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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for British Chess News
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TZID:UTC
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TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
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DTSTART:20190101T000000
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200602
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200603
DTSTAMP:20210307T181643Z
CREATED:20200409T075757Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210307T181643Z
UID:4229-1591056000-1591142399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Tamas Fodor (02-vi-1991)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday of GM Tamas Fodor Jr. (02-vi-1991) \nTamas was born in Kalocsa\, in Bács-Kiskun county\, Hungary. \nHe became a FIDE Master in 2003 and a GM in 2013. \nHe reached a peak rating of 2533 in June 2019 at the age of 28. In the FIDE rating list we have also Tamas Fodor and Tamas Fodor Sr. \nAccording to Chessgsames.com : \n“Grandmaster (2012).\nWon a double GM norm during the 13th European Individual Championship (2012) where he scored 6/11 and followed with another norm at the Caissa GM event in September 2012\, gaining his GM title on 23 September 2012 at the age of 21 years 3 months and 21 days. (1) \nWon the 3rd 4NCL Congress in July 2015. (2) \nSon of Tamas Fodor Sr.” \nTamas plays for 4NCL Cheddleton\, Wood Green (in the London League) and Hendon. \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\nGM Tamas Fodor
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-tamas-fodor-02-vi-1991/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/dresden14-17.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200603
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200604
DTSTAMP:20210307T181753Z
CREATED:20200530T124532Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210307T181753Z
UID:5844-1591142400-1591228799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Jonathan Levitt (03-vi-1963)
DESCRIPTION:From Wikipedia (Dutch version) : \nJonathan Levitt \, Jon\, (born in 1963) is a British chess player . In 1984 he became a FIDE International Master and in 1994 a FIDE Grand Master. \nGM Jonathan Levitt\, photograph by Cathy Rogers\nLevitt wrote chess anecdotes on the (no longer existing) chess portal kasparovchess.com . He also has a chess column in “Oxford Today”. Levitt is also known for his talent tests and he is also a chess teacher. Moreover\, he is a master in endgame studies. He takes chess photos\, some of which can be seen in Wikipedia. \nJonathan Levitt in play with Michael Adams\, Lloyds Bank\, 1990\, Philidor\, 1/2-1/2\nLevitt is also the author of several chess books: “Secrets of Spectacular Chess”\, “Genius in Chess”\, “Advice on Improving Your Game”. He also makes chess videos for the internet. \nFrom chessgames.com : \n“Jonathan Paul Levitt was born in Southwark (London)\, England. Awarded the IM title in 1984\, he is now a GM (1991) and a composer of problems. Winner of the Staunton Memorial in 2005. His notable works as an author include “Secrets of Spectacular Chess” and “Genius in Chess”.” \nJonathan achieved a peak rating of 2495 in January 1989 at the age of 26 and lives in Ipswich. \nHe shared 1st place the GLC Masters in 1986 with 10.5/15 with Neil McDonald : \nJonathan Levitt\, ? and Neil McDonald at the 1986 GLC 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\nGLC Masters crosstable\, 1986\nand was first equal with Jonathan Speelman in the Third Staunton Memorial in 2005 : \nThird Staunton Memorial\, 2005\nGM Jonathan Levitt\, photographer unknown\n\nHere is his personal web site \nGenius in Chess\nSecrets of Spectacular Chess\nGM Jonathan Levitt
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-jonathan-levitt-03-vi-1963/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player,Writer
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/IMG_1019.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200606
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200607
DTSTAMP:20210307T181841Z
CREATED:20200409T084619Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210307T181841Z
UID:4245-1591401600-1591487999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Philip Giulian (06-vi-1951)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday of FM Philip Maurice Giulian (06-vi-1951)
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-philip-maurice-giulian-06-vi-1951/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200606
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200607
DTSTAMP:20210307T181934Z
CREATED:20200410T163046Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210307T181934Z
UID:4355-1591401600-1591487999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of WIM Ingrid Lauterbach (06-vi-1960)
DESCRIPTION:Here is Ingrid’s German Wikipedia entry \nBirthday of WIM Ingrid Lauterbach (06-vi-1960) \nIngrid became a WIM in 1987 and her peak rating was 2205 in July of 2000. \nIngrid plays for 4NCL Barbican. \nWIM Ingrid Lauterbach\, 4NCL 2014\, courtesy of John Upham Photography\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nWIM Ingrid Lauterbach\, 4NCL 2012\, courtesy of John Upham Photography
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-wim-ingrid-lauterbach-06-vi-1960/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/lauterbachingrid.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200607
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200608
DTSTAMP:20210307T182043Z
CREATED:20200530T130144Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210307T182043Z
UID:5854-1591488000-1591574399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Dharshan Kumaran (07-vi-1975)
DESCRIPTION:From Wikipedia : \nDharshan Kumaran (born 7 June 1975) is an English chess grandmaster.[1] He won the World Under-12 Championship in 1986\, the World Under-16 Championship in 1991\, and finished 3rd equal in the World Under-20 Championship in 1994. He currently works as a neuroscience research scientist at DeepMind.[2] \nGM Dharshan Kumaran
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-dharshan-kumaran-07-vi-1975/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/IMG_0615.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200610
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200611
DTSTAMP:20210307T182210Z
CREATED:20200410T091453Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210307T182210Z
UID:4307-1591747200-1591833599@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Jovanka Houska (10-vi-1980)
DESCRIPTION:BCN wishes many Happy Returns to IM Jovanka Houska ! (10-vi-1980) \nFrom Wikipedia : \nJovanka Houska is an English chess player with the titles International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She is an eight-time winner of the British Women’s Chess Championship. \nJovanka Houska\, photographer unknown\nJovanka was born in London and became a Women’s International Master in 1999\, a Woman’s Grandmaster in 2000 and an International Master in 2005. Her peak rating was 2443 in July 2010 at the of 30. \nJovanka Houska\, photographer unknown\nShe plays for 4NCL Wood Green and her brother is IM Miroslav Houska. Her father Mario plays for Slough. \nJovanka Houska and family members\nIM Jovanka Houska\, courtesy of John Upham Photography\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nDangerous Weapons : Caro-Kann\nStarting Out : The Scandinavian\nPlay the Caro-Kann\nOpening Repertoire : The Caro-Kann\nThe Mating 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\nIM Jovanka Houska\, courtesy of John Upham Photography
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-jovanka-houska-10-vi-1980/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/jb4_8040_lv.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200611
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200612
DTSTAMP:20210607T091420Z
CREATED:20200411T130419Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210607T091420Z
UID:4433-1591833600-1591919999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday for FM Emmanuel Rayner (11-vi-1958)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday for FM Emmanuel Rayner (11-vi-1958)
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-for-fm-emmanuel-rayner-11-vi-1958/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/24828192-1.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200612
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200613
DTSTAMP:20210607T091539Z
CREATED:20200411T135757Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210607T091539Z
UID:4437-1591920000-1592006399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of WIM Natasha Regan (12-vi-1971)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday of WIM Natasha K Regan (12-vi-1971) \nFrom Amazon : \n“Natasha Regan was born in 1971 in London\, the elder daughter of two Australian doctors. She studied Maths at Cambridge University\, earned a half blue for chess\, and edited the chess magazine “Dragon”. She debuted in the English Women’s chess Olympiad team in Manila\, 1992.” \nFrom Gambit Publications : \n“Natasha Regan is a Women’s International Master from England who achieved a degree in mathematics from Cambridge University. While pursuing a successful career as an actuary in the insurance industry\, she has raised a family and maintained a strong interest in chess and other board games\, including Go.” \nWIM Natasha Regan\, photographer unknown\nWIM Natasha Regan\, courtesy of John Upham Photography\, King’s Place Rapidplay\, 2013\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nNatasha Regan\, Lloyds bank Open\, Unknown photographer\nChess For Life. Gambit. ISBN 978-1910093832.\nGame Changer. New In Chess. ISBN 978-9056918187.\nWIM Natasha Regan\, courtesy of John Upham Photography at the Keith Richardson Memorial\, 2017
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-wim-natasha-k-regan-12-vi-1971/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/JUA3839.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200613
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200614
DTSTAMP:20210608T101753Z
CREATED:20200613T092948Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210608T101753Z
UID:6252-1592006400-1592092799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Paul Motwani  (13-vi-1962)
DESCRIPTION:FM Paul Motwani (See full caption in photograph below) \nCaption for photograph above\nBCN wishes GM Paul Motwani Happy Birthday (13-vi-1962) \nHere is his Wikipedia entry \nGM Paul Motwani has just played a brutal double check in the 1990 Scottish Lightning Championship. Photograph by Alistair Mulhearn\nPaul Motwani plays Bent Larsen at the 1990 Watson\, Farley and Williams International Chess Challenge. The game was a 3.Lb5 sicilian which was drawn\nPaul Motwani during a simultaneous display\nGM Paul Motwani demonstrates one of his 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\nColin McNab and Paul Motwani in post mortem analysis\nC.O.O.L. Chess\nH.O.T. Chess\nS*T*A*R* Chess\nThe Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters\nChess Under the Microscope
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-paul-motwani-happy-birthday-13-vi-1962/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player,Writer
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/img_0724_lv-scaled.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200614
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200615
DTSTAMP:20200601T143019Z
CREATED:20200410T170103Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20200601T143019Z
UID:4368-1592092800-1592179199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Richard Lobo (14-vi-1955)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday of FM Richard Lobo (14-vi-1955)
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-richard-lobo-14-vi-1955/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200619
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200620
DTSTAMP:20210616T140325Z
CREATED:20200407T202114Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210616T140325Z
UID:4143-1592524800-1592611199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Terry Chapman (19-vi-1956)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday of FM Terence PD Chapman (19-vi-1956) \nTerry became a FIDE Master in 2013. His peak rating was 2331 in October 2013. \nThe ever youthful Terry represents Barbican Youth in 4NCL. \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\nFM Terence PD Chapman (19-vi-1956)
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-terence-pd-chapman-19-vi-1956/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player,Sponsor
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/bct_4747_lv.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200624
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200625
DTSTAMP:20210621T084640Z
CREATED:20190624T001040Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210621T084640Z
UID:6378-1592956800-1593043199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Alan Phillips (28-x-1923 24-vi-2009)
DESCRIPTION:BCN remembers Alan Phillips (28-x-1923 24-vi-2009) \nHere is his far too brief Wikipedia entry \nFrom Chessgames.com : \n“Alan Phillips\, joint British Champion in 1954\, was born in England in 1923. He was the author of Chess: 60 Years on with Caissa and Friends (Caissa Editions\, 2003) and The Chess Teacher (Cadogan\, 1995).” \nHere is an item from the Shropshire Chess web site \nHere is Alan Phillips autobiography from his own book\, Chess: Sixty years on with Caissa & Friends \n“Born in Stockport in 1923\,I was playing pontoon in an air-raid shelter in the autumn of 1940 with a friend from our school\, Stockport Grammar\, when he suddenly announced that he knew a better game\, being the school chess champion. Ostensibly studying for a Cambridge Scholarship with a view to reading Classics\, I played about 200 games with Norman Stephens\, emerging the victor perhaps because I studied Alekhine’s and Euwe’s games\, obtained from the Public Library\, whence I had been borrowing difficult piano works for the previous two years. When I got up to Magdalene in 1941\, I found standing next to me in the University Chess Club Wykehamist James Lighthill\, destined to become\, arguably\, our greatest applied mathematician of the second half of the last century; I played chess with him one evening a week and piano duets another\, and as Match Captain and Hon.Sec. in my second year – shared top board\, while now supposedly reading Italian\, as a War Office scheme\, and French\, languages I unfortunately then considered beneath contempt\, compared with the glory that was Greek. \nAlan Phillips plays David Hooper on August 20th 1954 in round five of the British Championships in Nottingham\, photographer unknown\nEnrolled but not commissioned – the War Office having ratted on its promise to a large bunch of first-class linguists – in the Army Intelligence Corps from August 1943 to October 1946\,I spent nearly three years abroad in Sicily and Palestine\, riding a motor-bike – our American equivalents in the CIC were mostly majors or colonels and rode in Cadillacs – and playing\, when stationary\, much music with singers and violinists\, especially in Palestine\, and chess with the Captain of the Harbour in Sicily\, a charming moustached Neapolitan who got about three draws in 300 games\, and then in Haifa\, Hadera and Jerusalem chess clubs\, beating the youth champion of Palestine and Aloni when he played simultaneously\, but losing to Porath\, and enjoying ‘skittles’ in cafes with many other players of near-master rank. Demobilised and put\, like the Goons\, on the Z-reserve in autumn 1946\, I went back to Cambridge to read Classics Pt II and found Peter Swinnerton-Dyer\, as far as I know our best number theorist of the past fifty years\, waiting for me – we tied for the University Championship having begun a series of trips to Hastings with Alan Truscott\, and later continued to Birmingham for the Midland Championship\, which I won in 1951. I usually won prizes in increasingly strong sections at Hastings except in two Premiers\, 1950-1 and 1954-5\, when my emotions were otherwise engaged\, as happened in the British Championship in 1952\, when\, after I had beaten all the best players and scored 7/8 with three rounds to go\, a girl-friend turned up and I lost my last three games\, refusing a draw in round nine in a not superior position\, not out of arrogance\, but in order to clinch the title. \nAlan Phillips and Leonard Barden are joint British Champions of 1954 in Nottingham\, photographer unknown\nOtherwise\, with one or two exceptions\, I only lost to the strongest players in the British Championships I played in\, i.e. 1949-55 and 1961\, tying for first place at Nottingham 1954 and coming third equal in a very strong Championship at Aberystwyth 1955\, which earned me a place as Board 6 on the English team at the Moscow Olympiad in 1956\, where I only drew against Luxembourg\, and lost to Geller\, but drew in two cases from bad positions with Johner\, Sanguinetti and Ghitescu. \nDavid Hooper (left) in conversation with Alan Phillips. Location and photographer unknown.\nIn l96l I moved up to Derbyshire\, where – though playing top board for Manchester as well as the county – having switched to Maths teaching after several years part-time study at Birkbeck and acquired offspring as well as promotion\, I also started annual visits to Dartington Summer School of Music\, now totalling 38 out of a possible 40\, all of which made it virtually impossible for me to play in tournaments\, apart from the odd visit to Hastings or fairly strong week-end tournaments\, e.g. Ilford\, which I won for the second time in 1973\, beating Basman. My responsibilities on my return to London as Head of Charlton School in 1967\, where I got Bob Wade to teach chess as part of mathematics in the Lower School\, and then of Forest Hill School\, where we organised many tournaments\, although I played generally as top board for Kent\, whom I led twice to victory in the County Championship in 1975 and 1976\, meant that I had even less time for tournament chess\, except at Islington and in the Challengers\, so that my real heyday ended there\, with a final move to a ‘quiet’ county\, Shropshire – as far as chess was concerned – as Adviser for Secondary Education and Area Adviser\, 1976-82\, in which capacity I avoided as much paper-work as I could and taught chess in the lunch-hour to all the primary and handicapped pupils I visited. I should say most of my successes at chess have been at County Level\, where I played top board for Cambridgeshire and London University\, as well as the counties mentioned\, and in the very strong London League\, as far as I can estimate I had a success rate of some 70% in those contests. In general the games in this book\, with one or two exceptions for historical or anecdotal reasons\, were played at high levels\, and won by the right player\, not suddenly lost by a blunder\, like some games published nowadays because the blunder is perpetrated by a famous player. \nPhotograph taken in Hastings on 28 December 1950. Lord Dunsany (standing on the right) is watching the first-round game between Alan Phillips and Weaver Adams\, source : http://boylston-chess-club.blogspot.com/\nWith regard to the general assessment of players and tournaments\, I have only one comment “Look at the games!” When even\, or especially\, David Bronstein wails “They give me a number”\, I think it time to end a spuriously precise system and revert to the earlier English practice or the traditional Soviet one of putting players in classes\, preferably according to a sufficiently large number of results in tournaments or strong club or county matches. And when players are inhibited\, when the match is won\, from offering an opponent\, who has played well\, a draw\, that is a diminution of sportsmanship\, so a draw\, even with Kasparov\, should not count in grading. Finally the use of seconds or computers once a game is started should be\nregarded as totally unsporting\, and players should be put on their honour\, as bridge-players are in matters of cheating\, not to use them. \nI should like to dedicate this book to the memory of my good friends\, David Hooper\, Stuart Milner-Barry\, and A.R.B.Thomas\, men of integrity\, humour\, and many other talents\, who brought to their chess the same qualities of courage and sportsmanship they showed in the rest of their lives. \nAlan Phillips (28-x-1923 24-vi-2009) : Source : https://www.shropshirechess.org/History/1970s.htm\nAlan Phillips\nBritish Master\, Joint British Champion 1954\nThorn Cottage\, Appleton Thorn\, Warrington\, Cheshire\nSeptember 2003″ \nObituary of Alan Phillips by John Saunders from British Chess Magazine\, 2009. Part One\nObituary of Alan Phillips by John Saunders from British Chess Magazine\, 2009. Part Two\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nHere is his obituary from The Times of London \nThe Chess Teacher\nChess: Sixty years on with Caissa & Friends
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-alan-phillips-28-x-1923-24-vi-2009/
CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering,Writer
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/BCN_5128.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200625
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200626
DTSTAMP:20210625T192957Z
CREATED:20200410T100731Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210625T192957Z
UID:4327-1593043200-1593129599@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)
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:20200627
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200628
DTSTAMP:20210622T114001Z
CREATED:20200403T170942Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210622T114001Z
UID:4037-1593216000-1593302399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Bernard Cafferty (27-vi-1934)
DESCRIPTION:BCN wishes FIDE Master Bernard Cafferty best wishes on his 87th birthday\, June 27th in 1934. \nBernard Cafferty\, location\, date and photographer unknown\nOn 14th December\, 1968\, Bernard gave a simultaneous exhibition held at Anglesey School\, Burton. He played 17\, won 16 and lost 1 to Trevor Bould who was already Burton Champion\, photograph from http://www.derbyshirechess.btck.co.uk/History/Exhibitions\, photographer unknown\nBernard was born in Blackburn\, Lancashire (his mother’s maiden name was Croft) migrating to Birmingham and now resides in Hastings\, East Sussex and is a member of Hastings & St. Leonards Chess Club. \nFM Bernard Cafferty (seated\, rhs)\nHe was editor of British Chess Magazine from 1981 to 1991. \nBernard Cafferty\, location\, date and photographer unknown\nHere is the 1981 announcement (written by Harry Golombek\, Chairman of Directors) of his appointment in the British Chess Magazine\, Volume CI (101)\, Number 3\, March\, page 82 : \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume 101\, Number 3\, Page 82\nHere is his extensive Wikipedia entry \nBernard won the BCF President’s Award in 1991. \n\nIn the December 2010 issue (Volume CXXX (130)\, Number 12\, pages 622 – 625 of British Chess Magazine there was a tribute to Bernard’s 30 years at BCM from editor FM Steve Giddins that was interview based : \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXX (103)\, Number 12\, December\, Page 622\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXX (103)\, Number 12\, December\, Page 623\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXX (103)\, Number 12\, December\, Page 625\nAssociate Editor Bernard Cafferty\,at work on the magazine in the BCM office\, BCM\, Volume 130\, Number 8\, p. 428\nHere is discussion of Bernard on the English Chess Forum \nHere is the BritBase collection of Bernard’s games \nIn 2009 Bernard was interviewed by the privately published Chess Parrot whose editor was / is Basingstoke based James Pratt (who became BCMs editor from 2011 – 2015). Here is that previously unseen interview : \nThe Chess Parrot\, XXVI\, Winter/Spring 2009\, page 26-5\nThe Chess Parrot\, XXVI\, Winter/Spring 2009\, page 26-5\nThe Chess Parrot\, XXVI\, Winter/Spring 2009\, page 26-5\nThe Chess Parrot\, XXVI\, Winter/Spring 2009\, page 26-5\nFM Bernard Cafferty at the 2014-15 Hastings Congress\, courtesy of John Upham Photography\nA Complete Defence to 1P-K4: A Study of Petroff’s Defence (2nd ed.)\, Pergammon Press\, ISBN 0-08-024088-7\, 1967\nSpassky’s 100 Best Games\, Bernard Cafferty\, BT Batsford\, 1972\, ISBN 0-7134-0362-4.\nTal’s 100 Best Games. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-2765-5.\nChess with the Masters. Chess Player. ISBN 0-900928-95-6.\nEnglish Opening\, The Chess Player\, 1977\, ISBN 0-900928-92-1\nA Complete Defence to 1d4: A Study of the Queen’s Gambit Accepted\, Pergammon Press\, ISBN 0-08-024102-6\nPlay for Mate (1990)\, DV Hooper and Bernard Cafferty\, ISBN-13: 978-0713464740\nPlay The Evans Gambit (co-author Tim Harding). Cadogan. ISBN 1-85744-119-2.\nThe Soviet Chess Championships. Batsford. ISBN 1-85744-201-6.\nB.C.M. Classic Reprints\, number 22: 1923 – 1932 An Anthology\, Cafferty\, Bernard\, 1986. ISBN 978-0-900846-45-8.\nFM Bernard Cafferty (27-vi-1934)
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-bernard-cafferty-27-vi-1934/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Hastings,Journalist,Player,Translator,Writer
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UID:4498-1593216000-1593302399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Matthew Wadsworth (27-vi-2000)
DESCRIPTION:BCN wishes IM Matthew Wadsworth Happy Birthday this day (June 27th) in 2021. \nPreviously we reported : \nFM Matthew Wadsworth\, one of England’s most promising young players\, has earned his first Grandmaster norm from his excellent performance in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL). Matthew\, who is twenty\, has a current FIDE standard play rating of 2413 and is ranked 34th amongst the active players in England (by FIDE rating) earning his FM title in 2016. Matthew has IMs norm under his belt but could leapfrog to Grandmaster status with further norms and by increasing his live rating to 2500. Most likely\, however\, is that the IM title will be ratified at the next FIDE Congress now that his live rating has topped 2400. \nMatthew with father Jim at the 2012 Surrey Congress\nMatthew’s first ECF grade was 66A in 2007 (aged 7) and he played for Maidenhead in local leagues\, St. Pirans’s School and then Reading School. \nMatthew at the 2013 British Championships in Torquay\nMatthew is reading Economics at Queen’s College\, Cambridge and rows for the college team. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nMatthew joined 4NCL at an early age and played for AMCA (Andrew Martin Chess Academy) soon rising the ranks to the AMCA first team and he currently represents the Guildford 2 team in Division One of the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL). Matthew’s 4NCL results for the 2018-19 season were : \n1. Fodor\, Tamas Jr\, draw\n2. Ashton\, Adam G\, win\n3. Gonda\, Laszlo\, draw\n4. Kulon\, Klaudia\, win\n5. Holland\, James P\, win\n6. Stewart\, Ashley\, win\n7. Ledger\, Andrew J\, win\n8. Plat\, Vojtech\, loss\n9. no game\n10. Jackson\, James P\, win\n11. no game \ngiving a performance of 7/9 \nMatthew at the 2014 British Championships in Aberystwyth\nOne of the undoubted highlights of Matthews chess year was has draw with Oxford domiciled GM Hou Yifan\, three times Women’s World Champion from China during the annual Varsity match\, Matthew representing Cambridge. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nRecently Matthew has joined forces with IM Adam C Taylor\, IM Ravi Haria and others to form makinggrandmasters.com \nFM Matthew J Wadsworth
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-matthew-j-wadsworth-27-vi-2000/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player
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UID:5080-1593216000-1593302399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary for Vera Menchik (16-ii-1906 27-vi-1944)
DESCRIPTION:A Great Life with a Tragic Ending\nFew people know the story of Vera Menchik yet it deserves to be told. She was the first women’s world chess champion in 1927 and retained the title undefeated until her untimely death at the age of 38 in 1944 during a rocket attack on London.  She is more properly compared with the great male players of her era against whom she scored creditably. The absence of a full biography of Vera in English reflects the peculiar circumstances of her life and death. \nVera was\, in modern terminology\, a refugee and essentially a stateless person for much of her life. She was born in Moscow in 1906 during the period of the Russian Empire to an expatriate family who was forced to flee when she was 15 following the Russian Revolution having lost their livelihood.  As they passed through Europe\, her father and mother split up in his homeland Czechoslovakia which had been created out of the ruins of the Austro-Hungarian empire. She arrived in England and took up residence in the seaside town of Hastings. (The fact that Hastings had hosted the world’s longest series of annual chess tournaments since 1895 was a happy coincidence.) Vera never attained British nationality until near the end of her life even though she had been domiciled in England from 1921. She won the first-ever Women’s World Championships held in London in 1927 under a Russian flag; thereafter she nominally represented Czechoslovakia until finally she represented England in 1939 following her marriage to a senior official within the British Chess Federation. \nVera’s grandfather was Arthur Illingworth\, a wealthy trader from Lancashire who had set up business in Moscow where his Anglo-Russian daughter Olga married František Menčik. He was a successful estate manager. Vera learned chess from her father and performed well at school. Her younger sister Olga was also a good chess player and the sisters remained close throughout their lives. \nVera was a woman in a man’s world – she had to struggle harder to achieve the kind of recognition which was accorded to men. She appeared like a comet in the sky and it would be many years until other women were able to reach her level. At her first major international tournament at Karlsbad in 1929\, she was the only female participant in a tournament of 22 great players. Even as women’s world champion\, some of the male players objected to her participation.  The Viennese master Albert Becker joked that anybody who lost to her should belong to the Vera Menchik Club. By an irony of history\, he became its first member losing to her in the third round. She beat many other grandmasters during her career including the Dutchman Max Euwe in 1930 and 1931 (both at Hastings) who was to become world champion in 1935. \nAlthough she is often portrayed as being Russian or Czech or latterly British\, she was a true cosmopolitan. She knew that life could be unstable in any country. She had lived through the Russian Revolution; one parent was left behind in Czechoslovakia; she had moved westwards across Europe and embraced different cultures and languages at formative stages of her life. It is no wonder that she learned also to speak Esperanto which was designated to be the world’s lingua franca before English achieved its dominance. As a leading chess player\, she travelled back to Moscow and to Czechoslovakia several times as well as to South America for her final match to retain the women’s world champion title in 1939. She needed to be self-sufficient and was obtained roles as the games editor of a chess magazine as well as being appointed the manager of the National Chess Centre in Oxford Street which was destroyed during the Blitz in 1940. \nShe survived most of the war and now a widow moved in with her mother and sister to a house in south London.  They took the precaution of going down to the cellar during bombing raids. Tragically the house received a direct hit from a flying bomb and the entire family was wiped out. Hardly any of her possessions remained save for one dented trophy. The records at the national chess centre were destroyed as were her personal effects including her chess memorabilia. At least there remains a record of the moves played in her games which serve as testimony to her remarkable career as not only the first women’s world chess champion but also a woman who broke boundaries wherever she went and demonstrated that a woman is capable of standing on her own feet professionally and leading a full and eventful life. \nThe Bomb Attack \nBCN remembers that in the early morning of Tuesday\, June 27th\, 1944 (i.e. 77 years ago) Vera Menchik\, her sister Olga\, and their mother were killed in a V-1 flying bomb attack which destroyed their home at 47 Gauden Road in the Clapham area of South London. \nWe now know that the V1 in question landed at 00:20 hrs on the 27th and led to the death of a total of 11 people including the Menchik household. Here is a summary of recorded V1 and V2 landings in the Clapham\, SW4 area. \n47\, Gauden Road\, Clapham\, SW4 6LW in more modern times.\nAll three were cremated at the Streatham Park Crematorium on 4 July 1944. Vera was 38 years old. \nSignature of Vera Menchik from a Brian Reilly “after dinner” postcard from Margate 1936.\nVera’s Parents and Sister\nVera Frantsevna Menchik (or Věra Menčíková) was born in Moscow on Friday\, 16th February\, 1906. Her father was František Menčik\, was born in Bystrá nad Jizerou\, Bohemia. František and Olga were married on June  23rd 1905 in Moscow and notice of this marriage appeared in British newspapers on July 22nd 1905.  Vera’s sister was Olga Rubery (née Menchik) and she was born in Moscow in 1908. Olga Menchik married Clifford Glanville Rubery in 1938. Vera married Rufus Henry Streatfeild Stevenson on October 19th 1937. \nHer Maternal Roots\nOur interest in unearthing her maternal English heritage / roots has led to the following: \nHer mother was Olga (née Illingworth (1885 – 27 vi 1944). Olga’s  parents were Arthur Wellington Illingworth and Marie Illingworth (née ?). Arthur was born in October 1852 in the district of Salford\, Lancashire\, his parents were George Illingworth (1827-1887) and Alice Whewell (1828-1910).  \nIn the 1861 census Arthur is recorded as being of eight years of age and living in the Illingworth household. \nIn the 1871 census Arthur is recorded as being of eighteen years of age and living in the Illingworth household of nine persons at 5\, Lancaster Road\, Pendleton\, Lancashire. Arthur’s occupation is listed as being a merchants apprentice. In fact\, he was a stock and share broker. \nArthur died in Moscow on February 21st 1898. Probate was recorded in London on July 6th\, 1900 as follows: \nIllingworth Arthur Wellington of Moscow Russia merchant died 21st February 1898 Probate London 6th July to Walter Illingworth stock and share-broker Effects £4713 7s \n£4713 7s in 1898 equates roughly to £626\,600.00 in 2020 so it would appear that Arthur was considerably successful and almost certainly left money to Olga Illingworth. \nWhat do we conclude from all of this? Quite simply that Vera’s maternal roots were from Salford in Lancashire. \nBCM Announcement\nThe August 1944 British Chess Magazine (Volume LXIV\, Number 8\, page 173 onwards) contained this editorial  from Julius du Mont: \nJulius du Mont\, Editor of British Chess Magazine from 1940 to 1949\n“British Chess has suffered a grievous and irreparable loss in the death by enemy action of Mrs. R.H.S. Stevenson known through all the world where chess is played as Vera Menchik. \nWe give elsewhere (below : Ed.) an appreciation of this remarkable woman. Quite apart from her unique gifts as a chess-player-the world may never see her equal again among women players-she had many qualities which endeared her to all who knew her\, the greatest among them being here great-hearted generosity. \nWe sympathise with our contemporary “CHESS” : Vera Menchik was for some years their games editor. Few columns have been conducted with equal skill and efficiency and none\, we feel sure\, with a greater sense of responsibility. \nThe news of this remarkable tragedy will be received by the chess world with sorrow and with abhorrence of the wanton and useless robot methods of a robot people. \nOne shudders at the heritage of hatred which will be theirs\, but their greatest punishment will come with their own enlightenment.” \nBCM Contemporary Obituary from EGR Cordingley\nFrom page 178 of the same issue we have an obituary written by EGR Cordingley : \n“The death by enemy action of Miss Vera Menchik removes not only the greatest woman chess player of all times but a charming personality. \nThe world will remember her for her chess prowess\, for her exceptional skill as a woman player who had beaten in tournament play such gifted players as Euwe\, Sultan Khan\, Sir George Thomas\, Alexander and Yates. In such company\, and she played in several of the Hastings International tournaments and other of similar grade\, she usually obtained about 33%\, though in the Maribor tournament of 1934 she finished third\, behind Pirc and Steiner but ahead of Rejfir\, Spielmann\, Asztalos and Vidmar. \nHer game was characterised by solid position-play\, with the definite aim of bringing about a favourable end-game and of avoiding wild complications. The ordinary stratagems of the game\, small combinations and the like\, were of course part of her equipment\, but she lacked that imaginative\, inventive spirit without which few become really great players. \nIn recent times\, Reshesvky and Flohr (as a professional with a reputation to maintain and a living to earn) have shown that great success can be achieved by reducing the game to pure positional play\, the technique being firstly to build up a position devoid of weaknesses\, an ‘I can’t lose position\,’ and secondly to create and take advantage of the minutest weaknesses in the opponent’s camp\, a major weakness may show that imagination is not quite dead within. \nThis defect in her play was the inevitable reflection of her character: sound common-sense\, conscientious to an unusual degree\, and persevering\, while she had the combative\, tenacious nature so desirable and so often found in good chess players; for chess is battle of wits\, the fight is what most of use love in chess. Vera was\, seldom assertive\, a fault not uncommon in chess players. She sat placidly at the chess board\, never causing even mild irritation by any of those nervous mannerisms that may always be seen in any chess room\, the peripatetic fever being the most prominent. A slight flush would rise when the position grew difficult\, or when she was short of time on her clock – and that was recurrent according to the time-limit. \nAway from the chessboard show would readily talk of other subjects\, and her great interest was in persons\, in their actions and behaviour under the strain and stress of the unruly passions; in the moulding of their lives under the inscrutable dictates of chance; in the twists and turns of a mind warped perhaps by a casual incident long ago. Of course\, she was a pagan\, a thinking one\, who had asked and asked and found only the answer that reasoning gave. She judged kindly and never inflicted upon others her own opinions or beliefs: she asked only that these should be heard as one side of any argument\, for she enjoyed a dialectic bout. \nA delightful side to her character was her simple sense of humour\, and I remember so clearly her pleasure – glee would describe it more eloquently – when I gave her the punctuation necessary to make sense of that ludicrous collection of words\, ‘Jones where Brown had had had had had had had had had had had the master’s approval’ Anyone who knew her only at the chessboard would have been astonished at the amount of bubbling merriment she discovered of of life’s events. \nI shall remember her more for the woman as I knew her over many cups of coffee spread over many\, many weeks – complacent\, smiling\, and kindly; conscientious\, loyal\, and sincere; as I understand the word\, a Christian who would help any deserving person as best she could. E. G. R. C. \n”\nand here is the original article as printed: \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXIV (1944)\, Number 8\, August\, Page 178\nBCM 1958 Appreciation by Peter Clarke\nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXVIII (128\, 1958)\, Number 7 (July)\, page 181 onwards) we have this retrospective from Peter Clarke: \n“The night of June 27th\,1944\, Vera Menchik\, World Woman Champion\, was killed when an enemy bomb demolished her home in London; with her perished her mother and sister Olga. In these tragic circumstances the chess world lost its greatest woman player\, still undefeated and at the height of her powers. \nVera Francevna Menchik was born in Moscow on February 16th\, 1906\, of an English mother and Czech father. There she spent her childhood\, showing a love for literature\, music\, and\, of course\, chess\, which at the age of nine she was taught by her father. She had a natural bent for the game and when only fourteen shared second and third places a schoolboys (!) tournament. The following year\, 1921\, the family came to England\, where Miss Menchik lived the rest of her life. \nAs if by some fortunate coincidence\, the Menchiks settled in Hastings\, though it was not until the spring of 1923 that Vera joined the famous chess club. Her natural shyness and lack of knowledge of English caused this delay. However\, they did not handicap her too much\nas she herself afterwards wrote: ‘Chess is a quiet game and therefore the best hobby for a person who cannot speak the language.” \nShe studied the game eagerly\, and very soon her talent caught the attention of the Hungarian grandmaster\, Géza Maróczy\, who was resident at Hastings at that time. Thus there began the most important period in her development as a player; a sound and mature understanding of positional play-and a thorough knowledge of a few special openings and defences: in particular the French Defence. The influence of\nthe grandmasters ideas was clearly apparent in her style throughout the whole of her career. \nMiss Menchik’s rise to fame was meteoric: by 1925 she was undoubtedly the strongest player of her sex in the country\, having twice defeated the Champion\, E. Price\, in short matches; and only two years later she won the first Women’s World Championship in London with the terrific score 10.5-0.5. She was just twenty-one\, but already in a different class from any other woman in the world. For seventeen years until her death Vera Menchik reigned supreme in women’s chess\, defending her world title successfully no less than seven times (including a match with Sonja Graf at Semmering in 1937\, which Miss Menchik won 11.5-4.5. In the seven tournaments for the World Championship she played 83 games; winning 78\, drawing 4\, and losing 1 only! However\, what was more remarkable was that she was accepted into the sphere of men’s chess as a master in her own right\, a feat which no woman had done before or has done since. Up to then\, women’s chess had been a very poor relation of the masculine game\, but here was a woman who was a worthy opponent for the strongest masters. \nFlohr wrote of her: ‘Vera Menchik was the first woman in the world who played chess strongly…who played like a man.’ It was as the ambassador extraordinary\, so to speak\, of the women’s game that Miss Menchik really made her greatest contribution to chess. Wherever she went\, at home and abroad\, she aroused great interest among her sex; others were eager to follow her\, to identify themselves with her. Nowadays women’s chess is well organized\, and much of the credit for this must go to Vera Menchik for first bringing it into the light. Among her many personal successes in international tournaments perhaps the greatest was at Ramsgate in 1929: as one of the foreign masters (she was still of Czech nationality) she shared second and third places with Rubinstein\, * point behind Capablanca and above\, among others\, her tutor Maróczy. \nEven the greatest masters recognized Miss Menchik’s ability; Alekhine himself\, writing on the Carlsbad Tournament of 1929\, said: ‘Vera Menchik is without doubt an exceptional phenomenon among women. She possesses great aptitude for the game…The chess\nworld must help her develop her talent!’ \nThe Vera Menchik Club\nAn amusing incident occurred at this tournament. There were naturally sceptics among the masters over the lady’s participation. Flohr recalls how one of these\, the Viennese master Becker\, suggested: \n‘Whoever loses to the Woman Champion will be accepted as a member of the Vera Menchik Club which I intend to organize.’ \nBecker was the first to lose to her\, and that evening the masters chided him: “Professor Becker\, you did not find it very difficult to join the club. You can be the Chairman.’ And forthwith he was chosen as Chairman for three years. Everyone wished that the new club would soon obtain more members! Indeed\, the Vera Menchik Club has many famous names on its lists-Euwe\, Reshevsky\, Colle\, Yates\, Sultan Khan\, Sir G. A. Thomas\, Alexander\, to mention a few. \nIn 1935 Miss Menchik returned to the country of her birth to take part in the great international tournament in Moscow. To be truthful\, she had very little success\, but she was everywhere treated with respect and sympathy by masters and spectators alike. The Soviet master l. Maiselis\, writing in CHESS in 1944.(Shakhmaty za 1944 god)\, related the following entertaining anecdote from the tournament: One day a group of players and organizers were discussing the chances of Alekhine and Euwe in the forthcoming match. Flohr said: ‘It is quite clear that I will be World Champion.’ We looked at him inquiringly. \n‘It’s very simple\,” continued Flohr\, ‘Euwe wins a match against Alekhine\, Vera Menchik beats Euwe (at that time her score against Euwe was +2\, =1\, -1) and I will somehow beat Miss Menchik.’ \nWe laughed at this good-natured joke\, and we laughed all the more the next day when Flohr was unable\, despite every effort\, to defeat her in a vital game. \nln 1937 Miss Menchik married R. Stevenson\, but in chess she continued to use her maiden name\, made famous by so many victories. Her husband\, a well-known organizer\, became\, Secretary of the B.C.F: in the following year and remained so until his death in 1943. \nSince the days of Vera Menchik women’s chess has taken great strides forward; now there is a special committee of F.I.D.E. to look after its needs.- Only last year the first lnternational Women’s Team Tournament took place ln Emmen\, Holland; the new World Champions\, the U.S.S.R.\, became the first holders of the Vera Menchik Cup. So chess goes onwards\, but the name of its first Queen will ever be remembered.” \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) by Anne Sunnucks : \n“Woman World Champion from 1927 to 1944. Vera Menchik was born in Moscow on 16th February 1906 of an English mother and a Czech father. Her father taught her to play chess when she was 9. \nVera Menchik 1906-1944 chess playerin\, CZ / GB portrait with chess board late twenties (Photo by ullstein bild / ullstein bild via Getty Images)\nIn 192l her family came to England and settled in Hastings (at 13\, St. John’s Road\, St. Leonards-on-Sea\, TN37 6HP) : \n13\, St. John’s Road\, St. Leonards-on-Sea\, TN37 6HP\nTwo years later\, when she was 17\, Vera joined Hastings Chess Club\, \nHastings Chess Club : 2 Cornwallis Terrace\, Hastings TN34 1EB\nwhere she became a pupil of Geza Maroczy. The first Women’s World Championship was held in 1927. Vera Menchik won with a score of 10.5 out of 11. She defended her title successfully in Hamburg in 1930\, in Prague in 1931\, in Folkestone in 1933\, in Warsaw in 1935\, in Stockholm in 1937 and in Buenos Aires in 1939. She played 2 matches against Sonja Graf\, her nearest rival\, in 1934 when she won +3 -1 and in 1937\, in a match for her title when she won +9 -1 =5. \nIsaac Kashdan plays Vera Menchik during the Hastings Congress on December 28th\, 1931. Kashdan won in 45 moves in a classical French.\nThe first woman ever to play in the British Championship and the first to play in a master tournament\, Vera Menchik made her debut in master chess at Scarborough 1928 when she scored 50 per cent. The following year she played in Paris and Carlsbad\, and it was at Carlsbad that the famous Menchik Club was formed. The invitation to Vera Menchik to compete among such players as Capablanca\, Euwe\, Tartakower and Nimzowitch was received with amusement by many of the masters. The Viennese master\, Becker was particularly scornful\, and in the presence of a number of the competitors he suggested that anyone who lost to Vera Menchik should be granted membership of the Menchik Club. He himself became the first member. Other famous players who later joined the club were Euwe\, Reshevsky\, Sultan Khan\, Sir George Thomas\, C. H. O’D. Alexander\, Colle and Yates. \nHer greatest success in international tournaments was at Ramsgate in 1929\, when she was =2nd with Rubinstein\, half a point behind Capablanca and ahead of Maroczy. In 1934 she was 3rd at Maribor\, ahead of Spielmann and Vidmar. In 1942 she won a match against Mieses +4 -l -5. In 1937 Vera Menchik married R. H. S. Stevenson\, who later became Hon. Secretary of the British Chess Federation. He died in 1943. She continued to use her maiden name when playing chess. On her marriage she became a British subject. \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\nFrom 1941 until her death she was Games Editor of CHESS. She also gave chess lessons and managed the National Chess Centre\, which opened in 1939 at John Lewis’s in Oxford Street\, London and was destroyed by a bomb in 1940. \nIn 1944 Vera Menchik was a solid positional player\, who avoided complications and aimed at achieving a favourable endgame. Her placid temperament was ideal for tournament play. Her main weakness was possibly lack of imagination. Her results have made her the most successful woman player ever.” \nVera Menchik\nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess\, (BT Batsford\, 1977) by Harry Golombek : \nProbably the strongest woman player in the history of the game\, Vera Menchik was born in Moscow and\, though her father was a Czechoslovak and her mother English\, she played for most of her\nlife under English colours. \nIn l92l her family came to Hastings in England and there Vera became a pupil of the great Hungarian master\, Geza Maroczy. This was to have a dominating influence on her style of play which was solidly classical\, logical and technically most well equipped. Such a style enabled her to deal severely not only with her fellow women players but also with contemporary masters and budding masters. Vera did extremely well\, for example\, against C. H. O’D. Alexander\nand P. S. Milner-Barry\, but lost repeatedly to H. Golombek who was able to take advantage of her lack of imagination by the use of more modern methods. \nVera was soon predominent in women’s chess. In the first Women’s World Championship tournament\, at London in 1927\, she won the title with a score of 10.5 out of 11 and retained the championship with great ease at all the subsequent Olympiads (or International Team tournaments as they were then known more correctly) at Hamburg 1930\, Prague 1931\, Folkestone 1933\, Warsaw 1935\, Stockholm 1937 and Buenos Aires 1939. \nVera Menchik at Margate 1935\, photographer unknown\nWith Sonja Graf\, the player who came nearest to her in strength among her female contemporaries\, she played two matches and demonstrated her undoubted superiority by beating her in 1934 (+3-l) and again in a match for the title in l937 (+9-l=5). \nIn 1937 Vera officially became a British citizen by marrying the then Kent and later B.C.F. Secretary\, R. H. S. Stevenson (Rufus Henry Streatfeild Stevenson: ed).\n(Rufus Henry Streatfeild Stevenson was home news editor of the British Chess Magazine\, secretary of the Southern Counties Chess Union and match captain of the Kent County Chess Association). \nOddly enough\, Sonja Graf\, many years later\, also became a Mrs Stevenson by marrying an American of that name some years after the Second World War. \nVera Menchik also played and held her own in men’s tournaments. She did well in the British championship and her best performance in international chess was =2nd with Rubinstein in the Ramsgate Team Practice tournament ahead of her old teacher\, Maroczy. She also had an excellent result at Maribor in 1934 where she came 3rd\, ahead of Spielmann and Vidmar. \nHer husband died in 1943 and Vera herself\, together with her younger sister Olga and her mother\, was killed by a V1 bomb that descended on the Stevenson home in London in 1944. \nVera Menchik\, circa 1935\, Historic Collection / Alamy Stock Photo\nThis was a sad and premature loss\, not only for British but for world chess\, since there is no doubt she would have continued to dominate the female scene for many years. \nAs a person Vera was a delightful companion\, jolly and full of fun and understanding. As a player she was not only strong but also absolutely correct and without any prima donna behaviour. Generous in defeat and modest in victory\, she set a great example to all her contemporaries. \nAn example of Vera’s attacking play at its best against her nearest rival\, Sonja Graf\, is shown by the following game which was played in her 1937 match at Semmering in Austria : \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\n27th November 1936: Britain’s world chess champion Vera Menchik (right) and challenger Sonja Graf after signing a contract at the Bloomsbury Hotel\, London\, to play for the championship of the world over 16 games. (Photo by J. A. Hampton/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)\nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess\, (Oxford University Press\, 1984) by Hooper and Whyld : \n“Woman World Champion from 1927 until her death. Daughter of a Czech father and an English mother\, Menchik was born in Moscow\, learned chess when she was nine\, settled in England around\n1921\, and took lessons from Maroczy a year or so later. In 1927 FIDE organized both the first Olympiad and the first world championship tournament for women. These events were run concurrently\, except in 1928\, until the Second World War began\, and Menchik won the women’s tournament every time; London 1927 (+10=1); Hamburg 1930 (+6=1 — 1); Prague 1931 (+8);\nFolkestone 1933 ( + 14); Warsaw 1935 (+9); Stockholm 1937 (+14); and Buenos Aires 1939 ( + 17=2). She played in her first championship tournament as a Russian\, the next five as a Czech\,\nand the last as a Briton. She also won on two matches against her chief rival\, the German-born Sonja Graf (c. 1912-65): Rotterdam\, 1934 (+3-1)\, and Semmering\, 1937 (+9=5—2)\, \nVera Menchik in a pre-event posed picture in which she faces unstoppable checkmate in one from Hastings 193? She was about to play Sir GA Thomas.\nIn international tournaments which did not exclude men Menchik made little impression; one of her best results was at Maribor 1934 (about category 4) when she took third place alter Pirc and L. Steiner ahead of Spielmann. In 1937 she married the English chess organizer Rufus Henry Streatfeild Stevenson (1878-1943)\, A chess professional\, she gave lessons\, lectures\, and displays\, and was appointed manager of the short-lived National Chess Centre in 1939. In 1942 she defeated Mieses in match play (+4=5-1)\, She\, her younger sister Olga (also a player)\, and their mother were killed in a bombing raid. \nFrom left to right: Vera Menchik\, Alexander Alekhine\, Géza Maróczy and Sultan Khan. From London International Masters\, 1st February\, 1932\, French Defence\, drawn in 32 moves.\nHer style was positional and she had a sound understanding of the endgame. On occasion she defeated in tournament play some of the greatest masters\, notably Euwe\, Reshevsky\, and Sultan Khan. Men she defeated were said to belong to the Menchik club. When world team championships for women (women’s chess Olympiads) were commenced in 1957 the trophy for the winning team was called the Vera Menchik Cup.” \nVera Menchik commemorated on a postage stamp from the Czech Republic\nShe was inducted to the World Chess Hall of Fame in 2011. \nOther Articles\nHere is an excellent article from the Hastings and St. Leonard’s Club written by Brian Denman. \nHere is an excellent article from Neil Blackburn (aka SimaginFan) on chess.com \nHere is an excellent article by Albert Whitwood \nHere is her Wikipedia  entry. \nHere is an excellent record compiled by Bill Wall. \nBiography of Vera Menchik British chess player \nVera Menchik.\, EI Bykova\, Moscow\, 1957\, 176 pages\, 4s 7d.\nVera Menchik: A Biography of the First Women’s World Chess Champion\, with 350 Complete Games\nEdward Winter  was less than impressed with the above book. \nVera Menchik
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-for-vera-frantsevna-menchik-16-ii-1906-27-vi-1944/
CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200629
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200630
DTSTAMP:20260817T141132Z
CREATED:20200411T221231Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T141132Z
UID:4505-1593388800-1593475199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Tim Wall (29-vi-1966)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday of FM Tim P Wall (29-vi-1966)
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-tim-p-wall-29-vi-1966/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Organiser,Player
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200630
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200701
DTSTAMP:20210628T183708Z
CREATED:20200408T124333Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210628T183708Z
UID:4177-1593475200-1593561599@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Adam Collinson (30-vi-1972)
DESCRIPTION:Birthday of FM Adam R Collinson (30-vi-1972)
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-adam-r-collinson-30-vi-1972/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200630
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200701
DTSTAMP:20211101T202448Z
CREATED:20200408T142136Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20211101T202448Z
UID:4200-1593475200-1593561599@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Robert Bellin (30-vi-1952)
DESCRIPTION:BCN sends IM Robert Bellin best wishes on his birthday\, this day (the 30th of June) in Great Yarmouth\, Norfolk \nRobert was awarded the IM title in 1977. He was outright British Champion in 1979 in Chester having tied first equal (with six others) in 1974 in Clacton. The play-off was won by George Botterill. \nHis best international success was in 1981 in Shanghai coming clear first overall. \nRobert Bellin with Leonard Barden and Stewart Reuben at the 1978 Aaronson Masters in London\nRobert is married to WGM Dr. Jana Bellin and they have two sons. \nIM Robert Bellin\n\nRobert Bellin\, British Champion\, CHESS\, Volume 45\, Numbers 827-28\, page 27.\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 Classical Dutch\nWinning with the Dutch\nTest Your Positional Play\nQueen’s Pawn : Veresov System\nMastering the King’s Indian Defence\nLondon System Repertoire
URL:http://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-robert-bellin-30-vi-1952/
CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player
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