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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210401
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210402
DTSTAMP:20200428T094504Z
CREATED:20191027T141505Z
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SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Frederick Forrest Lawrie Alexander (13-XI-1879\, 01-IV-1965)
DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of Frederick Forrest Lawrie Alexander (13-XI-1879\, 01-IV-1965) \nInteresting article from Woodseats Library \nHere is an article from the Chess Composers Blog \nHe was seven times champion of Battersea Chess Club \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-frederick-forrest-lawrie-alexander-13-xi-1879-01-iv-1965/
CATEGORIES:Composer,Death Anniversary,Problemist
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210402
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210403
DTSTAMP:20210306T111737Z
CREATED:20191023T093455Z
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UID:1645-1617321600-1617407999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Miroslav Houska (02-iv-1978)
DESCRIPTION:Miroslav Houska\nBirthday of IM Miroslav Houska (02-iv-1978) \nMiroslav gained his International Master title in 1998 and his peak rating according to Felice was 2385 in January of 1998\, aged 20. \nHere are his games on chessgames.com \nIM Miroslav Houska\, photograph by Jovan Petronic\nIM Miroslav Houska\, photograph by Cathy Rogers\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-miroslav-houska-02-04-1978/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210404
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210405
DTSTAMP:20220404T131515Z
CREATED:20190823T192130Z
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UID:1136-1617494400-1617580799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of BH Wood MSc FCS OBE (13-vii-1909 04-iv-1989)
DESCRIPTION:We remember “BH” Wood MSc FCS OBE who passed away on Tuesday April 4th\, 1989 in the district of Birmingham. \nHe was buried alongside his wife Marjorie in the Sutton Coldfield Cemetery Extension which was opened in 1934 as an extension to the Holy Trinity Church. \nYorkshire Childhood\nBaruch Harold Wood (generally known as BH Wood\, or simply “BH”\, by the chess world) was born on Tuesday\, July 13th 1909 in Ecclesall\, Sheffield\, Yorkshire. The registration district was Ecclesall Bierlow. \nGravestone of BH & ME Wood\, photo by Glen Livet\nThe birth record suggests that he was baptised as Harold Baruch Wood. His parent’s were Baruch Talbot (1881-1951) and Florence Muriel Wood (née Herington). He appears as Harold Baruch on the 1911 census. \n1911 Census record for the Wood household\n1911 Census record for the Wood household\nInterestingly\, the Census form was signed by Talbot Wood so maybe BHs father also did not like his own first name! At the time of the Census the family lived at 30\, Violet Bank Road\, Nether Edge\, Sheffield\, S7 1RZ. \nWelsh School Days\nBaruch attended Friars School\, Bangor (established in 1557) along with William Ritson Morry. BHW was one year and three months older than WRM so it is entirely possible that they had met. \nMarriage to Marjory\nIn October 1936 BHW married Marjory Elizabeth Farrington in Ross\, Herefordshire. When Marjory died on 7th September 1977 they were living at 146\, Rectory Road\, Sutton Coldfield\, West Midlands. Baruch and Marjory had four children\, FM Christopher Wood\, Philip\, Frank and Peggy. \n146\, Rectory Road\, The Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield\, West Midlands\, B75 7RS\nHonours\nIn the 1984 New Years Honours List\, Civil Division\, BHW was awarded the OBE. The citation read simply : “For services to Chess” \nHe won the BCF President’s Award in 1983 alongside TJ Beach and Brian Reilly. \nBH Wood playing board 9 in the Anglo team in the Anglo-Soviet Radio Team Match of 1946\nThe 1946 Anglo-Soviet Radio Match\nFrom The Anglo-Soviet Radio Chess Match by Klein and Winter : \n“BH Wood was born in Sheffield in 1909. A great lover of the game\, he founded the magazine Chess in 1935\, and has written a book for beginners. He scored a notable success by winning the British Correspondence Championship on one occasion. Wood has competed in the British Championship on several occasions\, and in a number of Premier Reserves tournaments. He also played for Great Britain in the international team tournament (ed. Olympiad) at Buenos Aires in 1939. \nLeft to right Baruch H Wood\, 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\nHe is a graduate of the University of Wales and Birmingham University. He has been very active in recent years in giving simultaneous exhibitions and in organising correspondence chess.” \nSignature of BH Wood from a Brian Reilly “after dinner” postcard from Margate 1936.\nBetween 1938 and 1957\, BH won the championship of Warwickshire eight times. He held the record (until 2006) for the most Birmingham & District Chess League Individual titles – nine\, all won in Division 1: 1937\, 1939\, 1954\, 1956\, 1958\, 1960\, 1966\, 1967\, and 1983. He was the Records Secretary for the League from 1951-61. \nBirth of a Magazine\nCHESS Cover for volume 1\, September 1935 – August 1936. Source : Michael Clapham\nFrom CHESS\, Volume 52 (1987)\, Number 1014-15 (Christmas)\, we have the very last issue of the magazine for which BH was the Editor before becoming Founding Editor (and Paul Lamford became Editor). BH Wrote: \n“Countless people have asked me ‘Why did you start CHESS?’ I was in love with university life and has just taken an M.Sc.\, a waste of time after a good first-class honours\, and decided to have a go at replacing the old Chess Amateur\, which had closed down.  I had edited the students’ magazine in both Bangor and Birmingham. The first had been produced by The Daily Post Printers in Liverpool\, who agreed to print  1\,000 copies for £90. That £90 would be nearly £2\,400 now. \nCHESS masthead for Volume 1\, Number 1\, 1935. Source : Michael Clapham\nA year’s subscription I announced as 10 shillings (50p). \nTwo bits of luck! J.H. Van Meurs\, a Dutchman who did a lot for British Chess\, had listed in his still young B.C.F. Year Book some hundreds of chess clubs. \nW.H. Watts\, another great figure of those days\, had floated a rather short-lived magazine The Chess Budget\, donated a ‘Budget Cup‘\, for knock-out team competition and published excellent books on big tournaments\, etc. He handed me a list of keen chess players all around the world. I spent a week addressing envelopes by hand to all the clubs and people. \nTo individuals I sent single copies of CHESS; to each club three copies\, inviting payment or subscriptions. Hardly anybody failed to pay. Obviously there was a demand for a chess magazine with a lighter touch than the B.C.M. \nYears later\, I learnt why Mr. Watts had been so generous. He had fallen out with the establishment and welcomed the arrival of a new publication. \nWithin three months I was selling 3\,000 copies an issue. \nSome early ideas were chessy short stories \, cartoons and a competition for humorous anecdotes. \nI soon went to Amsterdam for the first Euwe-Alekhine match. I traced Alekhine to his hotel room with difficulty. He was officially incommunicado. He came to the door in pyjamas\, and within five minutes we had agreed to a £5 article per month. I was\, of course\, already on conversational terms with him (and remained so!). \nNow I fell into trap. 3\,000 readers in four months meant 6\,000 in eight months\, 9\,000 in  a year…? \nNot so! This is extrapolation\, a matter of calculation full of risks. \nMy preparations had been too good. In the remaining eight months of the year I picked up only a thousand more readers. Alekhine lost the title. With three months to go\, my money ran out\, I struggled to the end of the year.  The twelfth issue was pathetically thin compared with the first few but renewals staring rolling in and CHESS blossomed again. \nThe fifty-two years since have been gruelling\, unremitting toil but fascinating interest. How we bought our own presses and the effect this had on the world’s chess press – A law suit that went to appeal – How CHESS linked people in Malta\, Australia\, Hungary – Adventures in ‘simuls’\, postal chess etc. How we helped police to identify a drowned man\, etc. So many tales to tell! \nBHW \nBCF Obituary\nHere is an obituary from the BCF Yearbook 1989 – 1990\, page 14 : \nB.H. Wood\, O.B.E\nBaruch H. Wood\, O.B.E.\, founder of CHESS\, and the magazines editor for 52 years\, died at the age of 79 on 4th April. \nBorn in Sheffield on 13 July 1909\, “B.H.”\, as he was widely known in chess circles\, took up the game early playing competitively at school and at University. After graduating from the University College of Wales\, Bangor with a 1st class honours degree in chemistry\, he took an MSc at Birmingham University. Soon\, however\, his love of chess took him away from a career in chemistry\, with his launch of CHESS in 1935.  He was to continue as editor\, publisher\, for many years printer\, and often major contributor\, for over half a century. \nCHESS\, Sutton Coldfield\nThe magazine quickly won an international reputation for its frankness and outspokenness. It speaks much for the character and determination of its editor that he was able to continue publishing CHESS throughout the difficult years of the Second World War\, whilst holding a full-time job as director of a chemical research laboratory in Lichfield. \nWood will be best remembered for the magazine\, and for his other journalistic activities. He was for many years chess correspondent of The Daily Telegraph and of The Illustrated London News\, and his best known book Easy Guide to Chess went through three editions and many impressions. \nEasy Guide to Chess\, BH Wood\, CHESS\, Sutton Coldfield\, 1945\nThe above book (albeit the later Cadogan version) is available online. \nEasy Guide to Chess\nNigel Davies wrote “One of the best beginners books on the market.” \nWood’s feat in writing\, publishing\, printing and selling his own book may be unique. However\, Wood was no mean player as his draw against the then world champion Max Euwe\, who became a life-long friend\, testifies. \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 represented England in the International Team Championship at Buenos Aires in 1939\, scoring 50%. He also took first prize in international tournaments at Baarn 1947\, Paignton 1954\, Whitby 1963\, Thorshavn 1967 and Jersey 1975 and was second in the 1948 British Championship. He was British Correspondence Chess Champion in 1945. \nThe Cedars Chess Club May 1962 – Baruch is seated\, second from the right. Photograph sourced from ECF obituary.\nA life member of F.I.D.E. Wood was also an International Arbiter\, and organised 21 annual chess festivals at seaside venues from the 50’s onwards. In addition he was an active behind-the-scenes inspirer of many chess events\, and in particular was known as a driving spirit of university chess\, being until the time of his death President of the British University Chess Association. \nThe Author’s British Record Simultaneous Display. Some of the 127 schoolboys the author played simultaneously at Ilford County High School\, Winning over a a hundred of the games in 4 hours and 50 minutes.\nHe founded the Postal Chess Club and League and was for many years President of the British Postal Chess Federation. \nLetter from BH Wood to JE Upham dated 7th July 1983\n“B.H.” at Bournemouth in May 1971\nHe was awarded the O.B.E. for services to chess in 1984. \nHis wife Marjory\, predeceased him; he leaves three sons Christopher\, Frank and Philip\, and a daughter Peggy. \nBH Wood & his daughter Peggy\nand here is the article as it appeared in the Yearbook. \nBCF Yearbook\, 1989-90\, page 14\nBCF Yearbook\, 1989-90\, page 15\nGolombek on Wood\nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977)  by Harry Golombek : \n“A well known British player\, editor of Chess (starting 1935) and chess correspondent of The Daily Telegraph and Illustrated London News. A FIDE judge\, he has founded and conducted 21 annual chess festivals\, notably at Whitby\, Eastbourne and Southport. \nBH Wood playing AY “Johnnie” Green in the 1956 British Championships in Blackpool\, photographer unknown\nWinner of a number of small and semi-international tournaments : Baarn 1947\, Paignton 1954\, Whitby 1963\, Thorshavn 1967\, and Jersey 1975. \nPlayed for the BCF in the International Team Tournament at Buenos Aires 1939. His best tournament result was probably his equal second in the British Championship at London 1948. \nIn 1954 BHW was sued BH Wood for libel by William Ritson Morry over a letter BHW sent to Henry Golding of the Monmouthshire County Chess Association warning him of WRMs financial history. Here is a summary of the action : \nThe Birmingham Post\, July 15th\, 1954\nand two years in 1956 we have this telling photograph of Ritson and BH playing at the British Championships in Blackpool. It must have been an entertaining pairing for the organisers if no-one else! \nWilliam Ritson Morry playing BH Wood at the British Championships in Blackpool from 1956\nPossibly WRM was thinking this as they played: \nEverybody Loves Wood\nAmong his books are : Easy Guide to Chess\, Sutton Coldfield 1942 et seq; World Championship Candidates Tournament 1953\, Sutton Coldfield 1954. “ \nWorld Championship Candidates Tournament 1953\, BH Wood\, CHESS\, Sutton Coldfield\, 1954\nCafferty on Wood (1989)\nHere is the obituary from British Chess Magazine\, Volume CIX (1989\, 109)\, Number 5 (May)\, pages 210 – 211: \nB. H. WOOD\nBaruch Harold Wood (13 viii 1909-4 iv 1989) popularly known as “B. H.” was a significant figure of the last fifty-odd years in British chess. His life touched practically all aspects of the game as player\, both OTB and CC\, magazine publisher and editor\, organiser of club\, congress and university chess\, journalist . . . the list seems endless. In 1984 he was awarded the OBE for services to chess. \nBorn at Sheffield\, which he sometimes used as an excuse when he was accused of stubbornness\, (“It’s my Yorkshire blood\, you know”) he was educated in North Wales (Friar’s School\, and then University College\, Bangor) and at Birmingham University. \nHe started his chess magazine at Sutton Coldfield in 1935 as an impecunious graduate who could not find suitable work in the Depression\, and his lively style ensured that it was a beacon in British chess for fifty years to come! For many British chess fans he was “Mr Chess” yet it seems a miracle that he kept the magazine going in the difficult times when interest in the game was at a low ebb. He may well have subsidised it from his journalistic work (Birmingham Post\, Illustrated London News and Daily Telegraph) and from his wartime work as manager of a chemical laboratory (“The first time I ever earned a decent salary”). \nHis duodenal ulcer prevented him doing military service\, and later in life he suffered from failing eyesight and the inability to walk which resulted from his diabetes\, not diagnosed till he had suffered from it for decades. \nHe worked a seven-day week on the magazine\, and his wife who predeceased him was often unsure when he would be home such was his devotion to the work. At times he would take off for trips abroad or long simul tours through Britain while trying to keep the magazine on schedule. \nOne of his last long tours was in 1967 when he drove Botvinnik around the UK. The world champion was duly impressed by the work load and wrote a very favourable account of the trip\, revealing incidentally that Barry was still paying off the mortgage on his large house in Rectory Road\, Sutton Coldfield where the car was parked on the forecourt as the garage was the reserve storage for a large library of chess books! His ability to quote chemical formula from memory also impressed Botvinnik. \nHe brought up a family of four\, all of whom were skilled players\, apart\, perhaps from the youngest boy. Daughter Peggy\nwas prominent in women’s chess and married Peter Clarke at the time of the Botvinnik visit. Elder sons Chris and Frank were of over-200 strength\, but had seen too much of their father’s life at close hand to want to take over the business from him. He ultimately sold out to Pergamon in 1987 though negotiations had been started much earlier. It was probably too much of a wrench to let go until failing health left him with little alternative\, but he described\nthe terms as very generous. \nBarry was a gifted linguist who was welcome abroad for his un-English approach of having a go at the native tongue. As a player he was at his best in the late 1930s (a member of the 1939 Olympiad team in Buenos Aires) till the 1950s. He should really have won the 1948 British Championship when he had the enterprising idea of having Paul Schmidt as personal coach! Yet his tournament wins run on as late as Guernsey 1975 and he was playing in the First Division of the Birmingham League within a few weeks of his death. The flesh may have been weak but a great spirit kept him going to the end. \nShall we ever see his like again? \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nJulius Silverman former MP for Aston (Birmingham) writes: I am very sorry to learn of the death of Barry Wood. I knew him for about 55 years and I always found him a pleasant and interesting companion and a good friend. On the last few occasions that I have met him he seemed increasingly frail. I know that the death of his dear wife was a great blow to him. \nBarry’s contribution to Chess in this country has been enormous and his passing is the end of an era in chess journalism.\nBarry’s journalism and his imaginative editorship made Chess a fascinating journal which it was always a pleasure to read.\nIts survival for well over 50 years was a unique achievement which required persistence and dedication. He has had many\nhills to surmount. \nOne was “… the chess lawsuit of the Century …” (This ran for about two and a half years\, ending in 1940 in a victory for the magazine on appeal\, Ed). Jacques versus Chess which might have brought Chess to an end. I appeared for him as counsel. We won. I received a life subscription to Chess as part of my fee. My copy still comes to me regularly. I have never enjoyed a fee so much. \nHere is the article in its original form: \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CX (109)\, Number 5 (May)\, page 210\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CX (109)\, Number 5 (May)\, page 211\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nBernard on Barry (2004)\nREMEMBERING BARRY WOOD (1909-1939) \nby Bernard Cafferty \nOne of the most influential figures in British chess of the 20th century was B. H. Wood\, whom I knew personally from 1951\, and whom I played regularly\, over a period of three decades\, till l moved from Birmingham to Hastings in 1981. Here are some\nmemories of the man who was thought of by many in Britain as “Mr Chess”. \nBorn in Sheffield\, Baruch Harold Wood had his secondary education in North Wales at the same grammar school as W Ritson\nMorry who was later to become his Midlands colleague and bitter rival. BH always attributed his well-known stubbornness (he never resigned early) to “his Yorkshire blood”. Wood and Morry were to be students together at Birmingham University after BH gained his BSc in Wales. Then the pair faced the hard task of finding work in depression-struck mid-1930s England. BH founded his monthly magazine CHESS in 1935\, an act of amazing optimism which only his great appetite for work could justify. The magazine was based in Sutton Coldfield\, just north of Birmingham\, at gloomy premises known as Masonic Buildings. \nThe early decades of this publication were marked by the outpouring of glorious journalism of a popular sort. The man’s love\nof the game shone through his work and he recruited such contributors as the chatty Koltanowski and the prince of annotators\nAlexander Alekhine. Later he became the long-serving columnist of the Birmingham Post\, from 1949 of the weekly Illustrated London News\, and even later of the Daily Telegraph. A feature of the magazine was its lively letters from readers which made for more interesting reading than the equivalent occasional letter to be found in the staid\nBCM. The readers also made pertinent contributions to opening theory\, especially in going through the 1946 MCO with a fine toothcomb and reporting their discoveries to Sutton Coldfield. \nBH wrote a best-selling Easy Guide to Chess which went through several editions and was far more user-friendly than other primers on the market at the time. He also designed a luxury set\, the Coldfield\, and produced various chess clocks with new features. BH was a member of the BCF Olympiad side that played in the first part of the Buenos Aires Olympiad in the autumn of 1939. After the team’s withdrawal due to the outbreak of war\, he stayed on in Argentina for a short while\, taking part in a short tournament where he met the legendary Alekhine. \nOne Hundred Victorian Chess Problems\, BH Wood\, Wayland Publishers\, London\, 1972\nBH was married to Marjorie\, a Birmingham primary school teacher\, and had three sons and a daughter. The elder two boys\,\nChris and Frank\, were strong players but not Philip. His daughter Peggy was our leading girl player of the 1950s\, and married Peter Clarke in 1962. One should note that BH was not Jewish\, as many assumed from the name Baruch – he was generally addressed as Barry by his wife and close friends. Others called him just by the initials BH. Everyone in British chess knew exactly who you meant when you said BH. Many thought of him as a sharp business-man. In any event\, the fearsome workload he shouldered meant that none of his children\, seeing this at first hand\, aspired to carry on the magazine as a family business. To many in the British chess community who had never seen top players in action\, BH was their first contact with the wider chess world due to the exhausting simul tours he made to many clubs the length and breadth of the UK. \nLater\, he organized CHESS Festivals starting from 1953. These were our earliest open tournaments\, held at attractive venues such as Cheltenham\, Whitby\, Eastbourne and Southport. These events created the opportunity for British amateurs to meet continental grandmaster opposition like Donner and O’Kelly. BH had great confidence in his ability – his MSc at Birmingham University was in chemistry\, but in 1946-7 he started studying nuclear physics privately\, telling Brian Reilly\, who was employed by him at that time\, that it was the science of the future. I have to simply marvel at this – where did he find the time? In his self-portrait in connection with the GB-USSR match of 1946 he revealed that he had been studying Russian privately with a view to taking an external degree in it at Birmingham University. \nThe post-war decade saw him at his most active. He was BCF delegate at early FIDE meetings post-1946\, the period that saw the mighty Soviet Union admitted to membership in 1947. BH was instrumental in maintaining Spain’s membership of FIDE at the same time\, despite Soviet opposition to Franco’s fascism. He claimed to me he was always a most welcome guest in Spain thereafter. \nBattles with the BCF\nBH had been exempt from military service due to a duodenal ulcer. He spent the war keeping the magazine alive in his spare time as he was put in charge of a research laboratory at the Birmingham Chemical Company. During the war the government had the power under emergency legislation to direct citizens into any sort of work that would contribute to the war effort. His comment to me on that intensive period was: “It was the first time I ever drew a decent salary”. After a short spell as BCF FIDE delegate\, he fell out with the ruling body in the early 1950s. His view was that the national body was ultra-conservative and not open to fresh ideas such as the knockout championship open to all which he organised in 1949-50. Lo and behold\, a few months later the BCF started organising regional competitions to arrange for qualification for the British Championship! BH often criticised the BCF in his magazine. In June 1950 he wrote the first of a planned series of articles on the evergreen theme “Where is British Chess Going?” and forwarded a copy to the BCF just before publication. The BCF legal eagle Professor Wheatcroft immediately threatened to take out an injunction\, so putting the frighteners on the printers. Rather than delay the July issue (not that subscribers were not used to a rather irregular schedule!)