BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//British Chess News - ECPv6.17.4.1//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-ORIGINAL-URL:http://britishchessnews.com X-WR-CALDESC:Events for British Chess News REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:UTC BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:UTC DTSTART:20190101T000000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201005 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201006 DTSTAMP:20201005T092720Z CREATED:20191005T100349Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201005T092720Z UID:1468-1601856000-1601942399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Andrew Greet (05-x-1979) DESCRIPTION:IM Andrew Greet\nBCN wishes IM Andrew Greet best wishes on his birthday. \nAndrew Nicholas Greet was born on Friday\, October 5th\, 1979 in the cathedral city of Truro\, Cornwall and has resided in St. Austell\, Cornwall. “Message in a Bottle” by The Police held the number one spot in the UK singles chart (three weeks in total). \nAndrew attended Truro School leaving in 1998. \nAndrew became a FIDE Master in 2004 and an International Master in 2005. His peak rating (according to Felice and Megabase 2020) was 2456 in April 2016 at the age of 37. \nAndrew was British Under-18 Champion in 1996 at the age of 16 sharing the title with Oliver Rosten & Rohan Churm. In 1998 Andrew won the title outright. \nFrom 1998 – 2001 had a break from chess to study Psychology at The University of Kent in Canterbury. \nIn 2005 he scored a record breaking 11/11 in the Four Nations League playing for Hillsmark Kingfisher. By now\, Andrew had moved to Glasgow and had changed his FIDE federation from England to Scotland. \nAndrew was joint winner (with Simon Knott) of the Southend Open in 2006. \nIn April 2009 Andrew joined Quality Chess in Sales and Marketing which led to the position of editor. \nIn 2010 Andrew became Scottish Champion outright. \nIn 2017 won outright the Dundee grandmaster tournament : here is the story of the tournament. \nIn 2018 he played board one for Scotland in the 43rd Olympiad in Batumi. \nAndrew is a successful martial artist specialising in a a discipline known as Brazilian Jiujitsu\, which is a form of grappling. \nHere is an article (by Dave Regis) concerning a simultaneous display at Exeter Chess Club in 2010 \nFrom britishchess.co.uk : \n“He has a very friendly personality which works well when coaching\, and he has coached England juniors on foreign trips.” \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\nAndrew has written a number of publications as follows : \nPlay the Ruy Lopez\, Andrew Greet\, Everyman\, 2007\nDangerous Weapons 1.e4 e5\, Andrew Greet\, John Emms & Glenn Flear\, Everyman\, 2008\nStarting Out : The Accelerated Dragon\, Andrew Greet\, Everyman\, 2008\nBeating Unusual Chess Defences to 1.e4\, Andrew Greet\, Everyman\, 2011\nPlay the Queen’s Indian\, Everyman\, Andrew Greet\nIM Andrew Greet\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-andrew-n-greet/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/jb4_7605_lv.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201020 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201021 DTSTAMP:20211020T221318Z CREATED:20190823T184412Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211020T221318Z UID:1110-1603152000-1603238399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Philip Walsingham Sergeant (27-i-1872 20-x-1952) DESCRIPTION:BCN remembers Philip Walsingham Sergeant who passed away on Monday\, October 20th 1952. \nPWS was born in Kensington on Saturday\, January 27th\, 1872 to Lewis Sergeant and Emma Louisa Sergeant (née Robertson) and was baptised at All Saints Church\, Notting Hill. According to PWS’s baptism record Lewis was an author. \nAccording to PWS in A Century of British Chess : \n“When I was seven years of age – about the period\, by the way\, in which my father began to teach me Greek – he began also to initiate me into chess. Not that he designed it  as a consolatory set-off to my application to Greek; for he loved the Classics well\, though\, going up to Cambridge with  small classical exhibition\, he had turned to Mathematics\, and therein took his degree. ” \nAccording to the 1881 census PWS (aged 9) lived with his parents and numerous siblings : Dorothy (aged 7)\, Winifred (6)\, Hilda (5)\, Bernard (2)\, John (his grandfather aged 76) and Mary (his grandmother aged 75). They had staff\, Elizabeth Fraser and Sarah Martin. They lived at 10\, Addison Road\, North\, Kensington. \nAccording to “Joseph Foster. Oxford Men and Their Colleges\, 1880-1892. 2 vols. Oxford\, England: James Parker and Co\, 1893″ : \nPWS attended St. Paul’s School and then Trinity College\, Oxford to read Classics where he attained Honour Moderations. \nand here is the record from the above publication : \nEntry for Philip Walsingham Sergeant in Joseph Foster. Oxford Men and Their Colleges\, 1880-1892. 2 vols. Oxford\, England: James Parker and Co\, 1893\nWe do not know if PWS played in the Varsity matches of 1892 – 1895 : Britbase does not (yet) include player details for these matches. \nPWS married Minnie Boundford (born 27th February 1889) in 1909 in Hampstead and they lived at 5\, Dukes Avenue\, Chiswick where PWS was listed as an author and Minnie as someone who carried out “unpaid domestic duties”. Minnie was 17 years younger than PWS. Minnie’s father was a joiner and a carpenter. \nThey had two daughters Margaret (born 1910) and Kathleen (born 1911). \nIn October 1946 Minnie and PWS remarried. Presumably this was rather unusual in that day and age. \nAccording to The Oxford Companion to Chess (OUP\, 2nd edition\, 1996) by Hooper and Whyld : \nPWS was an English author of biographical games collections for Charousek\, Morphy and Pillsbury as well as other works of importance such as A Century of British Chess (1943) and Championship Chess (1938). \nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (BT Batsford\, 1977) by Harry Golombek : \n“A professional writer on chess and popular historical subjects. Without any pretentions to mastership\, he represented Oxford University in the years 1892 – 5 and assisted RC Griffith in preparing three editions of Modern Chess Openings. \nIn chess he dealt with a number of important subjects : Morphy’s Games of Chess\, London\, 1916; Charousek’s Games of Chess\, London\, 1919; Pillsbury’s Chess Career (in collaboration with WH Watts)\, London\, 1923; Championship Chess\, London\, 1938. \nAll these are lucidly and carefully written but suffer from the defect that\, being neither a master player nor a professional annotator\, he was not competent to deal with the annotational part of the work. Probably his best book on chess was A Century of British Chess\, London\, 1934. \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume LXX11 (72)\, Number 11 (November)\, page 324 we have this rather brief obituary (presumably written by Brian Reilly): \n“We regret to have to report the death\, at the age of eighty-one of Philip W. Sergeant\, the author of A Century of British Chess\, which we imagine is in most chess libraries. He was the author of several well-known historical books – but we are only concerned here with his chess activities\, which included representing Oxford University 1892-5; helping RC Griffith with two editions of Modern Chess Openings; playing for Middlesex\, winning the chess championship of the authors’ club for several year\, and latterly as an honoured member; and occasionally obtaining the championship of the Guildford Chess Club. Our sympathy with his widow and two daughters is sincere.”\n” \nHe was a cousin of EG Sergeant. \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 Wikipedia : \n“Philip Walsingham Sergeant (27 January 1872\, Notting Hill\, London[1] – 20 October 1952)[2] was a British professional writer on chess and popular historical subjects.[3][4] He collaborated on the fifth (1933)\, sixth (1939)\, and seventh (1946) editions of Modern Chess Openings\, an important reference work on the chess openings. He also wrote biographical game collections of Paul Morphy (Morphy’s Games of Chess (1916) and Morphy Gleanings)\, Rudolf Charousek (Charousek’s Games of Chess (1919))\, and Harry Nelson Pillsbury (Pillsbury’s Chess Career\, with W. H. Watts\, 1922)\, and other important books such as A Century of British Chess (1934) and Championship Chess (1938).” \nHarry Golombek writes that\, “Without any pretensions to mastership\, he represented Oxford University in the years 1892-5”.[3] Golombek considers A Century of British Chess probably Sergeant’s best chess book\, but opines that although Sergeant’s chess books are lucidly written\, they suffer from the defect that\, as a non-master\, he was not competent to deal with the annotational aspect of his work. \nHe was a second cousin of Edward Guthlac Sergeant. \nPhilip Walsingham Sergeant\nCharousek’s Games of Chess\nThe Rice Memorial Chess Tournament\, 1916\nPillsbury’s Chess Career\, London\, 1923\nA Century of British Chess\, London\, 1934\nAn Introduction to the Endgame at Chess\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-philip-walsingham-sergeant/ CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/1486702.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201029 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201030 DTSTAMP:20201028T124304Z CREATED:20190822T162401Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201028T124304Z UID:992-1603929600-1604015999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Reginald Broadbent (03-viii-1906 29-x-1988) DESCRIPTION:We remember Reginald Broadbent who passed away on October 29th 1988. \nReginald Joseph Broadbent was born on Friday\, August 3rd 1906 (the year of the San Francisco earthquake) in Durban\, South Africa. His father was Joseph Edward Broadbent (born 1879) who married Alice Cook on January 4th\, 1930 in Durban. \nAccording to the 1911 Isle of Man Census (FindMyPast\, Richard James; thanks!) the Broadbent family (sans father) stayed at a guest house in Onchan on the night of February 2nd 1911. Reg (aged 4) was a boarder together with mother Alice (33)\, brother Roland (1) and sister Laura (4). Since Reg and Laura are both recorded as 4 years old it is reasonable to suppose that they were born as twins. We think that Reg had an additional sibling who had passed away and that the name is not recorded. Reassuringly Steve Mann agrees with this conclusion. \nHe married Catherine H Broadbent (born 19th September 1895) and were recorded as living (in 1939) in “Cheadle and Gately”\, Cheshire. His profession was as a “Telephone Traffic Superintendent\, Class II\, Post Office Telephones” which was a a civil service occupation. Catherine carried out “unpaid domestic duties”. \nThey resided at 72\, South Park Road\, Gatley\, Cheshire : \n72\, South Park Road\, Gatley\, Cheshire. SK8 4AN\nAccording to Steve Mann in his excellent Yorkshire Chess web site : \n“At some time in 1946 or 1947\, Broadbent moved down south to live in the general vicinity of East Grinstead\, at Far End\, Limes Estate\, Felbridge\, 2 miles NW of East Grinstead\, and later at Southway\, Priory Road\, Forest Row\, 3 miles SE of East Grinstead” \nThe British Chess Magazine\, Volume CVIII (108\, 1988)\, #12 (December)\, p. 553 records this brief death announcement : \n“Reginald J. Broadbent\, British Champion 1948 and 1950 died on October 29 at the age of 82. He was a member of Manchester and Bradford Chess Clubs in his day\, and was famous for his remarkable record in Anglo-Dutch matches. \nAfter he moved to London around 1950 he was less free to play due to his senior post with the Post Office. A fuller notice will appear next month.” \n As advertised in the British Chess Magazine\, Volume CIX (109\, 1989)\, #1 (January)\, p. 27 we have : \n“Reginald Broadbent (3 viii 1906-29x 1988) was born at Durban and was British Champion in 1948 and 1950. In the latter content he actually won his last six games in a row to reach a score of 8.5 points\, ahead of Klein\, Penrose and Milner-Barry. He was often spoken of as “playing himself into form” in the first half of a contest as his work as a civil servant (the GPO) did not allow him the chance to practise regularly against strong opposition. \nHe was a member of the Manchester and Bradford clubs before the war when he built up a fine record in Anglo-Dutch matches and Northern Counties champion on many occasions. \nBrian Reilly recalls that Broadbent was selected for the BCF Olympiad side in 1954\, but was forced to turn down the invitation due to the exacting nature of his work in London\, and thereafter his main connection with the game was a chess column in a West of England newspaper. He was a subscriber to BCM right up to his death.” \nWith the white pieces Broadbent was a die-hard 1.e4 player who allowed the Marshall Attack against the Ruy Lopez. \nAs the second player RJB defended the Nimzo-Indian Defence and played Open games. \nHere is one of his best games : \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nFor an element of déjà vu here is RJBs obituary from the 1989 – 1990 BCF Yearbook\, page 14 : \n(The Yearbook editor was Brian Concannon and it would appear standard practise\, at the time\, not to credit or attribute sources for obituaries.) \nBCF Yearbook\, 1989-1990\, page 14\nA detailed biography may be found here \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-reginald-joseph-broadbent/ CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/25734.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201030 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201031 DTSTAMP:20201030T123812Z CREATED:20200408T191409Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201030T123812Z UID:4211-1604016000-1604102399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Eddie Dearing (30-x-1980) DESCRIPTION:BCN send best wishes to IM Eddie Dearing on his birthday. \nEdward J Dearing was born on Sunday\, October 30th\, 1980 in Scotland. \nEddie Dearing publicity photograph\, from EDs Facebook page.\nIn 2002 Eddie shared first place (with Karl Mah) in the Smith and Williamson Young Masters with 6/9 with a TPR of 2458 : \nCross table for the 2012 Smith and Williamson Young Masters\nHe became an International Master in 2002 and\, according to Felice and Megabase 2020 achieved a peak rating of 2420 in July 2005 aged 25. He is currently ranked 8th in Scotland. \nEddie Dearing by Cathy Rogers\, ChessBase profile image\nEddie studied law at the University of Cambridge and did an MBA at the London Business School. Currently Eddie is a fund manager at MFS Investment Management. \nEddie is currently registered for Battersea in the London League and previously has played for Drunken Knights but has not been active since 2014. \nWith the white pieces Eddie prefers the Queen’s Gambit\, Exchange Variation. \nAs the second player Eddie plays the Sicilian Dragon and the Semi-Slav Defence. \nEddie has plus scores against : James Cobb\, Richard Palliser\, Simon Williams\, Karl Mah\, Jacob Aagard\, Colin McNab to name but a few. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nPlay the Sicilian Dragon by Eddie Dearing\nPlay the Nimzo-Indian by Eddie Dearing\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-eddie-dearing-30-x-1980/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/jb4_2517_lv.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201108 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201109 DTSTAMP:20201031T205429Z CREATED:20200408T212812Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201031T205429Z UID:4217-1604793600-1604879999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Richard Eales (08-xi-1949) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of FM Richard Geoffrey Eales (08-xi-1949) \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-richard-geoffrey-eales-08-xi-1949/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,History,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/untitled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201130 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201201 DTSTAMP:20260817T135617Z CREATED:20200411T223418Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T135617Z UID:4518-1606694400-1606780799@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Simon Williams (30-xi-1979) DESCRIPTION:GM Simon Williams\nBest wishes to GM Simon Williams on his fortieth birthday\, this day (November 30th) in 1979. \nSimon was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion in the 2001-02 (shared with Simon Knott) and the 2006-07 season. \nHis Wikipedia entry is here \nGM Simon Williams\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-simon-kim-williams-30-xi-1979/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/BCC_3588-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201211 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201212 DTSTAMP:20260817T135602Z CREATED:20190822T155314Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T135602Z UID:985-1607644800-1607731199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Joseph Blake (11-xii-1951) DESCRIPTION:We remember English player Joseph Blake who passed away on Tuesday\, December 11th\, 1951. \nJoseph Henry Blake was born on Thursday\, February 3rd\, 1859 in Farnborough\, Hampshire. His parents were Joseph Denner and Eliza Blake (née Early). In 1871 Joseph (aged 12) had a brother Frank (aged 10)\, sisters Annie (8)\, Elizabeth S (7)\, Eliza E (1) and a servant\, Kate Longman aged 18. The family lived in Lydia Cottage\, Hewitts Road\, Millbrook\, South Stoneham\, Hampshire. \nAccording to the 1861 census Joseph was two years old and living with his parents and Frank in Rotten Row\, Yeovil\, Somerset. \nIn 1881 the family has upped sticks again and moved to 2 St. Lawrence Road\, Saint Mary\, Eastleigh\, Hampshire. This address is also given as the South West Telegraph Office. Eliza was now the head of the household and a widower. Apart from Eliza E aged 11 everyone worked for the railway. \nIn 1891 Joseph had become Head of the Household (aged 32) and they had acquired a servant (Anna M Cornell) and a blacksmith (Francis Cornell) from Braintree in Essex. \nIn 1900 Joseph married Alice New in Cheltenham\, Gloucestershire. They lived at 24\, Barton Road\, Eastleigh\, Hampshire. Tragically\, Alice passed away in 1903. \nJoseph Henry Blake\nBy 1911 Joseph was 52 and had retained his career as a Railway Clerk. He lived at 33\, Broomfield Road\, Tolworth\, Surrey : \n33\, Broomfield Road\, Tolworth\, Surrey\nHe is recorded as the head of a household of one and a widower. \nIn 1939 Joseph was living at 10 Springfield Court\, Springfield Road\, Kingston Upon Thames\, Surrey. He was now retired. \nNo doubt there would have been other addresses not captured by the census records. \nAccording to The Encyclopedia of Chess\, (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE : \n“A leading British player in the 1890s and for many years editor of the Games Section of the British Chess Magazine between the two world wars. Blake’s best tournament performance came at the age sixty-three when\, at Weston-super-Mare in 1922\, he came 1st ahead of Maróczy\, Kostić\, Sir George Thomas and Yates. \nThe remarkable feature about Blake’s chess career is that he retained his skill and his comprehension of the game for a much longer period that most chess players. This extended from 1887 when he was 1st at the Counties Chess Association tournament at Stamford ahead of Bird and Pollock\, a performance he was to repeat in 1891 at Oxford\, to 1909 when he tied with H. E. Atkins for first place in the British Championship\, to 1923 when he won the Weston-super-Mare tournament\, right into the 1930s when he was principal annotator for the British Chess Magazine.” \nChess Endings for Beginners\, JH Blake\, George Routledge First Edition (1900)\nand according to The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale\, 1970 & 1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“One of the leading British players at the end of the last century and the beginning of the present century. Born on 3rd February 1859. Represented England in the Anglo-American cable matches in 1902 and 1909. His best results were 1st in the Counties’ Chess Association Tournament 1887\, ahead of Bird and MacDonnell; =1st with HE Atkins in the 1909 British Championship\, but lost the play-off for the title; 1st at Weston-super-Mare 1922 ahead of Maroczy\, Kostich\, Sir George Thomas and Yates\, and winner of the brilliancy prize for his game against Sir George Thomas; 2nd in the international correspondence chess tournament organised by Le Monde Illustre in 1895. \nBlake was President of the Southern Counties Chess Association in 1911 and President of the Hampshire Chess Association from 1910-1912 and from 1927-1929. He was also Hon. Secretary of the City of London Chess Club for some years.” \nAccording to Tim Harding in the excellent Correspondence Chess in Britain and Ireland\, 1824-1987 : \nRailway clerk Joseph Henry Blake\, the leading English correspondence player of the 1890s; also a strong OTB amateur player. He was a regular contributor to British Chess Magazine from the 1880s to the late 1930s. \nIn British Chess Magazine\, Volume XXXIX (39\, 1919)\, Number 3 (March) we have the following from Julius du Mont : “I presume it relates more particularly to chess professionals in this country\, at any rate\, it does not seem to me that the jews hold rank amongst first-class amateurs in proportion to their numbers. \nIn London there are very few if any of the class of RC Griffith\, GA Thomas\, JH Blake\, HG Cole\, EG Sergeant\, and many others to say nothing of the younger recruits \, W.Winter and RHV Scott.” \nFrom the 1949 British Chess Magazine (written by RN Coles) we have this : \nJH Blake is Ninety \nAfter an absence of ten years I looked in recently on the Kingston and Thames Valley Chess Club. There were many new faces and a number of familiar ones\, among the latter one of rosy countenance\, trim beard and twinkling eyes\, none other than JH Blake\, more vigorous than ever and attaining his 90th birthday on the 3rd February. \nTwenty years ago in this same club I (RN Coles) was learning the game\, now middle age approaches. Blake was an elderly man in those days\, who had retired from all competitive play because of the strain it imposed; now\, so far from showing the weight of years\, he is back in competitive chess again.  He won the club championship last year and is in a fair way to repeating his victory this year. Of all the ‘Grand Old Men’ of chess\, few have still been champions in their 90th year. \nOlder readers of the BCM will remember him as their Games Editor for many years\, but few memories will cover the whole series of his successes beginning with a 1st at Stamford in 1887. Even 1922 must seem a distant year to the generation of today. That was the year that Maroczy and Kostic were invited to Weston-super-Mare to meet such rising young English masters as FD Yates and Sir George Thomas. And the first prize amongst those talented players was won by JH Blake\, who had been born just when Morphy returned to England after his Paris Victory over Anderssen ! \nAll readers of the BCM and all players everywhere will wish Britain’s oldest master continued health and increasing vigour\, and those who knew him today will be surprised if he does not continue his attack for another decade at least. \nBesides winning the first prize at Weston Blake also won the brilliancy prize with the following game : (#10\,229) \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 2 (February)\, pp.44-46 contained an obituary with articles from MDB* : \n*(Careful investigation by Richard James suggest that MDB is Mabel Dorothy Barker\, JHB’s niece in 6th Cross Road.) \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 2 (February) pp. 44 – 46\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 2 (February) pp. 44 – 46\nand EG Sergeant : \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 2 (February) pp. 44 – 46\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 2 (February) pp. 44 – 46\n\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nFor more on this game and its often mis-reported continuation see this article from Edward Winter. \nFrom Wikipedia : \n“Joseph Henry Blake (3 February 1859\, Farnborough\, Hampshire – 11 December 1951\, Kingston-upon-Thames) was an English chess master. \nBlake won many tournaments played in England toward the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. He won at Stamford 1887\, Oxford 1891 (joint)\, Brighton 1892\, Cambridge 1893\, and Salisbury 1898 (joint). He also took 5th at Manchester 1882\, tied for 3-4th at Birmingham 1883 (Section B)\, took 4th at Bath 1884\, tied for 6-8th at London 1889 (Henry Bird won)\, took 2nd at Cambridge 1890\, tied for 3rd-4th at Woodhall Spa 1893\, shared 2nd at Craigside 1895\, took 3rd at Hastings (Amateur) 1895\, took 2nd\, behind Henry Ernest Atkins\, at Bristol 1896\, and won at Folkestone 1901. \nHe took 2nd in an international correspondence tournament organised by Le Monde Illustré in 1895\, shared 1st in the 1909 British Championship in Scarborough but lost to Atkins the play-off\, and shared 1st at London 1911. He was British correspondence champion in 1922. \nBlake represented England in cable matches against the United States in 1902\, 1909 and 1910. \nHis best achievement was victory\, ahead of Géza Maróczy\, George Alan Thomas\, Fred Yates and Boris Kostić\, at Weston-super-Mare 1922. He shared 2nd at London 1922 (Major Open)\, tied for 7-8th at Hastings International Chess Congress 1922/23 (Akiba Rubinstein won)\, took 2nd\, behind Thomas\, at London 1923\, took 5th at Liverpool 1923 (Jacques Mieses won)\, tied for 7-8th at Hastings 1923/24 (Max Euwe won)\, tied for 6-7th at Weston-super-Mare 1924 (Euwe won)\, took 2nd\, behind R.P. Michell\, at London 1925\, took 4th at London 1926 (Victor Buerger won)\, and tied for 7-9th at Weston-super-Mare 1926 (Euwe won).” \nHe is the author of Chess endings for beginners (London 1900). \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-joseph-henry-blake/ CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/IMG_2163-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201211 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201212 DTSTAMP:20201211T135933Z CREATED:20191211T101420Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201211T135933Z UID:2290-1607644800-1607731199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of FM Peter Clarke (18-iii-1933 11-xii-2014) DESCRIPTION:PH Clarke\nWe remember FM Peter Clarke who passed away on Thursday\, December 11th\, 2014 whilst living at Chapel House\, Bude\, Cornwall\, EX23 9SQ \nPeter Hugh Clarke was born on Saturday\, March 18th 1933 in West Ham\, London. His mother’s maiden name was Ekblom. \nFrom The Modest Master of Morwenstow by James Pratt (sadly\, as yet\, unpublished) : \n“Peter Hugh Clarke was born in London on 18th March\, 1933. At the age of eight or nine he taught himself the game from ‘The Book of Knowledge’ and played friendly games with his cousin\, who was about a year older. Peter’s father supported his game for many years. PHC was a student at St. Bonaventures School and London University. World War II\, and its even longer aftermath\, robbed him of a number of playing opportunities. It is surprising that he had no childhood heroes\, although later the play of Botvinnik\, Keres and Smyslov impressed him.” \nPeter Clarke with father\, Courtesy of Keverel Chess\nFrom British Chess (Pergamon\, 1983) written by George Botterill : \nChess correspondent of The Sunday Times\, Clarke played for England in the Olympiads of 1954\, 56\, 58\, 60\, 62\, 66 and 68. He has never won the British Championship but has come 2nd on 5 occasions. \nA fine writer. His best books are Mikhail Tal’s Best Games of Chess \nMikhail Tal’s Best Games of Chess\, PH Clarke\, Bell\, 1961\nand Petrosian’s Best Games of Chess 1946-1963 both published by Bell. \nPetrosian’s Best Games of Chess 1946-1963\, PH Clarke\, George Bell & Sons Ltd\, 1964\nThe most remarkable thing about Clarke’s chess career was they way in which he became transformed\, in about 1968-9\, into the most drawish of players. In British tournaments he has become notorious for correct but dull solidity.” \nPeter was Southern Counties (SCCU) Champion for the 1945-55 season. \nPeter was England’s third Correspondence Grandmaster (CGM) in 1980 after Keith Richardson and Adrian Hollis. \nPeter at the dinner table\nFrom BCM / ECF : \n“FIDE and British Master P.H. Clarke will be best remembered as biographer to Tal and to Petrosyan\, but he was so much more. The young Clarke played for Ilford CC in the London League and for Essex at county level. Doing national service he was to learn the Russian that was to so shape his writings. \nThe 1964 England Olympiad (Tel Aviv) Team : Owen Hindle\, Čeněk Kottnauer\, Peter Clarke\, Michael Franklin\, Norman Littlewood & Michael Haygarth\nFor a brief period in the late 1950s\, and early sixties\, he was the number two player in England\, ahead of the vastly more experienced Alexander and Golombek. He played\, of course\, below Jonathan Penrose\, a partnership that bore fruit when preparing openings; latterly they both became Correspondence Grandmasters.” \nPeter Clarke at the 1963 Ilford Whitsun Congress. Source : British Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXXIII\, Number 7 (July)\, page 194\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nFM Peter Clarke\n“At the British Championships itself he finished second on his first appearance; he was to tie for silver medal on no less than five occasions\, appearing\, almost without a break for thirty years\, a run that ended in 1982. He represented the BCF – as it then was – in eight Olympiads\, playing on top board in 1966. \nBorislav Ivkov playing Peter Clarke at the 1960 Leipzig Olympiad. The game was a QGA which was drawn\nThe Clarke family moved to the West of England in the late Sixties. PHC played in thirteen WECU Championships\, and lost only twice. As a player he could be cautious\, agreeing too readily to draws. Accuracy and respect meant more to him than ambition. The biographer became a journalist as illness cut short his playing career. In his time he beat Larsen\, Penrose and Szabo. \n \nIn 1962 he married BH Wood’s daughter\, Peggy. They had three daughters. In 1975 my mother happened across Peter and Peggy on Morecambe prom. ‘Never’ she was later to tell me\, ‘have I seen a couple more in love.'” \nPeter Clarke & Peggy Wood in 1962\, Courtesy of Keverel Chess\nWe are grateful to James Pratt to allow us to quote from the the sadly unpublished “Modest Master from Morwenstow” as follows : \nPHC by John Littlewood : \n“Peter had a relatively short career at the top and it is interesting to comment on his style. In essence\, his great strength lay in positional understanding which backed-up his defensive skills rather than helped his ability to create wins; in other words\, he won games in which his opponents over-pressed or opted for dubious positional moves. \nAfter doing well in English chess\, he was perhaps pushed into international chess too early for him to develop his own personal creative style. Playing for England and meeting strong players\, he tended towards a rather negative approach that may have been necessary for the team but was not good for his own personal progress\, as shown when he later met English opponents who outstripped him in their positive will-to-win. His friendship with Penrose (a far stronger player) led to far too many draws which did neither of them any good. \nMikhail Tal’s Best Games of Chess\, PH Clarke. Bell\, 1961\nTo be fair\, Peter was not an easy player to beat but\, on the other hand\, he was not too hard to draw against if you felt so inclined. His forte lay in his knowledge of the game and his excellent writing skills\, where he was at his happiest; there is hardly a book of his that I haven’t enjoyed.” \nPetrosian’s Best Games of Chess 1946-1963\, PH Clarke\, Bell\, 1971\nWriting in BCM 04/64\, John Littlewood called PHC a self-style non-tactician and disagreed with Clarke’s belief in the inner logic (‘I have made no mistakes and therefore my position is OK.’) of positions where tactics are to the fore. \nFM Peter Clarke\nPHC by Leonard Barden : \n“Peter’s contribution to British Chess was important as a player and even more so as a writer. His best period was 1956-61. He\, Penrose and myself used to stay in the same hotel during the British Championships and prepare and analyse together\, although we played hard when actually paired. Peter was the solid man in the English team\, gradually taking over the role of Golombek. It was important that we did reasonably well in this period which provided a bridge between the Alexander/Golombek era and the rise of Keene/Hartston. \nPeter was always a good friend to me and his family gave me hospitality each year during the Ilford Congress. Peter’s books\, especially the one about Tal\, were real works of scholarship in an era where there were no computers to facilitate the job. He could have achieved more as a player if he had been able to concentrate fully on that\, but the economic climate then was poor for professionals.” \nPeter and life long friend\, Jonathan Penrose\, Courtesy of Keverel Chess\nPHC by Bernard Cafferty : \n“Right up to that point of his illness in the 1980’s he had worthily defended the reputation of the older generation in the British Championship\, as the last survivor\, still active at that level\, from the Penrose era. I first saw Peter at the 1951 British Championship at Chester and first played him at the 1952 Bristol Universities individual contest. \n24th USSR Chess Championships\, PH Clarke\, British Chess Magazine\, 1959\nHe left the University of London before taking his degree (study of chess rather taking over his life)\, but then had the good fortune to go on to study Russian while doing his National Service\, around 1954-55. Or was he still in the Army when the Moscow 1956 Olympiad took place? He certainly did well there\, perhaps less affected than other Westerners by the strangeness of the place that was just recovering slightly from the depths of Stalin’s baleful influence. \n  \nVV Smyslov – My Best Games of Chess\, edited and translated by PH Clarke\, Routledge and Kegan Paul\, 1958\nI do recall that for a couple of years Peter changed his cautious style. This was around 1957-58 when he scored one of his two wins against Penrose. Was it at Ilford? I remember that the game appeared with notes by B.H. Wood in ‘The Illustrated London News’ column. \nCien Miniaturas Rusas\n  \nI used to see Peter regularly at the Paignton and Hastings Congresses in the 1990’s but not in the last couple of years. His health seems restored.” \nPeter with Brian Reilly observing playing ? with ? in the background.