BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//British Chess News - ECPv6.17.3.1//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:British Chess News 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:20200716 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200717 DTSTAMP:20210708T141006Z CREATED:20200131T000043Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210708T141006Z UID:3070-1594857600-1594943999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Lawrence Cooper (16-vii-1970) DESCRIPTION:BCN wishes Happy Birthday to IM Lawrence Cooper (16-vii-1970) \nLawrence was born in Stone\, Staffordshire and attend Walton High School\, Stafford. \nLawrence Cooper\, Demis Hassabis\, Cathy Hasslinger and Dharshan Kumaran in around 1986. Possibly at a Lloyds Bank event.\nHe became a FIDE Master in 1989 and then an International Master in 2001. \nLawrence was awarded the FIDE International Organiser title in 2011 and the FIDE Arbiter title in 2016. \nTim Dickinson and Lawrence Cooper at the 2012 London Chess Classic\, Olympia\nHis peak rating was 2430 in January 1988. \nLawrence plays for Wood Green in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL)  plus Newport (Shropshire)\, Stafford\, Bushbury and Worcestershire CCA in other competitions. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nLawrence Cooper (centre with trophy) being presented with 1992 BCF Counties Championship trophy by WIM Cathy Forbes. Others in the group include Michael Gough\, Alan A Smith\, Gerald Acey\, Mike P Townsend\, Malcolm Armstrong\, Martin Costley\, Alan Crombleholme\, Graeme N Buckley\, Paul Wallace\, Mark A . Wheeler\, Dave Carless\, Darren P Wheeler\, Keith Thompson\, Ralph MA Allen and Graham Smith\n\nFull caption in image below\nFull caption for above 1986 BCF Junior Squad group photograph\n\n  \nIM Lawrence Cooper\, photography by Fiona Steil-Antoni\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-lawrence-h-cooper-16-vii-1970/ CATEGORIES:Arbiter,Birthday,British Championships,Organiser,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Coo01643.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200716 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200717 DTSTAMP:20210710T142702Z CREATED:20200402T173018Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210710T142702Z UID:3978-1594857600-1594943999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Michael Barnes (16-vii-1965) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of FM Michael H Barnes (16-vii-1965) \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-michael-h-barnes-16-vii-1965/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/2016-17-Gambit-CC-576x1024-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200717 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200718 DTSTAMP:20210710T141954Z CREATED:20200411T125437Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210710T141954Z UID:4426-1594944000-1595030399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Nigel Povah (17-vii-1952) DESCRIPTION:BCN wishes IM Nigel Edward Povah all the best on his birthday\, July 17th in 1952. \nNigel Povah\, from Knightmare\, Volume 2 (1976-77) drawn by Chris Jones.\nNigel was born in Wandsworth\, London. \nHe became a FIDE Master in 1980\, an International Master in 1983 and an International Correspondence Master in 1983. He became England’s 7th ICCF GM in 1989. His predecessors were : \n210048 Markland\, Peter Richard ENG GM 1984\n210060 Penrose\, Dr. Jonathan ENG GM 1983\n210178 Webb\, Simon ENG GM 1983\n210011 Clarke\, Peter Hugh ENG GM 1980\n210029 Hollis\, Adrian Swayne ENG GM 1976\n210062 Richardson\, Keith Bevin ENG GM 1975 \nNigel has been Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 1974-75 and 1975-76 seasons. \nNigel Povah\, circa 1979\nNigel has played for Streatham & Brixton Club (see the Andrew Martin video below) and was part of this very strong London club which developed many original opening ideas. \nNigel was a strong opening theoretician and developed ideas in the Sicilian Lasker-Pelikan\, Sveshnikov and English Openings amongst others. \nKnightmare magazines are a valuable source of information about the club and it’s members. \nBelow we have the game Berg-Povah\, Wijk aan Zee\, 1979 annotated by Streatham & Brixton team mate\, IM Andrew Martin : \n\nNigel continues to play for Guildford in the Surrey League and in the Surrey Border League as well as Guildford in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL). \nNigel started the highly successful 4NCL teams sponsored by his company Guildford A&DC (Assessment & Development Consultants) and the 4NCL team(s) are now run by Roger Emerson and Julien Shepley having taken a back seat since June 2017. \nHis peak rating was 2385 in January 1980 aged 28. \nNigel is married to Gill and has a daughter Lucy and a son\, Jonathan. \nIn recent times Nigel has been playing more nationally and internationally and and has become a specialist in the Accelerated London System (with 2.Lf4) and is a regular on the International veterans circuit. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nHere is an article written by Richard W. O’Brien from British Chess\, Pergamon Press\, 1983 : \n“Nigel Povah was for the majority of the seventies a chess professional. He mixed playing with teaching in various schools and also coached individuals. He is a BCF qualified coach. Danny King (our second youngest international master) and the late Ian Wells were two who clearly benefited from his teachings. \nOn the playing front he won numerous congresses including Hammersmith 1970\, Paignton 1974\, LARA 1974\, Evening Standard 1974\, LARA(again) 1978 and Charlton 1979. In 1975 he won the SCCU Championship and again in 1976. He first played in international tournaments in 1973 when as one of the weaker players in the tournament he produced excellent annotations for the bulletin\, even for the games he lost. These were the first signs of becoming a chess writer. To date he has shared first place in four international tournaments Robert Silk 1976\, Malta 1976\, Malta(again) 1979 and Wijk aan Zee Master Reserves 1979. It can be seen that 1979 was a good year. He also shared 4th place in the British Championship and represented\nEngland at senior level against Denmark in the same year. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nHis road to the lM title has been long and hard. On several occasions he got close to the norm requirement just to fail. At Lloyds Bank in 1978 and 1980 and Lewisham 1981 he got the necessary three norms. Had he then ceased playing (with an Elo of 23751 he would automatically have had the lM title confirmed at Lucerne in 1982. He however continued playing and became the victim of some complicated and\, with respect\, unfair FIDE regulations\, and his title was delayed until 1983. Clearly had the General Assembly met between January 1982 and June 1982 he would have been awarded the title at least a year earlier! \nHe has written several books-Chess Training published by Faber\, English:Four Knights Batsford\, How to Play the English Batsford and was co-author of Sicilian: Lasker-Pelikan Batsford. These last three Batsford publications indicate his interest in current theory. Two of the games which follow- v Berg (see 16…Rb8) and v Speelman (see 12 NgS)certainly confirm this. The Streatham and Brixton club owe much to Nigel Povah in becoming one of the strongest clubs in the country. At one time an average second division side (London league) they have since won the league and been in contention more than once. For several years he was one of the main three organisers at the club and even today still continues to play for them and is currently their National Club match-captain although he now lives some twenty miles away in Guildford. \nIn 1979 he organised the First Regency International at Ramsgate. In conjunction with Ian Josephs (sponsor) and Bob Wade (controller) this has become a highly successful annual event. \nNow married\, his wife Gill presented him with a daughter Lucy shortly after the completion of the Regency International in 1982. \nHe now works for ICL as training consultant and limits his over the board chess to club chess for Streatham. \nHe has recently taken up postal chess and in 1983 after competing in the BPCF Jubilee he became a correspondence International Master. \nHe has a BSc in Psychology and an MSc in Occupational Psychology.” \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nStreatham & Brixton becoming BCF National Club Champions in 1989. The team was Tony Kosten\, Mark Hedben\, Daniel King\, Nigel Povah (Captain)\, Joe Gallagher and Julian Hodgson : quite a strong team\nAccording to Chess Training : “Two of his pupils were members of England’s victorious 4-man team in the World Under-16 team event.” \nHere is his Wikipedia entry : \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nSicilian Lasker-Pelikan\nChess Training : Nigel Povah\nEnglish : Four Knights\nHow to play the English Opening\nAssessment Centres and Global Talent Management\nIM Nigel Povah\, courtesy of John Upham Photography\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-nigel-edward-povah-17-vii-1952/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Organiser,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/bcc_3663_lv.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200717 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200718 DTSTAMP:20210710T142153Z CREATED:20200720T093008Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210710T142153Z UID:7616-1594944000-1595030399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Dr. Julian Farrand QC (Hon) (13-viii-1935 17-vii-2020) DESCRIPTION:BCN mourns the passing of Dr. Julian Farrand (13-viii-1935 17-vii-2020). He was 84 years of age. \nJulian Thomas Farrand was born August 13th\, 1935 in Doncaster in the West Riding of Yorkshire. \nDr. Farrand QC(Hon)\, formerly the Insurance Ombudsman\, became the Pensions Ombudsman\, and he had been a Law Commissioner and a University Professor of Law at the University of Manchester where he was Dean of the faculty. \nMost recently he lived in Morpeth\, London\, SW1. \nDr JULIAN FARRAND Pensions Ombudsman COMPULSORY CREDIT: UPPA/Photoshot Photo UKWT 011879/A-32a 31.07.1996\nHis first recorded game in Megabase 2020 was white at the 1968 British Championships in Bristol against life-long friend CGM Keith Bevan Richardson. Together with Raymond Brunton Edwards\, Julian and Keith were long-time trustees of the BCFs Permanent Invested Fund (PIF). \nJulian played for Pimlico\, Cavendish and Insurance in the London League and he maintained a standard play grading of 172A in 2020 as well as a FIDE rating of 1943 for standard play. He also played in the London Public Services League\, the Central London League and the City Chess Association League. He made regular appearances in the Bronowski Trophy competition and the World Senior’s Team Tournament. \nHis (according to Megabase 2020) peak Elo rating was 2238 in April\, 2004 aged 69. It is likely to have been higher than that if it was measured. \nJulian joined Barbican following its merger with Perception Youth to become Barbican Youth in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL). \nHis favourite openings with white were : The Richter-Veresov Opening in later years and the English/Barcza Opening in earlier times. \nWith Black he enjoyed the Czech System and the Lenningrad Dutch. \nHis son\, Tom\, is a strong player and a successful barrister with expertise in Intellectual Property Rights\, Trademarks and Copyright law. \nHis wife (married in 1992)\, Baroness Hale of Richmond\, served as President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom from 2017 to 2020\, and serves as a member of the House of Lords as a Lord Temporal. \nJulian Farrand with Lady Hale at a Buckingham Palace reception. Photo : Press Association\nMemorial messages have been posted on the English Chess Forum and many will\, no doubt\, follow. Included are older games from John Saunders not found in the online databases. \nIn 2015 Julian (together with fellow trustees Keith Richardson and Ray Edwards) received the ECF President’s Award for services to the Permanent Invested Fund. \nHere is the citation from the 2015 award : \n“Julian is best known as the first-ever English ombudsman (in insurance). He is the husband of law lord Baroness Hale. I (SR) first met him at about the age of 12 year old when playing for my school. He is about four years older. Both Ray and Julian are members of the Book of the Year Committee and have been reviewing books for this purpose for many years. Both are quite strong chess players\, indeed playing for England in the same team in the European 60+ Team Championship in Vienna 11-20 July 2015. Keith was to have been a member of the same team\, but his wife’s ill-health forced him to withdraw.” \nHere is an obituary from The Times of London \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nHere is an obituary from Stewart Reuben \nProf. Julian T Farrand at the King’s Place Rapidplay\, 2013\, courtesy of John Upham Photography\nLove All Risks by Julian Farrand\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-prof-julian-t-farrand-13-viii-1935-17-vii-2020/ CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/JUA3900.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200719 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200720 DTSTAMP:20210710T142950Z CREATED:20200401T143331Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210710T142950Z UID:3930-1595116800-1595203199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant (19-vii-1968) DESCRIPTION:BCN wishes GM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant best wishes on her birthday\, July 19th 1968 \nHere is her extensive Wikipedia entry \nGM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant\nGM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-ketevan-arakhamia-grant-19-vii-1968/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/JB4_7612.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200723 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200724 DTSTAMP:20210710T143352Z CREATED:20190823T190033Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210710T143352Z UID:1120-1595462400-1595548799@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Sir George Thomas\, 7th Baronet (14-vi-1881 23-vii-1972) DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of Sir George Alan Thomas\, 7th Baronet (14-vi-1881 23-vii-1972) \nSignature of GA Thomas from a Brian Reilly “after dinner” postcard from Hastings Christmas Congress\, 1945-1946\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (BT Batsford\, 1977) by Harry Golombek : \n“British international master\, born in Constantinople (previously Byzantium and currently Istanbul : Ed.) His mother (Lady Edith Margaret Thomas : Ed) was one of the strongest English women players\, winner of the first Ladies tournament at Hastings 1895. \n(Ed : his father was Sir George Sydney Meade Thomas) \nThomas was an all-round athlete who excelled at tennis\, hockey and badminton as well as chess. He captained the English badminton team and was All England Badminton Singles champion from 1920 to 1923.” \nSir George Alan Thomas : “During his playing career\, he won 78 national titles in the United Kingdom and a further 12 French titles; he also competed in 29 out of 30 English internationals\, winning 50 matches in the process.”\nHere is an excellent article (albeit stating GT was a Grandmaster and was president of the British Chest Federation!) from the National Badminton Museum. \n\n“Thomas won the British chess championship twice\, in 1923 and 1934 and represented England in the Olympiads of 1927 where he tied with Norman Hansen for the best score – 80% on board 3\, 1930\, 1931\, 1935\, 1937 and 1939. \nPassenger list from RMS Alacantra showing Sir George Thomas arriving at Buenos Aires on September 19th\, 1939\nEntry for Sir George Thomas from above image.\nIn international tournaments his greatest successes were 1st at Spa (ahead of Tartakower) and =1st at Hastings 1934/5 (tied with Euwe and Flohr\, ahead of Capablanca and Botvinnik). \nSir George Thomas\, British Chess Champion\, Southsea Congress\, 1923 Photograph by Gilbert N Fulcher\, Southsea\nHe was known for his keen sense of sportsmanship and for his ability to encourage and inspire younger players. He served for many years on the BCF Junior selection committee and was for a time Games Editor of the British Chess Magazine. FIDE awarded him the titles of international master (1950) and International Judge (1952). (article by Ray Keene)” \nBritish chess champion Sir George Thomas playing at the Annual British Chess Federation Championship in Yarmouth\, England\, July 11th 1935. (Photo by Harry Todd/Fox Photos/Getty Images)\nThomas with the White pieces was predominantly a Ruy Lopez devotee. \nWith the Black pieces against 1.e4 he defended the Lopez and the Queen’s Gambit Declined was his favourite versus 1.d4 \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 (Robert Hale 1972 and 1976) by Anne Sunnucks : \n“International Master (1950)\, International Judge (1952) and British Champion in 1923 and 1934. All England Badminton Singles Champion\, All England Badminton Doubles Champion\, Wimbledon tennis player and county hockey player. \nSir George Thomas was born in Constantinople on 14th June 1881. His mother\, Lady Thomas\, won the first ever ladies’ tournament\, which was held in conjunction with the Hastings International Chess Tournament of 1895. \nHe learned the moves at the age of 4\, and as a boy met many of the world’s leading players\, including Steinitz\, Lasker\, Tchigorin and Pillsbury\, in his mother’s drawing-room. \nApart from serving as a subaltern in the Army during the 1914-1918 war\, Sir George has devoted his life to sport. He played tennis at Wimbledon\, played hockey for Hampshire\, captained the English Badminton team and was All England Badminton Singles Champion from 1920-1923 and doubles champion nine times. \nSir George Thomas And Brian ReillySir George Thomas (left)\, leader of the British chess team\, playing Irishman Brian Reilly at the Easter Chess Congress\, Margate\, April 24th 1935. (Photo by Harry Todd/Fox Photos/Getty Images)\nSir George played chess for England regularly from 1910 to 1939. He played for the British Chess Federation in the Chess Olympiads of 1927\,1930\, 1931\, 1933\, 1935\, 1937 and 1939\, and captained the team which withdrew from the Buenos Aires Olympiad in 1939 on the out-break of war. \nA Brian Reilly “after dinner” postcard from Margate 1936.\nThe Grand Hotel\, Cliftonville\, Margate. Venue for the Margate tournaments.\nHis first appearance in the British Championship was in he came 2nd. He also came 2nd in 192l and in 1923 won the first time\, thus becoming British Chess Champion and\nBadminton Champion in the same year. Sir George’s best performance was at Hastings 1934-1935\, when he came =1st. In the last round he needed only a draw against R. P. Michell to come lst\, ahead of Euwe\, Capablanca\, Flohr and Lilienthal\, but he lost and had to be content with sharing lst prize with Euwe and Flohr. \nNice Masters\, 1931. Standing : Daniel Noteboom\, Abraham Baratz\, George Renaud (Organiser)\, John J O’Hanlon\, Marcel Duchamp\, Brian Reilly (winner)\, Seated : Eugene Znokso-Borovsky\,\, Arpad Vajda\, Sir George Thomas\, Jacques Mieses\, Stefano Roselli del Turco\, Jacob Adolf Seitz. British Chess Magazine\, 1931\, page 201\nDuring his career he has beaten Botvinnik\, Flohr and and drawn with Nimzowitsch\, Rubinstein and Capablanca. He been noted for his sportsmanship and for his interest in and encouragement of young players. \nPartie d’échecsSir Georges Thomas\, le célèbre joueur d’échecs britannique\, jouant contre sa plus jeune adversaire âgée de 8 ans\, à Londres\, Royaume-Uni le 24 octobre 1934. (Photo by Keystone-France\Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)\nSince his retirement until the last few years\, Sir George continued to attend tournaments as a spectator. \nHe is the author of The Art of Badminton\, published in 1923. \nThe Art of Badminton\nHe died on 23rd July 1972 in a London nursing home.” \nHere is Part II of GM Matthew Sadler’s appreciation of Sir George. \nMost interestingly we have this this splendid article from Neil Blackburn (SimaginFan) on chess.com \nHere is his Wikipedia entry \nSir George Alan Thomas (14-vi-1881 23-vii-1972)\nand here is Part III of Matthew Sadler’s article \nSir George Alan Thomas\nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess (OUP\, 1984) by Hooper & Whyld : \n“English player. International Master (1950)\, International Arbiter (1952)\, British champion 1923 and 1934. His mother\, who taught him chess\, was winner of one of the first women’s tournaments\, Hastings 1895\, He played in more than 80 tournaments and achieved his best result at Hastings 1934-5 (about category 9)\, when he scored +6-1—2 to share first prize with Euwe and Flohr ahead of Botvinnik and Capablanca. Thomas played in seven Olympiads from 1927 to 1939\, and in the first the highest percentage score was made by him ( + 9=6) and the Dane Holgar Norman-Hansen (1899- ) (+11=2—2). A leading English player for more than 25 years\, Thomas fought many battles at the famous City of London club\, winning 16 of the annual championships from 1913-14 to 1938-9. In his sixty-ninth year he gave up competitive chess when\, after a hard game\, ‘the board and men began to swim before my eyes\,’ He continued his active interest in junior events and his visits\, now as a spectator\, to chess events. \n\nA man of few words\, imperturbable\, of fine manners. Sir George Thomas was respected throughout the chess world for his sportsmanship and impartiality\, and his opinion was often sought when disputes arose between players. The inheritor of both a baronetcy and private means\, he\ndevoted his life to games and sports. Besides his chess he was a keen hockey player\, a competitor in international lawn tennis (reaching the last eight at Wimbledon on one occasion)\, and winner of about 90 badminton titles\, notably the All-England men’s singles championship which he won four times\, from 1920 to 1923.” \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-sir-george-alan-thomas/ CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Honours,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/gathomas_radio_1-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200724 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200725 DTSTAMP:20210724T113420Z CREATED:20191106T163952Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210724T113420Z UID:1792-1595548800-1595635199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Marcus Harvey (24-vii-1996) DESCRIPTION:BCN wishes Happy Birthday to FM Marcus Ross Harvey born on this day (Wednesday\, July 24th) in 1996. Killing Me Softly by the Fugees was top of the hit parade. \nMarcus was born in Oxford and attended The Marlborough School\, Woodstock\, Oxfordshire and then (in 2014) at The University of Southampton he studied mathematics. \nOriginally playing for Bicester Marcus now represents Witney Chess Club in local leagues. \nMarcus first played in the British Championship in 2011 (Sheffield). \nMarcus Harvey at the 2013 King’s Place Rapidplay\, courtesy of John Upham Photography\nOriginally playing for Oxford he now plays for Wood Green in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) and Southampton University in the Southampton League. \nMarcus playing IM Yang-Fan Zhou at the 2013 Delancey UKCC Terafinal at Loughborough Grammar School. Courtesy of John Upham Photography.\nIn 2014 Marcus won the title of “Strat” (the overall Terafinal winner) of the 2014 Delancey UK Chess Challenge at Loughborough Grammar School. \nMarcus Harvey at the 2013 Delancey UKCC Terafinal at Loughborough Grammar School\, courtesy of John Upham Photography.\nMarcus has a FIDE rating of 2440 and an ECF grading of 240. \n2014 Delancey UKCC Terafinal winner\, Marcus Harvey at Loughborough Grammar School. Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nIn 2018 he won the Witney Open outright with 4/5 and\, in the same year\, was runner-up to David Howell in the UK Blitz Open with 12.5/15 and a of 2589. \nIn 2019 he was =1st (with Mark Hebden) in the 4NCL Easter Open in Stevenage. Later that year Marcus was losing semi-finalist (to Gawain Jones) in the London Classic Blitz Knockout. \nMarcus\, on home ground\, won the 43rd Kidlington Open in 2020 and followed this with and is the current 2020 English Online Blitz Champion beating IM Andrew Greet\, FM Jonah Willow\, IM Ameet Ghasi and IM Andrew Horton in the final. \n\nIn the Pro chess league he represents UK Lions. \nMarcus Harvey’s FIDE rating profile according to Megabase 2020\nOn 6th November 2019 we reported that Marcus had obtained his second International Master norm at the recent (October 2019) Hull 4NCL International Congress by scoring 4.5/9 with wins over IM Andrew Greet and IM Richard Palliser. \nOn July 17th 2021 Marcus was joint winner with IM Peter Roberson in the 1st Chessfest Decode Rapidplay with an impressive 6/6 and a TPR of 2911. \nMarcus overcame Rory McLean\, Theo Koury\, Steven Coles\, FM Alexis Harakis\, CM Jonathan Pein and rapidplay / blitz specialist IM Ameet Ghasi to share first place. \nMarcus enjoys playing the Smyslov-Larsen opening with white \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nand the classical French and the Nimzo-Indian Defence. \nIt is clear that Marcus is now easily of IM strength and surely is a strong candidate for England’s next Grandmaster. \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 Marcus Ross Harvey\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-marcus-ross-harvey-24-vii-1996/ CATEGORIES:4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/JUZ_3490.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200724 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200725 DTSTAMP:20210719T075735Z CREATED:20200410T131551Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210719T075735Z UID:4344-1595548800-1595635199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Anthony Kosten (24-vii-1958) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of GM Anthony Cornelis Kosten (24-vii-1958) \nTony was born in North Eastern Surrey\, and eventually relocated to France where he now resides. \nTony is married to Gyongyver Kosten-Forintos\, the daughter of Hungarian Grandmaster Győző Forintos. \nStreatham & Brixton becoming BCF National Club Champions in 1989. The team was Tony Kosten\, Mark Hedben\, Daniel King\, Nigel Povah (Captain)\, Joe Gallagher and Julian Hodgson : quite a strong team\nHere is his Wikipedia entry \nTony played for Lower Earley and played in the Berkshire League and for Streatham & Brixton in the National Club competition. \nHe was =3rd in the 1982 British Championship in Torquay (won by Tony Miles) \nHe was =2nd in the 1984 Robert Silk Young Masters. \nHe won the Berkshire Chess Association Quickplay title in 1985. \nTony was runner-up to Yuri Balashov at Minsk 1986. \nHe won Naujac 2000 with 7.5/9 \nTony won many other events : See his Wikipedia entry for details. \nTony Kosten (fourth from left) at a NatWest Bank sponsored event\nTony is the founder of chesspublishing.com\, a subscription based web site specialising in cutting edge opening theory with many contributors. \nHe plays for Guildford in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) is registered as a member of the French federation. He also plays for Schott Mainz in the German Team Championship. \nAccording to Megabase 2020 his highest FIDE rating was 2551 in July 2002 at the age of 44. \nWith the white pieces Tony prefers the Ruy Lopez and Giuoco Piano with the English coming a close second. \nWith black Tony defends the Lopez and the Nimzo-Indian defence. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nTony Kosten\nWinning Endgames\, Crowood\, 1987\nWinning with the Philidor\, Batsford\, 1992\n101 Tips to Improve your Chess\, Batsford\, 1996\nThe Dynamic English\, Gambit\, 1999\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-anthony-cornelius-kosten-24-vii-1958/ CATEGORIES:4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/JEU0004.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210724 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210725 DTSTAMP:20210812T153624Z CREATED:20210124T171654Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210812T153624Z UID:13455-1627084800-1627171199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Johann Löwenthal (15-vii-1810 24-vii-1876) DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary Johann Löwenthal (15-vii-1810 24-vii-1876) \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-johann-lowenthal-15-vii-1810-24-vii-1876/ CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/img_2177_crop.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200725 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200726 DTSTAMP:20210725T144451Z CREATED:20200725T153156Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210725T144451Z UID:7849-1595635200-1595721599@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Julian Hodgson (25-vii-1963) DESCRIPTION:We send best wishes to GM Julian Hodgson on his birthday\, this day July 25th in 1963. \nJulian Michael Hodgson was born in Hammersmith\, West London son of (Ronald) George Hodgson and Johanna Hodgson (née Birch). \nJulian has claimed to be a descendent of George Jeffreys\, 1st Baron Jeffreys and we are looking to establish this claim following further research. \nJulian attended St. Paul’s School (See below) and then attended The University of Leicester for one year. \nJulian married Lizette and David Norwood was his Best Man. \nJulian and Lizette Hodgson\n(Curiously both Felice and Gaige state Julian was born in Saint Asaph in Wales.) \nJulian Hodgson\nHarry Golombek wrote this about Julian in a 1980 Dataday chess diary : \n“I think that the first time I saw Julian Hodgson in play was some four years ago in a London tournament. Upon my arrival Leonard Barden told him that he must now be careful how he played as Golombek was watching. \nJulian and Nigel Short play Korchnoi in a simul. Leonard Barden observes.\n“Who”\, enquired the twelve-year old Julian\, “is Golombek?” \nNeil Carr and Julian Hodgson at the 1976 Lloyds Bank Match by Telex\, London – New York. From BCM\, volume XCVI (96) Number 11 (August)\, Page 494. The venue was the Bloomsbury Hotel\, London. Photo courtesy of Lloyds Bank.\nI felt grateful at the time that he did not say who or what is Golombek but I tell this story chiefly to show the cheerful insouciance with which Master Hodgson treated all comers whether chess masters or chess rabbits. \nJulian playing Simon L Triggs. Event and photographer unknown\nJulian astonishing maturity as a player has been impressive ever since at the age of ten\, he won the Southern Counties Under 14 Championships in 1973. Since then he has acquired a host of such championships culminating in the British Under-21 Championship in 1977. \nStreatham & Brixton becoming BCF National Club Champions in 1989. The team was Tony Kosten\, Mark Hedben\, Daniel King\, Nigel Povah (Captain)\, Joe Gallagher and Julian Hodgson : quite a strong team\nPerhaps his most remarkable performance so far has been his equal 3rd in a strong challengers section at Hastings where he scored 7.5 out of 10. 1977 was a good year for him and here\, from the Lloyds Bank Silver Jubilee Tournament of that year is his fine win over a strong opponent : \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nHere is his entry (written by Richard W O’Brien) in British Chess (Pergamon Press\, 1983\, Botterill\, Levy\, Rice and Richardson) : \n“Following a series of excellent results Julian\, at the tender age of 11\, became the second youngest ever to play in an international tournament when he took part in the London Chess Club International Invitation tournament in September 1974. Only Reshevsky had been younger. Julian’s first opponent was Michael Woodhams\, an Australian international who had just scored 15.5/18 in the recent Olympiad (Nice) \nThe following year he became the youngest player ever to win the London Amateur Championship. A year later he reached a grading of 200 (BCF)\, only Reshevsky\, Pomar\, Karpov and Kasparov had done so at an earlier age. \nBy now he was at St. Paul’s School\, which was in the process of becoming one of the strongest chess playing schools in the country. In 1977 he shared first place with WN Watson (also St. Paul’s) in the British U21 Championship. Progress was however not as fast as had at one time been anticipated \n\nIt was at Ramsgate\, late in 1980 before his first IM norm. A month later he finished second in the Hastings Challenger. Other good results followed in 1981. First he was selected for the Glorney Cup and shortly afterwards did well to come fourteenth in the British Championship (Morecambe). He represented England in the World Youth Team championships scoring 4/6. His second IM norm followed when he shared fifth place at Manchester in the same year. Good results in weekend congresses meant that he finished fourth in the Leigh Grand Prix. The year had finished with Julian needing a draw in the last round at Ramsgate to get his title. He lost and was to wait another 12 months to achieve his final norm. \nThe England Team from the 1990 Novi Sad Olympiad : John Nunn\, Jon Speelman\, Julian Hodgson\, David Anderton OBE (Captain)\, Nigel Short\, Michael Adams and Murray Chandler\nWhen the final norm came it arrived out of the blue. With a score of 2.5/5 at Lewisham in November 1982 the chances seemed remote\, 3.5/4 was required against a strong field and it even seemed doubtful whether he could actually play those he needed to play. He scored 2.5/3 and now had to play Jon Tisdall\, who still had a chance of winning the tournament. \nJulian finished second equal in the tournament behind Jim Plaskett who had beaten him earlier. \nJulian Hodgson\nThe next six weeks saw Julian come equal first in the Pergamon sponsored British Lightning championship\, a highly creditable sixth in the Nightflight International at Brighton (equivalent to an IM rating) and second place yet again in the Hastings Challengers. \nJohn Delaney plays Julian Hodgson at the Bath Zonal Tournament in 1987\nEarlier in 1983 he scored 6.5/9 at Lugano\, probably Europe’s strongest ever Swiss (Swiss !) tournament\, losing narrowly to Jan Timman. \nJulian Hodgson. Event and photographer unknown.\nHe left Leicester University after just one year preferring to concentrate on chess. \nFM Andrew Whiteley\, IM Julian Hodgson and FM Byron Jacobs at Cappelle Le Grand\, 1988. Photograph by Caroline Winkler\nHe plays fairly regularly for Streatham & Brixton Chess Club which encouraged juniors for several years. Daniel King is another junior who also played frequently for Streatham. ” \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\nThis is what was written about Julian prior to the 1979 Spassky vs the BCF Junior Squad simultaneous display : “St Paul’s and Shepherds Bush. Rating 210. Standard London Amateur Champion at age 12\, 1975. \nStandard London under-18 champion\, 1976. British under-21 co-champion\, 1977. Youngest ever to beat two grandmasters in successive games\, 1978.” \nJulian Hodgson drawn by Rupert van der Linden\nJulian was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion in the 1997-98 season. \nJulian has claimed that he is a descended from the (in)famous “hanging judge” Jeffries ! \n\nJulian is the in-house chess teacher at Westminster School. \nHere is his Wikipedia entry : \nGM Julian Hodgson\nAside from more formal achievements\, he developed a sharp\, relentless\, attacking style of play and against lesser opponents this frequently resulted in devastating quick wins\, earning him the epithet “Grandmaster of Disaster”. \nHans Ree plays Julian Hodgson at the Cannes Team Tournament\, 1992\nHodgson’s greatest legacy as a chess player may however lie in his resurrection of an almost forgotten opening system. The Trompowsky Attack (1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5) had floundered in the doldrums for many years\, prior to his adoption and development of the opening. In interviews\, he reveals that this was born out of laziness and a reluctance to learn established chess opening theory. It soon became his weapon of choice with the white pieces\, leading to a surprising popularisation of the system\, the spawning of a whole generation of devotees and ironically\, a number of theoretical guides\, containing a high quota of Hodgson’s own games and analysis. Indeed\, his expert treatment of the system once prompted fellow grandmaster Joe Gallagher to write that it should be renamed the Hodgson–Trompowsky Attack\, a view shared by many other masters. A chess journalist once wrote that Hodgson put the ‘romp’ into Trompowsky. \nA related\, but more obscure version of the system (1.d4 d5 2.Bg5)\, has been dubbed by some the Hodgson Attack and by others the Pseudo-Trompowsky or Queen’s Bishop Attack. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\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\nJulian\, Dominic Lawson and Matthew Sadler\nChess Traveller’s Quiz Book\, Julian Hodgson\, Cadogan Press\, 1996\, ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1857440300\nAttack with Julian Hodgson\, Book No.1\nAttack with Julian Hodgson\, Book No.2\nQuick Chess Knockouts\nJulian Hodgson drawn by Rupert van der Linden\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/happy-birthday-gm-julian-hodgson-25-vii-1963/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/mum_6136_lv.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200726 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200727 DTSTAMP:20210725T154922Z CREATED:20200409T084318Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210725T154922Z UID:4243-1595721600-1595807999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of WFM Jessica Gilbert (30-i-1987 26-vii-2007) DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of WFM Jessica Laura Corey Gilbert (30-i-1987 26-vii-2007) \nFrom Find A Grave by by Peterborough K: \n“Professional Chess Player. A native of Croydon\, England\, Gilbert became the youngest person ever to win the Women’s World Chess Federation Master Title. \nA talented chess player since the age of 8\, she also won the Women’s World Amateur Championship when she represented England in 1999 at the age of 11. \nIn a career that spanned over seven years she played in over 153 matches in such events as the Gibtelcom Chess Festival\, the 7th European Championship\, Ilsan 1st\, 37th Chess Olympiad\, Hastings Chess Congress\, Hastings Master Op\, Coventry Op\, and the Gausdal Byggern Masters. \nOn July 26\, 2006\, while in Pardubice\, Czech Republic\, to play in the Czech Open\, she mysteriously fell to her death from the balcony of her room on the eighth floor of the Hotel Labe. Gilbert was only 19 years old.” \nInteresting article by Alexander Barron \nHere is Jessie’s entry from Chessgames.com \nHere is Jessie’s extensive Wikipedia article. \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-wfm-jessica-laura-corey-gilbert-26-vii-2007/ CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/15076311_115763532095.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200727 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200728 DTSTAMP:20210727T105805Z CREATED:20200409T175701Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210727T105805Z UID:4281-1595808000-1595894399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of Demis Hassabis CBE FRS FREng FRSA (27-vii-1976) DESCRIPTION:BCN wishes Happy Birthday to Demis Hassabis CBE FRS FREng FRSA (27-vii-1976) \nFrom https://achievement.org/achiever/demis-hassabis-ph-d/ : \nDemis Hassabis\, the eldest of three\, was born in London on July 27\, 1976\, to a Greek Cypriot father and a Chinese Singaporean mother. \n(Originally his surname was spelt Hassapis and his brother George retained his.) \n“Demis Hassabis was born in London\, England. He is of both Greek and Chinese ancestry; his father came from Cyprus\, his mother from Singapore. Demis and his family moved frequently as his father pursued a variety of business and creative ventures. \nDemis was four years old when he saw his father and an uncle playing chess and asked them to teach him the game. He took to it quickly and was soon beating both of them. He showed a precocious aptitude for all games employing logic and strategy. ” \nDemis Hassabis\nWhen 13 (in 1989) Demis achieved a FIDE rating of 2300 which\, at the time\, was the second highest rating for his age.  First highest was Judit Polgar. \nDemis was SCCU Under-18 champion in 1989 and was presented with the “old Trophy” according to the SCCU report. \nLawrence Cooper\, Demis Hassabis\, Cathy Haslinger and Dharshan Kumaran in around 1986. Possibly at a Lloyds Bank event.\nDemis was a Candidate Master and brother of George Hassapis. \nDemis started off with Hampstead Junior Chess Club. \nHe then played for Barnet Knights\, Queens College College Union and Finchley chess clubs. \nDemis Hassabis courtesy of Cathy Rogers\nAccording to Tryfon Gavriel : \nDemis wrote a hit computer game called “The theme park”\, that was at the top of the charts for six months and sold than more 3.5 million copies. He also did quite well in the 1997 Mind Sports Olympiad. \nDemis Hassabis\, IMMO KLINK/CONTOUR BY GETTY IMAGES\nHassabis returned to academia to obtain his PhD in cognitive neuroscience from University College London (UCL) in 2009 supervised by Eleanor Maguire. He sought to find inspiration in the human brain for new AI algorithms. \n\nDanny Gormally wrote (in March 2014) this : \n“Demis Hassapis is a former chess prodigy who recently sold his company to Google for £400 million. Demonstrating that if you have the brainpower to be good at chess\, you are far better off putting that intelligence to use in some other activity where you might actually get rewarded. Then in fairness\, even most strong chess players aren’t as bright as Demis.” \n\nDemis was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2018 \nIn May 2021 Demis was cited by Dominic Cummings in his evidence to the  Commons Heath\, and Science and Technology committees as having played an important contribution  to managing and understanding the PHE and NHS data during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK. \nHere are his listed games \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-demis-hassabis-27-vii-1976/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Honours,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/untitled-2.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200727 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200728 DTSTAMP:20210727T110050Z CREATED:20200410T165411Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210727T110050Z UID:4364-1595808000-1595894399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Graham Lee (27-vii-1953) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of FM Graham David Lee (27-vii-1953) \nFM Graham Lee 2282 v WIM Eva Jiretorn 2155 alongside WIM Regina Pokorna 2352 v WIM Christin Anderson 2173.\nFM Graham Lee\, courtesy of Cathy Rogers\nGraham Lee (second from left) and a victorious Wood Green team. Trophy presented by Magnus Magnusson\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-graham-david-lee-27-vii-1953/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/DB_Graham_Lee.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210728 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210729 DTSTAMP:20260817T135416Z CREATED:20210728T001052Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T135416Z UID:17984-1627430400-1627516799@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Happy Birthday Richard James (28-vii-1950) DESCRIPTION:Here is the citation from the 1997 BCF Official Chess Yearbook for the 1996 President’s Award : \nHe has almost single handedly fostered\, developed and maintained Richmond Junior Chess for two decades. This year Richmond Juniors have won the major National competitions\, and the Richmond Chess Initiative has blossomed under his skills. However\, his work has fostered chess as a whole. \nHe formed the Richmond Junior Club with Mike Fox in 1975. He has built it up and kept it going from a nucleus of a handful of juniors on a Saturday to over 40 juniors on a Saturday morning\, and over 30 on a Saturday afternoon\, 48 weeks a year\, running four Thames Valley League teams during the week. The club has over 175 members. \nThe Richmond record under his dedication has included winning numerous EPSCA\, NYCA and National individual titles at all ages with a wide range of individuals\, both boys and girls. He has generated ‘team spirit’ as well as individual motivation whilst enabling individual Richmond schools to claim their own successes from their own efforts that completed his with the Junior Club. \nHe has been responsible for recognising early the talent of many England juniors. He has then encouraged and facilitated their development. Many of these have subsequently becomes Masters whom he has persuaded to come back and coach at the club. However\, he has also been unfailing in encouraging the less gifted players and facilities for them. \nHe has never sought any monetary reward and has given considerable extra time to recording\, annotation and distributing games\, as well as calculating grades for hundreds of players\, on top of running the club activities and organising and running numerous tournaments for Richmond and non-Richmond juniors. This year he was instrumental in initiating the new Richmond rapidplays. \nHe has\, with Mike Fox\, been instrumental in opening chess up to a much wider audience\, whilst destroying the mythical image of introverted individuals\, that some of the general public held. They have achieved this by producing their ‘Chess Addict’ books and articles in order to provide spice and humour alongside the ‘normal’ literature\, and not to forget ‘Move One’ published in 1990. \nAlthough aided by help from other sponsors\, he has been the cornerstone of the relatively recently formed Richmond Chess Initiative. He provided guidance and skills to assist local councillors\, business men and schools to build up a local structure to publicise and develop further still Richmond as a recognised centre of chess. This included helping to establish the Richmond International\, the first of which in 1994 was held at the Star and Garter Home and was held again in 1995. He was awarded the Initiative’s reward for services in 1996. \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/happy-birthday-richard-james-28-vii-1950/ CATEGORIES:Coach,English,Journalist,Junior,Official,Organiser,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/LCC_7896-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200731 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200801 DTSTAMP:20210731T120436Z CREATED:20200408T184817Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210731T120436Z UID:4207-1596153600-1596239999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Nigel Davies (31-vii-1960) DESCRIPTION:We send best wishes to GM Nigel Davies on his birthday\, this day (July 31st) in 1960. \nNigel Rodney Davies was born in Southport\, Merseyside. \nHe lived in the Wirral\, Merseyside\, moved to Sidcup and then to St. Helen’s\, Merseyside where he resides with his chess playing son\, Sam who is ECF 1928A currently. \nIn July 2020 Nigel graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Computing from Edge Hill University. \nNigel Davies (centre) at a Lloyds Bank event\nHe became an FIDE Master in 1980\, an International Master in 1982 and a Grandmaster in 1993. \nNigel Davies\nHe won the British Under-21 Championship in 1979 (Chester) and the British Rapidplay Championship in 1987. \nNigel receives a much welcome prize (in Manchester) from Miss Benedictine in 198?\nHe won The Regency Ramsgate Masters 1980\, Wrexham 1994\, Katrineholm 1995 and the Blackpool Hilton Premier in 2003. \nNigel Davies\nNigel publishes his Chess Improver Blog and Tiger Chess for online training. The ECF lists this as his main club. \n\nIn 2015 Nigel transferred his international allegiance from England (the English Chess Federation) to Wales (Welsh Chess Union). He maintains an ECF standard play rating  of 2448E. \nWilliam Watson\, Jonny Hector\, Alexander Khalifman\, Jonathan Tisdall and Nigel Davies at the 1991 Watson\, Farley\, Williams tournament in London.\nHis peak FIDE rating was 2530 in January 1995 at the age of 35. \nHere is one of Nigel’s favourite games \nNigel Davies\, seated\, second from right\, event unknown\nIn 2015 Nigel contributed to an article by Guardian journalist\, Stephen Moss entitled “Grandmaster crash: the inside story of how English chess pawned its future” \nGM Nigel Davies\nHere is his Wikipedia entry \nHere is an article : Fight against the solid Caro-Kann opening with the Caro Krusher – GM Nigel Davies \nNigel’s repertoire with White is wide including Queen’s Gambit\, King’s Indian Attack\, English/Reti and the Ruy Lopez. \nAs black Nigel’s repertoire is also varied and difficult to pin down. The Modern Defence is a favourite and is the Nimzo-Indian Defence. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nNigel is an active user of Twitter and may be found @GMNigelDavies \nIn 2020 the Welsh Chess Union successfully endorsed Nigel’s application to FIDE to become a FIDE Senior Trainer which he became in 2021: \nNigel Davies\, FIDE Senior Trainer\nNigel has had many books and DVDs published : \nThe Chess Player’s Battle Manual. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-7043-7\nThe Power Chess Program. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-8415-2.\nThe Grünfeld Defence. Everyman Chess. ISBN 1-85744-239-3.\nThe Veresov. Everyman Chess. ISBN 9781857443356.\nThe Dynamic Reti. Everyman Chess. ISBN 9781857443523.\nThe Trompowsky. Everyman Chess. ISBN 1857443764.\nKing’s Indian Attack. Hamburg: ChessBase. ISBN 978-3-86681-071-6.\nStarting Out: The Modern. Everyman Chess. ISBN 9781857445664.\nPlay the Catalan. Gloucester Publishers plc (formerly Everyman Publishers plc). ISBN 9781857445916.\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-nigel-rodney-davies-31-vii-1960/ CATEGORIES:4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/nigel-davies.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200731 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200801 DTSTAMP:20210710T144415Z CREATED:20200731T001056Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210710T144415Z UID:3900-1596153600-1596239999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Jacob Aagaard (31-vii-1973) DESCRIPTION:BCN wishes Happy Birthday to GM Jacob Aagaard (31-vii-1973) \nJacob was born in Hørsholm in Denmark. \nHe became an International Master in 1997 and a Grandmaster in 2007. \nHis peak FIDE rating was 2542 in May 2010 aged 36. \n\nJacob is the owner of publishing house\, Quality Chess and works with IM Andrew Greet. \nGM Jacob Aagaard takes on all-comers!\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nJacob’s publications include : \n (1998). Easy Guide to the Panov-Botvinnik Attack. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-563-3.\n (2000). Easy Guide to the Sveshnikov Sicilian. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-280-9.\n (2001). Dutch Stonewall. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-252-6.\n (2001). Excelling at Chess. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-273-1.\n (2002). Queen’s Indian Defence. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-300-4.\n and Esben Land (2002). Meeting 1.d4. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-224-3.\n (2003). Excelling at Positional Chess. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-325-7.\n (2004). Excelling at Chess Calculation. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-360-8.\n (2004). Excelling at Combinational Play. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-345-5.\n (2004). Excelling at Technical Chess. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-364-6.\n (2004). Starting Out: The Grunfeld. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-350-9.\n (2004). Inside the Chess Mind. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1857443578.\n (2006). Practical Chess Defence. Quality Chess. ISBN 978-91-975244-4-5.\n (2008). The Attacking Manual: Basic Principles. Quality Chess. ISBN 978-91-976004-0-8.\n (2008). The Attacking Manual 2: Technique and Praxis. Quality Chess. ISBN 978-91-976004-1-5.\n (2012). Grandmaster Preparation – Calculation. Quality Chess. ISBN 978-1-907982-31-6.\n(2012). Grandmaster Preparation – Positional Play. Quality Chess. ISBN 978-1-907982-27-9.\n (2013). Grandmaster Preparation – Strategic Play. Quality Chess. ISBN 978-1-907982-29-3.\n(2013). Grandmaster Preparation – Attack & Defence. Quality Chess. ISBN 978-1-907982-70-5.\n(2014). Grandmaster Preparation – Endgame Play. Quality Chess. ISBN 978-1-907982-27-9.\n (2017). Grandmaster Preparation – Thinking Inside the Box. Quality Chess. ISBN 978-1-907982-35-4. \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-jacob-aagaard-31-vii-1973/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/JUZ_2827-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20220401 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20220402 DTSTAMP:20220404T160618Z CREATED:20200401T115720Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220404T160618Z UID:3917-1648771200-1648857599@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of CM David Anderton OBE (02-viii-1941 01-iv-2022) DESCRIPTION:BCN remembers CM David Anderton OBE who passed away on Friday\, April 1st\, 2022 aged 80. \nIn the 1977 New Years Honours List\, Civil Division\, David was awarded the OBE. The citation read simply : “For services to Chess” \nDavid William Anderton was born in the district of Walsall\, Staffordshire\, West Midlands. His mother’s maiden name was Coltart and David resided in Walsall. \nDavid was married to Doreen in 2005. \nDavid Anderton (rhs) congratulates Sir Philip Stuart Milner-Barry for winning the “Board of Honour ” game versus Edward Lasker at the 1976 Lloyds Bank Match by Telex\, London – New York. From BCM\, volume XCVI (96) Number 11 (August)\, Page 494. The venue was the Bloomsbury Hotel\, London. Photo courtesy of Lloyds Bank\nDavid was an Honorary Life Vice-President of the English (formerly British) Chess Federation. \nJohn Nunn\, David Anderton and Jonathan Speelman\n“David won the ECF President’s Award in 2009 following his stepping down as ECF legal expert. This is the citation from the 2010 ECF Yearbook : \n“As this is Gerry Walsh’s last year as President it was considered appropriate that he be allowed to choose someone receive the award. Gerry has worked with David for all his time with BCF and ECF and has selected him due to his tireless and selfless devotion to both the BCF and ECF over many years. \nDavid Anderton OBE\, ? and Teresa Needham\nMost of you will know David and will agree that this is a well deserved award. It is fair to state that David’s assistance over the years has been invaluable and that without it many areas of the Federation would have found it difficult\, if not impossible to operate. \nJim Plaskett with David Anderton OBE at the 1983 Benedictine International (Manchester)\nSince my election David has been a constant friend and confidante. He has invariable given sound advice throughout my term of office. It was John Wickham who rang me and suggested that due to my length of tenure\, a special award might be in order. \nJim accepts the 1981 Grand Prix shield from David Anderton OBE\nAfter years of selfless and generous devotion serving as ECF President\, International Director\, Captain of the England Team and legal adviser\, this seems to be a fitting tribute. \nFrom the Praxis Bath Zonal Tournament of 1987. David Anderton OBE is second from right\nDavid’s advice both legal and general\, has been invaluable in such matters as the John Robinson legacy and the change of name from BCF to ECF Limited\, and I certainly hope that this advice will continue. \nGerry Walsh” \nBob Wade OBE\, Murray Chandler MNZM and David Anderton OBE\nDavid is a FIDE Candidate Master (CM). \nFrom the BCF 1979-80 Year Book of Chess : Robert Bellin\, the new British Champion\, explains the secret to the Mayor of Chester (?) and to David Anderton\, BCF President\nWith the White pieces David exclusively plays 1.d4 aiming for a Queen’s Gambit and main lines. \nWith Black David plays the Winawer and the Classical French plus the Lenningrad Dutch. \nMrs. Joan Agar; Chairman of Leigh Interests\, presents the Leigh trophy (for 1981) to Mark Hebden. Left\, David Anderton\, BCF President; on the right Malcolm Wood\, Leigh’s Chief Executive. BCM\, 1981\, page 104\nHere are his games. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nDW Anderton OBE plays BH Wood MBE in 1981 in a Blitz tournament outside of the National Film Theatre. Photograph courtesy of John Saunders\nDuring 1989-93 David was an Executive Board Member of FIDE. \nThe England Team from the 1990 Novi Sad Olympiad : John Nunn\, Jon Speelman\, Julian Hodgson\, David Anderton OBE (Captain)\, Nigel Short\, Michael Adams and Murray Chandler\nIn 2002 David was awarded the title of International Master by the ICCF (correspondence chess) \nIn 2015 David stood down from all of his roles within the ECF. \nDavid Anderton OBE\, Paul Bazalgette (Senior Partner at Philips & Drew) and Tony Banks (GLC Arts & Recreation Department) at the 1982 Philips and Drew Kings Tournament Opening Ceremony. Photograph by Clive Field\nDavid has won the British Seniors Championship in 2003 (shared)\, 2005\, 2007 (shared)\, 2009 (shared) and 2011. \nHere is a potted biography from The Express and Star Newspaper \nDavid Anderton OBE at the 2019 British Championships in Torquay\, courtesy of John Upham Photography\nDavid is Head of Regulatory Law at Anson’s Solicitors. He is also Secretary of the Erasmus Darwin Foundation (03270753) and Director of Unionist Buildings Ltd.\, Wallsall Conservative Investments Ltd. and Wallsall Unionist Holdings Ltd. \nCM David William Anderton OBE\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-cm-david-william-anderton-obe-02-viii-1941/ CATEGORIES:4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Honours,Official,Player,Remembering ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/jb4_7593_lv.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230108 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230109 DTSTAMP:20230109T124705Z CREATED:20230109T124704Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230109T124705Z UID:22151-1673136000-1673222399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Keith Arkell (08-i-1961) DESCRIPTION:We send birthday wishes to GM Keith Arkell\, born this day (January 8th) in 1961. \nKeith Arkell\nHere is Keith’s Wikipedia entry \nGM Keith Arkell (ENG)\nThis was written about Keith aged 18 prior to the 1979 Spassky vs the BCF Junior Squad simultaneous display : \n“Rednal\, Birmingham. Rating 188. 2nd Lloyds Bank junior international\, 1979.” \nKeith was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 2014-15 season sharing with Jonathan Hawkins \nHere is an interview with ChessBase from 2016. \nGM Keith Arkell\n\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nArkell’s Odyssey\nArkell’s Endings\, Keith Arkell\, GingerGM\, 2020\, ISBN-10 : 1527265595\nBCN has reviewed Arkell’s Endings in depth \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-keith-charles-arkell-08-i-1961-2/ CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/jua6332_lv.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200110 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200111 DTSTAMP:20260817T141234Z CREATED:20200504T085859Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T141234Z UID:5221-1578614400-1578700799@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Roland Scott (25-iii-1888 10-i-1953) DESCRIPTION:BCN remembers Roland Scott who passed away in Monte Carlo on Saturday\, January 10th\, 1953. \nRoland Henry Vaughan Scott was born in either Barnes or Holloway depending which Census record is correct. His parents were Walter Frederick Scott\, a GP who was born in April 1960 and died in 1891 when Roland was three years of age. \nHis mother was Lucie Vaughan was born in 1855 and died in October 1933. \nRoland had two sisters\, Nina Vaughan Scott and Lucie / Lucia Audrey Scott (who died before her first birthday) and a brother Guy Francis D Scott who lived until 1977. \nIn 1891 Roland lived in Tottenham\, in 1901 in Hampstead and in 1911 in St. Pancras where he was listed as a law clerk. \nIn 1917 The London Gazette lists him as a lieutenant in the Norfolk Regiment. \nThe 1920 electoral rolls for the Gospel Oak polling district lists Scott as voter #2006 living at 2\, Estelle Road\, North St. Pancras which is now in Belsize Park\, NW3 2JX. At the same address was his sister Lucie and in 1921 they were joined by brother Guy. \nIn July 1922 in the district of Brighton Roland married Irma Clareboudt. No children from the marriage are recorded. \nThe 1939 register lists Scott as “War Disabled ? Officer Retired In War 1914” (invalided from army) and Irma as a saleswoman (born 25th July 1895) living at 42\, Sherwell Lane\, Paignton\, Torquay\, TQ2 6BD. \n42\, Sherwell Lane\, Paignton\, Devon\, TQ2 6BD.\nThe April 1953 British Chess Magazine (Volume LXXIII\, Number 4\, page 101 onwards) contained this obituary from DJ Morgan: \nIt is with much regret that we record the death\, on January 10th\, at Monte Carlo\, of R. H. V. Scott. He had long been out of active chess\, but older readers will need no reminding of the 1920 British Champion\, with his quiet manner but attacking chess; one who was composure itself at the table but aggressiveness personified on the board. \nThe son of a doctor\, Scott was born in 1889. He was nineteen before taking to the game\, but a ready aptitude combined with great enthusiasm led to rapid progress. He joined the Hampstead Club in 1908\, and in his first tournament\, the Third Class\, came out first. ln the years that follow he pursued the game with much energy. \nAt the B.C.F. Congress\, Glasgow\, l9ll\, he won the only section of the First Class. In 1913 and in 1914 he was Hampstead Club Champion. In 1913 he was tenth in the British Championship\, at Cheltenham\, and equal fifth to sixth at Chester in the following year\, defeating Yates and drawing with Blackburne. \nIn 1915 he came second in the City of London Club Championship\, but won that of the Metropolitan Club. During the same year he lost a short match with Sir G. A. Thomas 1-3. The war years\, with a commission in the Norfolk Regiment\, intervened\, but chess filled his available moments. \nIn 1916 he defeated L. I. Estrin\, a young Russian who was Hampstead Champion\, 5-2 in a match. ln 1919 he lost a match with Winter at Hastings (2-4)\, and shared seventh to eighth positions with Dr. Olland (Holland) at the B.C.F. Hastings Victory Congress\, with victories over Olland\, \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nR. P. Michell\, Marchand\, and Conde. Then came the B.C.F. Edinburgh Congress of 1920\, Scott became British Champion\, losing only\nto Sir G. A. Thomas. \nIn this year he also drew a match\, 3-3\, with Marchand\, of Holland\, also at Hastings. There followed three more appearances in the championship\, Malvern\, 1921 (equal fifth to sixth); Southsea\,1923 (equal third to fourth); and Southport\, 1924 (fourth). And with this Scott passed out of British chess. Ill health and failing eyesight\, direct results of sufferings and injuries endured on active service during the war\, began to take their toll. On medical advice he sought a warmer climate\, and the Riviera henceforth became his home. \nWe find him sharing seventh to eighth positions at the Hyères Congress\, in 1926\, and coming equal fifth to sixth\, with B. Reilly (our Editor’s first international tourney we believe)\, at Hyères\, 1927. \nThe days of active play were over\, but his great interest in the game remained. Scott was a natural attacking player\, more likely\, perhaps\, to win the Brilliancy Prize than the First Prize. \nEdo rating profile for RHV Scott\nWe have given the bare outline of a career that was all too short\, one cut down\, in a sense before reaching full maturity. Contemporary records sometimes expressed the need for more stability in Scott’s chess\, but they chronicle games of his that speak forcibly of the imaginative\, refreshing\, and invigorating qualities of his play. We offer an early game\, the Brilliancy Prize winner\, City of London C.C. Championship\, 1913-14. White’s 20th move sets the game alight. \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 British Chess Magazine\, Volume XLI (1920)\, Number 10 (October)\, page 305 we have the following report of his exploits winning the 1920 British Championship in Edinburgh: \n“We are glad to be able to present to our readers a photograph of the new champion\, Mr. R.H.V Scott. He informs us that it is his most recent one\, taken in 1917 when subaltern in the Norfolk Regiment. He saw service with the latter in France\, and\, as is probably know to most of our subscribers\, was badly gassed\, from the effects of which is now happily quite recovered. \nHis victory in the recent Congress in Edinburgh is welcome from at least two points of view; one\, that he is one of our youngest first class players (ed: he was 32 at the time\, a veteran by the standards of 2022!)\, having been born in 1889 (ed: this should have been 1888)\, and therefore may justifiably be expected to improve still further with experience and some curbing of his impatience in defence; and\, two\, that he claim to represent the more brilliant school of chess\, that of Pillsbury\, Marshall\, Charousek\, and Morphy\, rather than the more solid school\, of say\, Steinitz and Rubinstein\, who theory was the pilling up of small advantages. \nScott has an excellent “nose” for attack\, and has some exceedingly “chessy” ideas. During the congress he put a much greater restraint on himself than is his wont\, and we believe this to be the reason he so improved on his previous records. \nHe had what might be described as the worst of the draw\, since he had Black against Sir George  Thomas\, EG Sergeant and RP Michell. Some writers have described him as lucky to win\, but a study of his games and a comparison with those of others in the tourney go to prove that he played more far-sightedly than any of the others. \nWe are quite aware that the form of any player is variable\, and we have seen Sir George Thomas play much better chess and much less strainedly than he did at Edinburgh. EG Sergeant was generally playing quite at his best\, but once or twice his play deteriorated\, perhaps as the result of a sleepless night\, he then seemed bereft of ideas\, and allowed the clock to beat him. This also was the case with Michell\, who had many a rush to save his flag falling before the necessary moves were made. Now Scott almost invariably had time to spare. \nPerhaps the worst reversal of form was that of JH Blake; but he had been working very hard and late for some time right up to the day the Congress commenced\, and was not really in a fit state of health to take part. \nScott has twice before competed for the Championship; in 1913 where he finished eighth\, and in 1914 when he was fifth\, beating FD Yates\, the then Champion and drawing with JH Blackburne. \nHe has won several brilliancy prizes in congress and club tourneys\, and was the champion of the Hampstead Chess Club (where he may have been said to have learnt the game) in 1913 and 1914. He was first acquainted with the moves in 1908. \nHe is keen on all sports\, and puts his whole energy into each line he may be taking. With yet more self-restraint we think his chess will still further improve\, and we venture to prophesy this will not be the last British Chess Championship he will win.” \nIn his memoirs William Winter wrote this: \n“I also had the opportunity of playing a number of semi-serious games with RHV Scott and D. Miller\, two of the leading London amateurs. Scott was probably the most brilliant combinative played England has ever seen and had already won almost every honour except the British Championship\, which fell to him in 1920. \nSince those days I have played over hundreds of games\, including the beautiful brilliancies of the modern Russian school\, and Scott’s best combinations stand up quite well beside them. There were however weaknesses in his play which I shall discuss later. Miller was just the opposite type\, a dour solid player exceptionally hard to beat. He is\, I am glad to say\, still with us\, but Scott died a few years ago – he had been out of chess for a long time.” \nand this: \n“It is entirely legitimate\, and can prove very useful until one comes up against an opponent like Capablanca who had no weaknesses of any kind. ln Scott’s case\, one of his foibles was an aversion to exchanging queens\, and I took full advantage of this in the first two games of the match both of which I won with comparative ease; but Scott was not finished yet.’ In the third game he tied me up in a variation of the Sicilian which I had not previously seen\, and in the fourth I made the fatal mistake in going for an early win of material and allowing him a king’s side attack. Things now looked bad for me. I had the black pieces in the fifth game and I dared not play my favourite Sicilian defence because I could not discover a satisfactory answer to his new line.” \nStrangely\, none of the Encyclopaedia’s by Golombek\, Sunnucks or Hooper & Whyld felt that RHVS merited an entry. However Gaige does not forget. \nHere is an interesting article from “introuble2” entitled 100 years ago… chess in London during World War I in which Scott is mentioned. \nHere is an excellent article from John Saunders \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-roland-henry-vaughan-scott-25-iii-1888-10-i-1953/ CATEGORIES:2023,British Championships,History,Player,Remembering ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/95500810_3277144515638845_8586271723630886912_o.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230111 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230112 DTSTAMP:20260817T141002Z CREATED:20191230T140104Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T141002Z UID:2645-1673395200-1673481599@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Shaun Taulbut (11-i-1958) DESCRIPTION:We send best wishes to IM Shaun Mark Taulbut born on this day (January 11th) in 1958. \nIM Shaun Mark Taulbut\nHere is his Wikipedia article from the Polish (!) version : \nIn 1974. I shared m. In the championship of Great Britain juniors to 16 years [1] \, whereas in 1977. Won the Brighton title of vice-champion of Great Britain (won the George Botterill ). He achieved the greatest success in his career at the turn of 1977 and 1978 in Groningen \, where he won the title of European champion up to 20 years [2] . In 1978 in Mexico he won the title of team world champion in the category up to 26 years [3] . He achieved another success in 1981 in Copenhagen \, sharing the first town (together with Petyr Welikow and Tom Wedberg ) inopen tournament Politiken Cup . In the same year\, he divided II-IV in New York \, while in 1982 he repeated this achievement in London (after William Watson \, together with Jonathan Tisdall and Mark Hebden ). In 1983 he ended his chess career. \nIM Shaun Mark Taulbut\nHe reached the highest ranking in his career on July 1\, 1982\, sharing 9-10 points with 2465 points. place among English chess players [4] . \nHe is the author of many books on chess\, primarily devoted to the theory of debuts . \nIM Shaun Mark Taulbut (right) playing Adrian Mikhalchishin\nand here is the game from the above photograph : \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(from l-r) Jonathan Kinlay\, Shaun Taulbut\, Jonathan Speelman\, David Goodman and Jonathan Mestel accepting 1st prize at the 1978 World U26 Student Olympiad in Mexico City\nShaun Taulbut (upper right) and David Goodman (lower right) from the 1978 U26 Olympiad\nShaun coached strong juniors especially Michael Adams. In MAs case it was by means of correspondence and this was funded by the Friends of Chess. \nShaun largely gave up competitive chess in 1983 to pursue a financial services career. He reached a senior position in ANZ (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group) reporting to Ian Snape. In ANZ Shaun met Stephen Lowe and on September 19th 2005 they became Directors and owners of British Chess Magazine Ltd. Shaun lives in Wokingham with his wife\, Christine and several pets including a wormery. \n(second from right standing ) Shaun Taulbut\nShaun occasionally plays for Crowthorne in the Berkshire League and the Surrey Border League and has played for the BCM Dragons 4NCL team managed by John Upham. \nPositional Chess by Shaun Taulbut\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-shaun-mark-taulbut-11-i-1958/ CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230118 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230119 DTSTAMP:20230118T103106Z CREATED:20230118T103105Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230118T103106Z UID:22215-1674000000-1674086399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Paul Littlewood (18-i-1956) DESCRIPTION:BCN wishes Happy Birthday to Paul Littlewood \nPaul Edwin Littlewood was born on Wednesday\, January 18th\, 1956 in Skegness\, East Lindsey\, Lincolnshire. His parents were John and Jean Littlewood (née) Hadwick. Paul’s chess playing uncle was Norman Littlewood. \nJohn and Paul on Skegness beach circa 1958. Kindly supplied by Paul Littlewood. George and Ringo are out of shot !\nJohn\, Jenny and Paul Littlewood\, circa 1962. Kindly supplied by Paul Littlewood.\nPaul attended Glenburn Comprehensive School in Skelmersdale from 1967 and then read Natural Sciences at Christ’s College\, Cambridge from 1974. \nPaul played badminton for Lancashire and Cambridge and\, in 1971\, won the English Schools Mixed Championship when he was 15 years old. \nPaul and family receive a chess lesson from John following John’s win in the 1972 Southport Open\nOn leaving University Paul taught science at Southbrook Comprehensive\, Daventry. Four years later Paul became a dealer at Phillips & Drew and followed this as an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs. Stays at Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan were followed by a change of direction and since then Paul has been director of various food supply companies retiring in 2014. \nPaul is married (3rd November 2006) to (his second wife) Fiona and lives in St. Albans\, Hertfordshire. \nPEL won the ECF President’s Award in 2007 and from the 2008 ECF Yearbook we have the following citation : \n“International Master and accomplished bridge player. From British Chess champion (1981) Paul has presided over the 4NCL as chairman during its most successful period. When he became chairman over ten years ago the league consisted of two divisions and 32 teams. The league has now expanded to four divisions and a total of 72 teams. Most of England’s juniors play 4NCL. During this time 4NCL became one of the strongest leagues in Europe\, at one time boasting a Division 1 rivalling the Bundesliga in strength in the top matches. \nPaul has demonstrated the sound judgement of Solomon when dealing with league disputes and has drawn on his business acumen\, honed during a successful career in the City with Goldman Sachs to make 4NCL the financially stable and expanding league it is today.” \nRoll of Honour \n\nBritish U18 Champion 1972\nBritish U21 Champion 1975\nBritish Champion 1981\nAs a junior represented England in Glorney Cup\nInternational Master 1980\n\nFrom British Chess (Pergamon Press\, 1983) by Botterill\, Levy. Rice and Richardson we have this article from Richard W. O’Brien : \n“Paul Littlewood was destined to become a strong player from birth. His father John was for some time one of the strongest players in the country and represented England on many occasions. His uncle Norman was for a few years not far behind. Paul\, however\, has surpassed them both and has become the first in the family to reach IM status. (Ed: JEL was very much worthy of the IM title but insufficient events of the right type held him back). \nA. Howard Williams\, Martyn J. Corden\, Paul E. Littlewood and A. Jonathan Mestel\nAll three are essentially attacking players. There have been times in recent years when play at the Hastings Premier has become dull. However\, Paul one of the English representatives at the last three tournaments\, was certainly not to blame. (His game against Brito of Brazil which follows is a striking example of this).” \nCoached by his father\, Paul became British U18 champion in 1972 and three years later became British U21 champion. \nClearly more interested in an academic career he went up to Cambridge and then followed his father into the teaching profession. Opportunities to play in strong tournaments were thus very limited. These opportunities\, however\, were grasped in both hands. Three times in thirteen months between August 1978 and August 1979 he obtained an IM norm and thus the title. \nPartial crosstable for the Lloyds Bank Open\, 1978\nThe first caused a sensation as it was totally unexpected. He shared first place at Lloyds Bank ahead of several grandmasters including Shamkovich\, who was the first grandmaster he ever defeated. \nLeonid Shamkovich plays Paul Littlewood during the 1978 Lloyds Bank Masters. Paul won the game.\nEight months later Aaronson Masters was won and then came the final norm\, also at Lloyds Bank. \nTournaments abroad were limited although he represented England students. He did play at Kringsja (2nd equal) in 1978 and Borovo where he scored 6.5.13 finishing ahead of 3 GMs. \nIn 1981 came his finest achievement – winning the British Championship with a massive 9/11. \nPartial crosstable from the 1981 British Championship in Morecambe\nHis father who was also competing in the championship was as proud as could be and deservedly so (he also coached Sheila Jackson who retained her British Ladies Championship that year). His excellent all round play took him to the title and only once during the tournament did he stand worse. His endgame play was so good that CHESS even published an article solely on these endings. \nPaul Littlewood and friends during the 1978 Lloyds Bank Masters\nDuties at school in Daventry meant he was\, in February 1982\, unable to take part in the zonal at Marbella. This followed an excellent Hastings when as British Champion he made a plus score – a rare event indeed. \nIM Paul Littlewood during filming for the “Trick of the Mind” series from Derren Brown\nIn the summer he gave up teaching and joined Phillips & Drew (stockbrokers). He now (ed : this was in 1983) lives with his (first) wife Sue and family in the wilds of Essex (Billericay). \nIM Paul Littlewood\, event and photographer unknown\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nPaul gives a simultaneous display in Letchworth. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nChess Tactics\, Paul Littlewood\, Crowood Chess Library\, 1991\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-paul-edwin-littlewood-18-i-1956-2/ CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230120 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230121 DTSTAMP:20230120T111043Z CREATED:20200118T154340Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230120T111043Z UID:2910-1674172800-1674259199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Ali Mortazavi (20-i-1971) DESCRIPTION:We send best wishes to IM Ali Mortazavi on his birthday\, this day (January 20th) in 1971 \nIM Ali Mortazavi\nAli is a British IM who was a successful trader in the financial markets. \nIn the FIDE directory he is listed as a Councillor in the Global Strategy Commission (GSC). \nHe was a professional player and became the CEO of Silence Therapeutics (SLN) : \n\nAli reached his hightest FIDE rating of 2410 in July 1994 aged 23. \nHe has played for Beeson Gregory in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL). He played at the Isle of Man Open in 2018 but sadly\, little since. \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\nIM Ali Mortazavi\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-ali-mortazavi-20-i-1971/ CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/mum_5865_lv-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230121 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230122 DTSTAMP:20230123T102607Z CREATED:20230120T150446Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230123T102607Z UID:22227-1674259200-1674345599@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Neil McDonald (21-i-1967) DESCRIPTION:We send birthday wishes to GM Neil McDonald born on this day (January 21st) in 1967. \nNeil McDonald\nNeil McDonald\nFrom Wikipedia : \nNeil McDonald (born 21 January 1967) is an English chess grandmaster and a player on the international chess circuit. He is an English Chess Federation coach\,[1] who has trained many of the country’s strongest junior players. McDonald is a regular coach of the English junior team and was Head Coach of the English Chess Federation team at the Greece World Schools Championship in 2013.[2] He regularly escorts blind and partially sighted chess players to international World Championship events and is also a chess writer. \nMcDonald authored the French Defence monthly updates on chesspublishing.com from October 1999 until March 2009\,[3] 1 e4 … updates from November 2009 until January 2010\,[4] 1 e4 … from June 2014 until February 2015[5] and returned to 1 e4 … in March 2017 until January 2018.[6] \nNeil shared first place in the 1986 GLC Masters with Jonathan Levitt\, was outright first at the Elekes Memorial\, 1995\, first at The Leinster IM Tournament in Dublin\, 1997\, and other tournaments since. Neil plays for Wood Green in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL). \nHe became an International Master in 1986 and was awarded the Grandmaster title in 1996. \nMcDonald obtained his FIDE Trainer qualification in 2016.[7] \n\nNeil is a prolific and successful author\, most recently with “Coach Yourself” \nCoach Yourself : A Complete Guide to Self Improvement at Chess\nbut also thirty eight titles for Chess Press\, BT Batsford Ltd. and Everyman Chess Books. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nModern Defence. Everyman\, 2000\nGM Neil McDonald\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-neil-mcdonald-21-i-1967-2/ CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/jb4_2543_lv.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230122 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230123 DTSTAMP:20230121T130520Z CREATED:20230121T130519Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230121T130520Z UID:22231-1674345600-1674431999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Richard Pert (22-i-1981) DESCRIPTION:Happy Birthday IM Richard Pert (22-i-1981) \nIM Richard Pert\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nNick and Richard Pert\nNick and Richard Pert\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-richard-pert-22-i-1981-2/ CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/JB4_9063-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230129 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230130 DTSTAMP:20230119T000147Z CREATED:20200331T140002Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230119T000147Z UID:3867-1674950400-1675036799@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Steve Giddins (29-01-1961) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of FM Stephen William Giddins (29-01-1961) \nHere are his games from chessgames.com \nWe reviewed his most recent book\, co-authored with IM Gerard Welling : Side-Stepping Mainline Theory \n\nSide-Stepping Mainline Theory\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-stephen-w-giddins-29-01-1961/ CATEGORIES:2023,Birthday,Honours,Journalist,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/IMG_2104-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR