BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//British Chess News - ECPv6.17.3//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-ORIGINAL-URL:http://britishchessnews.com X-WR-CALDESC:Events for British Chess News REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:UTC BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:UTC DTSTART:20190101T000000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201117 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201118 DTSTAMP:20201117T184423Z CREATED:20191110T180622Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201117T184423Z UID:1900-1605571200-1605657599@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Michael Adams (17-xi-2019) DESCRIPTION:We send best wishes to GM Michael Adams on his birthday\, this day (November 17th) in 1971 \nMichael was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion in the 1996-97 season. \nHis Wikipedia entry is here \nMichael Adams\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nMichael\, Tara and friend\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-michael-adams-17-xi-2019/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/jb6_7522_lv.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201117 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201118 DTSTAMP:20260817T135635Z CREATED:20201118T094248Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T135635Z UID:11704-1605571200-1605657599@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Yichen Han (17-xi-2007) DESCRIPTION:Newcastle Upon Tyne resident Yichen Han became the youngest Dutch holder of the FIDE Master (FM) title at the age of twelve years and two months. \nYichen was born in Eindhoven\, Noord-Brabant\, The Netherlands. \nThe games required to complete the FM title were played at the recent 4NCL Harrogate Congress . The final game was a win versus Robert Starley of Crowthorne Chess Club having started with a win versus CM Peter Ackley. \nYichen plays for Forest Hall and is a student at RGS Newcastle. \nHe currently has a FIDE rating of 2257 for standard play and an ECF grading of 215. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nYichen Han at the 2018 Terafinal\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-yichen-han-17-xi-2007/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/utf_9823_lv-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201120 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201121 DTSTAMP:20201120T112029Z CREATED:20191117T181258Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201120T112029Z UID:2093-1605830400-1605916799@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Andrew Kinsman (20-xi-2019) DESCRIPTION:Best wishes to IM Andrew Kinsman born on this day Friday November 20\, 1964. His mother’s maiden name was (Yvonne) Greening. Andrew has a sister Casandra Suzie Kinsman. \nAndrew Peter Harry Kinsman was born in North East Surrey and grew up in Kingston-Upon-Thames near Kingston Hospital (thanks Richard James!). He was a member of Richmond Junior Chess Club. \nIM Andrew Kinsman\nAndrew was a member of the University of Sussex chess team in 1983 along with IM Byron Jacobs. Andrew became an editor of chess publisher BT Batsford Ltd. following in the footsteps of Bob Wade\, Paul Lamford and others. \nAndrew was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 1986-87 and 1991-92 seasons. \nHe made his first Grandmaster norm with his victory in the 1997 Owens Corning International in Wrexham. \nAndrew’s peak rating was 2430 in January 1998. He played for Guildford in the Four Nations Chess League and for Wimbledon in other leagues. His last ECF grading was 222D in July 2002 and highest may have been 230B in July 2000. \nHe left chess and turned to poker becoming a successful player and author and was married to Pauline. They lived in Ditchling Rise in Brighton. \nHe joined Byron Jacobs to form Chess Press which eventually morphed into First Rank Publishing. \nIM Andrew Kinsman\nWith the white pieces Andrew was consistently a d4 player with the occasional Nf3 thrown in. He played a “slow” Queen’s Gambit (Nf3 inserted before c4) and the Trompowski Attack for variety. \nAs the second player Andrew played the French Winawer and the Benko Gambit. \nAndrew is registered for both Wimbledon and Guildford and represented Wuppertal in the Bundesliga. Andrew’s most recent appearance in 4NCL was the final weekend of the 2001/2 season beating JA Toothill. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nHe has written several books on chess (and poker) as follows : \nFrench Winawer by Andrew Kinsman\nThe Benko Gambit by Andrew Kinsman & Byron Jacobs\nSpanish Exchange by Andrew Kinsman\nModern Benoni by Andrew Kinsman\nImprove Your Middlegame Play by Andrew Kinsman\nIM Andrew Kinsman\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-andrew-peter-harry-kinsman-20-xi-2019/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/IMG_1443-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201121 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201122 DTSTAMP:20201118T220219Z CREATED:20190822T224042Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201118T220219Z UID:1025-1605916800-1606003199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of Peter Lee (21-xi-1943) DESCRIPTION:We wish Peter Lee all the best on his birthday. \nPeter Nicholas Charles Lee was born on Sunday\, November 21st in 1943 in Lambeth\, London. His mother’s maiden name was Paganucci. \nPeter attended Exeter College\, Oxford from 1962-1966 to read mathematics followed by postgraduate statistics gaining an MA in 1969. \nSome of the participants in the Paul Keres display on November 25th\, 1962\, at St Pancras Town Hall\, London WC1. Back row : AJ. Whiteley\, D\, Floyer\, PJ Collins\, PJ Adams\, RC Vaughan\, KB Harman\, D. Parr\, DNL Levy\, Front row : MV Lambshire\, AE Hopkins (selector) Paul Keres\, Miss D. Dobson\, RE Hartley\, BC Gillman\, WR Hartston and PN Lee. Photograph by AM Reilly. Source : BCM\, 1963\, page 13\nIn 1963 Peter represented Oxford in the 81st Varsity Match played at the University of London Union in Malet Street on Korchnoi’s birthday (March 23rd). Peter had black on board 5 and drew with Frederick Michael Akeroyd in a King’s Gambit Declined. \nHere is the winning Oxford (4-3) Team : \nThe winning 1963 Oxford Varsity match team : From left to right (standing): PN Lee\, JWF May\, GC Taylor\, AIN Brodie\, PD Yerbury; (sitting) JK Footner\, RW Morgan. Thanks : John Saunders in Britbase.\nPeter moved to top board in 1964 and had white against the son of BH Wood\, FM Christopher Baruch Wood and won. The match was drawn. \n1965 saw a 5.5 – 1.5 Oxford victory with Peter beating Graham Arthur Winbow. \nDuring this period Peter found time to win the British Championship at Hastings in 1965. Peter Clarke reported in the October 1965 British Chess Magazine: \n“Seventy years on from the great international tournament of 1895\, which sowed the seeds of the Christmas congresses. the fifty-second in the British Chess Federation’s annual series-and this too began at Hastings\, 1904 – saw victory and the national title go to the youngest player ever. Peter N. Lee\, of London\, a twenty-one-year-old Oxford University graduate in mathematics\, made light of playing in the Championship for the first time and led from start to finish. Jonathan Penrose and Norman Littlewood vied with him all the way but in the last round had to be content with draws sharing second place 1/2 point behind with 8. ” \nPeter Lee\nPeter played at Hastings in 1965 and we can see him here in this silent movie at 1’40” in : \n\nPeter’s final Varsity appearance as British Champion in 1966 saw another drawn match but Peter’s best Varsity result when he beat Bill Hartston with the white pieces in a King’s Indian Attack. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nIn world cup year Peter was selected by the BCF to represent England at the Havana Olympiad on board two below Peter Clarke in Group 4 and then Final B scoring a creditable +4=7-1. \nLugano 1968 saw Peter playing as first reserve and scoring an excellent +7=4-2 (Penrose on top board scored a wonderful 83.3% for the silver medal. \nIn another world cup year (1970) in his final Olympiad appearance Peter played on board four and recorded +4=9-2 \nPeter Nicholas Lee (to the left of RD Keene)\nPeter played in the British Championships again in 1967\, 1968\, 1971 and finally in 1972 withdrawing after five rounds following a loss to David Pritchard. This is Peter’s last recorded game in Megabase2020. \nWith the white pieces Peter was a committed 1.e4 fan playing 8.c3 in the Lopez and open sicilians. \nAs the second player he played the Sicilian Najdorf and the Dragon along with the King’s Indian. \nAccording to Wikipedia : “Later\, he turned to contract bridge\, at which he has also been highly successful. He has won the English Bridge Union’s National Pairs title four times\, the first time in 2003\, and has also been a member of the team that won the Gold Cup\, the premier teams event in Britain\, in 2003 and 2011. This makes him the only person who has won British championships in both chess and bridge.” \nUntil 1979 he worked as a statistician to the Tobacco Research Council\, in Harrogate and then in London. From 1979 to 1984 he was an independent consultant in statistics and advisor in epidemiology and toxicology to a number of tobacco\, pharmaceutical and chemical companies. \nHe formed P N Lee Statistics and Computing Ltdin 1984 to widen these activities. Peter is a Chartered Statistician who has published over 200 papers\, letters and articles\, and several books.\nPeter is currently a director of PNLSC based in Palmers Green\, London\, N13. \nPeter Lee\nAs a consultant in medical statistics and epidemiology\, he has also published over 200 papers\, many on the effects of tobacco on health.[2] \nPeter reached a peak Elo rating of 2390 aged 47 in July 1990 according to MegaBase 2020. However\, his peak playing strength was probably in or around 1971. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nAccording to Paul Littlewood currently Peter “plays Bridge for Surrey and chess for the Athenaeum in London”. \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-for-peter-lee/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,History,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/800px-Lee_aan_het_schaakbord_Bestanddeelnr_919-5572.jpg END:VEVENT 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 ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/IMG_0034-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT 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 ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/mary-rudge.jpg END:VEVENT 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 ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/RevJohnOwenPic-e1500125363994.jpg END:VEVENT 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 ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/IMG_0643-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201125 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201126 DTSTAMP:20201030T154235Z CREATED:20200408T152648Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201030T154235Z UID:4203-1606262400-1606348799@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Stewart Haslinger (25-xi-1981) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of GM Stewart Haslinger (25-xi-1981) \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-stewart-haslinger-25-xi-1981/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201128 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201129 DTSTAMP:20211127T122058Z CREATED:20200409T080835Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211127T122058Z UID:4236-1606521600-1606607999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Nicholas Frost (28-xi-1983) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of FM Nicholas Frost (28-xi-1983) \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-nicholas-a-frost-28-xi-1983/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201129 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201130 DTSTAMP:20210514T084840Z CREATED:20190823T190915Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210514T084840Z UID:1126-1606608000-1606694399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of IM Robert Wade OBE (10-iv-1921 29-xi-2008) DESCRIPTION:We remember IM Bob Wade OBE who was born 100 years ago today on Sunday\, April 10th 1921 \nIn 1979 Queen’s Birthday Honours List\, Civil Division Bob Wade was awarded the OBE. The citation read simply : “For services to Chess” \nHe won the BCF Presidents’ Award in 1986. \nIn the Foreword to the 2009 ECF Yearbook\, President Gerry Walsh wrote : \n“As I started this report I had just heard the sad news that IM Bob Wade had died aged 87. I first met Bob at one of the Whitby Congresses and in 1972 he played in the Teeside GM Tournament where I recall he beat the three Hungarian players Portisch\, Bilek and Sax (ed : aged 51).” \nGeurt Gijssen wrote in Chesscafe.com : \n“I received the sad news that Bob Wade passed away at the age of eighty seven. He played his last tournament in London in August. When I was young I read about his exploits as a chess player\, and he was the arbiter in many important chess events. I met him in 1993 when I was the organizer of the first part of the match Karpov – Timman\, played in The Netherlands in three different cities: Zwolle\, Arnhem\, and Amsterdam. He was the only member of the Appeals Committee and Bob was always present watching the games in the playing hall. He gave me invaluable advice about all elements of the match venues. It was very clear that he was an experienced chess player and arbiter\, and I learned many things from him. May he rest in peace.” \nFrom the 1952 Ilford Congress (30 May – 2 June) and originally published in BCM\, July 1952\, page 187. (l-r) : Harold Israel\, Alan Phillips\, Bob Wade\, Otto Friedman\, Abe Yanofsky\, Alfred William Bowen and Harold Meek. Thanks to John Saunders and Leonard Barden\nWade was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 1956-57\, 1957-58 and 1964-65 seasons. \nFrom the Preface of The World Chess Championship : 1951 by Lionel Sharples Penrose we have : \n“Mr. Wade is also passionately devoted to the game. Before coming to Europe\, he was three times champion of New Zealand. He had played in tournaments in England but his chief successes have been on the Continent. At Venice in 1950\, he obtained a high place in a very severe contest in which some of the strongest Russia\, Czech\, Dutch\, French\, Italian\, North and South American players took part. Much of his time is occupied in chess organising and teaching. He is an acting vice-president of the F.I.D.É and in this official capacity he attended the match in Moscow\, which is the subject of this book.” \nIM Bob Wade\nPaul McKeown researched (and Simon Spivack asked permission to reproduce his words) the earliest part of Bob’s life as follows: \n“On May 20th\, 1919\, Thomas Graham Wade\, aged 27\, Sergeant in the NZ Expeditionary Force\, repatriated with honour from war-time service in Egypt\, Gallipoli and France\, married Amy Lilian Neave\, aged 21\, in South Dunedin. A New Zealander of Scots and English descent\, his family was Graham from Montrose. The family name\, Wade\, came from Marshall George Wade\, the soldier and engineer who led the Hanoverian forces against the Scots at the time of the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion and was immortalised in the original third verse of the British national anthem: \nLord\, grant that Marshal Wade\,\nMay by thy mighty aid\,\nVictory bring. \nMay he sedition hush and like a torrent rush\,\nRebellious Scots to crush\,\nGod save the King. \nIM Bob Wade\nRobert Graham Wade\, known in the Scots manner to his family as Robin\, and later to his many friends as Bob\, was their first child\, born April 10th\, 1921\, at Dunedin. Over the next few years he was joined by sisters\, Lilian\, Agnes\, Betty\, June\, his brother Ted and finally by his youngest sister Amy. The family lived for a number of years at Portobello. \n\nAt that time\, Portobello was a scattered community of about 150 people with three shops and a pub on the Otago Peninsula. Bob attended Portobello Primary School\, a small country school\, finished “dux” or top of class\, and then attended the King Edward Technical High School at Stuart Street in Dunedin.” \nIM Bob Wade\nIn The Oxford Companion to Chess (OUP\, 1984 & 1996)\, Hooper & Whyld: \n“Wade Variation\, 147\, also known as the Modern Variation\, in the Queen’s Gambit Declined\, Meran Variation\, from Bogoljubow-Wade\, Oldenburg\, 1949; \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\n1239 in the French Defence\, introduced by Wade in a match against Schmid in 1950. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nHooper & Whyld go on to write : \n“New Zealand-born Robert Graham Wade (1921- ) won the championship of his homeland three times before moving to England as a young man\, He won the British Championship twice and trained many English players.” \nAside from the two variations mentioned by Hooper & Whyld there are other Wade Variations : \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nwhich Jim Plaskett dubbed the “Sidestep Variation” \nand \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nwhich is the Pytel-Wade Variation of the Scandinavian Defence. \nAnne Sunnucks wrote in The Encyclopaedia of Chess (Robert Hale\, 1970 & 1976) : \n“International Master (1950 Ed: actually 1954)\, International Judge (1958)\, New Zealand Champion three times and British Champion in 1952 and 1970. \nBob Wade was born in New Zealand on 10th April 1921 and is a professional chess player. He has lived in England for many years and has played regularly for the British Chess Federation team in Chess Olympiads. He has played a prominent part in coaching schemes for juniors and is largely responsible for recent successes of English juniors in international events. \nBob Wade v. Aldecoa of the Philippines from the 1958 Munich Olympiad played on October 9th 1958. The game was won by Bob in 60 moves. From the collection of David Jarrett with many thanks.\nHe is chess correspondent of Associated Newspapers and Independent Television News and editor of a series of books on Contemporary Chess Openings published by Batsford. \nAuthor of a number of books on the game\, his publications include books on the World Championship of 1951\, 1957 (ed : this book was\, in fact\, by Golombek) and 1963\, the first in collaboration with W. Winter; The Closed Ruy Lopez (Batsford\, 1970) in collaboration with LS Blackstock and PJ Booth: World Chess Championship (Batsford\, 1972) in collaboration with Svetozar Gligoric; Games of RJ Fischer (Batsford\, 1972) in collaboration with KJ O’Connell and Soviet Chess (Neville Spearman\, 1968). \nWade was a member of the FIDE Laws Commission from 1950 to 1952.” \n\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE : \n“International Master who was born at Dunedin\, New Zealand\, but came to live In England in 1946 and has represented both countries on different occasions. He has nearly always done well in British Championships and won the title in Chester in 1952 and again at Coventry in 1970. He had played for the British Chess Federation at the Olympiads of 1954\, 1956\, 1958\, 1960 and 1962\, winning the shortest game of the Varna Olympiad in that year in nine moves against Anton Kinzel of Austria \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nHe played for the New Zealand team at the 1970 Olympiad at Siegen but returned to the BCF team at Skopje in 1972. \nHis best individual international results were a fifth place at Venice 1950 and again fifth at the Masters section of the Capablanca Memorial at Cienfuegos in Cuba in 1975. Possessor of a sharp clear-cut style of play\, he once drew a match with the West German grandmaster Lothar Schmid with neither side drawing a game\, though this was before Schmid received the grandmaster title. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nHe has done much valuable work in England teaching the young\, and was responsible for the text of a highly successful television series in 1975. \nHis main books are : Soviet Chess\, London\, 1967; Botvinnik-Bronstein Match 1951 (in co-operation with W. Winter)\, London\, Toronto 1951; Match Petrosian-Botvinnik\, London\, 1963; Sousse 1967\, The Chess Player\, Nottingham\, 1968.” \nFrom British Chess (Pergamon Press\, 1983) we have this article from George Botterill : \n“In the Birthday Honours list of 1979 Bob Wade was awarded the OBE for his services to chess. Few rewards can have been more thoroughly earned. For some reason\, Bob has always been held in greater esteem abroad than in the country for which he has done so much. But the many players who have turned to him for advice or who have simply enjoyed his hospitality\, which is always ungrudgingly available to fellow chess players\, know the measure of his dedication to the game. \nTheodore Tylor vs Bob Wade at Paignton 1953. Bob held TT to a draw to secure first place\nWade was born in Dunedin\, a third generation New Zealander of Scots and English ancestry. He started a a career as a civil servant in the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Having won the New Zealand Championship in 1944 and 1945 he was sent over to participate in the British Championship of 1946. The result was not exactly a success – a mere 3.5 points out of 11. But Bob was not to be disheartened so easily. Feeling he was capable of better things\, he took leave of absence in 1947 and did the circuit\, such as it then was\, of chess tournament in Europe and North America. \nBob giving a simul in Leeds in the 1950s\nWhen he returned to New Zealand he found that he had been transferred to another department in a civil service reorganisation. The new job was not so congenial. He stuck it out for 6 months – during which time he won the New Zealand Championship for a third time – and then handed in his resignation to take up the precarious life of a chess professional. \nIM Bob Wade\nSettling in Britain he soon gained the IM title (ed : 1954). But even in those days when still a young man Wade did not concentrate exclusively on his own playing career. In 1949 he went to the FIDE congress and was one of the five people – the others were BH Wood\, Ragozin\, Zubarev and Rogarde – who collaborated on the writing of the official rules for the game. \nBob Wade OBE\, Murray Chandler MNZM and David Anderton OBE at the 1986 Dubai Olympiad. Photograph by Frits Agterdenbos\nHe also served as a member of the commission that determined who the original holders of international titles would be. When you consider that Wade was also on the 1950 commission that decided the composition of the World Championship Interzonals\, it becomes apparent that this man played a significant part in the shaping the structure of modern international chess. \nBob at a CentYMCA event with Neil Carr\, Mike Wills\, Aaron Rose and Jon Ady\nAlthough rarely at the top in international tournaments\, Wade was always a very dangerous player\, capable on his day of beating anybody in the world. He won the British Championship twice at Chester in 1952 and at Coventry in 1970. \nBob playing Kick Langeweg at IBM 1961.\nIn recent years Wade has put his main energies into junior training and organisation and also into his work as the editor of Batsford’s highly productive and extremely successful series of chess books. \nBob with John Nunn and Boris Spassky at the GLC Masters\nIt is hard to say in what department one should place Wade’s greatest contributions to British Chess. Living through what is retrospect look to have been the Dark Ages of British chess – the 1950s and 1960s – he has demonstrated that even in a social and cultural environment that made playing chess economically ‘impossible’ profession to follow it was still possible to dedicate a life to chess\, if one had the determination. \nLeonard Barden\, Henry Mutkin\, Adrian Hollis and Bob Wade observe Nick Ivell vs Ken Regan at the 1983 Varsity match\nDuring those years he was really the only British Player who regularly active in international tournaments. Since then he has been constantly active as an author\, editor and adviser\, always working to transform Britain into a country more congenial to good chess. \nBob at the demo board at London Central YMCA chess club.\nBut we suspect that he might regard this role as trainer and coach as the most important thing of all. He is\, quite appropriately the British Chess Federation’s Chief National Coach. \nBob doing one of the things he loved best : teaching. He was discussing a position at Havana 1965. Dr JR Capablanca\, son of the former world champion\, on the right\, interpreted.\nIf one had to choose a single best game from Wade’s whole tournament career\, it would probably be this one. \nGeorge Botterill \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nDr. Fazekas (left) playing Bob Wade at an Ilford Congress\, photographer unknown\nIn the January 2009 issue of British Chess Magazine John Saunders wrote a ten page obituary as follows : \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXIX (129\, 2009)\, #1 (January)\, pp. 34-43\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXIX (129\, 2009)\, #1 (January)\, pp. 34-43\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXIX (129\, 2009)\, #1 (January)\, pp. 34-43\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXIX (129\, 2009)\, #1 (January)\, pp. 34-43\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXIX (129\, 2009)\, #1 (January)\, pp. 34-43\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXIX (129\, 2009)\, #1 (January)\, pp. 34-43\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXIX (129\, 2009)\, #1 (January)\, pp. 34-43\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXIX (129\, 2009)\, #1 (January)\, pp. 34-43\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXIX (129\, 2009)\, #1 (January)\, pp. 34-43\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXIX (129\, 2009)\, #1 (January)\, pp. 34-43\nLeonard Barden wrote this obituary \nHere is Bob’s Telegraph obituary. \nJohn Saunders interviewed Bob at his Blackheath home and wrote this extensive article for the 1999 British Chess Magazine. \nHis detailed results in Olympiads\, from olimpbase.org\, follow. \nAmsterdam 1954\, England board 4\, 6/12 (+4−4=4);\nMoscow 1956\, England board 3\, 6½/14 (+2−3=9);\nMunich 1958\, England 1st reserve\, 7/14 (+5−5=4);\nLeipzig 1960\, England 2nd reserve\, 6/11 (+4−3=4);\nVarna 1962\, England 2nd reserve\, 6/12 (+4−4=4);\nSiegen 1970\, New Zealand board 2\, 9/15 (+7−4=4);\nSkopje 1972\, England board 3\, 7½/14 (+4−3=7).\nWade won several middle-strength Master events in the British Isles: Ilford 1957 and 1968\, Paignton 1959\, Dublin 1962\, and Southend-on-Sea 1965. \nWade was generally no more than a middle-ranking player in strong international tournaments. His other highlights against high-standard international-level competition include: \ntied 4–5th at Haifa/Tel Aviv 1958 on 7½/13 (winner Samuel Reshevsky);\n3rd at Bognor Regis 1959 on 7/10 (winner Erno Gereben);\n5th at Reykjavík 1964 on 7½/13 (winner Mikhail Tal);\ntied 4–5th at Málaga 1966 on 7/11; (winners Alberic O’Kelly de Galway and Eleazar Jiménez);\n6th at Briseck 1971 on 7/13 (winner Gideon Barcza);\n5th at Cienfuegos ‘B’ 1975 on 10/17; (winners Julio Boudy and Amador Rodriguez);\ntied 7–12th in the World Senior Championship\, Bad Woerishofen 1992\, on 7½/11 (winner Efim Geller).\nWade was the only British player to have faced Bobby Fischer in tournament play (outside of Olympiads). They met three times\, with Wade drawing one game and losing the other two. \nHis detailed Wikipedia entry may be found here \nBob was an active author and wrote (or co-wrote) around 22 books as follows : \nThe World Chess Championship\, W.Winter & RG Wade\, Turnstille Press\, 1951\nHastings Chess Congress 1955-56\, RG Wade & W. Ritson Morry\, En Passant Chess Publications\nChess Tactics for Beginners\, RG Wade\, Bott and Morrison\, 1960\nThe World Chess Championship: 1963 Botvinnik vs Petrosian\, Wade\nSoviet Chess\, RG Wade\, Neville Spearman (UK) & David McKay Company\, Inc\, New York\, 1968\nSousse 1967 : International Chess Tournament\, RG Wade\, The Chess Player\, 1968\nThe Velimirovic Attack\, Sozin Sicilian\, TD Harding and RG Wade\, Chessman Publications Ltd.\, 1969.\nThe Closed Ruy Lopez\, Wade\, Blackstock and Booth\, Batsford\, 1970\nPalma 1970 : Interzonal Chess Tournament\, RG Wade and LS Blackstock\, The Chess Player\, 1970\nThe Games of Robert J. Fischer\, Robert Wade and O’Connell\, Batsford 1972\, 2nd ed. 1972\, reprinted 1973\, First limp edition 1981\, Reprinted 1985\, 1981\, 1989\, Second edition (The Complete Games of Bobby Fischer) 1992\nWorld Championship Interzonals\, Wade\, Blackstock and Kotov\, Batsford\, 1974\nThe World Chess Championship\, Gligoric and Wade\, Batsford\, 1974\nThe Marshall Attack\, Wade & Harding\, Batsford\, 1974\nPlaying Chess\, RG Wade\, Batsford/TVTimes\, 1974\nSicilian Lasker-Pelikan\, 1978\, Batsford\, Wade\, Speelman\, Povah and Blackstock\n44th USSR Championship Final Moscow 1977\, RG Wade\, LS Blackstock and HC Thomas\, Master Chess Publications\, 1977\n45th USSR Championship Final Leningrad 1977\, RG Wade\, LS Blackstock and HC Thomas\, Master Chess Publications\, 1977\nBugojno\, 1978\, RG Wade\, LS Blackstock and HC Thomas\, Master Chess Publications\, 1978\n46th USSR Chess Championships 1978\, RD Keene\, JDM Nunn\, RG Wade\, Master Chess Publications\, 1978\, ISBN 0 906634 00 8\nTournament of the Stars:~ Montreal 1979\, RG Wade\, LS Blackstock\, AL Hosking\, Master Chess Publications\, 1979\nInterpolis Supertournament:~ Tilburg 1979\, LS Blackstock & RG Wade\, Master Chess Publications\, Chess\, Sutton Coldfield\, 1979\nFighting Chess\, Kasparov and Wade\, Harper Collins\, 1983\nTrends in the Reti\, Volume 1\, RG Wade\, 1992\nBatsford Chess Endings\, Speelman\, Tisdall and Wade\, 1993\nChess for Children\, Ted Nottingham and Bob Wade\, Sterling Juvenile\, 1996\nTrends in the Reti\, Volume 2\, RG Wade\, 1996\nWinning Chess : Tactics and Strategies\, Sterling Juvenile\, 2001\nIn 2007 Ray Cannon published the following tribute : \nBob Wade : Tribute to a Chess Master\, Ray Cannon & Ray Keene\, Impala\, 2007\nHowever\, Paul McKeown remains Bob’s official biographer. \nIM Robert Wade OBE\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-robert-graham-wade-obe/ CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/IMG_1016-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201130 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201201 DTSTAMP:20201030T154834Z CREATED:20200410T215434Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201030T154834Z UID:4393-1606694400-1606780799@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of WIM Teresa Needham (30-xi-1965) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of WIM Teresa M Needham (30-xi-1965) \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-wim-teresa-m-needham-30-xi-1965/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/102748547_3644830888866645_4955301650481454171_o.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201130 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201201 DTSTAMP:20260817T135617Z CREATED:20200411T223418Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T135617Z UID:4518-1606694400-1606780799@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Simon Williams (30-xi-1979) DESCRIPTION:GM Simon Williams\nBest wishes to GM Simon Williams on his fortieth birthday\, this day (November 30th) in 1979. \nSimon was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion in the 2001-02 (shared with Simon Knott) and the 2006-07 season. \nHis Wikipedia entry is here \nGM Simon Williams\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-simon-kim-williams-30-xi-1979/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/BCC_3588-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201203 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201204 DTSTAMP:20260817T135611Z CREATED:20190822T151040Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T135611Z UID:971-1606953600-1607039999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Dr. James Aitken (27-x-1908 03-xii-1983) DESCRIPTION:Signature of JM Aitken from a Brian Reilly “after dinner” postcard from Hastings Christmas Congress\, 1945-1946\nWe remember Dr. James Aitken who passed away on Saturday\, December 3rd\, 1983. \nJames Macrae Aitken was born on Tuesday\, October 28th 1908 in Calderbank\, Lanarkshire\, Scotland. \nHis very early history is best record here at the wonderful Chess Scotland web site. \nHe attended Balliol College\, Oxford. \nLuckily for all of us Scottish chess enthusiast Geoff Chandler is transcribing JMAs games from the players personal scorebooks. We hope to see these games appearing in Britbase and other locations in the near future. \nFrom The Anglo-Soviet Radio Chess Match by Klein and Winter : \n“JM Aitken was born in 1908 in Scotland\, and learned chess at the age of eight. He played several times in the Scottish Championship\, and won it in 1935. In the Stockholm international team tournament\, 1937\, he played for Scotland. His best performance in international chess was at Hastings\, 1945\, when he scored 6 points and did best among the British contingent. \nJames Macrae Aitken\nHe is a graduate of both Oxford and Edinburgh\, and a Ph.D. At the beginning of the war he joined the Foreign Office. ” \nThe Aitken Variation is a line recommended in the British Chess Magazine of 1937 of the Giuocco Piano as follows : \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 British Chess Magazine\, Volume CIV (104\, 1984)\, Number 1 (January)\, page 65 : \n“Dr. James Macrae Aiken (27 October 1908 – 3 December 1983) died at his home in Cheltenham on the Saturday morning when he was due to turn out in a county match that afternoon. Sh he was active to the end\, since he played in the veterans’ competition in both at the Southport BCF Congress and at the Guernsey tournament in October. \nTen times Scottish Champion\, the worthy doctor represented Scotland at Olympiads both pre- and post-war. At the 1937 Stockholm Olympiad he beat Ståhlberg\, while later on he also had the grandmaster scalps of Bogoljubow and Tartakower to his credit. \nHe retired from his work at the Foreign Office some ten years ago\, and continued playing in West Country chess\, always taking a high board for Gloucestershire. At the BCM we have a particular cause to remember him with gratitude since he was both a book reviewer and occasional annotator for two decades\, and a life-long subscriber. \nAs a person he was always friendly and objective in his judgements both of chess positions and personalities. Your editor recalls many interesting conversations with him at BCF Congresses. The loss is greatest\, of course. for Scottish Chess. \nPerhaps we may close on a lighter note\, since the following anecdote reminds one that Dr Aitken also turned out for Great Britain in matches just after the war. At an early FIDE Congress after the war the first official FIDE list of masters and grandmasters was being drawn up. The BCF made application for recognising the mastership of HE Atkins. The Soviet delegate\, Kotov\, objected since he thought he heard the name of Aitken\, whom he knew had lost both games to Bondaresvky on board eight of the 1946 GB-USSR Radio Match. It was gently pointed out that the application concerned a player who had come ahead of no less than Chigorin at Hannover 1902. End of objection! \nJames Macrae Aitken in 1965 by “Mac”\nWe take this game from the Bournemouth tournament played on the eve of the Second World War. \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“Talented Scottish amateur who won the Scottish championship ten times\, Dr. Aitken’s chief international activity was representing Scotland in the Olympiads. \nAt Stockholm 1937 he scored 32.4% on top board but he had the distinction of beating the Swedish grandmaster Ståhlberg. At Munich 1958 he scored 67.6% on 2nd board; at Tel Aviv 1964\, 28.1% on 2nd board; at Skopje 1972\, 38.9% on 6th board.” \nBoth Sunnucks and Hooper & Whyld are silent on Aitken. \nFrom Wikipedia : \n“James Macrae Aitken (27 October 1908 – 3 December 1983) was a Scottish chess player.[1][2] Aitken was born in Calderbank\, Lanarkshire\, Scotland. In 1938 he received a PhD from Edinburgh University on the topic of ‘The Trial of George Buchanan Before the Lisbon Inquisition’.[3] \nAitken learned chess from his father at age 10.[4] He was Scottish champion in 1935\, 1952\, 1953\, 1955\, 1956\, 1957\, 1958\, 1960\, 1961 and 1965\, the latter jointly with PM Jamieson.[1] He was also London Champion in 1950.[1] In 1959 he had his best result in the British Championship\, finishing tied for seventh place.[4] Aitken represented Scotland in four Chess Olympiads. He played top board at Stockholm 1937\, scoring only 32.4% but he did defeat Swedish GM Gideon Ståhlberg[4][5] and draw with American GM Samuel Reshevsky.[4] He played second board at Munich 1958 and Tel Aviv 1964\, scoring 67.6% and 28.1% respectively. Aitken played sixth board at Skopje 1972\, scoring 38.9%.” \nAitken was Southern Counties (SCCU) Champion for the 1948-49 season \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“Aitken represented Great Britain in matches against the USSR and Yugoslavia.[4] In the 1946 radio match between the United Kingdom and the USSR he lost his match with Igor Bondarevsky on board 8.[6] Aitken defeated GM Savielly Tartakower at Southsea 1949[4][7] and GM Efim Bogoljubow at Bad Pyrmont 1951.[4][8] \nDuring World War II\, Aitken worked in Hut 6 at Bletchley Park on solving German Enigma machines.[9] On 2 December 1944 Bletchley Park played a 12-board team match against the Oxford University Chess Club. Bletchley Park won the match 8–4 with C.H.O’D. Alexander\, Harry Golombek\, and Aitken on the top three boards.[10] Aitken wrote many book reviews for the British Chess Magazine.[11] Aside from chess his hobbies included golf\, philately\, bridge\, and watching cricket.[4] He died in Cheltenham in 1983\, aged 75.[2]” \nAnother biography may be found here at the wonderful Chess Scotland \nDr. James Aitken (27-x-1908 03-xii-1983)\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-james-macrae-aitken/ CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/AitkenJM.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201205 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201206 DTSTAMP:20201204T143723Z CREATED:20191014T230918Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201204T143723Z UID:1524-1607126400-1607212799@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Gavin Wall (05-xii-1968) DESCRIPTION:Best Wishes to IM Gavin Wall on this birthday\, this day (December 5th) in 1968. Gavin is an Irish International Master whose peak rating (according to Chessbase) was 2413 at the age of 35. \nIM Gavin Wall\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 Gavin Wall\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-gavin-wall/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/jb6_7839_lv-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201206 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201207 DTSTAMP:20211106T121121Z CREATED:20191130T140838Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211106T121121Z UID:2213-1607212800-1607299199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM John Hawksworth (06-xii-1963) DESCRIPTION:We wish happy birthday to IM John Hawksworth born on Friday\, December 6th\, 1963. \nJohn Crofton Hawksworth was “born in Brighton\, England\, in December 1963 to Robert Marshall Hawksworth and Norah Connor Hawksworth née Crofton. He was baptised at St Saviour’s Church of England church in Pimlico\, London\, in 1964.[1]” \nThis was written about John who was 15 just prior to the Spassky vs the BCF Junior Squad simultaneous display in 1979 : \n“Bradford Grammar and Bradford. Rating 194. Yorkshire under-18 champion.” \nHe was awarded the IM title in 1986. \nAccording to ChessBase his highest FIDE rating was 2370 in January\, 1990 aged 27 which was the last year of serious competition at the 77th British Championships in Eastbourne. \nHe then pursued a highly successful career in the financial sector and is currently the Chief Economist for PriceWaterhouseCoopers. \nIM John Crofton Hawksworth (standing\,far left)\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 John Crofton Hawksworth (standing\, second from right)\nAt the Lloyds Bank Masters : Front (l-r) : Joel Benjamin\, Ian Wells\, Rear : Peter Morrish\, Stewart Reuben\, Richard Beville\, Gary Senior\, Richard Webb\, John Hawksworth\, Andrew King\, Nigel Short\, Mark Ginsburg\, Daniel King\, David Cummings\, Erik Teichmann\, John Brandford and Micheal Pagden\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-john-crofton-hawksworth-06-xii-1963/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/hawksworth_john_480x640_0.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201208 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201209 DTSTAMP:20211208T155947Z CREATED:20191208T001021Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211208T155947Z UID:3679-1607385600-1607471999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of John Fuller (12-v-1928 08-xii-2004) DESCRIPTION:We remember John Fuller who passed away aged 76 on Wednesday\, December 8th 2004. His death was recorded in the district of Lancaster. At the end of his life he lived in Carnforth\, in Lancashire. \nJohn Arthur Fuller was born in Hendon\, Middlesex on Saturday\, May 12th 1928. His parents were Horace Arthur Fuller (a Bank Officer) and Phyllis Fuller (née Gooch). \nJohn had three brothers: Julian Frederick who was two years older\, Nigel Anthony who was three years younger and Adrian Easterbrook who was six years younger. \nThey lived at 12\, High View\, Pinner in Middlesex. \n12\, High View\, Pinner\, Middlesex\, HA5 3PA\nOn August 26th 1939\, aged eleven\, John (described as a scholar) departed from Liverpool on board the SS Ceramic (part of the Shaw Savill & Albion Company shipping line) and duly arrived one hundred and twenty days later in Sydney\, New South Wales. \nThe family returned to Liverpool in March 1945 on board the Athlone Castle which was of the Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company Ltd. John was now sixteen years old. \nAccording to ancestry.co.uk he is survived by a son\, Robert. The family tree indicates that John had two sons and two daughters but his wife is marked as Private and so her name is not visible. We speculate that it may be Ann Fuller (née Dent) but this is awaiting confirmation. \nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale\, 1972 & 1976) by Anne Sunnucks : \n“British Master\, British Boy Champion in 1946 and British Correspondence Champion from 1953-1955. Born on 12th May 1928 Fuller learned to play chess when he was 11. In 1946 \, the year in which he won the British Boys Championship\, he also tied for the London Boys Championship. He went on to win the Middlesex Championship three times and the Warwickshire Championship twice. Fuller played for England in matches between Scotland and the Netherlands and in the Clare Benedict International Team Tournament. He also had the best British score in the Premier Tournament at Hastings in 1949 and 1955. \nHe was a design engineer.” \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 (Batsfords\, 1977) by Harry Golombek: \n“British master and design engineer by profession. British Boy Champion in 1946. Fuller was a player of great promise with a fine understanding of the game. But a serious illness disturbed the even flow of his chess career and\, though he recovered and made some more appearences in the chess world\, he eventually withdrew from chess on an international and national level. \nFuller played twice in the Hastings Premier tournament: =5th 1949/50 and 6th in 1955/6.” \nThe Oxford Companion to Chess is silent on JAF. \nThere has been considerable discussion of JAF in another place. \nBCN would like to acknowledge help received from Richard James\, Leonard Barden\, Rob Fuller and John Upham in putting this article together. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nSubsequent to this post being published our attention was kindly drawn by John Saunders to the obituary in BCM\, Volume 125 (2005)\, #5 (May)\, page 247. Here is the article: \nJohn Fuller (12 v 1928 – 8 xii 2004\, Carnforth) was a British Master and British correspondence champion in 1954 and 1955. Having spent some of the war years in Australia\, he quickly made his mark in junior chess on his return to Britain. He shared first place with Leonard Barden in the 1946 London Boys’ Championship and went on to win the British Boys’ Championship in 1946 with 5/5 in the final section\, ahead of Gordon Crown and Leonard Barden. He beat an off-form Crown in nine moves in the last round (see game above) He played a number of correspondence games with Crown\, himself a richly gifted player\, who w0as to die tragically young in 1947\, and it was reported that Fuller had the better of these encounters. \nFuller became a design engineer\, but his business and chess careers were both affected by a serious bout of tuberculosis when he was a young man. He won the Hastings Premier Reserves ‘B’ with 8/9 in 1947/48 ahead of Alan Phillips and Arthur Winser\, and in 1949 Leonard Barden remembers playing off with him for a place in the 1949/50 Hastings premier after the two of them had made similar scores at the 1949 British Championship. \n“We played the match at Sir George Thomas’s flat in autumn 1949… and John crushed me in that. Not sure of the score\, I think it was 2.5- 0.5.” \nHe played in the Hastings Premier in 1949/50 and again in 1955/56\,and made the best British scores on both occasions – 4/9 and 3.5/9 respectively. He also represented England in matches against Scotland and the Netherlands\, and in the Clare Benedict team tournament. He only appeared three times in British Championships\, scoring 6.5 in 1949\, 5.5 in 1950 and 6.5 in 1958. He ranked in the top ten of the British Chess Federation Grading List on six occasions\, with a best place of third equal in 1958. He seems to have dropped out of over the board competition chess shortly after being awarded the (now defunct) British Master title in 1963/64. \nHarry Golombek referred to Fuller in The Encyclopaedia of Chess (1977) as a player of great promise with a fine understanding of the game”. Alan Phillips told BCM that he was “one of the most promising players of his generation… he slaughtered me three 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\nLeonard Barden had the following memories of John Fuller: “He was a member of West London Chess Club\, which was historically significant as his good friend and fellow member (both living in Harrow) was Jim Slater\, who 25 years later told me that knowing John was one of the factors which kept his interest in chess up to the point where he became our Maecenas… John was a tall redhead\, outgoing and friendly\, and a natural talent who also worked on theory. With the better opportunities available to later generations I’m sure he would have reached IM strength.” \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-john-fuller-12-v-1928-iii-2005/ CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/90772164_592680691319898_1535274104775507968_n.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201209 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201210 DTSTAMP:20211109T181851Z CREATED:20190822T222348Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211109T181851Z UID:1014-1607472000-1607558399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of WGM Dr. Jana Bellin (09-xii-1947) DESCRIPTION:Happy birthday WGM Dr. Jana Bellin on this day (December 9th) in 1947. \nJana Malypetrova\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale\, 1970 & 1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“International Woman Master (1969)\, Czech Woman Champion in 1965 and 1967 and British Woman Champion since 1970. \nJana Malypetrova\nJana was born in Prague on the 9th December 1947 and learned to play chess at the age of eleven. She made her first appearance in the international field when she played 2nd board for Czechoslovakia in Women’s Chess Olympiad in Oberhausen in 1966. In the same year she represented Czechoslovakia in the Zonal tournament at Varna and came 11th. \nJana Malypetrova\nShe is now married to the British International Master\, William Hartston\, and played 1st board for England in the Women’s Chess Olympiad in Skopje in 1972 and represented England in the Zonal tournament in Wijk aan Zee in 1973 in which she tied for 1st place. In the same year she came =6th in the Interzonal Tournament. She is a doctor.” \nJana & Bill Hartston celebrate a family double at the British Championships in 1973 at Eastbourne\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE : \n“Born in Prague\, Czechoslovakia\, but moved to England in 1970 after her marriage to WR Hartston. Czechoslovak Woman champion in 1965 and 1967 (under her maiden name of Malypetrova) and British Ladies champion in the five years 1970 to 1974. International Woman master since 1969.” \nBill and Jana Hartston are shown with some of their many chess sets. CHESS\, August 1973\, page 323\nFrom British Chess (Pergamon Press\, 1983) Botterill\, Levy\, Rice and Richardson : \nHastings International Chess Congress 21 year old Jana Malypetrova From Czechoslovakia And Vassily Smyslov From Russia. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Michael Fresco/ANL/Shutterstock (1876232a)\n“Jana Miles was born 9 December 1947 in Prague\, Czechoslovakia. She moved to England when she married Bill Hartston. Divorced from Hartston in 1978\, she subsequently married Tony Miles. \nHastings International Chess Congress 21 year old Jana Malypetrova From Czechoslovakia And Vassily Smyslov From Russia. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Michael Fresco/ANL/Shutterstock (1876232a)\nShe was Czech woman champion in 1965 and 1967 and has regularly been the British Ladies Champion since moving to this country. She is a doctor of medicine.” \nBill and Dr\, Jana Hartston (née Malypetrova)\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nSir Philip Stuart Milner-Barry OBE presents Dr. Jana Hartston with the ? prize\nFrom Wikipedia : \n“Jana Bellin (née Malypetrová; born 9 December 1947) is a British\, formerly Czechoslovak chess player. She was awarded the Woman International Master chess title in 1969 and the Woman Grandmaster title in 1982. \nMoment of concentration for reigning women’s champion of Great Britain Jana Hartston and some of the 30 Post Officer players – all men who challenged her at postal headquarters London on September 6. Jana beat seven\, drew with sixteen and lost to seven.\nBellin was born in Prague\, Czechoslovakia. She was the Czech Women’s Champion in 1965 and 1967 under her maiden name of Malypetrová. After her marriage to William Hartston she moved to England in 1970 and won the British Women’s Championship in 1970\, 1971\, 1972\, 1973\, 1974\, 1976\, 1977 (after a play-off)\, and 1979. \nMoment of concentration for reigning women’s champion of Great Britain Jana Hartston and some of the 30 Post Officer players – all men who challenged her at postal headquarters London on September 6. Jana beat seven\, drew with sixteen and lost to seven.\nShe has fifteen appearances in the Women’s Chess Olympiads\, representing Czechoslovakia in 1966 and 1969 and England thirteen times from 1972 through 2006\, seven times on first board. \nMoment of concentration for reigning women’s champion of Great Britain Jana Hartston and some of the 30 Post Officer players – all men who challenged her at postal headquarters London on September 6. Jana beat seven\, drew with sixteen and lost to seven.\nAt the Olympiad she earned individual silver medals in 1966 and 1976\, a team bronze medal in 1968 with the Czechoslovakian team\, and a team silver in 1976 with England. \nBritish Speed Chess Championship Grandmaster Nigel Short Playing Chess In The Park With L-r Susan Arkell Sheila Jackson And Dr Jana Miles. Courtesy of Shutterstock\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“Bellin is a medical doctor specialising in anaesthetics\, and works in intensive care at Sandwell General Hospital\, West Bromwich\, England. \nJana with Sheila Jackson to her left\nShe is also Chairman of the FIDE Medical Commission\, which supervises drug testing of chess players. \nBritish Speed Chess Championship Grandmaster Nigel Short Playing Chess In The Street With Woman Grandmaster Dr Jana Miles : Credit : Shutterstock\nBellin was married first to International Master William Hartston\, then to Grandmaster Tony Miles\, and after that to International Master Robert Bellin. She and Bellin have two sons: Robert (born 1988) and Christopher (born 1991).[citation needed] \nDr. Jana Bellin\nShe is the granddaughter of thrice Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia\, Jan Malypetr. and cousin of author and human rights campaigner Jiří Stránský. \nWGM Dr. Jana Bellin\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-jana-bellin/ CATEGORIES:4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/jb4_7595_lv-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201210 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201211 DTSTAMP:20211210T095748Z CREATED:20200402T173520Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211210T095748Z UID:3986-1607558400-1607644799@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Peter Batchelor (10-xii-1996) DESCRIPTION:Best wishes to FM Peter Batchelor on his birthday. \nPeter J Batchelor was born on Tuesday\, December 10th\, 1996. “Breath” by The Prodigy was the UK Number One Single. His father is the player Guy Batchelor. \nPeter’s first recorded rapidplay event was on the 17th of July 2005 in the Barnet Knights Under-9 tournament where he scored 4/6 and his first (!) standard play event was on August 20th 2005 being the British Land UK Terafinal which was not such a happy result. \nHis first published ECF grading was 56E in July 2006 at the age of ten with a rapidplay grading of 57A. \nPeter played league chess in the Middlesex and London Leagues playing initially for Willesden & Brent and then with Wanstead & Woodford both with his father Guy. \nPeter attended the Capital City Academy which is a “specialist sports and arts Academy in Willesden\, North West London\, in the borough of Brent.” He has returned there post-graduation to teach chess and run the school chess club. \nPeter studied mathematics at the University of Warwick and now lives in London. \nAccording to Ben Purton : “I captain Peter in the 4NCL chess league\, he is one of the most professional and talented players on my squad. He is extremely smart and nice to be around. Peter would be an asset to any organisation in the future and any graduate scheme would be foolish not to take such a person on. \nI have seen him grow in to one of the best U21 chess players in the UK and hope to see him gain his IM title soon.” \nPeter became a FIDE Master in 2015 and\, according to Felice and Megabase 2020 his peak FIDE rating was 2365 in December 2016. \nFIDE rating profile for Peter Batchelor according to Megabase 2020\nPeter plays for Grantham Sharks in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL). \nWith the white pieces Peter plays the Queen’s Gambit and the Trompowsky Attack. \nAs the second player Peter plays the Classical variation of the Caro-Kann and the Alartortsev Variation. \nOn chess.com Peter plays under the nom de plume of Pbatch. \nPeter Batchelor\, 4NCL Final weekend\, 2014\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography\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 Peter Batchelor at the 2013 British Championships\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-peter-j-batchelor-10-xii-1996/ CATEGORIES:4NCL,Birthday,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/jb4_9181_lv-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201211 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201212 DTSTAMP:20260817T135602Z CREATED:20190822T155314Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T135602Z UID:985-1607644800-1607731199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Joseph Blake (11-xii-1951) DESCRIPTION:We remember English player Joseph Blake who passed away on Tuesday\, December 11th\, 1951. \nJoseph Henry Blake was born on Thursday\, February 3rd\, 1859 in Farnborough\, Hampshire. His parents were Joseph Denner and Eliza Blake (née Early). In 1871 Joseph (aged 12) had a brother Frank (aged 10)\, sisters Annie (8)\, Elizabeth S (7)\, Eliza E (1) and a servant\, Kate Longman aged 18. The family lived in Lydia Cottage\, Hewitts Road\, Millbrook\, South Stoneham\, Hampshire. \nAccording to the 1861 census Joseph was two years old and living with his parents and Frank in Rotten Row\, Yeovil\, Somerset. \nIn 1881 the family has upped sticks again and moved to 2 St. Lawrence Road\, Saint Mary\, Eastleigh\, Hampshire. This address is also given as the South West Telegraph Office. Eliza was now the head of the household and a widower. Apart from Eliza E aged 11 everyone worked for the railway. \nIn 1891 Joseph had become Head of the Household (aged 32) and they had acquired a servant (Anna M Cornell) and a blacksmith (Francis Cornell) from Braintree in Essex. \nIn 1900 Joseph married Alice New in Cheltenham\, Gloucestershire. They lived at 24\, Barton Road\, Eastleigh\, Hampshire. Tragically\, Alice passed away in 1903. \nJoseph Henry Blake\nBy 1911 Joseph was 52 and had retained his career as a Railway Clerk. He lived at 33\, Broomfield Road\, Tolworth\, Surrey : \n33\, Broomfield Road\, Tolworth\, Surrey\nHe is recorded as the head of a household of one and a widower. \nIn 1939 Joseph was living at 10 Springfield Court\, Springfield Road\, Kingston Upon Thames\, Surrey. He was now retired. \nNo doubt there would have been other addresses not captured by the census records. \nAccording to The Encyclopedia of Chess\, (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE : \n“A leading British player in the 1890s and for many years editor of the Games Section of the British Chess Magazine between the two world wars. Blake’s best tournament performance came at the age sixty-three when\, at Weston-super-Mare in 1922\, he came 1st ahead of Maróczy\, Kostić\, Sir