British Chess News

Birthday of IM Craig Hanley (23-iii-1984)
2021-03-23
Birthday of IM Craig A Hanley (23-iii-1984)
IM Craig Hanley
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Birthday of Christopher Feather (24-iii-1947)
2020-03-24
Christopher John Feather
Birthday of Christopher John Feather (24-iii-1947)
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Birthday of GM Chris Ward (26-iii-1968)
2021-03-26
Birthday of GM Christopher Geoffrey Ward (26-iii-1968)Here is his Wikipedia entry
GM Chris Ward
From Chessgames.com :
“Grandmaster and British Chess Champion in 1996. He is the author of several chess books, among them Winning With the Sicilian Dragon 2 (2001), Winning with the Dragon (2003) and The Controversial Samisch King’s Indian (2004).”
Chris plays Jiang Chuan Ye at the 1997 England – China match
Here are his games
Chris Ward commentating during the Hastings Congress
Chris earned his IM title in 1990 and his GM title in 1996. According to Chessbase and Felice his peak rating was 2531 in July 2003 when he was 35.
Chris is President of the English Primary Schools Chess Association (EPSCA), Chris is the Chief Coach of the Kent Junior Chess Association (KJCA). Chris plays for KJCA Kings in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL).
Chris with the British Championship Trophy from 1996 (Nottingham)

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“Not sure about best, but 18.Qxf8+ against Summerscale en route to winning the 1996 British Championship will be forever ingrained in my mind. Sorry, Aaron!”
– GM Chris Ward (when asked for his best move)
Source: Chess Monthly 2017 December
GM Chris Ward
Endgame Play
The Queen’s Gambit Accepted
The Genius of Paul Morphy
Improve your Opening Play
Winning With the Sicilian Dragon 2
Starting Out: The Nimzo-Indian
It’s Your Move: Improvers
Unusual Queen’s Gambit Declined
Winning with the Dragon
It’s Your Move: Tough Puzzles
Starting Out: Rook Endgames
The Controversial Samisch King’s Indian
Play the Queen’s Gambit
Starting Out: Chess Tactics and Checkmates
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Birthday of WIM Heather Richards (27-iii-1983)
2021-03-27
Birthday of WIM Heather S Richards (27-iii-1983)
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Birthday of FM Peter Sowray (29-iii-1959)
2021-03-29
Happy Birthday FM Peter John Sowray (29-iii-1959)Born in London, Peter obtained his FM title in 1984. He has been a regular member of the very strong Wood Green team. His peak rating (according to Chessbase) was 2384 aged 59 in March 2018. He currently plays for Barbican in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL).
Peter Sowray at the South Bank See image below for caption
Caption for above image
Peter Sowray watchign Tony Miles at the Lloyds Bank Masters. Sir Jeremy Morse watches.
Peter Sowray (top right) with a victorious Wood Green team
FM Peter Sowray
Here are Peter’s games from chessgames.com

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Birthday of FM Tony Corkett (29-iii-1958)
2021-03-29
Birthday of FM Anthony R Corkett (29-iii-1958)
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Birthday of IM Miroslav Houska (02-iv-1978)
2021-04-02
Miroslav Houska
Birthday of IM Miroslav Houska (02-iv-1978)
Miroslav gained his International Master title in 1998 and his peak rating according to Felice was 2385 in January of 1998, aged 20.
Here are his games on chessgames.com
IM Miroslav Houska, photograph by Jovan Petronic
IM Miroslav Houska, photograph by Cathy Rogers

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Birthday of GM Murray Chandler (04-iv-1960)
2021-04-04
Happy Birthday GM Murray Chandler MNZM (04-iv-1960)
From The Oxford Companion to Chess by Hooper & Whyld :
“International Grandmaster (1983), a New Zealander who settled in England at the age of 15. subsequently playing for his adopted country in the Lucerne Olympiad, 1982. He scored +4=6 to share first prize at New York 1980, came second (+5=5 — 1) equal with Hort at Dortmund 1983, and scored +5 = 6 (a GM norm) to share first prize at Amsterdam 1983, a Swiss systemtournament. Chandler has edited the magazine Tournament Chess since its inception in 1982.”
A White Pawn in Europe, Murray Chandler, 1975
Here is his Wikipedia entry
Murray Chandler, Ray Keene and Miguel Najdorf
From Chessgames.com :
“Murray Graham Chandler was born in Wellington, New Zealand. He was awarded the IM title in 1977 and the GM title in 1982. He was joint New Zealand Champion in 1975-76 (shared with Lev Isaakovich Aptekar and Ortvin Sarapu) and joint Commonwealth Champion in 1984. His best tournament results were 2nds at London 1984, London 1986 and Amsterdam 1987 and he has played both for New Zealand (1976-1980) and England (1982-86) in the Olympiads. He edited Tournament Chess for a time from 1981 onwards and as well as writing he became the managing director of Gambit Publications.
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
He was the organiser and winner of a large tournament, the Queenstown Classic in New Zealand in January 2006 and this tournament also incorporated the 113th New Zealand Championship making Chandler the New Zealand Champion for the second time. He won his third New Zealand title at the 115th New Zealand Championship (2008) which was held in Auckland where he currently resides.”
Murray Graham Chandler

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Murray Graham Chandler

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Murray Graham Chandler
The English Chess Explosion
Sicilian 2.c3
The Complete c3 Sicilian
Tournament Chess
How to Beat Your Dad at Chess
Chess Tactics for Kids
Chess for Children
Chess Puzzles for Kids
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Birthday of IM Geoff Lawton (04-iv-1960)
2021-04-04
Happy Birthday IM Geoff Lawton (04-iv-1960)
Geoff became an International Master in 1984. His peak rating according to Felice was 2407 in July 2003 at the age of 43.
He won the Maidenhead Open in 1995 with 5/5 and TPR of 2685.
Here are his games from chessgames.com
He has plus scores with the following notable players : Stuart Conquest, Mark Condie, John Nicholson, Jon Cox, Colin McNab, Julian Hodgon, Paul Littlewood, David Cummins and Vaidyanathan Ravikumar amongst others.
It’s Only Me, edited by Geoff Lawton

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Birthday of CGM Christopher Jones (06-iv-1952)
2021-04-06
Birthday of CGM Christopher JA Jones (06-iv-1952)Here is an excellent biography from Chess Scotland
Here is an article about Helpmates from CJAJ published by Chessbase
Grandmaster of Composition Christopher Jones
CGM Christopher James Austin Jones
CGM Christopher James Austin Jones with James Pratt and David Shire at Eton College
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Birthday of Christopher Lytton (Sells) (07-iv-1939)
2021-04-07
Birthday of Christopher Cedric Lytton (Sells) (07-iv-1939)From chesscomposers.com :
“Cedric Lytton was born in South Australia and is a mathematician. He became president of the British Chess Problem Society in 2009. He is also International Judge and was during many years the sub-editor of the fairy section for The Problemist, then of its retro section.”
Here is an item from The North Norfolk News
Here is that article in full from The North Norfolk News :
“In her latest Face to Face interview, KAREN BETHELL talks to multi-talented mathematician Dr Cedric Lytton PhD, who, in spite of being born with impaired hearing, went on to list among his accomplishments playing the viola, singing, and writing top-level chess problems.
But, for Dr Lytton, who lives in Sheringham, the recent headline-hitting Hudson River plane crash in New York brought to mind perhaps his greatest achievement . . .
A difficult birth at Adelaide, South Australia, left Cedric with impaired hearing and reduced mobility in one hand.
His disability was to affect him as a boarder at Rugby School, Warwickshire, where, forced to carry around a cumbersome hearing aid in his briefcase, he was severely bullied.
However, learning to type – and discovering at age 8 that he had a talent for chess – turned out the young Cedric’s saving grace, and, in 1955, he had his first problem published in the British Chess Problem Society magazine, The Problemist.
Cedric, whose ancestors include the famous 19th century writer Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, (who coined the phrase, “the pen is mightier than the sword.”), took up playing the bass recorder aged 18, and, as a young man, he dreamed of becoming a musician.
But, deciding life as a professional mathematician would be a safer course to take, he read maths at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, before going on to gain a PhD.
In 1964, he entered the scientific civil service at Farnborough as a researcher and computer programmer, following in the footsteps of his uncle, Cliff Roberts, also a researcher, who helped design Sydney Harbour bridge.
Four years later, Cedric, penned a pioneering paper on reducing airflow – and thereby shockwaves and drag – over the wings of aircraft, and his efforts led to the design of the 320 Airbus – the jet that crashed safely into the Hudson River on January 15.
Advancements in hearing aid technology meant that, by the mid-1970s, Cedric was no longer forced to wear an unwieldy device pinned to his clothes, and he realised his ambition of learning to play the viola.
After the end of an unhappy first marriage, he met up with long-term friend, Dorothy – then a supervisor of midwives at Ely – by chance on a visit to Norwich and the couple, whose son Martin is a GP in Cornwall, were married at St Andrew’s Church, Sheringham in 1982.
Since retiring 10 years ago, Cedric, who, while at Farnborough, held the local Croquet Club championship title for 8 years on the trot, has kept busy composing chess problems, playing backgammon and croquet, playing viola with a local string quartet and singing with St Andrew’s church choir. He also enjoys swimming, cycling, cooking and wine appreciation.
Cedric, 69, was delighted this year to receive a hat trick of accolades – winning Bodham Croquet Club’s annual knockout competition, taking the North Norfolk Backgammon Circle trophy, and being made president of the British Chess Problem Society.
What is the best thing about your job?
When I was working, the best thing was being left alone to get on and do a job I knew I could do well without being bothered by admin people.
And the worst?
I was lucky enough not to have a “worst” thing, but, one thing that did bother me was that every time an engineer came to repair my computer, I’d come back from my coffee break to find the mouse had been left on the wrong side!
What is the one possession you would save if your house was on fire?
My viola and my bass recorder, which I keep next to each other.
Where do you go to unwind?
Cycling – it’s a lovely feeling freewheeling down to the town.
What is your favourite Norfolk building?
The Hoste Arms at Burnham Market because they do excellent food and excellent wine.
What is the one thing you would change about yourself?
I’d perhaps be a little more tolerant of others as I do have to make an effort sometimes to keep back what I really think. If I could have normal hearing, I’d probably change that too.
What is your proudest moment?
To have found a girl who was prepared to put up with me and, at last, to have entered a happy marriage.
And your greatest achievement?
Writing my paper in 1968; It was a breakthrough paper which made a lot of difference. I’d also like to say my two beautiful grandchildren, Alexandra and William.
Have you ever done anything outrageous?
Not really. I was always a really goody goody little prig but, in the course of my long life, I’ve had a few rough edges knocked off.
Whom do you most admire?
Nelson Mandela because of what he has done for his country. He came out of 27 years in jail apparently a better man, never said a word about his captors and has continued to justify his existence ever since.
What makes you angry?
My deafness sometimes makes me difficult to understand and means that I often have to say things twice. But what is really annoying is when people ask me something and, when I give a reply, they look at Dorothy.
Favourite book, film and TV programme?
Book: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – The Dancing Men, film: The Prisoner of Zenda, and I do enjoy watching The Andrew Marr Show on television on a Sunday.
How would you like to be remembered?
As one who loved his fellow men.”
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Birthday of FM Erik Teichmann (11-iv-1961)
2020-04-11
FM Erik Oskar Michael Charles Teichmann
Birthday of FM Erik Oskar Michael Charles Teichmann (11-iv-1961)
Erik was born in Westminster, London, his mother (née Jorgensen) being Danish and his father was Max Teichmann. They lived in London for two years and then emigrated to Melbourne, Australia until Erik was six when Erik and his mother moved to Cambridge, England. Erik played much chess in England including the British U-18 and U-21 championships, Lloyds Bank events

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and the Islington and other opens swisses. Erik played for Cambridge University (Magdalen College) in the 1982 (100th) Varsity Match drawing with Gareth Anthony (Trinity Hall).
Erik Oskar Michael Charles Teichmann (rear, far right) at a Lloyds Bank event
Erik (left) analyses with Mark A Johnstone (right) and James Pratt at the 1981 Islington Open. Your Truly was the photographer.
In 1985 Erik emigrated once more to Australia living in Eltham, Melbourne and became a lifestyle guru and coach.
Erik Teichmann standing, holding trophy)
Erik became a FIDE Master in 1990 and his peak rating was 2388 in July 2010.
FM Erik Teichmann
From Chessgames.com :
“FIDE Master Erik Oskar Michael Charles Teichmann won the Nova Scotia Open in 1999.”
Here is Erik’s favourite game :

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Erik now lives in Lyon, France with his girlfriend both being Buddhists.
FM Erik Teichmann, photo by Cathy Rogers
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Birthday of FM Richard Webb (11-iv-1962)
2020-04-11
Birthday of FM Richard Mark Webb (11-iv-1962)
This was written about Richard just prior to the 1979 Spassky vs the BCF Junior Squad simultaneous display :
“Forest of Needwood High and Burton on Trent.Rating 192. Second youngest British men’s championship finalist, 1977.”
Richard Webb (front, far left) at a Lloyds Bank event
At the Lloyds Bank Masters : Front (l-r) : Joel Benjamin, Ian Wells, Rear : Peter Morrish, Stewart Reuben, Richard Beville, Gary Senior, Richard Webb, John Hawksworth, Andrew King, Nigel Short, Mark Ginsburg, Daniel King, David Cummings, Erik Teichmann, John Brandford and Micheal Pagden
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Birthday of FM Peter Markland (13-iv-1951)
2020-04-13
BCN wishes a happy birthday to Peter Markland born on Friday, April 13th, 1951
From the rear cover of “Sicilian:…e5 :
“P.R. Markland is a British Master, and a member of many English international teams, including those at the 1972 and 1974 Olympiads, and is also a British correspondence international”
Peter first qualified to the British Championship in 1967 (Oxford) and obtained an IM and GM norm at Hastings 1971.
In 1984 he became a Grandmaster for correspondence chess (GMC).
Peter became a banker and lives in Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP13.
From British Chess (Pergamon Press, 1983) we have this contribution from Peter himself:
“1951 seems to have been a vintage year for chessplayers and although I cannot claim to count myself in the company of Andersson, Karpov, Ribli and Sax we do all share the same year of birth.
Although I learned the moves at the age of 5, I only took any real interest in the game at 13 when I began to play schools chess. Compared with such as Nigel Short I was a very late starter!
I was educated at Bolton School and played for Bolton and Lancashire in my early years. This was fortunate in that all three of these teams enjoyed great success in the late 1960s. In all three teams I played along side Martyn Corden who was to precede my rise to international level himself by playing in the Siegen Olympiad team in 1970. In 1967, I qualified for the British Championship at my first attempt and I was pleased to score 5/11. The following year the school team won The Sunday Times tournament playing without Martyn Corden in the finals.
Up to this time I had concentrated chiefly on junior teams and had won the NCCU junior titles. Over Christmas and New Year of both 1966-7 and 1967-8 I travelled down to play at the Devon Junior Congress at Plymouth but in 1968 I decided to try my luck at Hastings. This proved to be one of the turning points of my career.
I was placed in the Challengers Reserves for 1968-9 and after the first round loss (to the eventual winner) my play gained momentum and I qualified for the Challengers the following year. The intervening year passed quietly with a trip to Ireland in the Glorney Cup. I went up to Balliol College, Oxford in October 1969.
The Scottish Junior International, Glasgow, 1969. l-r: David Watt, Rene Borngässer, David Levy, Heinz Wirthensohn, Peter Markland. Courtesy of Chess Scotland
The Hastings Challengers tournament 1969-70 began when I met the same opponent as in the previous year in the first round. This time I managed to come out on top. By the time the last round came, I had played most of the leaders and had 6/8 including two pleasing wins with my favourite defence at the time – the Sicilian Pelikan variation.
Sicilian:…e5 by TD Harding & PR Markland, Batsford, 1976, ISBN 0 7134 3209 8
In the last round I was paired against de Veauce who had a reputation as a good strategist and whom I hoped to unsettle tactically. I had white and my plan failed. He outplayed me in the opening and middlegame and I sacrificed my isolated centre pawn to activate my pieces.

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So I then had to wait had to wait to see the other results before I could confirm a somewhat lucky place in the Premier.
In 1970 I had the opportunity to travel with the student team to the Olympiad in Haifa. My score of 5.5/7 was reasonably pleasing but the standard of opposition was far from good.
Peter Markland at Hastings 1970-71
At the end of the year came the Hastings Premier – a tournament which I can only describe as the highlight of my career. I began nervously and lost a nondescript game to Uhlmann in the first round. My confidence grew with two comfortable draws with Portisch (the eventual winner) and Keene. In round four I met the surprise leader, Mestrovic (who had 3/3) and perhaps partly due to the fact that this game was played on 1st January I won convincingly in 18 moves.
Peter Markland during his game with Portisch on December 30th 1970

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The next four rounds brought an uneventful draw with Wade and three exciting encounters with Byrne, Krogius and Gligoric all of which after several reversals of fortune ended in draws.
Peter Markland at Hastings 1970-71
In the last round I was to play Hort who needed to to win to gain a share of first prize. He played a horribly passive opening and by move 14 I was already well on top. To try to compensate he snatched a queenside pawn and gave me the chance to play the type of move one can only dream about!

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This victory meant an equal second on 5/9 with Gligoric, Hort, Krogius and Uhlmann and both a GM and IM norm.

As a result of this I became a regular member of the England side. During 1971 my results were erratic, possibly caused by too much play. I was pleased with my 3.5 score in my first Clare Benedict, although I lost my first game for England due to nervousness and I was first equal with George Botterill in the Slater Young Masters at Hastings (again). Here I declined a last round draw offer, blundered almost next move and lost to an up-and-coming junior by the name of Michael Stean! On the debit side my performances in the British Championship, The Oxford International Congress and the Robert Silk tournament left room for improvement.
Whilst playing with Bolton in the National Club Championship, we had never won the competition although we had reached the semi-finals many times. This year, 1971, playing for Oxford University, we won the tournament beating our old rivals Cambridge University in the final on board count.
The Hastings tournament of 1971-72 saw me firmly entrenched near the bottom. It is very difficult in this type of international tournament when one becomes marked as an out-of-form player. All the other players make extra efforts to beat you and this drains your strength further.
My main problem at Hastings was a lack of defence to 1.e4. I lost five games against this move. In the last round I had a very interesting struggle against Karpov who needed to win this game to tie first with Korchnoi who had beaten him in the previous round, but the strength of 1.e4 proved too much.
The summer of 1972 saw the advent of my University finals and thus I played very little for the first six months of the year – even I had to decline an invitation to the Teeside GM event. Later in the year I played in the student Olympiad in Graz and then in the Olympiad is Skopje.
In the preliminaries we had drawn Yugoslavia and Switzerland, who were the only other teams likely to qualify for the ‘A’ final. We missed qualification narrowly and I think that every team member had one poor result in the qualifying rounds – mine being a scraped draw against a Syrian team.
We won the ‘B’ final by beating the Israeli team in the last round and I felt pleased by my score of 11.5/16 with no losses. Indeed, in my last round game with Balshan I was quite rightly instructed to agree a draw in a winning position to secure the team’s first place.
I feel that this tournament from my point of view aptly demonstrates the difference in title norms in the early 1970s and today. I played five players who had no Elo ratings and only four titled players. Hence an IM norm would not have been available under any circumstances. The main reason for the lack of Elo ratings in 1972 was that the new system had only just been introduced and for many players this was their first Elo-rated tournament. In the last Elo list, all but one of the sixteen players are rated, there are now four GMs and five IMs amongst my opponents and the norm figures would be 10.5/16 and 12.5/16 for IM and GM respectively.
Here is my best game from the Olympiad. It is indicative of an early combination prevailing through into a winning ending.

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In 1973 I was once more plagued by too many invitations and played indifferently throughput the year. The only bright spots were my score of 3/7 on boards 3 and 4 of the European Team Finals and second place in the Woolacombe International.
1974 was once again an Olympiad year. The England team won the Clare Benedict for the first time in Menorca and I was able to contribute 5/6 winning both a board prize and the best score prize. I was drafted into the Olympiad team as a late replacement and although we qualified easily enough for the ‘A’ finals this was in no way due to my efforts as I had a 50% score in the preliminaries.
We had qualified for the ‘A’ final with one round to spare and our last group match against the USE (from which the score was to be carried forward) began the final matches. It had been decided, as a tactical measure and in our view of our differing styles, that I should take black whenever we had this colour on the fourth board, so that Whiteley and Stean could utilize a greater proportion of whites. This worked to a limited extent and indeed, Stean obtained an IM Norm. Also, as it worked out I played in matches against seven of the top eight teams (being rested against Yugoslavia) and only three teams below us. In the end, I was pleased with my +3 =1 -4 with black in the finals to give overall a 50& score.
During 1973 and 1974 I was co-author of two books in the Batsford opening series, both with Tim Harding on Sicilian Defence variations.
The Sicilian Richter-Rauzer, TD Hardign and PR Markland, Batsford, 975, ISBN 0 7134 2979 8
I also wrote a best game collection of Karpov which was by far the most interesting of the three books to write.
The Best of Karpov, PR Markland, Oxford University Press, 1975, ISBN 10: 0192175343
At about this time, I decided to embark upon a career in banking and to abandon that of a professional chessplayer. Since then I have concentrated on correspondence chess.
Having received master certificate, I entered a European and World tournament in both of which I finished first. The second of these two results qualified me for the world Championship Semi-finals. But first attempt in the eleventh championship ended in failure to qualify.
As a result of an invitation received by the BPCF I played in the Eino Heilimo Memorial Grandmaster event. I have , however, qualified as a postal IM by scoring the required seven points and had an outside chance of trying for first place at one stage.
Here is my best game from this event.

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Here is his brief Wikipedia entry.
The English Chess Forum has discussed Peter.
Peter’s games are here.

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Birthday of FM Nathan Alfred (16-iv-1980)
2020-04-16
Birthday of FM Nathan SW Alfred (16-iv-1980)
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Birthday of FM Paul Macklin (16-iv-1967)
2020-04-16
Birthday of FM Paul Macklin (16-iv-1967)
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Birthday of GM Peter Wells (17-iv-1965)
2020-04-17
Birthday of GM Peter Kenneth Wells (17-iv-1965)
Here is his very brief Wikipedia entry
Peter Wells (seated, far LHS)
and from chessgames.com :
“Peter Kenneth Wells was born in Portsmouth, England and became a FIDE Master in 1982, an IM in 1987, and a GM in 1994. He is also a FIDE Senior Trainer (2015).”
Peter Wells (between Harry Golombek and Ray Keene) takes part in the obligatory “Staring at the board” posed picture during the 1985 Varsity Match

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Peter Wells (second from right) at a Lloyds Bank event.
GM Peter Wells
The Complete Semi-Slav
Piece Power
The Complete Richter-Rauzer
The Scotch Game
Winning with the Trompowsky
Chess Explained : The Queen’s Indian
Grandmaster Secrets : The Caro-Kann
Dangerous Weapons : Anti-Sicilians
GM Peter Wells
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Birthday of FM David Wood (18-iv-1969)
2020-04-18
Birthday of FM David A Wood (18-iv-1969)
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Birthday of GM Jonathan Rowson (18-iv-1977)
2020-04-18
Birthday of GM Jonathan Rowson (18-iv-1977)Here is his Wikipedia entry
GM Jonathan Rowson
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Happy Birthday Malcolm Barker (21-iv-1934)
2020-04-21
Happy Birthday Malcolm Barker (21-iv-1934)
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Birthday of FM Gary Kenworthy (22-iv-1957)
2020-04-22
Happy Birthday FM Gary Kenworthy (22-iv-1957)
Gary was born in Bradford and became an FIDE Master in 2002 and achieved a peak rating of 2315 in July 1994.
In 1994 Gary represented London in a match with Paris over nine boards and has played from London Central YMCA (CentYMCA) and Barbican in the London Chess League and in the BCF National Club competition.
In 2003 he was runner-up (to Kidami Sundararajan) in the Ron Banwell Masters in Blackpool.
Gary has played for King’s Head in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) and now plays for Mindsports.
In 2019 Gary joined the England Chess Coaching Team. He founded Bletchley Junior Chess Club and Chess School.
He has been board 1 for Milton Keynes and Open University First team. He is board 1 for the Bedfordshire County Chess Team and has retained the Bedfordshire Individual County Chess Championship Title. In 2019/2020 he was board 1 for the Leighton Buzzard Chess Club.
Gary Kenworthy, inaugurator of the new M25 Congress series, on his way to victory in the Spalding Quickplay. Earlier in the summer he defeated Grandmaster Michael Adams, photograph by Francis Bowers
Gary is a former Director of Chess Coaching for the (then) British Chess Federation (BCF).
Gary lives in Fenny Stratford, Milton Keynes and is an IT consultant and local councillor. He has been a former Director of the BCF.
Gary Kenworthy (holding board) at a BCF National Club Final (1992)

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Gary Kenworthy at the 2012 UKCC Terafinal
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Birthday of GM John Nunn (25-iv-1955)
2020-04-25
BCN wishes GM John Nunn Happy Birthday (25-iv-1955)
From The Encyclopaedia of Chess by Harry Golombek :
British International master and European Junior Champion, 1975. Born in London, Nunn learned chess at the age of four and soon revealed a great aptitude for the game.

Graham Ladds and John Nunn. See full caption below.
Supplied caption for above picture.
He came 6th in the Norwich Junior international tournament in 1970 and went up to Oxford University to take a mathematics degree at a very early age. He played on top board for the University from 1972-6 and is now preparing for a doctorate there.
John DM Nunn
He won the European Junior Championship and with it the international master title in Groningen in 1975. In that year too he was equal first in the IBM Master tournament, and at London in 1975 he reached an international master norm coming 5th in the international tournament there. He played on bottom board at the Haifa Olympiad 1976 and scored 64.2%
GM John Nunn
From The Oxford Companion to Chess by Hooper & Whyld :
English player. International Grandmaster (1978), British champion 1980. He went to Oxford at the unusually young age of 15, graduated in 1973. Gained his B.Sc. the following year and his
doctorate in 1978.
GM John Nunn

A Junior Research Fellow, he lectured in mathematics until 1981 when he became a professional player. By then he had already achieved several good results in international tournaments: Budapest 1978, first; Hastings 1979-80, first (4-5 = 10) equal with Andersson; Baden-bei-Wien 1980, category 12, third (+5=10) after Spassky and Belyavsky: Helsinki 1981, first (+5 = 6) equal with Matulovich; and Wiesbaden 1981, first (+6=3). In the category 12 Wijk aan Zee tournament 1982, Nunn came first ( + 5=7 — 1) equal with Balashov ahead of Tal, Hubner, and Timman and at Helsinki 1983 he came second (+5 = 6) after Karlsson.
Maia Chiburdanidze and John Nunn from Lloyds Bank, 1985
Possessing a remarkably quick sight of the board, Nunn is an expert solver: he made the second highest individual score in the world team solving championship, 1978, and won the solving championship of Great Britain in 1981.
Lubomir Kavalek and John Nunn
Here is an excellent article from ChessBase
Polugayevsky-Nunn European team championship :

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GM John Nunn

Here is his Wikipedia entry
46th USSR Chess Championships 1978, RD Keene, JDM Nunn, RG Wade, Master Chess Publications, 1978, ISBN 0 906634 00 8

The Benoni for the Tournament Player
Solving in Style
The Complete Pirc
Secrets of Rook Endings
Secrets of Pawnless Endings
New Ideas in the Pirc Defence
Beating the Sicilian 3
The King Hunt
Secrets of Grandmaster Chess
Secrets of Practical Chess
Nunn’s Chess Openings
John Nunn’s Chess Puzzle Book
101 Brilliant Chess Miniatures
Learn Chess
Secrets of Minor-Piece Endings
Understanding Chess Move by Move
John Nunn’s Best Games
Endgame Challenge
Tactical Chess Endings
Learn Chess Tactics
Mammoth Book of the World’s Greatest Chess Games
Grandmaster Chess Move by Move
Understanding Chess Endgames
Nunn’s Chess Endings
Understanding Chess Middlegames
Chess Tactics Workbook for Kids

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Chess Endgame Workbook for Kids
GM John Nunn
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Birthday of IM Lawrence Trent (28-iv-1986)
2020-04-28
Birthday of IM Lawrence Adam Trent (28-iv-1986)
IM Lawrence Trent
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Birthday of GM Jonathan Hawkins (01-v-1983)
2020-05-01
Birthday of GM Jonathan Hawkins (01-v-1983)
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Birthday of FM Richard York-Weaving (01-v-1994)
2020-05-01
Birthday of FM Richard York-Weaving (01-v-1994)
Richard weaving at the 2012 UKCC Terafinal, Loughborough Grammar School
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Birthday of FM David Ledger (03-v-1967)
2020-05-03
Birthday of FM David J Ledger (03-v-1967)
David was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 2004-05 season sharing the title with Tim Hebbes, his brother Steve Ledger and the late Peter Poobalasingam.
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Birthday of WIM Dr. Ruth Sheldon (03-v-1980)
2020-05-03
Happy Birthday WIM Dr. Ruth Sheldon (03-v-1980).
Ruth was born in Manchester and became a WFM in 1993 and WIM in 1996. Her peak rating was 2310 in July 1999.
She was World U12 Vice Champion in 1992, World U14 Champion in 1993 and World U18 Champion in 1998.
She is a lecturer in Religion and Social Science at King’s College, London
WIM Dr. Ruth Sheldon
Here is her rather brief Wikipedia entry.
Ruths’s partial Chessbase record
WIM Dr. Ruth Sheldon during a county match (full caption below)
Caption to photograph above

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Birthday of GM Joe Gallagher (04-v-1964)
2020-05-04
BCN wishes Happy Birthday to GM Joseph Gerald Gallagher (04-v-1964)
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
GM Joseph Gerald Gallagher

GM Joe Gallagher

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GM Joe Gallagher
Winning With the King’s Gambit, Batsford, ISBN 0-7134-6944-7
Beating the Anti-Sicilians, Batsford/Henry Holt and Company, ISBN 0-8050-3575-3
Beating the Sicilian 3
Beating the Anti-King’s Indians, Batsford/International Chess Enterprises, ISBN 1-879479-36-2
The Trompovsky, Chess Press, ISBN 1-901259-09-9
101 Attacking Ideas in Chess, Gambit Publications, ISBN 1-901983-20-X
The Magic of Mikhail Tal, Everyman Chess, ISBN 1-85744-266-0
Starting Out: the Caro-Kann, Everyman Chess, ISBN 1-85744-303-9
Starting Out: King’s Indian, Everyman Chess, ISBN 1-85744-234-2
Starting Out: The Pirc/Modern, Everyman Chess, ISBN 1-85744-336-5
Play the King’s Indian, Everyman Chess, ISBN 1-85744-324-1
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Birthday of GM Danny Gormally (04-v-1976)
2020-05-04
BCN wishes Happy Birthday to GM Daniel William Gormally (04-v-1976)

Danny won the Southern Counties (SCCU) championship in the 2002-03 and 2010-11 (sharing with David Howell) seasons.
Here is a ChessBase interview with Danny
Danny Gormally Caption Competition
and another interview from Chessbase

GM Danny Gormally

Danny Gormally with the ? Trophy
Insanity, Passion and Addiction

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Birthday of FM Koby Kalavannan (05-v-2002)
2020-05-05
Birthday of FM Koby Kalavannan (05-v-2002)
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