\, BH brought out the issue with white space\, on two pages\, a dramatic way of alerting the readers to the dispute. The promised articles\, which he said would appear after the dispute was settled\, never appeared. \nDW Anderton OBE plays BH Wood MBE in 1981 in a Blitz tournament outside of the National Film Theatre. Photograph courtesy of John Saunders\nThere were also tensions with BCF figures like Alexander and Golombek\, in the latter case probably due to professional rivalry and Harry G’s identification with the BCM. Another prominent figure with whom BH crossed swords was the flamboyant Liverpool barrister Gerald Abrahams who threatened to sue over a report in CHESS of gambling debts incurred “on the turf’. \nBH was no stranger to litigation. For example he had had a lawsuit with Jaques culminating in 1940 over the use of the term\n“genuine Staunton-pattern sets” in his advertising. The case was initially lost\, a potentially crippling blow\, but then won on appeal with the aid of solicitor Julius Silverman (later a prominent Birmingham MP)\, Ritson Morry\, Sir George Thomas and\nother well-wishers. When Wood-Morry hostility was at its height in the early 1950s over pro- and anti-BCF views\, BH drew attention in a letter to a Welsh chess organiser to Ritson’s short period in jail. The uncomplimentary term ‘gaolbird’ was used. A court case followed which the penurious Ritson\, having been struck off as a solicitor could hardly afford\, yet BH was cleared on the defence of justification. My fellow students and I at Birmingham University could only marvel at the daily press reports on the wrangles between two of our patrons whom we had feted at a celebratory dinner only a short while before. \nHere is the point at which to mention BH’s support for chess in the universities. He was the long-time President of the\nBUCA (British Universities’ Chess Association) and turned up at many of their events with support. He loaned equipment in the early days when not every chess club had sufficient clocks for a match – bear in mind that the austerity period in Britain lasted for years after 1945. BH also supported correspondence chess\, being the founder of the Postal Chess League\, a team event very popular in its day but now defunct. \nBH’s best playing performance was the British Championship of 1948 when he came second to Broadbent. The Midlander had actually started with 6.5 points from seven games\, but the unsatisfactory position arose that he had to meet Broadbent in the last round when each had an adjourned game still to finish off. \nBH Wood during the 1948 British Championships at Bishopsgate Institute\, London. Taken on August 30th 1948 by Keystone Press Agency\nThe tension got to BH\, he missed a clear winning chance against the Northerner and lost. Yet he should really have taken the title on the merits of the positions he had achieved. His rivals resented the fact that he had hired a second\, namely Paul Schmidt\, the Estonian player who was once thought of as almost as good as Keres in his native land. Schmidt had won the German Championship during the war in 1941. The British amateurs of 1948 were not impressed by this intrusion of professionalism and the importation of someone who carried the taint of possible Nazism. According to Brian Reilly\, Gerald Abrahams was particularly scathing. \nBH made a good impression on Botvinnik when the latter stayed at the Wood residence in Rectory Road\, Sutton Coldfield\, in 1967 (the reference for those who can read Russian is Baturinsky’s “…Tvorchestvo” trilogy on Botvinnik. The article was entitled: Albion shakhmatny i inoy. It appears on pp435 -448 of the third volume. A shortened version appears in English in Botvinnik’s autobiography Achieving the Aim). When I drew BH’s attention to the article and its peculiar title he responded with his usual erudite comment: ‘Albion? Yes\, that’s the Roman reference to the white cliffs of Dover”. For most Brummies\, “The Albion” did not mean a local pub\, but rather the West Bromwich Albion football team! \nIn theory\, the communist Botvinnik should have been distant from his host\, the Midlands entrepreneur and business man\, who drove him round to his engagements in Britain for three weeks\, but their common love of chess triumphed over ideological\ndifferences. In particular\, the speed of production of CHESS\, now on its own presses\, was compared very favourably by the Soviet Patriarch to that of Shakhmaty v SSSR. British trade unions had a different view of course\, in pre-Thatcher days\, and BH had some tricky obstacles to overcome in this field. The Muscovite Botvinnik recorded the fact that the garage of BH’s large house was full of chess books (as were various rooms – to the abiding despair of Marjorie)\, so the family car was always parked outside on the drive. BH revealed to Botvinnik that he had not been able pay off his mortgage for decades due to the variable cash flow from his business and journalism. \nBH was in love with study as a young man\, he once told me\, and he had a facility in various European languages\, which made him always welcome abroad. Over the years\, BH had a number of employees who were strong players\, such as Brian Reilly\, Owen Hindle and Robert Bellin\, but none of them lasted long. Owen Hindle\, a person of placid temperament\, stuck it out the longest\, but even he had his patience tried by the ‘boss’. One cannot hide the fact that BH was a controversial figure – perhaps the clue after all is that reference to his stubbornness and Yorkshire blood? I contributed to his magazine for many years\, but certainly never wanted to work for him full-time! \nI used to see BH in the last decade of his life only in the Hastings press room. For his age\, he still took on a fantastic workload. Peter Clarke once commented that his father-in-law gave the impression of believing he would live for ever. Finally\, Anno Domini told and BH sold his business to Robert Maxwell of Pergamon fame/notoriety in 1988. \nIn his final year\, BH suffered from diabetes\, and the resulting inability to walk meant he was confined to a wheelchair\, but he still insisted on visiting Hastings one last time\, where\, in his prime\, he had specialised in taking away Premier score sheets. Often they were taken not just to his hotel room\, but even back to Sutton Coldfield\, so hindering the work of other chess journalists unless Ritson or later\, Peter Griffiths had got in first to create the bulletin. \nWhat a character! We lack such a colourful figure nowadays. Where he still alive today\, I imagine he would still be trying to put a bomb under the BCF. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nWinter\, Jaques and Wood\nFrom Chess Explorations (Cadogan Chess\, 1996) by Edward Winter we have further detail on the Jaques court case: \n“Paul Timson\, a lawyer\, sends us reports on two legal  cases connected with chess. In 1939 B.H.Wood found himself in the dock for having advertised for sale in CHESS in 1937 ‘genuine Staunton chessmen’. The plaintiffs were John Jaques & Son\, Ltd. Sir George Thomas.\, Max Euwe and Lodewijk Prins appeared as witnesses for the defence. The case is referred to by Fred Wren in his article ‘Tales of a Woodpusher: Woodpusher’s Woodpile’\, which appeared in Chess Review\, 1949 and was reprinted in Reinfeld’s The Treasury of Chess Lore. The issues of CHESS of the time also contained a huge amount of material on the case. The decision was that ‘Staunton’ alone was permissible description\, but that the phrase ‘genuine Staunton’ implied a product made by Jaques & Son Ltd.\, as opposed to any Staunton pattern.  However\, B.H. Wood appealed and\, in 1940\, won.” \nOther Sources\nIf you can get access then we recommend the eleven-page “B.H. Wood and his chess playing family” article in the August-2009 issue of Chess Monthly written by his son Chris Wood (helped by brother Frank). \nLikewise The Chess Lawsuit of the Century is detailed in CHESS\, volume 52\, Number 1018\, pp.392 – 394 by BHW himself. \nHere is an obituary from the MCCU \nBackground information from Sutton Coldfield Chess Club \nAlekhine’s Articles for CHESS by Michael Clapham \nHere is his Wikipedia entry.
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-baruch-harold-wood/
CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,Honours,Official,Organiser,Player,Remembering,Writer
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210404
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210405
DTSTAMP:20210306T134915Z
CREATED:20190824T093159Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210306T134915Z
UID:1144-1617494400-1617580799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Murray Chandler (04-iv-1960)
DESCRIPTION:Happy Birthday GM Murray Chandler MNZM (04-iv-1960) \nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess by Hooper & Whyld : \n“International Grandmaster (1983)\, a New Zealander who settled in England at the age of 15. subsequently playing for his adopted country in the Lucerne Olympiad\, 1982. He scored +4=6 to share first prize at New York 1980\, came second (+5=5 — 1) equal with Hort at Dortmund 1983\, and scored +5 = 6 (a GM norm) to share first prize at Amsterdam 1983\, a Swiss systemtournament. Chandler has edited the magazine Tournament Chess since its inception in 1982.” \nA White Pawn in Europe\, Murray Chandler\, 1975\nHere is his Wikipedia entry \nMurray Chandler\, Ray Keene and Miguel Najdorf\nFrom Chessgames.com : \n“Murray Graham Chandler was born in Wellington\, New Zealand. He was awarded the IM title in 1977 and the GM title in 1982. He was joint New Zealand Champion in 1975-76 (shared with Lev Isaakovich Aptekar and Ortvin Sarapu) and joint Commonwealth Champion in 1984. His best tournament results were 2nds at London 1984\, London 1986 and Amsterdam 1987 and he has played both for New Zealand (1976-1980) and England (1982-86) in the Olympiads. He edited Tournament Chess for a time from 1981 onwards and as well as writing he became the managing director of Gambit Publications. \nLeonard Barden (left) and Murray Chandler display the Lloyds Bank Trophy which the 19-year old New Zealander won ahead of 3 Grandmasters and 10 International Masters for his finest international success up to 1979. in the Lloyds Bank Masters\nHe was the organiser and winner of a large tournament\, the Queenstown Classic in New Zealand in January 2006 and this tournament also incorporated the 113th New Zealand Championship making Chandler the New Zealand Champion for the second time. He won his third New Zealand title at the 115th New Zealand Championship (2008) which was held in Auckland where he currently resides.” \nMurray Graham Chandler\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 Graham Chandler\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 Graham Chandler\nThe English Chess Explosion\nSicilian 2.c3\nThe Complete c3 Sicilian\nTournament Chess\nHow to Beat Your Dad at Chess\nChess Tactics for Kids\nChess for Children\nChess Puzzles for Kids
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-murray-graham-chandler/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player,Writer
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210407
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210408
DTSTAMP:20201224T001334Z
CREATED:20191116T154436Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20201224T001334Z
UID:2040-1617753600-1617839999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Julius du Mont (15-xii-1881 07-iv-1956)
DESCRIPTION:Signature of J du Mont from a Brian Reilly “after dinner” postcard from Southsea 1951.\nBCN Remembers Julius du Mont (15-xii-1881 07-iv-1956) \nHere is his Wikipedia entry \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXXVI\, Number 5\, 1956 we have this obituary written by DJ Morgan : \nIn our February issue we wrote an appreciation of one of the distinguished past editors of this magazine\, R. C. Griffith. He had been followed in the chair in 1938 by our present Games’ Editor\, and when he\, in turn\, was called in 1940 to sterner duties\, he was succeeded by Julius du Mont. During the war years\, and through the difficult post-war period\, till 1949\, he held the reins. As we wrote on another occasion\, “His had been difficult years: the “B.C.M.” had survived when so much else had succumbed during the stress and strain of total war.” lt is with regret that we now record his death on April 7th\, in a Hastings nursing home\, at the age of seventy-four\, after a protracted illness. \ndu Mont was born in Paris-a little-known fact which he himself once disclosed to us-on December 15th\, 1881. lt was there also that he received his education. His early bent and ambitions were musical. The tradition that chess and music have a close relationship may be traced as far back\, at least\, as Philidor’s great eminence in both. du Mont was truly in the line of such dual personalities. He pursued his musical studies at the Frankfort-on-Main Conservatoire and at Heidelberg\, and soon became established as a concert pianist.’ Later he achieved great success as a music teacher\, and among his pupils was the well-known concert pianist\, Edna lles. The French and German background also explains his facility as a linguist. \nHe came to England as a young man and brought with him a considerable talent for chess. Settling in London\, he rapidly improved as a player\, and successes followed. At the Kentish Congress\, Tunbridge Wells\, 1912\, he came equal second and third. He was Champion of the strong Hampstead Club for two years\, and Middlesex Champion in 1913 and 1915. He quickly mastered our language and showed this during the First World War by writing a manual on the Lewis gun. After the war\, music kept its place in his life\, but more and more chess became his main activity. He forsook playing and turned to journalism and authorship\, and his output of books is evidence of his gifts and industry. Titles come readily to mind: Chess Openings lllustrated\, Centre Counter Defence (1919) and Centre and Danish Gambit (1920); The Elements of Chess (1925) ; Ihe Basis of Combination in Chess (1938) ; 200 Miniature Games (1941); More Miniature Games (1953); (with Dr. Tartakower) 500 Master aomes of Chess\, two volumes (1952)\, to which was added a third volume in 1954\, 100 Master Games of Chess. He also translated Edward Lasker’s Chess Strategy\, and Alekhine’s two volumes of My Best Games of Chess (the first with M. E.Goldstein). \nThe wealth of material ready to hand combined with a foreigner’s gift of lucid expression in “the other tongue” made his books very popular. To the great value and importance of these books\, a whole generation of chess-players will readily testify. \nFor some years\, du Mont was chess editor of The Field and of The Manchester Guardian. During the last war he organized chess championships for the Armed Services. We pay tribute to his services to the game\, to his many kindnesses and friendships to its players\, and\, in particular\, to his devotion to this magazine.-D. J. M. \nD. C.\, who enjoyed a long friendship with our late Editor\, writes to us as follows- \nBy the death of J. du Mont\, the chess world has lost an eminent and popular personality. That this popularity was well deserved will be apparent even to those who knew him only slightly.  \nEssentially kind\, he performed many generous acts\, and having\, by his own efforts\, become the best-known British writer on chess\, he not only filled this position with modesty and dignity\, but was liberal in the help he gave to those starting on the road he had so successfully followed. \nIn the tournament room-where his presence was always welcome-he was invariably quiet and courteous\, and although gifted with a fine wit\, he never used it\nunkindly. He *as an excellent companion\, and players at many congresses will recall the happy times they spent in their visits to him at all hours of the evening. It is sad to think that these gatherings have now irrevocably reached their end: to quote A. E. Housman’s beautiful lines- \nThey come and were and ore not\nAnd come no more anew. \nBut as long as a literature of chess remains\, the name of Julius du Mont will not be forgotten. His many friends\, however\, have no need of his writings in order to keep alive their memory of him. \nIn Chess Secrets I learned from the Masters\, Edward Lasker\, Hollis and Carter\, 1952 : \nJ. DuMont became the author of a number of interesting monographs on chess openings\, and for many years he was the Editor of the British Chess Magazine. It was he who translated my own translation of Schachstrategie which I attempted in the summer of 1913. Naturally\, my English was not fit to be printed. DuMont had to rewrite everything I had written\, and except for his untiring labors Chess Strategy might never have been published. He gave the book a certain literary flavor\, which no doubt added greatly to its popularity. It went into fourteen printings before it was replaced by Modern Chess Strategy in 1945.  \nDuMont was a pianist of note and I took lessons from him; however\, the time I took from my chess activities to practise the piano was shamefully meagre. No wonder I have been told more than once that as a pianist I am a good chess player.”
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-julius-du-mont-15-xii-1881-07-iv-1956/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,Hastings,History,Player,Writer
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200410
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200411
DTSTAMP:20220410T124454Z
CREATED:20190824T103915Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220410T124454Z
UID:1157-1586476800-1586563199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of CGM Keith Richardson (02-iv-1942 10-iv-2017)
DESCRIPTION:BCN remembers CGM Keith Richardson who passed away on Monday\, April 10th\, 2017. \nKeith Bevan Richardson was born in Nottingham\, on Thursday\, April 2nd 1942. On this day : The LA Times urges security measures against Japanese-Americans and US auto factories switch from commercial to war production. \nKeith’s parents were Arthur (30) and Hilda May (née Nicholls\, 25). He married Sandra Sowter on the 11th of September 1971 in Sutton Coldfield\, Warwickshire. They had two children\, Neil and Ian. They lived at 19\, The Ridings in Camberley\, Surrey. \nSadly\, Keith was diagnosed in the 1990s with Parkinson’s disease and became unwell whilst playing in a chess tournament in Cannes in April 2017 and passed away on the 10th of May 2017. Keith was 75. He continued to actively play chess into his final year. \nCGM Keith Richardson\nKeith was the Treasurer of the Friends of Chess during the period known the English Chess Explosion (late 1970s and 1980s). \nKeith received the ECF President’s Award in 2015 for services to the management of the BCF Permanent Invested Fund (PIF) together with Dr. Julian Farrand and Ray Edwards. \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 CHESS\, Volume 41 (1975)\, Numbers 729-730 (September)\, pp. 380 the news of Keith’s success was initially reported: \n“BRITAINS’ FIRST CHESS GRAND MASTER \nThe first grand master title to be won by a British player has been achieved in the field of correspondence chess by Keith B. Richardson\, aged 33\, of Camberley. \nThe title of Correspondence Chess grand master is awarded by the lnternational correspondence Chess Federation. Keith Richardson fulfilled the norm by sharing third place in the final of the 7th World Correspondence Chess Championship with a score of 11 points from 16 games. The tournament began in February 1972 and results of the last adjudicated games were recently announced making J. V. Estrin U.S.S.R. first with l2 points; J. Boey Belgium scored 11.5; K. B. Richardson G.B. and Dr. V. Zagorovski U.S.S.R. 11. \nThere are only 25 Correspondence Chess Grand masters throughout the world.” \nThis was followed in the next month’s issue by a correction and more depth in CHESS\, Volume 41 (1975)\, Numbers 731-732 (October)\, pp. 30-31: \n“K. B. Richardson\, though the first Britain to become a grand master by play was preceded by Comins Mansfield as grandmaster of problem composition\, a title he gained in 1972. Our report last month did not make this clear. \nKeith B. Richardson was born 2 April 1942 and was educated at Nottingham High School. At 16\, he passed Grade 8 in Royal\nSchools of Music at pianoforte. At Durham University\, he obtained a B.A. in French and German and was awarded the University Palatinate (equal to a ‘blue’) in cricket and fives. He could have become a professional cricketer or a concert pianist but\nmade his career instead with Barclays Bank which brought him to London and a home in Camberley\, Surrey\, where he has settled down with his wife\, Sandra (from Sutton Coldfield!). They now have two baby sons\, Neil aged three years and Ian who is only two months old – both born since the final of the 7th World Correspondence Chess Championship began. \nCGM Keith Bevan Richardson (from a Barclays publicity article)\nKeith’s other interests include bridge and squash. He plays squash for his bank and is Secretary of the London Squash League. As a young chess player\, Keith won the Notts. under l4 Championship\, held the Notts. under l8 Championship for four years and the Notts. Championship for two years and was British Junior Champion in 1962. In 1963\, he was Durham County Champion and joint winner of the British Universities’ Championship which he won outright the following year. He was twice captain of the British Universities Students’ Olympiad team. He held the Midlands Championship (Forrest Cup) for three years and was joint London Champion and London Banks’ Champion in 1970 but has been content to hold the latter title since then and concentrate on correspondence chess. \nKeith Richardson aged 20 at the 1963 Niemeyer Under-21 Tournament in Groningen. The forerunner of the European Junior Championship\nNiemeyer Under-21 Tournament\, Groningen 1963. The forerunner of the European Junior Championship.\nIn 1964\, Keith Richardson was runner up for the British Correspondence Chess Championship and at the same time won a Master Class tournament of the lnternational Correspondence Chess Federation (I.C.C.F.) which qualified for a place in the World C.C. Championship semi-final. He came second in the 1965-67 semi-final and tried again in the 1968-71 event which he won. At the same time\, he was representing Great Britain on Board 5 in the 1965-67 I.C.C.F. Olympiad Preliminary and on Board 4 in the 1968-71 event. His score of 5 points from 7 games helped the British team to win its section in the 1968-71 Preliminary and qualify for a place in the I.C.C.F. Olympiad Final which started in 1972. When Keith began play in the World C.C. Championship Final involving l6 tames\, he was also asked to take Board 3 in the Olympiad Final involving another 9 games. \nHe accepted – a mistake which might possibly have cost him the World C.C. Championship! His next assault on the World title will be in 1979 and in the meantime he plans to play in the next I.C.C.F. Olympiad Preliminary and write a book on the 7th World C.C. Championship. \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 position\, with Black in Zugzwang\, the game went for adjudication (after more than three years’ play\, a very necessary evil): \n“In order to substantiate White’s claim for a win\, it was necessary to submit three pages of analysis proving that every possible move loses for Black. If the knight moves\, White’s king claims an entry. If Black moves the bishop along the a7-g1 diagonal\, White plays Ba5. If the Black bishop moves on the d8-a5 diagonal\, White plays Bd4 : KBR” \nThe game was adjudicated a win for White. This was only defeat inflicted upon the new World Champion. \nCGM Keith Richardson in 1975\nThis article was followed (with some glee no doubt) by an article in  British Chess Magazine\, Volume LIXIV (95\, 1975)\, Number 12 (December)\, page 526 as follows: \n“Keith B. Richardson recently became the third British player to receive a grandmaster title (the other two both in 1972\, are Comins Mansfield for chess composition’ and R.W. Bonham’ correspondence grandmaster of the blind). The title of Correspondence Chess Grandmaster is awarded by the International Correspondence  Chess Federation  (ICCF) and Keith Richardson fulfilled the norm by sharing third place in the final of the 7th World Correspondence Championship. Leading scores in the tournament (February 1972 – Summer 1975): 1. Y. Estrin (USSR) 12/16; J.Boey (B) 11.5; 3-4 K.B. Richardson (ENG)\, V. Zagorovsky (USSR) 11; etc. \nKeith\, born 2nd April1942\, was educated at Nottingham High School and Durham University-. He won the Nottinghamshire U-14 Championship\, held the Notts U-18 championship for four years\, the senior Notts  Championship for two years and was British Junior Champion in 1962. In 1963\, he was  Durham County Champion and joint winner of the British Universities Championship  which he won outright the following year. He was twice captain of the British team in Students Olympiads. \nKeith Richardson from BCM\, 1984\, page 545\nIn 1964 Keith left university to make a career with Barclays Bank.  In the same year he was runner-up in the British Correspondence Championship and won an ICCF master tournament which qualified him for a place in the World Championship final. He came second in the 1965-7 semi-final\, tried again\, and won the 1968-71 event thus gaining entry to the 7th final. \nKeith Richardson lives in Surrey at Camberley. He is married and has two baby sons – both born since the final of the 7th World Correspondence Championship began. At present he is writing a book on the 7th Championship and\, for a change playing some OTB (over-the-board) chess in the London League for the Athenaeum club\, to which he makes a great contribution – it is a marvellous feeling to know  that the player next to you (on your side!) is a grandmaster. \nKeith Richardson playing for BCM Dragons in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL\, courtesy of John Upham Photography.\nThe following three games are – Keith’s best from  the -championship. In them he defeats three of the five Russians in the\ntournament (his overall score against the Russians was 3.5/5 – a wonderful achievement.” \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 here is the printed version of the above report: \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LIXIV (95\, 1975)\, Number 12 (December)\, page 526\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LIXIV (95\, 1975)\, Number 12 (December)\, page 527\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 by Hooper & Whyld : \n“English player. International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster (1975)\, bank manager. Around 1961 Richardson decided that over-the- board play\, which had brought him some successes as a. junior\, would interfere with his professional career and he took to postal chess instead. His best performance in this field was his sharing of third place with Zagorovsky after Estrin and Boey in the 7th World Correspondence Championship\, 1968-71. ” \nIn October 1984 Keith took part in the A. E. Axelson Memorial tournament organised by the Swedish CC Committee and with fifteen grandmasters was one of the strongest CC tournaments in history.  Keith finished in 11th place ahead of Boey. \nIn 1991 Jonathan Berry wrote a potted biography in  Diamond Dust\, International Chess Enterprises\, ISBN 1-879479-00-1 as follows : \n“Camberley\, Surrey\, England. Born 2 April 1942. Married with two sons. Bank Manager. \nHe was British Under-21 Champion in 1962. At Groningen 1962/63\, he was placed 2nd in the European Junior Championship. At Bristol 1967 he was equal 5th in the British Championship. \nIn CC\, he gained the IMC in 1968\, GMC in 1975. In CC WCh VII\, he won the semi-final with 9.5/12\, and placed =3rd in the final\, 11/16. In CC WCh X\, he again tied for third in the final with 10/15. Playing board 3 for Britain in OL-VIII\, finals\, 1972-76\, he scored 7.5/9\, the highest score on any board. He won the Prefors Memorial\, 1976-1980\, 9.5.12” \n1976-1980 Prefors Memorial\nKeith was a founding member of Camberley Chess Club in 1972. \n\nA one-day tournament (The Keith Richardson Memorial) in memory of Keith was started in 2017 and has been held four times in total being played on-line for the first time in 2021. \nKen Coates presents Clive Frostick with the trophy for the 2019 Keith Richardson Memorial Tournament.\nFrom Chessgames.com : \n“Keith Bevan Richardson was born in Nottingham\, England. Awarded the IMC title in 1968 and the GMC title in 1975\, he finished 3rd= in the World Correspondence Championships of 1975 and 1984.” \nHere are his games from chessgames.com \nAn obituary from Ray Edwards / ECF. \nHere is an excellent biography by Peter Rust from the web site of the Hamilton Russell Cup \nBarclay’s Bank pay tribute to Keith on the corporate site. \nHere is an entry from the Belgian chess history web site.
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-keith-bevan-richardson/
CATEGORIES:4NCL,Correspondence,Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200412
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200413
DTSTAMP:20210306T113618Z
CREATED:20190823T182737Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210306T113618Z
UID:1102-1586649600-1586735999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Rev. Charles Ranken (05-i-1828 12-iv-1905)
DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of Rev. Charles Edward Ranken (05-i-1828 12-iv-1905)From The Encyclopaedia of Chess by Harry Golombek : \nA leading member of the formidable band of reverends who played such a strong role in early Victorian English chess\, he is described as ‘one of the writing rather than the fighting clergy in chess’ in P. W. Sergeant’s Century of Britsh Chess. Though he learnt chess at an early age’ he made his first really earnest study of the game when he was an undergraduate at Wadham College\, Oxford 1847-50\, in particular devoting himself to a theoretical study of Staunton’s Handbook\, which he rightly regarded as a great landmark in chess literature. \nOn leaving Oxford he competed in the provincial section at London l85l where he came second to Boden.\nIn 1867 he became vicar of Sandford-on-Thames and lived at Oxford where\, in collaboration with Lord Randolph Churchill (Winston’s father)\, he founded the Oxford University Chess Club\nand became its first President. \nResigning his living at Sandford in 1871\, he went to live at Malvern where he stayed till his death. He played in many of the congresses organized by the Counties Chess Association\, his best result being 1st in the first class section at Malvern 1872 with a score of l2 points\, followed by two other reverends\, Thorold 11.5 and Wayte 10.5. It was at this congress that he brought about a reconciliation between Staunton and Löwenthal who had been estranged for a considerable time. \nHe played in the Yizayanaqaram tournament at London 1883 and started well but his health gave way after the first week and he divided fifth place with G. H. D. Gossip.\nHis chief importance during the later stages of his chess career was as a writer\, first as editor of the Chess Player’s Chronicle in 1877 and later as a member of the staff of the British Chess Magazine in which he wrote on many aspects of chess but specialized in analysis (of the openings\, middle-game and the endings)’ In 1889 he published\, in collaboration with E. Freeborough\, Chess Openings Ancient and Modern. (London)’ ( H’G’) \nChess Openings Ancient and Modern 1889\nThe Ranken Variation is a good line for White in the Four Knights Opening\, analysed in the Chess Players Chronicle\, 1879 by Ranken first president of the Oxford University Chess Club. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-rev-charles-edward-rankin/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player
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END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200423
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200424
DTSTAMP:20210306T142104Z
CREATED:20190823T191241Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210306T142104Z
UID:1128-1587600000-1587686399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of George Walker (13-iii-1803 23-iv-1879)
DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of George Walker (13-iii-1803 23-iv-1879) \nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess by Anne Sunnucks : \n“Leading organiser and chess columnist in the last century. Born on 13th March 1803. Founded the Westminster Chess Club in 1831. Published New Treatise on Chess in 1832 and Chess and Chess Players in 1850. Edited the chess column in Bell’s Life of London from 1835 to 1870. Died on 23rd April 1879. \nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess by Hooper & Whyld : \n“English chess writer and propagandist. Born over his father’s bookshop in London he later became a music publisher in partnership with his father. At a time when he was receiving odds of a rook from Lewis he had the temerity to edit a chess column in the Lancet (1823-4); the first such column to appear in a periodical\, it was\, perhaps fortunately\, short-lived. He tried his hand at composing problems\, with unmemorable results; but his play improved. In the early 1830s he was receiving odds of pawn and move from McDonnell\, after whose death (1835) Walker was\, for a few years\, London’s strongest active player. \nWalker’s importance\, however\, lies in the many other contributions he made to the game. He founded chess clubs\, notably the Westminster at Huttman’s in 1831 and the St George’s at Hanover\nSquare in 1843. From 1835 to 1873 he edited a column in Bell’s Life \, a popular Sunday paper featuring sport and scandal. Many of his contributions were perfunctory\, but on occasion he wrote at length of news\, gossip\, and personalities in a rollicking style suitable for such a paper. As with many of his writings he was more enthusiastic than accurate. He edited England’s first chess magazine The Philidorian (1837-8). Above all\, Walker published many books at a low price: they sold widely and did much to popularize the game. The third edition of his New Treatise (1841) was as useful a manual as could he bought at the time and its section on the Evans gambit was praised by Jaenisch\, Walker established the custom of recording games\, and his Chess Studies (1844)\, containing 1\,020 games played from 1780 to 1844\, has become a classic. For the first time players could study the game as it was played and not as authors\, each with his own bias\, supposed it should be played. Throughout his life Walker helped chess-players in need. He raised funds for La Bqurdonnais\, Capt. W. D. Evans\, and other players\, and often for their destitute widows. \nAfter his father died (1847) Walker sold their business and became a stockbroker\, reducing his chess activities but continuing ‘his many kindnesses. With an outgoing personality he enjoyed the company of those\, such as La Bourdonnais\, whom he called “jolly good fellows’\, an epithet which might well be applied to himself. He was occasionally at odds with Lewis\, who was jealous of his own reputation\, and Staunton\, imperious and touchy; but it seems unlikely that the easy-going\nWalker\, who believed that chess should be enjoyed\, intentionally initiated these disputes. He left a small but excellent library of more than 300\nbooks and his own manuscript translations of the works of Cozio\, Lolli\, and other masters. He should not be confused with William Greenwood Walker who recorded the games of the Bourdon-\nnais-McDonne 11 matches 1834\, and died soon afterwards “full of years’. \nThe Walker Attack is a variation of the Allagier Gambit : \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nHere is his Wikipedia entry
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-george-walker/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200424
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200425
DTSTAMP:20210306T142207Z
CREATED:20190823T161140Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210306T142207Z
UID:1084-1587686400-1587772799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Godfrey Heathcote (20-vii-1870 24-iv-1952)
DESCRIPTION:From The Encyclopaedia of Chess(Robert Hale\, 1970 and 1976) by Anne Sunnucks : \n“Problem composer\, and deemed to be on of the great masters of the art. Heathcote was born on 20th July 1870 in Manchester\, and died on 24th April 1952. whilst in office as the President of the British Chess Problem Society. An advocate of the model mate\, Heathcote was one of few composers with the power to combine model mates with strategy. In 1918 a collection of his problems appeared in the A. C. White Christmas series under the title Chess Idylls” \nHere is an appreciation from chesscomposers.blogspot.com \nChess Idylls (1918)
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-godfrey-heathcote/
CATEGORIES:Composer,Death Anniversary,History,Problemist
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200425
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200426
DTSTAMP:20210424T091645Z
CREATED:20190823T090733Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210424T091645Z
UID:1056-1587772800-1587859199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of GM John Nunn (25-iv-1955)
DESCRIPTION:BCN wishes GM John Nunn Happy Birthday (25-iv-1955) \nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess by Harry Golombek : \nBritish International master and European Junior Champion\, 1975. Born in London\, Nunn learned chess at the age of four and soon revealed a great aptitude for the game. \n  \nGraham Ladds and John Nunn. See full caption below.\nSupplied caption for above picture.\nHe came 6th in the Norwich Junior international tournament in 1970 and went up to Oxford University to take a mathematics degree at a very early age. He played on top board for the University from 1972-6 and is now preparing for a doctorate there. \nJohn DM Nunn\nHe won the European Junior Championship and with it the international master title in Groningen in 1975. In that year too he was equal first in the IBM Master tournament\, and at London in 1975 he reached an international master norm coming 5th in the international tournament there. He played on bottom board at the Haifa Olympiad 1976 and scored 64.2% \nGM John Nunn\nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess by Hooper & Whyld : \nEnglish player. International Grandmaster (1978)\, British champion 1980. He went to Oxford at the unusually young age of 15\, graduated in 1973. Gained his B.Sc. the following year and his\ndoctorate in 1978. \nGM John Nunn\n  \nA Junior Research Fellow\, he lectured in mathematics until 1981 when he became a professional player. By then he had already achieved several good results in international tournaments: Budapest 1978\, first; Hastings 1979-80\, first (4-5 = 10) equal with Andersson; Baden-bei-Wien 1980\, category 12\, third (+5=10) after Spassky and Belyavsky: Helsinki 1981\, first (+5 = 6) equal with Matulovich; and Wiesbaden 1981\, first (+6=3). In the category 12 Wijk aan Zee tournament 1982\, Nunn came first ( + 5=7 — 1) equal with Balashov ahead of Tal\, Hubner\, and Timman and at Helsinki 1983 he came second (+5 = 6) after Karlsson. \nMaia Chiburdanidze and John Nunn from Lloyds Bank\, 1985\nPossessing a remarkably quick sight of the board\, Nunn is an expert solver: he made the second highest individual score in the world team solving championship\, 1978\, and won the solving championship of Great Britain in 1981. \nLubomir Kavalek and John Nunn\nHere is an excellent article from ChessBase \nPolugayevsky-Nunn European team championship : \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 John Nunn\n\nHere is his Wikipedia entry \n46th USSR Chess Championships 1978\, RD Keene\, JDM Nunn\, RG Wade\, Master Chess Publications\, 1978\, ISBN 0 906634 00 8\n  \nThe Benoni for the Tournament Player\nSolving in Style\nThe Complete Pirc\nSecrets of Rook Endings\nSecrets of Pawnless Endings\nNew Ideas in the Pirc Defence\nBeating the Sicilian 3\nThe King Hunt\nSecrets of Grandmaster Chess\nSecrets of Practical Chess\nNunn’s Chess Openings\nJohn Nunn’s Chess Puzzle Book\n101 Brilliant Chess Miniatures\nLearn Chess\nSecrets of Minor-Piece Endings\nUnderstanding Chess Move by Move\nJohn Nunn’s Best Games\nEndgame Challenge\nTactical Chess Endings\nLearn Chess Tactics\nMammoth Book of the World’s Greatest Chess Games\nGrandmaster Chess Move by Move\nUnderstanding Chess Endgames\nNunn’s Chess Endings\nUnderstanding Chess Middlegames\nChess Tactics Workbook for Kids\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 Endgame Workbook for Kids\nGM John Nunn
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-john-denis-martin-nunn/
CATEGORIES:4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player,Problemist,Writer
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