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:20210107 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210108 DTSTAMP:20210120T121210Z CREATED:20190823T092701Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210120T121210Z UID:1064-1609977600-1610063999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of WIM Elaine Pritchard (née Saunders) (07-i-1926 07-i-2012) DESCRIPTION:Signature of Elaine Saunders from a Brian Reilly “after dinner” postcard from Hastings Christmas Congress\, 1945-1946\nWe remember Elaine Pritchard who passed away on Saturday\, January 7th\, 2012. \nDorée Elaine Zelia Saunders was born on Thursday\, January 7th\, 1926. Her father was Henry de Beaufort Saunders (b. 7 Aug 1900\, Folkestone\, Kent d. Between Jul 1989 and Sep 1989) and her mother was Dorée Nellie Irene Dudley (b. 3 May 1900\, d. 9 Jun 1970) \nIn the 1939 register Henry is listed as a Garage proprietor who had “retired through incapacitation”. He is recorded as a Air Raid Precautions Warden who was also a first aider. His wife is listed as undertaking “unpaid domestic duties”. The record for Elaine is blanked out with “This Record Officially Closed” meaning that they believe that she might still be alive. They are listed as residing at The George & Dragon Hotel in High Wycombe\, Buckinghamshire. \nThe George and Dragon Hotel\, High Street\, West Wycombe\, Buckinghamshire \, HP14 3AB\nShe was taught chess by her father and then her early trainer was Charles Dealtry Locock who lived with the family in the hotel above. \nElaine aged 10 playing her father Henry de Beaufort Saunders\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\nShe married David Pritchard on Friday March 7th 1952 in the Chelsea Registry Office. Elaine was living at Wylderne\, Bridge Street\, Great Kimble\, Aylesbury HP17 9TW. At the time of their marriage David was a Flight Lieutenant. \nElaine and David had a daughter\, Wanda H Zelia Pritchard 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. \nIn their later years Elaine and David lived at Badgers Wood\, Hascombe Road\, Godalming\, Surrey\, GU8 4AA : \nBadgers Wood\, Hascombe Road\, Godalming\, Surrey\, GU8 4AA\nFrom British Chess (Pergamon Press\, 1983)\, Botterill\, Levy\, Rice and Richardson : \n“Chesswise I seem already to have lived an alarmingly long time\, the era of Capablanca and Alekhine back across the war years was another world. The three games I have chosen belong to three distinctly different periods in these fifty years – the juvenile long-ago\, the most elderly present and the middle when I was playing tolerably well and was awarded the WIM title. \nMy father\, assisted by a 2d. (= almost 1p) book of rules from Smiths\, taught me the moves at somewhere round the age of five. We were rescued by the problemist CD Locock who noticed me playing in a girls’ tournament two years later. It was he who brought me up on a diet of the Scotch\, the Evans and any gambit that was going. We analysed them in some depth – for those days – and my severe task-master made me copy out long columns of dubious lines. He also made me his guinea-pig for his Imagination in Chess and it is small wonder that I still find it hard to resist a sacrifice\, and much of my undoing comes from premature sorties such as f4 and Qh5. \nMiss Elaine Saunders\, the girl chess champion playing in the annual WW White Memorial Tournament in Sevenoaks. on June 25th 1939. Source : https://www.chessmarginalia.com/miss-elaine-saunders/\nIn retrospect he must have been a brilliant teacher. Starting in 1936 a succession of girls’ titles came my way including the FIDE under-21\, and in 1939 the British Ladies at the age of 13. It is hard to assess how strong or weak one was at the time because there has been such a marked improvement in the standard of play among women over recent years. At all events\, those pre-war years were happy ones\, especially away from chess which took second place to horses and more physical pastimes. \nThirteen Years Old Chess Champion Elaine Saunders\, of Twickenham has entered for next months British Ladies’ Championship. Source : The People\, July 23rd\, 1939.\nThe incident which received the most publicity was the ‘affair Alekhine’. Most of the pre-war giants were kindly if a little condescending towards me but the new World Champion – he had just regained the title from Euwe – showed me no mercy. He took on 30 Kent players at the Charing Cross Hotel and after 5 hours demolished all except myself. The ending was equal. He stood over our board and glowered. ‘Give the child a draw’\, said someone in Russian in the audience\, which despite them mid-night hour were everywhere on chairs and even under tables. ‘I know what I am doing’ came the reply\, and of course he did. I lost. \nAt 13 the world changed. I almost gave up chess. There were no celebrations after that Ladies Championship. The foreign masters packed their bags for home; we packed them for exile in Buckinghamshire and filling sandbags. \nMy saddest personal loss of the war was Vera Menchik\, perhaps the strongest lady player of all time. \nLeaving university with a poor\, but lightning degree in French\, I was employed by the Foreign Office and spent the next few years in London. While at college I had won the Notts County Championship and like to remember my last game on top board for county against the great HE Atkins\, so many times British Champion\, making his final appearance for Leicestershire. \nI forsook women’s events and achieved probably my best results\, finishing equal 3rd in the London Championship final\, having beaten David Hooper with an Allgaier Gambit\, and qualifying for the British Championship at Buxton in a section which included L. Barden\, V. Berger and DB Pritchard. \nMarrying David in 1952\, we went to the Far East for three years and on our return I made a come-back to women’s chess and won the title at Blackpool in 1956. I was consequently despatched to the Western Zonal in Venice and finished equal 2nd with Lazaravic. This qualified me for the Interzonal\, but my daughter Wanda arrived (March 21st 1958) before I could get to the starting post. Meanwhile with Eileen Tranmer we represented the BCF in the first women’s Olympiad in Emmen in 1957 where we finished 7th. The Finals went well for me and included a draw against Rubtsova\, the then world champion. The results of the two tournaments were sufficient for me to be awarded the IWM title. My BCF grading at that time was 200 and has gone down ever since! \nFriedl Rinder (Germany) plays Elaine Pritchard at the Havering Women’s Tournament in Romford on August 25th 1967. Tournament was won by Nona GaprindashvilliMandatory Credit: Photo by ANL/Shutterstock (1876414a)\nAnd so some 20 years on and still a teacher\, we reach the final period\, that of comparative dotage. Notwithstanding\, I have been fortunate enough to have played in the last four Olympiads at Skopje\, Medellin\, Haifa and Buenos Aires\, twice as captain of the team. It was\, of course\, pleasurable to win a silver medal at Haifa\, despite the fact that the East European bloc was missing. The last of the three games comes from Haifa at a crucial stage. Playing for a team has always seemed more fun. \nAlso in my dotage belong two books\, Chess for Pleasure \nChess for Pleasure by Elaine Pritchard\nand The Young Chess Player (Faber) and organisation of girl’s chess\, particularly the Faber Cup” \nThe Young Chess Player by Elaine Pritchard\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\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 Encyclopaedia of Chess (Robert Hale 1970 & 1976)\, edited by Anne Sunnucks : \n“International Woman Master (1957) and British Woman Champion in 1939\, 1946\, 1956 and 1965. \nRowena Bruce and Elaine Saunders at Nottingham 1946 where they tied for 1st place. Elaine won the play-off with 2.5/3. Courtesy of Keverel Chess.\nElaine Pritchard was\, as a child\, one of the few girl prodigies in the history of the game. She was taught the moves by her father when she was 5.5 and started to play in tournaments at the age of 7. When she was 10 years old\, she won an under-21 girls’ tournament sponsored by FIDE and at the age of 13 won the British Ladies Championship for the first time. \nShe is married to David Pritchard\, ex-Southern Counties Champion and Malayan Champion in 1955\, when she was stationed with the RAF in Singapore\, who tells of how when he first met her\, when she was about 7\, she was unable to reach the far side of the board. \nHer successes in more recent years include 2nd in the Western European Women’s Zonal Tournament of 1957 and 6th in the same event at Arenys de Mar in 1966; 3rd at Havering 1967 and 3rd at Paignton 1967. She played for the British Chess Federation team in the First Women’s Chess Olympiad at Emmen in 1957.” \nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess\, Edited by Harry Golombek : \n“International Woman master and British Woman champion 1939\, 1946\, 1956 and 1965\, she was a girl prodigy with perhaps the most natural talent for the game of any British-born woman. She was playing competitive chess at the age of seven and was only ten when she won the FIDE Girls Open chess championship (under-21) in London in 1936\, winning eleven out of twelve games played. \nBritish Girl Champion (under-18) 1936-8 she won the British Women’s Championship in 1939 at the age of thirteen. Winning the title on three more occasions she hardly ever had a bad result in the event but\, by profession a teacher\, she did not always have the time to devote to the game. \nHer best international results were 2nd in the Western European Zonal Women’s tournament in 1957 (the year she gained the Woman master title)\, and two 3rd places in Paignton and Havering 1967. She represented the B.C.F. in Women’s Olympiads at Emmen 1957\, Skopje 1972\, Medellin in 1974 and Haifa 1976. (H.G.)” \nElaine did not merit mention by Hooper & Whyld it would appear. \nThe following obituary by James Pratt appeared in the February 2012 issue of British Chess Magazine : \n“Via Godalming Chess Club we learn of the death of International Woman Master\, Elaine Pritchard (née Dorée Elaine Zelia Saunders ) (7 i 1926 Brentford – 7 i 2012 Gloucester). British Lady Champion in 1939\, 1946\, 1956 and 1965\, she became an IWM in 1957. A child prodigy\, she won the World Girls Under 21s at the age of ten and first captured the British Ladies title at the outbreak of WWII. Mrs Pritchard wrote two books\, Chess for Pleasure and The Young Chess Player. She was an occasional BCM contributor. Her last published grade was in 2003. She was an Honorary Life Member of the ECF.” \nand here courtesy of Edward Winter is an excellent article on chess prodigies including many scanned photographs of Elaine. \nand here is an obituary for the ECF written by Stewart Reuben \nand here is her Wikipedia entry \nand some more photographs. \nand finally a discussion of Elaine on the English Chess Forum. \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-elaine-pritchard/ CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/methode_times_prodmigration_web_bin_d86f9cf2-9eee-36fc-bdff-406a17f9868c.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210107 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210108 DTSTAMP:20210120T120552Z CREATED:20191230T113557Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210120T120552Z UID:2638-1609977600-1610063999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday for GM Luke James McShane (07-i-1984) DESCRIPTION:We send best wishes to GM Luke James McShane on his birthday\, this day (January 7th) in 1984. \nHere is Luke’s 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\nLuke James McShane\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nLuke James McShane\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-for-gm-luke-james-mcshane-07-i-1984/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/jb4_8003_lv-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210108 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210109 DTSTAMP:20210120T120750Z CREATED:20190822T161251Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210120T120750Z UID:990-1610064000-1610150399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM George Botterill (08-i-1949) DESCRIPTION:We send birthday wishes to IM George Steven Botterill born on this day (January 8th) in 1949. \nHere is his Wikipedia page \nBrian Reilly\, Ray Keene\, George Botterill\, Anatoly Karpov\, Harry Golombek and Viktor Korchnoi\nand here is his academic page \nCapa vs Corzo Rerun ? Nigel Short had 1977 British Champion George Botterill on the ropes at The National Bank of Dubai Open. In the photo Nigel is considering 42 Rh5 The champ just escaped with a draw.\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 George Steven Botterill (08-I-1949)\nThe Modern Defence\, BT Batsford\, 1972\, GS Botterill and RD Keene\nThe Pirc Defence\, BT Batsford\, 1973\, GS Botterill and RD Keene\nBritish Chess\, Pergamon Press\, 1983. Editors : GS Botterill\, DNL Levy\, JM Rice and MJ Richardson\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-george-steven-botterill/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Bot01091.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210108 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210109 DTSTAMP:20210109T122609Z CREATED:20190823T085537Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210109T122609Z UID:1052-1610064000-1610150399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of William Ritson Morry (05-ix-1910 08-i-1994) DESCRIPTION:We remember William Ritson Morry who passed away on Saturday\, January 8th\, 1994. \n(A point of detail : It is incorrect\, but many do\, to write WRM hyphenated. His first name was William\, his middle name was Ritson and his surname was Morry. He chose to use his middle name and was known by his friends as Ritson. Maybe this was because he father was also William Morry?) \nWRM was born in the Wirral on Monday\, September 5th 1910 and his parents were William D Morry (born 16th July 1877). William was a sub-postmaster and seller of fancy goods. His mother was Norah Morry who undertook “unpaid domestic duties”. \nIn the 1939 register he is recorded as being a solicitor with his own practice and was living at 294 Walmley Road\, Royal Sutton Coldfield\, Warwickshire with his parents : he was 29 years old. \n294 Walmley Road\, Royal Sutton Coldfield\, Warwickshire\, B76\, 2PL\nIn 1940 WRM married Nellie Cooper in Sutton Coldfield. \nIn 1943 WRM was mentioned in the London Gazette several times: \nWRM appears in the London Gazette in 1943.\nIt would appear that this was the start of his first bankruptcy proceedings.. \nWRM was\, by now\, living at “Lyndon”\, Coleshill Road\, Sutton Coldfield\, Warwickshire : \nLyndon\, Coleshill Road\, Sutton Coldfield\, Warwickshire\nand in the same year on September 30th he was officially made bankrupt as recorded in the London Gazette\, order number 195. This notice was repeated in the Edinburgh Gazette of the same year. \nOn the 8th of June 1944 he was recorded as being struck-off the list of solicitors under the Solicitors Acts of 1932 to 1941. It was determined that WRM had engaged in “fraudulent conversion of clients money” \nBirmingham Daily Post 30 October 1945\nFor more on this see the excellent Chess in the Courts by Edward Winter. \nIn 1954 WRM sued BH Wood for libel over a letter BHW sent to Henry Golding of the Monmouthshire County Chess Association warning him of WRMs financial history. Here is a summary of the action : \nThe Birmingham Post\, July 15th\, 1954\nIn 1983 WRM was living at Flat 2\, 53\, Mayfield Road\, Moseley\, Birmingham\, West Midlands and recorded as a Retired Chess Journalist. Elsewhere he was recorded as a freelance chess and cricket journalist. \n57\, Mayfield Road\, Moseley\, Birmingham\, B13 9HT\nand\, unfortunately\, in this year he made another appearance in the London Gazette (2nd September 1983) having been made bankrupt. \nLondon Gazette\, 2nd September 1983\nHowever\, despite these unfortunate life events WRMs contribution to chess goes above and beyond them as he won the BCF President’s Award in 1984. \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume CXIV (114\, 1994)\, Number 2 (February)\, pp. 98 – 99 we have this obituary from Bernard Cafferty: \nW Ritson Morry – a Tribute \nThat great chess character\, known to everybody simply as Ritson\, has left us in the fullness of years\, coincidentally during the first Hastings Congress he missed for decades. \nWilliam Ritson Morry (5 ix 1910-8 i 1994) was a player\, organiser\, writer\, arbiter and occasional sponsor of tournaments whose life touched so many aspects of chess that it is hard to know where to begin. \nWilliam Ritson Morry (05-ix-1910 08-i-1994)\nRitson was educated in North Wales at the same school as BH Wood. Both were at Birmingham University at the same time\, after which Ritson trained as a solicitor. As early as 1930 he founded the Birmingham Junior League\, and a little later wrote a chess column for a time for a local newspaper\, though Ritson is hardly the first person you think of as someone who would hit deadlines consistently. He was equal second in a rather unrepresentative British Championship of 1936 and equal third in 1951. An unfortunate incident in the mid-1940s led to him being struck off\, whereupon he became a chess professional\, who eked out a precarious living for the last 48 years of his life. Yet\, I never heard him complain\, for he was able to immerse himself in chess full time\, and what could be better than that? \nWilliam Ritson Morry playing Baruch Harold Wood at the British Championships in Blackpool from 1956\nHe ran a series of newsletters\, which hardly covered their expenses and produced and British Championship and Hastings bulletins for many years. 1951 was a significant year in his life\, for he gained the FIDE Arbiter title (he was always an expert on the rules and many of the conventions we all play to were codified by him\, or under his guidance). Later on Ritson\, a great raconteur\, was the life and soul of the show in Hastings which\, along with the Warwickshire chess team and Erdington CC\, was the great love of his life. \nAberystwyth Chess Congress 1955\, W Ritson Morry and KL Gardiner\, En Passant Chess Publications\, 1955\nAt times he seemed to run Hastings almost single-handed in the Frank Rhoden era. In fact GM Vasyukov went back to Moscow in 1966 and wrote that Ritson Morry was the only controller to be seen in the morning\, afternoon and evening sessions of play. I recall that Ritson was amused when I told him of this\, but did not demur. To show that there was life in the old dog\, he organised a series of Birmingham international tournaments in the 1970s at which Tony Miles got much of his early experience. \nTackle Chess by William Ritson-Morry & W Melville Mitchell\nOne such tournament was financed by him alone\, on the basis of the sale of a piece of land in Sutton Coldfield where a change of planning status had led to a windfall profit. \n  \nHastings Chess Congress 1955-56\, RG Wade & W. Ritson Morry\, En Passant Chess Publications\nHe also saved Hastings in late 1974\,by giving a partial guarantee when another sponsor reduced his contribution. A few years later the Inland Revenue made him bankrupt when they could not get their piece of the action out of the deal. Doubtless Ritson thought that the money had gone to a worthier cause. I must not fail to mention his love of gambling or his erudition. Many is the time when you could have an exposition from him of the law of England\, the practice of the courts and the police\, or the political news of the day. \nWilliam Ritson Morry (05-ix-1910 08-i-1994)\nHe was deeply immersed in local Labour Party politics in Birmingham and was a friend of football referee\, ‘rainmaker’ Dennis Howell\, one-time Minister for Sport. Ritson also played a great deal of postal chess\, winning the British title in 1943. His book on the game written in conjunction with a Birmingham schoolmaster Mel Mitchell is a very instructive one\, and he also wrote many reports and amusing articles for BCM\, particularly one on of the failings of the Elo rating system regulations. \nHere is a game Ritson won against the veteran German GM at the London Easter congress of 1940: \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nBernard wrote about WRM a year later for the centenary edition of the programme for the Hastings International Congress : \n“‘Ritson’ as we all knew him was an institution in British Chess\, active as a player\, writer\,  organiser\, drafter of rules and well-known for his skill as a raconteur\, Educated in North Wales\, he spent the rest of his life\, from university days onwards\, in Birmingham\, but the Hastings Congress was very close to his heart.  He played in a number of pre-war events\, and also a few post-war\, but by the time of the Frank Rhoden revival of the mid-1950s he was firmly in the saddle organising the post-Christmas traditional event. In fact I recall how perturbed Frank Rhoden was when the news came that Ritson might emigrate to the West Indies.  It was not clear then how he could be replaced\, for he supervised the morning\, afternoon and evening sessions at the Sun Lounge (his favourite venue) and later at the Falaise Hall when the congress was still of such a size that we could all\, including the Premier\, be fitted into one room. \nWilliam Ritson Morry\nRitson also did game commentaries for some years and produced a bulletin for at least three decades. He was greatly encouraging of younger talent and the objective historian has to recall the indignation he felt when players like Tony Miles and Nigel Short were not happy with the restraints imposed by financial stringency. \nHastings bench memorial bench for William Ritson Morry\nIn his declining years Ritson was still a regular until his illness of late 1993\, and a fixture at the “gate” where the public paid their entrance money at the Cinque Ports Hotel. The choice of word is deliberate as a visit to the dogs and the bookmaker was one of his rare pleasures outside chess.  Best of all\, however\, one recalls him telling his fund of stories and reminisces to anyone who cared to listen. His voice\, alas\, has been stilled\, and we are left to recall his selfless devotion to chess and\, in particular\, to the Hastings Congress. \nHere is an obituary from the Midland Counties Chess Union \nHere is an in-depth article from William Hartston in The Independent \nWilliam Ritson Morry (05-ix-1910 08-i-1994)\nHere is a biography from the Midland Counties  Chess Union newsletter from 1994. \nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess by Harry Golombek : \nMidlands organiser and player who was a chess professional and journalist. As a player his best performances were an =2nd in the British Championship 1936 and an = 3rd in 1951. \nIn the international field his best results have been an =3rd with List in the Major Open A section of the Nottingham congress of 1936 and =1st with Milner-Barry in the Premier Reserves A at the Hastings congress 1946/7. He has played for England in international matches against the Netherlands (thrice) and against Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. \nWilliam Ritson Morry talking about Malik Mir Sultan Kahn\nA keen and accomplished correspondence player\, he had the title of British Postal Master on account of his winning the British Correspondence Championship in 1943. \nBut it is as tournament and congress organiser that he is best known. He founded the Birmingham Junior League in 1930 and has organised thirty-four Birmingham congresses. He conceived the idea of a junior world championship and in 1951 he held the first World Junior Championship tournament at Birmingham (won by Borislav Ivkov). In the same year he was awarded the title of FIDE judge. He has also had much to do with the organisation of the Hastings Christmas chess congresses in the 1970s. \nWilliam Ritson Morry (05-ix-1910 08-i-1994)\nHe has written much for British chess magazines and was the co-author along with the late W. R. Mitchell  of Tackle Chess\, London\, 1967. \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-william-ritson-morry/ CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,Hastings,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_0968-1.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:20210115 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210116 DTSTAMP:20230109T222958Z CREATED:20200409T181200Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230109T222958Z UID:4293-1610668800-1610755199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Andrew Horton (15-i-1998) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of IM Andrew P Horton (15-i-1998) \nAndrew became a FIDE Master in 2015 and an International Master in 2018. \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-andrew-p-horton-15-i-1998/ CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/jb4_4220_lv-scaled.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:20210123 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210124 DTSTAMP:20230121T131743Z CREATED:20200122T210240Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230121T131743Z UID:2990-1611360000-1611446399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Adam Taylor (23-i-1998) DESCRIPTION:We send best wishes to IM Adam Taylor on his birthday. \nAdam Christopher Taylor was born on Friday\, January 23rd\, 1998 in Colchester\, Essex. Adam has a sister\, Nathalie Leanne Taylor who also plays and studied History & Economics at The University of York. His mother Deborah was always supportive during his chess career. \nHe attended The Gilberd School\, Colchester until 2014 and then Colchester Sixth Form College and currently resides in Colchester\, Essex. \nECF grading profile for IM Adam C Taylor\nAdam’s first recorded rapidplay event was the Basildon Junior Congress resulting in a published grade of 34D and his first graded standard play event was the 2009 London Junior Under-12 Championships and his first published standard-play grading was 73E. \nIn that same year at Torquay Adam won the British Under-12 title sharing with Radha Jain. \nAdam C Taylor at the 2013 UK Chess Challenge Terafinal. Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nAdam made his first 4NCL appearance in May 2012 for SC Stars followed by Anglian Avengers. In 2018 the lure of the big lights of Division One beckoned and Wood Green became Adam’s team now playing for Wood Green Monarchs in the Online 4NCL championship. \nIn 2017 Adam scored an impressive 6/9 (and =2nd) when he travelled to Greece to play in the Heraklion 1st Capablanca Memorial. \nThe Hastings Open in 2018 saw an excellent =7th with 6.5/10. \nAdam’s IM title was ratified in June of 2019 in Baku and currently (January 2021) holds a FIDE standard play rating of 2347 and an ECF standard play rating of 2260A. His highest ECF standard play grading was 230A in July 2019. We expect this to be exceeded once OTB play resumes. \nBattersea Chess Club celebrated Adams’s title in style with this article written by Leon Watson \nFIDE rating profile for IM Adam C Taylor from MegaBase 2020.\nAdam has played for Bury St. Edmunds and Manningtree and now Battersea in the London League and Wood Green in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) and has made many appearances in the UKCC Terafinal. \nAdam is known as Tayip99 on chess.com and as AdamTaylor2301 on LiChess.com and regularly streams on Twitch and other platforms. \nAdam C Taylor\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nOn the 13th of September 2019 Adam became the sole director of MakingGrandmasters Limited which lists on its web site a number of leading young English players engaging in coaching such as Matthew Wadsworth\, Ravi Haria and Daniel Fernandez to name but a few. \nOne of Adam’s more notable students is Guildford Chess Club member Jessica Mellor who\, in 2018\, won Gold in the Under-11 category of the European Schools Championship. \nMore recently Adam has taken a back seat from chess and has become a golf professional. \nWith the white pieces Adam favours a Reti/English set-up where c4 quickly follows a king side fianchetto. Here is a typical game of Adam’s with the white against a strong opponent : \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nWith the black pieces Adam essays the Berlin Defence and the Sicilian Najdorf as well as the Benko Gambit and Nimzo-Indian Defence. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nIM Adam C Taylor\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-adam-c-taylor-23-i-1998/ CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Coach,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/KRM_5083.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210124 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210125 DTSTAMP:20230124T232223Z CREATED:20200408T130222Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230124T232223Z UID:4195-1611446400-1611532799@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM David Cummings (24-i-1961) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of IM David H Cummings (24-i-1961) \nDavid Cummings (front\, second from right) at a Lloyds Bank event\nThis was written about David who was 18 just prior to the 1979 Spassky vs the BCF Junior squad simultaneous display : \n“Varndean and Brighton. Rating 207. British men’s championship finalist\, 1977. First Danish junior international championship\, 1978.” \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\nDavid was joint (with PG Large) Southern Counties (SCCU) champion in the 1979-80 season. \nIM David H Cummings\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-david-h-cummings-24-i-1961/ CATEGORIES:2023,Birthday,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_1088-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210127 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210128 DTSTAMP:20230126T231702Z CREATED:20191117T173215Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230126T231702Z UID:2089-1611705600-1611791999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Richard Bates (27-i-1979) DESCRIPTION:Best Birthday wishes to IM Richard Adam Bates born on this day (January 27th) in 1979. \nRichard has won the Southern Counties (SCCU) championship in the 2015-16\, 2016-17 (with Nick Pert) and 2017-18 seasons. \nIM Richard Adam Bates\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nRichard Bates\nIM Richard Bates\nSheen Mount Under Eleven Chess Champion Richard Bates and Robin Laisby enjoying a game during time out from the Teachers Assurance National Primary Schools Chess Championships. Malaysian Elephant Leyang Leyang and her keeper Duncan McGinnie help them not to forget their chess moves.\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-richard-alan-bates-27-i-1979/ CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/bct_4349_lv-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 BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210202 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210203 DTSTAMP:20210202T123329Z CREATED:20190824T124759Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210202T123329Z UID:1167-1612224000-1612310399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Mike Franklin (02-ii-1931) DESCRIPTION:We send best wishes to Michael Franklin on his 90th birthday. \nGrowing Up\nMichael John Franklin was born on Monday\, February 2nd\, 1931 in Battersea\, London to Albert George (27 ix 1906\, Dover – ? iii 1983\, Wandsworth) and Helen Ann Franklin (née Colson\, 1908-2003) who married in the third quarter of 1928 in Wandsworth.  Albert was a clerk as was his father. \nAt the commencement of the Second World War\, when eight years old\, Michael was evacuated to Frome in Somerset. As a consequence Michael would delight in playing in the Frome Congress whenever possible. He played in the first event in 1990 organised by Leon York  (whose name is the memorial trophy for the Major section).  The story of Michael’s return to Frome made its’ way in to the local newspaper and was reported by Gary Lane as follows : \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume CX (110\, 1990)\, Number 7 (July)\, page 296 : \n“A special presentation by the sponsor\, Mrs. Jean Mackereth\, Managing Director of Keyford Frames\, was made to Londoner Michael Franklin\, who was returning for the first time in 51 years to the town to which he was evacuated during the war. His final appearance at Frome was in the 2010 event. \nThe Early Years\nMichaels interest in chess started in 1944 aged 13 when he witnessed games being played on Clapham Common. He was fascinated by the pieces and taught himself to play\, never receiving  any formal coaching. He joined the Clapham Common Chess Club in 1944. (CCCC became incorporated into Battersea Chess Club some time later). \nCHECK MATES: Elderly members of the Clapham Common Open Air Chess and Draughts Club\, circa 1920. The club met regularly during the afternoons to play on Clapham Common in south London. Copyright : Keystone\nApart from summer events such as the above the club had a Winter Section that played matches in the London League. The club won the first division (now known as the Brian Smith Trophy) of the London League in the 1946-47 and 1947-48 seasons. Michael played his final game in the London Chess League for Richmond & Twickenham on April 14th 2010 drawing with John Hodgson\, brother of Julian giving a sixty year span. \nIn his formative years he played at the Gambit Chess Café\, Budge Row\,  Cannon Street\, London\, EC4N. Many strong players regularly visited the Gambit to play skittles\, blitz and the frequently held lightning tournaments hosted by the proprietor Mr GH White. \n\nEvents such as these enabled Michael to develop his quick sight of the board and his flair for tactical play. \nLeonard Barden added : \n“Michael made his name as a young player first by his successes in the Saturday evening Gambit Guinea speed events at the Gambit Chess Café in Cannon Street which he often won ahead of master level rivals. He remained a strong speed player all his life.” \nIn the early 1950s Michael was persuaded by his friends Aird Thomson (who was Scottish Boys’ Champion in 1932\, and 1933 ( equal-first). In 1951 he was Scottish Champion. In 1954 he moved to London. He married Susan Mary Hamilton in 1961 who went on to become Scottish Ladies’ Champion in 1965.) and oriental carpet expert Robert Pinner to join the Richmond and Twickenham Chess Club  playing for the club in the London League\, Surrey Trophy  and National Club Championship until he retired from competitive play 2010. \nMaking Progress\nMichael’s first appearance in British Chess Magazine was in Volume LXVI (66\, 1946)\, Number 2 (February). Page 52 contained this report of the 1945 London Boy’s Championship in which Michael reached the final A section : \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXVI (66\, 1946)\, Number 2 (February)\, page 52\nMichael’s club (for this event) is recorded as Hammersmith Arts and Crafts School. \nOn leaving school  Michael joined a firm of Patent Agents remaining in their employ as the accounts department for around forty years before retiring in the late 1980s. His retirement was prompted by the firm’s adoption of electronic computers. When he retired he was Chief Cashier. \nOn June 18th 1960 Michael’s happiest day was when he married Jean Fey. They celebrated  their diamond anniversary in 2020. \nTo the present day Michael has maintained an aversion toward modern technology. He did\, however\, concede to the ownership of a mobile telephone. This was for the specific purpose of updating Jean on his days progress in any chess tournaments where he was away from home. \nIn 1946 (aged 15) Michael won the Felce Cup awarded by the Surrey County Chess Association. A result indicating rapid improvement since Michael had only started playing competitively in 1944. \nThe Felce Cup held by the hands of Stephen Moss in 2014\nIn 1951 Michael finished third in the Surrey Championships behind the winner Frank Parr and runner-up David Hooper. In 1961\, 1966\, 1968\, 1969 and 1970 Michael won the Surrey Championship outright and made many appearences in county matches for Surrey from 1950 onwards until 2010. \nUnfortunately Michael’s rapid progress was threatened by two bouts of ill health. In 1948 aged 17 Michael was diagnosed with Tuberculosis which lasted for eighteen months including a twelve month stay in the Royal National Hospital for Diseases of the Chest in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight. Aged twenty the TB returned leading to yet another twelve months illness. \nMichael has suffered from ill health all of his life interrupting his chess career at various times. Fortunately the TB has not returned. \nMichael won the National Chess Centre Championship in 1953 and 1955 being runner-up in 1954. The venue was Hill’s Restaurant\, 158 Bishopsgate\, London\, EC2 opposite Liverpool Street Station since the original John Lewis department store venue was bombed in 1940. \nResults from the 1955 event: \n1-2 Franklin\, Fazekas 3.5/5\n3 Fuller 3/5\n4 Barden 2.5/5\n5 Parr 1/5\n6 Green 0.5/5 \nMichael won the play-off 2-0. \nThe British Chess Federation first published a National Grading list in 1953 (using the Richard Clarke system). In the 1954 list MF appeared with a grade of 2A (225-232) and from then on with a grade of either 2A or 2B. In 1964 a numeric system had him at 225 ranking Michael 4th in England behind Penrose 244\, Kottnauer 238 and Clarke 231. \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 played many times in the annual Battle of Britain Tournament organised by Squadron Leader David Pritchard and his committee. He won it four times : 1959\, 1960\, 1961 and 1962. \nThe Ilford Whitsun Congress\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 Ilford Whitsun Congress was a regular part of Michael’s season throughout the sixties. He won the Premier Reserves in 1961 ahead of Hilton\, Hindle\, Howson\, Sales and Blaine and was runner-up to Kottnauer in 1962.  In 1963 he went one step better by winning the Premier : \nA report of Mike Franklin’s success at the 1963 Ilford Whitsun Congress by Peter Clarke. Source : British Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXXIII\, Number 7 (July)\, page 193\nand here is the fifth round game : \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 his tournament report PH Clarke wrote : \nThis buoyant\, optimistic attitude of his is a great strength and always makes him a dangerous opponent. \nAway from Home : International Progress\n1964 saw selection by the BCF to play in the Tel Aviv Olympiad : \nThe 1964 England Olympiad (Tel Aviv) Team : Owen Hindle\, Čeněk Kottnauer\, Peter Clarke\, Michael Franklin\, Norman Littlewood & Michael Haygarth\nand scored a creditable 4/6.  This was followed in 1965 with 3/5 in Clare Benedict tournament held in Berlin. \nHe played in the annual Anglo-Dutch match on no less than six occasions in 1962\, 1963\, 1964\, 1965\, 1968 and finally in 1969. His aggregate score was an impressive 8/12. \n?\, Čeněk Kottnauer\, Michael Franklin and Owen Hindle\nOn the national scene Michael repeated his 1963 victory at the 1969 Ilford Premier with a clear first place : Franklin 4; RG Wade and D Wright 3; JB Howson 2.5; BH Wood 2; PH Clarke 0.5. \nIn 1970 Michael won the London Championship which was also known as the Budget Cup which had last been held in 1956 .  He followed this in 1972 by rightly earning the (now defunct) title of British Master. \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’s final appearance for England was in 1971 in the Cheltenham based Anglo-German match with a somewhat disappointing 0.5/2 against Juergen Dueball. \nOwen Hindle\, Michael Franklin\, Harry Golombek and Michael Haygarth\nMichael played board two for London in a Telex match versus Belgrade playing Marjanovic.  The game was drawn. \nMichael Franklin playing board two in the London – Belgrade Telex Match on April 3rd\, 1976 from the St. James Hotel\, Buckingham Gate. Sourced from BCM\, Volume XCVI (96)\, Number 5\, page 192. Photographer probably Freddy Reilly.\nThe Ultimate Prize : The Aaronson Masters\nThe Aaronson Masters at Harrow 1978 brought his best individual success at the age of 47\, sharing first place with IM Aldo Haik of France and to boot\, earning  an IM norm. \nJoint winners of the 1978 Aaronson Masters : Michael Franklin and IM Aldo Haik\nMichael scored an undefeated 7.5/10 and finished ahead of Short\, Speelman\, Nunn\, Hartston\, Mestel\, Webb\, Basman\, Botterill and numerous other illustrious players.  Michael remarked of his lifetime best result that it was \njust one of those occasions when everything went right! \nBut he scored 3.5/5 against the IMs\, was alert to every opportunity\, and the games show he owed little to luck. \nLeonard Barden\, Stewart Reuben and Michael Franklin at the 1978 Aaronson Masters\nLike many others Michael made appearences in Lloyds Bank events of 1977\, 1978\, 1984\, 1989\, 1991\, 1993 and 1994. \nMichael Franklin (left) at the 1978 Lloyds Bank Masters playing IGM Leonid Shamkovich\nMichael and friends during the 1978 Lloyds Bank Masters\nThe Hastings Years\nMichael first played at Hastings in 1964 when he was invited to play in the Premier Tournament. The tournament was won by Mikhail Tal and Michael finished in last place. \nUndaunted he returned to Hastings in 1968 to play in the Challengers tournament. One of the attractions of playing in the Challengers was that the winner received a place the following years Premier. Frustratingly Michael finished second three years in a row! In 1968 the Challengers was won by Danny Wright\, in 1969 by Martyn Corden and in 1970 by Peter Markland. Finally\, in 1971 his patience was rewarded and he won the Challengers and qualified to the following years Premier. \nThe 47th Hastings Premier of 1971-72 had been changed from the traditional 10 player all-play-all to a 16 player tournament. Also\, having obtained sponsorship from various organisations the committee were able to invite some of the top names of the day. The sponsors were: \n\nJim Slater\nThe Friends of Chess\nThe British Chess Federation\nBovis Holdings Ltd\nHastings County Borough Council\n\nSo\, the entry included Karpov\, Korchnoi\, Andersson\, Najdorf\, Mecking\, Gligoric\, Unzicker and Robert Byrne to name but a few. This was undoubtedly the strongest Hastings Premier since World War Two and possibly the strongest Hastings Tournament since 1895. \nMichael started well with a draw against the Rumanian GM Ciocaltea followed by a draw in with the Brazilian prodigy Mecking. In round three he surprised everyone by beating Ray Keene. With 2/3 things were looking promising. However\, after this bright start Michael only managed a draw against Unzicker and a draw with Hartston finishing in a disappointing last place with a score of 3/15. \nIn the tournament report Peter Clarke opined \nFranklin suffered the usual fate of the gifted amateur in a professional field of simply not being accustomed to this kind of chess. \nDespite this Michael continued to play in the Hastings Challengers. He played in nineteen out of the next twenty-five years! He came close to winning the tournament in 1982: he was leading the tournament with a score of 7/8 when he was informed that Jean’s Father had passed away. Having drawn his ninth round game and needing only a draw in the last round to ensure at least a tie for first place he withdrew from the tournament and immediately left for home. \nThe Weekend Scene\nLike all players with a full time job Michael had to play most of his chess at the weekend so the explosion of weekends tournaments in the early 1970’s gave him ample opportunities. His habit of playing quickly was ideally suited to the fast time limits of the weekend tournament. During the 1970 and 1980’s he was very successful. He won numerous events and was more often than not in the prize list. \nFM Michael Franklin\, Photo by Cathy Rogers\nIn later years he restricted himself to London based tournaments and those in the West Country. His regular tournaments being Exeter\, Torquay and old favourite\, Frome. Michael at the age of 78 shared first place at Frome 2009. Frome 2010 was his farewell appearance. \nFM Michael Franklin\nMichael played for a number of clubs viz : Richmond & Twickenham\, Coulsdon CF\, Surrey CCA\, 4NCL Richmond\, 4NCL Bristol and Richards Butler to name but a few. \nFinally\, in 1980\,  Michael was awarded the FIDE Master title and achieved his highest rating (in the Elo era) of 2345 in January 1979. It is most likely that his highest ever rating would have been more like 2450. \nFM Michael Franklin vs Paul Helbig\nAppropriately enough Michael was the inaugural winner of the BCF/ECF Senior Prix in 2000 and won it again in 2002 and 2003. The event last ran in 2006. \nWhen Surrey won the counties championship a few years back the team took the trophy around to Michael’s home in Norbury\, such was their regard for his contributions. \nThe London System\nAny currently active club player cannot have missed the explosive rise to prominence of the system for White he developed : \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nThe London System and Accelerated London System has acquired a huge cohort of followers in recent times probably not realising the debt they (and many authors\, book and DVD publishers!) owe to Michael. If only he could have earnt a royalty every time it was played! \nAlso Michael had notable success as Black with the O’Kelly Sicilian 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nLife Outside of Chess\nMichael had many interests apart from Chess. He was for many years a member of the Surrey County Cricket Club. After he retired he would arrange to meet fellow Surrey Member Frank Parr at the Oval and after lunch in the Pavilion they would spend the day enjoying the Cricket. Tennis was another sport that Michael followed. Michael was also interested in horseracing. Several players were surprised when visiting one of the racetracks around London to find Michael also attending the race meeting. \nMichael was the typical “natural” player. He never studied the game and his only sources of opening information were the British Chess Magazine and the chess columns in The Times and the Guardian. He never kept the scores of his games. Once the game was finished it was time to move on. One of Michael’s greatest strengths was his optimistic attitude at the chessboard. No matter how bad the position he was confident of ultimate success. \nMichael Franklin receives £220 from Councillor Robert Dickson at the 1980 Nottinghamshire Congress\nCaption for above photograph\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-michael-john-franklin/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,History,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Fra14127.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210203 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210204 DTSTAMP:20210131T113738Z CREATED:20200410T093145Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210131T113738Z UID:4321-1612310400-1612396799@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Oliver Jackson (03-ii-1946) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of FM Oliver A Jackson (03-ii-1946) \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-oliver-a-jackson-03-ii-1946/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/jb4_9317_lv-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210203 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210204 DTSTAMP:20210202T095920Z CREATED:20200410T212653Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210202T095920Z UID:4379-1612310400-1612396799@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Colin McNab (03-ii-1961) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of GM Colin Anderson McNab (03-ii-1961) \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-colin-anderson-mcnab-03-ii-1961/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_0520-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210204 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210205 DTSTAMP:20210202T100049Z CREATED:20191020T125454Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210202T100049Z UID:1597-1612396800-1612483199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Harriet Hunt (04-ii-1978) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of IM Harriet Hunt (04-ii-1978) \nIM Harriet Vaughan Hunt\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-harriet-hunt-04-ii-1978/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/img_1307_smaller.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210204 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210205 DTSTAMP:20210130T185025Z CREATED:20200120T133751Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210130T185025Z UID:2954-1612396800-1612483199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Ameet Ghasi (04-ii-1987) DESCRIPTION:IM Ameet Kumar Ghasi\nBirthday of IM Ameet Kumar Ghasi (04-ii-1987) \nIM Ameet Kumar Ghasi\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-ameet-kumar-ghasi-04-ii-1987/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210206 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210207 DTSTAMP:20220206T125401Z CREATED:20200201T143815Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220206T125401Z UID:3106-1612569600-1612655999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of WIM Cathy Forbes (06-ii-1968) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of WIM Cathy Forbes (06-ii-1968) \nWIM Cathy Warwick (née Forbes)\nThe Polgar Sisters : Training or Genius ?\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-wim-cathy-forbes-06-ii-1968/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Journalist,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_0576-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210207 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210208 DTSTAMP:20220207T095801Z CREATED:20200207T144432Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220207T095801Z UID:3191-1612656000-1612742399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Ravi Haria (07-ii-1999) DESCRIPTION:BCN sends birthday wishes to GM Ravi Haria. \nRavi Haria was born Sunday\, February 7th\, 1999  in Elstree\, Hertfordshire. “Maria” by Blondie was top of the hit parade. Ravi currently resides in London. \nRavi attended Lonsdale School in Barnet and then The Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School and now reads History at University College\, London. \nECF grading profiles for Ravi Haria\nRavi learnt at the age of 6 and joined Barnet Knights Chess Club in 2005. \nRavi’s first recorded tournament was the 35th Barnet Knights Under-8  rapidplay on September 25th 2005. Also playing of note were Jonathan Pein and Isaac Sanders. \nHis first recorded standard play game  was in the London Junior Under-10 Championships on December 9th 2006. \nBy the time he was eight he had attracted the attention of the England selectors and played in the 2008 Commonwealth Championships in New Delhi coming home with a bronze medal. \nRavi aged 8 photographed by The Borehamwood and Elstree Times in January 2008\nRavi aged 9 photographed by The Borehamwood and Elstree Times in August 2008\nIn 2008 Ravi won the British Under-9 title in Liverpool. He said afterwards: \nIt was quite nice to be leading everyone and I felt proud of myself. I’m not sure how I control my nerves but it feels really good to win. \nHis mother Sona said: \nIt’s a bit overwhelming but we just support him. It means you have to give up a lot of time for him but it’s really nice to see that he’s getting somewhere. \nThis was followed in 2014 by winning the British Under-18 championship in Aberystwyth aged 15 and then the same title in 2017 in Llandudno. \nRavi Haria\, UKCC Southern Gigafinal\, 2013\nIn 2016 Ravi was equal 2nd to Deep Sengupta at the Hastings Masters Open with an impressive 6/9 and a TPR of 2563.  This performance secured his second IM norm. \nThe IM title was conferred at the 88th FIDE Congress 2017\, 7-15 October\, Goynuk\, Antalya\, Turkey. \nHe scored six points after 11 rounds at the 2017 World Junior championship in Italy and 5.5 points at the 2017 WYCC U-18 group in Uruguay. \n\nRavi completed his British junior titles run by becoming the current (no OTB event in 2020) British Under-21 champion in 2019 in Torquay scoring an emphatic 6.5/9 securing a share of third place. \nPartial crosstable for the 2019 British Championships in Torquay\nRavi became a FIDE Master in 2015 at the age of 16 and and International Master two years later making him England’s second youngest IM after Matthew Wadsworth. \nOTB Elo rating profile for IM Ravi Haria according to MegaBase 2020\nHis peak FIDE rating was 2497 in October 2021 and currently (February  2022) is 2490. \nIn 2019 Ravi teamed up with IM Adam C. Taylor to join Adam’s Making Grandmasters training venture. \nFM Ravi Haria\, ECF Secondary Schools Rapidplay\, 2016\nOn January 28th 2021 Thinker’s Publishing released The Modernised Anti-Sicilians\, Volume 1\, Rossolimo Variation which is a massive 520 page tome on the following position : \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 was reviewed by FM Richard Webb. \nwhich we hope will be followed by at least Volume 2! \nThe Modernized Anti-Sicilians – Volume 1: Rossolimo Variation\, Ravi Haria\, Thinker’s Publishing\, 2021\nRavi has plus scores against : Matthew Turner\, Simon Williams\, William Claridge Hansen\, Bob Eames\, David Eggleston and Arul Gupta to name but a few. \nGM John Emms plays IM Ravi Haria in the final round of the 2019 British Championships in Torquay\nWith the white pieces Ravi unsurprisingly plays the Moscow and Rossolimo variations against the Sicilian\,  the Ruy Lopez and\, in recent years\, he has adopted the Reti/English complex. \nAs the second player he plays the French Winawer and (refreshingly) the Abrahams-Noteboom Variation of the Semi-Slav. \nFor your entertainment we have these two  brevities : \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nand \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nRavi has played for University College London. Hendon and Cavendish in the London and other leagues and in 4NCL he started with Kings Head\, transferring to Cambridge in 2014 and finally moving in 2016 to Wood Green. \nIn this game Ravi punishes IM Malcolm Pein who has a bad day at the office : \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nRavi Haria\, British Championships\, 2014\, Aberystwyth\nRavi is Mesutgm on chess.com and lichess \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nOver the 19th – 23rd August  2021 Ravi played in the Wood Green Invitational round-robin event at Oddfellows Hall\, Stafford. \nRavi scored 7.5/10 and secured his second Grandmaster Norm and  a TPR of 2680. \nWood Green Invitational Round-Robin event at Oddfellows Hall\, Stafford. August Bank Holiday Weekend\, 2021\nOver the August Bank Holiday weekend of 2021 Ravi played in the Northumbrian Masters  GM Tournament at the splendid Marriott MetroCentre\, Gateshead winning jointly with Conor Murphy scoring 6.5/9 with a TPR of 2600. This gave Ravi his third and final GM norm. \nThe norm was ratified at a recent FIDE Congress. As of February 2022 Ravi stood at 2490 for standard-play. \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-ravi-hari-07-ii-1999/ CATEGORIES:4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player,UKCC,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/bct_4317_lv-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210207 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210208 DTSTAMP:20210206T200640Z CREATED:20200401T104337Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210206T200640Z UID:3908-1612656000-1612742399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Jimmy Adams (07-ii-1947) DESCRIPTION:BCN send birthday wishes to FM Jimmy Adams. \nJames Bernard Adams was born on Friday\, February 7th\, 1947 to James Adams and Ivy F Soule in Islington\, London. \nJimmy was married to Sharon and they have a daughter\, Charlotte. \nIn 1958 Jimmy at the age of 11\, joined his local Islington Chess Club and soon afterwards became London Junior Champion. Following this Jimmy played little chess and worked for John Lewis (echos of CHO’D Alexander!) \nThe Spasski-Fischer match of 1972 re-kindled his lapsed interest and he won with a 100% score the London Amateur Championship. \nHe joined (and was a staunch member of) London Central YMCA (CentYMCA) chess club and he wrote a privately published history of the club entitled The CentYMCA Story. This is now a much sought after publication. His membership continued during the 1970s until around 1979. \nThe CentYMCA Story by Jimmy Adams\, 1976\nThe CentYMCA Story by Jimmy Adams\, 1976\nDuring this period Jimmy was extremely active at the Endell Street premises. \nHere is Jimmy playing Viktor Korchnoi at Endell Street (in the Phase Two classrooms) : \nJimmy plays Viktor Korchnoi at the Endell Street premises of London Central YMCA on January 18th\, 1976. Photographer potentially John Yeo\nIn 1974 Jimmy embarked on a highly successful career as writer and journalist. He authored a number of acclaimed books for Batsfords\, The Chess Player\, Caissa Books and latterly\, New in Chess. His books on Chigorin\, Zukertort and Breyer being some of the finest chess biographies published. \nIn 1979 Jimmy joined Metropolitan Chess Club to play in the London League. He played top board and scored very highly with many significant scalps. \nJimmy gained his FM title in 2014 (at the age of 67!). 67 must be one of the most advanced ages to acquire an FM title. According to Felice his peak rating was 2300 in January 1981 aged 34. \nJimmy giving a simultaneous display\nHe was registered with Metropolitan and Barbican Chess Clubs. He joined Barbican\, as did many ex-CentYMCA players\, following the hiatus over their Tottenham Court Road venue loss. \nJimmy records a game between David Howell and Andrew Whiteley in 2000.\nIn December 2009 Jimmy visited the London Chess Classic and was photographed with VIP guess Viktor Korchnoi : \nViktor Korchnoi in conversation with Jimmy Adams at the 2009 London Chess Classic. Photograph by Mark Huba\nJimmy was Editor of CHESS / CHESS Monthly magazine from 1981 until 2010 although his name remained on the masthead until February 2012. \nIn 2012 Jimmy and Ray Cannon attended a meeting of the Ken Whyld Association in Norwich : \nJimmy Adams and Michael Negele at the 2012 meeting of the Ken Whyld Association\nJimmy and Ray Cannon at a 2012 meeting in Norwich of the Ken Whyld Association\nIn January 2016 Jimmy (together with Josip Asik) became co-editors of British Chess Magazine taking over from James Pratt and John Upham. Jimmy then took on a role at the newly created American Chess Magazine and then worked for Pavillion Books on their newly acquired Batsford Book imprint. \nIn 2014 Jimmy and Ray attended an event organised by the father of Emma Bentley \nJimmy Adams and Ray Cannon at an event organised by Emma Bentley’s father.\nHere is an interview with Jon Manley from Kingpin Magazine \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\nThe Games of Anatoly Karpov\, Batsford\, Jimmy Adams\, 1974\nThe Complete Games of World Champion Anatoly Karpov\, Jimmy Adams\, 1976\nThe Complete Games of World Champion Anatoly Karpov\, Jimmy Adams\, 1976\nSicilian Defence Najdorf Poisoned Pawn\, Jimmy Adams\, The Chess Player\, 1977\nSicilian Defence 10 : Main Line Najdorf\, Jimmy Adams\, The Chess Player\, 1977\nSicilian Najdorf Polugaevsky Variation\, Jimmy Adams\, The Chess Player\, 1978\nThe Richter Veresov System\, The Chess Player\, Jimmy Adams\, 1978\nTrompovsky Attack\, The Chess Player\, Jimmy Adams\, 1979\nSchliemann/Jaenisch Gambit\, The Chess Player\, Jimmy Adams\, 1982\nParis 1900\, The Chess Player\, Jimmy Adams\, 1986\nISAAC BOLESLAVSKY Selected Games\, Caissa Books\, Jimmy Adams\, 1988\nJohannes Zukertort: Artist of the Chessboard\, New in Chess\, Jimmy Adams\, 2014\nMikhail Chigorin\, the Creative Genius: New in Chess\, Jimmy Adams\, 2016\nGyula Breyer : The Chess Revolutionary\, Jimmy Adams\, New in Chess\, 2017\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-james-bernard-adams-07-ii-1947/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/img_0006_small.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210209 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210210 DTSTAMP:20220209T140215Z CREATED:20190822T164913Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220209T140215Z UID:1006-1612828800-1612915199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Cecil De Vere (14-ii-1846 09-ii-1875) DESCRIPTION:We remember Cecil Valentine De Vere (14-ii-1846 09-ii-1875) \nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess by Hooper & Whyld : \nCecil Valentine De Vere\, pseudonym of Valentine Brown\, winner of the first official British Championship tournament organized by the British Chess Association in 1866. He learned the game in London before 1858 and practised with Boden and the Irish player Francis Burden (1830-82). De Vere played with unusual ease and rapidity\, never bothering to study the books. His features were handsome (an Adonis says MacDonnell)\, his manner pleasant\, his conduct polite. He “handled the pieces gracefully\, never “hovered” over them\, nor fiercely stamped them down upon the board … nor exulted when he gained a victory…in short\, he was a highly chivalrous player.’ So wrote Steinitz who conceded odds in a match against De Vere and was soundly beaten\, (See pawn and move.) De Vere’s charm brought him many friends. \nAt about the time that he won the national championship his mother died\, a loss he felt deeply\, “The only person who ever cared for me”. \nReceiving a small legacy he gave up his job. which Burden had obtained for him at Lloyds the underwriters\, and never took another. He entered some strong tournaments but always trailed just behind the greatest half-dozen players of his time. His exceptional talent was accompanied by idleness and lack of enthusiasm for a hard task. On the occasion of the Dundee tournament of 1867 he took long walks in the Scottish countryside with G. A. MacDonnell\, who writes that a ‘black cloud’ descended on De Vere. It may have been the discovery that he had tuberculosis; more probably he revealed to the older man a deep-rooted despair\, the cause perhaps of his later addiction to alcohol. \nIn 1872 Boden handed over the chess column of The Field to provide him with a small income; but in 1873 the column was given to Steinitz on account of De Vere’s indolence and drunkenness. At the end of Nov\, 1874 his illness took a turn for the worse\, he could hardly walk and ate little. His friends paid to send him to Torquay for the sea air\, and there he died ten weeks later. He had failed to nourish a natural genius in respect of which\, according to Steinitz\, De Vere was “second to no man\, living or dead*. \nCecil Valentine De Vere (14-ii-1846 09-ii-1875)\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess by Anne Sunnucks : \nFirst official British Chess Champion\, Cecil de Vere was born on 14th February 1845 (in Montrose\, Angus\, Scotland : Ed.) and was taught to play chess when he was 12 by a strong London player\, Francis Burden. By the time he was 15\, he was a regular visitor to “The Divan” on a Saturday afternoon. \nAt the age of 19 De Vere played a number of games against MacDonnell winning the majority of them. So great was his promise that the City of London Chess Club raised a purse for a match between him an Steinitz\, Steinitz giving the odds of a Pawn and a move. De Vere won. \nIn 1866 the first British Championship\, organised by the British Chess Association was held. De Vere won\, ahead of MacDonnell and Bird\, and so became the first British Champion at the age of 21. \nThe following year in the Paris 1867 tournament\, he was 5th out of a field of 13\, and he tied for 3rd prize in the Dundee Congress\, ahead of Blackburne\, having beaten Steinitz in their individual game. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nWhile he was in Dundee\, De Vere learned that he was suffering from Tuberculosis. The news changed his whole life. Having recently inherited a few hundred pounds\, he gave up his job at Lloyd’s and started living on his capital\, determined to enjoy the few years he had left. He continued to play chess\, but his performances were marred by his newly acquired addiction to the bottle. \nDe Vere was once described as “A Morphy without book knowledge”. His talent was great enough for him to be able to take on the leading masters of the day without any study or preparation\, but more than that is needed to reach the top. De Vere lacked the strength of character and health to fulfill his early promise. He died a few days before his thirtieth birthday. \nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess by Harry Golombek : \nThe first official British Champion and a player of great promise who might well have attained world fame had he not be carried off by that nineteenth-century British scourge\, tuberculosis\, before he attained the age of thirty. \nMost of the details of his life are to be found in the writings of G.A. MacDonnell\, who met him when De Vere was fourteen and was so struck by his good looks as to refer to him as “Adonis”. \nHis first tournament success came in 1866 at the London Congress organised at the St. George’s Club in the first few days and then in other venues by the British Chess Association. De Vere played in two events\, a Handicap tournament and a Challenge Cup event which was in fact the first British Championship tournament. \nThe Handicap tournament was run on the same lines as London 1851\, i.e. it was a knock-out event with matches of three games\, draws not counting. De Vere met Steinitz in round 1 and lost by 2-1. \nThe first British championship tournament was an all-play-all event in which the ties were decided by the first player to win three games and in which the championship went to the winner of the biggest number of games. De Vere was an easy winner with 12 wins\, followed by MacDonnell and J.I. Minchin 6\, H.E Bird 3 and Sir John Trelawney 0. \nThus De Vere was the first British Champion and at that age of twenty-one. A photograph of him about this time shows that he bore a remarkable likeness to the international master John Nunn\, who won the European Junior championship a hundred years after De Vere’s death. \nDe Vere confirmed his position as a leading British player by coming first in another tournament in 1866 at Redcar in North Yorkshire. This was an event open to all British amateurs and among his opponents were Owen\, Thorold and Wisker. \nIt was in the following year that he commenced his career in international chess. In the important double-round tournament at Paris he occupied an honourable fifth place out of 13 players. At Dundee (the third congress of the British Chess Association) he finished equal 3rd with MacDonnell\, below Steinitz but beating him in their individual game and coming ahead of Blackburne. \nIt was during his visit to Scotland (he went to stay with relatives after the tournament) that he learnt he was afflicted with consumption. This knowledge\, together with the death of his mother\, drove him to drink which was to accelerate his end. \ninheriting a few hundred pounds\, presumably from his mother\, he gave up his post at Lloyd’s and decided to live on his capital together with such additional sums as he could earn from chess. \nIn this respect his addiction to drink proved a handicap. For example\, he held the post of chess editor of The Field in 1872 but lost it after some eighteen months through inattention to work. \nMeanwhile he continued to show his great talent for the game. Defending the title of British Champion in a very strong field at the next British Chess Association congress (1868/9) he cam equal first with Blackburne but lost the play-off at the London Club in March 1869. \nIn 1870 at the very strong Baden-Baden double-round tournament\, he came equal sixth with Winawer but was much outdistanced by Blackburne who came third with 3.5 more pints than De Vere. But already his illness was taking a strong hold on him. At his next and last appearance in a tournament of note. London 1872\, he tied with Zukertort and MacDonnell =3rd out of 8 players. In the play-off for third and fourth prizes he lost to MacDonnell and scratched to Zukertort\, Later in the year he did tie for first place with Wisker in a weaker British championship tournament and\, with De Vere now clearly ill\, Wisker had an easy victory in the play-off. \nAt his last appearance at a chess event\, a match at the City of London Club between that Club and Bermondsey\, he looked a dying man. A subscription was made to send him to Torquay but it was too late and he died within five days of his thirtieth birthday. \nHere are some of his games at chessgames.com \nThe English Chess Forum contains a brief discussion initiated by John Townsend (Wokingham) of manuscripts attributed to CdV. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nHere is his Wikipedia entry \nThe English Morphy?: The Life and Games of Cecil De Vere\, First British Chess Champion by Owen Hindle & Robert H. Jones\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-cecil-de-vere/ CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Cecil_Valentine_De_Vere.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210211 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210212 DTSTAMP:20210206T200941Z CREATED:20200210T100746Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210206T200941Z UID:3234-1613001600-1613087999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Simon Ansell (11-ii-1975) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of IM Simon Ansell (11-ii-1975) \nSimon Ansell\nIM Simon Ansell\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-simon-ansell-11-ii-1975/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/JUA3850-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210212 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210213 DTSTAMP:20210208T110617Z CREATED:20200210T002512Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210208T110617Z UID:3241-1613088000-1613174399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Glenn Flear (12-ii-1959) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of GM Glenn Flear (12-ii-1959) \nFrom Chessgames.com : \n“Glenn Curtis Flear was born in Leicester\, England. He was awarded the IM title in 1983 and GM title in 1987. While still an IM\, he shocked the chess world by winning the GLC Chess Challenge (1986) ahead of a field that included Short\, Chandler\, Nunn\, Portisch\, Polugaevsky\, Spassky and Larsen. He married Christine Flear during that tournament. He represented England at the Dubai Olympiad in 1986.” \nHere is his Wikipedia entry \nGM Glenn Curtis Flear\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nGM Glenn Curtis Flear\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-glenn-flear-12-ii-1959/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/img_0779_smaller.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210212 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210213 DTSTAMP:20220212T164430Z CREATED:20200408T124513Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220212T164430Z UID:4179-1613088000-1613174399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Mark Condie (12-ii-1965) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of IM Mark Lockwood Condie (12-ii-1965) \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-mark-l-condie-12-ii-1965/ CATEGORIES:4NCL,Birthday,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_1081-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210212 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210213 DTSTAMP:20260817T135454Z CREATED:20201216T164542Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T135454Z UID:12500-1613088000-1613174399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Robert Combe (16-viii-1912 12-ii-1952) DESCRIPTION:Robert Forbes Combe (16 August 1912 – 12 February 1952) \nhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Forbes_Combe \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/remembering-robert-combe-16-viii-1912-12-ii-1952/ CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/IMG-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200113 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200114 DTSTAMP:20230213T142309Z CREATED:20200417T141944Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230213T142309Z UID:4742-1578873600-1578959999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Geoffrey Diggle (06-xii-1902 13-ii-1993) DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of Geoffrey Harber Diggle (06-xii-1902 13-ii-1993) \nHere is his Wikipedia entry \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-geoffrey-harber-diggle-06-xii-1902-13-ii-1993/ CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Journalist,Player,Remembering,Writer END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR