BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//British Chess News - ECPv6.17.3.1//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:British Chess News X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://britishchessnews.com X-WR-CALDESC:Events for British Chess News REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:UTC BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:UTC DTSTART:20200101T000000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210101 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210102 DTSTAMP:20210120T115949Z CREATED:20191229T122758Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210120T115949Z UID:2634-1609459200-1609545599@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Dagne Ciukšyte (01-i-1977) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of IM Dagne Ciukšyte (01-i-1977) \n Save as PDF URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-dagne-ciuksyte-01-i-1977/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Dagne.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210102 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210103 DTSTAMP:20210120T120409Z CREATED:20200409T074929Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210120T120409Z UID:4225-1609545600-1609631999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Stuart Fancy (02-i-1959) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of FM Stuart Fancy (02-i-1959) \n Save as PDF URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-stuart-fancy-02-i-1959/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Stuart_Fancy_2012.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210107 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210108 DTSTAMP:20210120T120552Z CREATED:20191230T113557Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210120T120552Z UID:2638-1609977600-1610063999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday for GM Luke James McShane (07-i-1984) DESCRIPTION:We send best wishes to GM Luke James McShane on his birthday\, this day (January 7th) in 1984. \nHere is Luke’s Wikipedia entry \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nLuke James McShane\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nLuke James McShane\n Save as PDF URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-for-gm-luke-james-mcshane-07-i-1984/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/jb4_8003_lv-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210108 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210109 DTSTAMP:20210120T120750Z CREATED:20190822T161251Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210120T120750Z UID:990-1610064000-1610150399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM George Botterill (08-i-1949) DESCRIPTION:We send birthday wishes to IM George Steven Botterill born on this day (January 8th) in 1949. \nHere is his Wikipedia page \nBrian Reilly\, Ray Keene\, George Botterill\, Anatoly Karpov\, Harry Golombek and Viktor Korchnoi\nand here is his academic page \nCapa vs Corzo Rerun ? Nigel Short had 1977 British Champion George Botterill on the ropes at The National Bank of Dubai Open. In the photo Nigel is considering 42 Rh5 The champ just escaped with a draw.\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nIM George Steven Botterill (08-I-1949)\nThe Modern Defence\, BT Batsford\, 1972\, GS Botterill and RD Keene\nThe Pirc Defence\, BT Batsford\, 1973\, GS Botterill and RD Keene\nBritish Chess\, Pergamon Press\, 1983. Editors : GS Botterill\, DNL Levy\, JM Rice and MJ Richardson\n Save as PDF URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-george-steven-botterill/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Bot01091.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210109 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210110 DTSTAMP:20220108T163914Z CREATED:20210919T133057Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220108T163914Z UID:18870-1610150400-1610236799@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Shreyas Royal (09-i-2009) DESCRIPTION:BCN sends birthday wishes to FM 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. \nShreyas attended The Pointer School in Blackheath\, London\, SE3 whose motto is “The Lord is my Shepherd”. \nIn October 2021 BCN secured an interview with Shreyas via his father Jitendra and below is mostly from that interview: \nBCN: What caused his initial interest in chess and at what age? \nHis 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. \nBCN: Has Shreyas had any chess teachers or coaches? \n\n\nJyothi 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.\nMeszaros Gyula (Julian) who was an IM with a peak of 2465 FIDE and was an endgame master which helped him from 1800-2100.\nHis 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!\n\n\nBCN: Which chess clubs and/ or Teams does Shreyas represent? \nHe 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. \nHis first appearance in Megabase 2022 comes from the 2015 British Under-8 Championship in Coventry\, the eventual winner being Dhruv Radhakrishnan. \nProgress from those early days has only been interrupted by school examination breaks and the Covid pandemic: \nFIDE Rating progress chart for FM Shreyas Royal\nIn August 2016 in Bournemouth Shreyas scored an impressive 6/6 to win the British Under-8 Championship. \nShreyas Royal at the 2016 UKCC Delancey Terafinal in Loughborough courtesy of John Upham Photography\nBCN: What was his first memorable tournament success? \nThis was the 2016 European Schools Under-7 championship where he was runner-up without any preparation or work on chess! \nShreyas Royal at the 2016 UKCC Delancey Southern Gigafinal in Reading courtesy of John Upham Photography\nIn 2021 Shreyas was awarded the FM title by FIDE: \nFIDE FM Certificate for Shreyas Royal\nBCN: Which chess players past & present are inspirational for him? \n\n\nMagnus 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.\nGarry Kasparov played brilliant attacking chess and calculated like a machine.\nBobby 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.\nAlireza Firouzja\nFabiano Caruana\n\n\nBCN: What are his favourite openings with the White pieces? \nHe plays 1.d4 pretty much all the time. \nMegaBase 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. \nBCN: and what are his preferred defences as the second player? \nReally depends on what they play\, against every opening he has got one or two lines which he enjoys equally. \nMegabase 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. \nBCN: Does he have any favourite chess books? \nNot 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. \nBCN: Which tournaments are planned for 2022? \nWe have pencilled in a couple of norm and Open (France\, Spain\, Germany etc.) tournaments in European countries. \nBCN: What are his favourite subjects outside of chess? \nHis favourite subjects outside chess are Science\, History\, Maths with Science as his favourite\, History as his second favourite and Maths as his third favourite. \nBCN: Does Shreyas play any physical sports? \nHe does Football\, Cricket and a bit of Lawn Tennis. \nBCN: What are his plans and aspirations for the future? \nTo 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. \nHere is his personal website. \nIn late December 2021 Camberley Chess Club had Shreyas as their weekly Zoom meeting guest speaker. \nand finally three of SRs favourite games: \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nand from more recent times: \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nand finally: \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nFM Shreyas Royal at the London Chess Classic\, 2021 courtesy of John Upham Photography\n Save as PDF URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-shreyas-royal-09-i-2009/ CATEGORIES:4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Junior ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/LCC_6153-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210115 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210116 DTSTAMP:20230109T222958Z CREATED:20200409T181200Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230109T222958Z UID:4293-1610668800-1610755199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Andrew Horton (15-i-1998) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of IM Andrew P Horton (15-i-1998) \nAndrew became a FIDE Master in 2015 and an International Master in 2018. \n Save as PDF URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-andrew-p-horton-15-i-1998/ CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/jb4_4220_lv-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210123 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210124 DTSTAMP:20230121T131743Z CREATED:20200122T210240Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230121T131743Z UID:2990-1611360000-1611446399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Adam Taylor (23-i-1998) DESCRIPTION:We send best wishes to IM Adam Taylor on his birthday. \nAdam Christopher Taylor was born on Friday\, January 23rd\, 1998 in Colchester\, Essex. Adam has a sister\, Nathalie Leanne Taylor who also plays and studied History & Economics at The University of York. His mother Deborah was always supportive during his chess career. \nHe attended The Gilberd School\, Colchester until 2014 and then Colchester Sixth Form College and currently resides in Colchester\, Essex. \nECF grading profile for IM Adam C Taylor\nAdam’s first recorded rapidplay event was the Basildon Junior Congress resulting in a published grade of 34D and his first graded standard play event was the 2009 London Junior Under-12 Championships and his first published standard-play grading was 73E. \nIn that same year at Torquay Adam won the British Under-12 title sharing with Radha Jain. \nAdam C Taylor at the 2013 UK Chess Challenge Terafinal. Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nAdam made his first 4NCL appearance in May 2012 for SC Stars followed by Anglian Avengers. In 2018 the lure of the big lights of Division One beckoned and Wood Green became Adam’s team now playing for Wood Green Monarchs in the Online 4NCL championship. \nIn 2017 Adam scored an impressive 6/9 (and =2nd) when he travelled to Greece to play in the Heraklion 1st Capablanca Memorial. \nThe Hastings Open in 2018 saw an excellent =7th with 6.5/10. \nAdam’s IM title was ratified in June of 2019 in Baku and currently (January 2021) holds a FIDE standard play rating of 2347 and an ECF standard play rating of 2260A. His highest ECF standard play grading was 230A in July 2019. We expect this to be exceeded once OTB play resumes. \nBattersea Chess Club celebrated Adams’s title in style with this article written by Leon Watson \nFIDE rating profile for IM Adam C Taylor from MegaBase 2020.\nAdam has played for Bury St. Edmunds and Manningtree and now Battersea in the London League and Wood Green in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) and has made many appearances in the UKCC Terafinal. \nAdam is known as Tayip99 on chess.com and as AdamTaylor2301 on LiChess.com and regularly streams on Twitch and other platforms. \nAdam C Taylor\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nOn the 13th of September 2019 Adam became the sole director of MakingGrandmasters Limited which lists on its web site a number of leading young English players engaging in coaching such as Matthew Wadsworth\, Ravi Haria and Daniel Fernandez to name but a few. \nOne of Adam’s more notable students is Guildford Chess Club member Jessica Mellor who\, in 2018\, won Gold in the Under-11 category of the European Schools Championship. \nMore recently Adam has taken a back seat from chess and has become a golf professional. \nWith the white pieces Adam favours a Reti/English set-up where c4 quickly follows a king side fianchetto. Here is a typical game of Adam’s with the white against a strong opponent : \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nWith the black pieces Adam essays the Berlin Defence and the Sicilian Najdorf as well as the Benko Gambit and Nimzo-Indian Defence. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nIM Adam C Taylor\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography\n Save as PDF URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-adam-c-taylor-23-i-1998/ CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Coach,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/KRM_5083.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210124 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210125 DTSTAMP:20230124T232223Z CREATED:20200408T130222Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230124T232223Z UID:4195-1611446400-1611532799@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM David Cummings (24-i-1961) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of IM David H Cummings (24-i-1961) \nDavid Cummings (front\, second from right) at a Lloyds Bank event\nThis was written about David who was 18 just prior to the 1979 Spassky vs the BCF Junior squad simultaneous display : \n“Varndean and Brighton. Rating 207. British men’s championship finalist\, 1977. First Danish junior international championship\, 1978.” \nAt 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 Pagden\nDavid was joint (with PG Large) Southern Counties (SCCU) champion in the 1979-80 season. \nIM David H Cummings\n Save as PDF URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-david-h-cummings-24-i-1961/ CATEGORIES:2023,Birthday,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IMG_1088-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210125 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210126 DTSTAMP:20221214T174631Z CREATED:20221214T174631Z LAST-MODIFIED:20221214T174631Z UID:21923-1611532800-1611619199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Byron Anthony Jacobs (25-vi-1963) DESCRIPTION:IM Byron Jacobs\nBCN wishes Happy Birthday to IM Byron Anthony Jacobs (25-vi-1963) \nByron originates from Sir John Betjeman’s favourite town (Slough) and attended Slough Grammar and then The University of Sussex (Falmer). \nHe was Standard London under-16 champion in 1979. He was 3rd= in the 1982 Danish U-18 International. He was 3rd= in the 1988 Guernsey Open. His last recorded event in Megabase 2020 was in 1998. \nByron became a FIDE Master in 1983 and an International Master and in 1988 achieved a peak rating of 2390 in July 1987 at the age of 24. \nHaving given up competitive chess Byron became a successful poker player and commentator and has written on the subject. \nByron is a director of Brighton based First Rank Publishing and is specialist chess typesetter and Chief Advisor for Everyman Publishing and others and was pivotal in Brighton based\, Chess Press. \nByron was the typesetter for British Chess Magazine from 2011 – 2012. \nIM Byron Jacobs (front\, fourth from left) at a Lloyds Bank event\nIM Byron Jacobs (seated\, second from left)\nIM Byron Jacobs (standing\, second from left)) at a Lloyds Bank Masters\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nByron is an accomplished chess author with many titles to his name : \nThe Times Winning Moves (1991 with Ray Keene)\nThe Complete King’s Indian (1992 with Ray Keene)\nWinning with the Benko (1995)\nThe Caro-Kann Advance (1997)\nAnalyse to Win (1997)\nThe Benko Gambit by Andrew Kinsman & Byron Jacobs (1999)\nStarting Out in Chess (1999)\nMastering the Opening (2001)\nFrench Classical (2001)\nNimzo-Larsen Attack (2001)\nAn Opening Repertoire for White (2003)\n Save as PDF URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-byron-anthony-jacobs-25-vi-1963/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player,Writer END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210127 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210128 DTSTAMP:20230126T231702Z CREATED:20191117T173215Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230126T231702Z UID:2089-1611705600-1611791999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Richard Bates (27-i-1979) DESCRIPTION:Best Birthday wishes to IM Richard Adam Bates born on this day (January 27th) in 1979. \nRichard has won the Southern Counties (SCCU) championship in the 2015-16\, 2016-17 (with Nick Pert) and 2017-18 seasons. \nIM Richard Adam Bates\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nRichard Bates\nIM Richard Bates\nSheen 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.\n Save as PDF URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-richard-alan-bates-27-i-1979/ CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/bct_4349_lv-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR