Andrew Horton at the 2014 Team Chess Challenge at Imperial College. Courtesy of John Upham Photography
BCN wishes Happy Birthday to IM Andrew P Horton (15-i-1998)
Andrew became a FIDE Master in 2015 and an International Master in 2018 following the 89th FIDE Congress 2018, 26 Sep – 6 Oct, Batumi, Georgia.
Andrew represents the 3Cs club in the Manchester League and in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) (as well as Wood Green) and, in addition, Wotton Hall, Durham City (during his University years) and Northumberland CA for county matches.
Andrew made regular appearences at the Delancey UK Chess Challenge and was placed 1st in the 2014 Terafinal, Challengers section.
Andrew Horton, Challengers C, 1st, 2014, UKCC Terafinal
In 2021 Andrew was invited and played in the London Chess Classic at the Cavendish Conference Centre.
IM Andrew Horton at the London Chess Classic, 2021
Andrew’s ECF standard play rating at January 2023 is 2452K.
FM Shreyas Royal at the London Chess Classic, 2021 courtesy of John Upham Photography
BCN sends birthday wishes to IM Shreyas (known as “Shrey” by his friends) Royal born on Friday, January 9th, 2009. “Hallelujah” by Alexandra Burke was number one in the UK hit parade.
Shreyas attended The Pointer School in Blackheath, London, SE3 whose motto is “The Lord is my Shepherd”. Currently Shreyas is home schooled.
In October 2021 BCN secured an interview with Shreyas via his father Jitendra and below is mostly from that interview:
BCN: What caused his initial interest in chess and at what age?
His initial interest in chess was capturing or as he used to call it ‘eating’ pieces but as he grew more mature, he loved that there were so many possibilities in chess, so much still left to explore! At the Age of 6 he learnt and got an interest in chess.
BCN: Has Shreyas had any chess teachers or coaches?
Jyothi Lal N. with a peak of 2250 FIDE but is very knowledgeable and helped from just above beginner to 1800. He was Shreyas’s first coach.
Meszaros Gyula (Julian) who was an IM with a peak of 2465 FIDE and was an endgame master which helped him from 1800-2100.
His Current Coach is GM John Emms with a peak of around 2600 FIDE, he is an expert in many fields such as Positional Play, Openings, Strategic chess etc and has also made a big impact on how to prepare against opponents. He had helped him from 2100-2300 so far in just under a year!
BCN: Which chess clubs and/ or Teams does Shreyas represent?
He represents SV Erkenschwick from Germany and Wasa SK from Sweden for online events as he has joined them during the pandemic. He started his 4NCL career with KJCA Kings in January 2019 but now mainly represents Wood Green which he has played for in online events in and will also represent them in the upcoming 4NCL weekends.
His first appearance in Megabase 2022 comes from the 2015 British Under-8 Championship in Coventry, the eventual winner being Dhruv Radhakrishnan.
Progress from those early days has only been interrupted by school examination breaks and the Covid pandemic:
FIDE Rating progress chart for FM Shreyas Royal
In August 2016 in Bournemouth Shreyas scored an impressive 6/6 to win the British Under-8 Championship.
Shreyas Royal at the 2016 UKCC Delancey Terafinal in Loughborough courtesy of John Upham Photography
BCN: What was his first memorable tournament success?
This was the 2016 European Schools Under-7 championship where he was runner-up without any preparation or work on chess!
Shreyas Royal at the 2016 UKCC Delancey Southern Gigafinal in Reading courtesy of John Upham Photography
In September 2017 Shreyas travelled to Mamaia in Romania and after nine hard fought rounds tied for first place with 8/9 in the European Youth Chess Championship, Under-8 with Giang Tran Nam (HUN, 1561).
In 2021 Shreyas was awarded the FM title by FIDE:
FIDE FM Certificate for Shreyas Royal
BCN: Which chess players past & present are inspirational for him?
Magnus Carlsen, world champion and broke many FIDE records also is an inspiration for most of this generation. He likes his slow grinding and almost winning from any opening or ending. This is his favourite player of all time.
Garry Kasparov played brilliant attacking chess and calculated like a machine.
Bobby Fischer played a similar style to Kasparov but was more talented than both Magnus and Kasparov in his opinion as he worked all by himself at a time in the USA when chess was not so popular while for the Russians, they had brilliant coaches and had one good player after the other. He rates him a bit lower because Fischer quit competitive chess a bit too early and could not reach the heights he was worthy of.
Alireza Firouzja
Fabiano Caruana
BCN: What are his favourite openings with the White pieces?
He plays 1.d4 pretty much all the time.
MegaBase 2020 has 294 games with 1.d4 and one solitary 1.g3 from March 2021. The 1.d4 games feature main line Queen’s Gambit / Catalan type positions championing 5.Nge2 against the King’s Indian Defence and the exchange variation against the Grunfeld.
BCN: and what are his preferred defences as the second player?
Really depends on what they play, against every opening he has got one or two lines which he enjoys equally.
Megabase 2022 informs us that Shreyas defends the main line Closed Variation of the Ruy Lopez and main line Giuoco Piano. Previously he essayed the Sicilian Najdorf.
BCN: Does he have any favourite chess books?
Not really as he is not such a big fan of chess books, but he likes My 60 Memorable Games by Bobby Fischer. Fundamental Chess Endings and Encyclopedia of Chess Combinations.
BCN: Which tournaments are planned for 2022?
We have pencilled in a couple of norm and Open (France, Spain, Germany etc.) tournaments in European countries.
BCN: What are his favourite subjects outside of chess?
His favourite subjects outside chess are Science, History, Maths with Science as his favourite, History as his second favourite and Maths as his third favourite.
BCN: Does Shreyas play any physical sports?
He does Football, Cricket and a bit of Lawn Tennis.
BCN: What are his plans and aspirations for the future?
To become a world chess champion one day, but it’s very expensive to even get to the level of IM! Currently we are looking for sponsors who can help support Shreyas to get there.
{[%evp 0,95,19,31,14,-14,-11,0,31,34,64,65,61,30,46,45,45,42,73,34,54,28,18,26,
45,50,48,40,39,41,36,26,37,39,58,43,39,16,19,17,22,9,17,9,22,-9,29,24,41,23,
119,119,130,126,212,208,256,229,200,221,222,222,222,222,224,139,167,157,206,
205,206,207,206,240,237,204,253,282,295,284,299,286,317,313,323,334,380,403,
438,451,483,493,488,524,545,511,520,556]} 1. d4 {this is my first win against
a grandmaster in OTB chess and is a brilliant positional game} Nf6 2. c4 e6 3.
Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 c5 5. Bxb4 cxb4 6. a3 {this was part of my preparation, I had
played him 2 times before with g3 and a delayed a3 but with no success, he
would always prepare a different line against it so this time I needed to get
him out of his comfort zone} bxa3 7. Rxa3 O-O 8. Nc3 d6 9. e3 ({Relevant:} 9.
e4 Nc6 10. Be2 b6 11. O-O Bb7 12. d5 Nb4 13. Nd4 e5 14. Nf5 g6 15. Nh6+ Kg7 16.
Qd2 Qe7 17. Qg5 Bc8 18. h4 Nc2 19. Ra2 Nd4 20. Bd3 Qd8 21. f4 Nd7 22. Nf5+ Nxf5
23. exf5 Nc5 24. Bb1 Qxg5 25. hxg5 gxf5 26. fxe5 dxe5 27. Bxf5 a5 28. Bc2 Bd7
29. Raa1 Rac8 30. Rae1 Rfe8 31. Re3 e4 32. Bxe4 Re5 33. Ref3 Nxe4 34. Rxf7+ Kg6
35. Nxe4 Rxe4 36. Rxd7 Rcxc4 37. Rd6+ Kxg5 38. Rxb6 Re2 {Banikas,H (2599)
-Cordova,E (2592) Chess.com INT 2020 1/2-1/2 (61)}) 9… b6 (9… Nc6 10. Be2
e5 11. O-O Bg4 {is the the most popular and probably one of the best ways to
play against it}) 10. Be2 Bb7 11. O-O a6 {this structure was not the greatest
way to deal with this} 12. b4 $1 {I had seen some structures similar like
this, when preparing and realized we needed to make use of our queenside
majority} Nbd7 13. Qb1 {[#] I was just asking myself, where do I want my
pieces? It can really help improve your chess if you care about pieces and
always want to improve them, the arrows showed what I wanted my setup to be
like} Qc7 $146 ({Predecessor:} 13… Qb8 14. Rd1 Rc8 15. e4 a5 16. Rb3 axb4 17.
Rxb4 Ra3 18. Rc1 Ra5 19. d5 e5 20. Nd2 Ra8 21. Na4 Qc7 22. Nxb6 Nxb6 23. Rxb6
Rcb8 24. Rc2 Nd7 25. Rb4 Bc8 26. Rcb2 Rxb4 27. Rxb4 g6 28. Nb3 Kg7 29. Bg4 Nc5
30. Bxc8 Nxb3 31. Rxb3 Qxc8 32. Rc3 Ra4 33. Qf1 Qc5 34. Rc1 Ra2 35. g3 h5 36.
Qe1 Rb2 37. h4 Ra2 38. Kf1 Kf6 39. Rc3 Kg7 40. Qe3 Qxe3 41. fxe3 Kf6 42. c5
dxc5 43. Rxc5 {Parligras,M (2601)-Anton,T (2412) Calimanesti Caciulata 2017 1/
2-1/2}) 14. Rc1 Rfc8 15. Nd2 Qb8 {[#]} 16. f3 $1 {Not only is it important to
improve your pieces but it is also important to make your opponent’s pieces
unhappy. I just blunt is potentially dangerous bishop especially when he gets
his queen to a8 it also stops some nasty Be4 or ne4 when my knight gets to b3}
Rc7 (16… d5) 17. b5 a5 18. Na4 Qf8 19. Rac3 Rac8 20. Nb3 e5 {if he just sits
there and waits I just play R3c2 (to stop Nd5 when c5 happens) and c5} 21. Qb2
$1 {this is a fantastic move because it brings my queen back to the king with
Qd2 and stops some potential Qe3+, it also protects my e2 bishop. When the
queen is far away from the king it can be dangerous} Qe7 22. Qd2 g6 23. R3c2 h5
24. c5 $1 {and finally, after a lot of manoeuvring I get my c5 break in} exd4
$2 (24… dxc5) 25. c6 $18 dxe3 26. Qd1 Nc5 27. Nxb6 Rd8 28. cxb7 Rxb7 29. Nd5
$1 Nxd5 30. Qxd5 Nxb3 31. Qxb3 d5 32. Rc8 d4 33. Qd3 Qd7 34. R8c6 Rdb8 $2 (
34… Kg7) 35. Qc2 (35. R1c5) 35… Kg7 36. Qc5 Rd8 37. Qe5+ Kg8 38. Bc4 Qf5
39. Qxf5 gxf5 40. Bd3 $18 {[#]} f4 41. Kf1 Kg7 42. R1c5 a4 43. Ra6 Re8 44. Ke2
h4 45. Rxa4 h3 46. gxh3 Rh8 47. Rxd4 Rxh3 48. Rxf4 {Probably my best game of
all time} 1-0
[/pgn]
{[%evp 0,53,19,9,42,-10,-16,0,-3,-37,13,6,29,25,20,13,57,36,38,38,52,58,58,72,
72,14,61,23,54,62,58,58,66,52,45,54,78,25,117,123,110,110,146,37,30,44,51,49,
55,13,217,159,236,245,1807,839]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2
({Relevant:} 5. Nbd2 O-O 6. Bg2 b6 7. O-O Bb7 8. Ne5 a5 9. Qc2 a4 10. Rd1 Bd6
11. cxd5 exd5 12. Ndc4 h6 13. Bf4 Re8 14. Rac1 Na6 15. a3 Bf8 16. Ne3 c5 17.
Nf5 cxd4 18. Nc6 Qd7 19. Bh3 Kh8 20. Ne5 Rxe5 21. Bxe5 Ne4 22. Bxd4 Rc8 23. Qd3
Nac5 24. Qe3 Kh7 25. Bxc5 Nxc5 26. Qf3 d4 27. Rxd4 Qe8 28. Qe3 Qc6 29. f3 Re8
30. Qf2 g6 31. Ne3 Qf6 32. Ng4 Qg7 33. Rcd1 h5 34. Ne3 Nb3 {Dubov,D (2702)
-Carlsen,M (2862) chess24.com INT 2020 1-0}) 5… Bd6 6. Nc3 $5 {This was all
part of my preparation as last time I got some equal Stonewall against him,
this line avoids the stonewall and is tricky to play against as black. Black
needs to very accurate to still get a slightly worse position} O-O (6… c6 $6
7. Qc2 $16 {[%cal Ge2e4,Ge1c1] and now we open the centre and try to
long-castle}) 7. Bg5 c6 8. Bg2 Nbd7 (8… h6 9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10. O-O Qd8 11. c5
Bc7 12. e4 {[%cal Gb2b4] is the main line if he knew I was going to play this,
Nc3 is not so common but effective. Even here we are better because of our
space, centre and better pieces. Our idea now is to do some minority attack})
9. e4 $1 dxe4 10. Nxe4 {[#]} Bc7 $146 {this was not the right square to move
the bishop to, the best move was Bb4+ but even if he did not see that I would
expect Be7 as the pin became very nasty} (10… Bb4+ 11. Nc3 {and once we
fully develop our better pieces and space will give us an advantage}) ({
Predecessor:} 10… Bb4+ 11. Nc3 h6 12. Bf4 Ne4 13. Qc2 Nxc3 14. bxc3 Be7 15.
O-O b6 16. Rfe1 Bb7 17. Rad1 Re8 18. h4 Qc8 19. Bh3 Nf8 20. Ne5 Bd6 21. Qd2 Qc7
22. Bg2 {1/2-1/2 (22) Cordova,E (2571)-Nyzhnyk,I (2665) Saint Louis 2019}) 11.
O-O h6 12. Bh4 $1 Qe7 ({No need to be scared of} 12… g5 $2 13. Nfxg5 $1 hxg5
14. Bxg5 {[%cal Gd1f3,Ga1d1,Gd4d5,Gf1e1] and the pin will be nasty, along with
an exposed king}) 13. Re1 {[%cal Ge1e7] put the rook in line in with the queen
is a normally a good idea} Qb4 $2 {he collapses, but on the other there was
not much better to do because of the pin and I may get some d5 in later} 14.
Nxf6+ Nxf6 15. Bxf6 gxf6 16. Qc1 $1 Kg7 17. c5 $1 {this was a really nice move
because normally when the queen is away from the king the king is in MASSIVE
danger and just before I get along with my attack, I cut of her communications
with the king} Bd8 18. Qf4 Qa5 19. Qg4+ Kh7 20. Qh5 Qc7 21. g4 Kg7 {[#]} 22.
Re3 $1 {I have a lot time and can just slowly improve my pieces, another good
principle is when attacking try to bring in as much pieces as possible} Qd7 23.
Rd1 $1 Bc7 24. Rdd3 $1 b6 $2 {[#] this was not so stupid because he can’t just
sit and wait but on the other hand he could of just turned his prophylactic
brain on… I am now preparing a killer blow} (24… Rh8 {was better}) 25. g5
$3 {I had prepared this move from when I played Rd1} hxg5 (25… fxg5 26. Nxg5
Bf4 27. Rg3 $1) 26. Nxg5 Re8 (26… Rh8 {he thought this would work but…} 27.
Nxe6+ $1 Qxe6 (27… fxe6 28. Rg3+ Bxg3 29. Rxg3+ Kf8 30. Qxh8+ Ke7 31. Rg7#)
28. Rg3+ Bxg3 29. Rxg3+ Kf8 (29… Qg4 30. Rxg4+ Bxg4 31. Qxg4+ Kf8 32. Bxc6)
30. Qxh8+ Ke7 31. Re3) 27. Bxc6 $1 1-0
[/pgn]
FM Shreyas Royal at the London Chess Classic, 2021 courtesy of John Upham Photography
From September 9-14, 2022, Shreyas achieved his first IM norm at the Mindsports GM Tournament in London and earned his second norm, along with a joint 3rd, at the Hit-A-Open Tournament in Slovenia between September 16-22, 2022
At the 4th FIDE Congress of 2022 Shreyas was awarded the IM title and his FIDE standard play rating stands at 2456.
Ravi Haria was born Sunday, February 7th, 1999 in Elstree, Hertfordshire. “Maria” by Blondie was top of the hit parade. Ravi currently resides in London.
Ravi learnt at the age of 6 and joined Barnet Knights Chess Club in 2005. His first chess teacher was Angela Eyton who taught him the moves and Angela was followed by Tony Niccoli and then Julian Meszoras on his ascent of the chess ladder.
Ravi’s first recorded tournament was the 35th Barnet Knights Under-8 rapidplay on September 25th 2005. Also playing of note were Jonathan Pein and Isaac Sanders.
His first recorded standard play game was in the London Junior Under-10 Championships on December 9th 2006.
By the time he was eight he had attracted the attention of the England selectors and played in the 2008 Commonwealth Championships in New Delhi coming home with a bronze medal.
Ravi aged 8 photographed by The Borehamwood and Elstree Times in January 2008Ravi aged 9 photographed by The Borehamwood and Elstree Times in August 2008
In 2008 Ravi won the British Under-9 title in Liverpool. He said afterwards:
It was quite nice to be leading everyone and I felt proud of myself. I’m not sure how I control my nerves but it feels really good to win.
His mother Sona said:
It’s a bit overwhelming but we just support him. It means you have to give up a lot of time for him but it’s really nice to see that he’s getting somewhere.
This was followed in 2014 by winning the British Under-18 championship in Aberystwyth aged 15 and then the same title in 2017 in Llandudno.
Ravi Haria, UKCC Southern Gigafinal, 2013
In 2016 Ravi was equal 2nd to Deep Sengupta at the Hastings Masters Open with an impressive 6/9 and a TPR of 2563. This performance secured his second IM norm.
The IM title was conferred at the 88th FIDE Congress 2017, 7-15 October, Goynuk, Antalya, Turkey.
He scored six points after 11 rounds at the 2017 World Junior championship in Italy and 5.5 points at the 2017 WYCC U-18 group in Uruguay.
Ravi completed his British junior titles run by becoming the current (no OTB event in 2020) British Under-21 champion in 2019 in Torquay scoring an emphatic 6.5/9 securing a share of third place.
Partial crosstable for the 2019 British Championships in Torquay
Ravi became a FIDE Master in 2015 at the age of 16 and and International Master two years later making him England’s second youngest IM after Matthew Wadsworth.
OTB Elo rating profile for IM Ravi Haria according to MegaBase 2020
His peak FIDE rating was 2497 in October 2021 and currently (February 2022) is 2490.
FM Ravi Haria, ECF Secondary Schools Rapidplay, 2016
On January 28th 2021 Thinker’s Publishing released The Modernised Anti-Sicilians, Volume 1, Rossolimo Variation which is a massive 520 page tome on the following position :
[fen]r1bqkbnr/pp1ppppp/2n5/1Bp5/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]
GM John Emms plays IM Ravi Haria in the final round of the 2019 British Championships in Torquay
With the white pieces Ravi unsurprisingly plays the Moscow and Rossolimo variations against the Sicilian, the Ruy Lopez and, in recent years, he has adopted the Reti/English complex.
As the second player he plays the French Winawer and (refreshingly) the Abrahams-Noteboom Variation of the Semi-Slav.
For your entertainment we have these two brevities :
Ravi has played for University College London. Hendon and Cavendish in the London and other leagues and in 4NCL he started with Kings Head, transferring to Cambridge in 2014 and finally moving in 2016 to Wood Green.
In this game Ravi punishes IM Malcolm Pein who has a bad day at the office :
Over the 19th – 23rd August 2021 Ravi played in the Wood Green Invitational round-robin event at Oddfellows Hall, Stafford.
Ravi scored 7.5/10 and secured his second Grandmaster Norm and a TPR of 2680.
Wood Green Invitational Round-Robin event at Oddfellows Hall, Stafford. August Bank Holiday Weekend, 2021
Over the August Bank Holiday weekend of 2021 Ravi played in the Northumbrian Masters GM Tournament at the splendid Marriott MetroCentre, Gateshead winning jointly with Conor Murphy scoring 6.5/9 with a TPR of 2600. This gave Ravi his third and final GM norm.
The norm was ratified at a recent FIDE Congress. As of February 2022 Ravi stood at 2490 for standard-play.
Sheen Mount Under Eleven Chess Champion Richard Bates and Robin Laisby enjoying a game during time out from the Teachers Assurance National Primary Schools Chess Championships. Malaysian Elephant Leyang Leyang and her keeper Duncan McGinnie help them not to forget their chess moves.
IM Paul Littlewood. Source : British Chess, Pergamon Press, 1983.
BCN wishes Happy Birthday to Paul Littlewood
Paul Edwin Littlewood was born on Wednesday, January 18th, 1956 in Skegness, East Lindsey, Lincolnshire. His parents were John and Jean Littlewood (née) Hadwick. Paul’s chess playing uncle was Norman Littlewood.
John and Paul on Skegness beach circa 1958. Kindly supplied by Paul Littlewood. George and Ringo are out of shot !John, Jenny and Paul Littlewood, circa 1962. Kindly supplied by Paul Littlewood.
Paul attended Glenburn Comprehensive School in Skelmersdale from 1967 and then read Natural Sciences at Christ’s College, Cambridge from 1974.
Paul played badminton for Lancashire and Cambridge and, in 1971, won the English Schools Mixed Championship when he was 15 years old.
Paul and family receive a chess lesson from John following John’s win in the 1972 Southport Open
On leaving University Paul taught science at Southbrook Comprehensive, Daventry. Four years later Paul became a dealer at Phillips & Drew and followed this as an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs. Stays at Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan were followed by a change of direction and since then Paul has been director of various food supply companies retiring in 2014.
Paul is married (3rd November 2006) to (his second wife) Fiona and lives in St. Albans, Hertfordshire.
PEL won the ECF President’s Award in 2007 and from the 2008 ECF Yearbook we have the following citation :
“International Master and accomplished bridge player. From British Chess champion (1981) Paul has presided over the 4NCL as chairman during its most successful period. When he became chairman over ten years ago the league consisted of two divisions and 32 teams. The league has now expanded to four divisions and a total of 72 teams. Most of England’s juniors play 4NCL. During this time 4NCL became one of the strongest leagues in Europe, at one time boasting a Division 1 rivalling the Bundesliga in strength in the top matches.
Paul has demonstrated the sound judgement of Solomon when dealing with league disputes and has drawn on his business acumen, honed during a successful career in the City with Goldman Sachs to make 4NCL the financially stable and expanding league it is today.”
Roll of Honour
British U18 Champion 1972
British U21 Champion 1975
British Champion 1981
As a junior represented England in Glorney Cup
International Master 1980
From British Chess (Pergamon Press, 1983) by Botterill, Levy. Rice and Richardson we have this article from Richard W. O’Brien :
“Paul Littlewood was destined to become a strong player from birth. His father John was for some time one of the strongest players in the country and represented England on many occasions. His uncle Norman was for a few years not far behind. Paul, however, has surpassed them both and has become the first in the family to reach IM status. (Ed: JEL was very much worthy of the IM title but insufficient events of the right type held him back).
A. Howard Williams, Martyn J. Corden, Paul E. Littlewood and A. Jonathan Mestel
All three are essentially attacking players. There have been times in recent years when play at the Hastings Premier has become dull. However, Paul one of the English representatives at the last three tournaments, was certainly not to blame. (His game against Brito of Brazil which follows is a striking example of this).”
Coached by his father, Paul became British U18 champion in 1972 and three years later became British U21 champion.
Clearly more interested in an academic career he went up to Cambridge and then followed his father into the teaching profession. Opportunities to play in strong tournaments were thus very limited. These opportunities, however, were grasped in both hands. Three times in thirteen months between August 1978 and August 1979 he obtained an IM norm and thus the title.
Partial crosstable for the Lloyds Bank Open, 1978
The first caused a sensation as it was totally unexpected. He shared first place at Lloyds Bank ahead of several grandmasters including Shamkovich, who was the first grandmaster he ever defeated.
Leonid Shamkovich plays Paul Littlewood during the 1978 Lloyds Bank Masters. Paul won the game.
Eight months later Aaronson Masters was won and then came the final norm, also at Lloyds Bank.
Tournaments abroad were limited although he represented England students. He did play at Kringsja (2nd equal) in 1978 and Borovo where he scored 6.5.13 finishing ahead of 3 GMs.
In 1981 came his finest achievement – winning the British Championship with a massive 9/11.
Partial crosstable from the 1981 British Championship in Morecambe
His father who was also competing in the championship was as proud as could be and deservedly so (he also coached Sheila Jackson who retained her British Ladies Championship that year). His excellent all round play took him to the title and only once during the tournament did he stand worse. His endgame play was so good that CHESS even published an article solely on these endings.
Paul Littlewood and friends during the 1978 Lloyds Bank Masters
Duties at school in Daventry meant he was, in February 1982, unable to take part in the zonal at Marbella. This followed an excellent Hastings when as British Champion he made a plus score – a rare event indeed.
IM Paul Littlewood during filming for the “Trick of the Mind” series from Derren Brown
In the summer he gave up teaching and joined Phillips & Drew (stockbrokers). He now (ed : this was in 1983) lives with his (first) wife Sue and family in the wilds of Essex (Billericay).
IM Paul Littlewood, event and photographer unknown
{[%evp 0,54,19,-63,-56,-53,-52,-89,-55,-70,-50,-46,-26,-42,-48,-27,-38,-13,-18,
-50,-12,-67,-32,-98,-56,-99,-83,-83,-83,-73,-38,-100,-89,-89,-125,-108,-163,
-159,-164,-154,-163,-144,-144,-446,-303,-361,-364,-371,-364,-812,-1568,-2013,
-2191,-29975,-1329,-1430,-1569]} 1. b4 {Mike liked pushing his knight’s pawns.
On this day the b2 pawn was the victim.} e5 2. a3 d5 3. e3 Nf6 4. Bb2 Bd6 5. c4
c6 6. cxd5 cxd5 7. Nf3 {White’s strategy is to induce the advance ….e4 and
thereby establish a strong outpost on d4.} Qe7 {Black resists temptation.} 8.
Nc3 Nc6 9. h3 $146 {Hardly an inspired choice. Maybe White thought he was
worse already?} ({Better is} 9. d3 O-O 10. Be2 Rd8 11. O-O $17) 9… O-O $17 {
Black’s lead in development is clear.} 10. g4 $6 {This can hardly be justified
but then again we refer to our note after move 1. Michael does sometimes get
carried away wit his outlandish ideas : GB.} Be6 11. Ne2 {Heading for f5
combined with Rg1 might stir up trouble for Black.} a6 (11… Ne4 12. Bg2 f5 {
and the f2 square is under some pressure.}) 12. Ng3 e4 {Black finally succumbs
to temptation, though not without justification. White’s set-up is too
artificial.} 13. Nd4 Nxd4 14. Bxd4 Nd7 15. Qb3 {[#]} Ne5 $1 16. Be2 Nc6 $1 {
The refutation of White’s strategy. With the loss of his blockade on d4,
White’s game disintegrates.} 17. Bb2 d4 $1 $19 {The time has come to open the
position.} 18. Qd1 Bxg3 19. fxg3 d3 20. Bf1 f5 21. Qc1 {Desperation,} ({but on
} 21. gxf5 Rxf5 22. Bg2 Qg5 {he is defenceless.}) 21… fxg4 22. Qc5 Qf7 23.
O-O-O {White seeks some salvation on his side of the board, but instead finds
himself walking into a mating net.} Ba2 $1 24. hxg4 Na5 $1 {A neat touch} ({
though the prosaic} 24… Rac8 {also wins of course.}) 25. bxa5 ({Or} 25. Qxa5
Rac8+ 26. Bc3 Qb3 {forces mate}) 25… Rac8 26. Rh5 Rxc5+ 27. Rxc5 Qxf1 $1 {
and White resigned} 28. Rxf1 Rxf1# 0-1
[/pgn]
Chess Tactics, Paul Littlewood, Crowood Chess Library, 1991
{[%evp 0,62,19,35,34,-14,0,-4,33,16,34,17,17,25,44,6,8,4,-4,3,-6,0,-2,-2,17,-5,
-5,-22,6,-22,-18,-37,-21,-93,17,-26,-13,-44,-101,-101,-107,-91,-152,-150,-33,
-25,-100,-93,-95,-108,-110,-120,-117,-192,-169,-187,-38,-345,-312,-710,-996,
-996,-1001,-1027,-1029]} {Annotations sourced from BCM, 1981, page 498, game #
20170, Bill Hartston, British Chess, 1983, George Botterill and British Chess
News, 2021.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 {This is the third time these two
have crossed swords in this opening in 1981, though on the other two occasions
it was Chandler who had Black. Littlewood won at Hastings in January, but then
Chandler hit back with a masterly endgame performance in the ARC tournament.}
4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 b6 ({WRH : Both Chandler and and Littlewood have
played the fashionable line with} 6… c5 7. O-O cxd4 8. exd4 dxc4 9. Bxc4 b6 {
Here, perhaps just for a change, perhaps to avoid any prepared lines
Littlewood chooses something different.}) 7. a3 {GB : It seems to me that this
move would fit i better with the development of the white knight at e2 rather
than f3. WRH : This move is usually delayed until after 7.00 Bb7 Now tha game
quickly develops along unusual paths.} (7. O-O Bb7 8. cxd5 exd5 9. a3 Bd6 10.
b4 a6 11. Qb3 Qe7 12. b5 axb5 13. Nxb5 Nbd7 14. a4 c5 15. Ba3 Ba6) 7… Bxc3+
8. bxc3 Ba6 $1 {GB : White squares! WRH : When your opponent has the bishop
pair, you should exchange one of them. So said Nimzowitsch and here Littlewood
takes his advice. Black’s plan is gain control of the white squares after the
exchange of bishops.} 9. cxd5 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 exd5 11. c4 Nc6 {Black’s play is
reminiscent of the Tchigorin Defence to the Queen’s Gambit relying on piece
play to contest and restrain the centre.} 12. Bb2 $2 $146 {Underestimating the
activity of Black’s pieces.} (12. O-O Na5 13. Ne5 c5 14. Bb2 Rc8 15. Rad1) ({
Instead} 12. Bd2 Ne4 13. O-O {leads to an equal game.}) 12… Na5 13. Nd2 c5
14. dxc5 {This move indciates that White is still hoping for an advantage from
the opening.} ({but he would have done better to settle for slight inferiority
after} 14. O-O dxc4 15. Nxc4 Nc6) 14… dxc4 $1 15. Qc3 ({Black’s queenside
pawns give him the better chances after} 15. Qxd8 Rfxd8 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. O-O-O
Rd3) 15… Qd5 $17 16. cxb6 Rfd8 $1 {A fine pawn sacrifice. White cannot
castle kingside because his knight on d2 hangs. Meanwhile the Black major
pieces become very active.} 17. bxa7 Rxa7 ({WRH : note that} 17… Qxg2 {
would have been met by} 18. O-O-O Rxd2 19. Rdg1 $1) 18. e4 $6 (18. Nf3) 18…
Re7 19. O-O-O {At last the king has escaped from the centre, but its new home
is also far from safe.} Qa8 $19 20. Kb1 Rd3 21. Qc2 Red7 {Black’s simplest
threat now is 22..Qd8 followed, if necessary, by Nb3 or Nxe4. The pin on the
d-file must be broken before it is too late.} 22. e5 Ne8 23. Nf3 Qd5 {Mighty
centralisation of the black forces.} 24. Nd4 Rb7 {WRH : The final shift of the
attack to the b-file proves the last straw for White’s strained defences.} 25.
Rxd3 cxd3 26. Qa4 {Otherwise …Nc4 wins the pinned bishop} (26. Qxd3 {WRH :
loses to the prosaic} Nc4) 26… Rb8 {WRH : calmly defending the attacked
knight and renewing the threat of Nc4. To add to his problems, White was now
severly short of time.} 27. Ka1 Nc7 28. Rb1 d2 $1 {GB : White is quite lost
here. He has no defence against …Ne6 followed by a fatal check on b3. WRH :
With so many white pieces trying simply to plug gaps in his leaky position it
is almost impossible to find a move which does not lose everything.} 29. Bc3
Rxb1+ 30. Kxb1 Qc4 $1 31. Qc2 ({WRH : the final shock} 31. Qxc4 d1=Q+ {leaves
Black a queen ahead.}) 31… Qf1+ {and White resigned. WRH : a total triumph
for Black’s white-square strategy.} 0-1
[/pgn]
Keith finally secured the Grandmaster title in 1995 as a result of the final leg of the French League Championship. Keith gained the IM title in 1985 and then made his three norms at Ostend 1990, Parthenay in France in 1993, and in the French League finishing in March. He became England’s 26th holder of the GM title. On August 8th 2021 Keith became the 2nd British Online Champion
{[%evp 0,82,19,38,72,69,71,77,64,2,30,17,14,9,29,24,35,-30,-50,-74,-74,-75,-88,
-128,-3,-16,-56,-32,-43,-43,10,5,20,16,16,-4,5,-3,-68,-61,-45,-40,-37,-1273,68,
-201,-202,-210,-197,-207,-208,-228,-194,-183,-149,-150,-148,-143,-143,-141,138,
141,141,150,138,140,138,173,201,198,198,210,213,236,232,190,225,138,142,100,
114,95,114,95,92]} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c4 e6 5. Nf3 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Bb4+
$5 ({Databases are peppered with games where Keith has played} 6… Nc6 {
but perhaps he wanted to keep his opponent guessing.}) 7. Nc3 Ne7 8. h4 Nbc6 9.
a3 $5 {Jonathan, perhaps with the far-sighted plan of not being strangled
slowly in a rook and pawn endgame, wants to provoke something sharp.} Bxc3+ 10.
bxc3 Nxe5 11. Bf4 N5g6 (11… Nxc4 12. Bxc4 dxc4 {is tempting but maybe} 13.
Nb5 O-O 14. Qxd8 Rxd8 15. Nc7 Nd5 16. O-O-O $5 {gives White a bit of
compensation. Instead, Black gives back material to get some pressure on the
e-file.}) 12. Bg3 e5 13. h5 exd4 14. hxg6 Nxg6 15. Qxd4 O-O 16. cxd5 Re8+ 17.
Be2 Ne7 18. Rd1 Nf5 19. Qd3 {[diag]} Qg5 (19… Qg5 {We haven’t quite got
there yet, but we’re coming up to a spectacular mutual oversight which needs
explaining. Seeking enlightenment (and also wanting to be sure that the moves
were correctly recorded – mix-ups do happen), I got in touch with Keith on
FaceBook to ask what happened. Keith responded at some length, centring on his
thoughts as he planned the move 19…Qg5. What followed are his own words,
lightly edited by me: “It’s impossible to fully explain how such a thing can
happen, but let me try anyway. So, I’m sitting there analysing the move I want
to play in principle – which at the time was 19…Qd8-g5. I know that my
advantage increases if I can make the move, but obviously I am concerned about
his possible reply} 20. Qb5 {So I analyse} Re4 {(other moves didn’t look very
good to me)} 21. d6 {- the only move that could give me any problem, as it
threatens to win a piece. Visualising the position, I then hoped that} Be6 {
would be strong, as it threatened the winning 22…Bc4. Of course, the main
potential drawback to this is that he can then fork my rooks with} 22. Qxb7 {
I would then need} Rxe2+ {to work or I would be lost! So – and don’t forget,
all this is before playing 19…Qg5 – I set about analysing 22…Rxe2+ as I
(wrongly!) believed that 19…Qg5 hinged on this. So, 22…Rxe2+} 23. Kxe2 Bc4+
24. Kf3 {(obviously forced) and then, I thought, ”please let 24…Re8 be a
winning move”! It certainly looked winning. It was obvious he had to either
put a rook on e1 or his bishop on e5 to stop …Be2 mate. I didn’t look beyond}
Re8 {[diag]} 25. Rde1 ({I saw a pretty mate against} 25. Rhe1 {which was} Qh5+
26. Kf4 g5+ {(my favourite move!)} 27. Kxf5 Qg6+ 28. Kg4 f5+ 29. Kh3 Qh5+ 30.
Bh4 Qxh4#) ({so that just left the irritating} 25. Be5 {to deal with. Find a
good move there and I could play 19…Qg5. I decided that 25…h5 must be
winning and anyway certainly left him in trouble.}) 25… Bd5+ 26. Qxd5 Nh4+ {
So I analysed no more and plunged in with 19…Qg5. He quickly replied 20 Qb5
and, after briefly running through all those nice lines again, I confidently
played 20…Re4. He continued following my analysis, with 21 d6?? and I had 21.
..Be6?? ready for him. So there you have it. The explanation is that we were
playing out a variation I had analysed way ahead, and I didn’t stop properly
to check if there might be something else going on!”}) 20. Qb5 Re4 21. d6 $4 (
21. O-O Nxg3 22. fxg3 Re5 $5 {seems to be broadly equal.}) 21… Be6 $4 ({
What Keith had missed in his move 19 analysis, and what Jonathan also missed
when playing 21.d6, was the bone-crushing} 21… Nxg3 $3 {, which is game over
as} 22. Qxg5 {allows} Rxe2# {mate, while a capture on g3 loses the queen to 22.
..Qxb5 as the e2 bishop is pinned.}) 22. Qd3 $4 (22. O-O $1 Rd8 23. Bd3 {
and White is well in the game.}) 22… Nxg3 {This time Black doesn’t fluff his
lines.} 23. fxg3 Qe5 $1 24. Rh4 (24. d7 Rd8 {makes no material difference,
while a king move such as}) (24. Kf1 {loses to} Bc4 {.}) 24… Bg4 25. Qxe4 $1
({A much better bet than} 25. Rxg4 Rxg4 {, which looks pretty hopeless for
White.}) 25… Qxe4 26. Rxg4 Qe5 $6 ({There seems to be no reason not to
snatch a pawn with} 26… Qxg2 27. d7 Rd8 {, with very reasonable winning
chances.}) 27. d7 Qxc3+ $2 ({After this, Black’s winning chances evaporate.}
27… Rd8 {keeps the Black flag flying, though it’s by no means obvious how he
can go about winning.}) 28. Kf1 Rd8 29. Re4 $1 {White’s firm control of the
e-file is his salvation.} Qc6 ({Possibly another oversight, but it turns out
to be non-critical as the following tactical sequence doesn’t leave Black too
much to do to save the game. After} 29… Kf8 30. Bb5 Qf6+ 31. Ke1 g6 32. Re8+
Kg7 33. Rxd8 Qxd8 34. Rc1 {, the game peters out to a draw.}) 30. Re8+ Rxe8 31.
d8=Q g6 32. Qd5 Qc3 33. Bc4 Qf6+ 34. Kg1 Re7 35. Rf1 Qb6+ 36. Kh1 Qc7 {The
zenith of White’s game – Houdini scores it at +2.13 – but it is hard to see
how White can bring any more pressure to bear on Black’s position or make
meaningful progress. Maybe Magnus Carlsen would have found a way.} 37. Qd4 a6
38. Rd1 b5 39. Bf1 Re8 40. Kh2 Qc2 41. Qd3 Qc5 1/2-1/2
{[%evp 0,159,19,29,23,-4,25,20,30,-2,20,22,9,-6,15,-19,-25,-6,-8,-13,6,-4,-3,
-3,6,-21,-8,-11,22,0,7,1,14,1,3,11,8,0,5,5,29,50,52,22,21,24,45,27,63,69,55,70,
72,80,74,14,33,25,26,42,34,44,48,48,68,63,89,99,98,92,126,116,115,116,116,122,
128,113,128,129,132,133,135,151,158,147,151,136,137,132,142,134,152,152,156,
152,162,164,163,152,152,152,163,153,153,161,157,136,153,153,153,161,157,157,
162,157,157,157,157,157,158,134,158,134,208,189,189,189,189,141,189,165,182,
160,177,156,202,184,193,202,210,195,208,221,276,293,377,373,545,373,639,373,
373,367,365,381,371,480,537,732,1259,28004]} {Taken from Arkell’s Endings,
Game 14, pp 68-71} 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 c6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Qc2 dxc4 5. Qxc4 Bg4 6. Nbd2
Nbd7 7. g3 e6 8. Bg2 Be7 9. O-O Bh5 10. a4 $1 $146 (10. b3) 10… a5 11. Qb3
Qb6 12. Qxb6 Nxb6 13. b3 Nfd5 14. Bb2 O-O 15. Nc4 Nxc4 {This capture gave me
some encouragement as my pawn will gain in stature, and I will have long-term
prospects on the b-file.} 16. bxc4 Nb4 17. Rfd1 Rfd8 18. c5 Bf6 19. e3 b6 {
Against a waiting move I planned Rab1 and Ba3} 20. cxb6 Rab8 21. Rac1 Rxb6 22.
Rd2 Bg6 23. Bc3 Be4 {[#]} {I think this was an oversight and he had missed my
25th move.} 24. Ne5 Bxg2 25. Nc4 Ra6 26. Kxg2 {Now I have the kind of position
I like: no weaknesses and a guarantee of permanent pressure against his
queenside pawns.} Rda8 27. Nxa5 {It was hard to resist playing in this
straightforward manner. It will now be a very tough task for Wadsworth to hang
on to his backward c-pawn.} (27. Rb1 {runs into} c5) ({and} 27. Rb2 {allows}
Nd3) 27… Nd5 28. Nb7 Rxa4 29. Rdc2 Ra2 30. Be1 g6 31. Kf3 {[%csl Gc6] With
e3 defended I’m now threatening to capture his pawn.} Rxc2 32. Rxc2 Ne7 33.
Bb4 Ra6 34. Nc5 Ra7 {The c-pawn is lost whatever he does} ({For example} 34…
Rb6 35. Ba5 Rb5 36. Bd8 {with Nd3 or Ne4 to follow}) 35. Ne4 Kg7 {[#]} 36. Bxe7
{I could have exchanged both minor pieces, but felt that the subsequent ending
would be more favourable if I kept the knight, which tends to be more
effective than a bishop at close quarters.} Bxe7 37. Rxc6 h5 38. h3 {[#]} {
How do you set about winning such a position? Clearly not with the pieces
alone, but using pawns will unavoidably involve exchanges, and you don’t
want too many swaps as rook, knight and pawn versus rook and bishop is usually
a simple draw. The answer is somewhere in-between. Ideally you would like to
fix the kingside with g4-g5, and then organise e3-e4 and d4-d5.} Rb7 39. g4
hxg4+ 40. hxg4 Ra7 {[#]} {I was pleased to see this and thought he should
prefer 40…g5, but I guess he was reluctant to put a pawn on the same colour
as his bishop. 40…f5 was also interesting, but I didn’t expect him to
weaken his pawns in such a cavalier manner.} 41. g5 {Now I have a free hand to
slowly improve my position because …f6 will always leave Black with too many
weaknesses. So many times this is what we strive for in chess – leaving the
opponent without any real counterplay is often half the battle.} Ra5 42. Kf4
Ra7 43. Rb6 Bd8 44. Rb5 Rd7 45. Kg4 Be7 46. Ra5 Bd8 47. Ra8 {[#]} {If you
study the great endgame players such as Magnus Carlsen and Anatoly Karpov, you
cannot fail to observe their endless patience. Maintaining the tension rather
than committing oneself to immediate action tends to have a wearisome effect
on the opponent, as well as forcing them to defend accurately to avoid further
damage.} Be7 48. Rc8 Rb7 49. Re8 Rc7 50. Rb8 Rd7 51. f4 Rc7 52. Kf3 Ra7 53. Nc5
Rc7 54. Nd3 Ra7 55. Rc8 Bd6 56. Ke4 Rb7 57. Nf2 {From g4 the knight will have
a choice of entry points into the heart of Black’s position.} Be7 58. Ng4 Ra7
59. Rb8 Bd6 60. Rb5 Be7 61. Ke5 Ra3 {Spooked by my intention to make progress
with e3-e4 and d4-d5, combined with Nf6 and Rb8, Matthew gives some ground.}
62. Rb7 Ra5+ 63. Ke4 Kf8 64. Nf6 Ra8 65. Ke5 Rd8 66. Nh7+ Ke8 67. e4 Ra8 68.
Nf6+ Kf8 69. d5 exd5 70. exd5 Rd8 71. Rb6 {[#]} {Threatening to win on the
spot with 72 d6.} Bc5 72. Rc6 Ba3 73. d6 {Inch by inch I’ve brought about a
winning position. The rest is relatively straightforward.} Kg7 74. Kd5 Bb2 75.
Ng4 Ba3 76. Ne5 f6 77. Rc7+ Kg8 78. Nf7 Bxd6 79. Nxd6 fxg5 80. fxg5 1-0
[/pgn]
Arkell’s OdysseyArkell’s Endings, Keith Arkell, GingerGM, 2020, ISBN-10 : 1527265595
FM Jonah Willow, UKCC Terafinal 2018, Courtesy of John Upham Photography
Happy Birthday IM (elect) Jonah Willow
Jonah B Willow was born in Nottingham on Monday, December 30th 2002. Jacob was the most popular boy’s name in 2002. “Lose Yourself” by Eminem was number one.
Jonah has a chess playing sister, Hambel, who plays for Newcastle-under-Lyme, West Nottingham, Staffordshire CA and Nottinghamshire CA.
Jonah’s first recorded graded standard play tournament was the 2010 Delancey UK Chess Challenge Terafinal and his first recorded rapidplay event was the Nottingham Rapidplay in 2011.
Jonah Willow at the 2012 UKK Terafinal. Courtesy of John Upham Photography
Jonah’s first published standard play grade was 96D in January of 2012 :
Jonah’s ECF grading progress
Jonah has represented West Nottingham, 4NCL Wood Green, Nottinghamshire CA and Syston (Leicester).
FIDE rating profile for FM Jonah B Willow from Megabase 2020
It is a little curious as to the reason for the rating profile to halt at the end of 2018 since Jonah has played plenty of FIDE rated games since. Compare the above with :
FIDE rating for FM Jonah Willow from fide.com
Jonah’s current (December 2021) FIDE standard play rating is 2381 and Jonah became a FIDE Master in 2018.
Jonah has plus scores against : Mike Surtees, Peter Svidler (!), Richard Pert, Peter Shaw, Ranesh Ratnesan, Shreyas Royal, Keith Arkell and Ameet Ghasi to name but a few.
With the white pieces Jonah is a committed 1.e4 player but he has scored 83% with 1.Nc3! first played by JH Blackburne against Noa in 1883 and named after Timothy A Dunst.
Jonah plays the unusual Chekhover Variation (4.Qxd4) in the 2…d6 Sicilian : this is an interesting alternative and has been discussed by GM Ben Finegold :
Best Wishes to IM David Eggleston on his birthday.
David James Eggleston was born on Tuesday, December 22nd 1987 in Sunderland, County Durham to Ian and Janet Eggleston (née Robson). David has a brother, Thomas A, also born in 1987 who plays chess to a high standard (2178 in 2020). Thomas also plays for Durham City and for 4NCL North East England.
There is one game in Megabase between the brothers from round 5 of the Durham Open in 2003 which resulted in a 13 move draw. They shared the 1st prize with 4/5.
David currently resides in Durham and plays for Durham City in the North East League and for Cheddleton in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL).
David became a FIDE Master in 2007 and an International Master in 2013.
According to ChessBase David’s peak FIDE rating was 2434 aged 26 in December 2013. However, this could easily be surpassed.
IM Brandon Clarke, British Championships (Major Open), Torquay 2019, Courtesy of John Upham Photography
Happy Birthday Wishes to IM Brandon Clarke born on this day (December 14th), 1995. “Earth Song” by Michael Jackson was the UK Number One single.
Brandon George I Clarke was born in Leicester and now resides in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. He was a chess scholar at Wellington College, Berkshire and studied accounting at BPP. Upon leaving Wellington he relocated to California and became a chess coach in Orange County. A further relocation to Sydney, Australia allowed Brandon to become a coach at the Sydney Academy of Chess.
His chess career started modestly but progress rapidly accelerated.
In the 2003 London Junior Championships he was =13 with 4/7
In July 2004 he secured his first published standard play grading of 84D and 62D for rapid play. His first recorded rapid play tournament was on the 4th of October 2003 being the Mini Squad Under 8s. In this event he beat a certain Jamie Horton who had a grading of 45D at the time.
In 2006 Brandon won outright the London Under 12 title with 7.5/9. Marcus Harvey was a runner-up. This situation was repeated one year later.
In 2009 Brandon won the LJCC Under-16 title this time with Akash Jain as runner-up. His TPR for a score of 5/6 was 199.
2010 saw the sharing of the British Under-15 Championship with Gordon Scott in Canterbury.
Brandon was a chess scholar at Wellington College, Berkshire and was part of the strongest school / college team to play in the National Schools competition for many years that included James Holland, Felix Jose Ynojosa-Aponte, Alexander Galliano, Latefah Meesam-Sparkes, Akash Jain, Adrian Archer-Lock and latterly William Foo and Richard Zhu. Despite being easily the strongest team they were denied the title by the antiquated age handicapping rules.
In 2016 Brandon became a FIDE Master.
FIDE rating profile for Brandon Clarke according to MegaBase 2020
He became an International Master in early 2019 and plays much chess in Australia, New Zealand and England having lived in the USA for some time after leaving Wellington College.
Aged 24 Brandon has achieved his highest FIDE rating of 2445 and it shows every sign of increasing.
IM Brandon Clarke, British Championships (Major Open), Torquay 2019, Courtesy of John Upham Photography
With the White pieces Brandon is almost exclusively an e4 player with occasional forays with the Queen’s pawn. Against the Najdorf he prefers 6.Bg5 and allows the Marshall against the Ruy Lopez.
As the second player he plays the Najdorf and the King’s Indian Defence most of the time.
In January 2019 Brandon scored a very impressive victory in the 126th (!) New Zealand Open. “The 2019 126th New Zealand Open is part of the 126th New Zealand Congress and is a 9-round Swiss event being held at the Waipuna Conference Centre in Auckland from 14-22 January 2019.”
Cross table from the 126h New Zealand Open
Brandon made a welcome return to the UK and comfortably won the 2019 Major Open in Torquay with 8.5/9 as an IM.
Brandon plays for Australia Kangaroos in the Pro Chess League.
The ECF grading web site shows his only club to be Littlethorpe (in Leicestershire) although Brandon played for Warwickshire Select in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL).
IM Brandon Clarke, British Championships (Major Open), Torquay 2019, Courtesy of John Upham Photography
We focus on the British Chess Scene Past & Present !