\nPHC by Ken Harman : \n“I am very pleased to hear about your book about Peter Clarke; not sure I can contribute much as I wasn’t a friend of his so only knew him through seeing him and Margaret at chess tournaments. He was a quiet spoken gentleman who played such quiet positional chess that I would call it ‘monastic chess’. I think Clarke thought chess a search for spiritual truth\, only to be found in the cloisters of spiritual truth\, only to be found in the cloisters of contemplative life – ‘The Thomas Merton of Chess’\, if you like. Of course\, I have no idea if he was a spiritual man in real life but his chess always struck me as if he was reaching for heaven and found hell in a doubled pawn. He seemed like a nice man and I suspect his wife Margaret was the dominant one. I have his book on Mikhail Tal’s Best Games of Chess (Bell 1961) which is signed by him and may well have been his copy\, because as you open the book – there is a small newspaper clipping and a photo of Clarke sellotaped which is rather unusual being that the book is about Tal\, and not him. ” \nPeter plays Erich Gottlieb Eliskases at the 1960 Leipzig Olympiad\nPHC by Alan P. Borwell (ICCF Honorary President) : \n“I first met Peter at the 1959 BCF Congress in York when I was a member of local organising committee and then at Paignton and when York played & won the National Club Championship in 1964/5. \nIn 1966 I played Peter in the British Chess Championship in last round in Sunderland.” \nPeter analyses “al fresco” with ?. Possibly from Hastings ?\nand from Wikipedia : \nPeter Hugh Clarke (18 March 1933 – 11 December 2014) was an English chess player\, who hold titles FIDE master (FM) and International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster (1980)\, FIDE International arbiter (1976)\, Chess Olympiad individual silver medal winner (1956). \nPeter Clarke started playing chess at the age of six. He twice won the London Boys’ Chess Championship (1950\, 1951). He was British Chess Championship multiplier participant where five times won silver medal. \nSince 1959\, Peter Hugh Clarke has been working as a chess journalist in the newspaper Sunday Times and magazine British Chess Magazine. He known as the biographical book’s author of Mikhail Tal (1961) and Tigran Petrosian (1964). Thanks to his good knowledge of Russian language\, he translated the book about Vasily Smyslov in 1958. In 1963 he wrote a book 100 Soviet Chess Miniatures. \nPeter Clarke played for England in the Chess Olympiads : \nIn 1954\, at second reserve board in the 11th Chess Olympiad in Amsterdam (+2\, =2\, -3)\,\nIn 1956\, at reserve board in the 12th Chess Olympiad in Moscow (+7\, =5\, -0) and won individual silver medal\,\nIn 1958\, at fourth board in the 13th Chess Olympiad in Munich (+2\, =10\, -3)\,\nIn 1960\, at third board in the 14th Chess Olympiad in Leipzig (+4\, =7\, -3)\,\nIn 1962\, at second board in the 15th Chess Olympiad in Varna (+3\, =10\, -2)\,\nIn 1964\, at second board in the 16th Chess Olympiad in Tel Aviv (+2\, =8\, -2)\,\nIn 1966\, at first board in the 17th Chess Olympiad in Havana (+2\, =10\, -1)\,\nIn 1968\, at third board in the 18th Chess Olympiad in Lugano (+0\, =7\, -1).\nAlso he played for England in the World Student Team Chess Championship (1954\, 1959)and in the Clare Benedict Chess Cup (1960-1961\, 1963\, 1965\, 1967-1968) where won team silver medal (1960) and 4 bronze medals (1961\, 1963\, 1967\, 1968). \nIn later years\, Peter Clarke active participated in correspondence chess tournaments. In 1977\, he won British Correspondence Chess Championship. In 1976\, Peter Clarke was awarded the International Correspondence Chess Master (IMC) title and received the International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster (GMC) title four years later. \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-fm-peter-hugh-clarke-18-iii-1933-11-xii-2014/ CATEGORIES:British Championships,Correspondence,Death Anniversary,History,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/IMG.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201211 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201212 DTSTAMP:20210807T163528Z CREATED:20200410T112417Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210807T163528Z UID:4331-1607644800-1607731199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Gawain Jones (11-xii-1987) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of GM Gawain Christopher B Jones (11-xii-1987) \nGawain was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 2012-13 season. \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-gawain-christopher-b-jones-11-xii-1987/ CATEGORIES:4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/JUZ_3014-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201211 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201212 DTSTAMP:20260817T135547Z CREATED:20210125T154414Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T135547Z UID:13467-1607644800-1607731199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Richard Griffith (22-vii-1872 11-xii-1955) DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of Richard Griffith (22-vii-1872 11-xii-1955) \nSee Chess World\, Volume 11\, Number 6\, June 1956\, page 128. \nHere is his Wikipedia entry. \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-richard-griffith-22-vii-1872-11-xii-1955/ CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,History,Player,Writer END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201212 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201213 DTSTAMP:20201212T190642Z CREATED:20200407T103614Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201212T190642Z UID:4127-1607731200-1607817599@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of David Pritchard (19-x-1919 12-xii-2005) DESCRIPTION:We remember David Pritchard who passed away on Monday\, December 12th\, 2005. \nDavid Brine Pritchard was born on Sunday\, October 19th\, 1919. On this day the first US Distinguished Service Medal was awarded to a living female recipient\, Anna Howard Shaw. \nHe was born in Wandsworth taking his mothers’  Winifred maiden name of Brine (as was customary in those days). His father was Arthur Pritchard (DoB : 4th January 1890) and he was the managing director of an Engineering Company. Arthur and Winifred married in Maidenhead\, Berkshire in 1917. \nAt the time of the 1939 census David was a chiropodist and recorded as single and living in Munee Cottage\, Main Street\, Bedford. Main Street appears to have been renamed to Main Road which is in Biddenham. It is likely DBPs cottage was something like : \n48 and 50 Main Road Biddenham\, Bedford\, Hertfordshire\nDuring the second world War David joined the Royal Air Force and was stationed in the Far East and following the war\, he switched to intelligence work also for the RAF. He attained the rank of Squadron Leader and played much chess during this period of his life. \nIn 1950 David completed his first book : The Right Way to Play Chess\, Elliot Right Way Books\, 1950\, ISBN 1-58574-046-2 \nThe Right Way to Play Chess\, Elliot Right Way Books\, DB Pritchard\, 1950.\n(Ed : This was the first chess book of this article’s author and was thoroughly consumed!) \nOn page 224 of said book David wrote : \nChessplayers – and this must be whispered – are generally an egotistical\, ill-mannered crowd. If they conformed to common rules of decorum these words would not have to be written \nfollowed by \nI once carried out a private survey at a well-known chess restaurant where a large number of ‘friendly’ games are always in progress. In less than 30 per cent of those observed was resignation made with a good grace. In two-thirds of the games the loser either knocked his king over\, abruptly pushed the pieces into the centre of the board\, started to set up the men for a fresh game\, or got up and walked away without saying a word to his opponent. \nHe married Elaine Saunders in 1952. \nElliot Right Way Books was an excellent choice of publisher for David and only 36 minutes by car from his new home in Godalming. \nHe won the Singapore Championship in 1954 and the Malaysian Championship in 1955. \nVisiting https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter97.html you will find two images of David and Elaine playing chess in Singapore. \nDavid and Elaine had a daughter\, Wanda on March 21st 1958. She became Wanda Dakin who was also a chess player. Wanda attended Guildford High School for Girls and then Royal Holloway College\, Egham. \nDavid was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 1958-59 and 1965-66 seasons. \nFrom the British Championships\, 1959 in York we have this sparkling game with Frank Parr : \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nBy now David had developed an  interest in chess variants and board games in general. \nHe played in and won (several times) the Battle of Britain Chess Tournament : DBP was the organisations President. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nIn 1970 he brought out his third book :  Begin Chess\, David Pritchard\, Elliot Right Way Books\, 1952 \nBegin Chess by David Brine Pritchard\, Elliot Right Way Books\, 1970\nBegin Chess by David Brine Pritchard\, Elliot Right Way Books\, 1970\nDavid became President of British Chess Variants Society and wrote many books on variants and indoor games. \nHere is an interview compiled by Hans Bodlaender about David’s Encyclopedia of Chess Variants : \nEncyclopedia of Chess Variants\, DB Pritchard\, GAMES & PUZZLES PUBLICATIONS\, 1994\nParticularly interesting was this Q&A : \nDo you think computers and the Internet will have effect on chess and on chess variants? If so\, in what way? \nI think that the Internet will inevitably introduce chess to more players but I forsee chess variants\, because of their novelty\, benefitting in particular from publicity on the net. I expect variants to gain more and more adherents in the future. \nDavid was preparing a second edition before he passed away. This was completed and made available on-line by John Beasley. \nThe Pritchard family lived at Badgers Wood\, Hascombe Road\, Godalming\, Surrey\, GU8 4AA in an idyllic location : \nBadgers Wood\, Hascombe Road\, Godalming\, Surrey\, GU8 4AA\nand here is the exceptional interior with games room : \n  \nBadgers Wood\, Hascombe Road\, Godalming\, Surrey\, GU8 4AA\nAt the time of his passing he had five grand children. \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXVI (126\, 2006)\, Number 2 (February)\, page 76 : \n“David Brine Pritchard (19 x 1919 Streatham\, London – 12 xiii 2005\, London) has died following a fall . He was a strong amateur player and a successful author of books on chess and other games. \nDavid Pritchard was a Squadron Leader in the RAF during the war and later rejoined it to work in intelligence. Whilst serving with the RAF he won the Malayan Chess Championships in 195\, and he was also instrumental in the running the UK event known as Battle of Britain Tournament which attracted a strong field in its heyday and generated revenue for the RAF Benevolent Fund. \nHe was a dangerous. attacking played who scored a number of notable scalps in the British Championship including Penrose and Miles\, without ever achieving the consistency required to challenge for the leading positions.  He won the Southern Counties championships in 1959 and 1966. \nAs an author\, Pritchard’s most successful book was The Right Way to Play Chess (Elliott\, 1950\, with numerous reprints). which is still to be found for sale in many British bookshops. \nHe will also be remembered as a leading authority on chess variants : he was reported to be in the process of preparing a second edition of The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants (1994) at the time of his death. He was also a very good correspondence player\, an inventor composer of chess puzzles of all sorts (some of which appeared in BCM) and his interest in Fairy chess dated back to the 1940s. \nHis wife Elaine Pritchard\, the leading woman player of the 1950s and 1960s\, and their daughter Wanda (who also played competitive chess) survive him. We send them our condolences on behalf of BCM and its readers.” \nDavid Pritchard (19-x-1919 12-xii-2005)\, Passport photograph\nHe was a leading member of Godalming Chess Club and played in the Surrey Border League. \nThe David Pritchard Shield from the Surrey Border League\nHere is David’s Wikipedia entry \nThe Family Book of Games\, DB Prichard\, Brockhampton Press\, 1994\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-david-brine-pritchard-19-x-1919-12-xii-2005/ CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Variants,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/David-Parlett-and-David-Pritchard-when-asked-who-is-the-better-and-most-prolific-gamebook-author.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201218 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201219 DTSTAMP:20211221T100514Z CREATED:20190823T191554Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211221T100514Z UID:1132-1608249600-1608335999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of William Winter (11-ix-1898 18-xii-1955) DESCRIPTION:William Winter\, British Open Chess Champion\, 1934. The verso frontispiece of Chess for Match Players\, William Winter\, London\, Lawrence & Wishart\, 1st edition. 1936\nAuthor’s inscription from Chess for Match Players\, William Winter\, London\, Lawrence & Wishart\, 1st edition. 1936\nBCN remembers William (Willy) Winter who passed away on Sunday\, December 18th\, 1955 from tuberculosis (at the time known as “the white plague”). He refused to enter a sanatorium. \nThere is some variation from sources who quote his Date of Birth. All have 11th of September as the date but vary by the year giving either 1898 or 1899. However careful research by John Townsend (Wokingham) gives 1897 and this work is cited by Edward Winter. \nLate in 2021 historian Gerard Killoran (Ilkley) discovered this clipping from the Hampshire Advertiser – Wednesday 22 September 1897 p.2: \nHampshire Advertiser – Wednesday 22 September 1897 p.2\nwhich confirms JTs evidence from the 1939 register. \nHis father was William Henderson Winter and his mother Margaret Winter. He was born in Medstead\, Hampshire. In the 1911 census their address was recorded as “The Boynes”\,  Four Marks\, Alton\, Hampshire and the family had two servants : a cook and a housemaid. In 1936 Winter lived at The Old Cottage\, North Road\, Three Bridges\, Sussex. \nIn the second quarter of 1933 William married Amelia Jennett (née Potter) in the district of Pancras. William knew Amelia as Molly and wrote about her extensively in his memoirs. Amelia was married to Dennis Jennett but Dennis had an affair with another woman and a convenient to all parties “arrangement” was entered into. However\, Willy’s father was less than impressed. \nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale 1970&1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“International Master\, chess. professional and British Champion in 1935 and 1936\, William Winter is one of the most colourful  figures that British chess has produced. A born bohemian\, Winter could on many occasions have been mistaken for a tramp\, yet he was equally capable of turning up at a dinner or some other official occasion\, well-groomed and looking the split image of his famous uncle\, Sir James Barrie\, and making a speech of such wit and culture that every other speech would seem flat. \nBorn in Medstead in Hampshire on 11th September 1898\, of Scottish parentage. Winter’s mother was the youngest sister of Sir James Barrie\, and his father a brilliant scholar who had entered St. Andrew’s University at the age of 16\, taken honours in classics and then won a scholarship to Cambridge to read mathematics. \nWinter was taught to play chess by his father\, who was a strong player\, when he was 12. From the time he was introduced to the game his main aim in life was to become a first-class player\, and his previous interest\, cricket\, had to take a back seat. \nWhen he was 15\, he joined the city of London Chess club\, one of the leading clubs in the country\, and his game-rapidly improved. He went up to Cambridge to read law for a year during-the l9l4-l9l8 war\, before he became of age for military service and joined the Honourable Artillery Company. While he was stationed at Leeds he learned that the British champion\, F. D. Yates\, and the Mexican master\, A. G. Conde\, were in the habit of playing chess on a Saturday afternoon in a café in Bradford. \nWinter started going to this café and made the acquaintance of the two masters\, who would occasionally give him a game. \nOn returning to Cambridge when the war was over\, Winter became President of the University Chess Club and also started to take an active interest in politics. He joined the University Socialist Society and the local branch of the Independent Labour Party\, and when the Communist Party was formed he became a Communist. \nIn 1919 Winter became Cambridge University Champion and won a match against R. H. V. Scott\, a leading British player\, by a score of 4-2\, thereby securing for himself an invitation to play in the Victory Congress at Hastings. His lack of experience of master play proved too great a handicap\, and he came 11th out of 12. \nEdo rating profile for William Winter from http://www.edochess.ca/players/p7187.html\nOn leaving Cambridge after taking his degree in 1919\, Winter persuaded his parents to allow him a year in which to play chess before settling down to a career. He hoped that during that year he might be able to prove that he had sufficient talent to become a professional player. This did not prove the case\, and Winter had to resign himself to becoming a solicitor. \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 1921 he became articled to a London firm\, but after a dispute with his father\, which resulted in his allowance being stopped\, Winter had to give up his articles and decided to concentrate his energies on politics. He went to live in Bristol and addressed open-air meetings all over the city on behalf of the Communist party\, until he was arrested for sedition and sentenced to six months imprisonment. After his release Winter continued his political activities until he was forced to abandon them on medical advice. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nHaving given up politics\, Winter decided to try his luck as a chess professional. This proved to be a success\, and within two years he was making a reasonable living teaching the game\, playing games for fees at St. George’s Cafe in St. Martin’s Lane in London and writing for The Manchester Guardian and The Daily Worker. \nWinter remained a chess professional for the rest of his life\, apart from the war years. He wrote two chess best sellers: Chess for Match Players\, published in 1936 \nChess for Match Players\, William Winter\, Carroll & Nicholson\, 1936\nand reprinted in 1951\, and Kings of Chess; \nKings of Chess\, William Winter\, Carroll and Nicholson Ltd\, 1954\nand was co-author with F. D. Yates of Modern Master Play\, \nModern Master Play\, FD Yates and W. Winter\, 1930\nand with FD Yates of World Championship Candidates Tournament\, 1953. \nWinter never reached the very highest ranks as a player\, although he won the British Championship twice and represented his country in four Chess Olympiads: Hamburg in 1930\, Prague in 1931\, Folkestone in 1933 and Warsaw in 1935. In the Great Britain v. U.S.S.R. radio match in 1946 he defeated Bronstein in the first round and then characteristically went out and celebrated his victory in such a way that his defeat in the return round was inevitable. \nWilliam Winter (11-IX-1897\, 18-XII-1955)\nAlthough he achieved no great successes in international tournaments\, in individual games he beat many of the world’s leading players\, including Nimzowitsch and Vidmar\, and had draws against Capablanca and Botvinnik among others. \nWilliam Winter (11-IX-1897\, 18-XII-1955)\nWilliam Winter (11-IX-1897\, 18-XII-1955)\nHe died of tuberculosis in London in December 1955\, after refusing to go into a sanatorium.” \nIn Kings\, Commoners and Knaves\, (Russell Enterprises\, 1999)\, page 393 Winter quotes Winter (!) from Chess Masterpieces (Marshall) as follows: \nI consider [Winter v Vidmar\, London\, 1927] to be my best game partly on account of the eminence of my opponent and partly because of the importance of the occasion on which it was played\, and also because on three occasions in which the situation was extremely complicated. I was fortunate enough to discover the only continuation which not only was necessary to secure victory\, but to actually save the game \nHere is that 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\nFrom The Anglo-Soviet Radio Chess Match by Klein and Winter : \nThe Anglo-Soviet Radio Chess Match\, E. Klein and W. Winter (1947\, Pitman)\n“W. Winter was born in 1899 in Hampshire. A Cambridge graduate in Law\, he devoted himself eventually entirely to chess and is the only Englishman who\, despite all vicissitudes\, has faithfully remained a professional. After winning the Cambridge University Championship in 1921 he competed in a number of international tournaments. His outstanding performance was in the tournament in Scarborough 1928\, which he won. He won the British Championship in 1935 and 1936\, and has represented his country on four occasions in international team tournaments. In Hamburg\, 1930\, he was undefeated. \nScene at London. From left to right – Seated : Fairhurst\, List and Winter in play. Standing König and Sir George Thomas\nHis literary activities include Chess for Match Players and The Alekhine-Capablanca World Title Match\, 1927. He edits the chess column in the Soviet Weekly. \nGames Played In the World’s Championship Match between Jose Paul Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine\, FD Yates and W\, Winter\, 1928\, Printing Craft Limited\nHis chess record is erratic and does not reflect his true ability. He is capable of some of the finest chess\, but often plays too impulsively. His greatest strength lies in King’s side attacks. which he handles with skill and accomplishment.” \nWilliam Winter (11-IX-1897\, 18-XII-1955)\nFrom the Preface of The World Chess Championship : 1951 by Lionel Sharples Penrose we have : \n“Mr. Winter’s chess career has been a long one and he occupies an extremely high position among British players. He has been British Champion twice\, in 1935 and 1936. Among other notable successes was his first place in the Scarborough International Tournament in 1928. He defeated Nimzovich in the London Tournament in 1927. Against the present world championship contenders he has a very fine score\, a draw against Botvinnik at Nottingham in 1936 and a win and a loss against Bronstein in the Radio Match\, Great Britain v U.S.S.R. in 1946. Mr. Winter is a specialist in writing about the art of chess\, and players throughout the country owe a great deal to his deep and logical expositions.” \nGames Played in the World’s Championship Match between Alexander Alekhin (Holder of the Title) and E D Bogoljubow (Challenger)\, Printing Craft Limited\, 1930\, FD Yates and W. Winter\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (BT Batsford\, 1977) Edited by Harry Golombek : \nInternational Master and twice British Champion (1935 and 1936)\, Winter was an excellent illustration of Réti’s thesis that players tend to be opposite over the board to their character in real life. Over the board he was classical\, scientific and sober; away from the board he was revolutionary\, moved by his emotions (he contrived to be both a fervent Communist and a staunch patriot)\, and more often than not\, drunk. \nHis university career\, where he read law\, coincided with the First World War and\, after a brief interruption for military service he returned to Cambridge where in 1919 he became university champion and defeated R. H. V. Scott (a strong player who won the British Championship in 1920) in a match by 4-2. On the strength of this he was invited to play in the Hastings Victory tournament of 1919 where\, however\, he did badly\, coming 11th out of 12. \nWilliam Winter (11-ix-1897\, 18-xii-1955)\nAfter an interval during which he fervently pursued a political career to such an extent as to incur a six-months prison sentence for sedition (Winter always denied the sedition and said that the charge was trumped-up one)\, he took up the career of chess professional. The life suited him since it enabled him to lead the kind of Bohemian existence that pleased his artistic temperament. It should be mentioned that he was a nephew of Sir James Barrie and would have fitted in well on one of his uncle’s plays. \nAs a player he was eminently sound and\, being an apostle of Tarrasch\, a fine clear strategist. But he was lacking in tactical ability and his poor health and his way of life interfered with his consistency and impaired his stamina. But he had a number of fine victories over great players (Bronstein\, Nimzowitsch and Vidmar for example). \nIM William Winter (11-ix-1897\, 18-xii-1955)\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nHe played in four Olympiads: Hamburg 1930 (scoring 76.7% on 4th board)\, Prague 1931 (58.8% on 4th board)\, Folkestone 1933 (59.1% on 3rd board) and Warsaw 1935 (41.7% on 1st board). He was selected to play at Stockholm in 1937 but\, having “lost” his passport three times. he was refused a fresh one by the authorities. \nHis best international individual results were =6th at London 1927\, and =5th at Lodz 1935. \nHis career as a chess journalist (he wrote for the Manchester Guardian following FD Yates and the Daily Worker) was somewhat impeded and spoilt by his Bohemian ways\, be he wrote some excellent works on chess : Chess for Match Players\, London\, 1936″ \nWinter was a popular subject for his Swiss namesake\, Edward Winter and there are several mentions in his excellent books. \nIn Chess Facts and Fables (McFarland\, 2006) we have Chess Note 2819\, page 71 which shows a photograph (from CHESS\, November 1935) taken in Poland of Winter and Max Krauser\, Heavyweight wrestling Champion of Europe. Quite what the occasion we are not told. \nHere is an excellent article (as you’d expect) from Edward Winter \nApart from all of the contributions above possibly the most comprehensive comes from FM Steve Giddins writing in three parts in British Chess Magazine\, during 2006 and 2007 : \nPostscript: Since our article was published we were contacted by Steve Giddins who informed us that he owned the copyright to the articles (rather than the publisher BCM) and that he did not wish us to make them available via this article. \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 the “Mid-October” issue of CHESS for 1962\, (Volume 27\, Number 418)  we had the following announcement: \nWILLIAM WINTER’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY\nEdited by David Hooper\, will be serialised in CHESS commencing with our next number. Nephew of Sir James Barrie\, twice British Chess Champion\, a lifelong Communist and freethinker\, imprisoned for his political views\, “Willie Winter”\, with his Bohemian way of life\, was undoubtedly the most colourful figure in British Chess for many decades irrespective of whether you agree with his views (most readers may not!)\, you will find him a delightful writer whose gifted pen draws you engrossed from page to Page. \nAnd so\, for your delectation\, here are William Winter’s Memoirs. \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-william-winter/ CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,History,Remembering,Writer END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201225 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201226 DTSTAMP:20201224T161521Z CREATED:20191212T161528Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201224T161521Z UID:2345-1608854400-1608940799@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Graeme Buckley (25-xii-1971) DESCRIPTION:BCN sends best wishes to Graeme Buckley on his birthday. \nGraeme Noel Buckley born on Saturday\, December 25th\, 1971 in Wolverhampton\, West Midlands. \nHis first chess club was Bushbury which is also known as Bilston Sports & Social Club Ltd. His father David is the long time club President. \nGraeme’s first recorded games in Megabase 2020 were at the 1987 British Championship in Swansea were he scored a modest 4/11. \nGraeme married IM Susan Lalic in Sutton\, Surrey in 2001 and they reside in Sutton. They have two daughters\, Lucy and Emma who attend Nonsuch High School for Girls following in the footsteps of their mother. \nGraeme became a FIDE Master in 1994 and an International Master in 1995. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nHe has played for Midland Monarchs and Wood Green in 4NCL\, Surrey CCA\, Wimbledon 4NCL Guildford and Bushbury (in Wolverhampton) \nAccording to ChessBase Graeme reached his highest FIDE rating in July 2003\, aged 32 of 2420. \nGraeme teaches chess in many Surrey Schools and in conjunction with Susan. \nGraeme has been a director of Surrey County Chess Association for four years resigning in 2011. \nGraeme was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 2009-10 season \nAccording to Easy Guide to the Queen’s Gambit Accepted\, Cadogan\, 1998 : \n“Graeme Buckley caused a stir in his first year as a professional player securing his International Master title in a matter of months\, quickly followed by his first grandmaster norm. More recently he has been involved in some major coaching projects. In 1996 he was manager of the English youth team\, who achieved the impressive double of winning both the Glorney and Faber Cups.” \nWith the white pieces Graeme playa the Queen’s Gambit nowadays with Nf3 appearing before c4 having flirted with the Trompowski in the early days. \nAs the second player he plays the Sicilian Scheveningen\, the King’s Indian and not the Queen’s Gambit Accepted despite authoring a book about it! \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nMultiple Choice by Graeme Buckley\nEasy Guide to the Queen’s Gambit Accepted by Graeme Buckley\nTrends in the Trompovsky\, Vol. 4\nIM Graeme Buckley\, Surrey Open\, 2013\, courtesy of John Upham Photography\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-graeme-noel-buckley-25-xii-1971/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/JEU0590-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201226 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201227 DTSTAMP:20201223T150159Z CREATED:20200411T130309Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201223T150159Z UID:4431-1608940800-1609027199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday for IM Vaidyanathan Ravikumar (26-xii-1959) DESCRIPTION:Vaidyanathan Ravikumar (“Ravi” to his friends) was born in Paramakudi\, Ramanathapuram\, Tamil Nadu\, India on Saturday\, December 26th\, 1959. On this day Nelson Rockefeller announced that he would not seek the Republican Party nomination for 1960. \nRavi credits his father N. Vaidyanathan for help with his early chess development. \nAn early image of Vaidyanathan Ravikumar from page 81 of Ulf Andersson’s Decisive Games\nIn 1978 Ravi won the Asian Junior Championships in Tehran and was awarded the International Master title as a consequence. Ravi was India’s second International Master : Manuel Aaron was the first in 1961. \n“Ravi” at the 2013 UKCC Terafinal at Loughborough Grammar School\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nHis earliest recorded game in Megabase 2020 was from the 3rd of September 1978 and was from the World Under-20 Championships in Graz\, Austria. The event was won by Sergei Dolamatov and Ravi finished =25th on 6.5/13. The following year (Norway\, 1979) Ravi improved to =12th with 7.5/13 and the title was won by Yasser Seirawan. James Plaskett was =3rd. \nRavi at the UKCC Southern Gigafinal 2014 at the Rivermead Leisure Centre\, Reading. Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nBy now ( 1979) Ravi had graduated from The University of Madras with a degree in commerce and relocated to England seeking more playing opportunities. He played in his first Lloyd’s Bank Open in 1979. \nRavi and IM Andrew Martin providing the commentary for the 2015 British Championships in Warwick. Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nRavi made his first appearance for India in an Olympiad at Valetta\, Malta 1980. In 1981 he was runner-up to Bjarke Sahl in the 6th North Sea Cup followed by a creditable equal 10th in the 68th British Championships at Morecambe won by Paul Littlewood. In round eight he played this attractive game against Daniel King. Notes by PC Griffiths : \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 Vaidyanathan Ravikumar v. Vassily Smyslov\, Lloyds Bank Open\, round 6\, 30th August 1981. The game was drawn in 33 moves.\nIn 1982 Ravi scored a creditable =3rd at the 1982 British Championships (Mile’s year) in Torquay including wins over Basman\, Muir and Plaskett : \nCross table for the 1982 British Championship in Torquay\n1983 included an excellent win over James Tarjan at the Lloyds Bank Open but Danny King got revenge for his 1981 defeat! \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 at the closing ceremony of the 2014 British Championships at Aberystwyth. Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nRavi’s second Olympiad appearance for India came at Thessaloniki\, Greece in 1984. This year provided Ravi’s highest FIDE rating of 2415 in January. \nIM Vaidyanathan Ravikumar and friends at the 1990 NatWest Young Masters\nRavi continued to be active as a player until 2000 when he started a career in coaching. He was the National Coach of the Emirates for eight years and has accompanied the ECF junior chess team to World Youth Chess Championships in 2014\, held in Al Ain\, UAE. \nRavi at the 2014 British Championships at Aberystwyth. Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nAccording to Spectrum Chess Calculation : “He is an experienced chess coach and provides chess coaching in 10 schools in Hertfordshire” \nHis first book was Karpov’s Best Games\, Chess Check\, 1984. \nFollowing that Ravi wrote a biographical work on Ulf Andersson : \nUlf Andersson’s Decisive Games\, IM Vaidyanathan Ravikumar\, Peja International\, 1985.\nand then \nPlay the Benko Gambit\, Vaidyanathan Ravikumar\, Pergamon Press\, 1991\nfollowed by \nThe Closed Sicilian\, Vaidyanathan Ravikumar\, Tournament Chess\, 1993\nChess Tactics Quiz Book\, Chess Check\, Vaidyanathan Ravikumar\, 2004\nand most recently \nSpectrum Chess Calculation\, Vaidyanathan Ravikumar\, Chess Check\, 2011\nThere were also works on Anatoly Karpov and Jan Timman as well as works on the Caro-Kann Defence. \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-for-im-vaidyanathan-ravikumar-26-xii-1959/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player,UKCC,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/IMG_0630-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201229 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201230 DTSTAMP:20211229T134506Z CREATED:20190823T183010Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211229T134506Z UID:1104-1609200000-1609286399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Brian Reilly (12-xii-1901 29-xii-1991) DESCRIPTION:Signature of Brian Reilly from an after dinner post card from Hastings 1945-46\nWe remember Brian Patrick Reilly who passed away on December 29th\, 1991. \nBrian Reilly probably sometime in the 1920s.\nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE (written by Wolfgang Heidenfeld) :”Irish master born at Menton\, of Irish descent\, who has represented Ireland in nine Olympic team tournaments between 1935 and 1968; three times on top board. \nBrian observes a game during one of the early 1930s tournaments in Nice\nHe was also Irish representative at seven FIDE congresses. Reilly played in a number of small international tournaments\, wining first prize at Nice 1931 and sharing fourth prize with Klein and EG Sergeant behind Reshevsky\, Capablanca and Sir G. Thomas at Margate 1935. \nBrian Reilly playing Dr. Josep Vallve probably at Barcelona Chess Club in June 1935. Brian won in 61 moves.\nWinner of Irish championship in 1959 and 1960. General Editor of British Chess Magazine since 1949.” \nBrian Reilly and friends\nHis obituary in British Chess Magazine was written by Bernard Cafferty and appeared in Volume CXII (112\, 1992)\, Number 2 (February)\, page 70: \nBrian with journalist colleagues.\n“With great regret we have to report that Brian Patrick Reilly has\, to use the older term\, ‘joined the great majority’. \nBrian analysing with Irish team mate\, Wolfgang Heidenfeld\nB. P. Reilly (Menton\, 12 xii 1901-Hastings\, 29 xii l99l) was born into an expatriate family on the French Riviera\, and so was bilingual. He learned his chess in France where he had many friends and acquaintances. He knew Alekhine in the 1920s and 1930s and was a witness at Alekhine’s wedding. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nMany years later he was to do extensive research on Alekhine’s life\, and was the first to establish (though he did not publish the fact) that the Russian did not complete his doctorate studies at the Sorbonne\, so that “Dr” Alekhine must be considered a purely honorary title. \nBrian won the Nice tournament of 1931\, ahead of Noteboom\, Mieses\, . . . Sir George Thomas . . . Znosko-Borovsky. . . and played for Ireland at the 1935 Olympiad beating Fine. \nCrosstable for Nice 1931 from Megabase 2020\nThese results\, taken with his fourth place at Margate 1935\, behind Reshevsky\, Capablanca and Sir George Thomas\, made it clear that he was of IM strength. \nNice Masters\, 1931. Standing : Daniel Noteboom\, Abraham Baratz\, George Renaud (Organiser)\, John J O’Hanlon\, Marcel Duchamp\, Brian Reilly (winner)\, Seated : Eugene Znokso-Borovsky\,\, Arpad Vajda\, Sir George Thomas\, Jacques Mieses\, Stefano Roselli del Turco\, Jacob Adolf Seitz. British Chess Magazine\, 1931\, page 201\nDuring the war Brian was interned in France as a British citizen\, coming close to starvation for a time. He described all this in the very detailed account of his life in the September 1980 BCM\, on which we have drawn\, along with the many reminiscences Brian passed on to the present writer. \nBrian analysing with the Irish team at an Olympiad\nAfter working for the Sutton Coldfield magazine just after the war (he did not get on well with B. H. Wood\, thinking him not very business-like – do we put this too diplomatically?) Brian was a freelance translator in the pharmaceutical industry before taking over BCM in 1949. At the time the magazine was technically bankrupt. \nSir George Thomas And Brian ReillySir George Thomas (left)\, leader of the British chess team\, playing Irishman Brian Reilly at the Easter Chess Congress\, Margate\, April 24th 1935. (Photo by Harry Todd/Fox Photos/Getty Images)\nIn 1964 he moved the office from London to St Leonards\, showing his business acumen yet again. He ran the bookstall for many years at the Hastings Congress at the Sun Lounge and the Falaise Hall. \n \nAfter the union troubles of 1970-71 and the Fischer boom he arranged for the magazine to be typeset by his son Freddy at the family home in West Norwood. This led to an expansion in the pagination after some teething troubles. \nBrian Reilly playing Cesar Munoz (Ecuador) in round 8 of the Leipzig Olympiad played on 23rd October 1960. The game was drawn in 48 moves.\nAll this while\, Brian was playing for Ireland in Olympiads\, and attending to FIDE affairs as a FIDE delegate. \nBrian relaxing during a FIDE Congress dinner\nAfter the death of his son Freddy in 1980\, the magazine was sold to the BCF and Brian retired as editor in September 1981\, remaining as a consultant for nearly a decade. \nBrian Reilly\, Ray Keene\, George Botterill\, Anatoly Karpov\, Harry Golombek and Viktor Korchnoi\nHis last years were spent in Hastings\, where it was his wont to carry on with the long sea-front walks that he had practised since a breakdown in health due to overwork. He had strong views on correct diet and exercise which he could expound to anyone willing to listen. The fact that he could walk up to six miles a day in his late eighties and that his faculties\, including his memory\, only seemed to be weakening in his last two years\, is proof enough of the validity of his theories. \nBrian Reilly playing Wolfgang Unzicker on board 1 during the preliminaries of the 1960 Leipzig Olympiad.\nOn his 90th birthday he attended the office and drank a glass of champagne to celebrate the occasion. We have the testimony of Mrs Arnold\, who worked with him so long\, that he was still talking of visiting the Hastings Congress. This was on Boxing Day\, the day after he had been admitted to St Helen’s Hospital with a chest infection. He assured her he would be up and about again\, but old friends such as Harry Golombek and Ritson Morry waited for him in vain as Hastings got under way. . . \nBrian Reilly at a FIDE Congress (possibly Nice 1974?)\nBrian Reilly at a FIDE Congress (possibly Nice 1974?)\nBCM readers\, too\, must be counted amongst his old friends who will miss him. They should be aware that\, but for Brian\, and his decades of hard work. there would now be no BCM.” \nBrian Reilly in the BCM office. Photographed most likely by Freddy Reilly.\nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume CI (101)\, Number 8 (August)\, pp 352 – 369 a conversation between B.P. Reilly and W.H. Cozens : \nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 1\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 2\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 3\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 4\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 5\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 6\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 7\nHe won the BCF President’s Award in 1983 along with BH Wood \nHere is his Wikipedia entry \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 8\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 9\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 10\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 11\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 12\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 13\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 14\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 15\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 16\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 16\nBrian Reilly conversation with William Harold Cozens\, part 1\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-brian-patrick-reilly/ CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Journalist,Player,Remembering,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/IMG_0192-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210107 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210108 DTSTAMP:20210107T130636Z CREATED:20190822T170348Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210107T130636Z UID:1012-1609977600-1610063999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of GM Harry Golombek OBE (01-iii-1911 07-i-1995) DESCRIPTION:Signature of H Golombek from a Brian Reilly “after dinner” postcard from Southsea 1951.\nWe remember Harry Golombek OBE who passed away on Saturday\, January 7th\, 1995. \nHarry Golombek was born on Wednesday\, March 1st\, 1911 in Lambeth\, London and his parents were Barnet (Berl) Golombek (Golabek) (1878-1943) and Emma Golombek (née  Sendak) (1883-1967). \nThe Polish word Golabek translates to “small dove” in English. \nBarnet was a “Dealer of gas fittings” and was 33 when Harry was born and Emma was 26. Both of his parents were born in Zambov which is in the Lomza Gubernia region of the Kingdom of Poland which existed from 1867 – 1917. Their nationalities are both recorded as Russian in the 1911 UK census.  we don’t know (as yet) when Barnet and Emma settled in the UK. \nHarry had a brother Abraham (born in 1906) and a sister Rosy born in 1908. The family lived in 200b\, Railton Road\, Herne Hill. Lambeth. \n200b\, Railton Road\, Herne Hill\, Lambeth\, SE24 0JT\nHe is a recorded with a service number of 992915 as being a member of The Royal Regiment of Artillery in 1939 and was discharged as having reached the age limit in 1956 aged 45 and one day. \nHarry Golombek’s record of discharge in 1956 from the Army.\nHarry married his long time nurse\, Noel Frances Judkins (1941 – 2011) in January 1988 and they had (born in 1992) one son : Oliver Golombek-Judkins  BVSc MRCVS who is a successful Somerset based veterinary surgeon. The marriage was recorded in the district of Kensington & Chelsea. \n37\, Albion Crescent\, Chalfont St Giles\, Buckinghamshire\, HP8 4ET : the home of Harry Golombek OBE\nThe date of probate was 22 Mar 1995 and the executor of HGs will was David Anderton OBE. \nIn 1966 Harry became an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)\, Civil division awarded in the 1966 Queen’s Birthday (rather than New Years) Honours list. \nThe citation read simply : \nHarry Golombek. For services to Chess : He was the first UK person to be so honoured. \nHastings memorial bench for Harry Golombek OBE\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nThe Harry Golombek memorial bench at St Giles Churchyard\, Chalfont St Giles in Buckinghamshire. Photograph courtesy of Geoff Chandler.The Harry Golombek memorial bench at St Giles Churchyard\, Chalfont St Giles in Buckinghamshire. Photograph courtesy of Geoff Chandler.In 1985 Harry was awarded the long overdue (but Honorary) title of Grandmaster by FIDE. \nHarry was Southern Counties (SCCU) Champion in the 1955-56 and 1963-64 seasons. \nHarry was in 1974-82 a FIDE Zonal President and from 1978-96 he was the FIDE Permanent Fund Administrator. \nSadly\, he never received the Presidents Award for Services to Chess from either the BCF or ECF : maybe a posthumous award is long overdue? \nHarry Golombek\, aged 20\, becomes the youngest winner of the Surrey Challenge Cup in 1931. British Chess Magazine 1931\, September\, page 419.\nHere (from British Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXXII (132)\, 2011\, Number 3 (March)\, pp.150-154 is an affectionate collection of memories from Bernard Cafferty : \n“In recalling four decades of knowing the GOM of 20th century English chess\, one has to stress the ‘English’ aspect. The ‘Harry’ part of his name was much more significant than the Polish surname\, and\, though he was the most cosmopolitan of men\, who fitted into any milieu\, my abiding memory of him always throws up the quirks that are the sign of an Englishman. I wonder how many of my readers recall the classic English actors Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford\, whose main preoccupation in their films was…. getting to know the latest cricket score from Lords or The Oval. \nHarry Golombek. Source : The Anglo-Soviet Radio Chess Match\nIndeed\, Harry was a long-time member of Surrey Cricket Club\, and once\, when he came back from being an arbiter at an international tournament in Tenerife\, his main comment to me was not about the event or the players\, but rather that the volcanic rock of the Atlantic island made for brackish water\, so that one could not get…. a decent cup of tea! \nLeft to right Baruch H Wood\, Philip Stuart Milner-Barry\, Vera Menchik (playing in the women’s world championship (held concurrently with the 1939 Buenos Aires 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\nI first met Harry in the early 1950s when I was a teenage student keen on chess and accordingly spent my meagre pocket money on a day out in Manchester to watch the Counties Final match between Lancashire and the all-conquering Middlesex side of those years. Harry and I were about the only spectators. He was there reporting for The Times. I recall that the top board game was between the veterans William Winter and WA Fairhurst. The game duly appeared in the BCM with Harry’s notes\, for he was the long-serving Games Editor of that august publication. \nPlayers at the 1946 British Championships in Nottingham : Back (from left to right): Gabriel Wood\, Reginald Broadbent\, Philip Milner-Barry\, Andrew RB Thomas\, Baruch H Wood. Front (from left to right): Bob Wade\, Frank Parr\, William Winter\, Robert Combe\, Hugh Alexander\, Harry Golombek\, Gerald Abrahams.. Photograph : BritBase\nPerhaps I may enter a belated correction to “Who’s Who” here. Some editions stated that he was editor of BCM after the Second World War. Not so. His stint in the editorial chair was 1938-40\, after which he was called up\, initially being assigned to the Royal Artillery. Perhaps that is a sign of the speciality of the Services – fitting a square peg in a round hole – but he was swiftly transferred to the Intelligence Corps\, perhaps at the behest of Hugh Alexander who knew that Harry had studied German at his London grammar school in Camberwell and then at London University. \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 Judges / Arbiters from the 1953 Zurich Candidates tournament : Harry Golombek\, Alois Nagler and Alex Crisovan\nClearly\, under the conditions of 1940\, a linguist was just what was needed to make up the team of mathematicians\, cryptographers and such like who were tasked with breaking the secrecy of German coded messages. \nThe BCF Team at the Amsterdam Olympiad 1954. Left to right : Barden\, Clarke\, Penrose\, Wade\, Golombek (board three) and Alexander\nI once mentioned the misunderstanding over the “Who’s Who” entry to Brian Reilly. He laughed it off\, saying that it was almost certainly the abiding fault of HG – not taking Brian’s repeated advice to fit a new typewriter ribbon! \nHarry Golombek and Gordon Crown in around 1946-47.\nI could relate to that since Harry’s handwritten game scores\, written in pencil and descriptive notation\, were very hard to decipher\, a real scribble that only the man himself could make sense of. When I asked him why he did not use algebraic notation\, he commented that he wrote for so many English-language outlets: The Times\, The Times Weekend Supplement\, Observer and chess book publishers like Bells and Penguin who knew their audiences of those years were supporters of the Pawn to King’s Knight Three school. In fact\, Harry commented\, he had made more money out of his Penguin book The Game of Chess than from all his other extensive book authorship and journalism. \nThe Game of Chess\, Harry Golombek\, 1954\, Penguin Books\nand the paperback version : \nThe Game of Chess\, Harry Golombek\, 1954\, Penguin Books\nMoreover\, it took him about three whole days to assemble the documents and papers to enable him to fill in his income tax form. \nHarry Golombek simultaneous display at Hull Chess Club. Year and photographer unknown\nThat reminds me that\, when he was in his final years\, and in an old person’s rest home\, he arranged for his extensive library to be transferred in many large tea chests from his house in Chalfont St Giles\, Bucks\, to the St Leonards address where I had worked for the BCM for the last 12 years and which had recently been vacated as a result of Murray Chandler deciding to transfer BCM operations to London. I had the task\, arranged with The Friends of Chess and the BCF\, to do a sort-out and preliminary catalogue of his books and magazines which Harry was bequeathing to the BCF to form the nucleus of a National Chess Library. That would be a pleasant enough task\, but it was prolonged into many weeks by having to decant the valuable chess material from the tea chests\, much of it covered in dust and even spiders’ webs\, from the many financial and other papers to do with his financial affairs. It was then that I first learned what a ‘tip sheet’ was\, and it was not until stockbroker David Jarrett\, BCF Hon Treasurer\, came down for a visit that the dross amongst the many papers was separated from the gold and passed to Harry’s executor David Anderton. \nHarry Golombek contemplates his options after White (JH Donner) played 9.a3 in the 1952 Anglo-Dutch Match. Donner won in 33 moves and the game was BCM #11\,074\nReverting to the cup of tea story\, the first time I got to know Harry well was at the British Championship at Leicester in 1960. Many of the participants were lodged in University accommodation near the venue. Every evening\, after play had finished\, a number of us got together for a chat over a cup of tea in the accommodation unit’s kitchen. There Harry would regale us with stories from his many visits abroad\, particularly to Moscow for the world title matches involving Botvinnik. Harry had formed many interesting views on Soviet society. Amongst the stories he told was of the all-pervasive dead hand of the bureaucracy. He was used to filing his reports on the match in English at the Central Post Office. One day\, a clerk behind the grille\, told him he could not accept it\, since the regulations stated that all outgoing material had to be in Russian. \nHarry Golombek\, Stanley Sedgwick\, Brian Reilly and DJ Morgan in the garden of Brian Reilly. Photo probably taken by Freddy Reilly.