong Indian player\, Atta\, who obtained a draw. My regular ‘partners’ were Vicki Weiss\, the famous cartoonist\, his brother Oscar\, Richard Crewdson\, Mr Keller (a professional who played sharply for a shifty shilling)\, Brian Mason\, Colin ‘Puffer’ Evans\, (whose strategy was to puff cigarette ash and smoke all over the board to bemuse the opponent) and Bob Troy (who always fell fast asleep immediately after making each move and had to be wakened on his next turn to play). There was a juke-box in the next room constantly blaring forth pop and bop. Most of all I played with Alex Distler\, and with him always’variants of the game’ like Cylindrical Chess\, Rifle Chess\, Progressive Chess\, or the Losing Game. \nIn this colourful and inspiring\, if rather smoky and noisy\, atmosphere I composed my first six chess problems\, helpmates and cylindricals\, though I did not then know of the existence of Problem books or magazines\, nor had I heard of Sam Loyd\, Max Lange\, or T. R. Dawson when the Mandrake closed in the late fifties and Harold Lommer retired to Spain to write his two monumental works on Endgame Studies. \nFor the next 10 years or so I played at the West London and Athenaeum Chess Clubs\, for Middlesex County and at Hastings congresses\, meanwhile regularly solving the problems in the two evening newspapers for practice. \nIn 1965\, in my 51st year\, I discovered chess-problem magazines and the British Chess Problem Society\, and was soon asked by John Rice to join the Fairy\nChess Correspondence Circle\, whose director\, W. Cross\, perhaps the greatest solver of all time\, guided my early footsteps in fairyland. At this point I compiled for my own use a summary of all the usual rules and conventions in Fairy Chess\, as these were numerous and complicated. It occurred to me that a few other people might also welcome such a summary\, so I put it into book form as A Guide to Fairy Chess\, which I published by myself in 1967 under the imprint ‘The O Press’\, a pun on the name ‘Kew’ where I was then living. \nA Guide to Fairy Chess\nTo my amazement it had rave reviews (‘the comprehensive work\, so long awaited’\, ‘more like an encyclopaedia’\, ‘the bible of Fairy Chess’) and sold like hot cakes\, going into three editions\, each one enlarged and revised\, the third produced by Dover Publications\, New York\, in 1971. Two years later I edited Dover’s publication of T. R. Dawson’s Five Classics of Fairy Chess. \nFive Classics of Fairy Chess\, TR Dawson\nIn 1970 I flew to the States to spend a few days in the J. G. White collection in Cleveland\, Ohio\, researching historical material on Fairy Chess. This Ohio collection has the largest chess library in the world\, and to my surprise I found that it contains also ‘every book or article ever written on or about ‘Omar Khayyam and Alice in Wonderland . To find oneself suddenly and unexpectedly transported\, as if by magic carpet\, into a superbly organised library with the most complete collections in the world of the three subjects that happen to be one’s own three principal literary interests is an experience that must approach closely to entering Nirvana\, and I am happy to have had it. This visit enabled me to write A Short History of Fairy Chess (1975) and to give the lecture Alice in Fairyland to the Lewis Carroll Society in London\, published in their journal Jabberwocky and reprinted by myself in 1976 (2nd edn 1978) . \nA Short History of Fairy Chess\, ASM Dickins\nIn 1972 I decided to present my (by then) extensive collection of Fairy Chess books and magazines to my old university library at Cambridge to prevent the possible break-up of the collection as a single unit\, and to ensure that at least one fairly complete Fairy Chess collection was retained in Britain. \nIn 1968 I was invited to open a Fairy Chess section in The Problemist\, organ of the BCPS\, which I handed over to Dr. C. C. L. Sells in 1970\, and from 1974 to 1981 I ran another column in that magazine called ‘Other Types’. This chess journalism has brought me into touch with many problemists\, and made many friends for me\, in foreign countries. \nIn 1967\, on a visit to Mannheim for the Schwalbe annual meeting\, I met Wilhelm Karsch\, then editor of Feenschach\, and in 1968 in Munich I again met Dr. Karl Fabel\, whom I first came to know in London in 1967\, and also Peter Kniest\, one of the two present editors of Feenschach. In 1969\, on a visit to Paris\, a meeting was arranged for me at the late Jean Oudot’s flat\, with Pierre Monr6al\, J. P. Boyer\, F. de Lionnais (author of the Dictionnaire des Echecs) and other French problemists\, and altogether I have attended twenty three major problemist meetings in various countries\, including FIDE meetings in The Hague\, Wiesbaden\, Canterbury and Helsinki. It has been my constant aim to try to encourage and cultivate the practice and study of Fairy Chess and to keep alive the great legacy that T.R. Dawson left to the world when he died in 1951. \nIn recent years I have developed close relations with the younger generation of West German problemists\, who are very active in Fairy Chess\, centred round 29-year-old Bernd Ellinghoven\, who helps Peter Kniest to edit Feenschach and who printed my last booklet\, Fairy Chess Problems (1979)\, containing\npoems as well as problems\, combined in a new kind of fairy technique\, for I believe that Fairy Chess represents in many ways the ‘poetry’ of Chess. \nFAIRY CHESS PrOblems (1979)\nFor\nthe 50th birthday of T. R. Dawson on the 28th November 1939 a certain Dr Lazarus of Budapest wrote in Fairy Chess Review: ‘T. R. D. these three\nletters represent a conception in the Poetry of Chess which is amongst the most ingenious of all its turns\, one of its most strange and interesting phases… Without T.R.D. human culture would lack a factor in its development’. Those people (and there are some) who would banish Fairy Chess altogether from Caissa’s realm resemble the iron-hearted Mr. Gradgrinds who would abolish romance\, mystery\, poetry\, invention\, discovery and imagination from human life. \nFairy Chess Review\nElsewhere I have written: ‘The Game for Murderers\, The Problem for Philosophers\, Fairy Chess for Sufis’\, because the aim of the game-player is to ‘mate’ (kill) the opponent (from Arabic\, mat _ dead)\, while the problemist has no personal opponent to kill\, but merely a philosophical problem to resolve. In Fairy Chess\, however\, the adept is transported to another plane of existence\, to an ‘undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveller returns’\,to new’dimensions’ of thought (as in 3- and 4-dimensional problems) – in short\, to Fairyland\, to Nirvana. \nThe three problems represent my early\, middle and later compositions. The helpmate in three moves (Black plays first in a helpmate) is a miniature culminating in an ideal Mate. C. H. O’D. Alexander was much tickled by what he called ‘the deceptive pawn’ on a2\, which unexpectedly does not promote. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nThe Construction Task with 113 White moves\, all ‘maintaining’ the legal stalemate position in which Black finds himself\, is a standing record that defeated the previous record of 112 such moves obtained independently by six problemists in six countries\, one of them an lnternational Master of FIDE. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nThe Knight’s Tour is one of the oldest genres of Fairy Chess\, dating from the earliest days of chess\, and in TR Dawson’s Fairy Chess Review he published many of them.\, including some that showed the ‘square numbers’ (1\,4\,9\,16\,25\,36\,49\,64) all on one rank – in the present example I have added the extra strict condition that as many as possible of the numbers 1 to 16 must be in the SW corner and as many as possible of the numbers 1 to 32 must be in the W half of the board. \nFor two reasons the perfect ideal in this task cannot be attained\, firstly because of the given position of the number 25\, and secondly because it is not possible to make a Knight’s tour on a 4 x 4 board in the SW corner. \nSolutions : \n1. Helpmate\, Evening News\, 20th February 1957 dedicated to Harold Lommer \nHelpmate in 3 moves \n1. Kd5 Nb1\n2. Kc4 e8=Q\n3. Kb3 Qb5 mate \n2. Construction Task Record\, Feenschach 9341 Sep/Oct 1969 dedicated to Karl Fabel \n113 unforced stalemate maintenances with Promotion in Play (Pawn promotions count as 4 moves) unforced as W has some moves that do not maintain stalemate\, so he is not ‘forced’ to maintain it. \n3. Knight’s Tour Chessics 5(180) July\, 1978 dedicated to D. Nixon. \nKnights tour with\na) All square number on 4th rank\nb) maximum of 1-16 in SW quad\nc) maximum of 1-32 in W half \nKnight’s tour solution from ASM Dickins\n100 Classics of the Chessboard\n Save as PDF
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