George Thomas and Yates. \nThe remarkable feature about Blake’s chess career is that he retained his skill and his comprehension of the game for a much longer period that most chess players. This extended from 1887 when he was 1st at the Counties Chess Association tournament at Stamford ahead of Bird and Pollock\, a performance he was to repeat in 1891 at Oxford\, to 1909 when he tied with H. E. Atkins for first place in the British Championship\, to 1923 when he won the Weston-super-Mare tournament\, right into the 1930s when he was principal annotator for the British Chess Magazine.” \nChess Endings for Beginners\, JH Blake\, George Routledge First Edition (1900)\nand according to The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale\, 1970 & 1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“One of the leading British players at the end of the last century and the beginning of the present century. Born on 3rd February 1859. Represented England in the Anglo-American cable matches in 1902 and 1909. His best results were 1st in the Counties’ Chess Association Tournament 1887\, ahead of Bird and MacDonnell; =1st with HE Atkins in the 1909 British Championship\, but lost the play-off for the title; 1st at Weston-super-Mare 1922 ahead of Maroczy\, Kostich\, Sir George Thomas and Yates\, and winner of the brilliancy prize for his game against Sir George Thomas; 2nd in the international correspondence chess tournament organised by Le Monde Illustre in 1895. \nBlake was President of the Southern Counties Chess Association in 1911 and President of the Hampshire Chess Association from 1910-1912 and from 1927-1929. He was also Hon. Secretary of the City of London Chess Club for some years.” \nAccording to Tim Harding in the excellent Correspondence Chess in Britain and Ireland\, 1824-1987 : \nRailway clerk Joseph Henry Blake\, the leading English correspondence player of the 1890s; also a strong OTB amateur player. He was a regular contributor to British Chess Magazine from the 1880s to the late 1930s. \nIn British Chess Magazine\, Volume XXXIX (39\, 1919)\, Number 3 (March) we have the following from Julius du Mont : “I presume it relates more particularly to chess professionals in this country\, at any rate\, it does not seem to me that the jews hold rank amongst first-class amateurs in proportion to their numbers. \nIn London there are very few if any of the class of RC Griffith\, GA Thomas\, JH Blake\, HG Cole\, EG Sergeant\, and many others to say nothing of the younger recruits \, W.Winter and RHV Scott.” \nFrom the 1949 British Chess Magazine (written by RN Coles) we have this : \nJH Blake is Ninety \nAfter an absence of ten years I looked in recently on the Kingston and Thames Valley Chess Club. There were many new faces and a number of familiar ones\, among the latter one of rosy countenance\, trim beard and twinkling eyes\, none other than JH Blake\, more vigorous than ever and attaining his 90th birthday on the 3rd February. \nTwenty years ago in this same club I (RN Coles) was learning the game\, now middle age approaches. Blake was an elderly man in those days\, who had retired from all competitive play because of the strain it imposed; now\, so far from showing the weight of years\, he is back in competitive chess again.  He won the club championship last year and is in a fair way to repeating his victory this year. Of all the ‘Grand Old Men’ of chess\, few have still been champions in their 90th year. \nOlder readers of the BCM will remember him as their Games Editor for many years\, but few memories will cover the whole series of his successes beginning with a 1st at Stamford in 1887. Even 1922 must seem a distant year to the generation of today. That was the year that Maroczy and Kostic were invited to Weston-super-Mare to meet such rising young English masters as FD Yates and Sir George Thomas. And the first prize amongst those talented players was won by JH Blake\, who had been born just when Morphy returned to England after his Paris Victory over Anderssen ! \nAll readers of the BCM and all players everywhere will wish Britain’s oldest master continued health and increasing vigour\, and those who knew him today will be surprised if he does not continue his attack for another decade at least. \nBesides winning the first prize at Weston Blake also won the brilliancy prize with the following game : (#10\,229) \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 2 (February)\, pp.44-46 contained an obituary with articles from MDB* : \n*(Careful investigation by Richard James suggest that MDB is Mabel Dorothy Barker\, JHB’s niece in 6th Cross Road.) \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 2 (February) pp. 44 – 46\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 2 (February) pp. 44 – 46\nand EG Sergeant : \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 2 (February) pp. 44 – 46\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 2 (February) pp. 44 – 46\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\nFor more on this game and its often mis-reported continuation see this article from Edward Winter. \nFrom Wikipedia : \n“Joseph Henry Blake (3 February 1859\, Farnborough\, Hampshire – 11 December 1951\, Kingston-upon-Thames) was an English chess master. \nBlake won many tournaments played in England toward the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. He won at Stamford 1887\, Oxford 1891 (joint)\, Brighton 1892\, Cambridge 1893\, and Salisbury 1898 (joint). He also took 5th at Manchester 1882\, tied for 3-4th at Birmingham 1883 (Section B)\, took 4th at Bath 1884\, tied for 6-8th at London 1889 (Henry Bird won)\, took 2nd at Cambridge 1890\, tied for 3rd-4th at Woodhall Spa 1893\, shared 2nd at Craigside 1895\, took 3rd at Hastings (Amateur) 1895\, took 2nd\, behind Henry Ernest Atkins\, at Bristol 1896\, and won at Folkestone 1901. \nHe took 2nd in an international correspondence tournament organised by Le Monde Illustré in 1895\, shared 1st in the 1909 British Championship in Scarborough but lost to Atkins the play-off\, and shared 1st at London 1911. He was British correspondence champion in 1922. \nBlake represented England in cable matches against the United States in 1902\, 1909 and 1910. \nHis best achievement was victory\, ahead of Géza Maróczy\, George Alan Thomas\, Fred Yates and Boris Kostić\, at Weston-super-Mare 1922. He shared 2nd at London 1922 (Major Open)\, tied for 7-8th at Hastings International Chess Congress 1922/23 (Akiba Rubinstein won)\, took 2nd\, behind Thomas\, at London 1923\, took 5th at Liverpool 1923 (Jacques Mieses won)\, tied for 7-8th at Hastings 1923/24 (Max Euwe won)\, tied for 6-7th at Weston-super-Mare 1924 (Euwe won)\, took 2nd\, behind R.P. Michell\, at London 1925\, took 4th at London 1926 (Victor Buerger won)\, and tied for 7-9th at Weston-super-Mare 1926 (Euwe won).” \nHe is the author of Chess endings for beginners (London 1900). \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/death-anniversary-of-joseph-henry-blake/ CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/IMG_2163-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201211 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201212 DTSTAMP:20211209T112235Z CREATED:20191209T163736Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211209T112235Z UID:2261-1607644800-1607731199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Matthew Turner (11-xii-1975) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of GM Matthew James Turner (11-xii-1975) \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-matthew-james-turner-11-xii-1975/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/IMG_1257-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201211 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201212 DTSTAMP:20201211T135933Z CREATED:20191211T101420Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201211T135933Z UID:2290-1607644800-1607731199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of FM Peter Clarke (18-iii-1933 11-xii-2014) DESCRIPTION:PH Clarke\nWe remember FM Peter Clarke who passed away on Thursday\, December 11th\, 2014 whilst living at Chapel House\, Bude\, Cornwall\, EX23 9SQ \nPeter Hugh Clarke was born on Saturday\, March 18th 1933 in West Ham\, London. His mother’s maiden name was Ekblom. \nFrom The Modest Master of Morwenstow by James Pratt (sadly\, as yet\, unpublished) : \n“Peter Hugh Clarke was born in London on 18th March\, 1933. At the age of eight or nine he taught himself the game from ‘The Book of Knowledge’ and played friendly games with his cousin\, who was about a year older. Peter’s father supported his game for many years. PHC was a student at St. Bonaventures School and London University. World War II\, and its even longer aftermath\, robbed him of a number of playing opportunities. It is surprising that he had no childhood heroes\, although later the play of Botvinnik\, Keres and Smyslov impressed him.” \nPeter Clarke with father\, Courtesy of Keverel Chess\nFrom British Chess (Pergamon\, 1983) written by George Botterill : \nChess correspondent of The Sunday Times\, Clarke played for England in the Olympiads of 1954\, 56\, 58\, 60\, 62\, 66 and 68. He has never won the British Championship but has come 2nd on 5 occasions. \nA fine writer. His best books are Mikhail Tal’s Best Games of Chess \nMikhail Tal’s Best Games of Chess\, PH Clarke\, Bell\, 1961\nand Petrosian’s Best Games of Chess 1946-1963 both published by Bell. \nPetrosian’s Best Games of Chess 1946-1963\, PH Clarke\, George Bell & Sons Ltd\, 1964\nThe most remarkable thing about Clarke’s chess career was they way in which he became transformed\, in about 1968-9\, into the most drawish of players. In British tournaments he has become notorious for correct but dull solidity.” \nPeter was Southern Counties (SCCU) Champion for the 1945-55 season. \nPeter was England’s third Correspondence Grandmaster (CGM) in 1980 after Keith Richardson and Adrian Hollis. \nPeter at the dinner table\nFrom BCM / ECF : \n“FIDE and British Master P.H. Clarke will be best remembered as biographer to Tal and to Petrosyan\, but he was so much more. The young Clarke played for Ilford CC in the London League and for Essex at county level. Doing national service he was to learn the Russian that was to so shape his writings. \nThe 1964 England Olympiad (Tel Aviv) Team : Owen Hindle\, Čeněk Kottnauer\, Peter Clarke\, Michael Franklin\, Norman Littlewood & Michael Haygarth\nFor a brief period in the late 1950s\, and early sixties\, he was the number two player in England\, ahead of the vastly more experienced Alexander and Golombek. He played\, of course\, below Jonathan Penrose\, a partnership that bore fruit when preparing openings; latterly they both became Correspondence Grandmasters.” \nPeter Clarke at the 1963 Ilford Whitsun Congress. Source : British Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXXIII\, Number 7 (July)\, page 194\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 Peter Clarke\n“At the British Championships itself he finished second on his first appearance; he was to tie for silver medal on no less than five occasions\, appearing\, almost without a break for thirty years\, a run that ended in 1982. He represented the BCF – as it then was – in eight Olympiads\, playing on top board in 1966. \nBorislav Ivkov playing Peter Clarke at the 1960 Leipzig Olympiad. The game was a QGA which was drawn\nThe Clarke family moved to the West of England in the late Sixties. PHC played in thirteen WECU Championships\, and lost only twice. As a player he could be cautious\, agreeing too readily to draws. Accuracy and respect meant more to him than ambition. The biographer became a journalist as illness cut short his playing career. In his time he beat Larsen\, Penrose and Szabo. \n \nIn 1962 he married BH Wood’s daughter\, Peggy. They had three daughters. In 1975 my mother happened across Peter and Peggy on Morecambe prom. ‘Never’ she was later to tell me\, ‘have I seen a couple more in love.'” \nPeter Clarke & Peggy Wood in 1962\, Courtesy of Keverel Chess\nWe are grateful to James Pratt to allow us to quote from the the sadly unpublished “Modest Master from Morwenstow” as follows : \nPHC by John Littlewood : \n“Peter had a relatively short career at the top and it is interesting to comment on his style. In essence\, his great strength lay in positional understanding which backed-up his defensive skills rather than helped his ability to create wins; in other words\, he won games in which his opponents over-pressed or opted for dubious positional moves. \nAfter doing well in English chess\, he was perhaps pushed into international chess too early for him to develop his own personal creative style. Playing for England and meeting strong players\, he tended towards a rather negative approach that may have been necessary for the team but was not good for his own personal progress\, as shown when he later met English opponents who outstripped him in their positive will-to-win. His friendship with Penrose (a far stronger player) led to far too many draws which did neither of them any good. \nMikhail Tal’s Best Games of Chess\, PH Clarke. Bell\, 1961\nTo be fair\, Peter was not an easy player to beat but\, on the other hand\, he was not too hard to draw against if you felt so inclined. His forte lay in his knowledge of the game and his excellent writing skills\, where he was at his happiest; there is hardly a book of his that I haven’t enjoyed.” \nPetrosian’s Best Games of Chess 1946-1963\, PH Clarke\, Bell\, 1971\nWriting in BCM 04/64\, John Littlewood called PHC a self-style non-tactician and disagreed with Clarke’s belief in the inner logic (‘I have made no mistakes and therefore my position is OK.’) of positions where tactics are to the fore. \nFM Peter Clarke\nPHC by Leonard Barden : \n“Peter’s contribution to British Chess was important as a player and even more so as a writer. His best period was 1956-61. He\, Penrose and myself used to stay in the same hotel during the British Championships and prepare and analyse together\, although we played hard when actually paired. Peter was the solid man in the English team\, gradually taking over the role of Golombek. It was important that we did reasonably well in this period which provided a bridge between the Alexander/Golombek era and the rise of Keene/Hartston. \nPeter was always a good friend to me and his family gave me hospitality each year during the Ilford Congress. Peter’s books\, especially the one about Tal\, were real works of scholarship in an era where there were no computers to facilitate the job. He could have achieved more as a player if he had been able to concentrate fully on that\, but the economic climate then was poor for professionals.” \nPeter and life long friend\, Jonathan Penrose\, Courtesy of Keverel Chess\nPHC by Bernard Cafferty : \n“Right up to that point of his illness in the 1980’s he had worthily defended the reputation of the older generation in the British Championship\, as the last survivor\, still active at that level\, from the Penrose era. I first saw Peter at the 1951 British Championship at Chester and first played him at the 1952 Bristol Universities individual contest. \n24th USSR Chess Championships\, PH Clarke\, British Chess Magazine\, 1959\nHe left the University of London before taking his degree (study of chess rather taking over his life)\, but then had the good fortune to go on to study Russian while doing his National Service\, around 1954-55. Or was he still in the Army when the Moscow 1956 Olympiad took place? He certainly did well there\, perhaps less affected than other Westerners by the strangeness of the place that was just recovering slightly from the depths of Stalin’s baleful influence. \n  \nVV Smyslov – My Best Games of Chess\, edited and translated by PH Clarke\, Routledge and Kegan Paul\, 1958\nI do recall that for a couple of years Peter changed his cautious style. This was around 1957-58 when he scored one of his two wins against Penrose. Was it at Ilford? I remember that the game appeared with notes by B.H. Wood in ‘The Illustrated London News’ column. \nCien Miniaturas Rusas\n  \nI used to see Peter regularly at the Paignton and Hastings Congresses in the 1990’s but not in the last couple of years. His health seems restored.” \nPeter with Brian Reilly observing playing ? with ? in the background.\nPHC by Ken Harman : \n“I am very pleased to hear about your book about Peter Clarke; not sure I can contribute much as I wasn’t a friend of his so only knew him through seeing him and Margaret at chess tournaments. He was a quiet spoken gentleman who played such quiet positional chess that I would call it ‘monastic chess’. I think Clarke thought chess a search for spiritual truth\, only to be found in the cloisters of spiritual truth\, only to be found in the cloisters of contemplative life – ‘The Thomas Merton of Chess’\, if you like. Of course\, I have no idea if he was a spiritual man in real life but his chess always struck me as if he was reaching for heaven and found hell in a doubled pawn. He seemed like a nice man and I suspect his wife Margaret was the dominant one. I have his book on Mikhail Tal’s Best Games of Chess (Bell 1961) which is signed by him and may well have been his copy\, because as you open the book – there is a small newspaper clipping and a photo of Clarke sellotaped which is rather unusual being that the book is about Tal\, and not him. ” \nPeter plays Erich Gottlieb Eliskases at the 1960 Leipzig Olympiad\nPHC by Alan P. Borwell (ICCF Honorary President) : \n“I first met Peter at the 1959 BCF Congress in York when I was a member of local organising committee and then at Paignton and when York played & won the National Club Championship in 1964/5. \nIn 1966 I played Peter in the British Chess Championship in last round in Sunderland.” \nPeter analyses “al fresco” with ?. Possibly from Hastings ?\nand from Wikipedia : \nPeter Hugh Clarke (18 March 1933 – 11 December 2014) was an English chess player\, who hold titles FIDE master (FM) and International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster (1980)\, FIDE International arbiter (1976)\, Chess Olympiad individual silver medal winner (1956). \nPeter Clarke started playing chess at the age of six. He twice won the London Boys’ Chess Championship (1950\, 1951). He was British Chess Championship multiplier participant where five times won silver medal. \nSince 1959\, Peter Hugh Clarke has been working as a chess journalist in the newspaper Sunday Times and magazine British Chess Magazine. He known as the biographical book’s author of Mikhail Tal (1961) and Tigran Petrosian (1964). Thanks to his good knowledge of Russian language\, he translated the book about Vasily Smyslov in 1958. In 1963 he wrote a book 100 Soviet Chess Miniatures. \nPeter Clarke played for England in the Chess Olympiads : \nIn 1954\, at second reserve board in the 11th Chess Olympiad in Amsterdam (+2\, =2\, -3)\,\nIn 1956\, at reserve board in the 12th Chess Olympiad in Moscow (+7\, =5\, -0) and won individual silver medal\,\nIn 1958\, at fourth board in the 13th Chess Olympiad in Munich (+2\, =10\, -3)\,\nIn 1960\, at third board in the 14th Chess Olympiad in Leipzig (+4\, =7\, -3)\,\nIn 1962\, at second board in the 15th Chess Olympiad in Varna (+3\, =10\, -2)\,\nIn 1964\, at second board in the 16th Chess Olympiad in Tel Aviv (+2\, =8\, -2)\,\nIn 1966\, at first board in the 17th Chess Olympiad in Havana (+2\, =10\, -1)\,\nIn 1968\, at third board in the 18th Chess Olympiad in Lugano (+0\, =7\, -1).\nAlso he played for England in the World Student Team Chess Championship (1954\, 1959)and in the Clare Benedict Chess Cup (1960-1961\, 1963\, 1965\, 1967-1968) where won team silver medal (1960) and 4 bronze medals (1961\, 1963\, 1967\, 1968). \nIn later years\, Peter Clarke active participated in correspondence chess tournaments. In 1977\, he won British Correspondence Chess Championship. In 1976\, Peter Clarke was awarded the International Correspondence Chess Master (IMC) title and received the International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster (GMC) title four years later. \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-fm-peter-hugh-clarke-18-iii-1933-11-xii-2014/ CATEGORIES:British Championships,Correspondence,Death Anniversary,History,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/IMG.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201211 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201212 DTSTAMP:20210807T163528Z CREATED:20200410T112417Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210807T163528Z UID:4331-1607644800-1607731199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Gawain Jones (11-xii-1987) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of GM Gawain Christopher B Jones (11-xii-1987) \nGawain was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 2012-13 season. \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-gawain-christopher-b-jones-11-xii-1987/ CATEGORIES:4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/JUZ_3014-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201211 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201212 DTSTAMP:20260817T135555Z CREATED:20200411T223934Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T135555Z UID:4523-1607644800-1607731199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Christopher Wood (11-xii-1940) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of FM Christopher Baruch Wood (11-xii-1940) \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-christopher-baruch-wood-11-xii-1940/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201211 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201212 DTSTAMP:20260817T135547Z CREATED:20210125T154414Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T135547Z UID:13467-1607644800-1607731199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Richard Griffith (22-vii-1872 11-xii-1955) DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of Richard Griffith (22-vii-1872 11-xii-1955) \nSee Chess World\, Volume 11\, Number 6\, June 1956\, page 128. \nHere is his Wikipedia entry. \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-richard-griffith-22-vii-1872-11-xii-1955/ CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,History,Player,Writer END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201212 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201213 DTSTAMP:20201212T190642Z CREATED:20200407T103614Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201212T190642Z UID:4127-1607731200-1607817599@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of David Pritchard (19-x-1919 12-xii-2005) DESCRIPTION:We remember David Pritchard who passed away on Monday\, December 12th\, 2005. \nDavid Brine Pritchard was born on Sunday\, October 19th\, 1919. On this day the first US Distinguished Service Medal was awarded to a living female recipient\, Anna Howard Shaw. \nHe was born in Wandsworth taking his mothers’  Winifred maiden name of Brine (as was customary in those days). His father was Arthur Pritchard (DoB : 4th January 1890) and he was the managing director of an Engineering Company. Arthur and Winifred married in Maidenhead\, Berkshire in 1917. \nAt the time of the 1939 census David was a chiropodist and recorded as single and living in Munee Cottage\, Main Street\, Bedford. Main Street appears to have been renamed to Main Road which is in Biddenham. It is likely DBPs cottage was something like : \n48 and 50 Main Road Biddenham\, Bedford\, Hertfordshire\nDuring the second world War David joined the Royal Air Force and was stationed in the Far East and following the war\, he switched to intelligence work also for the RAF. He attained the rank of Squadron Leader and played much chess during this period of his life. \nIn 1950 David completed his first book : The Right Way to Play Chess\, Elliot Right Way Books\, 1950\, ISBN 1-58574-046-2 \nThe Right Way to Play Chess\, Elliot Right Way Books\, DB Pritchard\, 1950.\n(Ed : This was the first chess book of this article’s author and was thoroughly consumed!) \nOn page 224 of said book David wrote : \nChessplayers – and this must be whispered – are generally an egotistical\, ill-mannered crowd. If they conformed to common rules of decorum these words would not have to be written \nfollowed by \nI once carried out a private survey at a well-known chess restaurant where a large number of ‘friendly’ games are always in progress. In less than 30 per cent of those observed was resignation made with a good grace. In two-thirds of the games the loser either knocked his king over\, abruptly pushed the pieces into the centre of the board\, started to set up the men for a fresh game\, or got up and walked away without saying a word to his opponent. \nHe married Elaine Saunders in 1952. \nElliot Right Way Books was an excellent choice of publisher for David and only 36 minutes by car from his new home in Godalming. \nHe won the Singapore Championship in 1954 and the Malaysian Championship in 1955. \nVisiting https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter97.html you will find two images of David and Elaine playing chess in Singapore. \nDavid and Elaine had a daughter\, Wanda on March 21st 1958. She became Wanda Dakin who was also a chess player. Wanda attended Guildford High School for Girls and then Royal Holloway College\, Egham. \nDavid was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 1958-59 and 1965-66 seasons. \nFrom the British Championships\, 1959 in York we have this sparkling game with Frank Parr : \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nBy now David had developed an  interest in chess variants and board games in general. \nHe played in and won (several times) the Battle of Britain Chess Tournament : DBP was the organisations President. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nIn 1970 he brought out his third book :  Begin Chess\, David Pritchard\, Elliot Right Way Books\, 1952 \nBegin Chess by David Brine Pritchard\, Elliot Right Way Books\, 1970\nBegin Chess by David Brine Pritchard\, Elliot Right Way Books\, 1970\nDavid became President of British Chess Variants Society and wrote many books on variants and indoor games. \nHere is an interview compiled by Hans Bodlaender about David’s Encyclopedia of Chess Variants : \nEncyclopedia of Chess Variants\, DB Pritchard\, GAMES & PUZZLES PUBLICATIONS\, 1994\nParticularly interesting was this Q&A : \nDo you think computers and the Internet will have effect on chess and on chess variants? If so\, in what way? \nI think that the Internet will inevitably introduce chess to more players but I forsee chess variants\, because of their novelty\, benefitting in particular from publicity on the net. I expect variants to gain more and more adherents in the future. \nDavid was preparing a second edition before he passed away. This was completed and made available on-line by John Beasley. \nThe Pritchard family lived at Badgers Wood\, Hascombe Road\, Godalming\, Surrey\, GU8 4AA in an idyllic location : \nBadgers Wood\, Hascombe Road\, Godalming\, Surrey\, GU8 4AA\nand here is the exceptional interior with games room : \n  \nBadgers Wood\, Hascombe Road\, Godalming\, Surrey\, GU8 4AA\nAt the time of his passing he had five grand children. \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXVI (126\, 2006)\, Number 2 (February)\, page 76 : \n“David Brine Pritchard (19 x 1919 Streatham\, London – 12 xiii 2005\, London) has died following a fall . He was a strong amateur player and a successful author of books on chess and other games. \nDavid Pritchard was a Squadron Leader in the RAF during the war and later rejoined it to work in intelligence. Whilst serving with the RAF he won the Malayan Chess Championships in 195\, and he was also instrumental in the running the UK event known as Battle of Britain Tournament which attracted a strong field in its heyday and generated revenue for the RAF Benevolent Fund. \nHe was a dangerous. attacking played who scored a number of notable scalps in the British Championship including Penrose and Miles\, without ever achieving the consistency required to challenge for the leading positions.  He won the Southern Counties championships in 1959 and 1966. \nAs an author\, Pritchard’s most successful book was The Right Way to Play Chess (Elliott\, 1950\, with numerous reprints). which is still to be found for sale in many British bookshops. \nHe will also be remembered as a leading authority on chess variants : he was reported to be in the process of preparing a second edition of The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants (1994) at the time of his death. He was also a very good correspondence player\, an inventor composer of chess puzzles of all sorts (some of which appeared in BCM) and his interest in Fairy chess dated back to the 1940s. \nHis wife Elaine Pritchard\, the leading woman player of the 1950s and 1960s\, and their daughter Wanda (who also played competitive chess) survive him. We send them our condolences on behalf of BCM and its readers.” \nDavid Pritchard (19-x-1919 12-xii-2005)\, Passport photograph\nHe was a leading member of Godalming Chess Club and played in the Surrey Border League. \nThe David Pritchard Shield from the Surrey Border League\nHere is David’s Wikipedia entry \nThe Family Book of Games\, DB Prichard\, Brockhampton Press\, 1994\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-david-brine-pritchard-19-x-1919-12-xii-2005/ CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Variants,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/David-Parlett-and-David-Pritchard-when-asked-who-is-the-better-and-most-prolific-gamebook-author.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201213 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201214 DTSTAMP:20201212T223944Z CREATED:20191213T135517Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201212T223944Z UID:2383-1607817600-1607903999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of David Shire (13-xii-1947) DESCRIPTION:Happy Birthday to David Shire. \nDavid John Shire was born on Saturday\, December 13th 1947. On the same day “Ballerina” by Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra hit #1 on the Billboard Best Sellers in Stores record chart. \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-david-j-shire-13-xii-1947/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Composer,Player,Problemist ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/JUA3089-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201213 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201214 DTSTAMP:20201213T110541Z CREATED:20191213T140256Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201213T110541Z UID:2387-1607817600-1607903999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of Colin Sydenham (13-xii-1937) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of Colin Peter Sydenham (13-xii-1937) \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-colin-peter-sydenham-13-xii-1937/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Composer,Player,Problemist ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/13.12-colin_sydenham.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201214 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201215 DTSTAMP:20201213T185406Z CREATED:20191211T173844Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201213T185406Z UID:2311-1607904000-1607990399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Brandon Clarke (14-xii-1995) DESCRIPTION:Happy Birthday Wishes to IM Brandon George I Clarke born on this day (December 14th)\, 1995. “Earth Song” by Michael Jackson was the UK Number One single. \nIn the 2003 London Junior Championships he was =13 with 4/7 \nIn July 2004 he secured his first published standard play grading of 84D and 62D for rapid play.  His first recorded rapid  play tournament was on the 4th of October 2003 being the Mini Squad Under 8s. In this event he beat a certain Jamie Horton who had a grading of 45D at the time. \nIn 2006 Brandon won outright the London Under 12 title with 7.5/9. Marcus Harvey was a runner-up. This situation was repeated one year later. \nIn 2009 Brandon won the LJCC Under-16 title this time with Akash Jain as runner-up. His TPR for a score of 5/6 was 199. \nBrandon was a chess scholar at Wellington College\, Berkshire and was part of the strongest school / college team to play in the National Schools competition for many years that included James Holland\, Felix Jose Ynojosa-Aponte\, Alexander Galliano\, Latefah Meesam-Sparkes\, Akash Jain\, Adrian Archer-Lock and latterly William Foo and Richard Zhu. Despite being easily the strongest team they were denied the title by the antiquated age handicapping rules. \nFIDE rating profile for Brandon Clarke according to MegaBase 2020\nHe became an International Master in early 2019 and plays much chess in Australia\, New Zealand and England having lived in the USA for some time after leaving Wellington College. \nAged 24 Brandon has achieved his highest FIDE rating of 2445 and it shows every sign of increasing. \nIM Brandon Clarke\, British Championships (Major Open)\, Torquay 2019\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nWith the White pieces Brandon is almost exclusively an e4 player with occasional forays with the Queen’s pawn. Against the Najdorf he prefers 6.Bg5 and allows the Marshall against the Ruy Lopez. \nAs the second player he plays the Najdorf and the King’s Indian Defence most of the time. \nBrandon has his own YouTube Channel. \nOn Chess.com he plays under the handle of Biranidun with a blitz rating of 2847. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nIn January 2019 Brandon scored a very impressive victory in the 126th (!) New Zealand Open. “The 2019 126th New Zealand Open is part of the 126th New Zealand Congress and is a 9-round Swiss event being held at the Waipuna Conference Centre in Auckland from 14-22 January 2019.” \nCross table from the 126h New Zealand Open\nBrandon made a welcome return to the UK and comfortably won the 2019 Major Open in Torquay with 8.5/9 as an IM. \nBrandon plays for Australia Kangaroos in the Pro Chess League. \nThe ECF grading web site shows his only club to be Littlethorpe (in Leicestershire) although Brandon played for Warwickshire Select in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL). \nIM Brandon Clarke\, British Championships (Major Open)\, Torquay 2019\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-brandon-george-i-clarke-14-xii-2005/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/bct_4620_lv-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201214 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201215 DTSTAMP:20201030T162932Z CREATED:20191211T174157Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201030T162932Z UID:2315-1607904000-1607990399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Ian Thomas (14-xii-1967) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of IM Ian Thomas (14-xii-1967) \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-ian-thomas-14-xii-1967/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/IMG_1433-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR