British Chess News

Birthday of IM Nigel Povah (17-vii-1952)
2020-07-17
BCN wishes IM Nigel Edward Povah all the best on his birthday, July 17th in 1952.
Nigel Povah, from Knightmare, Volume 2 (1976-77) drawn by Chris Jones.
Nigel was born in Wandsworth, London.
He became a FIDE Master in 1980, an International Master in 1983 and an International Correspondence Master in 1983. He became England’s 7th ICCF GM in 1989. His predecessors were :
210048 Markland, Peter Richard ENG GM 1984
210060 Penrose, Dr. Jonathan ENG GM 1983
210178 Webb, Simon ENG GM 1983
210011 Clarke, Peter Hugh ENG GM 1980
210029 Hollis, Adrian Swayne ENG GM 1976
210062 Richardson, Keith Bevin ENG GM 1975
Nigel has been Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 1974-75 and 1975-76 seasons.
Nigel Povah, circa 1979
Nigel has played for Streatham & Brixton Club (see the Andrew Martin video below) and was part of this very strong London club which developed many original opening ideas.
Nigel was a strong opening theoretician and developed ideas in the Sicilian Lasker-Pelikan, Sveshnikov and English Openings amongst others.
Knightmare magazines are a valuable source of information about the club and it’s members.
Below we have the game Berg-Povah, Wijk aan Zee, 1979 annotated by Streatham & Brixton team mate, IM Andrew Martin :

Nigel continues to play for Guildford in the Surrey League and in the Surrey Border League as well as Guildford in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL).
Nigel started the highly successful 4NCL teams sponsored by his company Guildford A&DC (Assessment & Development Consultants) and the 4NCL team(s) are now run by Roger Emerson and Julien Shepley having taken a back seat since June 2017.
His peak rating was 2385 in January 1980 aged 28.
Nigel is married to Gill and has a daughter Lucy and a son, Jonathan.
In recent times Nigel has been playing more nationally and internationally and and has become a specialist in the Accelerated London System (with 2.Lf4) and is a regular on the International veterans circuit.

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Here is an article written by Richard W. O’Brien from British Chess, Pergamon Press, 1983 :
“Nigel Povah was for the majority of the seventies a chess professional. He mixed playing with teaching in various schools and also coached individuals. He is a BCF qualified coach. Danny King (our second youngest international master) and the late Ian Wells were two who clearly benefited from his teachings.
On the playing front he won numerous congresses including Hammersmith 1970, Paignton 1974, LARA 1974, Evening Standard 1974, LARA(again) 1978 and Charlton 1979. In 1975 he won the SCCU Championship and again in 1976. He first played in international tournaments in 1973 when as one of the weaker players in the tournament he produced excellent annotations for the bulletin, even for the games he lost. These were the first signs of becoming a chess writer. To date he has shared first place in four international tournaments Robert Silk 1976, Malta 1976, Malta(again) 1979 and Wijk aan Zee Master Reserves 1979. It can be seen that 1979 was a good year. He also shared 4th place in the British Championship and represented
England at senior level against Denmark in the same year.

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His road to the lM title has been long and hard. On several occasions he got close to the norm requirement just to fail. At Lloyds Bank in 1978 and 1980 and Lewisham 1981 he got the necessary three norms. Had he then ceased playing (with an Elo of 23751 he would automatically have had the lM title confirmed at Lucerne in 1982. He however continued playing and became the victim of some complicated and, with respect, unfair FIDE regulations, and his title was delayed until 1983. Clearly had the General Assembly met between January 1982 and June 1982 he would have been awarded the title at least a year earlier!
He has written several books-Chess Training published by Faber, English:Four Knights Batsford, How to Play the English Batsford and was co-author of Sicilian: Lasker-Pelikan Batsford. These last three Batsford publications indicate his interest in current theory. Two of the games which follow- v Berg (see 16…Rb8) and v Speelman (see 12 NgS)certainly confirm this. The Streatham and Brixton club owe much to Nigel Povah in becoming one of the strongest clubs in the country. At one time an average second division side (London league) they have since won the league and been in contention more than once. For several years he was one of the main three organisers at the club and even today still continues to play for them and is currently their National Club match-captain although he now lives some twenty miles away in Guildford.
In 1979 he organised the First Regency International at Ramsgate. In conjunction with Ian Josephs (sponsor) and Bob Wade (controller) this has become a highly successful annual event.
Now married, his wife Gill presented him with a daughter Lucy shortly after the completion of the Regency International in 1982.
He now works for ICL as training consultant and limits his over the board chess to club chess for Streatham.
He has recently taken up postal chess and in 1983 after competing in the BPCF Jubilee he became a correspondence International Master.
He has a BSc in Psychology and an MSc in Occupational Psychology.”

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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 team
According to Chess Training : “Two of his pupils were members of England’s victorious 4-man team in the World Under-16 team event.”
Here is his Wikipedia entry :

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Sicilian Lasker-Pelikan
Chess Training : Nigel Povah
English : Four Knights
How to play the English Opening
Assessment Centres and Global Talent Management
IM Nigel Povah, courtesy of John Upham Photography
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Birthday of John Rice (19-vii-1937)
2020-07-19
BCN sends best wishes to John Michael Rice on his birthday, July 19th in 1937.
John was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, North Riding, his mother’s maiden name was Blake. John lives in Surbiton, Surrey and teaches Modern Languages at Tiffin School, Kingston-Upon-Thames.
An ABC of Chess Problems
From An ABC of Chess Problems :
“The author is one of the country’s most prolific foremost composers and problem critics. He has gained mainly tourney honours, both at home and abroad, and since 1961 has been editor of a flourishing problem section in the British Chess Magazine, the country’s leading chess periodical. He lives in London and teaches Modern Languages at Tiffin School, Kingston-Upon-Thames.”
From chesscomposers.blogspot.com :
John Rice was the chief editor of the problems section of the “British Chess Magazine” from 1961 until 1974 and is a faithful collaborator of “The Problemist“. He has written “Chess Problem: Introduction to an Art” (1963) together with Robin Matthews and Michael Lipton and “The Two-Move Chess Problem” (1966), “Serieshelpmates” (1978) with Anthony Dickins or “Chess Wizardry: The New ABC of Chess Problems” (1996).
Translated from https://peoplepill.com/people/john-michael-rice/ :
“Since the mid-fifties he has composed problems of all kinds, but above all in two moves. In the 1960s he was editor of the problems section of the British Chess Magazine. Since 1999 he has been editor of The Problemist magazine.
International Master of Composition since 1969 and International Judge for Composition since 1972.
President of the PCCC (Permanent Commission for Chess Composition) from 2002 to 2006.
He worked as a teacher of modern languages ​​in a school in Kingston-upon-Thames.
Winton Capital British Chess Problem Solving Championships 2016
Together with Barry Barnes and Michael Lipton he wrote the book Chess Problems: Introduction to an Art (Faber & Faber, London 1963).
Chess Problems : Introduction to an Art
He composes mostly direct mates, but can composes as well in other genres, including fairies. He is an International Judge for twomovers, helpmates and fairy problems and the former President of the PCCC from 2004 until 2006.
John was awarded the title of “International Grandmaster for chess compositions” in 2015.
From British Chess, Pergamon Press, 1983 by GS Botterill, DNL Levy, JM Rice and MJ Richardson :
“I was taught the moves of chess in 1947 at the age of ten and quickly realised that I liked the game no more than Ludo or Snakes and Ladders where the chances of losing seemed to me unfairly high. But the chess pieces and their moves fascinated me, so it is hardly surprising that before long I had turned to problems and become an ardent fan of Brian Harley in his Observer column, especially as I had come across and paid two shillings (!) for his Mate in Two Moves in a second-hand bookshop in Reigate. Harley, together with T. R. Dawson in the British Chess Magazine and C. S. Kipping in CHESS, provided the sources of my first solving pleasure and the inspiration for my first efforts at composition. Among my early successes was problem l, heavily constructed but strategically rich, a first prizewinner in a tournament for composers under 21, one of a series organised by the British Chess Problem Society.
1
1st Prize, BCPS Under-21 Tournament, 1955

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White mates in 2.
1 Bd6 (threat Qg4)
1…Nxd6+;2.Qf3
1…Nh6+;2.Qf3
1…Nxh4+;2.Nf4
1…g4;2.Rh6
1…gxh4;2.Qxh4
I had grown up in Scarborough (Yorkshire), out of contact with other problem enthusiasts, and a chance meeting in December, 1954 with Michael Lipton in Cambridge, where we were both taking Scholarship examinations, brought the realisation that there was far more to the two-move chess problem than the solidly entrenched traditionalism espoused in those days by the columns of The Problemist and CHESS. Very soon the bulk of my output was in the modern style (with set and try-play) and published abroad, notably in Die Schwalbe, whose two-move editor, Hermann Albrecht, did much to stimulate my interest. Problem 2 gained a coveted prize in an extremely strong formal tournament judged by Michael
Lipton, following an article of his on the potentialities of the half-battery theme (illustrated here by the arrangement on the c-file).
2
5th prize, 133rd Theme Tournament, Die Schwalbe, 1961.

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White mates in 2
1.N2~? Bg7+!
1.Nd4!? e2!
1.N3~? Bxc5!
1.Ne2! d~!
1.Ne4!!
The half-battery is only one of several themes which have commanded my attention over the past 20 years, others being white self-pin in try and key (illustrated by problem 3), Grimshaw and Nowotny (problem 4), reciprocal and cyclic play (problem V, the first published example of cyclic mates in three phases), pawn-promotion effects, and tasks of various types, especially open gates. My total problem output numbers about 600.
3
The Tablet, Commended, BCPS Ring Tournament 1958; Brian Harley Award

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White mates in 2
1.Rxf4? (threat 2.Rhxf3)
Ne5; 2.Re4
Ng3; 2.Rfxf3
1.Nxf4! (threat 2.Rxf3)
Ne5;2.Ng2
Ng3;2.Nd5
In 1961 I took over from S. Sedgwick the editorship of the problem section of the British Chess Magazine, which post I held until December, 1974. It was a source of pride to me that I was now doing the job once done by the great T. R Dawson, though I knew that I could never bring to it the same tireless energy and all-round expertise which he had displayed so impressively. At about the same time I embarked with Michael Lipton and Robin Matthews on a venture which was to have repercussions throughout the entire problem world,
namely a series of books on problems published by Faber and Faber. The first, Chess Problems: Introduction to an Art (Lipton, Matthews and Rice), appeared in 1963, and was followed three years later by The Two-move Chess Problem: Tradition and Development, also with Michael Lipton, but this time the third collaborator was Barry Barnes, who has long been a close friend and influence. The third book in the series, An ABC of Chess Problems (1970), was a solo effort.
4
4th prize, BCF Tournament 123, 1970

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White mates in 2
1.N5b6?, Rxb6/Bxb6/Qd3/Qd6;
2.Qc5/Ne5/Nc5/Qd1 … Qg5!
1…Qg5!
1.N7b6!, Rxb6/Bxb6/Qd3/Qd6/Qxc7;
2.Bc5/Nf4/Nc3/Bc3/Nxc7
My interest in Fairy Chess dates from a meeting in the mid-1960s with the late John Driver, whose enthusiasm for the pleasures to be derived from non-orthodox forms I found highly infectious. Fairy problems soon began to appear in the BCM column and were favourably received. The serieshelpmate, where White remains stationary while Black plays a sequence of moves to reach a position where White can mate in one, has perhaps interested me more than any other non-orthodox form (see problem Vl), and in 1971 I collaborated with Anthony Dickins to produce a book on the subject, The Serieshelpmate (published by the Q Press, first edition 1971, second edition 1978).
5
1st Prize, Problem 37th Theme Tournament, 1961-62

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White mates in 2
Set: 1…Kc6; 2. Qe8 (A)
1…Ke6; 2. Qc8 (B)
Try: 1.Nb6+?, Kc6;2.Qc8 (B)
Ke6;2.Qd6 (C)
Ke7!
Key : 1.Nf6+! Kc6;2.Qd6 (C)
Ke6;2.Qe8 (A)
Since 1974 my problem activities have necessarily been restricted by the demands of family life (wife and two sons, none of them much interested in chess) and my career (schoolmaster, formerly Head of Modern Languages Department and now Director of Studies at Tiffin School, Kingston Upon Thames. Other leisure-time interests (not that there is much leisure time) include cricket and classical music.”
6
2nd Prize, BCF Tournament 127, 1971

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Serieshelpmate in 13
1.Bd8;2.Kc7;3.Kc6;4.Rf7;5.Rf3;6.Rc2;7.g2;8.Rf7;9.Rb7;10.Kc7;11.Kb8;12.Rc8;13Bc7, Nd7 mate.
John Michael Rice
The Two Move Chess Problem : Tradition and Development
John Rice at a Winton Capital BCPS Problem Solving event at Eton College
Chess Problems for Solving
The Serieshelpmate
British Chess, Pergamon Press, 1983. Editors : GS Botterill, DNL Levy, JM Rice and MJ Richardson
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Birthday of GM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant (19-vii-1968)
2020-07-19
BCN wishes GM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant best wishes on her birthday, July 19th 1968
Here is her extensive Wikipedia entry
GM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant
GM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant
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Birthday of FM Marcus Harvey (24-vii-1996)
2020-07-24
BCN wishes Happy Birthday to FM Marcus Ross Harvey born on this day (Wednesday, July 24th) in 1996. Killing Me Softly by the Fugees was top of the hit parade.
Marcus was born in Oxford and attended The Marlborough School, Woodstock, Oxfordshire and then (in 2014) at The University of Southampton he studied mathematics.
Originally playing for Bicester Marcus now represents Witney Chess Club in local leagues.
Marcus first played in the British Championship in 2011 (Sheffield).
Marcus Harvey at the 2013 King’s Place Rapidplay, courtesy of John Upham Photography
Originally playing for Oxford he now plays for Wood Green in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) and Southampton University in the Southampton League.
Marcus playing IM Yang-Fan Zhou at the 2013 Delancey UKCC Terafinal at Loughborough Grammar School. Courtesy of John Upham Photography.
In 2014 Marcus won the title of “Strat” (the overall Terafinal winner) of the 2014 Delancey UK Chess Challenge at Loughborough Grammar School.
Marcus Harvey at the 2013 Delancey UKCC Terafinal at Loughborough Grammar School, courtesy of John Upham Photography.
Marcus has a FIDE rating of 2440 and an ECF grading of 240.
2014 Delancey UKCC Terafinal winner, Marcus Harvey at Loughborough Grammar School. Courtesy of John Upham Photography
In 2018 he won the Witney Open outright with 4/5 and, in the same year, was runner-up to David Howell in the UK Blitz Open with 12.5/15 and a of 2589.
In 2019 he was =1st (with Mark Hebden) in the 4NCL Easter Open in Stevenage. Later that year Marcus was losing semi-finalist (to Gawain Jones) in the London Classic Blitz Knockout.
Marcus, on home ground, won the 43rd Kidlington Open in 2020 and followed this with and is the current 2020 English Online Blitz Champion beating IM Andrew Greet, FM Jonah Willow, IM Ameet Ghasi and IM Andrew Horton in the final.

In the Pro chess league he represents UK Lions.
Marcus Harvey’s FIDE rating profile according to Megabase 2020
On 6th November 2019 we reported that Marcus had obtained his second International Master norm at the recent (October 2019) Hull 4NCL International Congress by scoring 4.5/9 with wins over IM Andrew Greet and IM Richard Palliser.
On July 17th 2021 Marcus was joint winner with IM Peter Roberson in the 1st Chessfest Decode Rapidplay with an impressive 6/6 and a TPR of 2911.
Marcus overcame Rory McLean, Theo Koury, Steven Coles, FM Alexis Harakis, CM Jonathan Pein and rapidplay / blitz specialist IM Ameet Ghasi to share first place.
Marcus enjoys playing the Smyslov-Larsen opening with white

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and the classical French and the Nimzo-Indian Defence.
It is clear that Marcus is now easily of IM strength and surely is a strong candidate for England’s next Grandmaster.

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FM Marcus Ross Harvey
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Birthday of GM Anthony Kosten (24-vii-1958)
2020-07-24
Birthday of GM Anthony Cornelis Kosten (24-vii-1958)
Tony was born in North Eastern Surrey, and eventually relocated to France where he now resides.
Tony is married to Gyongyver Kosten-Forintos, the daughter of Hungarian Grandmaster Győző Forintos.
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 team
Here is his Wikipedia entry
Tony played for Lower Earley and played in the Berkshire League and for Streatham & Brixton in the National Club competition.
He was =3rd in the 1982 British Championship in Torquay (won by Tony Miles)
He was =2nd in the 1984 Robert Silk Young Masters.
He won the Berkshire Chess Association Quickplay title in 1985.
Tony was runner-up to Yuri Balashov at Minsk 1986.
He won Naujac 2000 with 7.5/9
Tony won many other events : See his Wikipedia entry for details.
Tony Kosten (fourth from left) at a NatWest Bank sponsored event
Tony is the founder of chesspublishing.com, a subscription based web site specialising in cutting edge opening theory with many contributors.
He plays for Guildford in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) is registered as a member of the French federation. He also plays for Schott Mainz in the German Team Championship.
According to Megabase 2020 his highest FIDE rating was 2551 in July 2002 at the age of 44.
With the white pieces Tony prefers the Ruy Lopez and Giuoco Piano with the English coming a close second.
With black Tony defends the Lopez and the Nimzo-Indian defence.

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Tony Kosten
Winning Endgames, Crowood, 1987
Winning with the Philidor, Batsford, 1992
101 Tips to Improve your Chess, Batsford, 1996
The Dynamic English, Gambit, 1999
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Birthday of (Arthur) John Roycroft (25-vii-1929)
2020-07-25
We are delighted to offer (Arthur) John Roycroft best wishes on his birthday, this day (July 25th) in 1929.
John was born in Hendon, London and his mother’s maiden name was Banks.
AJR aged 9, courtesy of the BCPS web site.
John moved to Brighton and then evacuated to Calcot, North Wales and returned to Brighton when the threat had subsided.
He married Betty in 1961 and they had a son and a daughter and now have several grand children.
He claimed that he had never suffered a common cold.
John is Platinum Life Member of the English Chess Federation and an “ECF Supporter”.
The Chess Endgame Study
“From The Oxford Companion to Chess (Oxford University Press, 1984) by David Hooper and Ken Whyld :
English study composer and author, International Judge of Chess Compositions (1959), Computer systems analyst.
In 1965 he founded EG, quarterly publication which became the world’s first and only long-running magazine devoted wholly to studies.
His Test Tube Chess (1972), the best English language guide to the art of studies., was revised and republished as The Chess Endgame Study (1981).
Studies are commonly classified by means of the GBR code of which he was co-inventor.”
From The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale, 1970 & 1976) by Anne Sunnucks :
“FIDE Judge of Endgame Studies. Born on 25th July 1929. Founder of the Chess Endgame Study Circle in London in March 1965.and its quarterly magazine EG, the first and only publication exclusively devoted to the composed chess ending. Roycroft who is a computer systems analyst and lives in London, has composed about 20 endgame studies.”
AJ Roycroft
“EG” July 1965

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Solution :
1.Bg7 Kb1; 2.Nf6 b4; 3.Kxb4 Kb2 4.Bh8 Nc2+; 5.Ka4 Kxc3 6.Ne4++
Video Chess Event (See caption below)
Video Chess Caption
AJR won the BCF President’s Award in 1995.
Here is AJRs Wikipedia entry
Here is AJR talking about himself on the BPCS web site
Here is his entry from the Chess Programming Wiki
Test Tube Chess
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Birthday of GM Julian Hodgson (25-vii-1963)
2020-07-25
We send best wishes to GM Julian Hodgson on his birthday, this day July 25th in 1963.
Julian Michael Hodgson was born in Hammersmith, West London son of (Ronald) George Hodgson and Johanna Hodgson (née Birch).
Julian has claimed to be a descendent of George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys and we are looking to establish this claim following further research.
Julian attended St. Paul’s School (See below) and then attended The University of Leicester for one year.
Julian married Lizette and David Norwood was his Best Man.
Julian and Lizette Hodgson
(Curiously both Felice and Gaige state Julian was born in Saint Asaph in Wales.)
Julian Hodgson
Harry Golombek wrote this about Julian in a 1980 Dataday chess diary :
“I think that the first time I saw Julian Hodgson in play was some four years ago in a London tournament. Upon my arrival Leonard Barden told him that he must now be careful how he played as Golombek was watching.
Julian and Nigel Short play Korchnoi in a simul. Leonard Barden observes.
“Who”, enquired the twelve-year old Julian, “is Golombek?”
Neil Carr and Julian Hodgson at the 1976 Lloyds Bank Match by Telex, London – New York. From BCM, volume XCVI (96) Number 11 (August), Page 494. The venue was the Bloomsbury Hotel, London. Photo courtesy of Lloyds Bank.
I felt grateful at the time that he did not say who or what is Golombek but I tell this story chiefly to show the cheerful insouciance with which Master Hodgson treated all comers whether chess masters or chess rabbits.
Julian playing Simon L Triggs. Event and photographer unknown
Julian astonishing maturity as a player has been impressive ever since at the age of ten, he won the Southern Counties Under 14 Championships in 1973. Since then he has acquired a host of such championships culminating in the British Under-21 Championship in 1977.
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 team
Perhaps his most remarkable performance so far has been his equal 3rd in a strong challengers section at Hastings where he scored 7.5 out of 10. 1977 was a good year for him and here, from the Lloyds Bank Silver Jubilee Tournament of that year is his fine win over a strong opponent :

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Here is his entry (written by Richard W O’Brien) in British Chess (Pergamon Press, 1983, Botterill, Levy, Rice and Richardson) :
“Following a series of excellent results Julian, at the tender age of 11, became the second youngest ever to play in an international tournament when he took part in the London Chess Club International Invitation tournament in September 1974. Only Reshevsky had been younger. Julian’s first opponent was Michael Woodhams, an Australian international who had just scored 15.5/18 in the recent Olympiad (Nice)
The following year he became the youngest player ever to win the London Amateur Championship. A year later he reached a grading of 200 (BCF), only Reshevsky, Pomar, Karpov and Kasparov had done so at an earlier age.
By now he was at St. Paul’s School, which was in the process of becoming one of the strongest chess playing schools in the country. In 1977 he shared first place with WN Watson (also St. Paul’s) in the British U21 Championship. Progress was however not as fast as had at one time been anticipated

It was at Ramsgate, late in 1980 before his first IM norm. A month later he finished second in the Hastings Challenger. Other good results followed in 1981. First he was selected for the Glorney Cup and shortly afterwards did well to come fourteenth in the British Championship (Morecambe). He represented England in the World Youth Team championships scoring 4/6. His second IM norm followed when he shared fifth place at Manchester in the same year. Good results in weekend congresses meant that he finished fourth in the Leigh Grand Prix. The year had finished with Julian needing a draw in the last round at Ramsgate to get his title. He lost and was to wait another 12 months to achieve his final norm.
The England Team from the 1990 Novi Sad Olympiad : John Nunn, Jon Speelman, Julian Hodgson, David Anderton OBE (Captain), Nigel Short, Michael Adams and Murray Chandler
When the final norm came it arrived out of the blue. With a score of 2.5/5 at Lewisham in November 1982 the chances seemed remote, 3.5/4 was required against a strong field and it even seemed doubtful whether he could actually play those he needed to play. He scored 2.5/3 and now had to play Jon Tisdall, who still had a chance of winning the tournament.
Julian finished second equal in the tournament behind Jim Plaskett who had beaten him earlier.
Julian Hodgson
The next six weeks saw Julian come equal first in the Pergamon sponsored British Lightning championship, a highly creditable sixth in the Nightflight International at Brighton (equivalent to an IM rating) and second place yet again in the Hastings Challengers.
John Delaney plays Julian Hodgson at the Bath Zonal Tournament in 1987
Earlier in 1983 he scored 6.5/9 at Lugano, probably Europe’s strongest ever Swiss (Swiss !) tournament, losing narrowly to Jan Timman.
Julian Hodgson. Event and photographer unknown.
He left Leicester University after just one year preferring to concentrate on chess.
FM Andrew Whiteley, IM Julian Hodgson and FM Byron Jacobs at Cappelle Le Grand, 1988. Photograph by Caroline Winkler
He plays fairly regularly for Streatham & Brixton Chess Club which encouraged juniors for several years. Daniel King is another junior who also played frequently for Streatham. ”

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This is what was written about Julian prior to the 1979 Spassky vs the BCF Junior Squad simultaneous display : “St Paul’s and Shepherds Bush. Rating 210. Standard London Amateur Champion at age 12, 1975.
Standard London under-18 champion, 1976. British under-21 co-champion, 1977. Youngest ever to beat two grandmasters in successive games, 1978.”
Julian Hodgson drawn by Rupert van der Linden
Julian was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion in the 1997-98 season.
Julian has claimed that he is a descended from the (in)famous “hanging judge” Jeffries !

Julian is the in-house chess teacher at Westminster School.
Here is his Wikipedia entry :
GM Julian Hodgson
Aside from more formal achievements, he developed a sharp, relentless, attacking style of play and against lesser opponents this frequently resulted in devastating quick wins, earning him the epithet “Grandmaster of Disaster”.
Hans Ree plays Julian Hodgson at the Cannes Team Tournament, 1992
Hodgson’s greatest legacy as a chess player may however lie in his resurrection of an almost forgotten opening system. The Trompowsky Attack (1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5) had floundered in the doldrums for many years, prior to his adoption and development of the opening. In interviews, he reveals that this was born out of laziness and a reluctance to learn established chess opening theory. It soon became his weapon of choice with the white pieces, leading to a surprising popularisation of the system, the spawning of a whole generation of devotees and ironically, a number of theoretical guides, containing a high quota of Hodgson’s own games and analysis. Indeed, his expert treatment of the system once prompted fellow grandmaster Joe Gallagher to write that it should be renamed the Hodgson–Trompowsky Attack, a view shared by many other masters. A chess journalist once wrote that Hodgson put the ‘romp’ into Trompowsky.
A related, but more obscure version of the system (1.d4 d5 2.Bg5), has been dubbed by some the Hodgson Attack and by others the Pseudo-Trompowsky or Queen’s Bishop Attack.

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and

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Julian, Dominic Lawson and Matthew Sadler
Chess Traveller’s Quiz Book, Julian Hodgson, Cadogan Press, 1996, ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1857440300
Attack with Julian Hodgson, Book No.1
Attack with Julian Hodgson, Book No.2
Quick Chess Knockouts
Julian Hodgson drawn by Rupert van der Linden
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Birthday of Demis Hassabis CBE FRS FREng FRSA (27-vii-1976)
2020-07-27
BCN wishes Happy Birthday to Demis Hassabis CBE FRS FREng FRSA (27-vii-1976)
From https://achievement.org/achiever/demis-hassabis-ph-d/ :
Demis Hassabis, the eldest of three, was born in London on July 27, 1976, to a Greek Cypriot father and a Chinese Singaporean mother.
(Originally his surname was spelt Hassapis and his brother George retained his.)
“Demis Hassabis was born in London, England. He is of both Greek and Chinese ancestry; his father came from Cyprus, his mother from Singapore. Demis and his family moved frequently as his father pursued a variety of business and creative ventures.
Demis was four years old when he saw his father and an uncle playing chess and asked them to teach him the game. He took to it quickly and was soon beating both of them. He showed a precocious aptitude for all games employing logic and strategy. ”
Demis Hassabis
When 13 (in 1989) Demis achieved a FIDE rating of 2300 which, at the time, was the second highest rating for his age. First highest was Judit Polgar.
Demis was SCCU Under-18 champion in 1989 and was presented with the “old Trophy” according to the SCCU report.
Lawrence Cooper, Demis Hassabis, Cathy Haslinger and Dharshan Kumaran in around 1986. Possibly at a Lloyds Bank event.
Demis was a Candidate Master and brother of George Hassapis.
Demis started off with Hampstead Junior Chess Club.
He then played for Barnet Knights, Queens College College Union and Finchley chess clubs.
Demis Hassabis courtesy of Cathy Rogers
According to Tryfon Gavriel :
Demis wrote a hit computer game called “The theme park”, that was at the top of the charts for six months and sold than more 3.5 million copies. He also did quite well in the 1997 Mind Sports Olympiad.
Demis Hassabis, IMMO KLINK/CONTOUR BY GETTY IMAGES
Hassabis returned to academia to obtain his PhD in cognitive neuroscience from University College London (UCL) in 2009 supervised by Eleanor Maguire. He sought to find inspiration in the human brain for new AI algorithms.

Danny Gormally wrote (in March 2014) this :
“Demis Hassapis is a former chess prodigy who recently sold his company to Google for £400 million. Demonstrating that if you have the brainpower to be good at chess, you are far better off putting that intelligence to use in some other activity where you might actually get rewarded. Then in fairness, even most strong chess players aren’t as bright as Demis.”

Demis was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2018
In May 2021 Demis was cited by Dominic Cummings in his evidence to the Commons Heath, and Science and Technology committees as having played an important contribution to managing and understanding the PHE and NHS data during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK.
Here are his listed games

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Birthday of FM Graham Lee (27-vii-1953)
2020-07-27
Birthday of FM Graham David Lee (27-vii-1953)
FM Graham Lee 2282 v WIM Eva Jiretorn 2155 alongside WIM Regina Pokorna 2352 v WIM Christin Anderson 2173.
FM Graham Lee, courtesy of Cathy Rogers
Graham Lee (second from left) and a victorious Wood Green team. Trophy presented by Magnus Magnusson
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Birthday of GM Nigel Davies (31-vii-1960)
2020-07-31
We send best wishes to GM Nigel Davies on his birthday, this day (July 31st) in 1960.
Nigel Rodney Davies was born in Southport, Merseyside.
He lived in the Wirral, Merseyside, moved to Sidcup and then to St. Helen’s, Merseyside where he resides with his chess playing son, Sam who is ECF 1928A currently.
In July 2020 Nigel graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Computing from Edge Hill University.
Nigel Davies (centre) at a Lloyds Bank event
He became an FIDE Master in 1980, an International Master in 1982 and a Grandmaster in 1993.
Nigel Davies
He won the British Under-21 Championship in 1979 (Chester) and the British Rapidplay Championship in 1987.
Nigel receives a much welcome prize (in Manchester) from Miss Benedictine in 198?
He won The Regency Ramsgate Masters 1980, Wrexham 1994, Katrineholm 1995 and the Blackpool Hilton Premier in 2003.
Nigel Davies
Nigel publishes his Chess Improver Blog and Tiger Chess for online training. The ECF lists this as his main club.

In 2015 Nigel transferred his international allegiance from England (the English Chess Federation) to Wales (Welsh Chess Union). He maintains an ECF standard play rating of 2448E.
William Watson, Jonny Hector, Alexander Khalifman, Jonathan Tisdall and Nigel Davies at the 1991 Watson, Farley, Williams tournament in London.
His peak FIDE rating was 2530 in January 1995 at the age of 35.
Here is one of Nigel’s favourite games
Nigel Davies, seated, second from right, event unknown
In 2015 Nigel contributed to an article by Guardian journalist, Stephen Moss entitled “Grandmaster crash: the inside story of how English chess pawned its future”
GM Nigel Davies
Here is his Wikipedia entry
Here is an article : Fight against the solid Caro-Kann opening with the Caro Krusher – GM Nigel Davies
Nigel’s repertoire with White is wide including Queen’s Gambit, King’s Indian Attack, English/Reti and the Ruy Lopez.
As black Nigel’s repertoire is also varied and difficult to pin down. The Modern Defence is a favourite and is the Nimzo-Indian Defence.

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Nigel is an active user of Twitter and may be found @GMNigelDavies
In 2020 the Welsh Chess Union successfully endorsed Nigel’s application to FIDE to become a FIDE Senior Trainer which he became in 2021:
Nigel Davies, FIDE Senior Trainer
Nigel has had many books and DVDs published :
The Chess Player’s Battle Manual. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-7043-7
The Power Chess Program. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-8415-2.
The Grünfeld Defence. Everyman Chess. ISBN 1-85744-239-3.
The Veresov. Everyman Chess. ISBN 9781857443356.
The Dynamic Reti. Everyman Chess. ISBN 9781857443523.
The Trompowsky. Everyman Chess. ISBN 1857443764.
King’s Indian Attack. Hamburg: ChessBase. ISBN 978-3-86681-071-6.
Starting Out: The Modern. Everyman Chess. ISBN 9781857445664.
Play the Catalan. Gloucester Publishers plc (formerly Everyman Publishers plc). ISBN 9781857445916.
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Birthday of GM Jacob Aagaard (31-vii-1973)
2020-07-31
BCN wishes Happy Birthday to GM Jacob Aagaard (31-vii-1973)
Jacob was born in Hørsholm in Denmark.
He became an International Master in 1997 and a Grandmaster in 2007.
His peak FIDE rating was 2542 in May 2010 aged 36.

Jacob is the owner of publishing house, Quality Chess and works with IM Andrew Greet.
GM Jacob Aagaard takes on all-comers!

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Jacob’s publications include :
(1998). Easy Guide to the Panov-Botvinnik Attack. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-563-3.
(2000). Easy Guide to the Sveshnikov Sicilian. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-280-9.
(2001). Dutch Stonewall. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-252-6.
(2001). Excelling at Chess. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-273-1.
(2002). Queen’s Indian Defence. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-300-4.
and Esben Land (2002). Meeting 1.d4. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-224-3.
(2003). Excelling at Positional Chess. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-325-7.
(2004). Excelling at Chess Calculation. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-360-8.
(2004). Excelling at Combinational Play. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-345-5.
(2004). Excelling at Technical Chess. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-364-6.
(2004). Starting Out: The Grunfeld. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-350-9.
(2004). Inside the Chess Mind. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1857443578.
(2006). Practical Chess Defence. Quality Chess. ISBN 978-91-975244-4-5.
(2008). The Attacking Manual: Basic Principles. Quality Chess. ISBN 978-91-976004-0-8.
(2008). The Attacking Manual 2: Technique and Praxis. Quality Chess. ISBN 978-91-976004-1-5.
(2012). Grandmaster Preparation – Calculation. Quality Chess. ISBN 978-1-907982-31-6.
(2012). Grandmaster Preparation – Positional Play. Quality Chess. ISBN 978-1-907982-27-9.
(2013). Grandmaster Preparation – Strategic Play. Quality Chess. ISBN 978-1-907982-29-3.
(2013). Grandmaster Preparation – Attack & Defence. Quality Chess. ISBN 978-1-907982-70-5.
(2014). Grandmaster Preparation – Endgame Play. Quality Chess. ISBN 978-1-907982-27-9.
(2017). Grandmaster Preparation – Thinking Inside the Box. Quality Chess. ISBN 978-1-907982-35-4.
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Birthday of Barry Barnes (01-viii-1937)
2020-08-01
BCN wishes happy birthday to Barry Barnes (01-viii-1937)
Barry Peter Barnes was born in Brighton and his mother’s maiden name was Simpole. (Barry is a cousin of Julian Ivan Peter Simpole, who was a Brighton school teacher and who taught Edward Gerard Winter to play chess).
Barry now lives in Halling, Rochester, Kent with his wife Jean.
From The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale, 1970 & 1976) by Anne Sunnucks :
“International Master of FIDE for Chess Compositions (1967) and International Judge of FIDE for Chess Compositions (1967).
Born on 1st August 1937, Barnes works in transport advertising. He has composed about 250 two-move problems. With Lipton and Rice, he has contributed to the advance of the modern two-mover. Problem Editor of Two-Move and Twin sections of The Problemist. Co-author with M.Lipton and JM Rice of The Two-Move Chess Problem : Tradition and Development (Faber and Faber 1966).
Barry Peter Barnes

BP Barnes
2nd Prize Problem T.T. 1964

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White to play and mate in two moves
(a) Diagram
(b) With black pawn at KN2 (g7)
(a) Solution
1. B-R3!
(b) Solution 1. K-K2!
From British Chess (Pergamon Press, 1983) by GS Botterill, DNL Levy, JM Rice and MJ Richardson :
Barry wrote about himself as follows :
“A promising career as a county chess player came to an end when I was given Brian Harley’s classic book Mate in Two Moves in the belief that it would help my chess, but it had quite the opposite effect. My interest in competitive chess waned, and I was on the road to an an International Master title for problems!
Early influences in my problem career were the weekly chess problem solving competition in The Observer (my first problem published there was in 1955), a teenage friendship with J. M. Rice and M. Lipton (both now lnternational Masters), Herbert Grasemann’s book Problem Schach / with its near revolutionary post-war German problem ideas, and the expert British problemist, A. R. Gooderson who had I but known it only a few years earlier was the officiating master when my Hove Grammar School played Steyning Grammar at chess.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the genuinely original problems I was making in cooperation and in competition with Rice and Lipton were being published mostly abroad in such specialist problem magazines as Die Schwatbe (with its inspired two-move editor, Hermann Albrecht) where I gained the epithet,the English prize-snatcher’! It was also written that the work of the avant_garde composers, Rice, Lipton and Barnes, was like a fresh two-move wind blowing from our island. It was sad but true at that time that the specialist magazine of the British Chess problem Society (founded 1918), The problemist, was unreceptive to change and our often bizarre ideas.
A milestone of sorts was reached when I won lst prize for problem I in 1958, a prize for the best new problem by a member of the British Commonwealth aged under 21. In 1966, I was invited by problemist Grandmaster Comins Mansfield, who was President of the FIDE Problem Commission, to act as Secretary at the Barcelona meeting. With Mr. Mansfield’s retirement, I became the British Member to the Commission, and at the Wiesbaden meeting, 1974, I was elected 2nd Vice-President. (1st Vice-President from 1982)
The FIDE Problem Commission meets annually to discuss matters relating to all branches of problem chess, to organize the World Chess Composing Tournament (WCCT), the World Chess Solving Competition (WCSC), and to publish FIDE Album anthologies of the best problems. It was on the strength of my success in these FIDE Albums that the Commission granted me the titles in 1967 of ‘lnternational Master of the FIDE for Chess Composition’ and ‘lnternational Judge of the FIDE for Chess Composition’. Since 1974, I have been Chairman of the Titles Sub-Committee of the Commission.
Since 1965, I have been the two-move editor of The Problemist and have served almost without break on the BCPS Committee. I have contributed to The Encyclopaedia of Chess by Anne Sunnucks (Robert Hale, 1970), I am co-author, with J. M. Rice and M. Lipton, of The Two-Move Chess Problem: Tradition & Development‘ (Faber A Faber, 1966), and I am the sole author of Comins Mansfield MBE: Chess Problems of a Grandmaster: (British Chess Problem Society, 1976) and Pick of the Best Chess Problems (Elliot Right Way Books, 1976)
To date I have made just over 300 two-movers and some helpmates.”
The Two Move Chess Problem : Tradition and Development
Pick of the best Chess Problems
Source: The Problemist, May 1996. Photo taken March 1996 at the Mansfield Centenary Meeting at Paisley, when Barry Barnes delivered a lecture on Comins Mansfield. Left to right: Geoffrey Mansfield (son of Comins), Robert Gray and Barry Barnes, International Master of Chess Composition.
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Birthday of FM Rawle Allicock (01-viii-1970)
2020-08-01
Birthday of FM Rawle Anthony Allicock (01-viii-1970)
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Birthday of FM Sam Franklin (03-viii-1994)
2020-08-03
Birthday of FM Samuel Gideon A Franklin (03-viii-1994)
FM Samuel GA Franklin from the Varsity Match, 9th March 2014, courtesy of John Upham Photography
FM Samuel GA Franklin from the London Chess Classic, 29th December 2013.
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Birthday of FM Laurence Webb (04-viii-1970)
2020-08-04
Birthday of FM Laurence E Webb (04-viii-1970)
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Birthday of FM Mike Waddington (07-viii-1966)
2020-08-07
Birthday of FM Michael P Waddington (07-viii-1966)
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Birthday of IM Angus Dunnington (09-viii-1967)
2020-08-09
Birthday of 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 for 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.

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IM Angus Dunnington, photograph by Gisbert Jacoby
Here is his Wikipedia entry
The Ultimate King’s Indian Attack, 1993
Pawn Power !, 1994
Winning with the Catalan, 1997
Easy Guide to the Reti Opening
101 Winning Chess Strategies, 1999
Winning Unorthodox Openings, 2000
Mastering the Middlegame, 2001
Chess Psychology, 2003
Nimzo-Indian Rubinstein: Complex Lines with 4e3, 2004
Blunders and How to Avoid Them, 2004
IM Angus Dunnington, photograph by Cathy Rogers
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Birthday of IM Michael Rahal (10-viii-1970)
2020-08-10
Birthday of IM Michael A Rahal (10-viii-1970)
Michael Anthony Rahal was born in Aldershot, Hampshire to Spanish parents. His mother’s maiden name is Vives Escoda. Michael attended Salesian College in Farnborough. Previously the strongest player from Aldershot may have been Michael Antony Pagden.
He became a FIDE Master in 1994 and an International Master in 1999.
His peak FIDE rating was 2431 in January 2005.
He is a Spanish resident.
Here is his YouTube Channel
His handle on the Internet Chess Club is “mikerahal”
.With the white pieces Michael prefers the Spanish(!) Opening
With the black pieces Michael plays the French Winawer and the Classical Dutch.
Smash the Sicilian with the Smith-Morra Gambit – Michael Rahal (PC-DVD)
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Birthday of IM Andrew Webster (10-viii-1973)
2020-08-10
Birthday of IM Andrew A Webster (10-viii-1973)
Andrew became a FIDE Master in 1991 and an International Master in 1993
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Birthday of IM Bill Hartston (12-viii-1947)
2020-08-12
IM William Hartston, FIDE Candidates, 2013, courtesy of John Upham Photography
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 Rowland. 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.
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.
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.
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 below
Caption 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

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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.
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.”

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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%. 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.
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%. 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)
and in 1973 he scored a first at Alicante.

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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.

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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)
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.”
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.
Here is his Wikipedia article
See his entry from the Jewish Lives Project
The King’s Indian Defence, 1969
The Benoni, 1969
How to Cheat at Chess, 1976
The Best Games of C.H.O’D. Alexander, 1976
The Grünfeld Defence, 1977
Benoni, 1977
Karpov-Korchnoi, 1978
Soft Pawn, 1980
The Phillips & Drew King’s Chess Tournament, 1980
The Penguin Book of Chess Openings, 1981
The Psychology of Chess, 1984
Short vs Kasparov, 1993
The Kings of Chess, 1995
The Guinness Book of Chess Grandmasters, 1996
William Hartston
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Birthday of IM Malcolm Pein (14-viii-1960)
2020-08-14
BCN sends IM Malcolm Pein best wishes on his 61st birthday.
IM Malcolm Pein at the King’s Place Rapidplay 2013, photograph courtesy of John Upham
Malcolm Bernard Pein was born in Liverpool (South). South Lancashire and his mother’s maiden name is Max. (Gaige, Felice and chessgames.com all incorrectly have Malcolm L. Pein).
Malcolm Pein
This was written about Malcolm aged 19 just prior to the 1979 Spassky vs the BCF Junior Squad simultaneous display :
” London University and Liverpool, Rating 199. British under-18 co-champion, 1977. Currently No.1 player for London University.”
Malcolm hard at work
Malcolm studied Chemical Engineering at University College, London entering in September 1978. He won The University of London championship in February 1979.
He became an International Master in 1986 and is a FIDE Delegate (for England) and an International Director.
Malcolm’s peak rating was 2450 in January 1992 at the age of 32.
Malcolm Pein (third from right) and a victorious Wood Green team. Trophy presented by Magnus Magnusson
With the white pieces Malcolm prefers the Queen’s Gambit almost exclusively with 1.e4 rarely seeing the light of day scoring 62%
As the second player, Malcolm champions the Pirc, Modern and Grunfeld defences scoring 49% which MegaBase 2020 claims is “above average”.

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IM Malcolm Pein at the Bristol heat of the British Blitz Qualification event in 2019
In addition to his newspaper column and magazine editorial, Malcolm has written a number of chess books and booklets, including :
Grunfeld Defence (Batsford, 1981) – ISBN 978-0713435948
Blumenfeld Defence [with Jan Przewoznik] (Everyman, 1991) – ISBN 978-0080371337
Daily Telegraph Guide to Chess (Batsford, 1995) – ISBN 978-0713478143
The Exchange Grunfeld [with Adrian Mikhalchishin] (Everyman, 1996) – ISBN 978-1857440560]
Nigel Short’s Chess Skills (1989)(was ghost written by Malcolm)
Malcolm won the ECF President’s Award in 2017:
“Malcolm Pein’s contribution to English Chess is well known. He is CEO of Chess in Schools and Communities, has been largely involved in the organisation of the London Chess Classic and is currently the ECF’s Delegate to FIDE and International Director. On top of all that he is also an IM, writes the ‘Daily Telegraph’ Chess Column, and edits CHESS Magazine.”
IM Malcolm Pein at the London Chess Classic 2013, photograph courtesy of John Upham
Malcolm is also owner (and a director) of the London Chess Centre (a company incorporated on May 1st 1997) which has relocated to 44, Baker Street, former home of the British Chess Magazine retail premises. This was purchased from Stephen Lowe and Shaun Taulbut in 2010 when the leasehold on the Euston Road premises expired. Another director is Henry Gerald Mutkin who is the main organiser of the annual Varsity match.
Here is his Wikipedia entry
Malcolm has a son, Jonathan who is a strong player and he resides in London, NW7.
Jonathan and Malcolm Pein at the 2016 Michael Uriely Memorial Tournament
Malcolm Pein & Dominic Lawson
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Birthday of IM John Pigott (15-viii-1957)
2020-08-15
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.”

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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.

In 1976 John scored 4.5/5 in the Surrey Open and shared the 3rd, 4th and 5th prize.
The caption is in the photograph below
The caption is in the photograph above
John became a FIDE Master in 1984 and an International Master in 2017, a gap of some 33 years!
John plays for Little Heath, 4NCL Barbican, Hon Members LCCL and King’s Head chess clubs.
After a sojourn from chess John returned to the ECF grading list in January 2015 with a grading of 269F attracting some attention.
His highest FIDE rating was 2419 in February 2018 at the age of 61.
With the white pieces John plays the Queen’s Gambit and the Giuoco Piano.
As the second player John enjoys the Sicilian Najdorf and the Nimzo Indian Defence.
Jon Speelman’s Agony Column #40

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Birthday of FM Andrew Smith (15-viii-1959)
2020-08-15
BCN wishes Happy Birthday to FM Andrew Smith (15-viii-1959)
Andrew became a FIDE Master in 1994 and is registered with the Irish Chess Union.
His highest FIDE rating was 2310 in July 1994 at the age of 35.
FM Andrew Smith, photographer unknown
He plays for Bourne End Chess Club in the Buckinghamshire League and in the Berkshire League.
Andrew also plays for 4NCL Barnet Knights (he has played for Atticus), Buckinghamshire CCA in the Chiltern League and Hon Members LCCL.
He has won the Berks & Bucks Congress in 2018 and 2016 (joint) and he became Berkshire Individual Champion as a direct consequence winning the Cadogan Cup.
With the white pieces Andrew is (almost) exclusively a 1.e4 player favouring the Centre Game
and as the second player Andrew plays the Philidor Defence and the Benoni.
He is known to favour “enterprising” variations such as the Mason Variation of the Philidor, the Haldane Attack versus the French and other such exotica.
British Chess Magazine, Volume CXXXII (132), Number 7 (July) front cover features FM Andrew Smith from the final 4NCL weekend of the 2011-2012 season, courtesy of John Upham Photography

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FM Andrew Smith at the 2019 Keith Richardson Memorial, courtesy of John Upham Photography
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Birthday of Peter Griffiths (15-viii-1946)
2020-08-15
BCN sends Happy birthday wishes to Peter Griffiths
Peter Charles Griffiths was born on Thursday, August 15th, in 1946 in Birmingham, Warwickshire. His mother’s maiden name was Ward.
Peter was a strong player active from the 1960s until 1989. He played in the British Championships more than once and was a professional coach and writer. He wrote the column “Practical Chess Endings” which appeared in the British Chess Magazine. The column commenced in the December 1972 issue and columns became less frequent until around 1991.
Peter Griffiths (far left)
He wrote Exploring the Endgame
Exploring the Endgame
and co-authored Secrets of Grandmaster Play with John Nunn.
Secrets of Grandmaster Play
and wrote Improving Your Chess
Improving Your Chess
and Better Chess for Club Players
Better Chess for Club Players
Peter Griffiths (far left)
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Birthday of Leonard Barden (20-viii-1929)
2020-08-20
Ninety-two today is Leonard Barden, born Tuesday, August 20th, 1929.
His mother’s maiden was Bartholomew and she became Elise EM Barden when she married Leonard’s father who was William C Barden and in 1939 they lived at 89, Tennison Road, Croydon.
89, Tennison Road, Croydon
From The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford, 1977) by Harry Golombek OBE:
“British Master and joint British Champion 1954. Barden was born in Croydon and learned to play at his school, Whitgift, which became a frequent producer of fine players.
In 1946 he tied for first place in the London Boys Championship and in the following year he tied with Jonathan Penrose for first place in the British Boys Championship, but lost the play-off.
In 1952 he came first at Paignton ahead of the Canadian Grandmaster Yanofsky and he reached his peak in 1954 when , after tieing for first place with the Belgian Grandmaster O’Kelly de Galway at Bognor, he tied for for first place in the British Championship at Nottingham with A. Phillips. The play-off was drawn and so the players became joint champions.
Alan Phillips and Leonard Barden are joint British Champions of 1954 in Nottingham, photographer unknown
He played for the BCF in four Olympiads from 1952 to 1962 and then abandoned competitive chess, applying all his energies to writing (he is chess correspondent of the Guardian, the Financial Times, the Evening Standard and the Field, and has written many books on the game.
He has also developed two special interests, in junior chess and in grading, working with utmost persistence and energy in both of these fields.
Leonard authored a series of articles on what was to become the Yugoslav Attack versus the Sicilian Dragon. Source : British Chess Magazine, Volume LXXXIII, Number 7 (July), page 208
Amongst his best works are : a A Guide to Chess Openings, London, 1957; The Ruy Lopez, Oxford, 1963; The King’s Indian Defence, London, 1968.”
Disappointingly Sunnucks Encyclopedia does not mention Barden at all and and surprisingly Hooper and Whyld’s usually excellent Oxford Companion only from a connection with Jim Slater.
Leonard Bardens’ Evening Standard column ends after 63 Years
Signature of LW Barden from a Brian Reilly “after dinner” postcard from Southsea 1951.
Here is an in-depth article from Edward Winter
Leonard Barden’s Blunder Theory from Kingpin Magazine
54-Year-Old Chess Record established in 2009
From Wikipedia :
“Leonard William Barden (born 20 August 1929, in Croydon, London) is an English chess master, writer, broadcaster, organizer and promoter. The son of a dustman, he was educated at Whitgift School, South Croydon, and Balliol College, Oxford, where he read Modern History.
Travel Chess2nd January 1951: British chess champions Jonathan Penrose and Leonard Barden prepare their openings over breakfast in the Yelton Hotel before the 9.30 am round start at Hastings 1950-51. (Photo by Walter Bellamy/Express/Getty Images)
He learned to play chess at age 13 while in a school shelter during a World War II German air raid. Within a few years he became one of the country’s leading juniors.[1] He represented England in four Chess Olympiads. Barden played a major role in the rise of English chess from the 1970s. As a chess columnist for various newspapers, his column in London’s Evening Standard is the world’s longest-standing chess column.
Leonard Barden (seated, second from right) Before Botvinnik’s 1981 Pergamon Press clock simul against England juniors, the final competitive event of the Patriarch’s career.Standing: Stuart Conquest, Neil Dickenson. Gary Lane, Alan Byron,Daniel King, John Hawksworth, Pergamon editor.Seated: Julian Hodgson, Byron Jacobs, Mikhail Botvinnik, Leonard Barden, Bernard Cafferty.
In 1946, Barden won the British Junior Correspondence Chess Championship, and tied for first place in the London Boys’ Championship. The following year he tied for first with Jonathan Penrose in the British Boys’ Championship, but lost the playoff.
Barden finished fourth at Hastings in 1951–52. In 1952, he won the Paignton tournament ahead of the Canadian future grandmaster Daniel Yanofsky. He captained the Oxfordshire team which won the English Counties championship in 1951 and 1952.
Barden making a move at Southend 1955.
In the latter year he captained the University of Oxford team which won the National Club Championship, and he represented the university in the annual team match against the University of Cambridge during his years there. In 1953, he won the individual British Lightning Championship (ten seconds a move).
The following year, he tied for first with the Belgian grandmaster Albéric O’Kelly de Galway at Bognor Regis, was joint British champion, with Alan Phillips, and won the Southern Counties Championship.
Leonard Barden vs Victor Korchnoi, Leipzig Olympiad, 1960
He finished fourth at Hastings 1957–58, ranked by chessmetrics as his best statistical performance. In the 1958 British Chess Championship, Barden again tied for first, but lost the playoff match to Penrose 1½–3½.
Leonard Barden (centre) with Raaphi Persitz, JB Sykes, OI Galvenius and DM Armstrong, Ilford, May, 1953

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LWB observes analysis between David Rumens and Murray Chandler from Brighton 1980. Photograph courtesy of John Upham.
He represented England in the Chess Olympiads at Helsinki 1952 (playing fourth board, scoring 2 wins, 5 draws, and 4 losses), Amsterdam 1954 (playing first reserve, scoring 1 win, 2 draws, and 4 losses), Leipzig 1960 (first reserve; 4 wins, 4 draws, 2 losses) and Varna 1962 (first reserve; 7 wins, 2 draws, 3 losses). The latter was his best performance by far.
Leonard Barden (left) and Murray Chandler display the Lloyds Bank Trophy which the 19-year old New Zealander won ahead of 3 Grandmasters and 10 International Masters for his finest international success up to 1979. in the Lloyds Bank Masters
Barden has a Morphy number of 3, having drawn with Jacques Mieses in the Premier Reserves at Hastings 1948–49. Mieses drew with Henry Bird in the last round of Hastings 1895, and Bird played a number of games with Paul Morphy in 1858 and 1859.
England’s under-12 junior teams finished first and second in the international Eumig Cup, 1981.Front row: Peter Morrish (organiser), Jimmy Hockaday, Darren Lee, Neil Fox, Neil Carr. Second row: James Howell, Stuart Conquest, Teresa Needham. Far right: LB.
In 1964, Barden gave up most competitive chess to devote his time to chess organisation, broadcasting, and writing about the game. He has made invaluable contributions to English chess as a populariser, writer, organiser, fundraiser, and broadcaster.
Leonard Barden at Bob Wade’s 80th birthday party, 2001.
He was controller of the British Chess Federation Grand Prix for many years, having found its first sponsor, Cutty Sark. He was a regular contributor to the BBC’s Network Three weekly radio chess programme from 1958 to 1963. His best-known contribution was a consultation game, recorded in 1960 and broadcast in 1961, where he partnered Bobby Fischer against the English masters Jonathan Penrose and Peter Clarke. This was the only recorded consultation game of Fischer’s career. The game, unfinished after eight hours of play, was adjudicated a draw by former world champion Max Euwe. Barden gave BBC television commentaries on all the games in the 1972 world championship. From 1973 to 1978 he was co-presenter of BBC2’s annual Master Game televised programme.
Julian and Nigel Short play Korchnoi in the Evening Standard 1976 simul. Leonard Barden observes.
As of 2021, his weekly columns have been published in The Guardian for 65 years and in The Financial Times for 46 years. A typical Barden column not only contains a readable tournament report, but is geared toward promoting the game. His London Evening Standard column, begun in summer 1956, is now the world’s longest running daily chess column by the same author, breaking the previous record set by George Koltanowski in the San Francisco Chronicle. Koltanowski’s column ran for 51 years, 9 months, and 18 days, including posthumous articles.”
Leonard Barden (Linda Nylind of the Guardian)
Leonard wrote this on the English Chess Forum in 2021 :
“I retired after Ilford 1964 when I finished a poor last in the England Olympiad team qualifier, returned at Hammersmith 1969 (equal 2nd behind Keene) and then played around 6-8 weekenders a year until 1972. My overall performance level between early 60s and early 70s dropped from around 225 to 215 BCF, so I wasn’t encouraged to pursue the comeback further.”
Leonard was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion in the 1953-54 season.
Leonard Barden, Stewart Reuben and Michael Franklin at the 1978 Aaronson Masters
Leonard reveals this as his best game :

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Leonard has authored or co-authored a number of highly regarded books, most of which are highly instructional to this day:
A Guide to Chess Openings (1957),
A Guide to Chess Openings
How Good Is Your Chess? (1957),
How Good is Your Chess ?
Chess (1959),
Introduction to Chess Moves and Tactics Simply Explained (1959),
An Introduction to Chess Moves and Tactics Simply Explained
Modern Chess Miniatures (with Wolfgang Heidenfeld, 1960),
Erevan 1962 (1963),
The Ruy Lopez (1963),
The Ruy Lopez
The Guardian Chess Book (1967),
The Guardian Chess Book
An Introduction to Chess (1967),
An Introduction to Chess
The King’s Indian Defence (1969),
The King’s Indian Defence
Chess: Master the Moves (1977),
Guide to the Chess Openings (with Tim Harding, 1977),
Guide to the Chess Openings
Leonard Barden’s Chess Puzzle Book (1977) (a collection of his Evening Standard columns),
Leonard Barden’s Chess Puzzle Book
The Master Game (with Jeremy James, 1979),
The Master Game
How to Play the Endgame in Chess (1979),
How to Play The Endgame in Chess
Play Better Chess (1980),
Play Better Chess
Batsford Chess Puzzles (2002),
Batsford Chess Puzzles
One Move and You’re Dead (with Erwin Brecher, 2007) : Can you supply an image?

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Birthday of WCM Dinah Norman (née Dobson) (21-viii-1946)
2020-08-21
BCN wishes Happy Birthday to Dinah Norman on August 21st

Dinah Margaret Dobson was born on Wednesday, August 21st 1946 in Exeter, Devon. Her parents were Leslie and Barbara Dobson (née Hayward).

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

Dinah became a WCM in 2002.

According to chessgames.com : “Dinah Margaret Norman Dobson is a WCM. She was British champion (w) in 1967 (=Rowena Mary Bruce, Oxford), 1968 (Bristol) and 1969 (=Rowena Mary Bruce, Rhyl).”

Dinah Dobson 22-year-old Champion British Chess Player Deep In Thought During Chess Competition In Hastings. Mandatory Credit: Photo by ANL/Shutterstock

Dinah played on board three (i.e. 1st reserve) for England in the third FIDE Women’s Olympiad in Oberhausen, Germany in 1966 and in 1969 she played board 1 in Lublin, Poland.

English Chess Champion Dinah Dobson Playing Against Two German Boys During Lunch-break At Chess Competition In Hastings. Box 658 221121512 A.jpg.English Chess Champion Dinah Dobson Playing Against Two German Boys During Lunch-break At Chess Competition In Hastings. Mandatory Credit: Photo by ANL/Shutterstock

She played in the 1968 Anglo-Dutch match on the Ladies board, which, at that time, did not count in the overall match result.

The Annual International Chess Championship opened today at Hasting. Dinah “Dobson,” “23,” of Northwood Middlesex. December 1969

Now (1071) living in Northwood, Middlesex, she married Danny Wright in Westminster and in 1983 she married Ken Norman in Richmond.

Dinah Wright (third from right) playing in the 1971 British Ladies Championship in Palatine School, Blackpool. Courtesy of Lancashire Evening Post.

Dinah has been a member of Crowthorne Chess Club and has played in the Berkshire League. She has represented 4NCL Iceni and Guildford in other competitions.

According to Megabase 2020 her highest FIDE rating was 2085 in July 1990 at the age of 44. However, it would have been higher than this in the late 1960s and 1970s had ratings been established then.

Dinah Norman at the 2017 Keith Richardson Memorial organised by Camberley Chess Club. Courtesy of John Upham Photographic

With the white pieces she has essayed the Colle-Koltanowki Opening for many years and as the second player she has played the Caro-Kann, Smyslov Variation and the Semi-Slav Defence.

Dinah Norman with Sandra Richardson at the 2017 Keith Richardson Memorial organised by Camberley Chess Club

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Birthday of FM Alan Hanreck (23-viii-1954)
2020-08-23
Birthday of FM Alan Emile Hanreck (23-viii-1954)

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Birthday of FM Andrew Harley (24-viii-1967)
2020-08-24
Birthday of FM Andrew D Harley (24-viii-1967)

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Birthday of WFM Helen Milligan (25-viii-1962)
2020-08-25
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 three-time Asian senior women’s 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.

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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 Sri Lanka, 2015 in Larestan, Iran, 2016 in Mandalay, Myanmar and 2017 in Auckland.
Here is Helen’s chess web site
Here is Helen’s Lichess coaching account
Helen co-authored Chess for Children with Murray Chandler in 2004 :
Chess For Children, Helen Milligan
Here is a notable game :

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Birthday of IM Jeff Horner (25-viii-1949)
2020-08-25
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.”
According to David Norwood :
(from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/chess/3601119/David-Norwood-shows-how-there-is-life-in-an-old-dog-yet.html)
“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.”
2002 : Jeff Horner takes on world under-10 chess champion Luke McShane blindfolded
The above photograph was recovered from The Bolton News
which goes on to write :
“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.”
Jeff Horner
Here are his games

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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?”
Jeff Horner

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