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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230108
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230109
DTSTAMP:20230109T124705Z
CREATED:20230109T124704Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230109T124705Z
UID:22151-1673136000-1673222399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Keith Arkell (08-i-1961)
DESCRIPTION:We send birthday wishes to GM Keith Arkell\, born this day (January 8th) in 1961. \nKeith Arkell\nHere is Keith’s Wikipedia entry \nGM Keith Arkell (ENG)\nThis was written about Keith aged 18 prior to the 1979 Spassky vs the BCF Junior Squad simultaneous display : \n“Rednal\, Birmingham. Rating 188. 2nd Lloyds Bank junior international\, 1979.” \nKeith was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 2014-15 season sharing with Jonathan Hawkins \nHere is an interview with ChessBase from 2016. \nGM Keith Arkell\n[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PIzZG4FlZ8[/embedyt] \n[pgn]\n[Event “BCF-chT 1415 (4NCL)”]\n[Site “England”]\n[Date “2015.02.14”]\n[Round “5.164”]\n[White “Rogers\, Jonathan”]\n[Black “Arkell\, Keith C”]\n[Result “1/2-1/2”]\n[ECO “B12”]\n[WhiteElo “2277”]\n[BlackElo “2497”]\n[Annotator “Saunders\,J/Arkell”]\n[PlyCount “82”]\n[EventDate “2014.11.15”]\n[EventType “team-swiss”]\n[EventRounds “11”]\n[EventCountry “ENG”]\n[SourceTitle “EXT 2016”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “2015.10.08”]\n[SourceVersion “1”]\n[SourceVersionDate “2015.10.08”]\n[SourceQuality “1”]\n[WhiteTeam “Barbican II”]\n[BlackTeam “Cheddleton”]\n[WhiteTeamCountry “ENG”]\n[BlackTeamCountry “ENG”] \n{[%evp 0\,82\,19\,38\,72\,69\,71\,77\,64\,2\,30\,17\,14\,9\,29\,24\,35\,-30\,-50\,-74\,-74\,-75\,-88\,\n-128\,-3\,-16\,-56\,-32\,-43\,-43\,10\,5\,20\,16\,16\,-4\,5\,-3\,-68\,-61\,-45\,-40\,-37\,-1273\,68\,\n-201\,-202\,-210\,-197\,-207\,-208\,-228\,-194\,-183\,-149\,-150\,-148\,-143\,-143\,-141\,138\,\n141\,141\,150\,138\,140\,138\,173\,201\,198\,198\,210\,213\,236\,232\,190\,225\,138\,142\,100\,\n114\,95\,114\,95\,92]} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c4 e6 5. Nf3 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Bb4+\n$5 ({Databases are peppered with games where Keith has played} 6… Nc6 {\nbut perhaps he wanted to keep his opponent guessing.}) 7. Nc3 Ne7 8. h4 Nbc6 9.\na3 $5 {Jonathan\, perhaps with the far-sighted plan of not being strangled\nslowly in a rook and pawn endgame\, wants to provoke something sharp.} Bxc3+ 10.\nbxc3 Nxe5 11. Bf4 N5g6 (11… Nxc4 12. Bxc4 dxc4 {is tempting but maybe} 13.\nNb5 O-O 14. Qxd8 Rxd8 15. Nc7 Nd5 16. O-O-O $5 {gives White a bit of\ncompensation. Instead\, Black gives back material to get some pressure on the\ne-file.}) 12. Bg3 e5 13. h5 exd4 14. hxg6 Nxg6 15. Qxd4 O-O 16. cxd5 Re8+ 17.