Category Archives: Players

2022, Biographies, Birthday, Chessbase, Players, Writers

Many Happy Returns IM Andrew Martin (18-v-1957)

May 18, 2020 John Upham 3 Comments

BCN wishes IM Andrew Martin many happy returns on his birthday (18-v-1957)

From ChessBase :

Andrew David Martin (born 18th May 1957 in West Ham, London) is an English chess player with the title of international master. Martin has won various national and international tournaments. He has been playing for years in the Four Nations Chess League, at present (July 2009) for Wood Green Hilsmark Kingfisher, previously for the Camberley Chess Club. Martin received his title as international master in 1984. He earned his first grandmaster norm in the British Championship of 1997 in Brighton. Martin was a commentator on the chess world championship between Kasparov and Kramnik in 2000.
On the 21st February 2004 Martin set a new world record for simultaneous chess.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCi3zvhNYH8[/embedyt]

He faced 321 chess players at the same time. His result was: 294 wins, 26 draws and only one loss. Martin is known as a professional chess teacher and head trainer of the English youth team. He trains eight schools (Yateley Manor, Aldro, Millfield, Sunningdale, Waverley School, St Michael’s Sandhurst, Wellington College, Salesian College). Martin is a chess columnist, an author of chess books and the author of various instructional videos. He was the publisher of the series Trends Publications. Martin lives in Sandhurst, England, is married and the father of two daughters and two sons. His present Elo rating is 2423 (as of July 2009).

The above is somewhat inaccurate and out of date. Andrew came from East Ham rather than West Ham. He was the editor rather than the publisher of Trends Publications and he lives in Bramley, Surrey with his partner Naomi.

Andrew and friends at the NatWest Bank Young Masters

On July 23rd 1981 a world record attempt of continuous blitz games was undertaken at the National Film Theatre in London with much support of the membership of London Central YMCA.

Yours Truly (John Upham) plays Andrew Martin at the NFT

Andrew now plays for Camberley and Guildford clubs in the Berkshire and Surrey Border Leagues and is former member of East Ham, Ilford, London Central YMCA (CentYMCA), Wood Green and Barbican clubs.

Andrew plays JJ Ady whilst Simon LeBlanq observes at the London Central YMCA

Andrew has written many books starting as Editor of the “Trends Series” for Tournament Chess owned by Richard W. O’Brien (Not of The Crystal Maze). He has authored numerous DVDs for Foxy Videos and ChessBase and has a YouTube Channel focused on young and improving players called “Andrew Martin – Chess Explorations“.

Below Andrew annotates his game (with black) versus GM Stephen Gordon from 4NCL in 2005 :

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loR7lNhO72o[/embedyt]

Andrew’s first book as author was this one :

Winning With the King's Indian, Caissa Publishing, Andrew Martin, 1989 — Winning With the King’s Indian, Caissa Publishing, Andrew Martin, 1989

Here is one his favourite games :

Trends in the Slav Defence, Tournament Chess, Andrew Martin, 1990

Here is a second memorable game :

Alekhine's Defence, 2001 — Alekhine’s Defence, 2001

King's Indian Battle Plans, 2004 — King’s Indian Battle Plans, 2004

First Steps : Queen's Gambit, 2016 — First Steps : Queen’s Gambit, 2016

First Steps : King's Indian Defence, 2019 — First Steps : King’s Indian Defence, 2019

and finally this game was very pleasing :

Chess Hacker, Andrew Martin, Thinkers Press, 2019

Play the Budapest Gambit, Andrew Martin, Everyman Chess, May 2021, ISBN-13 : 978-1781945889

2020, Biographies, Birthday, Players, Writers

Happy Birthday GM James Howell (17-v-1967)

May 17, 2020 John Upham

BCN wishes GM James Clifford Howell best wishes on his birthday, this day (May 17th) in 1967.

From Wikipedia :

James Clifford Howell (born May 17, 1967) is an English chess grandmaster and author. He earned his international master title in 1985 and his grandmaster title ten years later, in 1995. He reached his peak rating in July 1995, at 2525.[1] He became inactive in 1996.

James Howell as Junior British Chess Captain at Goldmark Books Chess Challenge, London England 27 May 1986, Upingham Community College, Kasparov played the BCF Junior Squad. Photo from Alamy

Oxford's IM James Howell (l) shapes up against Cambridge's FM Graham Burgess on top board in the Lloyds Bank Varsity match which Cambridge won 5.5 - 2.5. The players reeled off 19 moves of Yugoslav King's Indian theory before Howell established a dominant B vs N which won the Lloyds Bank trophy for the best Oxford game. Photograph by Lloyds Bank. — Oxford’s IM James Howell (l) shapes up against Cambridge’s FM Graham Burgess on top board in the Lloyds Bank Varsity match which Cambridge won 5.5 – 2.5. The players reeled off 19 moves of Yugoslav King’s Indian theory before Howell established a dominant B vs N which won the Lloyds Bank trophy for the best Oxford game. Photograph by Lloyds Bank.

Here is a game from the European Junior Championship in 1985. The opponent was Mark R. Burgess :

James Howell (fourth from left) in 1978 Varsity match winning Oxford Team. James was from Jesus College.

James Clifford Howell (rear, fourth from left)at a Lloyds Bank event

2020, Biographies, Birthday, Players, Writers

Happy Birthday GM Matthew Sadler (15-v-1974)

May 15, 2020 John Upham Leave a comment

GM Matthew Sadler, photograph courtesy of John Upham Photography

BCN wishes GM Matthew Sadler all the best on his birthday, this day, in 1974.

From Wikipedia :

“

Sadler won the British Championship in 1995 at the age of 21 and again in 1997 (jointly with Michael Adams).[2] He represented England in the 1996 Chess Olympiad, scoring 10½/13 and winning a gold medal for the best score on board four (England finished fourth), and also played in 1998 scoring 7½/12. He made 7/9 on board four for England at the European Team Chess Championship in Pula in 1997.[3] His was the best individual score of the five-man English team and so contributed significantly to England’s first (and to date only) gold medal in a major competition.

Anatoli Vaisser vs Matthew Sadler, Cappelle-la-Grande, 1991

For several years, he was the book reviewer for New in Chess magazine and also wrote books and articles for other chess magazines. In 2000, his book Queen’s Gambit Declined (published by Everyman) was awarded the British Chess Federation’s book of the year award.[4]

. Queen’s Gambit Declined. Everyman. ISBN 978-1857442564.

Latterly a resident of Amersfoort, Sadler returned to chess in 2010 to play in a rapidplay tournament held in nearby Wageningen. He won the event with a perfect score of 7/7, finishing ahead of grandmasters Jan Timman, Friso Nijboer and Daniel Fridman. In August 2011, Sadler continued his resurgence by winning the XIII Open Internacional D’Escacs de Sants, scoring 8½/10, ahead of several grandmasters including Jan Smeets. Right thereafter, in October 2011, he went on to compete in the Oslo Chess International; participants included ten other grandmasters, among them Sergei Tiviakov, Jon Ludvig Hammer and Sergey Volkov, all being 2600+ rated. Sadler won convincingly, with 8/9 points and a performance rating of 2849. Going into 2012, the gain in rating points elevated him to fourth rank amongst active English players and also lifted him back into the World Top 100.”

Matthew Sadler plays Anatoly Karpov at the Amber Rapid in 1998. The game was drawn.

Matthew was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion in the 1989-90 and 1993-94 seasons.

One of Matthew’s favourite games is this quick win against Ladislav Stratil Jr. from the Oakham Young Masters :

Matthew Sadler

In a January 2012 interview, Sadler stated that chess was now primarily a “hobby” for him.[5] While relishing his return to tournament play, Sadler noted that he was now an amateur, and would not be coming back as a professional. He contrasts his present lighthearted attitude with his demeanor during his time as a professional, when he was “working ten hours a day and incredibly intensively”.

Here is a second favourite game of Matthew’s versus Eran Liss at Budapest, 1993 :

The Slav. Everyman. ISBN 978-1901259001.

The Semi-Slav. Everyman. ISBN 978-1901259087.

Tips For Young Players. Everyman. ISBN 978-1857442311.

. Queen's Gambit Declined. Everyman. ISBN 978-1857442564.

Study Chess With Matthew Sadler. Everyman. ISBN 978-1857449907.

Chess For Life. Gambit. ISBN 978-1910093832.

Game Changer. New In Chess. ISBN 978-9056918187.

2020, Biographies, Birthday, Player, Players

Happy Birthday IM John Grantley Cooper (14-v-1954)

May 14, 2020 John Upham Leave a comment

IM John Cooper, photograph courtesy of John Upham Photography

BCN wishes Happy Birthday to IM John Grantley Cooper (14-v-1954)

From chessgames.com :

“John Grantley Cooper was born in Cardiff, Wales. Awarded the IM title in 1984, he was Welsh champion in 1976 (jointly), 1978 (jointly), 1984, 1985, 1992 (jointly), 1993 (jointly), 1994, 1995 and 1996. He also played for Wales in ten Olympiads, from 1974 to 1992.”

His peak rating was 2395 in January 1985 at the age of 31.

2022, Biographies, Deaths, History, Player, Players, Remembering, Writers

Remembering Charles Locock (27-ix-1872 13-v-1946)

May 13, 2020 John Upham 1 Comment

BCN Remembers Charles Dealtry Locock (27-ix-1872 13-v-1946)

From chessgames.com :

“Charles Dealtry Locock was born in Brighton, England. He won the British Amateur Championship in 1887 (after a play-off) and passed away in London.”

From Wikipedia :

“Charles Dealtry Locock (1862 – 1946) was a British literary scholar, editor and translator, who wrote on a wide array of subjects, including chess, billiards and croquet.[1]”

From The Oxford Companion to Chess by Hooper & Whyld :

The Locock Gambit is in the Philidor Defence, named after the English player Charles Dealtry Locock (1862 – 1946). The gambit is probably sound; Black should play 4…Be7 instead of 4…h6

Here are some studies from aarves.org

Imagination in Chess by Charles Dealtry Locock

James Pratt informs BCN that CDL was an early trainer of Elaine Saunders. See here for more.

From The Chess Bouquet, (1897), page 212 : (taken from chessgames.com)

“Perhaps many players who are inclined to pooh, pooh the efficacy of problem training will be surprised to find that such an expert player, as Mr. Locock has proved himself to be, is equally at home in the sister art. Yet such is the case, and although his fame rests chiefly upon his many brilliant victories in cross-board encounters, the strategetic qualities of his compositions, and the ease and facility with which he penetrates the inmost recesses of problem, have secured him place in the foremost ranks of British problemists. Born in 1862, and educated at Winchester College and University College, Oxford, Mr. Locock early displayed fondness for chess, and for five years he played for Oxford v. Cambridge.
In 1887 he won the amateur championship tournament of the British Chess Association without losing game. In the Masters’ International Tournament, held at Bradford in 1888, he scored seven antl half games against very powerful array of talent. The Masters’ International Tournament, held at Manchester, in 1890, found him somewhat below par, but in 1801 he won the British Chess Club Handicap without losing game. In 1892 he tied with Bird for fourth prize in the National Masters’ Tournament. Emanuel Lasker (then rapidly forcing his way to the throne, so long and honourably held by Wilhelm Steinitz) won the first prize, with score of nine James Mason second, seven and half; Rudolph Loman third, seven and Messrs. Bird and Locock six and half each. Seven others competing.

During the past four years Mr. Locock has played some twenty-six match games without losing one. In team matches he has only lost one since 1886. These include the two telephone matches, British Chess Club v. Liverpool and also the cable match, British Chess Club v. Manhattan Club, 1895, when Mr. Locock, at board three, drew with Mr. A. B. Hodges; and the cable match, British Isles v. United States, March, 1896, when Mr. Locock again drew his game with Mr. E. mes on board five.

Partially owing to want of practice, Mr. Locock is gradually retiring from serious chess, although we trust many years will elapse ere he finally says good-bye to the scene of his triumphs. Life is generali) voted too short for chess, yet, in addition to the sterling work already alluded to, Mr. Locock has found time to edit the well-known excellent chess column in Knowledge, and enrich the already huge store ot problems with many stategetical positions. His “Miraculous Adjudicator” and Three Pawns ending, published in the B.C.M., having been greatly admired by connoisseurs.

Mr. Locock has favoured us with few humorous remarks on what he terms the vice of problemmaking,” and with these we conclude our sketch of perhaps the strongest living amateur player-problemist ”

2020, Birthday, Player, Players

Happy Birthday IM Neil H Bradbury (09-v-1964)

May 9, 2020 John Upham Leave a comment

IM Neil H Bradbury, photograph by Brendan O'Gorman — IM Neil H Bradbury, photograph by Brendan O’Gorman

BCN wishes Happy Birthday to IM Neil H Bradbury (09-v-1964)

Neil became an International Master in 1988 ans achieved a peak rating at the age of 20 of 2395 in January of 1984.

Neil stopped playing in 1998 but in 2018 restarted with appearances in Gibraltar, The London Chess Classic and the British Championships in Hull and Torquay.

Neil has played in 4NCL for The ADs

Neil Bradbury (rear, second from left) at a Lloyds Bank event

Here is a recent game of Neil’s :

2020, Biographies, Birthday, Player, Players

Happy Birthday IM Gavin Crawley (08-v-1963)

May 8, 2020 John Upham Leave a comment

BCN wishes Happy Birthday to IM Gavin Crawley (08-v-1963)

Gavin became an International Master in 1988. His peak rating was 2407 in July 2007.

2020, Biographies, Birthday, Books, Player, Players, Writers

Happy Birthday Dr. Tim Harding (06-v-1948)

May 6, 2020 John Upham 2 Comments

Timothy D. Harding, , photograph by John Saunders — Timothy D. Harding, photograph by John Saunders

From chessgames.com :

“Timothy David Harding was born in London. He has been playing both over-the-board and correspondence chess since the 1960s. Harding played on the Irish team at the 1984 FIDE Olympiad in Thessaloniki, scoring 50%. In 2002 he achieved the title of Senior International Master of Correspondence Chess. He is also a Candidate Master (2015).

As a chess historian, Harding has authored dozens of books on chess since 1973. He is also the author of the “The Kibitzer”, a popular chess column published at ChessCafe.com.

(Tim Harding’s homepage – http://www.chessmail.com/timsite)”

BCN wishes Happy Birthday to Timothy David Harding (06-v-1948)

From Wikipedia :

“Timothy David Harding (born 6 May 1948 in London)[1] is a chess player and author with particular expertise in correspondence chess. He published a correspondence chess magazine Chess Mail from 1996 to 2006[2] and authored “The Kibitzer”, a ChessCafe.com column from 1996 until 2015.[3] In 2002, he was awarded the title Senior International Master of Correspondence Chess by the International Correspondence Chess Federation. Harding has lived in Dublin since 1976,[2] writing a weekly column for The Sunday Press from then until 1995.

In 2009, Harding received a PhD degree in history from University of Dublin, with his thesis on correspondence chess in Britain and Ireland, 1824–1914.[4]

He is credited with coining the name Frankenstein–Dracula Variation in his 1975 Vienna Game book.”