We offer best wishes to GM Daniel King on his birthday
Daniel John King was born on Wednesday, August 28th 1963 (the same day as the Martin Luther King “I have a dream” speech) in Beckenham, Kent.
He attended Langley Park School whose motto is “Mores et Studia” meaning “good character and learning” or “morals and study”.
Daniel has a brother Andrew (AJ King) who is also a strong player.
Daniel became an International Master in 1982 and a Grandmaster in 1989.
Daniel King
His peak FIDE rating (Felice) was 2560 in July 1990 at the age of 27.
Daniel plays for Guildford in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) and has played for Guildford in local leagues.
This was written (by Leonard Barden) about Daniel who was 15 just prior to the 1979 Spassky vs the BCF Junior Squad simultaneous display :
“Langley Park School, Shortlands and Bromley. Rating 201. British under-14 co-champion, 1977. 2nd Lloyds Bank junior international, 1979.”
Danny was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 1983-84 and 1985-86 seasons.
According to Test Your Chess With Daniel King, Batsford, 2004 :
“Grandmaster Daniel King has been a professional chess player for 20 years. During that time he has represented his country on many occasions including an historic match victory over the Soviet Union in Reykyavik, 1990. Besides his chess career, Daniel has built up a reputation as a commentator on TV and radio,
Jonathan Speelman and Daniel King share headphones at the 2013 FIDE Candidates event in London, courtesy of John Upham Photography
and has reported on four World Championship matches and several Man vs Machine events, including the controversial Kasparov vs Deep Blue encounter in New York, 1997. He is an award-winning author of 15 books, including Winning with the Najdorf, Mastering the Spanish, and Kasparov vs Deep Blue for Batsford. ”
On April 8th, 2020 New in Chess released Sultan Khan: The Indian Servant Who Became Chess Champion of the British Empire which is Daniel’s most recent book.
According to British Chess (Pergamon, 1983) by Botterill, Levy, Rice and Richardson :
1977 British Under 14 Champion
1979 Lloyds Bank 6/9 (aged only 16)
1980 First Ilford Open
1981 Represented England in Glorney Cup scoring 4.5/5
1981 Fourteenth equal British Championship
1981 IM norm Manchester 5.5/9
1981 Second equal Ramsgate Regency Masters 6.5/9 IM norm with a round to spare
1982 First Equal Guernsey 6/7
1982 First Hamar IM norm and title
1982 Second equal Molde
1982 Second equal Hallsberg Junior
1982 Third equal Phillips and Drew Knights
1982/3 Tenth equal Ohra, Amsterdam 5/9
1982/3 Fifth European Junior
1983 Fourth equal Gausdal
1983 First Portsmouth Open
In the same article Daniel gave the following game as his favourite up to 1983:
Streatham & Brixton becoming BCF National Club Champions in 1989. The team was Tony Kosten, Mark Hedben, Daniel King, Nigel Povah (Captain), Joe Gallagher and Julian Hodgson : quite a strong teamDaniel King (seated, second from left)
{[%evp 0,53,21,48,35,50,98,72,62,41,41,38,67,8,50,26,44,24,32,21,-1,20,-16,-18,
-12,-29,-39,-26,-17,-16,40,-18,46,49,49,49,49,29,135,38,100,91,101,25,74,2,104,
104,75,47,53,24,0,0,80,102]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3
a6 6. f4 Qc7 7. Nf3 Nbd7 8. a4 g6 9. Bd3 Bg7 10. O-O b6 11. Qe1 Bb7 12. Kh1 {
White has to temporize for a move; instead:} (12. Qh4 Nc5 $1 13. f5 gxf5 14. e5
Nxd3 15. cxd3 dxe5 16. Qg5 Rg8 17. Qxf5 Qc5+ 18. Kh1 e4 $17 {Ebeling-King,
Helsinki 1991.}) 12… O-O 13. f5 e6 14. Qh4 Rae8 {Black’s formation is rock
solid. The knight on f6, defending h7, is crucial to Black’s defence and here
it is well supported, not only by the other knight on d7, but indirectly by
the rook on f8 (if White were to exchange on g6 or e6, then it would come into
play). Looking more positively, Black is well placed to counter-attack: he
might exchange on f5, opening up the e-file for the rook and the long diagonal
for the bishop.} 15. Bh6 {- must be the best move.} ({Alternatively:} 15. Bg5 {
(not actually threatening anything)} Qc5 $5 16. Rad1 Qb4 {looking at b2, but
also along the 4th rank; and now White went for a tricky option, trapping
Black’s queen, a most straightforward move is} 17. Bd2 (17. Rb1 {though I
believe Black has two good options available:} gxf5 {(the risky move)} (17…
exf5 {(the safe move)} 18. exf5 Qxh4 19. Bxh4 Ng4 $36 (19… Nc5 $5)) 18. Bh6 {
I think White has to go for it as} (18. exf5 Qxh4 19. Bxh4 e5 {is already
better for Black}) 18… Bxh6 (18… fxe4 19. Qg5 Nh5 20. Qxh5 exf3 (20… exd3
$4 21. Qg5) 21. Bxh7+ (21. gxf3 Nf6 22. Qg5 Qg4) 21… Kxh7 22. Bxg7+ Kxg7 23.
Qg5+ $11 {A very Fritzy variation.}) 19. Qxh6 fxe4 20. Ng5 exd3 21. cxd3 Qd4 {
and I don’t see a way through for White; it is nice that g2 is ‘en prise’.})
17… Qxb2 18. e5 Bxf3 19. Ra1 Nxe5 20. Rfb1 Qxa1 21. Rxa1 Bb7 {Black has rook,
minor piece, two pawns and, most importantly a compact position. He is already
clearly better.} 22. Rb1 Ned7 23. fxe6 fxe6 24. Qc4 Nd5 25. Nxd5 Bxd5 26. Qh4
Nc5 27. Be3 Nxd3 28. cxd3 b5 29. Kg1 Rc8 30. Rc1 Rxc1+ 31. Bxc1 Bf6 32. Qb4 a5
33. Qg4 b4 34. h4 Rc8 35. Bg5 Bxg5 36. Qxg5 b3 37. Qf6 Rb8 38. Qb2 e5 {0-1
Bangiev-Rashkovsky/USSR 1975, this is the game that I had noticed.}) (15. fxg6
$6 {releases the tension too early. Black has few difficulties defending and
can use the f-file to attack:} fxg6 16. Bh6 Qc5 17. Ng5 Qe5 18. Rf3 Nh5 19.
Bxg7 Kxg7 20. Raf1 Rxf3 21. Rxf3 Ndf6 22. g4 Nf4 23. Rf1 h6 24. Nf3 Nxe4 25.
Nxe4 Bxe4 26. Bxa6 Rf8 27. c3 Qd5 28. Qg3 Nd3 29. Bxd3 Qxd3 30. Kg2 Qxf1+ 31.
Kxf1 Rxf3+ {0-1 Kolas,T-Hagesaether,P/Jarleslaget op 1997}) 15… Qc5 {There
you go, I told you I just copied Rashkovsky. The manoeuvre is still good,
though not quite as effective as in the original game.} (15… Nc5 {Careful!
That knight on f6 needs protecting; that’s why I would be reluctant to play
this move;} 16. Ng5 exf5 17. exf5 Qc6 18. Rg1 (18. Rf3 $5) 18… Nxd3 19. cxd3
Nh5 20. Bxg7 Kxg7 21. Raf1 f6 22. Ne6+ Rxe6 23. fxe6 Re8 24. Rc1 Rxe6 25. Nb5
Qe8 26. Nc7 {1-0 Arakhamia,K-Magar,T/World op 1995}) (15… d5 {is perhaps the
most sensible:} 16. fxe6 fxe6 17. exd5 exd5 {. Black can hope to land a knight
on e4.}) 16. Ng5 Qb4 (16… exf5 $5 {is an interesting thought, now that the
knight has moved from f3 Black can gain a tempo on g2:} 17. exf5 Qc6 18. Rg1
Ne5 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. Nce4 Neg4 21. Raf1 h6 22. Nxf6 Nxf6 23. Nf3 Qc5 24. fxg6
fxg6 25. Qd4 {1/2-1/2 Van der Poel,H-Bezemer,A/NLD-chT9495 1994, though Black
might have the edge, e.g. 25…Qxd4 26 Nxd4 Ng4.}) 17. fxe6 fxe6 18. Rab1 d5
19. Rf4 e5 20. Rf3 dxe4 21. Ncxe4 Bxe4 22. Bxe4 Qe7 23. Bxg7 Kxg7 24. Bd5 Qd6
25. Rd3 Nc5 26. Rdd1 Rd8 $2 (26… Qe7 $11 27. b4 $6 h6 28. bxc5 hxg5 $15) 27.
Bf3 $2 {The draw was not agreed here! This was rapid-play, so the game score
has disappeared, or perhaps never existed, but after complications most of the
pieces were hoovered off the board.} (27. b4 $1 h6 28. bxc5 hxg5 29. cxd6 gxh4)
1/2-1/2
[/pgn]
At the Lloyds Bank Masters : Front (l-r) : Joel Benjamin, Ian Wells, Rear : Peter Morrish, Stewart Reuben, Richard Beville, Gary Senior, Richard Webb, John Hawksworth, Andrew King, Nigel Short, Mark Ginsburg, Daniel King, David Cummings, Erik Teichmann, John Brandford and Micheal PagdenMastering the Spanish, Batsford, 1993Kasparov v. Deeper Blue: The Ultimate Man v. Machine Challenge. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-8322-9., 1997How to Win at Chess: The Ten Golden Rules (Cadogan Chess Books), 2000Kasparov Against the World: The Story of the Greatest Online Challenge. KasparovChess Online. ISBN 0970481306., 2000Winning With the Najdorf. Sterling Pub Co Inc. ISBN 0713470372., 2002How Good Is Your Chess?. Dover. ISBN 048644676X., 2003Test Your Chess With Daniel King, Batsford, 2004How To Play Chess. Kingfisher. ISBN 0753419181., 2009Chessbase Fritz TrainerChessbase TutorialsSultan Khan: The Indian Servant Who Became Chess Champion of the British Empire
September 15th, 1980. Australian Open Chess Champion Max Fuller (35) is currently on a grand chess playing tour of Britain and Europe. He played in the British Championships last month and has included three tournaments in Denmark in his busy schedule. His tour culminates in Malta in December when he plays in his 8th chess Olympiad. Max has been playing chess since he was 13. He lives in Hamilton Avenue, Earlwood, Sydney. In the picture Max is playing in the Benedictine International Chess tournament in Manchester in which he was equal fourth. The Benedictine Championship was won by Britain’s number 2 seeded Grandmaster John DM Nunn of Oriel College Oxford. Picture from John Madden (NUJ)
BCN Remembers FM Max Fuller (28-i-1945 27-viii-2013)
Tonight two Sydney ***** the N.S.W. Chess Championship at the Chess centre Liverpool St., City. They are Fred E Flatow, 28 of Belmore (left.) and Max Fuller, 21, of Kingsgrove (right). They have been playing for about 10 Hrs up till 6.15 p.m. and had move 121. The match will go on till move 144 at which stage a draw will be declared or until either man wins before then. February 23, 1966. (Photo by Richard John Pinfold/Fairfax Media via Getty Images).
Maxwell Leonard Fuller was born on Sunday, January 28th 1945 in Sydney, New South Wales. He was brought up by his mother and, according to Ian Rogers, his step-father with whom he did not get on.
Knight moves: Max Fuller in 1964. He went on to become Australia’s No.1 player and toured the world.CREDIT:STUART MACGLADRIE
He was Australian Junior Champion in 1962.
He won the New South Wales title in 1965 (and then in 1986 and 1988).
Max came to England in late 1968 to play at Hastings and then chose to settle here. He played for Lewisham chess club. He won the Whitby Open in 1969 (See BCM, Volume LXXXIX, Number 8, page 264).
In the 1970s be played board one for Australia whilst maintaining a FIDE rating of 2450, and, according to chessgames.com : “Fuller finished equal second in the British championship in 1970 and 1975, winner of the Doeberl Cup three times, winner of the Australian Open three times, Joint Australian Champion 1972 with Trevor Hay and competed in nine Olympiads for Australia from 1964-1990. In 1974, he won the 101st Athenaeum Chess Club Jubilee tournament, held in London.”
He became a FIDE Master in 1980
Fuller returned to chess in 2004 after an eight-year absence and finished equal second in the 2004 and 2005 NSW championships.
According to IM Gary Lane : “Max had a heart attack and died on the day he was attending the funeral of his pal Peter Parr”
With the white pieces Max essayed the Ruy Lopez with a penchant for the exchange variation but nonetheless he was flexible and varied.
As the second player against 1.e4 he was versatile with a broad range of defences and likewise facing 1.d4/1.Nf3 he was difficult to prepare for.
According to British Chess Magazine, Volume CXXXIII (2013), Number 9 (September), page 450 :
“From Australia the saddest of news, the passing Maxwell Leonard Fuller (28 i 1945 Sydney – 27 viii 2013 Sydney). FM Max Fuller played in seven BCF Championships, 1969 -80. He later claimed the scalps of Short, Miles and Chandler. He was the most determined player imaginable and had the broadest of opening repertoires. (James Pratt)”
Aleandro Trimboli (10) of Leichhardt plays Mr Max Fuller of Newtown, Australian Open Chess Champion. As part of the Waratah Festival Celebrations the NSW Chess Association is conducting chess games with chess champions playing up to 30 players at once, in Hyde Park. October 17, 1973. (Photo by Golding/Fairfax Media via Getty Images).
In this obituary from Ray Keene, Ray very thoughtfully provides a game in which Max loses to Ray.
BCN offers best wishes to Aaron Summerscale on his 52nd birthday.
Aaron Piers Summerscale was born on Tuesday, August 26th 1969 in Westminster, Greater London. His mother’s maiden name is Mayall. Aaron lives in SW18 and teaches chess. He married Claire Lusher (Basingstoke) but they are now separated.
Aaron Summerscale
He became a FIDE Master in 1992, an International Master in 1994 and a Grandmaster in 1997.
Aaron was runner-up (to Matthew Sadler) with 8/11 in the 1995 British Championship in Swansea.
His highest FIDE rating was 2513 in October 2000 and was joint (with Ameet Ghasi) British Rapidplay Chess Champion in the same year.
{[%evp 0,127,19,31,14,30,28,-14,4,-3,24,18,35,-18,16,22,33,32,36,3,28,0,5,-3,
26,10,10,15,29,3,-8,-11,-3,-20,-19,-21,2,-21,-26,-3,-3,-32,-32,-31,-23,-40,-35,
-42,-42,-42,20,0,175,199,257,224,201,201,282,250,526,105,321,124,131,305,201,
244,244,126,115,155,146,198,312,286,380,326,340,0,61,54,97,97,95,95,111,108,
118,119,112,115,115,102,98,103,132,139,181,173,174,174,174,174,197,197,218,124,
125,180,180,182,182,221,228,229,236,242,298,173,289,327,574,630,851,29982,
29989,29990,29991,29992]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 h6 6.
Bh4 O-O 7. e3 b6 8. Bd3 Bb7 9. O-O Nbd7 {[#]} 10. Bg3 {This strange looking
retreat is in fact quite a common move here. White’s intentions are well
explained in Matthew Sadler’s recent excellent book on the QGD, which has
inspired Summerscale to play this line with both White and Black. Here White
anticipates Black’s freeing move Nf6-e4 and takes measures against there being
too many exchanges, which would liberate Black’s position.} (10. Qe2 c5 11.
Rfd1 Ne4 12. Bg3) 10… c5 11. Qe2 a6 $5 {This move is quite uncommon. Black
may be preparing to gain space on the queenside with dxc4 followed by b5.} ({
Black normally plumps for} 11… Ne4 12. cxd5 exd5 13. Rad1 Qc8 14. Rc1 Ndf6
15. dxc5 bxc5) 12. cxd5 {White’s choice releases some of the tension in the
centre. Summerscale believed that the resulting position was roughly level.}
exd5 13. Rad1 c4 14. Bb1 b5 15. a3 Ne4 $146 (15… b4) (15… Re8) 16. Nxe4
dxe4 17. Nd2 Nf6 {Originally Black’s position is fine, but around this stage
Chandler was taking lots of time over his moves which gave Summerscale some
cause for optimism.} 18. Bh4 Re8 19. f3 exf3 20. Nxf3 Ne4 ({Bogdan Lalic
suggested} 20… Be4 {as an improvement. The point is that White’s centre
becomes less of a force and more of a liability as pieces are exchanged.}) 21.
Bxe7 Qxe7 22. Ne5 f6 23. Ng6 Qf7 24. Nh4 g6 $2 {[#] The punters in the
commentary room did not like this move at all. and I’m sure that the official
commentator Andrew Martin didn’t miss his chance to put his boot in. Blacks
wants to prevent Nh4-f5 but in doing so he weakens his kingside irrevocably.} (
24… Rad8 $11) 25. Qg4 Kh7 26. d5 $1 h5 27. Qf3 Bxd5 28. Nxg6 $1 $18 {Now
Black is completey busted, but surprisingly the action is far from over.} Bc6
29. Nh4 Re5 {[#]} 30. Nf5 $6 ({Both} 30. Rd6 $1 $18) ({and} 30. Qxf6 $1 $16 {
are winning on the spot.}) 30… Kh8 31. Nd6 Qe6 32. Nxe4 Bxe4 33. Bxe4 Rxe4
34. Qxh5+ ({And now} 34. Rd4 $1 $18 {gives White a decisive advantage. By this
stage both players were in deep time trouble.}) 34… Kg7 35. Qc5 $16 Rc8 36.
Qa7+ Kg6 37. Rf3 Rg4 38. Rd7 Rg8 39. Qc7 Qe4 40. Qb7 $11 {[#]} Qxb7 $2 {
On the last move before the time control , Chandler misses his one big chance.}
({The shocking} 40… Rxg2+ $1 {is difficult to meet} {as} 41. Kxg2 {loses} ({
White has to make do with} 41. Kf1 {but the unclear endgame position reached
after} Qxb7 42. Rxb7 {is a much better version for Black than the actual game
contnuation.}) {after} 41… Kh6+ 42. Kf1 Qb1+ 43. Ke2 Rg2+ 44. Rf2 Qxb2+ 45.
Rd2 Rxf2+ 46. Kxf2 Qxd2+ $19) 41. Rxb7 Rd8 42. Rb6 Rd1+ 43. Rf1 Rxf1+ 44. Kxf1
c3 45. bxc3 Ra4 46. Kf2 Rxa3 47. Kf3 Kf5 48. h4 Rxc3 49. Rxa6 Rc4 50. g3 Kg6
51. Rb6 {White’s three-versus-one pawn majority on the kingside is decisive.}
Rb4 52. g4 Kg7 53. e4 Rb1 54. e5 $1 {Creating two connected passed pawns, a
winning advantage in this type of ending.} fxe5 55. Ke4 Rb4+ 56. Kf5 Rf4+ 57.
Kg5 b4 58. h5 Rc4 59. Rb7+ Kg8 60. h6 e4 61. Kh5 e3 62. g5 e2 63. h7+ Kh8 64.
Kh6 {and Black resigned.} Rc8 {is answered by} 65. g6 {A well fought battle
despite its faults.} 1-0
[/pgn]
His highest ECF grading was 244A in 2001 and he won the Staffordshire GM tournament in the same year :
Staffordshire GM Tournament 2000 Crosstable
Aaron plays for Wood Green in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) and has played for Pride and Prejudice.
BCN wishes IM Jeff Horner, all the best on his birthday.
Jeffrey Horner was born in Bolton, Lancashire on Thursday, August 25th, 1949.
Jeff played for Poulton-le-Fylde Teacher Training College and is registered for Lancashire CA.
Jeff became a FIDE Master in 1989 (aged 40) and an International Master in 2008 (at the age of 58) and a gap of some 19 years!
(Compare this with John Pigott : John became a FIDE Master in 1984 and an International Master in 2017, a gap of some 33 years!)
He achieved a peak rating of 2450 in January 1975 at the age of 26.
His most recent ECF grading was 233E in January 2017. His last recorded game was played on June 30th 2018 and was a win with black versus Andrew Ledger graded 227.
Jeff played 1.e4 playing 1.g3 once against Graham Lee and winning and the Trompowski once against Murray Chandler and losing. In recent years he favoured the Wormald (Alapin) Attack in the Ruy Lopez.
With the black pieces Jeff defended the main line Ruy Lopez and the King’s Indian Defence.
Here is a comment from PQB4 from chessgames.com :
“A pity we don’t have more games here by this gifted attacking player, arguably the most respected amateur in the North of England. 220 BCF/2300+ for about 30 years, he’s beaten a string of grandmasters, but his best stuff probably occurs in weekend congresses, hence we don’t have enough recorded. I hope there are many such players in the world whose respect for the game and other players shows more of the quality of a true chess black belt than that of some of the more famous. Off the board he’s a schoolteacher, and presumably a pretty inspiring one, to judge by his infectious love of chess and the encouraging words he invariably has for opponents. I’ve had the pleasure of playing Jeff a few times and… let’s just say that The Day of My Revenge will surely come.”
“There have been so many headlines about Britain’s 12-year-old chess prodigy, David Howell, that it nice to turn our attention to someone at the other end of the spectrum. Perhaps few readers will have heard of 53-year-old Jeff Horner- unless, that is, you have played on the north of England chess circuit, where Jeff has been dominating events since before I was born. My first meeting with Jeff was at Bolton Chess Club at the age of six, but it was another ten years before I fancied my chances against him. And it wasn’t just me who feared him. Few indeed were the top players who travelled “Up North” and got the better of Horner.”
1993 : Jeff Horner takes on world under-10 chess champion Luke McShane blindfolded
“IT’S hard enough challenging a world champion to a game of chess, but to then say you’ll do it blindfold is bordering on the ridiculous.
But that’s exactly what Jeff Hormer from Radcliffe did back in 1993.
Teacher Jeff’s showdown with Luke McShane, the world under-10 chess champion from London was the main attraction at a two-day chess festival held at Bolton’s Moat House.
Jeff, 43, faced off against nine-year-old, Luke, with a thick black cloth placed over his eyes.
The youngster had full view of the board, but Mr Horner was forced to play with the aid of an assistant who placed his pieces and let him know the moves Luke was making
Jeff’s amazing memory and powers of concentration coupled with his greater experience proved too much for the young chess champion.
And despite the handicap of the blindfold, he beat the world champion relatively easily..
It ended up being one of the few matches that Luke McShane lost as he gained international recognition as a chess prodigy.
Jeff Horner, Isle of Man 2008, Photograph : John Saunders
Aged just 16 he became the youngest British chess player to be awarded the title of Grandmaster by the International Chess Federation in 2000 and now, although he works as a trader in the City of London, Luke is regarded as the best amateur chess player in the world.
Jeff Hormer was a long-standing member of Bolton chess club and was renowned for his ability on the board, often taking on – and beating – internationally-renowned players.
He famously beat British Grand Master Tony Miles, who himself had only recently defeated the reigning world champion Anatoly Karpov.
Jeff was awarded the title of International Master by the International Chess Federation.”
{[%evp 0,49,19,31,41,46,51,29,37,22,30,44,27,3,-10,-19,18,41,50,22,135,73,57,
62,53,47,66,66,66,34,21,12,68,68,141,125,122,117,187,186,259,197,239,280,374,
374,424,489,592,586,1580,1965]} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nge2 dxe4 5. a3
Be7 6. g3 f5 7. Bg2 c5 $2 {This move seemed a good idea at the time but really
I should have played Nf6 and castled before attempting to grab some more
central control. After all, I was playing the Black pieces and should have
been looking more to consolidating and not losing ground, rather than getting
too adventurous too soon. I paid for it later – I lost because my king was
stuck in the middle. Still, lessons learned the hard way certainly stick in
the mind and since this game I have always been mindful of the advisability of
tucking the king away as soon as is convenient, and certainly before embarking
upon any premature advances – Short, “Nigel Short’s Chess Skills”} 8. Bf4 Nc6
9. d5 $1 Nd4 10. Nxd4 cxd4 11. Qxd4 Bf6 12. Qc4 Bxc3+ 13. Qxc3 Nf6 14. dxe6
Bxe6 15. Rd1 Qe7 $2 (15… Qc8 $142) 16. Bd6 Qf7 17. O-O Rc8 18. Qd4 b6 19. f3
Rc4 20. Qd2 Qb7 21. b3 Rc8 22. fxe4 Nxe4 23. Bxe4 fxe4 24. Bb4 Bh3 25. Qd6 1-0
[/pgn]
More from David Norwood :
“I still remember Tony Miles, fresh from his historic victory against World Champion Anatoly Karpov, stopping off at the Blackpool Open. Miles had become a legend overnight but nobody bothered to tell Jeff, who calmly trounced him just as he would us. Two weeks ago David Howell had to play Jeff Horner in Blackpool. Both players needed two wins from their last two games to earn an international master (IM) result. Would it be Britain’s youngest new IM or our oldest new IM?”
We wish WFM Helen Milligan all the best on her birthday, this day (August 25th) in 1962.
Helen became a Woman’s FIDE Master in 2000 and a Candidate Master in 2013.
Her highest FIDE rating was 2138 in July 1999.
Helen Milligan (born Helen Scott; 25 August 1962) is a Scottish-New Zealand chess player holding the FIDE titles of Candidate Master (CM) and Woman FIDE Master (WFM), and five-times Asian senior women’s (50+) champion. The CM title was earnt at a FIDE open zonal.
WFM Helen Milligan
In 2004 Milligan co-authored the book “Chess for Children” with Grandmaster Murray Chandler. She has been an officer of the New Zealand Chess Federation, and has worked as a coach at Murray Chandler’s National Chess Centre in Auckland. She currently works as a self-employed chess coach. The National Chess Centre has since been sold by Murray Chandler.
Milligan has won or jointly won the Scottish women’s championship three times: in 1982, 1986 and 1988. In 1983 she was joint British Ladies’ champion with Rani Hamid.
WFM Helen Milligan in 2010
Milligan represented Scotland in eleven Women’s Chess Olympiads between 1982 and 2006. Since 2008 she has played for New Zealand in this competition, having transferred national federations in 2007.
WFM Helen Milligan vs Susan Arkell
Milligan became Oceania women’s champion at the Queenstown Chess Classic tournament in January 2012. She also competed in Women’s Zonal Chess Championships in Bath 1987, Blackpool 1990, Delden 1993, Saint Vincent 1999, and the open zonal at Gold Coast in 2009.
She won the Asian senior women’s (50+) champion title in 2014 in Kalutara, Sri Lanka; 2015 in Larestan, Iran; 2016 in Mandalay, Myanmar; 2017 in Auckland, New Zealand; and 2018 in Tagaytay, Philippines.
We note the passing today (August 22nd) in 1870 of William Lewis of the Lewis Counter Gambit.
The Lewis Counter Gambit
From The Oxford Companion to Chess (OUP, 1984) by Hooper & Whyld :
“English player and author. He left his native Birmingham as a young man and worked for a time with a merchant in London. He learned much of his chess from Sarratt, a debt that was not repaid.
Around 1819 he was operator of the Turk, meeting all-comers successfully. With Cochrane he visited Paris in 1821, received odds of pawn and move from Deschapelles, and defeated him in a short match (+ 1=2), Lewis had already begun to write and of the more useful books he published around this time were translations of Greco and Carrera which appeared in 1819 and 1822 respectively.
Although he considered Sarratt’s A Treatise on the Game of Chess (1808) a poorly written book, Lewis published a second edition in 1822 in direct competition with Sarratt’s last book, published in 1821 by his impoverished widow, (In 1843 many Englishmen contributed to a fund for Mrs Sarratt in her old age, Lewis’s name is not on the subscription list,}
William Lewis, George Walker and Augustus Mongredien
In 1825 Bourdonnais visited England. Lewis recalled that they played about 70 games, and according to Walker seven of them constituted a match which Lewis lost (+2—5). With no significant playing achievements to his credit Lewis acquired such a high reputation that a correspondent writing to the weekly magazine Bell’s Life in 1838 was moved to call him grandmaster.
From 1825 he preserved this reputation by the simplest means: he declined to play on even terms. In the same year he opened a club where he gave lessons at half a guinea each. McDonnell and Walker were among his pupils. Speculating unwisely on a piano-making patent, Lewis went bankrupt in 1827, and the club closed. After three precarious years of teaching chess (rich patrons were becoming fewer) Lewis became actuary of the Family Endowment Society and enjoyed financial security
for the rest of his life.
William Lewis
Circumstances now made it possible for him to concentrate on his writing and he published his two most important works: Series of Progressive Lessons (1831) and Second Series of Lessons (1832), both republished with various revisions. Lewis continued to write but gradually withdrew from other chess activities; his last notable connection with chess was as stakeholder for the Morphy-Lowenthal match of 1858.
Chess Board Companion by William Lewis
Lewis’s Lessons contain extensive analyses of many opening variations, examined in the closeness of his study. Subsequent writers, notably Lasa, were influenced by these books, but more on account of the form than the content, which, adequate for the 1830s, were soon out of date.
Around 1840 writers no longer worked in isolation (a circumstance Lewis found unavoidable) and new positional ideas were being shaped. Because Lewis failed to assimilate these his judgements were faulty, and his voluminous Treatise on the Game of Chess (1844) was out of date when published.
Industrious rather than inventive, he made only one innovation, the Lewis Counter-Gambit; but it had no practical value in 1844, for simpler defences had already been discovered. Lewis’s work commands respect, but he is more aptly described as the last and one of the best of the ‘old’ writers than the first of the new, a more fitting description for Jaenisch and the authors of Bilguer’s Handbuch. ”
From The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale, 1970 & 1976) by Anne Sunnucks :
Chess theoretician, teacher, author and one of the leading players in England in the nineteenth century.
William Lewis was born in Birmingham on 9th October 1787. As a young man he went to London and took chess lessons from JH Sarratt. Within a short time he was making chess his principal means of livelihood.
In 1819 he was engaged as the player concealed in the chess-playing automaton, ‘The Turk’, when it was exhibited in London. In 1825 he opened some chess rooms in St. Martin’s Lane in London, where he taught chess. Among his pupils was Alexander McDonnell. After going bankrupt in 1827, the chess rooms were closed, and Lewis decided to put his lessons into a book. He soon became a highly-successful writer, His Chessboard Companion published in 1838 ran into nine editions, and his Series of Progressive Lessons of the Game of Chess has been described as one of the landmarks in the history of the game. This book included some completely new analyses of various chess openings and later formed the basis of the Handbuch des Schachspiels. Lewis also translated the work of Greco and Stamma and was author of The Elements of Chess (1882), Fifty Games of Chess (1832) and Chess for Beginners (1835).
Chess Board Companion by William Lewis
Towards the end of his life, Lewis rarely played chess, and his last public appearance in chess circles was 12 before he died, when he acted at stake-holder in the match between Morphy and Lowenthal in 1858. He died on 22nd August 1870.
From The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford, 1977) by Harry Golombek :
“Author of The Chessboard Companion, London, 1838, and several other popular works on chess (including translations of Greco and Stamma). Lewis was also a leading chess teacher – his most famous pupil was Alexdander McDonnell – and for a time he ran chess rooms in St. Martin’s Lane. In 1819 he operated the chess-playing automaton ‘The Turk’ when it was exhibited in London. The Lewis Counter-Gambit is 1.P-K4, P-K4; 2.B-B4 B-B4; 3.P-QB3,P-Q5!?”
Chess for Beginners
From “Chess : A History” by Harry Golombek there are two references to WL on pages 98 and 123 alluded to above.
“William Lewis (1787–1870) was an English chess player and author, nowadays best known for the Lewis Countergambit and for being the first player ever to be described as a Grandmaster of the game.
Born in Birmingham, William Lewis moved as a young man to London where he worked for a merchant for a short period. He became a student of chess player Jacob Sarratt, but in later years he showed himself to be rather ungrateful towards his teacher.
Although he considered Sarratt’s Treatise on the Game of Chess (1808) a “poorly written book”, in 1822 Lewis published a second edition of it three years after Sarratt’s death in direct competition with Sarratt’s own superior revision published posthumously in 1821 by Sarratt’s poverty-stricken widow. In 1843, many players contributed to a fund to help the old widow, but Lewis’ name is not on the list of subscribers.
Around 1819 Lewis was the hidden player inside the Turk (a famous automaton), meeting all-comers successfully. He suggested to Johann Maelzel that Peter Unger Williams, a fellow ex-student of Sarratt, should be the next person to operate inside the machine. When P. U. Williams played a game against the Turk, Lewis recognised the old friend from his style of play (the operator could not see his opponents) and convinced Maelzel to reveal to Williams the secret of the Turk. Later, P. U. Williams himself took Lewis’ place inside the machine.
Lewis visited Paris along with Scottish player John Cochrane in 1821, where they played with Alexandre Deschapelles, receiving the advantage of pawn and move. He won the short match (+1 =2).”
“Lewis’ career as an author began at this time, and included translations of the works of Greco and Carrera, published in 1819[5] and 1822[6] respectively.
He was the leading English player in the correspondence match between London and Edinburgh in 1824, won by the Scots (+2 = 2 -1). Later, he published a book on the match with analysis of the games. In the period of 1834–36 he was also part of the Committee of the Westminster Chess Club, who played and lost (−2) the match by correspondence with the Paris Chess Club. The other players were his students McDonnell and Walker, while the French line up included Boncourt, Alexandre, St. Amant and Chamouillet. When De La Bourdonnais visited England in 1825, Lewis played about 70 games with the French master. Seven of these games probably represented a match that Lewis lost (+2 -5).
Lewis enjoyed a considerable reputation as a chess player in his time. A correspondent writing to the weekly magazine Bell’s Life in 1838 called him “our past grandmaster”, the first known use of the term in chess. Starting from 1825 he preserved his reputation by the same means that Deschapelles used in France, by refusing to play anyone on even terms. In the same year Lewis founded a Chess Club where he gave lessons to, amongst others, Walker and McDonnell. He was declared bankrupt in 1827 due to bad investments on a patent for the construction of pianos and his chess club was forced to close. The next three years were quite difficult until in 1830 he got a job that assured him of solid financial security for the rest of his life. Thanks to this job, he could focus on writing his two major works: Series of Progressive Lessons (1831) and Second Series of Progressive Lessons (1832). The first series of the Lessons were more elementary in character, and designed for the use of beginners; the second series, on the other hand, went deeply into all the known openings. Here, for the first time we find the Evans Gambit, which is named after its inventor, Capt. Evans.
The works of Lewis (together with his teacher Sarratt) were oriented towards the rethinking of the strictly Philidorian principles of play in favour of the Modenese school of Del Rio, Lolli and Ponziani. When he realised that he could not give an advantage to the new generation of British players, Lewis withdrew gradually from active play (in the same way that Deschapelles did after his defeat against De La Bourdonnais).
After his retirement he wrote other chess treatises, but his isolation prevented him from assimilating the positional ideas of the new generation of chess-players. For this reason, Hooper and Whyld in their Oxford Chess Companion describe the last voluminous work of Lewis, A Treatise on Chess (1844), as already “out of date when published”.”
According to Edward Winter in Chess Notes Lewis lived at 12 Chatham Place, Blackfriars, London, England (Chess Player’s Chronicle, 1841, pages 9 and 34*)
From CHESS, July 1946 (and also The Anglo-Soviet Radio Chess Match) :
Since Ernst Klein came to England in 1935 his play has earned our ungrudging admiration. Born in Vienna, 1910, he learned chess at the age of eleven. His grandmother taught him the moves, his father having died when he was eight. Steinitz was a frequent guest in his grandparents house. At eighteen, he shared first, second and third prizes in the Championship of Vienna. Before coming to England, he had lived for some years in Switzerland, France and Italy and his French, German and English are equally impeccable. In his last tournament at Bournemouth, in 1939, he finished equal with Flohr after Euwe ahead of König, Landau, Aitken and others. He met his wife, who is an Englishwoman, during the blitz. They were married in 1944. He holds a London University degree and teaches mathematics in Southend.
Scene at London. From left to right – Seated : Fairhurst, List and Winter in play. Standing König and Sir George Thomas
About 1940, he offered to give any opponent in Great Britain the odds of the draw.; his challenge was never taken up, no doubt owing to the conditions of the moment, but we imagine there would be many “takers” if it were repeated now.”
Later, Klein clarified matters by writing What I said was: “I am ready to accept the challenge of any player in this country and am prepared to give the odds of a draw in a contest at least twelve games if he so wishes. That is, I offered to concede victory on a score of 6 : 6 draws counting, which is the necessary and sufficient condition to justify my offer. It is still open.
See below photograph for captionCaption for above photograph
BCN wishes IM John Pigott all the best on his birthday (15-viii-1957)John Christopher Pigott was born in Croydon, Surrey and his mother’s maiden name was Fletcher.
In 1975 John was selected by the BCF junior selectors and travelled with Jonathan Speelman and Peter J Lee (Hampshire) to the 8th Biel International Open in Switzerland. Leonard Barden wrote in the October 1975 British Chess Magazine (the cover was of Geller and Smyslov) :
“17-year-old John Pigott’s 8.5/11 included wins against IM Kluger, IM Messing and the 1975 Budapest Champion Rajna and earned him 2,000 Swiss francs in prize money. The three English juniors who competed, Pigott, Speelman and Lee were chosen by the BCF junior selectors and travelled to Switzerland with the help of grant from the Slater Foundation and the London Chess Club.”
John represented England at the 1975 Anglo-Dutch match (25th and 26th of October) scoring 0.5/2 versus Paul van der Sterren. The game scores appear to either have been lost on not recorded.
On the “glorious twelfth” of August we celebrate the birthday of one of England’s most popular chess players and writers, IM Bill Hartston.
William Roland Hartston was born in Willesden, Middlesex on Tuesday, August 12th, 1947. His father was William Hartston, a significant member of the Royal College of Physicians who was married to Mary Roland. Bill has a sister.
Bill Hartston
He studied at the City of London School and then studied mathematics at Jesus College, Cambridge and graduated with a BA in 1968 and an MA in 1972, but did not complete his PhD on number theory.
An early Bill Hartston, event unknown
While studying for his PhD at Cambridge, Hartston developed an intricate system for balancing an entire chess set on top of a single rook. Here is an article with an explanation letter from Bill.
Some of the participants in the Paul Keres display on November 25th, 1962, at St Pancras Town Hall, London WC1. Back row : AJ. Whiteley, D, Floyer, PJ Collins, PJ Adams, RC Vaughan, KB Harman, D. Parr, DNL Levy, Front row : MV Lambshire, AE Hopkins (selector) Paul Keres, Miss D. Dobson, RE Hartley, BC Gillman, WR Hartston and PN Lee. Photograph by AM Reilly. Source : BCM, 1963, page 13
Bill married Dr. Jana Malypetrova in January, 1970 in Cambridge. In 1978 Bill married Elizabeth Bannerman, also in Cambridge and from that marriage he had two sons, James and Nicholas.
Bill and Dr. Jana Hartston (née Malypetrova)
Bill became an International Master in 1972 and his highest FIDE rating was 2485 in January 1979.
William Hartston
With the white pieces Bill almost exclusively played 1.e4 and the Ruy Lopez.
With the black pieces Bill played the Sicilian Taimanov and the Czech Benoni.
Bill plays his trusty Sicilian Taimanov against an unknown opponent
Bill is a self-proclaimed follower of Prof. AJ Ayer (See the Acknowledgements in “Soft Pawn”) Clint Eastwood and Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.
Bill and Jana Hartston are shown with some of their many chess sets. CHESS, August 1973, page 323
Bill was the chess correspondent of The Independent and The Mail on Sunday. He was also a regular presenter and commentator for television. He worked with Jeremy James on the BBC’s Master Game.
In modern times Bill has made regular appearances with World Cluedo champion, Josef Kollar on Channel Four’s Gogglebox with a pair of painted breasts as background.
In modern times Bill has made regular appearances with World Cluedo champion, Josef Kollar on Channel Four’s Gogglebox
Bill revived the Beachcomber column in the Daily Express.
The Master Game, Series 6&7 with Jeremy James and Bill Hartston
Bill is an industrial psychologist.
Curiously the 1984 edition of the usually reliable The Oxford Companion to Chess by Hooper and Whyld does not have an entry for the twice British Champion : was this simply an oversight ? Jana is also not mentioned.
Bill wrote about himself in British Chess (Pergamon, 1983) :
“To summarise more than 20 years of playing competitive chess in a few hundred words is an impossible task. My attitude to the game has changed a great deal, especially in recent times, but I have always enjoyed and felt at home in the tense and lively atmosphere of chess tournaments, whether as a competitor, spectator or journalist.
Caption as per photograph belowCaption for above photograph
I consider myself lucky to have been a ‘promising junior’ just at the time when chess was beginning to be taken seriously as a sport in England. The English team consisted mainly of amateurs and there were clear opportunities for anyone willing to work at the game.
As a result of the changing attitudes to the game in this country, the development between 1965, when I first played for the national team, and 1975 was far greater than in any other decade.
One statistic which I have always found personally amusing is that I progressed from youngest player in 1967 for the Clare Benedict tournament to become the oldest in the 1971 team. From promising junior to veteran in four years = is this a record ?
Bill Hartston commentating on games from the Phillips & Drew King’s 1982
Since my second British Championship win in 1975, I have been writing more and playing less. I always realised that I was not going to become a sufficiently strong player to be happy just wandering round the tournament circuit, but giving up chess entirely is, of course, unthinkable.
I believe now that the time is ripe for chess to be presented to far wider audiences and I like to think that some of what I do will help in that aim. If the Master Game television series and “Soft Pawn” cannot sell chess to the masses then nothing will.”
Bill was always a keen supporter of junior chess. Here at the Teachers Assurance National Schools Championships in 1980
{[%evp 0,57,19,38,30,51,38,32,32,44,31,32,25,31,25,15,30,3,25,25,26,10,17,10,
15,30,13,-5,0,25,20,-11,-11,-18,32,-11,-4,-17,-9,-51,-57,1,4,-3,20,49,36,102,
594,624,29991,29992,29993,29994,29995,29996,29997,29998,29999,-30000]} {
Bill described this game as one of four nice Nice games in the British Chess
Magazine Games Department of Volume XCIV (94), Number 9 (September), 1974.
Additional comments were from Bill’s entry in “British Chess”, by Botterill,
Levy, Rice and Richardson, Pergamon Press, 1983.} 1. e4 e6 2. Nc3 {This is
just a joke really, but usually worth between 20 seconds and five minutes on
the clock.} d5 ({White invites Black to change his mind and play a Sicilian
with} 2… c5) 3. d4 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 $1 {One of the most horrible things
about playing Portisch is that it is almost impossible to avoid his detailed
opening preparation without playing something dubious., with which he is also
well equipped to deal. Hartston goes straight into the critical line. The
exclamation mark is for bravery.} Bxc3+ ({The unusual} 5… Ba5 {is much
better than its reputation. The Swiss master, Werner Hug, always obtains good
positions against me with that move.}) 6. bxc3 Ne7 (6… Qc7 {is a good move
order for those} {fear} 7. Qg4 {when} f6 $1 8. Nf3 c4 $1 {takes the sting out
of the attack. But, what are you playing the Winawer for if you ever
considered Qg4 to be a threat !}) 7. Nf3 ({The complications arising from} 7.
Qg4 {have never been fully solved, but nowadays (1974) most players prefer the
positional continuation chosen} Qc7 8. Qxg7 Rg8 9. Qxh7 cxd4 10. Ne2 Nbc6 11.
f4 Bd7 12. Qd3 dxc3 13. Nxc3 a6 14. Rb1 Na5 15. h4 Nf5 16. Rh3 O-O-O 17. h5 Nc4
18. h6 Rg6 19. h7 Rh8 20. Rb4 {is the way to go in 2020.}) (7. a4 {is another
decent option.}) 7… Bd7 {[%cal Gd7a4]} (7… Qc7 8. a4 b6 9. Bb5+ Bd7 10. Bd3
Nbc6 11. O-O {is the move usual order referred to after Whites 11.Bd3!? below.
}) ({In 2020} 7… Nbc6 8. a4 Qa5 9. Bd2 Bd7 10. Bb5 c4 11. O-O {is the way to
go in 2020.}) 8. a4 {Already necessary before Black stifles the queen’s win
with Ba4} Nbc6 ({More usual is} 8… Qa5 {when} 9. Bd2 {is the fashionable
response} ({though I still believe in} 9. Qd2)) 9. Be2 ({After} 9. Bd3 Qc7 10.
O-O {Black may elect for the plan of castling long} {with} c4 11. Be2 O-O-O ({
or attacking the centre with} 11… f6 {I usually prefer to discourage this by
leaving the bishop on e2 but it may be that 9.Bd3 is the better move.})) 9…
Qc7 10. O-O b6 11. Bd3 $5 {I played this move because it transposed into a
position I had analysed and played a great deal about three years ago.
Unfortunately,as the game demonstrates, I had forgotten almost all of this
analysis!. The more usual move order is referenced above after 7…Qc7} (11.
Re1 Na5 12. Bd3 h6) 11… h6 {having played b6, Black is less ready to castle
long since his King’s position would be more vulnerable; the text move
prepares 0-0} ({if} 11… O-O $2 {immediately} {then} 12. Bxh7+ Kxh7 {and} 13.
Ng5+ {with the standard mating attack.} Kg6 14. h4 $18 (14. Qg4 $5 f6 15. exf6
Kxf6 16. Qh5 $16) (14. Qd3+ Nf5 15. g4 f6 $16) 14… Qc8 15. Qg4 $18) 12. Ba3
$5 {This whole variation was thoroughly tested at Hastings 1971-2 when Peter
Markland lost a lot of games with the black pieces from this position.
Possibly Byrne’s continuation is the strongest; white has good chances of
sacrificing the bishop on h6 for a mating attack in the middlegame.} ({Robert
Byrne played} 12. Re1 Na5 13. Be3 (13. Qd2 {Mecking and Karpov} Rc8 (13… O-O
14. Qf4 f5))) 12… Na5 13. Re1 $6 {An “innovation” – because I could not
remember what I had played in the earlier game. The point of 12.Ba3 I soon
remembered is to continue 13.Nd2! 00 14.dc bc 15.Nb3 with some advantage to
White as in Hartston – Markland, Hastings 1971-2 and Williams-Keene , British
Championship, 1973.} O-O 14. dxc5 bxc5 15. Nd2 {[%cal Gd1g4,Gd1h5] An
important move to allow White’s queen to enter the attack.} Ng6 $1 {And
meeting with the correct reply.} ({The obvious} 15… f6 {would have
completely justified the White move order} {when} 16. exf6 Rxf6 17. c4 $16) (
15… Bxa4 {fails to} 16. Qg4 $1 Bd7 17. Nf3 Kh8 18. Bc1 $1 {with a dangerous
attack.}) 16. Qh5 {Apparently aggressive but really the only way to defend the
King’s pawn.} Be8 {The move played threatens f5 embarrasing the white queen.
She hastens to get out of the way.} (16… Nf4 17. Qg4 Nxd3 18. cxd3 {is a
little better for White since his bishop is more effective. With the text move
Black threatens …f6 or …f5 with a veiled attack on the queen. According
to “Excellent notes” from Krogius this position is fantastic for White who has
at a stroke created the opportunity for direct attack with Re3 – g3 or h3
depending on circumstances.}) (16… Bxa4 {was more double-edged but, here too
in all lines White keeps the initiative viz :} 17. Bxg6 fxg6 18. Qxg6 Bd7 (
18… Qc6 19. Bc1) (18… Rae8 19. Bc1 Bd7 20. Nf3) ({and probably Black’s
best try should be} 18… Qe7 19. Nf3 (19. Bc1 Be8 20. Qg3 Nc6 21. Nb3 {
with the idea of Ba3}) 19… Be8 20. Qg3 Nc4 21. Bc1 Kh7) 19. Nf3 Nc4 20. Bc1)
17. Qe2 {The third consecutive queen move along the same diagonal It’s lucky I
won this game or my play would have been open to terrible criticism.} {After
an hour’s thought Portisch played} Bxa4 $2 {which I had not even considered.
Perhaps I was so used to losing the a pawn in this line that I did not see
that it was en prise.} ({More prudent was} 17… f6 {giving White no chance to
develop an attack.}) ({Black should have been consistent and maintained his
vigil with} 17… f5 18. exf6 Rxf6 {when he has good chances. Hartston now
launches a dangerous attack.}) 18. Qg4 $1 Bd7 19. Nf3 $1 ({All methods of
winning the pawn back such as} 19. Bxg6 fxg6 20. Qxg6 {leave Black with some
advantage owing to the weaknesses remaining in the white camp. In this
position the initiative is of far more importance; after all Blacks a pawn
will not be serious threat for some time.}) 19… Nc4 {Perhaps Black’s
position is already untenable. The threat of Bc1 and an eventual sacrifice on
h6 is difficult to prevent.} (19… Bc8 20. Bc1 Nc6 21. Bxg6 fxg6 22. Qxg6 Qf7
23. Qg3 $16) 20. Bc1 Bc8 $2 {The decisive mistake} (20… Ncxe5 21. Nxe5 Nxe5
22. Qg3 f6 23. Bxh6 Rf7 24. Bf4 {looks just as bad}) ({The only chance for
defence was pointed oout by Krogius.} 20… Ngxe5 21. Nxe5 Nxe5 22. Qg3 f6 23.
Bxh6 Be8 24. Bf4 c4 25. Bf1 a5 {and Black can create enough detours to keep
White at bay. Now he is flattened.}) 21. Qh5 {Suddenly it is all over; there
is really no defence to 22. Bxh6!} Rd8 22. Bxh6 $1 gxh6 23. Qxh6 Nb2 {Keene
wrote that even at this stage Portisch was still moving rapidly and looking
confident. One can imagine his feelings when the knight appeared on h7!} 24.
Ng5 Nxd3 25. Nh7 $1 {Black resigns. I was specially pleased by this game
because I had lost the previous day to Hort also in 25 moves. A fighting game
by Bill Hartston} {26.Nf6 mate can only be prevented by} f5 {when} 26. Nf6+ Kf7
27. Qh7+ Kf8 28. Qg8+ $1 Ke7 29. Qg7# {is even stronger than winning a queen.}
1-0
[/pgn]
Harry Golombek wrote the following in a 1980 Dataday chess diary :
“Hartston played hardly at all during the period from my last entry of him in the 1977 diary and that little, though respectable, was hardly the performance of an active master. His equal 3rd to 5th at the big Aaronson’s Masters Tournament (a swiss system event with 72 players) did not really affect his rating and indeed he finished up without changing his Elo rating at all.
Tony Miles & Bill Hartston admire a Rolls-Royce
Nevertheless, this glimpse of his true powers was impressive as can be seen in the following game which was played in the 6th round of the Aaronson tournament.”
From The Encyclopedia of Chess(Robert Hale, 1970 & 1976) by Anne Sunnucks :
“International Master (1972) and British Champion (1973) William Hartston was born in London on the 12th August 1947. He was taught to play chess by his father when he was seven and five years later joined Enfield Chess Club. His results in junior events included 1st in the London Boys’ Under 16 Championship and 2nd in the British Boys’ Under 15 Championship in 1962 and =2nd in the British Boys Under 18 Championship in 1963.
Bill had a keen interest in computer chess and technology
In 1965, Hartston made his first appearance in the British Championship and came =5th. In the same year he won the Ilford and Paignton Premier tournaments. Playing on board 3 for England in the 1966 Olympiad. Hartston scored the best result of any British player, 66.7%.
England plays Italy at Haifa 1976. Miles played Tatai, Keene played Toth, Hartston played Grinza and Mestel played Micheli
In the Olympiad of 1970, he had the best overall score on board 3, 12.5 out of 16 and in the Olympiad of 1972 he won the prize for the 3rd best score on board 2, 12.5 out of 18. In 1972 he narrowly failed to qualify for the Interzonal tournament, when he came 3rd in the Zonal tournament at Vranjacka Banja.”
Mike Basman plays Bill during the play-off for the 1973 British Championship
From The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford, 1977) by Harry Golombek :
“British International Master and twice British Champion. Hartston was born in London and his early chess was played there., where he became London Boy (Under-16 Champion in 1962.
He was educated at the City of London School and Jesus College, Cambridge, where he took a degree in mathematics.
Bill Hartston (far left) at the Lloyds Bank Masters
It soon became clear that he was one of the leading young players in England and a rivalry developed between him and Raymond Keene in which first one and then the other obtained the upper hand.
After a number of near misses he won the British Championship at Eastbourne in 1973 and again at Morecambe in 1975.
Jana & Bill Hartston celebrate a family double at the British Championships in 1973 at Eastbourne
Internationally he has already had a distinguished career and has been especially good and consistent in his representation of England at the Olympiads. At Havana in 1966 he scored 66.7% on board 3 but did not play at Lugano in 1968. Again on board 3 at Siegen in 1970 he obtained the best score on board 3 with 78.1%.
From the 1985 Varsity Match : Laura Cohen (Newnham), Brian Reilly (BCM), Bill Hartston (Cambridge), Adrian Hollis (Oxford), Anita Rakshit (St. Hilda’s), Leonard Barden (The Guardian etc) and Bob Wade (BCF)
At Skopje 1972 he fulfilled the second norm of the international master title with 12.5 points out of 18 on second board. Playing on first board at Nice 1974 he attained 52.7% and had a most meritorious and well fought draw with the World Champion, Karpov.
Bill Hartston draws with Anatoly Karpov at Nice 1974
He achieved a breakthrough in the field of international tournament chess when he came third in a strong Premier tournament at Hastings 1972/3
Hastings, England, 4th January 1972, Chess, Russian Grand Master Viktor Korchnoi (right) is pictured in a match with William Hartston (UK) during the 47th Hastings International Chess Tournament (Photo by Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)
{[%evp 0,53,30,18,18,17,17,25,39,20,4,26,70,47,39,58,134,140,152,131,190,180,
185,116,121,122,163,285,285,187,187,190,263,250,333,54,58,38,-3,-36,73,184,184,
138,138,138,161,210,224,379,375,387,29991,29992,29995,29994]} 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4
Nf6 3. d3 Be7 4. Nc3 O-O 5. f4 exf4 6. Bxf4 c6 {the threat of 7…d5 is
awkward since White’s king is liable to be trapped in the centre.} 7. e5 d5 $6
(7… Nd5 8. Bxd5 cxd5 9. Nxd5 Qa5+ 10. Nc3 f6 11. exf6 Bxf6) 8. exf6 Bb4 {
Black wins his piece back and hopes that his active pieces will also give him
a strong attack, but he has not calculated with sufficient precision.} 9. Bb3
d4 10. Nge2 dxc3 11. O-O ({There is no time for} 11. bxc3 {when would follow}
Re8 12. cxb4 $2 (12. O-O $1 Bc5+ (12… Bd6 13. fxg7 $18 Be6) 13. d4) {
threatening} 12… Bg4 $1) 11… cxb2 12. fxg7 Qb6+ (12… Kxg7 13. Be5+ {
must win for white with Black’s king having nowhere to hide.}) (12… Re8 13.
Bxf7+ Kxf7 14. Bg5+ {also wins quite easily}) 13. Kh1 Re8 14. Bxf7+ Kxf7 15.
Be3+ {is probably a mistake} ({I remember looking at} 15. Ng3 $3 {during the
the game but feeling that is it just looked too fantastic !} bxa1=Q 16. Qh5+
Ke7 17. Bg5+ Kd6 (17… Kd7 18. Qxe8+ Kxe8 19. g8=Q+ Kd7 20. Qf7+ Kd6 21. Ne4+
Ke5 22. Bf6#) 18. Qxe8 {gives White a winning attack as pointed out by Dr. JM
Aitken whose analysis confirmed the suspicion of the players after the game.})
({Analysis in 2020 reveals that} 15. Nd4 $3 {is crushing} bxa1=Q 16. Qh5+ Ke7
17. Qxe8+ Kxe8 18. g8=Q+ Bf8 19. Rxa1 Qc5 20. Bg5 Kd7 21. Rf1 Kc7 22. Rxf8 Kb6
23. Rxc8 {etc}) 15… Kg8 16. Bxb6 Bg4 ({After a long think my opponent saw
that} 16… bxa1=Q 17. Qxa1 axb6 18. Qf6 Be6 19. Nd4 Nd7 20. Qf4 Bxa2 21. c4
Re7 22. Nf5 {wins for White. I had seen most of this combined with a little
faith was enough to allow me to play 14.Bxf7+. 16…Bg4 I had not seen at all!}
) 17. c3 bxa1=Q 18. Qxa1 Bxe2 19. Qb2 $1 {There is neither the necessity nor
the time to save the rook; Black’s king must be driven out before his
queenside pieces can come to help.} (19. Qb1 $144) 19… Bxf1 20. Qb3+ Kxg7 21.
Bd4+ Kg6 22. Qxb4 {Black has vast reservoirs of pieces but they are all asleep.
There is no defence to the combined attack of queen and bishop.} c5 23. Qxc5
Nc6 24. Qd6+ Kh5 25. Bg7 Bxd3 ({If Black tries} 25… Rad8 {then} 26. Qh6+ Kg4
27. Bf6 {wins; the text allows a more elegant finish.}) 26. h3 Bg6 27. Qf4 {
and Black resigned as it is mate in three.} 1-0
[/pgn]
His best tournament result came three years later when he won 1st prize at Sarajevo 1976.
Sarajevo 1976 Crosstable from English Chess Explosion (1980)
His style of play is sound and competent in all the spheres of the game. That he can be brilliant when necessary he demonstrated his beautiful brilliancy game against the Finnish grandmaster Westerinen at Allicante in 1973. He has a fine, broad knowledge of the openings and has written a number of articles and books on that theme.
Bill was always a keen supporter of junior chess. event unknown.
{[%evp 0,74,19,29,18,21,56,-11,-17,-25,25,16,18,-3,56,33,50,36,37,36,38,34,59,
54,58,44,43,48,44,23,44,31,47,31,43,36,24,22,8,17,17,-16,-27,-79,-109,-66,-59,
-94,-86,-61,-65,-168,-179,-171,-224,-224,-199,-199,-202,-202,-56,-161,-80,-90,
-162,-338,-326,-489,-539,-548,-311,-401,-465,-389,-337,-616,-671]} 1. Nf3 Nf6
2. d4 c5 3. c4 (3. d5) 3… cxd4 4. Nxd4 b6 $1 {An unusual move allowing White
full control of the centre and with no particular intrinsic merit. Its get an
exclamation mark however, because the player of the white pieces is S. Webb!
I always like to fianchetto my king’s bishop in such positions and this is the
one move which prevents me from doing so. Had it occurred to me that Hartston
might play this move I would have played 3.g3 or 2.c4 and then 3.g3.} 5. Nc3
Bb7 6. f3 d6 7. e4 e6 8. Be2 Be7 9. O-O O-O 10. Be3 Nbd7 {Putting Whte very
much on the spot to find a plan, despite his spatial advantage for four ranks
to three. Again quotes from the two players : “Now the position bears a
strong resemblance to a Sicilian. I felt quite happy now since I seem to have
spent half my life playing positions of this type, while my opponent, not
normally an e4 player, had to be less familiar with the problems” : Hartston.
“Objectively speaking, I knew that this position was good for White but from
this point I had to decide on some sort of strategy. Should I go for f4 and
then f5? Or g4 and then g5? Or try to and get play against the backward d-pawn
by doubling rooks on the d-file? None of these plans looked particularly
convincing so I settled for putting my rooks in the centre and waiting to see
what happened ! Its no good having a good position if you don’t know what to
do with it!”} 11. Qd2 a6 12. Rfd1 Qc7 13. Rac1 $14 Rac8 14. Bf1 Qb8 15. Qf2
Rfe8 {“White has made a series of natural moves and maintains a spatial
advantage; nevertheless I believe that Black already has the better prospects.
The Black pieces, are at first sight a little cramped, are beautifully placed
to leap into action after the thematic d5 breakout, possibly with a pawn
sacrifice” : Hartston Indeed it seems that the best White can hope for is to
try and prevent b5 or d5 by perhaps 16.Nc2 followed by Rd2 and Rcd1 although
even in that case his c-pawn is weak.} 16. Kh1 $2 {Weirdly enough this is the
most popular move here.} (16. g4 {(is the 2020 engine’s choice)}) 16… Bf8 17.
Nc2 Ne5 18. Bxb6 {An ugly sort of move. The loss of the b-pawn is
inconsequential compared with the disappearance of White’s valuable c-pawn
which is restraining Black’s advances.} ({The alternative} 18. b3 $2 b5 $1 {
was even worse.}) (18. Na3 $2 d5 $1) 18… Nxc4 19. Bxc4 (19. Ba7 Qa8 20. b3
Nb2 21. Rd2 Rxc3 22. Bd4 Na4 23. bxa4 Rc6) 19… Rxc4 20. Ne3 Rc6 21. Ba5 {
The bonfire is lit and now the fireworks begin. Hartston immediately activates
his entire force giving Webb no time to reorganise his disjointed position} d5
$1 22. exd5 exd5 23. Nf5 {[#] taking the pawn with either night loses
immediately so Webb tries to put up some sort of blockade on d If he could
indeed achieve this, then he would have defensive chances} ({e.g.} 23. Nexd5
Nxd5 24. Rxd5 Rxc3 $19) ({and e.g.} 23. Ncxd5 Nxd5 24. Rxc6 Nxe3 $19) {By the
following sacrifice Hartston rips open the position} 23… d4 $1 24. Nxd4 (24.
Rxd4 $2 Bc5) (24. Qxd4 Rc5 $1 {[%cal Gc5a5,Gc5f5]} (24… Re5 $1 {[%cal Ge5f5,
Ge5a5]})) 24… Rc5 {[%cal Gc5a5,Gc5h5]} 25. Bb6 Rh5 26. h3 Ng4 $3 {
highlighting the fantastic coordination in the Black camp. Although this move
doesn’t lead to immediate mate White has no way of reorganising his defence to
meet the threats.} 27. fxg4 {This is one offer that cannot be refused.} ({if}
27. Qg1 {then} Qg3 $1) 27… Rxh3+ 28. Kg1 Qh2+ 29. Kf1 Rg3 30. Rc2 Rxg4 $1 (
30… Bxg2+ 31. Qxg2 Rxg2 32. Rxg2 Qf4+ 33. Kg1 Qd6 34. Ba5 Qc5 35. Kf1 Qxa5
$19) (30… Rxg2 31. Qxg2 Bxg2+ 32. Rxg2 Qf4+) 31. Qg1 Qh6 32. Nf5 $2 {A wild
attempt at playing actively which only succeeds in losing back the piece
without blunting Black’s attack. But it is difficult to see how White could
defend.} ({If} 32. Ba5 {the reply} Bc5 {leaves White hopelessly tied up}) ({
while} 32. Nb3 {allows} a5 {[%cal Gb7a6] with the powerful threat of Ba6+}) ({
Possibly} 32. Ba7 {would have been the best chance} {planning to meet} Rh4 ({
After} 32… Re5 {it is difficult to find a move which doesn’t lose something
(Webb)}) {with} 33. Nf5) 32… Qf6 33. Rf2 Qxb6 34. Qh2 a5 35. Qh3 Rg6 36. Nd5
$2 {there was no defence to Ba6+ but this loses a straight piece.} Qb5+ 37. Kg1
Bxd5 {and White resigned} 0-1
[/pgn]
Danish chess grandmaster Bent Larsen (1935 – 2010, left) takes on English player William Hartston (right) during the annual Hastings International Chess Congress, UK, 13th January 1973. Larsen won the game. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)Bill plays board 5 for England versus Israel Telechess Olympiad match in September 1981. Board 6 was Paul Littlewood and board 7 was Nigel Short.
A lucid and entertaining writer, he has also appeared with success in BBC Television chess programmes.
Bill Hartston at a promotional event
Among his chief works are :
The Benoni, London, 1969 The Grunfeld Defence, London, 1971 The Best Games of CHO’D Alexander (with H. Golombek), Oxford, 1976.”
Here is an interesting interview published in the Streatham & Brixton Chess Club blog concerning the alleged “turning down the Hastings draw offer” story.
The King’s Indian Defence, 1969The Benoni, 1969How to Cheat at Chess, 1976The Best Games of C.H.O’D. Alexander, 1976The Grünfeld Defence, 1977Benoni, 1977Karpov-Korchnoi, 1978Soft Pawn, 1980The Phillips & Drew King’s Chess Tournament, 1980Play Chess, Hartston & Jeremy James, BBC, 1980The Penguin Book of Chess Openings, 1981The Psychology of Chess, 1984Short vs Kasparov, 1993The Kings of Chess, 1995The Guinness Book of Chess Grandmasters, 1996Teach Yourself Better Chess, Bill Hartston, Teach Yourself Books 08/01/1997, ISBN 13: 9780340670408
BCN wishes Happy Returns to IM Angus Dunnington (09-viii-1967)
Angus James Dunnington was born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, his mother’s maiden name was Townend.
He has lived in Castleford, West Yorkshire and most recently in Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire.
Angus became a FIDE Master in 1990 and an International Master in 1991.
Angus has been a recipient of a Chess Journalists of America award and was chess correspondent for The Yorkshire Post. He has been an Olympiad trainer.
Angus has played for 4NCL White Rose and his peak FIDE rating was 2450 in January 1996, aged 29.
He won Toulouse 1993 with 6.5/9, we was first equal (3) in the London Agency tournament on 1997 with 6/9, we was equal first in the 1999 Hampstead IM tournament with 6.5/9.
As White Angus prefers a Reti style double fianchetto, the King’s Indian Attack and also the Queen’s Gambit and is an expert on the Catalan and KIA.
As Black Angus essays the Modern Defence most of the time.
His most recent ECF grading was 212E in 2005 and was 232A in 1996.
In 2018 after a lengthy absence Angus made a welcome return to the Scottish Championship Open with a strong =3rd place.
The Ultimate King’s Indian Attack, 1993Pawn Power !, 1994Winning with the Catalan, 1997Easy Guide to the Reti Opening101 Winning Chess Strategies, 1999Winning Unorthodox Openings, 2000Mastering the Middlegame, 2001Chess Psychology, 2003Nimzo-Indian Rubinstein: Complex Lines with 4e3, 2004Blunders and How to Avoid Them, 2004IM Angus Dunnington, photograph by Cathy Rogers
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