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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210215
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SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of IM Hugh Alexander CMG CBE (15-ii-1974)
DESCRIPTION:We remember Hugh Alexander who passed away on Friday\, 15-ii-1974. The death was registered in the Borough of Cheltenham.  Currently his burial / cremation site is unknown. \nConel Hugh O’Donel Alexander was born on Monday\, April 19th\, 1909 in Cork\, Munster\, Republic of Ireland. \nSignature of CHO’D Alexander from August 1970\nHugh’s parents were Conel William Long Alexander (1879-1920) and Hilda Barbara Alexander (née Bennett) (1881-1964) who married in Hook Church\, Hampshire. His father was a Professor of Civil Engineering from County Donegal and his mother was the daughter of a timber merchant and was from Birmingham. \nHugh’s father moved to Hook in Hampshire. At some point they returned to Cork and then relocated to Birmingham. \nIn the 1911 Irish census aged two Hugh was recorded as being a Presbyterian.  The household consisted of his father\, mother and two servants Maud McAuliffe (19)  from County Cork and Johanna Hanlon (20) from Cork City all living at 20\, Connaught Avenue\, Cork. \nAt the time of the census all members of the household were capable of reading and writing apart from Hugh who was recorded as “cannot read”. \nand Hugh’s father signed the Return as follows : \nSignature of Hugh’s father on 1911 Irish census Return\n20 Connaught Avenue\, Cork\, Ireland\nHugh attended Londonderry College and then went to King Edward’s School\, Birmingham. \nHugh married Enid Constance Rose Crichton Neate (1900-1982) in October 1934 and the marriage was registered in the district of Westminster\, Middlesex. \nAccording to Rodric Braithwaite : \n“Enid\, was an equally striking personality. She was descended from one of the defenders of the Eureka Stockade\, the “birthplace of Australian democracy”. She was educated at the Sorbonne\, a formidable dialectician\, art historian and collector. In her later years she returned to Australia\, where she was endlessly hospitable to passing Russian chessplayers\, and to itinerant musicians\, including my own father.” \nHugh and Enid had a son Michael (19 June 1936 – 1 June 2002) who became the foreign policy secretary to Margaret Thatcher and the UK ambassador to NATO. Here is Michael’s obituary. \nMichael married Traute Krohn. Michael and Traute gave Hugh a grandson\, Conel Alexander who is a Cosmochemist at the Earth and Planets Laboratory\, Carnegie Institution for Science\, Washington. \nConel M. O’D. AlexanderStaff Scientist\nPrior to the second world war Alexander was officially employed by John Spedan Lewis in his Department store in Oxford Street. When he returned from Buenos Aires (“good air”) from the 1939 Olympiad he travelled aboard the RMS Alcantara. Here is the entry in the passenger list for September 19th\, 1939 : \nPartial passenger manifest for the RMS Alcantara for September 19th\, 1939. Alexander is passenger #23.\nand here is Alexander’s entry in detail. Note that his occupation is described as “Drapery Manager” : \nPartial passenger manifest for the RMS Alcantara for September 19th\, 1939. Alexander is passenger #23.\nHugh sailed from Buenos Aires\, Argentina in September 1939 to arrive at Southampton September 19th 1939. The ship was the Alcantara operated by Royal Mail Lines Ltd hence the RMS Alcantara. \nRMS Alcantara off Rio de Janeiro between 1934 and 1939 by Kenneth Shoesmith\nAccording to Wikipedia : “RMS Alcantara was a Royal Mail Lines ocean liner that was built in Belfast in 1926. She served in the Second World War first as an armed merchant cruiser and then a troop ship\, was returned to civilian service in 1948 and scrapped in 1958. \nPorts of the voyage were : Buenos Aires; Montevideo; Santos and Rio de Janeiro and Hugh’s official number was 148151 and he travelled 2nd class. His proposed destination residential address was \n316\, Rodney House\, Dolphin Square\, London\, SW1 \nAccording to Wikipedia : “The proximity of Dolphin Square to the Palace of Westminster and the headquarters of the intelligence agencies MI5 (Thames House) and MI6 (Vauxhall Cross) has attracted many politicians\, peers\, civil servants and intelligence agency personnel as residents.” \nDolphin Square. London\, SW1\nThere was some discussion of Drapery Manager in another place. \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume XCIV (94\, 1974)\, Number 4 (April)\, pp. 117-120 by PS Milner-Barry : \n“A proper assessment of Hugh Alexander\, who died on February 15th 1974 must await a later issue. But I think he might have been pleased to see our last game published\, and I give the score of it below\, with notes based on our usual analysis immediately after the game. Over the past 45 years\, ever since he went to Cambridge\, we played whenever opportunity offered serious games with clocks. \nConel Hugh O’Donel Alexander\nBefore the war they were played mostly at my mother’s house in Cambridge\, and after the war and my own marriage at our house in Blackheath. When he moved to Cheltenham the opportunities became fewer but no year ever passed without two or three such games\, usually at Easter or Christmas. \nAlexander always used to say\, it was certainly true of me\, that this was the kind of chess that he enjoyed most. The games were conducted with the utmost vigour\, though not without a good deal of propaganda on both sides. I suppose he won in the proportion of about two to one\, but the disparity in strength never became one-sided. Nearly all the games opened 1 P-K4\, P-K4; he played the Lopez when I allowed him. (I usually played the Petroff or Philidor)\, and I played a mixture – in the early days the Vienna and latterly mostly the King’s Gambit. On the whole Black did better than White for both of us. \nCHO’D Alexander plays PS Milner-Barry\nThe only concession we made to advancing years was that latterly we contented ourselves with four hour sessions and 36 moves\, instead of 40 in 5 hours. We thought we had done enough for honour by then\, and the games were usually finished in the time. \nHugh stayed with us the weekend before Christmas\, when this game was played. He looked ill\, but he was very cheerful and as good company as ever. He loved a good argument\, and as my family so too\,- the evening meal was its usual lively affair! I am myself a man of peace\, and intellectually lazy; so in deference to my feelings the argument was suspended\, before it became too hot. I am afraid they all thought I was a spoil-sport. It was as happy a visit as any of us could remember and it is difficult to accept there will not be another. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nAs for the game\, it was not one of our most exciting encounters. But it is quite an interesting one\, and shows Hugh playing as\nwell as ever – certainly much too well for me. But then he usually did.” \nFollowing PSMBs contribution\, in the same obituary there was this from Harry Golombek : \nC.H.O’D.  Alexander and the ‘B.C.M.’\nI have written elsewhere about Hugh Alexander both as a person and as a chess-player and I also intend to devote a forthcoming article in ‘The Times‘ on Saturday to an appraisal of his place in British Chess. Here\, however\, I would like to describe briefly his connection with this magazine over the years and to show how\nimportant his help was to the progress of the ‘BCM‘. \nIn the years immediately preceding the Second World War\, Ash Wheatcroft and I had made a determined effort to maintain and increase the role of the ‘BCM‘\, he in a managerial capacity and I as its editor. With the coming of war and the departure of both of us into the army a sort of caretaker regime had to be provided. It worked as well as could have been expected but inevitably there had been a decline both in quality and financially. When peace came\, the quality improved since it was possible to get more and better contributions but the financial aspect became almost alarming. \nThe question arose – was there a need for the magazine and if so how could that need be fulfilled with the fairly limited resources at hand. Some of us thought there was\, but the ways and means were not so clear. Of all those who thought like this Alexander was the most effective in his approach to the problems. I know that from his very youth onwards he had been convinced of the importance of the ‘BCM’ to British chess and\, being a practical idealist\, when the\ncrisis came he set about dealing with it in the most expeditious way. \nIn November 1946 he became a director of the B.C.M. and continued in that position till February 1952\, by which time the magazine had been set on a solid basis from\nwhich it was unlikely to be shaken. It was his idea that Brian Reilly be asked to act as editor and almost his first act as director was to write a letter to him inviting him to become so. Then\, in January 1947\, he himself took over the editorship of the games department\, an arduous task which he fulfilled with great competence and the utmost conscientiousness until May 1949 when the heavy work of the Civil Service department of which he was head compelled him to hand over the Games Section to me. \nBefore\, however\, that he gave up this post he\, again in the most practical way possible\, rendered the ‘BCM‘ another service. He wrote a book giving a selection of the games from the last period of Alekhine’s life and generously donated half the royalties to the ‘BCM‘ in order to bolster up its slender finances. \nAlekhine’s Best Games of