\nWith his logical mind\, and not appreciating the discipline and associated bureaucracy which the rulers tried to impose on Soviet society\, Harry commented that “Yesterday\, I submitted in English and it was accepted”\, at which the clerk drew herself up to her full height and stated firmly: “Yesterday was yesterday\, today is today”. Harry’s considered views included these: Communism would never be made to work properly in Russia\, since the Russians lack the requisite discipline. “They should have tried it on the Germans. They might have made it work”. He once commented that when he went to Germany in the decade or so after the war\, he was aware that some of those whom he met had been strong supporters of Nazism: “If they had had their way\, they would have turned me into a bar of soap!”. I got a benefit from Harry being in Moscow. I wanted to get a copy of Chigorin’s collected games by Grekov\, a very rare item. Harry duly promised to seek one out on his next visit to Moscow and a second-hand copy of this fine book came to me through the post some weeks later. No charge to me\, of course. \nHarry Golombek in play against Borislav Ivkov\, Hastings 1955/6.\nHarry played a big role in drawing up the Rules of Chess as they applied to post-1945 competitive play. He served on the appropriate FIDE commission for decades and always argued that too precise a codification limited the discretion of the arbiter to apply a common sense solution to a concrete set of circumstances. Alas\, that sensible approach has been moved away from in recent times\, especially with the introduction of quick-play finishes and associated fine points about time limits. \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\nA final shrewd comment from Harry\, based on his Moscow experience: “In 1917\, the new Bolshevik regime claimed that they were abolishing all titles\, privilege and so on. The result? Forty years later they have the most class-conscious society I have encountered.” One proof of this might be given – the Soviet internal passport system\, one point of which required the holder (and for a long time no peasant was allowed such an identity document – who\, then\, could claim that the Tsar had abolished serfdom in the middle of the 19th century?) to state his/her ethnic origin: Russian\, Ukrainian\, Kalmyk\, Armenian\, Jew and so on. The Western mind boggles… ” \nHarry Golombek during a team event\, Jonathan Penrose on the adjacent board.\nWe leave the final word in reminiscences of Golombek to his near-neighbour in Chalfont St Giles\, Barry Sandercock : \n” Harry was a very interesting man to talk to and liked to talk about the early days when he played against some of the great players. He was also very knowledgeable on many subjects\, the arts\, music etc. I played him when he gave a simul at Gerrards Cross in 1955 (Jan.21st} and managed a draw after 3 hours play. I remember\, the local paper once wrote an article about him\, calling him an ex-world champion. I got a letter published where I pointed out that he was an ex-British Champion not ex-world champion. I hope he didn’t see that!” \nHarry Golombek awaits the start of the game during an Anglo team match.\n“To finish\, a characteristic Golombek game\, with his own notes. I (Ed) have selected one of the games from his victorious British Championship playoff match against Broadbent in 1947. It is characteristic of him in many ways. The game features a typically smooth positional build-up\, from his beloved English Opening\, played with the Nh3 development plan\, which was a particular favourite of his. The notes are also very typically Golombek – concentrating in the main on verbal explanations\, with relatively few variations\, but also characterised by occasionally extreme dogmatism in his assessments\, such as the notes to moves 1\, 2 and 6\, for example. The game and notes were published in the December 1947 issue of The British Chess Magazine.” \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 Anglo-Soviet Radio Chess Match by Klein and Winter : \n“Harry Golombek is a Londoner\, He was born in 1911\, and learned chess when twelve years of age. He is another of those who went through the mill of the British Boys’ Championship\, winning it in 1926. He has played in most English international tournaments\, and has represented Great Britain in team tournaments. In the London International Tournament\, 1946\, he came fifth. \nA graduate of London University\, he served in the Foreign Office during the war\, but has since retired to the country (Chalfont St. Giles). His literary activities include 50 Great Games of Modern Chess \nFifty Great Games of Modern Chess\, Harry Golombek\,\nLegend\, according to James Pratt\, has it that HG wrote the book without the aid of a chess set! \nand Capablanca’s Hundred Best Games. \n\nCapablanca’s 100 Best Games of Chess\, H. Golombek\, Bell and Sons\, London\, 1947\nHe reports chess tournaments for The Times\, and edits The Times Weekly chess column. \nThe World Chess Championship 1954\nHis chess is perhaps not inspired and lacks the spark of enterprise\, but he is a solid player on the whole and is apt to hold the best to 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\nHere is HGs entry from Hooper & Whyld (The Oxford Companion to CHESS) : \n“English player and author. International Master (1950)\, International Arbiter (1954)\, honorary Grandmaster (1985). In 1945 Golombek became chess correspondent of The Times\, a position he held until 1989. Also in 1945 he decided to become a professional chess-player. \nThe World Chess Championship 1957\, Macgibbon & Kee\, H. Golombek\nHe won the British Championship three times (1947\, 1949\, 1955) and was equal first in 1959 but lost the play-off (to Jonathan Penrose) and played in nine Olympiads from 1935 to 1962. An experienced arbiter and a good linguist\, supervisor of many important tournaments and matches\, he served for 30 years on the FIDE Commission that makes\, amends\, and arbitrates upon The laws and rules of chess. \nHis many books include Capablanca’s Hundred Best Games (1947)\, \nThe World Chess Championship 1948 (1949)\, \nThe World Chess Championship by Harry Golombek\nRéti’s Best Games of Chess (1954)\, \nRéti’s Best Games of Chess\, Harry Golombek\, Bell\, 1954\nand A History of Chess (1976).” \nChess : A History\, H. Golombek\, Putnam\, London\, New York\, 1976\nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess (Robert Hale 1970 & 1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“International Master and International Chess Judge. British Champion in 1947\, 1949 and 1955. Captained the British Chess Federation team for many years in Chess Olympiads. In the 1972 Olympiad\, captained the BCF women’s team. Chess author and chess correspondent of The Times since 1945 and the Observer since 1955. British Chess Federation to FIDE. \nPost-banquet photograph – left to right : Harry Golombek\, Andras Adorjan\, Danny Wright\, Brian Eley\, Michael Stean\, D. Silk\, Robert Silk\, AK Henderson. The Robert Silk Fellowship Tournament\, Canterbury\, 1973. Source : British Chess Magazine\, Volume 93\, Number 5\, page 192\nBorn in London on 1st March 1911\, Golombek learned to play chess at the age of 12 and in 1929 won the London Boy’s Championship. Two years later he became the youngest player to win the Surrey Championships. After graduating in languages at London University\, Golombek devoted his full time to chess\, apart from the way years\, when served in the army and at the Foreign Office\, and was awarded the OBE for his services to the game in 1966. He was the editor of the British Chess Magazine from 1938 to 1939 and for many years served as its games editor. He is now its overseas news editor. In his capacity as International Chess Judge\, he has acted as judge in World Championship matches since 1954. \nTwo thirds of the BCF team for the 1964 Tel Aviv Olympiad. : Owen Hindle\, Michael Franklin\, Harry Golombek and Michael Haygarth\nHe has competed in a number of international tournaments\, his best results being 1st at Antwerp 1938\, 1st at Leeuwarden 1947\, 1st at Baarn 1948 and -4th with Barcza\, Foltys and Gliogoric at Venice 1949. in 1951\, he represented the British Chess Federation in the Zonal tournament at Bad Pyrmont and came 5th\, qualifying for the Interzonal. ” \nHarry Golombek\, Peter Wells\, Ray Keene\, Leonard Barden and Henry Mutkin take part in the obligatory “Staring at the board” posed picture during the 1985 Varsity Match\nHis publications include : Capablanca’s 100 Best Games of Chess (1947); World Chess Championship 1948 (1949); Pocket Guide to the Chess Openings (1949); \nA Pocket Guide to the Chess Openings\, RC Griffith and H Golombek Bell & Sons\, 1949\nHastings Tournament 1948-1949 (1949); \nHastings Tournament 1948-1949\, H Golombek and W Ritson Morry\, En Passant\, 1949\nSouthsea Tournament 1949 (1949); Prague 1946 (1950); \nPrague 1946\, H Golombek\, CHESS\, Sutton Coldfield\, 1950\nPrague 1946\, H Golombek\, CHESS\, Sutton Coldfield\, 1950\nBudapest 1952 (1952); \nBudapest 1952\, H. Golombek\, British Chess Magazine\, 1952\n50 Great Games of Modern Chess (1952); Reti’s Best Games of Chess (1954); 22nd USSR Championship (1956); \n22nd USSR Championship\, H. Golombek\, British Chess Magazine\, (1956)\nWorld Chess Championship 1957 (1957); Modern Opening Chess Strategy (1959); \nModern Opening Chess Strategy\, H\, Golombek\, Macgibbon & Kee\, London (1960)\nand a translation of The Art of the Middle Game by P. Keres and A. Kotov. \nHe enjoys classical music and has been known to be successful on the Stock Exchange.” \nA reasonable enquiry might be : “What did Harry write about himself?” Well\, according to \nThe Encyclopaedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977) \nThe Encyclopaedia of Chess\nwe have : \n“British international master\, three times British champion and the first person to figure in that country’s Honours List on account of his services to chess. Golombek was born in London and lived there till the Second World War. Educated as Wilson’s Grammar School and the University of London\, he became London Boy Champion in 1929 and London University Champion 1930-3. By this time he was part of a trio of the leading players in England\, the other two being Alexander and Milner-Barry. (Ed : It is curious that HG does not mention William Winter : maybe they were not like minded souls?) \nHarry Golombek OBE\nHis best result in the British championship before the Second World War was -2nd with EG Sergeant\, 1/2 a point below Alexander at Brighton 1938. In that year he won first prize in a small international tournament at Antwerp ahead of Koltanowski. In 1938 too he became editor of the British Chess Magazine and occupied this post till he entered the army in 1940. \nHarry Golombek OBE\nBefore the war he had already played in three International Team Tournaments (or Olympiads as they subsequently became called) at Warsaw 1935\, Stockholm 1937 and Buenos Aires 1939. \nMorris (Moses) Sobkowski\, Anatoly Karpov and Harry Golombek\nAfter the Buenos Aires event he went onto play in an international tournament at Montevideo where he came second to the World Champion\, Alexander Alekhine. \nBrian Reilly\, Ray Keene\, George Botterill\, Anatoly Karpov\, Harry Golombek and Viktor Korchnoi\nIn the war he served first in the Royal Artillery\, from 1940-1 and then\, for the rest of the war\, in the Foreign Office at Bletchley Park\, employed (like Alexander\, Milner-Barry and quite a number of other chess-players) in code breaking. \nJohn Nunn\, Adrian Hollis and Harry Golombek posing for the obligatory “staring at the board” picture for the 19?? Varsity Match sponsored by Lloyds Bank\nAfter the war he made chess and writing about the game his livelihood\, becoming Times Chess Correspondent in 1945 and Observer Chess Correspondent in 1955. As a player he had a consistently good record in the British Championship\, coming in the prize list on fourteen out of eighteen occasions he competed in the event. He was British Champion at Harrogate 1947\, Felixstowe 1949 and Aberystwyth 1955. \nHarry Golombek OBE\nHere is HGs win against his old friend PS Milner-Barry from Aberystwyth 1955 : \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nHarry Golombek OBE plays Sir Philip Stuart Milner-Barry OBE\nHe represented England in six more Olympiads\, Helsinki 1952\, Amsterdam 1954\, Moscow 1956\, Munich 1958\, Leipzig 1960 and Varna 1962. \nHarry Golombek OBE\nHis best individual international results were first prizes at small tournaments in Leeuwarden 1947\, Baarn 1948 and Paignton 1950 (above Euwe and Donner); =4th with O’Kelly at Beverwijk 1949\, =4th with Barcza\, Foltys and Gligoric at Venice 1949\, and 5th at the European Zonal tournament at Bad Pyrmont 1951\, thereby becoming the first British player to have qualified for the Interzonal. He was awarded the OBE in the Queen’s Birthday List in 1966. \nHarry Golombek\, Norman Fishlock-Lomax and Denis Victor Mardle at the Hastings International Congress of 1965(?)\nA founding member of the FIDE Commission for the Rules of Chess\, he became a FIDE International Judge and as such officiated at six World Championship matches. He was also chief arbiter at a FIDE Candidates tournament\, at an Interzonal and two European Team Championship finals\, etc. When the FIDE President\, Dr Euwe\, had to return home from Reykjavik before the 1972 Spassky-Fischer match got started. Golombek represented FIDE in Iceland and did much to ensure that the match took place and that it continued to be played. \nHarry gave more than the average number of simultaneous displays in this career. For the photograph below Leonard Barden provided the following caption : \n“Harry was invited because it was the 50th anniversary of his victory in the London Boys 1929 a success which he often referred to in his Times column. There were seven 30-board simuls that day\, the top three being England Juniors v USSR (Spassky\, Vasyukov\, Kochiev) where Spassky had the worst simultaneous result of his career. No 4 was by Murray Chandler\, Harry was No5 and the others by Whiteley and Rumens. The juniors who played the Russians were personally invited.” \nHarry was invited because it was the 50th anniversary of his victory in the London Boys 1929 a success which he often referred to in his Times column. There were seven 30-board simuls that day\, the top three being England Juniors v USSR (Spassky\, Vasyukov\, Kochiev) where Spassky had the worst simultaneous result of his career. No 4 was by Murray Chandler\, Harry was No5 and the others by Whiteley and Rumens. The juniors who played the Russians were personally invited.\nA prolific writer and translator of books on the game\, he has had some thirty-five books published on various aspects of chess. Among them are : Capablanca’s Best Games of Chess\, London\, New York 1947; Reti’s Best Games of Chess\, London 1954; New York 1975;  The Game of Chess\, London 1954; Modern Opening Chess Strategy\, London 1959; A History of Chess\, London\, New York 1976.“ \nHarry Golombek OBE\nFrom British Chess (Pergamon Press\, 1983)\,  Botterill\, Levy\, Rice and Richardson\,  we have this rather brief biography : \n“Thee times British Champion (Harrogate 1947\, Felixstowe 1949\, Aberystwyth 1955) and the first person to figure on the Honours List for services to Chess. He has represented England in 9 Olympiads. A FIDE International Judge and Arbiter has has officiated at 6 World Championship matches. He is chess correspondent of The Times and a prolific writer and translator” \nHere is his brief Wikipedia entry \nand here is a fascinating insight into HGs Bletchley Park days. \nBill Hartston wrote this excellent obituary published in The Independent. \nA recent article from Andre Schultz of Chessbase. \nEdward Winter has written this interesting article last updated in December 2020 despite announcing self-dormancy in March 2020. \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 we have  a selection of publications not already mentioned above : \nSouthsea Chess Tournament\, Harry Golombek\, En Passant\, 1949\nB.C.M. Quarterly\, number 3: 4th Candidates Tournament 1959\, H. Golombek\, 19??.\nB.C.M. Quarterly\, number 6: 1930 Scarborough International Tournament\, H. Golombek\,\, 1962.\nChess\, Harry Golombek and Hubert Phillips\, HG & G Witherby\, 1959\nInstructions to Young Chess Players\, Harry Golombek\, The Brompton Library\, 1966\nFischer v Spassky\, the World Chess Championship\, 1972\, Harry Golombek\, Times Newspapers\, 1973\nThe Laws of Chess and Their Interpretations\, H. Golombek\, Pitman Publishing\, 1976\nImprove Your Chess\, Harry Golombek\, Pitman\, 1976\nThe Best Games of C.H.O’D. Alexander\, 1976\nA Dataday Chess Diary for 1979 with a foreword from Harry Golombek\nB.C.M. Classic Reprints\, number 20: World Chess Championship 1948\, Golombek\, Harold\, 01-03-1982 (1949). ISBN 978-0-900846-35-9.\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-harry-golombek/ CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Honours,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/img_lv.jpg END:VEVENT 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: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:20210115 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210116 DTSTAMP:20210120T151222Z CREATED:20190823T092825Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210120T151222Z UID:1066-1610668800-1610755199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Craig William Pritchett (15-i-1949) DESCRIPTION:IM Craig William Pritchett\nWe send birthday wishes to IM Craig Pritchett who was born this day\, January 15th in 1949. \nIM Craig William Pritchett\nHere is his Wikipedia entry \nIM Craig Pritchett (right) with Leonard Barden and Stewart Reuben\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess by Harry Golombek : \nScottish international master and teacher. Prtichett\, probably the strongest native-born Scottish player since the days of Captain Mackenzie in the nineteenth century\, has represented Scotland with success in five Olympiads : 1966\, 1970\, 1972\, 1974 and 1976. He has also played for Scotland in the Students Olympiads of 1968\, 1969 and 1970. \nPritchett playing Karpov at Nice 1974.\nHis first individual success was in the European Junior Championship in Groningen 1969/70 where he came -3rd with Belyavsky. At Decin (Czechoslovakia) 1974 he came 1st in the Masters B section. \nHe obtained the first part of an international master norm at the Nice Olympiad in 1974 where he scored 60% on top board. In 1975 he again achieved a master norm at the strong Pula Zonal tournament where he came -7th/14. \nIM Craig Pritchett (right) at the Aaronson Masters\nHe was chess correspondent of the Glasgow Herald and author of The Sicilian Scheveningen\, Batsford\, London\, 1977. (article by Harry Golombek) \nThe Sicilian Scheveningen\nNimzo Indian 4 e3 Nimzowitsch Hubner & Taimanov Variations\nChess for Rookies\nSteinitz Move by Move\nPlay the English\nHeroes of Classical Chess\nGreat Chess Romantics\nStarting Out : Sicilian Scheveningen\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-craig-william-pritchett/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/CraigPritchett2.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210118 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210119 DTSTAMP:20230118T102641Z CREATED:20200409T133012Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230118T102641Z UID:4258-1610928000-1611014399@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/ 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:20210122 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210123 DTSTAMP:20230120T152026Z CREATED:20200122T110505Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230120T152026Z UID:2981-1611273600-1611359999@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/ CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/bct_4326_lv.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210125 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210126 DTSTAMP:20221214T174631Z CREATED:20221214T174631Z LAST-MODIFIED:20221214T174631Z UID:21923-1611532800-1611619199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Byron Anthony Jacobs (25-vi-1963) DESCRIPTION:IM Byron Jacobs\nBCN wishes Happy Birthday to IM Byron Anthony Jacobs (25-vi-1963) \nByron originates from Sir John Betjeman’s favourite town (Slough) and attended Slough Grammar and then The University of Sussex (Falmer). \nHe was Standard London under-16 champion in 1979. He was 3rd= in the 1982 Danish U-18 International. He was 3rd= in the 1988 Guernsey Open. His last recorded event in Megabase 2020 was in 1998. \nByron became a FIDE Master in 1983 and an International Master and in 1988 achieved a peak rating of 2390 in July 1987 at the age of 24. \nHaving given up competitive chess Byron became a successful poker player and commentator and has written on the subject. \nByron is a director of Brighton based First Rank Publishing and is specialist chess typesetter and Chief Advisor for Everyman Publishing and others and was pivotal in Brighton based\, Chess Press. \nByron was the typesetter for British Chess Magazine from 2011 – 2012. \nIM Byron Jacobs (front\, fourth from left) at a Lloyds Bank event\nIM Byron Jacobs (seated\, second from left)\nIM Byron Jacobs (standing\, second from left)) at a Lloyds Bank Masters\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nByron is an accomplished chess author with many titles to his name : \nThe Times Winning Moves (1991 with Ray Keene)\nThe Complete King’s Indian (1992 with Ray Keene)\nWinning with the Benko (1995)\nThe Caro-Kann Advance (1997)\nAnalyse to Win (1997)\nThe Benko Gambit by Andrew Kinsman & Byron Jacobs (1999)\nStarting Out in Chess (1999)\nMastering the Opening (2001)\nFrench Classical (2001)\nNimzo-Larsen Attack (2001)\nAn Opening Repertoire for White (2003)\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-byron-anthony-jacobs-25-vi-1963/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player,Writer END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210129 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210130 DTSTAMP:20210129T165242Z CREATED:20200129T092350Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210129T165242Z UID:3031-1611878400-1611964799@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Raymond Keene OBE (29-i-1948) DESCRIPTION:We send birthday wishes to GM Raymond Keene OBE. \nRaymond Dennis Keene was born on Thursday\, January 29th 1948 in Wandsworth\, London to Dennis Arthur and Doris Anita Keene (née Leat). Dennis and Doris were married in 1943 in Camberwell. Doris was born on May 27th\, 1921 in Lambeth and was a shorthand and invoice typist. \nDennis and Doris also had a daughter Jackie Keene who later married chess historian\, RG Eales. Jackie is Emeritus Professor at The University of Kent in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. Jackie played in the Glorney Cup. \nRaymond Keene\nRay was educated at Dulwich College between 1959 and 1966 thereby becoming an Old Alleynian. In 1967 Ray went up to Trinity College\, Cambridge to study Modern Languages specialising in German and graduating with an MA. Amongst their Alumni are five spies including Blunt\, Burgess and Philby. During the gap between Dulwich College and Cambridge Ray (aged 18) wrote his first (and one of his best) book : Flank Openings : \nFlank Openings\, Raymond Keene\, British Chess Magazine\, 1967.\nBeing published at the age of 19 this must be close to the earliest age an English player has had a chess book published that was not ghost written. (Leave a comment if you know differently!) \nFollowing this legendary tome Ray collaborated with Leonard Barden and Bill Hartston on The King’s Indian Defence from BT Batsford Ltd: \nThe King’s Indian Defence\, Barden\, Keene and Hartston\, BT Batsford\, 1969.\nand in 1972 we have \nThe Modern Defence\, BT Batsford\, 1972\, GS Botterill and RD Keene\nfollowed in 1973 by \nThe Pirc Defence\, BT Batsford\, 1973\, GS Botterill and RD Keene\nAll of which were favourably received helping Batsford to establish a strong reputation. \nIn July 1974 Ray married ex-ballerina (and now Dance Teacher) Annette Sara Goodman in Brighton\, East Sussex. Annette became a director of World Memory Championships International Limited on January 17th 2008 and resigned on April 9th 2008. They have one son\, Alexander Phillip Simon Keene\, born in 1991. Godfather to Alexander is Scottish International\, IM David Levy. \nAnnette is the sister of IM David Simon Charles Goodman who now resides in New York. \nAlso in 1974 George Bell & Sons published Ray’s most acclaimed work (and arguably his best) : Aron Nimzowitsch: A Reappraisal \nAron Nimzowitsch: A Reappraisal\, RD Keene\, George Bell & Sons\, 1974\nAlexander is currently the Company Secretary of the aforementioned company\, Julian (a retired teacher from Brighton) is another active director. \nIn 1985 Ray became the sixth British chess player to be awarded the OBE when it was awarded in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. The citation read “For Services to Chess”. \nAccording to Companies House Ray has held a total of 30 directorships in various companies such as : \n\nBrain Plan 2020\nWorld Mind Mapping Championships\nWorld Speed Reading Championships\nBuzan International Technology\nBuzan World\nThe World is My Oyster\nWorld Memory Championships\nIntelligent Resources and Services\nOutside in Pathways\nUK Primary Schools Memory Championships\nUK Schools Memory Championships\nThe School Memory Championships\nThe Schools Memory Championship\nMental Literacy for All\nFestival of the Mind\nFestival of the Mind International\nThe Brain Trust\nImpala (London)\nTony Buzan International\nWorld Memory Championships International\nWorld Peace and Prosperity Foundation\nZeticula\nMind Masters Management\nIntellectual Leisure\nBrain Sports Olympiad\nMind Sports Promotions\n\n(Our particular favourite has to be the unpretentiously entitled “World Peace and Prosperity Foundation” although “The World is My Oyster” runs it a close second.) \nRay\, Annette and Julian Simpole currently live in Clapham Common North Side\, London\, England. \nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess by David Hooper and Ken Whyld : \nRay Keene\nEnglish player and author\, British champion 1971\, From 1966 he played in several Olympiads and his performance in two of them\, Nice 1974 ( + 7=6-2) and Haifa 1976 (+4=6)\, gained him the title of International Grandmaster (1976). His best tournament win was at Dortmund 1980 (category 8)\, He studied the games and teaching of Staunton and Nimzowitsch and revealed with unusual insight the strategy of the former and the stratagems of the latter in two books: Staunton : the English World Champion (1975) and Nimzowitsch: a Reappraisal (1974). He also wrote Flank Openings (3rd edn\, 1979); these openings are the ones which he prefers to play\, which he knows best\, and which suit his solid positional style. \nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess by Anne Sunnucks : \nInternational Master (1972)\, British Champion in 1971 and a regular member of the British team since 1966 playing on top board on a number of occasions. \nRay Keene\nRaymond Keene was born on 29th January 1948 in London and learned to play chess at the age of six. He began to play seriously when he was thirteen. While at Dulwich College from 1959 -1966 he played top bard for the school team which won the Sunday Times National Schools’ Chess Tournament in 1965 and 1966. \nEnglish chess player Raymond Keene\, winner of the 1971 British Chess Championship\, posed in London on 6th June 1972. Raymond Keene has been awarded the chess title International Master. (Photo by Harry Dempster/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)\nIn 1964\, he won the London and British Boys’ Under 18 Championship (ed : In fact\, the title was shared with Brian Denman) and the following year\, at the age of seventeen\, he became the youngest player to win the Surrey Championship. While at Cambridge he graduated in German Literature (B.A. Honours)\, he played top board for the university. \nBrian Reilly\, Ray Keene\, George Botterill\, Anatoly Karpov\, Harry Golombek and Viktor Korchnoi\nDuring his chess career\, he has beaten both Botvinnik and Gligoric\, In 1967\, he came 2nd in the World Junior Championship and in 1968 he won the prize for the best score on board 4 in the Lugano Olympiad. \nRaymond Keene\nA difficult player to beat\, Keene played in four British Championships without losing a game and also went through the Lugano and Siegen Olympiads unbeaten in 33 games. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\n\nAt Oxford in 1973\, Keene set up what he believes is an English speed record for simultaneous chess\, scoring 100 wins\, 5 draws and 1 loss in 4.5 hours. \nRaymond Keene\nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess by Harry Golombek : \n“British Grandmaster\, British Champion 1971\, Keene was born in London and was both London Boy Champion and British Junior Champion in 1964 (ed : In fact\, the title was shared with Brian Denman). \nEducated at Dulwich College and Trinity College\, Cambridge\, he soon became recognised\, along with Hartston\, as one of the two leading younger players in England. His style of play was different from that of his rival\, being more complicated and less direct; but\, like Hartston\, he became a most formidable opening theorist with a vast knowledge of opening theory. \nHis first Olympiad was at Havana 1966 where he was the youngest member of the side and scored 65% on board six. In 1968 at Lugano he obtained 76.5% on board four and in 1970 at Siegen\, playing on board two in the preliminaries and board one in the finals he score 68.8%. \nRaymond Keene\nThe year 1971 saw a double achievement\, for in that year he won the British Championship at Blackpool and also secured the title of International Master. \nPlaying on top board in the 1972 Olympiad at Skopje\, he scored 11.5 out of 20. \nRay & friend\nIn 1974 he came 6th in a very strong Hastings tournament and then won first prize in the Capablanca Memorial Masters in Cuba. At the Nice Olympiad he scored 66.66% on 2nd board\, attaining the first leg of the grandmaster norm. At Mannheim 1975 he was 3rd in the German Open championship and in that year he also came 2nd at Alicante. In 1976 he was 2nd at the Aarhus tournament in Denmark. He finished a most successful year in international chess by fulfilling the second grandmaster norm on 2nd board in the Haifa Olympiad\, thereby becoming England’s second international grandmaster (after Tony Miles). (Harry Golombek)” \nRay was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 1966-67 season. \nHere is his extensive Wikipedia article \nNoted historian Olimpu G Urcan writes on Alekhine versus Keene \nand Edward Winter writes extensively about Ray’s journalistic activities \nand finally\, Keenipedia. A web site created by his many admirers… \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nMurray Chandler\, Ray Keene and Miguel Najdorf\n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-raymond-dennis-keene-29-ii-1948/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Honours,Official,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG_1483-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210201 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210202 DTSTAMP:20230128T141945Z CREATED:20190824T091314Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230128T141945Z UID:1142-1612137600-1612223999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary for Edith Baird (née Winter-Wood) (??-??-1859 01-ii-1924) DESCRIPTION:We remember Edith Baird (née Winter-Wood) \nEdith Elina Helen Winter-Wood was born\, probably in 1859*\, to Thomas Winter-Wood\, a writer and poet\, and Eliza Ann (née Sole) Winter-Wood in Boulogne\, France. \n(*Despite 22nd February 1859 appearing in Wikipedia we are unable to locate a primary source for this date. Contemporary secondary sources always just gave 1859 as her year of birth. Census records imply that she was born between April 1859 and March 1860. Her marriage record from 1st December 1880 describes her as being ‘of full age’: at least 21 years old\, so born before December 1859. However\, her death record from 1st February 1924 gives her age as 63\, implying that she was born between February 1860 and January 1861. Either her death record is incorrect or she added a couple of months to her age when she married. ) \nMany secondary and tertiary sources incorrectly give the Winter-Wood family home of Hareston Manor (now a venue for weddings) near Brixton\, Plymouth\, Devon as her birthplace. \nHareston Manor near Plymouth\nThe family was resident in Boulogne in at least 1858 (as discussed below) and a UK birth certificate for Edith does not appear to exist. Having said that\, a French birth certificate has yet to be located. Both Brian Denman and Chris Ravilious are satisfied that Edith was born in Boulogne and various census records attest to this. Ed: both Richard James and myself (JEU) have examined the evidence carefully and Boulogne would appear to be correct. \nThomas Winter-Wood was born in Har(e)ston\, Devon in 1819 and was himself a strong player having been educated at Plympton Grammar School (now known as Hele’s School). Thomas was the son of John Wood-Winter who\, in 1824\, reversed the order of the family surname. Thomas sold the family estate leaving the Winter-Woods with substantial means\, with each family member able to pursue their leisure interests whilst retaining a number of domestic staff. \nThomas Winter-Wood (1819-1905) in 1903.\nThomas taught all of his family to play chess and Edith learnt at an early age. Both Edward J and Carslake W also learnt early on\, Edward (aged 11 in 1858) played members of Boulogne Chess Club giving them rook odds and ten years later Edward joined London Chess Club. \nAccording to Tartajubow : \n“(Edward) played in several tournaments and in blindfold simuls he drew two games against Lowenthal and one against Blackburne. In 1878 he joined the Croydon Chess Club and once in one of their tournaments scored 23-7. He also enjoyed success in many other club tournaments\, correspondence chess and problem solving tournaments. Many of his problems appeared in leading publications of the day.” \nand\, also according to Tartajubow : \n“Her other brother\, Carslake W. Wood (1849 – 1924)\, lived with his mother’s brother\, Major Sole of the 5th Militia of West York\, in Torquay. While travelling Europe with the Soles\, he also developed a taste for painting and on many occasions donated his paintings as prizes in chess tournaments.” \nThe Doge’s Palace\, Venice 1880s by Carslake W Winter-Wood\nAccording to F. R. Gittins (in The Chess Bouquet 1897): \n“The moves came to her\, as she says\, by a kind of instinct before she was out of her first decade. She did not\, however\, commence composing problems until some years after her marriage\, which took place in 1880\, to Deputy Inspector-General W. J. Baird\, M.D.\, R.N.\, whose distinguished services have been mentioned in despatches and rewarded with four medals and two clasps. Eight years later she composed her first problem\, and commenced a wonderful series of successes\, having gained eleven first\, nine second\, and six third prizes\, and been honourably mentioned nine times.” \nEdith Baird (née Winter-Wood)\nAccording to the old ChessDevon web site (sadly only available via the WayBack Machine) \n“In 1893\, for instance\, she entered The Hackney Mercury 3-mover tournament\, with a limit of 6 pieces. Most of the great composers of the time had entered\, – B. G. Laws\, P. H. Williams and James Raynor among them\, but she won 1st prize. As one American critic observed\, ‘The fact that the tourney assumed an almost international character rendered the triumph of the distinguished lady victor as noteworthy as it was creditable’.” \nHere is this first prize (1): \nBaird\, Edith Elina Helen\nHackney Mercury\, 1893\n1st Prize \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 problem solutions may be found at the foot of this article. \nShe very quickly progressed and was soon producing problems that were described as being “exceedingly pretty” and which ‘displayed unmistakable aptitude for the intricacies of chess.’ Her work 700 Chess Problems was published by Henry Sotheran Ltd in 1902 and took her 14 years to complete.” \nSeven Hundred Chess Problems. Selected from the compositions of Mrs. W. J. Baird\, WJ Baird\, 1902\nSeven Hundred Chess Problems\n700 Chess Problems may be downloaded from here. \nEdith also had a brief career in chess competitions in the 1890s\, winning the 1897 Sussex Ladies Championship without losing a game. \nFew samples of her play survive\, but they show her to be a proficient player with\, as you might expect from a problemist\, a keen tactical eye. In this game she finishes neatly with a queen sacrifice. \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 this game\, from a blindfold simul against the London-based Dutch organist and chess master Rudolf Loman (1861-1932)\, she uses a tactic to reach an equal ending. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nAccording to the 1871 census the Winter-Wood household lived at “Hareston”\, Tavistock Road\, Croydon\, Surrey and consisted of Thomas (52 and Landowner)\, Eliza (44) plus Edith’s brothers Edward J (23 and Banker) and Carslake W (22 and retired banker)\, Marie A (17)\, Edith (11) plus three (!) domestic servants. \nIn 1880 (‘of full age’) Edith married the Deputy Inspector-General of Fleets and Hospitals\, William James Baird\, MD\, of the Royal Navy\, in the parish church of St George Hanover Square.  (You’ll see that she married under the surname Wood rather than Winter-Wood.) William was almost thirty years her senior\, having been born in Londonderry in 1831. The 1881 census found them in lodgings in Durham House\, Hotspur Street\, Tynemouth\, North Tyneside: presumably William was there in connection with his work.  Later the same year\, their only child\, Lilian Edith Baird\, was born in the same place. \nWilliam and Edith’s marriage recorded in the Parish Register of St George Hanover Square\nWilliam Baird and Edith (Winter-)Wood’s marriage bonds\nLilian would become a child prodigy whose first problem was published before she was 10 years old. She was also an accomplished poet and painter like her mother. Although she had over 70 problems published by the age of thirteen\, Lilian gave up chess composing while still in her teens. \nLilian Edith Strong (née Baird)\n(Lilian merits a full article in this place in her own right : added to ToDo list!) \nBy 1891 William had retired and the family had settled in Brighton living at 14 College Terrace\, where they employed a servant\, Louisa Howard (23). In 1901 the census enumerator found them at the same address\, their servant now being Lilian Millard (25). \n14 College Terrace\, Brighton\, East Sussex. BN2 0EE\nWilliam died in 1907\, and Lilian had married in 1910: the 1911 census found Edith living in a boarding house named Mountcoombe in Surbiton. The house no longer exists\, but its name\, minus a letter\, survives in Mountcombe Close\, now a location for residential flats. Shortly afterwards\, she joined her brothers in Paignton\, Devon\, close to her family’s ancestral roots. \nReturning to Edith’s family\, by the time of the 1881 census the Winter-Wood household (bar Edith) had relocated to “Mariestead”\, Netley Abbey\, Southampton and had shrunk to Thomas\, Eliza and a mere two servants. Edith gave this address when she married William Baird. \nEdith Baird (née Winter-Wood)\nIn the 1891 census the Winter-Wood household consisted of Thomas (72)\, Eliza (64) plus Edith’s brothers Edward (43) and Carslake (42) all of whom were described as “living on means”. They had returned to three domestic servants : Mary Scoble (65)\, Carrie Stephens (22) and Kate Truman (just 12). They lived at 14\, The Crescent\, Plymouth\, PL8 2AP. Nothing remains of this property\, it would appear. By 1901\, the family had moved again\, to “Kenwick”\, Paignton\, Devon. They were back down to two servants: Florence Gagg (18) was the housemaid and Sarah Chambers (59) the cook. Thomas died in 1905\, and the 1911 census gives their address as “Hareston”\, Totnes Road\, Paignton. Eliza\, Edward and Carslake’s servants were now Laura Ellen Gagg (25 – presumably related to Florence) and Sarah Tulley. \nIn an interview with the Westminster Gazette (1st September 1894) Edith was asked why chess has always been a man’s game. \n“Frivolous and fashionable women would begrudge the time and thought it requires; busy mothers of families could not\, of course\, spare time for it\, and the great majority of unmarried girls have not\, I’m afraid\, the necessary patience. Then\, too\, it is\, I must confess\, an unsociable game. It is most suitable for quiet and reflective people\, and for invalids. It seems always to have attracted clever strategists like military and naval commanders\, and also great politicians. I wish girls would take to it more\, because it is such excellent mental discipline\, and brings out one’s patience. It would also be a useful corrective to the tendency to jump at conclusions which many women have. The great charm is that it is a home accomplishment. A woman is not expected to leave her fireside for the sake of chess. It is a stable kind of amusement for which she never need sully her womanliness or her good reputation. Many of the outdoor sports\, innocent and healthy enough\, lead to a great deal of flirtation and general frivolity.” \nF.R. Gittins (op. cit.) described her as follows: \n“Mrs. Baird\, however\, is something more even than the Queen of Chess-problem composers. She is\, for example\, an enthusiastic and skilful archer\, and\, living as she does in Brighton\, has for some time been a prominent member of the Furze Hill Archery Club\, of which she is a member of the committee\, and in which\, she has\, for two years in succession\, taken the medal for the highest aggregate score of the season. She also paints and illuminates charmingly\, and has a pretty inherited talent for writing verse. Her book of illuminations\, in fact\, is described as “so chaste and delicate in design as to recall the ancient illuminated books which are treasured in museums and art galleries.” In politics she is a staunch Liberal\, while the modern movement against all cruelty to animals – whether inflicted under the name of sport or in the interests of science – finds in her one of its most ardent champions.  Besides the déclassement derived from chess\, she is also a great believer in girls making themselves independent of marriage\, from a monetary point of view\, by having a definite occupation. When it is added that she never allows chess\, painting\, or any other favourite pursuit to occupy her time until all the domestic matters of home have been seen to\, we have said sufficient to show how finely-rounded and complete a life this brilliantly clever woman leads. It is only left to add that her manner is kind and  charming\, and that she is thoughtfulness and considerateness itself to all her friends. She is\, moreover\, the most loving of mothers\, and has been heard to declare that if anything were to happen to “Lily”\, she would never compose another chess problem.” \nEdith was also an avid bicyclist who was known to have ridden 25 miles (on one of those old style bicycles) to discuss an adjourned chess game. \nEdith Elina Helen Baird\nOn Friday\, February 1st\, 1924 Edith passed away. The probate record is dated April 29th and was granted to Herbert Percy Strong\, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Indian Army\, who was Lilian’s husband. The initial value of the effects was £18110 5s 7d which was subsequently resworn to £16627 13s 11d. \nProbate record for Edith Baird (1924)\nBoth Sunnucks and Golombek are silent on Edith. This is somewhat surprising since Anne liked to mention female players and problemists. \nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess by Hooper & Whyld : \nEDITH ELINA HELEN (née Winter Wood) (1859-1924)\, British problem composer. Her parents\, two brothers\, and daughter were all good players or clever problemists. \nShe composed over 2\,000 problems which were not profound but were noted for their soundness; only a dozen or so were faulted. Her Seven Hundred Chess Problems was published in 1902. She became deeply absorbed in retractors\, and her other book The Twentieth Century Retractor appeared in 1907. They are two of the most beautiful chess books ever to appear\, printed and bound by the King’s printer Henry Sotheran\, and sold at less than cost. \nThe Twentieth Century Retractor\nThe Twentieth Century Retractor\, Chess Fantasies\, and Letter Problems: Being a Selection of Three Hundred Problems\, Mrs WJ Baird\, London: Henry Sotheran and Co. 1902.\nThe Twentieth Century Retractor may be read online here. \nThe dedication for The Twentieth Century Retractor was somewhat unusual : \n“Dedicated to\nThe Sun\nThe Glorious Orb which\nAnimates and Beautifies\nThe Earth\nBy Giving It\nWarmth\, Light and Life” \nand Edward Winter discusses the beauty of the book in Chess Note 3164. \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume XLIV\, (44\, 1924)\, page 103 we have this brief obituary notice written by RC Griffth : \n“We much regret to hear of the death\, at Paignton\, on February 1st\, of Mrs. W.J. Baird\, much of the distinguished of women problem composers throughout the world. As our problem editors will no doubt deal fully with her work and her triumphs\, we shall say no more here that she took a keen interest in chess over-the-board also\, and in 1897 secured the county championship  of Sussex among players of her own sex. By birth she was a Winter-Wood and thus a member of a distinguished West of England chess family” \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume XLIV\, (44\, 1924)\, page 125 we have this obituary written by RC Griffth : \n“A deep shadow has been cast over the chess world by the death of Mrs. W.J. Baird\, which occurred on 1st February last at Paignton. The end was most unexpected\, but it is a comfort to her relatives that the passing away was peaceful. She was the daughter of Mr. T. Winter-Wood\, who and whose family have been identified with chess for generations. She was born in 1859 and composed her first problem in 1888\, and it was not long after this date that she was given the title of the “Queen of Chess\,” since not only did she distinguish herself in a happy way as a prolific composer\, but proved a valiant opponent over the board\, testified by her securing the ladies’ championship of Sussex in 1897. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nMate in Two (2) \nAmong her other accomplishments were painting\, particularly illuminating\, poetry (which may have been inherited from her gifted father) and archery\, in which sport she was skilful. Her chess problems were generally of the light texture order never profound\, but always pleasing to the ordinary solver. She must have composed over 2\,000 problems of one sort or another\, and this large output in about thirty-five years could not be conducive to highest results. Her problem tourney honours were numerous\, though she did not as a rule see these\, generally entering her problems to oblige admiring conductors of competitions. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nMate in Two (3) \nIn 1902 she published Seven Hundred Chess Problems and in 1907 The Twentieth Century Retractor\, Chess Fantasies and Letter Problems\, 320 illustrations (Sotheran & Co.). Both were editions de luxe. Mrs. Baird was credited with the being the originator of the complicated retractor of which she was a proficient exponent\, but since she ceased composing these fancies\, interest in them has waned. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nMate in Three (4) \nDuring the last few years her activity\, after a period of quiescence has been marked\, her attention being directed principally to ‘Mutates’ and Picture or Letter Problems. In addition to the enthusiasm which\, shown by her actual work\, she has generously promoted several competitions\, one still current in the Morning Post\, particulars of which we announced last month. A remarkable feature of the deceased’s problems was their soundness less than one per cent. being cooked after leaving her hands\, evidence of painstaking application! \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nMate in Three (5) \nThere is now\, since the decease of Mrs. Baird’s father\, Mr. T. Winter-Wood and her brother\, Mr. E.J. Winter-Wood\, only Mr. Carslake Winter-Wood left to represent the family in the chess circle\, Mrs. Strong\, her daughter\, who at one time promised to emulate her mother\, having apparently abandoned the game and its problems. There can be no question that Mrs. Baird stood in front of all lady composers\, her nearest rival probably being the late Mrs. T. B. Rowland\, and indeed a number of her compositions rank high in the world’s collection. We have not space this month to quote specimens\, but hope to do so next issue. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nMate in Three (6) \nSince the above was in type we have been informed of the sudden death of Mr. Carslake Winter-Wood on the 24th February.” \nThe Late Mrs. W. J. Baird\, \nThe Masters said:- \n“Lay by the board\, the problem is not sound;\nThere’s none can solve unless a Morphy’s found.”\n* * *\nA knight I saw\, his royal head bowed;\nMethought a bishop moved and prayed aloud.\nThe Queen\, alas\, and their attendants gone\,\nOnly did the Kings linger sadly on.\nAnd roaming far afield a Rook forlorn\,\nAnd here and there a long-forgotten pawn.\n“Oh! is there none who can this problem solve?”\n“Seek her round who our highest hopes revolve”\nAnd so we brought it to our ‘Problem Queen’\nWho faced the field with heart and eye serene.\n* * *\n“Go leave me now and I will rest awhile\,”\nThen hand outstretched and swift triumphant smile :\n“The Bishops move! with him the key\,” she cried –\n“Life’s problem solved at last! I’m satisfied.” \nM.S.M. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n \nWhite retracts his last move; then plays. Black moves so that White can mate at once. (7) \n(Please note that there are factual errors in most of the sources quoted below.) \nHere is her Wikipedia entry \nHere is more from chessproblem.net \nArticle from Tartajubow (but the author mistakenly conflates Edith and Lilian) on Edith Baird and other Bairds \nQueens of Problem Chess by Satanick Mukhuty from chessbase.com \nMore from Sarah Beth Durst (aka BatGirl)\, quoting from Gittins. \nVia the Wayback Machine Chess Devon have this excellent article \nBritish Chess News would like to thank Brian Denman for providing a file of Edith Baird’s games\, and Tim Harding\, for sending us the pdf of The Chess Bouquet. \nSolution to problems: \n(1) \n1.Qg7! (2.Qc7#)\n1…Kc6 2.c5 Kxc5 3.Qc7#\n1…Kxc4 2.Qd4+ Kb3 3.Qb4#\n1…Kb6 2.Sb5 Ka6/Ka5\, Kc6/Kc5 3.Qa7\, Qc7#\n1…Kd6 2.Sb5+ Ke6\, Kc7/Kc5 3.Sd4\, Qc7# \n(2) 1.Bg2 \n(3) 1.Qb2 \n(4) 1.Qh8 \n(5) 1.Nc1 \n(6) 1.Rd8 \n(7) White retracts Nd5xRb6\, then 1. Nd6 Rc6 2. Nb7# \n  \n  \n Save as PDF URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-for-edith-elina-helen-baird/ CATEGORIES:2023,Composer,Death Anniversary,History,Problemist,Remembering,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/BairdEdith-2.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: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: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 BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210215 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210216 DTSTAMP:20260817T135447Z CREATED:20190822T151519Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T135447Z UID:973-1613347200-1613433599@britishchessnews.com 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 ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/3f30d23d8f.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR