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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200904
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200905
DTSTAMP:20200904T143051Z
CREATED:20190823T081815Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200904T143051Z
UID:1036-1599177600-1599263999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Michael Stean (04-ix-1953)
DESCRIPTION:We send best wishes to GM Michael Stean on his birthday\,  \nMichael Francis Stean was born Michael Francis Stein on Friday\, September 4th\, 1953 in Pancras\, London. His mother’s maiden name was Feldman. Michael has a brother\, Howard.  \nMichael Stean\nHe attended Latymer Upper School and Cambridge University. \nHis early chess days were spent at Richmond Junior Chess Club. \nHe became an International Master in 1975 and England’s third (OTB) Grandmaster in 1977 winning £2\,500 from the Jim Slater Foundation. \nHis peak FIDE rating was 2540 in January 1979.  \nHis mother (Jean) presented a trophy to the Marlow Congress (now the Berks and Bucks Congress) which became the Mrs. Jean Stean Cup. \nTony Miles and Michael Stean at the FIDE Zonal in Amsterdam\, 1978. (Source: http://gahetna.nl)\nAccording to British Chess (Pergamon\, 1983) by Botterill\, Levy\, Rice and Richardson : \n“Stean was educated at Cambridge University\, He was equal first in the British Championship\, Clacton\, 1974\, although only 4th in the playoff. He has been an important member of Korchnoi’s team for the last 5 years\, and this perhaps has been responsible more than anything for the rounding out and maturing of his style from the sharp tactical play of the early 1970s to the solid positional GM (especially with the White pieces) of today. \nKorchnoi\, Stean and Keene try out matching vests and T-shirts from The University of Sussex sports centre\, Falmer\, East Sussex. It is likely that the yellow one was only worn for this press photo shoot.\nStean is a fine author; Simple Chess and the Sicilian Najdorf are both excellent books. \nMichael Stean at the 1977 Lord John Cup\nTemperamentally he is generally pleasant\, good humoured and self confident\, although he suffers from intermittent poor health which might help to explain his at times erratic results.” \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 Chessgames.com : \n“Michael Francis Stean was born on the 4th of September 1953 in London\, England. He finished 3rd at the 1973 World Junior Chess Championships behind Alexander Beliavsky and Tony Miles. Awarded the IM title in 1975 and the GM title in 1977 (The third Englishman to attain the title after Miles and Keene).  \nHe finished 1st= in the 1974 British Championship but lost the play-off. He played on 5 English Olympiad teams from 1974 – 1983 and has won 1st prizes at Vrsac 1979\, Smederevska Palanka 1980 and Beer Sheba 1982.  \nA specialist in Opening Theory he served as one of Viktor Korchnoi’s seconds in the 1977 – 1981 period. He is the author of Simple Chess\, an introduction to chess strategy.” \nMchael Stean\, Hastings 1972-1973. Source : British Chess Magazine\, Volume 93\, Number 2\, page 53\nThe Robert Silk Fellowship Tournament\, Canterbury\, 1973. Source : British Chess Magazine\, Volume 93\, Number 5\, page 192\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\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 wrote this about Michael in a 1980 Dataday chess diary : \n“The fact that he has sprung up into second place among English players as regards Elo ratings demonstrates the considerable advance Michael Stean has made in the course of a year.  \nKorchnoi vs Stean at the Philips & Drew Masters of 1980. The game was drawn in 19 moves.\nIn the 1978 diary I wrote that it would not be long before he gained the grandmaster title since he already possessed one norm of the title. The forecast proved to be correct as he duly acquired the title a few months after I wrote the prophecy.  \nHe had though to take two more bites at the cherry before he managed to gain the required norms since the tournaments in which he played were not long events. They were Montilla in August 1977 where he came third below Gligoric and Kavalek and the Lord John Cup Tournament in London in September 1977 where he was equal 2nd with Quinteros and Mestel\, first place being occupied by the Czechoslovak grandmaster\, Hort. \nJan Timman plays Michael Stean at the 1978 Amsterdam FIDE Zonal. The Dutch GM won in 39 moves.\nBefore that he had assisted Keene in seconding Korchnoi in his candidates match versus Polugayevsky and had done this to such effect that Korchnoi asked him and Keene to act as his seconds at his final match in the Candidates at Belgrade and later on still at the World Championship match against Karpov in the Philippines. \nNigel Short\, Lubomir Kavalek and Michael Stean\nHe also played successfully in Yugoslavia in 1977 (equal 2nd at Virovitica and equal 2nd at Bar). In 1978 he was 3rd at Beersheba below Korchnoi but head of Keene. Five points out of nine at the very strong Swiss System tournament at Lone Pine was followed by an excellent equal 4th with Miles at the tournament at Las Palmas. He has shown that he not only possesses the title of grandmaster but also plays like one. \nMichael Stean (far right) at an unknown event\nA good example in the following game (Stean-Sax) against one of the joint first prize winners at the Las Palmas event. It was awarded the prize for the best 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 Oxford Companion to Chess (OUP\, 1984) by Hooper & Whyld : \n“English player\, International Grandmaster (1977). At Nice 1974\, in the first of his several Olympiads\, he won the brilliancy prize for his game against\nBrowne.  \nSince then he has had several good results: Montilia 1976\, equal second with Kavalek and Ricardo Calvo (1943— ) after Karpov; Montilia 1977\, third (-1-3 = 6)after Gligoric and Kavalek ahead of R. Byrne\, Taimanov\, and Andersson; London 1977. second (+4=4—1) equal with Mestel and Quinteros after Hort ; Vrsac 1979\, first (+ 8=5—1); Smederevska Palanka 1980\, first (+7-6); Beersheba 1982\, first\, Stean was one of Korchnoi’s seconds in the world championship cycles of 1977-8 and 1980-1\, and the two became close friends.  \nIn particular Stean provided help with the openings\, a subject on which he specialises. He published a book on the Najdorf variation of the Sicilian defence in 1976\, and Simple Chess\, a guide to the understanding of positional ideas\, in 1978.” \nGM Michael Stean\nFrom Wikipedia : \n“Michael Francis Stean (born 4 September 1953) is an English chess grandmaster\, an author of chess books and a tax accountant. \nMichael Stean chats with David Levy at the London Chess Classic\nThe game below (Stean-Browne) was the first winner of the World Brilliancy Prize established in 1974 by Isador Samuel Turover. The value of the prize was $1\,000.” \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nSee Michael Stean’s Wikipedia entry  for more \nVideo Chess Event (See caption below)\nVideo Chess Caption\nIn 1983 at the height of his powers Michael left the chess work and became a tax accountant.  He is now a senior partner at RSM UK. \nMchael Stean\, tax accountant\nMichael Francis Stean\nSimple Chess by Michael Stean\nSicilian Najdorf by Michael Stean\nSimple Chess by Michael Stean
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-michael-john-stean/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,History,Player,Writer
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200904
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200905
DTSTAMP:20200904T154337Z
CREATED:20190823T081958Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200904T154337Z
UID:1038-1599177600-1599263999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Stephen Gordon (04-ix-1986)
DESCRIPTION:We wish Stephen Gordon all the best on his birthday\, this day (September 4th) in 1986. \nStephen John Gordon was born on Thursday\, September 4th 1986 in Oldham\, Lancashire where he has lived since. \nHe attended The Blue Coat School in Oldham \nHe became a FIDE Master in 2004\, an International Master in 2006 and a Grandmaster in 2009. \nIn 2012 he shared first place with Gawain Jones in the British Championships in North Shields. \n2012 British Championships part crosstable\nAccording to Felice his peak FIDE rating was 2556 in September 2012 at the age of 26. \nCrosstable from the 2013 Budapest First Saturday GM Tournament\nStephen plays for 3Cs in the Manchester Chess League and for Wood Green in the London League and for 4NCL 3Cs in the Four Nations Chess League. \nStephen Gordon at the final 4NCL weekend in 2014. Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nWith the White pieces Stephen almost always plays 1.d4 aiming for a Queen’s Gambit and other main lines. \nAs the second player\, Stephen plays the Sicilian Najdorf and the Nimzo-Indian Defence. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nFrom Wikipedia : \n“Stephen J. Gordon (born 4 September 1986) is an English chess grandmaster. \nIn September 2004 he took a break from his A-level studies at The Blue Coat School\, Oldham to compete in the thirteenth Monarch Assurance Isle of Man International. \nIn 2005\, while still a FIDE Master\, he finished 6th in the British Championships ahead of a Grandmaster and several International Masters. \nAt the EU Individual Open Chess Championship held at Liverpool in 2006\, he led the tournament after eight rounds and finished a very creditable (joint) second\, a half point behind winner Nigel Short and level with Luke McShane among others. \nProbably his best result to date however\, was second place in the 2007 British Championship\, narrowly losing his share of the lead in the final round. In previous rounds\, he defeated both tournament victor Jacob Aagaard and previous champion Jonathan Rowson. \nBy 2008\, his rating had reached grandmaster level\, although the title itself had not yet been secured. At the British Championship in Liverpool\, he almost repeated his performance of the previous year\, by taking a share of third place. He was the British under-21 Champion each consecutive year between 2005 and 2008. He became a grandmaster on 1 August 2009. \nHe has been one of the co-presenters of the chess podcast The Full English Breakfast since its inaugural show in October 2010.” \nStephen Gordon at The Plough Public House in 2014 for the annual Drunken Knights vs Wood Green London League match. Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nFor more see Wiki Entry for Stephen Gordon \nGM Stephen Gordon\, courtesy of John Upham Photography
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-stephen-john-gordon/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player
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