Chess : 1938-45\, CHO’D Alexander\, G. Bell and Sons\, 1966 ISBN 4-87187-827-9\nEven after he had to give up official connection with the magazine he retained a strong interest in its welfare. So\, even though this recognition is belated and posthumous\, I thought it was right to afford readers the possibility of joining with me in thanking High Alexander for all that he did in this respect in especial. At any rate\, such matters should be on record for the chess historian. \nFrom The Anglo-Soviet Radio Chess Match by E.Klein and W.Winter : \n“CHO’D Alexander was born in Cork in 1909 and learned chess at the age of ten. He was educated at King Edward School\, Birmingham\, where he exhibited early prowess by winning the Birmingham Post Cup. In 1927 he won the British Boy’s Championship. During his student days\, from 1928 to 1932\, he was a convincing champion of Cambridge University. Subsequently he competed in five British Championships\, winning the title in 1938. He also played in several international tournaments\, his outstanding performance amongst these being Hastings in 1938\, where he shared second and third prizes with Keres\, following Reshevsky who won the tournament\, and ahead of Fine and Flohr. In 1939\, in the England-Holland match\, he had the satisfaction of defeating the ex-World Champion\, Dr. Euwe\, in a sensational games\, drawing the return 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\nA brilliant mathematician\, he took a first at Cambridge and chose a scholastic career\, joining a well-known public school (Winchester College). From there\, via a short spell in a business appointment (John Lewis)\, he entered the service of the Foreign Office\, where\, during the war years\, his valuable work earned him the OBE. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nHe plays imaginative and courageous chess and is never afraid of the wildest complications.” \nIM Conel Hugh O’Donel Alexander CMG CBE (19-iv-1909 15-ii-1974). Source : The Anglo-Soviet Radio Chess Match\nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume XCIV (94\, 1974)\, Number 6 (June)\, pp. 202-204 by PS Milner-Barry : \nWith the death of Hugh Alexander at the age of 64\, British chess has lost the outstanding figure of the past forty years. His active playing career over some thirty years included two victories in the British championship and regular appearances in all representative teams from l93l-58\, except when the nature of his Civil Service\nduties prevented him from travelling behind the Iron Curtain. During the whole of the period after the war he was the regular top board for the England team. In the Hastings international congress he twice won the Premier tournament\, on the second occasion tying with Bronstein. His victories in this series included two world champions (Euwe and Botvinnik) and numerous others in the Grandmaster class. He was an outstanding example\, like H.E.Atkins and Dr. Milan Vidmar\, of the amateur who could combine an exacting professional life of great responsibility and distinction with success in competitive international chess at the highest level and with the increasing professionalism of the game and the demands of knowledge and research that it makes upon the masters\, this was much more difficult in Hugh’s time than in an earlier age. \nIt was indeed in the international field that his fame will principally rest. On the British championship scene\, although he always did well before the War\, and won convincingly at Brighton in 1938 in a strong field\, his record did not match his abilities. He never established anything like the superiority over his contemporaries that Atkins in a former age and Penrose in a later achieved. He won the championship again\, in 1956\, but that was a weak year when the Moscow Olympiad took first claim on the leading British players. It was not that he cared less – like all the great players he hated losing\, though he was the most magnanimous of opponents – but that he seemed to require the stimulus of the great occasion\, and of a world famous name on the other side of the board\, to bring out the best in him. \nThe BCF Team at the Amsterdam Olympiad 1954. Left to right : Barden\, Clarke\, Penrose\, Wade\, Golombek (board three) and Alexander\nAlexander was perhaps the only English player of his day whom the Grandmasters would have treated as on a level with themselves. On his day he was liable to beat any of them\, and they were well aware of it. In his younger days he was very much the gay cavalier\, and a brilliant combinative and attacking player with a touch of genius. Latterly he lost some of this elan\, and adapted his style to the responsibilities of the B.C.T. top board. His opponents too\, with a healthy respect for his powers\, were less inclined to give him opportunities. He was as capable of the dead-bat technique as anybody\, and to that extent (to my way of thinking anyway) his games became less interesting\, with quick draws making a higher contribution to his top-board results than in earlier years. But none the less he was the anchor-man of the British team until his retirement after the 1958 Olympiad. \nKick Langeweg plays Hugh Alexander in the Anglo-Dutch Match of October 7th \, 1961. Peter Clarke (right) is playing Johan Teunis Barendregt and Harry Golombek observes\nIt was a great pity he gave up the game over the board at 50. He had years of good chess in him. But I think he felt he had scaled all the peaks he could scale\, and that he was finding top-class competitive chess a burden difficult to reconcile with his Civil Service work and the prospect of a gradual and inevitable decline in his powers did not appeal to him. I made many efforts to tempt him back to the arena\, but to no avail. I do not think he ever seriously regretted his decision\, and in his last years he immensely enjoyed correspondence chess. \nIn 1964\, Alexander became non-playing captain of the B.C.F. team\, and held that role continuously until after the Siegen Olympiad in 1970. \nHugh Alexander\, Čeněk Kottnauer\, Michael Franklin and Owen Hindle\nIt was rather a disappointing period for British chess\, and the results\, while we were rebuilding a young team\, could not – even with Penrose’s outstanding efforts at top board – have been expected to be favourable. But he threw himself wholeheartedly into all the work sponsored by the B.C.F. and the Friends of Chess to find and develop talent in the younger generation\, and before he died the fruits of these labours were beginning to appear. He would have been proud indeed to have witnessed our recent triumph in the Anglo-German match. \nAs a captain he was\, of course\, immensely liked and respected by his team. My impression was that he took his responsibilities almost too seriously\, and agonised too\nmuch over his decisions about whom to play and whom to rest. Nevertheless on balance he thoroughly enjoyed the work\, and certainly\, in spite of his innate modesty\, he\nwas never one to be disturbed by ill-informed or irresponsible criticism\, of which he had his share. \nConel Hugh O’Donel Alexander playing Alberic O’Kelly de Galway in a publicity shot before the start of the Hastings Premier.\, probably Hastings 1953-54\, the year Alexander tied first with Bronstein : thanks to Leonard Barden\nI suppose his most famous tournament result was his equal first with Bronstein at the Hastings Christmas Congress of 1953. Coming at a time when we were gloomily resigned to British players bringing up the rear in international tournaments\, this created a great sensation. \n\nThe game with Bronstein lasted over 100 moves and Alexander won a most difficult Queen and Pawn ending by impeccable technique. \nHugh Alexander plays David Bronstein during Hastings 1954\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nStaged publicity picture of David Bronstein vs Hugh Alexander at Hastings 1953\nHe went on with the Black pieces to massacre Tolush\, the other visiting Russian Grandmaster. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nImmense interest was created by this event. The popular press carried diagrams of the successive phases of the Bronstein saga. It was reported on the radio. By comparison with the furore created by the Spassky/Fischer match\, it was no doubt small beer\, but for those days the publicity was tremendous\, and Alexander became the\nhero of the hour. \nIt was entirely characteristic of him that this adulation did not go to his head. He kept everything in proportion\, and encouraged everybody else to do the same. He said all the right things about Bronstein\, but he did not claim\, as one tends to do on these emotional occasions\, that international sport was a panacea for friendship between the nations. Altogether it seemed to me an impeccable performance both on and off the board. \nChess\, CHO’D Alexander\, Pitman\, 1954\nIt is as a player that Hugh would\, I think\, have best wished to be remembered; and I have left myself little room to say anything about him as a journalist and writer. We are blessed\, as readers of the B.C.M. will know\, with many good and interesting writers on the game. But Hugh had\, I believe\, exceptional talents as a journalist. In his columns in the ‘Sunday Times‘\, and latterly the ‘Financial Times‘\, he set a very high standard. He always had something fresh and original to say\, especially\, I think\, to the intelligent amateur rather than the expert; and he said it in a way that was both disarmingly modest and yet lively and entertaining. The warmth of his personality came out clearly both in his writing and in his public speaking – both were entirely natural and wholly without amour-propre. \nHis articles gave great pleasure to a wide circle\, and many who never met him in the flesh must have felt that they had come to know him as a person. Similarly his book on the Spassky-Fischer match \nFischer v. Spassky : Reykjavik 1972\, CHO’D Alexander\, Penguin\, 1972\n(like the ‘Book of Chess’\, which was written in the last year of his life) is an extremely vivid\, as well as scholarly\, piece of writing. It is almost impossible to believe that it was completed\, within days of the conclusion of the match\, by a man apparently under sentence of death throughout its progress. \nA book of Chess\, CHO’D Alexander\, Harper & Row\, 1973\nNow that it has come\, the loss of Hugh Alexander to British chess and chessplayers\, alike as player\, writer\, administrator and friend\, is immeasurable. \nFrom CHESS\, Volume 39 (1974)\, Nos. 693-94\, March\,  p.162 by BH Wood : \nThe death of Conel Hugh O’Donel Alexander deprived English chess of one of its most vivid characters. Born l9th April 1909\, he learnt chess at the age of 8. \nFrom a Londonderry college he went to King Edward’s School\, Birmingham\, where as a schoolboy he won the Birmingham Post cup\, which carries with it the unofficial championship of Staffordshire\, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. Going on to Cambridge\, he not only won the University championship four years in succession\, but picked up first-class honours. He won the British championship in 1938. \nIn 1939 I found myself on a boat with him bound for the Chess Olympiad in Buenos\nAires. He was team captain with Sir George Thomas\, P. S. Milner-Barry and H. Golombek\nother distinguished members of the team. \nLeft to right Baruch H Wood\, Philip Stuart Milner-Barry\, Vera Menchik (playing in the women’s world championship held concurrently with the Olympiad which she won with 17 wins and 2 draws)\, Sir George Thomas\, Conel Hugh O’Donel Alexander and Harry Golombek. England withdrew after their preliminary group due to the outbreak of war despite qualifying for the top final. Thanks to Leonard Barden\nWar broke out after about six rounds. With typical determination\, Alexander jettisoned chess for patriotism\, caught a boat home\, volunteered for service on disembarking\, and within a few weeks had attained the rank of colonel in British Intelligence. He remained attached to Intelligence and the Foreign Office until his\nretirement a few months ago. As a curious consequence of this commitment\, though he settled in to the team captaincy for the British Chess Federation in the biennial chess Olympiads and participated in many chess events abroad\, he was never allowed to travel anywhere behind the iron Curtain. \nHis fame certainly did\, however. In the radio match\, Britain v USSR in 1946\, the most important event in British chess for a decade before and after\, he found himself pitted against Mikhail Botvinnik\, then at the height of his powers and destined to hold the world championship for 14 years. The first game he lost; the second he won\, in superb style. His great adversary was outplayed. \nHe had some great years at Hastings. A 120 move victory over Bronstein with a queen and pawns endgame stretching over l3 hours through 3 days\, earned headlines in the national press unequalled until the Spassky-Fischer furore of 1972\, won him first place in 1954 and started him with a chess column in the Sunday Times. He was equal with Bronstein\, above O’Kelly\, Matanovic\, Olafsson\, Teschner\, Tolush\, Tartakover\, Wade and Horne. \nHastings illustrated Alexander’s weaknesses as well as his strengths. Twice he won the premier tournament there\, only to finish among the tail-enders the year after. Only once more was he to win the British champ- ionship; in a rather weak field\, entering at the last minute with typical opportunism. \nHe was a brilliant conversationalist and speaker\, a fine bridge player\, a master mathematician\, an expert on codes\, a first-class journalist and writer. Among varied other interests were croquet and philately. He threw himself wholeheartedly into anything he did. His organization\, “The Friends of Chess”\, provided generous financial support for a wide range of chess events. A few days before his death he was full of plans for the future\, including a big History of British Chess. He burnt himself out. The world of chess is a poorer and duller place without him.” \nFrom Chessgames.com : \n“Conel Hugh O’Donel Alexander was born in Cork\, Ireland. Awarded the IM title in 1950 at its inception and the IMC title in 1970\, he was British Champion in 1938 and 1956. \nDuring the Second World War\, he worked at Bletchley Park with Harry Golombek and Sir Philip Stuart Milner-Barry\, deciphering German Enigma codes and later for the Foreign Office. Alexander finished 2nd= at Hastings (1937/38) tied with Paul Keres after Samuel Reshevsky and ahead of Salomon Flohr and Reuben Fine. He held Mikhail Botvinnik to an equal score (+1\, -1) in the 1946 Anglo-Soviet Radio Match\, and won Hastings (1946/47) while finishing equal first at Hastings (1953/54). He represented England on six Olympiad teams. Alexander was also an author of note. He passed away in Cheltenham in 1974.” \n1st August 1933: C H O D Alexander playing Sultan Khan during the British Chess Championships at Hastings in Sussex. (Photo by Douglas Miller/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)\nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess by Hooper & Whyld : \nInternational Master (1950)\, International Correspondence Chess Master (1970). Born in Cork\, he settled in England as a boy. In spite or because of his intense application at the board his tournament performances were erratic. From about 1937 to the mid 1950s he was regarded as the strongest player in Great Britain\, although he won only two (1938\, 1956) of the 13 British Chess Federation Championships in which he competed; he played for the BCF in six Olympiads from 1933 to 1958. Holding a senior post at the Foreign Office\, he was not permitted to play in countries under Soviet control or influence; but when he did compete abroad he achieved only moderate results. His best tournament achievement was at Hastings 1937-8 when he was second (+4=5) equal with Keres after Reshevsky ahead of Fine and Flohr; but he is better remembered for his tie with Bronstein for first prize at Hastings 1953-4. He won his game against Bronstein in 120 moves after several adjournments\, and the outcome became a kind of serial in the press\, arousing great national interest in the game. Alexander was the author of several books on chess\, notably Alekhine’s Best Games of Chess 1938-1945 (1949) and A Book of Chess (1973). \nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess by Anne Sunnucks : \nFor many years the chess correspondent of The Sunday Times\, The Spectator (pseudonym Philidor) and the Evening News. There was probably no “chess name that was better known to the non-chess-playing element of the British public than that of Hugh Alexander. His victory over Russian Grandmaster David Bronstein at Hastings in 1953\, after a struggle which lasted for 120 moves and took 13 hours\, made chess front page news in the British press. \nBorn in Cork on 19th April 1909\, Alexander picked up the game at prep school at the age of 8. In 1926 he won the Boy’s Championship\, later to be recognised as the British Boy’s Championship\, at Hastings. After coming down from Cambridge University\, where he won the university championship four times\, Alexander taught mathematics at Winchester College from 1932 to 1938. He later joined the Foreign Office. \nCaption as per photograph\nOne of the few British players who might have reached World Championship class if he had chosen to devote sufficient time to the game\, Alexander was at his best when he faced a top class opponent. \nDuring his chess career\, he scored victories over two World Champions Botvinnik and Euwe\, and he beat a number of other Grandmasters\, international tournaments were all at Hastings where he came =2nd in 1938 with Keres\, half a point behind Reshevsky and ahead of Fine and Flohr; 1st in 1947 and =1st with Bronstein in 1953. In 1951 tournament he came =5th.His other hobbies included bridge\, croquet and philately\, He was the Author of Alekhine’s Best Games of Chess 1938-1945 (Bell)\, Chess (Pitman) and joint author with T.J. Beach of Learn Chess; A New Way for All (Pergamon Press); \nLearn Chess : A Complete Course\, TJ Beach and CHO’D Alexander\, Everyman Chess\, 1994\nA Book of Chess (Hutchinson) 1973; The Penguin Book of Chess Positions (Penguin) 1973. \nThe Penguin Book of Chess Positions\, CHO’D Alexander\, Penguin\, 1973\nHere is an interesting article on his film appearance. \nHere is his detailed Wikipedia entry \nAccording to C.N. 10817 Hugh lived at various addresses when working at GCHQ : \n\nBrecken Lane\, Cheltenham.\n28 King’s Road\, Cheltenham\, GL52 6BG.\n\n\n28 King’s Road\, Cheltenham\, GL52 6BG\n\nOld Bath Lodge\, Thirlestaine Road\, Cheltenham\, GL53 7AS.\n\n\nAlexander on Chess\, CHO’D Alexander\, Pitman\, 1974\nThe Best Games of C.H.O’D. Alexander\nGolombek and Hartston\, The Best Games of C.H.O’D. Alexander (1976). \n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-conel-hugh-odonel-alexander/
CATEGORIES:2023,British Championships,Death Anniversary,History,Honours,Player,Remembering,Writer
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SUMMARY:Birthday of John Saunders (22-ii-1953)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday of John Cameron Saunders (22-ii-1953) \nHere is John’s Wikipedia entry \nHere is his excellent blog \nHere is the superb BritBase \nMurray Chandler and John Saunders\n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-john-cameron-saunders-22-ii-1953/
CATEGORIES:4NCL,Birthday,History,Journalist,Player,Writer
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UID:1050-1614038400-1614124799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Jacques Mieses (27-ii-1865 23-ii-1954)
DESCRIPTION:BCN remembers GM Jacques Mieses who passed away on February 23rd\, 1954 aged 88. He was buried on the 25th of February at the East Ham Jewish Cemetery in Section J\, Row 18\, Grave 1100. We hope to update his burial record with these details when we are allowed to do so. \nJakob Jacques Mieses was born on Monday\, February 27th 1865 in Leipzig in the German state of Saxony. He came to England in 1939 and was recorded in the UK Internees Index for 1939 – 1942 on 25th April 1939 : \nHome Office internment record for Jakob Jacques Mieses\, 25th April 1939\n65 Oakleigh (now Oakley) Square\, London\, NW1\nAt the time of the 1939 register Mieses was recorded as living at 66\, Oakley Square\, St. Pancras\, Camden\, London\, NW1 and he is listed as a Professional Chess Player. \nBy the time of Hastings 1945 (27th December) Jacques had relocated to : \n8 Fitzjohns Avenue\, London NW3 5NA\nOn June 7th 1947 he was granted Naturalisation Certificate AZ27326. \nIn 1950 he was one of the twenty-seven first players to be awarded the Grandmaster title by FIDE. He was therefore the first British National to be awarded the Grandmaster title for OTB play. The next (Tony Miles) would be twenty-six years later. \nHe has The Mieses Opening named after him : \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 never really caught on to any significant degree. \nIn the Scotch Game (a favourite of his with both colours) we have The Mieses Variation : \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nand in the Vienna Game The Mieses Variation is : \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess (Robert Hale\, 1970 & 1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“International Grandmaster. Born in Leipzig on 27th February 1865\, Jacques Mieses was educated at Leipzig University and in Berlin. He came to England as a refugee from Nazi Germany shortly before the 1939-1945 war and eventually became a naturalised British citizen. \nThe early part of his chess career was devoted mainly to the study of chess theory and to chess problems. It was not until he was 23 that his tournament career really started with a tie for 2nd place at Nuremberg 1888\, followed by 3rd at Leipzig 1888. \nJacques Mieses. Source : Chess Notes by Edward Winter\nOver the next 50 years\, he played in numerous tournaments with varying degrees of success. His addiction to speculative rather than sound openings and his attempts to combine playing in tournaments with reporting them were possibly responsible for his inconsistent results. Within a few months of one of the greatest performances of his career\, when he came lst at Vienna 1907\, ahead of Duras\, Maróczy\, Tartakover\, Vidmar\, Schlechter and Spielmann\, \nFull crosstable for Trebitsch Memorial\, Vienna 1907\nhe came no higher than =16th at Carlsbad. In 1923 he achieved another great success when he came lst at Liverpool\, ahead of Maróczy\, Thomas and Yates. \nFull crosstable for Northern Counties Congress Premier\, Liverpool\, 1923\nWhile his style of play prevented him from reaching the greatest heights as a tournament player\, it was also responsible for the numerous brilliancy prizes which came his way\, one of the last being at the 1945 Hastings Congress\, when he was 80. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nAmong the many books which Mieses wrote were The Chess Pilot\, \nThe Chess Pilot\, Jacques Mieses\, Williams & Norgate. London. 1947. First Edition\nManual of the End Game \nManual of the End Game\, Jacques Mieses\, G. Bell and Son Ltd.\, London\, 1947\nand Instructive Positions from Master Chess. \nInstructive Positions from Master Chess\, Jacques Mieses\, George Bell and Sons Ltd.\, London\, 1951\nA very popular player\, Mieses had a ready sense of humour. On one occasion\, when he was in New York\, he was asked by an American who mispronounced his name “Sind sie Mister Meises?”\, ” No sir\,” he promptly replied “Ich bin Meister Mieses.” On another occasion\, when submitting an article in German to a British magazine\, he could not resist asking ” Don’t you think my German is very good for an Englishman?” \nOn his eightieth birthday\, a dinner was held in his honour in London and he was presented with a cheque by his numerous chess friends and admirers. The speech he made on this occasion was later quoted in most of his obituaries: \nI have been told that a good many people never reach the biblical span of three score years and 10; and those who do-so some most reliable statistics assure us-are most likely to die between 70 and 80. Hence\, I dare say\, ladies and gentlemen\, that I for one have now passed the danger zone and may well go on living for ever. \nHe lived for nearly nine more years\, taking his daily swim in the Serpentine in Hyde Park or some open-air swimming pool\, until only a few days before his death. He died in a London nursing home on 23rd February 1954 and was buried in the East London Jewish Cemetery.” \nJacques Mieses\nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977) Harry Golombek OBE we have this from Wolfgang Heidenfeld : \n“Grandmaster\, theorist\, problemist\, tournament organiser and chess journalist. \nMieses was a spectacular player who won many brilliancy prizes but suffered as many very short defeats. As a a result the German master achieved only one full success in important international tournaments (Vienna 1907)\, but occupied good places in such events as Breslau 1889 (3rd)\, Hanover 1902 (4th)\, Ostend 1907 (=3rd)\, as well as some smaller events. \n\nIn matches he showed a heavy preponderance of losses against the top-notchers\, losing to Lasker\, Tarrasch\, Rubinstein\, Marshall\, Teichmann (twice) and Spielmann\, but he drew with Walbrodt (1894)\, Janowski (1895) and Caro (1897) and beat Leonhardt\, Taubenhaus\, and (at the age of 81) Abrahams. \nHere is the first game from October 29th 1945 annotated by Mieses from his match with Gerald Abrahams played in Glossop: \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 keeping with his sharp style\, Mieses preferred such openings as the Vienna Gambit\, the Danish Gambit and the Centre Counter-Gambit. Among his lasting achievements are his brilliancy prize games against Janowksi (Paris 1900)\, \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nReggio (Monte Carlo 1903)\, \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nPerlis (Ostend 1907) \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 Schlechter (Vienna 1908). \nPersonally a very witty man (and something of a bon vivant) Mieses did not invest his writing with the same sparkle; both as a journalist and author he was rather dry and sober. He edited the eighth edition of the famous Handbuch\, several editions of the ‘little Dufresne’\, and published several primers as well as a treatise on blindfold play and an anthology Instructive Positions from Master Chess\, London\, 1938. \nOne of Mieses’s most important contributions to chess history was the payment of travelling and living expenses during a tournament\, which he insisted on when running the famous tournament at San Sebastian 1911 – it was only thenceforth that this procedure became the norm.” \nJacques Mieses\nHere is an obituary written by DJ Morgan from British Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXIV (74\, 1954)\, Number 4 (April)\, pp. 107-108 : \nLast month we made brief mention of the death\, on February 23rd at a London Nursing Home\, of the old grandmaster\, on the verge of his eighty-ninth birthday. He was the last surviving link with a distant and largely-forgotten era. Mieses entered the international arena in the days of the great Romantics\, of Zukertort\, Charousek\, and Tchigorin. He reached his heyday in the times of Tarrasch\, Schlechter\, and Maróczy. But he could never assimilate the canons of this Classical School\, derived from Steinitz and codified and promulgated by Tarrasch. He preferred the dynamic to the static. He played the Scotch Game in tournaments long after it hat been\ndiscarded by Steinitz and Blackburne; the Danish Gambit and the Vienna became in his hands instruments of great attacking potential. As Black he long favoured the Centre Counter Defence\, and with it he brought off a number of thrilling victories in such great tournaments as those of Ostend\, 1907\, Carlsbad\, 1907\, Vienna\, 1908\, and St. Petersburg\, 1909. \nNice Masters\, 1931. Standing : Daniel Noteboom\, Abraham Baratz\, George Renaud (Organiser)\, Telling (Tournament Director)\, Marcel Duchamp\, Brian Reilly (winner)\, Seated : Eugene Znokso-Borovsky\,\, Arpad Vajda\, Sir George Thomas\, Jacques Mieses\, Stefano Roselli del Turco\, Jacob Adolf Seitz. British Chess Magazine\, 1931\, page 201\nJacques Mieses was born on February 27th\, 1865\, at Leipsic\, and was educated at the university there\, and in Berlin. In the capital he joined\, at seventeen\, one of the city’s chess clubs\, and soon won the first prize in its annual tournament. Nevertheless\, his earlier days were devoted mainly to the theoretical side of the game and to problems of which he was a good composer and a phenomenal solver. His public career really began with a tie for second place at Nuremberg\, 1888\, with the third prize at Leipsic in the same year\, followed by a third\, behind Tarrasch and Burn\, at Breslau\, 1889. His subsequent achievements span the years and are recorded in the literature of the game. He played at the famous Hastings 1895 (and was its sole survivor); fifty years later he played at a Hastings Christmas Congress. His preference for the speculative and the spectacular to the then ultra-modern-prevented him from winning the major prizes of the games. As we look up the record’s we can readily see how unpredictable his performances were. Thus\, in 1907\, a first at Vienna early in the year was followed later by an equal sixteenth-eighteenth at Carlsbad. But his Brilliancy Prizes were numerous: such endings as those v. Janowski\, Paris\, 1900; v. Reggio\, Monte Carlo\, 1903 (quoted\, incidentally\, as Diagram 52 in Fine’s The Middle Game in Chess\, but without giving its source); v. Znosko-Borovsky\, Ostend\, 1907; and v. Schlechter\, Vienna\, 1908\, will always be the delight of anthologists. \nJacques Mieses\nAs well as playing incessantly in match and tournament\, Mieses wrote copiously on all aspects of the game\, analytically as well as in a literary manner\, in books as well as in magazines. Three of his little books\, The Chess Pilot\, Manual of the End-game\, and Instructive Positions from Master Chess\, have enjoyed a long and wide popularity in English. \n24th April 1935: J Mieses of Germany in play against PS Milner-Barry during the Premier Tournament of the Kent County Chess Association in the Grand Hotel\, Margate. (Photo by F. Sayers/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)\nTwo personal memories come to the writer’s mind. We first met him during the Liverpool congress-of 1923 ((1) Mieses\, (2) Maróczy). one morning we took a stroll together up Dale Street\, a stroll which developed into a tie-hunting expedition\, ending up with a fine selection on his part to take back to a Germany emerging from recent disaster. He left the impression of a courteous and cultured man\, precise in speech and with something of the military in his bearing. ln 1939\, on hearing of his whereabouts\, we called at his lodgings in Camden Town one Sunday morning. We were diffidently greeted by a seriously-crippled Mieses\, who had recently\, under great difficulties\, made his exit from a Germany once more faced with disaster. \n24th April 1935: J Mieses of Germany in play against PS Milner-Barry during the Premier Tournament of the Kent County Chess Association in the Grand Hotel\, Margate. (Photo by F. Sayers/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)\nBut the prim and chivalrous personality soon exerted itself. His many English friends rallied round him in his exile\, all culminating in the great tribute paid to him on his eightieth birthday. Mon March 15th\, 1945\, at the Lud-Eagle Chess Club\, a large number of friends and admirers gathered to pay their respects. A cheque\, subscribed to by members of the club\, was presented to the veteran master. He had\, he said in his acknowledgement\, sought asylum in England\, and he had been shown great kindness and sympathy. The final gift was a last resting-place in the East London (Ed : we now know this to be East Ham) Jewish Cemetery. – DJM. \nObituary of Jacques Mieses by DJ Morgan. British Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXIV (74\, 1954)\, Number 4 (April)\, pp. 107-108.\nObituary of Jacques Mieses by DJ Morgan. British Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXIV (74\, 1954)\, Number 4 (April)\, pp. 107-108.\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nJacques Mieses\nFrom Chessgames.com : \n“Jacques Mieses was born in Leipzig. He won the chess championship of Berlin at the age of 17\, and in 1888 he placed joint second at Leipzig and third at Nuremberg. \nIn 1889 he came third at Breslau (1889). He was\, however\, rather eclipsed by two great emerging talents – Emanuel Lasker and Siegbert Tarrasch. Mieses was crushed by Lasker in a match – Lasker – Mieses (1889/90) in Leipzig (December 1889 to January 1890). He also performed poorly at 8th DSB Kongress (1893) coming only 7th out of 9 against a field which was relatively weak compared to previous DSB congresses. \n1894-95 was a busy period for Mieses. He drew a match with Karl August Walbrodt. (+5\, =3\,-5) in Berlin (May-June 1894). Mieses then played in the extremely strong 9th DSB Kongress\, Leipzig (1894) (3rd-14th September\, 1894) coming 10th out of 18. He had then toured Russia giving simultaneous displays\, before travelling to Paris to play a match with David Janowski (8th January to 4th February 1895). \nVera Menchik plays Jacques Mieses in their match in 1942\n  \nMieses then crossed the English Channel to play a short match against Richard Teichmann in London (16th – 21st February 1895) which he lost by +1 =1 -4. A month later he played this match\, Mieses next professional engagement would be (which was his first tournament outside his own country) came at the famous Hastings event of 1895. Although he finished only twentieth (in a field of 22 players)\, he soon adapted to this level of play and in 1907 he took first prize at the Vienna tournament scoring ten points from thirteen games. \nIn 1909\, Mieses played a short blindfold match with Carl Schlechter\, winning it with two wins and one draw. The very next year Schlechter played Emanuel Lasker for the World Championship and drew the match 5-5. \nMieses tried his hand as a tournament organiser in 1911\, putting together the San Sebastian event that marked the international debut of future World Champion Jose Raul Capablanca. Mieses was defeated by one of Lasker’s title challengers\, Siegbert Tarrasch\, in a match in 1916 (+2 -7 =4). In 1938 Mieses resettled in England and took British citizenship. He was awarded the grandmaster title in 1950.” \nJacques Mieses.Jewish chess master from Germany; 1938 Escape from the Naziregime to England.27.2.1865 Leipzig – 23.2.1954 London.Simultaneous play in the Bar Kochba club against 25 chess players\, in the foreground: Mieses (left) against Felix A. Theilhaber.Photo\, undated\, around 1935 (Abraham Pisarek).\nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess by Hooper & Whyld : \nGerman-born Jewish player and author from Leipzig\, International Grandmaster (1950)\, International Arbiter\n(1951). He never assimilated the positional ideas of Steinitz and Tarrasch; instead he preferred to set up a game with the direct object of attacking the enemy king\, a style that brought him many brilliancy prizes but few successes in high-level play. His best result was at Vienna 1907\, the first Trebitsch Memorial tournament\, when he won first prize ( +9 =2 —2) ahead of Duras\, Maróczy and Schlechter. Later in the year he shared third prize with Nimzowitsch after Bernstein and Rubinstein in a 28-round tournament at Ostend. He played 25 matches\, mostly short\, and won six of them including a defeat of Schlechter in 1909 (+2-1). \nMieses reported chess events\, edited chess columns\, and wrote several books. In 1921 he published a supplement to the eighth edition of Bilguer’s Handbuch\, and he revised several editions of Dufresne’s popular Lehrbuck des Schachspiels\, He also organized chess events\, including the tournament at San Sebastian in 1911 for which he insisted that competitors were paid for travel and board\, a practice that later became normal. \nAfter living in Germany for 73 years he escaped the clutches of the Nazis and sought refuge in England. A prim\, courteous\, and dignified old gentleman\, still upright in bearing\, he became widely liked in his adopted country. Asked about his lameness in one leg\, caused by a street accident in 1937\, he merely answered ‘it was my turn to move\,’ Soon after naturalization he became the first British player to be awarded the International Grandmaster title. A generation before him his uncle Samuel Mieses (1841-84) had been a German player of master strength. \nIn the various publications of Edward Winter there are many and varied references to Mieses. We recommend you consult : Kings\, Commoners and Knaves\, Chess Facts and Fables and Chess Explorations to read them. \nAccording to Edward Winter in Chess Notes JM lived at the following addresses : \n\nTauchaerstrasse\, Leipzig\, Germany (Wiener Schachzeitung\, July 1904\, page 211).\nChristianstrasse 23\, Leipzig\, Germany (Düsseldorf\, 1908 tournament book\, page 176).\nWettiner Str. 32\, Leipzig\, Germany (Ranneforths Schach-Kalender\, 1915\, page 70).\nChristianstrasse 19II\, Leipzig\, Germany (Ranneforths Schachkalender\, 1925\, page 158).\n8 Fitzjohns Avenue\, London NW3\, England (Hastings and St Leonards Chess Club visitors’ book\, 27 December 1945*).\n\n\n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-jacques-mieses/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering,Writer
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210224
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210225
DTSTAMP:20220221T102314Z
CREATED:20200403T170437Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220221T102314Z
UID:4033-1614124800-1614211199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Graham Burgess (24-ii-1968)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday of FM Graham K Burgess (24-ii-1968) \nFIDE Master Graham Burgess needs no introduction to readers of English language chess books ! Minnesota\, USA based\, Graham has authored more than twenty five books and edited at least 250 and is editorial director of Gambit Publications Ltd. In 1994 Graham set a world record for marathon blitz playing and has been champion of the Danish region of Funen ! \nDesert Island Chess Puzzle Omnibus\, Adams\, Nunn\, Burgess\, So\, Gambit Publications Ltd.\, 2021\, ISBN-13 : 978-1911465652\n  \n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-graham-k-burgess-24-ii-1968/
CATEGORIES:4NCL,Birthday,Player,Writer
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210224
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210225
DTSTAMP:20210221T171133Z
CREATED:20200411T141006Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210221T171133Z
UID:4444-1614124800-1614211199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Jonathan Rogers (24-ii-1972)
DESCRIPTION: Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-jonathan-w-rogers-24-ii-1972/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player,Writer
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210305
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210306
DTSTAMP:20210305T164549Z
CREATED:20200319T151631Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210305T164549Z
UID:3610-1614902400-1614988799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Daniel Fernandez (05-iii-1995)
DESCRIPTION:BCN wishes Happy Birthday to GM Daniel Fernandez who at 26 is currently England’s youngest Grandmaster. The previous GM title holder was Jonathan Hawkins in 2014 making two in seven years. \nDaniel Howard Fernandez was born in Stockport\, Manchester on Sunday\, March 5th 1995.  “Think Twice” by Celine Dion was top of the UK hit parade. \nDaniel started playing chess at the age of seven (after his father taught him the rules) and at this time attended King’s School\, Harpenden.  His first chess club was Little Heath which became the ECF Small Club of the Year in 2015. They play in the Potter’s Bar area and include IM John Pigott in their membership. \nAt Little Heath Chess Club Daniel was coached by Mark Uniacke (who worked extensively on the early chess engine HIARCS). \nDaniel went up to Queen’s College\, Cambridge to read mathematics and left to become a Data Analyst at Mu Sigma Inc. He can speak several languages (including Serbian!) and works as a translator when opportunities arise. \nHe currently lives in Australia offering coaching and writing chess books (for Thinkers Publishing) and columns for Chessbase. In his spare time (!) Daniel is studying for The Master of Complex Systems degree at The University of Sydney. \nDaniel’s first ECF graded game was rapidplay on July 5th 2003 in the SCCU Junior Under-14 Final. \nHis first standard play game was in August 2003 at the Edinburgh based British Under-8 Championship. \nDaniel Fernandez\nDaniels ECF grading profile demonstrated rapid improvement : \nECF grading profile for Daniel Fernandez\nOn August 13th 2004 in Scarborough Daniel became British Under-9 Champion sharing the title with Daniel Hunt & Saravanan Sathyanandha. \nThe Fernandez family relocated to Singapore in August\, Daniel attending the Anglo-Chinese School in Singapore. He was swiftly recruited into the Singapore Chess Federation’s (SCF) National Junior Squad. Also in that squad were Danielle Ho and Howard Chiu (remember this for later!). \nBarely three weeks after his Scarborough triumph on September 4th 2004 Daniel played his first FIDE rated game in the 5th Asian Under-10 Championship organised by the ASEAN Chess Confederation. His performance in this event was rewarded with a FIDE Master title in 2005. Because he was no longer active in English events the ECF had the unusual scenario of having a ten year old FIDE Master with a published grade of ~120! \nIn typically modest fashion Daniel confesses  that he did not “deserve” the FM title at this time and that it was the consequence of the strong position of the ASEAN and SCF organisations  within world chess. At the same event Wesley So gained his FM title in the Under-12 section. \nFM Daniel Fernandez\nAnother interesting consequence of the relocation was that when Daniel returned to England in 2012 his last published grading went from ~ 120 to ~230! \nOne of the motivations of  returning to England was to obtain the necessary entrance requirement to study mathematics at Cambridge. This he did by studying for A-levels at Manchester Grammar School. \nDaniel with IM Jovan Petronic during the 2010 world juniors in Chotowa\, Poland | Photo: Diana Mihajlova\nConsequently Daniel’s FIDE rating profile also showed a fast pace of development: \nFIDE rating profile for Daniel Fernandez\nSydney 2009 and Sydney 2010 both provided IM norms with the third one coming from Kuala Lumpar 2010 and with these Daniel became an International Master in 2010 the title being confirmed at the 3rd quarter Presidential Board Meeting 2010\, 24-25 July 2010\, Tromso in Norway. \nIM Daniel Fernandez\, 100th British Championships\, Round 5\, Torquay. Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nHe won the Budapest Sarkany Tournament in 2014 as follows: \nFull Crosstable from Budapest Sarkany Tournament\, 2014.\nearning his first GM norm in the process. \nIM Daniel Fernandez\, 101st British Championships\, Aberystwyth. Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nBCN asked Daniel for three of his favourite games. The first one is this Polish Defence game from 2015 played at the Visma Arena in Vaxjo\, Sweden. First we have the crosstable showing that Daniel earnt his second GM norm from this event. \nFull Crosstable for Vaxjo\, Visma tournament in Sweden\, 2015.\nand here is the 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\nand during the 2015/15 4NCL season Daniel obtained his final GM norm playing for Wood Green. \nIn March 2015 he made his first of three Varsity match appearences for Cambridge re-uniting with Danielle Ho and Howard Chiu (remember those names from earlier?). \nDaniel won the 10th Jessie Gilbert Memorial in 2017: \nFull Crosstable from the 2017 10th Jessie Gilbert Memorial\nand also in 2017 Daniel was awarded the Grandmaster title at the 88th FIDE Congress 2017\, 7-15 October\, Goynuk\, Antalya\, Turkey. \nOn March 11th Daniel represented Cambridge in the 135th Varsity Match at the RAC Club in Pall Mall.  According to chess24.com ‘IM Daniel Fernandez\, playing board 2 for Cambridge\, was awarded the Brilliancy Prize by GM Ray Keene in consultation with McShane and Speelman\, for his “high-class swindle” after recovering from a bad blunder.’ See here for details. \nGM Daniel Fernandez\, 2019 British Championships\, Torquay. Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nIn 2018 Daniel ventured into the world of book writing when Thinker’s Publishing released The Modernized Caro-Kann on September 8th 2018.  This was a repertoire book for Black based around the Smyslov Variation : \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nand was reviewed in this place favourably and quickly established Daniel as a significant author. \nThe Modernized Caro-Kann\, Daniel Fernandez\, Thinkers Publishing\, 2018\nFrom the rear cover we have: \n“GM Daniel Fernandez (born 1995) has been an active and accomplished player for several years. He represented his native Singapore twice at Olympiads (2010 and 2012) before transferring to the English chess federation. There\, he won the national classical titles at U-18 and U-21 levels and worked to become a Grandmaster while simultaneously studying at Cambridge. The Caro-Kann was instrumental in his quest for that title. Currently\, Daniel is known in the chess scene not only as a solid player\, but also as a mentor figure to younger English players\, as a producer of well-received commentary and analysis\, and as a multilingual chess coach. This is his first book.” \nFrom January 2019 we have this interesting encounter between Gawain Jones and Daniel from the annual 4NCL meeting of Guildford and Wood Green: \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 White pieces Daniel has played  a wide range of first moves but the majority move by far is 1.e4. His choice versus the Najdorf is some eclectic : sometime ago 6. Rg1 was the favourite and now 6.a4 is preferred. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nAgainst 1…e5 Daniel offers a main line Ruy Lopez. \nWhat does a Caro-Kann expert play against the Caro-Kann? Nowadays the Two Knights Variation is employed! \nAs the second player he plays the Sicilian Najdorf as well as the Caro-Kann plus an equal mixture of the Grünfeld and King’s Indian Defences. \nIn 2019 Daniel was interviewed by Edwin Lam on behalf of ChessBase : fascinating reading! \nIn the same year Daniel joined IM Adam Taylor’s venture Making Grandmasters. \nOur final games is from July 2019 : \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nDaniel’s most recent publication is The Modernized Modern Defence from Thinker’s Publishing: \nThe Modernized Modern Defence\, Daniel Fernandez\, Thinker’s Publishing\, 2021\nand BCN has been told that Daniel has a book in the pipeline about the Tata Steel 2021 tournament at Wijk aan Zee. \n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-daniel-fernandez-05-iii-1995/
CATEGORIES:4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200305
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200306
DTSTAMP:20210305T153853Z
CREATED:20200625T101854Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210305T153853Z
UID:6686-1583366400-1583452799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of GM Daniel Yanofsky OC QC (25-iii-1925 05-iii-2000)
DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of GM Daniel Abraham Yanofsky OC QC (25-iii-1925 05-iii-2000) \n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-gm-daniel-yanofsky-oc-qc-25-iii-1925-05-iii-2000/
CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,Hastings,History,Player,Writer
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210314
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210315
DTSTAMP:20210305T182656Z
CREATED:20191117T162714Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210305T182656Z
UID:2084-1615680000-1615766399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of IA Stewart Reuben (14-iii-1939)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday of Stewart Reuben (14-iii-1939) \nHere is his Wikipedia entry \nHis personal catchphrase is “If only I had been consulted eariler” \nJimmy Adams and Stewart Reuben\nRichard W. O’Brien and Stewart Reuben working on a bulletin\nSR attempting to dance\nStewart Reuben interviews Stewart Reuben at the home of Stewart Reuben\nThe Chess Scene\nLeonard Barden\, Stewart Reuben and Michael Franklin at the 1978 Aaronson Masters\nThe Chess Organiser’s Handbook\nLondon 1980: Phillips and Drew Kings Chess Tournament\n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-stewart-reuben-14-iii-1939/
CATEGORIES:Arbiter,Birthday,British Championships,Official,Player,Writer
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210314
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210315
DTSTAMP:20210305T183318Z
CREATED:20200409T074359Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210305T183318Z
UID:4223-1615680000-1615766399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of GM John Emms (14-iii-1967)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday of GM John M Emms (14-iii-1967) \n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-john-m-emms-14-iii-1967/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player,Writer
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210314
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210315
DTSTAMP:20210314T123254Z
CREATED:20200410T133033Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210314T123254Z
UID:4348-1615680000-1615766399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of IM Simon Webb (10-vi-1949 14-iii-2005)
DESCRIPTION:We remember IM Simon Webb (10-vi-1949 14-iii-2005) \nDavid Nixon and Simon Webb at the London Evening Standard Congress\nSimon became England’s fourth Correspondence Grandmaster in 1983 following Keith Richardson\, Adrian Hollis and Peter Clarke. \nIM Jonathan Speelman vs IM Simon Webb at the 1978 British Championships in Ayr\, Courtesy of John Upham\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nSimon Webb (above Stewart Reuben at the Lloyds Bank Masters\nJoint winners of the 1973 Strasbourg Open : N. Karaklaic and Simon Webb. Photography by Mike Rose. CHESS\, Volume 88\, June\, page 283\nChess for Tigers\nChess for Tigers\n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-im-simon-webb-10-vi-1949-14-iii-2005/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Writer
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210315
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210316
DTSTAMP:20210315T174308Z
CREATED:20190822T150351Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210315T174308Z
UID:966-1615766400-1615852799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Gerald Abrahams (15-iv-1907 15-iii-1980)
DESCRIPTION:BCN remembers Gerald Abrahams who passed away in Liverpool on Saturday\, March 15th 1980. He was buried in the Allerton Cemetery in the Jewish Springwood plot. \nGerald Abrahams was born in Liverpool on Monday\, April 15th 1907.  On this day the Triangle Fraternity was formed at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. \nHis parents were Harry (b. 10th September 1880) and Leah (b. 12th March 1884) Abrahams (née Rabinowitz) who married in West Derby in the third quarter of 1903. \nGerald learnt chess at the age of ten during the first world war. He obtained an Open Scholarship to Wadham College\, Oxford in 1925 reading PPE and earning himself an MA in Law in 1928. He became a practising barrister at Law. \nFrom the 1939 register we learnt that Harry was a Drapery manufacturer and Leah carried out “unpaid domestic duties”. Gerald was not an only child: the first born was Winnie (b. 22nd November 1903) who was a Secretary and Clerk Typist and factory assistant. Elsie Abrahams (b. 14th April 1905) helped her mother with “unpaid domestic duties”. Blanche was Gerald’s older brother and he was “General Assistant In Fathers Business Drapery Manufacturer”. Gerald is listed (aged 32) as a Barrister at Law and author. The family resided at 51 Prince Alfred Road\, Liverpool\, Lancashire (now L15 6TQ) and their original property has been since replaced. \nHistorical map showing the 1939 residence of Gerald Abrahams\nWe learn from “Philanthropy\, Consensus\, and broiges: managing a Jewish Community A history of the Southport Jewish Community\nby John Cowell” of an incident in January 1942 that was to cause ripples in the community. The headline was \nPOLICE RAID DISTURBS CLUB CARD PLAYERS \nThe full list of people present seems to have been largely or entirely Jewish in religion or ethnicity: it included a famous chess-playing barrister from Liverpool\, Gerald Abrahams\, representing himself\, who had taken a First in P.P.E. at Oxford\, and later married Elsie Krengel\, who had also been present\, and with Leslie Black representing the rest of the defendants\, apart from the hosts and Captain Lionel Husdan\, who sent a letter to the court. \nThe full list of those present\, charged with “resorting and playing in a common gaming house\,” and bound over was as follows:- Mott Alexander\, Fannie Finn\, Maxwell Glassman\, Kate Lippa\, Myer Lister\, Gertrude Mannheim\, Joseph Mannheim\, Rita Mannheim\, Simon Mannheim\, Harry Peters\, Sadie Peters\, Lily Leah Ross\, Harry Sapiro\, Benjamin Stone. Those charged with “resorting in a common gaming house” and bound over\, were:- Gerald Abrahams\, Joseph Appleton Bach\, Samuel Myer Barnett\, Herbert Solomon Isaacson\, Elsie Krengel\, Manuel Mannheim\, Louis Michaelson\, Abraham Ross\, Bernard and Elsie Ross. \n“Gerald Abrahams\, the barrister charged\, said he was interested to protect his reputation from being stigmatised by a conviction\, and asked Sergeant Laycock about alcohol: the latter replied that none was being consumed. He submitted that the club was not a gaming house\, and that draw poker had not been proved other than as a game of skill. Charges were dismissed against Henry\, Eva and Marjorie Black\, Myer Waldman\, and Captain Lionel Husdan\, of Ryde\, Isle of Wight\, all of whom had said that they were merely taking refreshments in the club\, and had not played. David Platt said that he had not the slightest idea that they were breaking the law\, and Mrs Platt said that it had not been a paying venture.” \nThe Complete Chess Addict (Faber& Faber\, 1987)\, Fox & James notes: that Gerald Abrahams as authority on bridge cast doubt on assertions that Emanuel Lasker “was good enough to represent Germany” \nGerald’s comparisons of chess and bridge are discussed by Edward Winter in Chess Facts and Fables (McFarland\, 2005) page 130 in GAs 1962 book Brains in Bridge: \nBrains in Bridge\, Gerald Abrahams\, Constable and Company\, 1962\, ISBN ?\nGerald eventually married Elsie Krengel (born 15th January 1909) in the fourth quarter of 1971 in Liverpool at the age of 64. Elsie had lived in the Southport area for most of her life and her family was associated with the manufacture of handbags.  They had known each other for many years (at least since 1942 as mentioned previously). \nGerald Abrahams\nLeonard Barden modestly recounts : \n“At the end of Nottingham 1954  Gerald claimed that Alan Phillips had accepted his draw offer so tieing Gerald for the British championship with some rabbit whose name escapes me.  When Phillips strongly denied having accepted the draw\, Gerald collapsed on the floor and had to be aided by his old enemy Dr. Fazekas.” \nFrom The Anglo-Soviet Radio Chess Match (1946) by Klein and Winter: \n“G. Abrahams was born in Liverpool in 1907. He learned chess at the age of ten\, and showed an early aptitude for tactical complications. He has played with varying success\, his best performances being third and fourth with Rossolimo\, behind Klein and Najdorf\, but head of List at Margate\, 1938\, and fourth\, fifth and sixth with Sir George A. Thomas and König in London\, 1946. He has made two valiant bids for the British Championship. \nA graduate of Oxford\, he is a barrister by profession and has written several books\, including some fiction. He has solidified his chess without allowing it to become dry. Indeed\, most of his games sparkle with interesting complications.” \nHarry Golombek OBE wrote (in The Encyclopaedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977)): \n“Brilliant British amateur who in the 1930s was playing master-chess. In that period he was the most dangerous attacking player in England. \nGerald Abrahams watching the opening at the Hastings Chess Congress 1947. Also watching is Sir George Thomas who was GAs round one opponent. The Mayor was Alderman W. J. Fellows and he is opposite Sir Edmund McNeill Cooper-Key. Second from left is Percy J. Morren who was the Hasting’s Club President\nHe was in the prize-list (i.e. in the first four) in the British championship on three occasions 1933\, 1946 and 1954. His best international performance was in the Major Open at Nottingham in 1936 where he came =3rd with Opocensky. Another fine result was his score of 1.5-0.5 against the Soviet Grandmaster Ragozin\, in the 1946 Anglo-Soviet radio match. \nHe is the inventor of the Abrahams variation in the Semi-Slav Defence to the Queen’s Gambit: 1.P-Q4\, P-Q4;2.P-QB4\, P-QB3;3.N-QB3\, P-K3;4.N-B3\, PXP;5.P-QR4\, B-N4;6.P-K3\,P-QN4;7.B-Q2\, P-QR4; 8.PxP\, BxN;9.BxB\,PxP;10.P-QN3\,B-N2; \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nThis is sometimes known as the Noteboom variation after the Dutch master who played it in the 1930s\, but Abrahams was playing it in 1925 long before Noteboom. \nHe is a witty and prolific writer on many subjects: on law (he is a barrister by profession)\, philosophy\, and chess; he also writes fiction. His main chess works are: The Chess Mind\, London 1951 and 1960 \nThe Chess Mind\, Gerald Abrahams\, The English Universities Press\, 1951\, ISBN 0 340 19492 8\nand here is a later cover: \nThe Chess Mind\, Gerald Abrahams\, The English Universities Press\, 1951\, ISBN 0 340 19492 8\nand Not Only Chess\, London 1974. \nNot Only Chess\, Gerald Abrahams\, George Allen & Unwin Ltd.\, 1974\, ISBN 0 04 794005 0\nEdward Winter in Kings\, Commoners and Knaves\, cites the subtitle of the above book in his page 235 list of chessy words: “A selection of Chessays”. \nFrom Not Only Chess we learn that GAs favourite game was played in 1930 against Edmund Spencer of Liverpool. “Edmund Spencer was a man who is remembered with affection by all players who ever met him\, and who is remarkable in that his strength developed in what should have been hid middle life. When he died\, lamentably early\, in the 1930s\, at about 53 he was at his best\, and of recognised master status. \nThis game was played in 1930.” \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 for an alternative view of the same game: \n\nGA is amongst a rare breed of game annotators claiming the title of An Immortal for one of his own games. Edward Winter devotes a couple of column inches discussing exactly which year the game was played between 1929 and 1936. Here is the 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\nFor more of GAs excellent games see the superb article further on by Steve Cunliffe. Also\, Not Only Chess in Chapter 28 (“A Score of my Scores”) contains a veritable feast of entertaining games of GAs). \nGerald famously fell out with Anne Sunnucks when he discovered she had omitted him from her 1970 Encyclopaedia of Chess. Despite this the 1976 edition was also devoid of a mention. \nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess (OUP\, 1984 & 1996)\, Hooper & Whyld: \n“The English player Gerald Abrahams (1907-80) introduced the move when playing against Dr. Holmes in the Lancastrian County Championship in 1925 (ed: January 31st in fact) . Abrahams played the variation against his countryman William Winter (1898-1955) in 1929 and in the same year Winter played it against Noteboom\, after whom it is sometimes named. (Dr\, Holmes was the favourite pupil of Amos Burn and a leading ophthalmologist). \nGerald Abrahams\nThe precursor\, known from a 16th-century manuscript\, was published by Salvio in 1604: \n1.d4 d5;2.c4 dxc4;3.e4 b5;4.a4 c6;5.axb5 cxb5;6.b3 b4;7.bxc4 a5; 8.Bf4 Nd7;9.Nf3 \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nWriting in 1617\, Carrera made his only criticism of Salvio’s analysis in this variation. He suggested 8…Bd7 instead of 8…Nd7\, or 9.Qa4 instead of 9.Nf3. Salvio nursed his injured pride for seventeen years and then devoted a chapter of his book to a bitter attack on Carrera. The argument was pointless: all these variations give White a won game.” \nGA famously wrote : \nChess is a good mistress\, but a bad master \nand also \nThe tactician knows what to do when there is something to do; whereas the strategian knows what to do when there is nothing to do. \nand \nIn chess there is a world of intellectual values \nand \nGood positions don’t win games\, good moves do \nand \nWhy some persons are good at chess\, and others bad at it\, is more mysterious than anything on chess board. \nIn the recently (February 25th\, 2020) published “Attacking with g2 – g4” by GM Dmitry Kryakvin writes about Abrahams as follows : \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\n“It is believed that the extravagant 5.g2-g4 was first applied at a high level\, namely in the British Championship by Gerald Abrahams. Abrahams was a truly versatile person – a composer\, lawyer\, historian\, philosopher\, politician (for 40 years a member of the Liberal Party) and the author of several books. Of his legal work\, the most famous is the investigation into the murder of Julia Wallace in 1931 in Liverpool\, where her husband was the main suspect. As an alibi\, William Herbert Wallace claimed he was at a chess club. Dozens of books and films have been devote to the murder of Mrs. Wallace – indeed\, this is a script worthy of Arthur Conan Doyle or Agatha Christie! \nby Lafayette (Lafayette Ltd)\, whole-plate film negative\, 21 August 1933\nAbrahams played various card games with great pleasure and success\, but the main passion of the Liverpool resident was chess. Abrahams achieved his greatest success in the championships of Great Britain in 1933 and 1946\, when he won bronze medals. The peak of his career was undoubtedly his participation in the USSR-Great Britain radio match (1946) where on the 10th board Abrahams beat Botvinnik’s second and assistant grandmaster Viacheslav Ragozin with a score of 1.5-0.5 \nGerald Abrahams had a taste of studying opening theory\, and made a distinct contribution to the development of the Noteboom Variation\, which is often known as the Abrahams-Noteboom. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nTen years after he introduced the move 5.g2-g4 to the English public (1953)\, the famous grandmaster Lajos Portisch brought it into the international arena.” \nGerald Abrahams\nGerald was also a keen studies composer. Here are some examples of his work: \nGerald Abrahams\, 1923 \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\n1/2-1/2 \nSolution: 1. Ra3! Ra3 […a1=q;2.Ra1 Ba1;3.d7 Kf7;4.d8=q];2.e8=q a1=q;3.Qd7 \nand \nGerald Abrahams\, 1924 \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\n1-0 \nHere is an interesting article by Tim Harding on the naming of the Abrahams-Noteboom Variation of the Semi-Slav Defence \nHere is an article about GA and a blindfold exhibition \nGerald Abrahams contributed to opening theory in the Queen’s Gambit Declined / Semi-Slav Defence with his creation of the Abrahams-Noteboom Defence as discussed in the following video : \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\nHere is a nine page article (Gerald Abrahams – Talent without Discipline) written by Steve Cunliffe that appeared in British Chess Magazine\, Volume CVIII (1988)\, Number 7 (July)\, pp. 292-300: \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CVIII (1988)\, Number 7 (July)\, pp. 292\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CVIII (1988)\, Number 7 (July)\, pp. 293\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CVIII (1988)\, Number 7 (July)\, pp. 294\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CVIII (1988)\, Number 7 (July)\, pp. 295\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CVIII (1988)\, Number 7 (July)\, pp. 296\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CVIII (1988)\, Number 7 (July)\, pp. 297\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CVIII (1988)\, Number 7 (July)\, pp. 298\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CVIII (1988)\, Number 7 (July)\, pp. 299\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CVIII (1988)\, Number 7 (July)\, pp. 300\n\nHere is his Wikipedia entry \nSee his games at Chessgames.com \nHow to Teach Yourself Chess\, Gerald Abrahams\, D Van Nostrand Company\, Inc\, New York\, 1950\nTechnique in Chess\, Gerald Abrahams\, George Bell & Sons Ltd.\, 1961\,\nTest Your Chess\, Gerald Abrahams\, Constable and co\, 1963\, ISBN 0 330 24336 5\nThe Pan Book of Chess\, Gerald Abrahams\, Pan\, 1965\, 10: ISBN 0330230735\nTeach Yourself Chess\, Gerald Abrahams\, The English Universities Press Ltd\, 1965\,\nTechnique in Chess\, Gerald Abrahams\, Dover\, 1973\, ISBN ISBN 13: 9780486229539\nBrilliance in Chess\, Gerald Abrahams\, Pitman Publishing\, 1977\, ISBN 10: 0273000349\n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-gerald-abrahams/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Death Anniversary,History,Player,Writer
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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
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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
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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
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230122
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230123
DTSTAMP:20230120T152357Z
CREATED:20230120T152356Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230120T152357Z
UID:22229-1674345600-1674431999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Nick Pert (22-i-1981)
DESCRIPTION:We send birthday wishes to GM Nick Pert born this day (January 22nd) in 1981. \nJeremy Morse\, Adam Hunt\, Nick Pert and Nigel Short at the Lloyds Bank Masters\nNick won the Southern Counties (SCCU) championship for the 2016-17 season sharing with Richard Bates. \nNick and Richard Pert\nHere is Nick’s Wikipedia entry \nNick and Richard Pert\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nGM Nick Pert\nGM Nick Pert\n Save as PDF
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-nick-pert-22-i-1981-2/
CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Writer
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/bct_4326_lv.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE: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
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END:VCALENDAR