\nBe2 Ne7 18. Rd1 Nf5 19. Qd3 {[diag]} Qg5 (19… Qg5 {We haven’t quite got\nthere yet\, but we’re coming up to a spectacular mutual oversight which needs\nexplaining. Seeking enlightenment (and also wanting to be sure that the moves\nwere correctly recorded – mix-ups do happen)\, I got in touch with Keith on\nFaceBook to ask what happened. Keith responded at some length\, centring on his\nthoughts as he planned the move 19…Qg5. What followed are his own words\,\nlightly edited by me: “It’s impossible to fully explain how such a thing can\nhappen\, but let me try anyway. So\, I’m sitting there analysing the move I want\nto play in principle – which at the time was 19…Qd8-g5. I know that my\nadvantage increases if I can make the move\, but obviously I am concerned about\nhis possible reply} 20. Qb5 {So I analyse} Re4 {(other moves didn’t look very\ngood to me)} 21. d6 {- the only move that could give me any problem\, as it\nthreatens to win a piece. Visualising the position\, I then hoped that} Be6 {\nwould be strong\, as it threatened the winning 22…Bc4. Of course\, the main\npotential drawback to this is that he can then fork my rooks with} 22. Qxb7 {\nI would then need} Rxe2+ {to work or I would be lost! So – and don’t forget\,\nall this is before playing 19…Qg5 – I set about analysing 22…Rxe2+ as I\n(wrongly!) believed that 19…Qg5 hinged on this. So\, 22…Rxe2+} 23. Kxe2 Bc4+\n24. Kf3 {(obviously forced) and then\, I thought\, ”please let 24…Re8 be a\nwinning move”! It certainly looked winning. It was obvious he had to either\nput a rook on e1 or his bishop on e5 to stop …Be2 mate. I didn’t look beyond}\nRe8 {[diag]} 25. Rde1 ({I saw a pretty mate against} 25. Rhe1 {which was} Qh5+\n26. Kf4 g5+ {(my favourite move!)} 27. Kxf5 Qg6+ 28. Kg4 f5+ 29. Kh3 Qh5+ 30.\nBh4 Qxh4#) ({so that just left the irritating} 25. Be5 {to deal with. Find a\ngood move there and I could play 19…Qg5. I decided that 25…h5 must be\nwinning and anyway certainly left him in trouble.}) 25… Bd5+ 26. Qxd5 Nh4+ {\nSo I analysed no more and plunged in with 19…Qg5. He quickly replied 20 Qb5\nand\, after briefly running through all those nice lines again\, I confidently\nplayed 20…Re4. He continued following my analysis\, with 21 d6?? and I had 21.\n..Be6?? ready for him. So there you have it. The explanation is that we were\nplaying out a variation I had analysed way ahead\, and I didn’t stop properly\nto check if there might be something else going on!”}) 20. Qb5 Re4 21. d6 $4 (\n21. O-O Nxg3 22. fxg3 Re5 $5 {seems to be broadly equal.}) 21… Be6 $4 ({\nWhat Keith had missed in his move 19 analysis\, and what Jonathan also missed\nwhen playing 21.d6\, was the bone-crushing} 21… Nxg3 $3 {\, which is game over\nas} 22. Qxg5 {allows} Rxe2# {mate\, while a capture on g3 loses the queen to 22.\n..Qxb5 as the e2 bishop is pinned.}) 22. Qd3 $4 (22. O-O $1 Rd8 23. Bd3 {\nand White is well in the game.}) 22… Nxg3 {This time Black doesn’t fluff his\nlines.} 23. fxg3 Qe5 $1 24. Rh4 (24. d7 Rd8 {makes no material difference\,\nwhile a king move such as}) (24. Kf1 {loses to} Bc4 {.}) 24… Bg4 25. Qxe4 $1\n({A much better bet than} 25. Rxg4 Rxg4 {\, which looks pretty hopeless for\nWhite.}) 25… Qxe4 26. Rxg4 Qe5 $6 ({There seems to be no reason not to\nsnatch a pawn with} 26… Qxg2 27. d7 Rd8 {\, with very reasonable winning\nchances.}) 27. d7 Qxc3+ $2 ({After this\, Black’s winning chances evaporate.}\n27… Rd8 {keeps the Black flag flying\, though it’s by no means obvious how he\ncan go about winning.}) 28. Kf1 Rd8 29. Re4 $1 {White’s firm control of the\ne-file is his salvation.} Qc6 ({Possibly another oversight\, but it turns out\nto be non-critical as the following tactical sequence doesn’t leave Black too\nmuch to do to save the game. After} 29… Kf8 30. Bb5 Qf6+ 31. Ke1 g6 32. Re8+\nKg7 33. Rxd8 Qxd8 34. Rc1 {\, the game peters out to a draw.}) 30. Re8+ Rxe8 31.\nd8=Q g6 32. Qd5 Qc3 33. Bc4 Qf6+ 34. Kg1 Re7 35. Rf1 Qb6+ 36. Kh1 Qc7 {The\nzenith of White’s game – Houdini scores it at +2.13 – but it is hard to see\nhow White can bring any more pressure to bear on Black’s position or make\nmeaningful progress. Maybe Magnus Carlsen would have found a way.} 37. Qd4 a6\n38. Rd1 b5 39. Bf1 Re8 40. Kh2 Qc2 41. Qd3 Qc5 1/2-1/2 \n[/pgn] \n[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJgiN5MgOns[/embedyt] \n[pgn]\n[Event “Crawley e2e4 Gatwick op 10”]\n[Site “Crawley”]\n[Date “2016.10.26”]\n[Round “1”]\n[White “Arkell\, Keith C”]\n[Black “Wadsworth\, Matthew J”]\n[Result “1-0”]\n[ECO “D23”]\n[WhiteElo “2450”]\n[BlackElo “2290”]\n[Annotator “Keith Arkell”]\n[PlyCount “159”]\n[EventDate “2016.10.26”]\n[EventType “swiss”]\n[EventRounds “9”]\n[EventCountry “ENG”]\n[SourceTitle “Arkell’s Endings : Game 1”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “2017.10.13”]\n[SourceVersion “1”]\n[SourceVersionDate “2017.10.13”]\n[SourceQuality “1”] \n{[%evp 0\,159\,19\,29\,23\,-4\,25\,20\,30\,-2\,20\,22\,9\,-6\,15\,-19\,-25\,-6\,-8\,-13\,6\,-4\,-3\,\n-3\,6\,-21\,-8\,-11\,22\,0\,7\,1\,14\,1\,3\,11\,8\,0\,5\,5\,29\,50\,52\,22\,21\,24\,45\,27\,63\,69\,55\,70\,\n72\,80\,74\,14\,33\,25\,26\,42\,34\,44\,48\,48\,68\,63\,89\,99\,98\,92\,126\,116\,115\,116\,116\,122\,\n128\,113\,128\,129\,132\,133\,135\,151\,158\,147\,151\,136\,137\,132\,142\,134\,152\,152\,156\,\n152\,162\,164\,163\,152\,152\,152\,163\,153\,153\,161\,157\,136\,153\,153\,153\,161\,157\,157\,\n162\,157\,157\,157\,157\,157\,158\,134\,158\,134\,208\,189\,189\,189\,189\,141\,189\,165\,182\,\n160\,177\,156\,202\,184\,193\,202\,210\,195\,208\,221\,276\,293\,377\,373\,545\,373\,639\,373\,\n373\,367\,365\,381\,371\,480\,537\,732\,1259\,28004]} {Taken from Arkell’s Endings\,\nGame 14\, pp 68-71} 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 c6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Qc2 dxc4 5. Qxc4 Bg4 6. Nbd2\nNbd7 7. g3 e6 8. Bg2 Be7 9. O-O Bh5 10. a4 $1 $146 (10. b3) 10… a5 11. Qb3\nQb6 12. Qxb6 Nxb6 13. b3 Nfd5 14. Bb2 O-O 15. Nc4 Nxc4 {This capture gave me\nsome encouragement as my pawn will gain in stature\, and I will have long-term\nprospects on the b-file.} 16. bxc4 Nb4 17. Rfd1 Rfd8 18. c5 Bf6 19. e3 b6 {\nAgainst a waiting move I planned Rab1 and Ba3} 20. cxb6 Rab8 21. Rac1 Rxb6 22.\nRd2 Bg6 23. Bc3 Be4 {[#]} {I think this was an oversight and he had missed my\n25th move.} 24. Ne5 Bxg2 25. Nc4 Ra6 26. Kxg2 {Now I have the kind of position\nI like: no weaknesses and a guarantee of permanent pressure against his\nqueenside pawns.} Rda8 27. Nxa5 {It was hard to resist playing in this\nstraightforward manner. It will now be a very tough task for Wadsworth to hang\non to his backward c-pawn.} (27. Rb1 {runs into} c5) ({and} 27. Rb2 {allows}\nNd3) 27… Nd5 28. Nb7 Rxa4 29. Rdc2 Ra2 30. Be1 g6 31. Kf3 {[%csl Gc6] With\ne3 defended I’m now threatening to capture his pawn.} Rxc2 32. Rxc2 Ne7 33.\nBb4 Ra6 34. Nc5 Ra7 {The c-pawn is lost whatever he does} ({For example} 34…\nRb6 35. Ba5 Rb5 36. Bd8 {with Nd3 or Ne4 to follow}) 35. Ne4 Kg7 {[#]} 36. Bxe7\n{I could have exchanged both minor pieces\, but felt that the subsequent ending\nwould be more favourable if I kept the knight\, which tends to be more\neffective than a bishop at close quarters.} Bxe7 37. Rxc6 h5 38. h3 {[#]} {\nHow do you set about winning such a position? Clearly not with the pieces\nalone\, but using pawns will unavoidably involve exchanges\, and you don’t\nwant too many swaps as rook\, knight and pawn versus rook and bishop is usually\na simple draw. The answer is somewhere in-between. Ideally you would like to\nfix the kingside with g4-g5\, and then organise e3-e4 and d4-d5.} Rb7 39. g4\nhxg4+ 40. hxg4 Ra7 {[#]} {I was pleased to see this and thought he should\nprefer 40…g5\, but I guess he was reluctant to put a pawn on the same colour\nas his bishop. 40…f5 was also interesting\, but I didn’t expect him to\nweaken his pawns in such a cavalier manner.} 41. g5 {Now I have a free hand to\nslowly improve my position because …f6 will always leave Black with too many\nweaknesses. So many times this is what we strive for in chess – leaving the\nopponent without any real counterplay is often half the battle.} Ra5 42. Kf4\nRa7 43. Rb6 Bd8 44. Rb5 Rd7 45. Kg4 Be7 46. Ra5 Bd8 47. Ra8 {[#]} {If you\nstudy the great endgame players such as Magnus Carlsen and Anatoly Karpov\, you\ncannot fail to observe their endless patience. Maintaining the tension rather\nthan committing oneself to immediate action tends to have a wearisome effect\non the opponent\, as well as forcing them to defend accurately to avoid further\ndamage.} Be7 48. Rc8 Rb7 49. Re8 Rc7 50. Rb8 Rd7 51. f4 Rc7 52. Kf3 Ra7 53. Nc5\nRc7 54. Nd3 Ra7 55. Rc8 Bd6 56. Ke4 Rb7 57. Nf2 {From g4 the knight will have\na choice of entry points into the heart of Black’s position.} Be7 58. Ng4 Ra7\n59. Rb8 Bd6 60. Rb5 Be7 61. Ke5 Ra3 {Spooked by my intention to make progress\nwith e3-e4 and d4-d5\, combined with Nf6 and Rb8\, Matthew gives some ground.}\n62. Rb7 Ra5+ 63. Ke4 Kf8 64. Nf6 Ra8 65. Ke5 Rd8 66. Nh7+ Ke8 67. e4 Ra8 68.\nNf6+ Kf8 69. d5 exd5 70. exd5 Rd8 71. Rb6 {[#]} {Threatening to win on the\nspot with 72 d6.} Bc5 72. Rc6 Ba3 73. d6 {Inch by inch I’ve brought about a\nwinning position. The rest is relatively straightforward.} Kg7 74. Kd5 Bb2 75.\nNg4 Ba3 76. Ne5 f6 77. Rc7+ Kg8 78. Nf7 Bxd6 79. Nxd6 fxg5 80. fxg5 1-0\n[/pgn] \nArkell’s Odyssey\nArkell’s Endings\, Keith Arkell\, GingerGM\, 2020\, ISBN-10 : 1527265595\nBCN has reviewed Arkell’s Endings in depth
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-keith-charles-arkell-08-i-1961-2/
CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/jua6332_lv.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230111
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230112
DTSTAMP:20260817T141002Z
CREATED:20191230T140104Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T141002Z
UID:2645-1673395200-1673481599@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Shaun Taulbut (11-i-1958)
DESCRIPTION:We send best wishes to IM Shaun Mark Taulbut born on this day (January 11th) in 1958. \nIM Shaun Mark Taulbut\nHere is his Wikipedia article from the Polish (!) version : \nIn 1974. I shared m. In the championship of Great Britain juniors to 16 years [1] \, whereas in 1977. Won the Brighton title of vice-champion of Great Britain (won the George Botterill ). He achieved the greatest success in his career at the turn of 1977 and 1978 in Groningen \, where he won the title of European champion up to 20 years [2] . In 1978 in Mexico he won the title of team world champion in the category up to 26 years [3] . He achieved another success in 1981 in Copenhagen \, sharing the first town (together with Petyr Welikow and Tom Wedberg ) inopen tournament Politiken Cup . In the same year\, he divided II-IV in New York \, while in 1982 he repeated this achievement in London (after William Watson \, together with Jonathan Tisdall and Mark Hebden ). In 1983 he ended his chess career. \nIM Shaun Mark Taulbut\nHe reached the highest ranking in his career on July 1\, 1982\, sharing 9-10 points with 2465 points. place among English chess players [4] . \nHe is the author of many books on chess\, primarily devoted to the theory of debuts . \nIM Shaun Mark Taulbut (right) playing Adrian Mikhalchishin\nand here is the game from the above photograph : \n[pgn]\n[Event “WchT U26 01 fin-A”]\n[Site “Mexico City”]\n[Date “1978.09.02”]\n[Round “6”]\n[White “Taulbut\, Shaun M”]\n[Black “Mikhalchishin\, Adrian”]\n[Result “1-0”]\n[ECO “C87”]\n[WhiteElo “2405”]\n[BlackElo “2460”]\n[Annotator “ChessBase”]\n[PlyCount “53”]\n[EventDate “1978.08.26”]\n[EventType “team-tourn”]\n[EventRounds “9”]\n[EventCountry “MEX”]\n[SourceTitle “EXT 2003”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “2002.11.25”]\n[SourceVersion “1”]\n[SourceVersionDate “2002.11.25”]\n[SourceQuality “1”]\n[WhiteTeam “England”]\n[BlackTeam “Soviet Union”]\n[WhiteTeamCountry “ENG”]\n[BlackTeamCountry “URS”] \n{[%evp 0\,53\,19\,31\,34\,19\,13\,4\,13\,-2\,-9\,0\,7\,-5\,7\,30\,9\,9\,9\,11\,6\,4\,4\,6\,-4\,10\,41\,15\,\n43\,36\,44\,18\,24\,13\,60\,33\,52\,42\,52\,78\,167\,167\,303\,301\,291\,278\,302\,303\,451\,495\,\n495\,507\,527\,515\,513\,549]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7\n6. Re1 d6 (6… b5) 7. Bxc6+ $5 bxc6 8. d4 exd4 9. Nxd4 Bd7 10. Nc3 O-O 11. Qf3\n{[%cal Gd4f5]} Rb8 $146 (11… Re8 {Keres\,P-Spassky\,B URS-chT Leningrad 1962 1/\n2-1/2}) 12. Rb1 (12. b3) 12… Rb6 $6 13. h3 g6 14. Nb3 {[%csl Rb6][%cal Gc1e3]\n} Nh5 15. Be3 $14 Rb8 16. e5 dxe5 17. Bh6 Re8 18. Rxe5 Ng7 19. Rd1 $16 {\n[%cal Gd1d8]} Ne6 $2 (19… Bd6 $142) 20. Ne4 $40 Rb5 21. Rxe6 $1 fxe6 22. Qc3\ne5 23. Qc4+ Kh8 24. Qf7 Rg8 25. Nf6 Bxf6 26. Rxd7 Qxd7 27. Qxd7 {Avec ce score\nde 3-1\, il s(agissait de la première défait en match d’une équipe soviétique\ndepuis trés longtemps.} 1-0\n[/pgn] \n(from l-r) Jonathan Kinlay\, Shaun Taulbut\, Jonathan Speelman\, David Goodman and Jonathan Mestel accepting 1st prize at the 1978 World U26 Student Olympiad in Mexico City\nShaun Taulbut (upper right) and David Goodman (lower right) from the 1978 U26 Olympiad\nShaun coached strong juniors especially Michael Adams. In MAs case it was by means of correspondence and this was funded by the Friends of Chess. \nShaun largely gave up competitive chess in 1983 to pursue a financial services career. He reached a senior position in ANZ (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group) reporting to Ian Snape. In ANZ Shaun met Stephen Lowe and on September 19th 2005 they became Directors and owners of British Chess Magazine Ltd. Shaun lives in Wokingham with his wife\, Christine and several pets including a wormery. \n(second from right standing ) Shaun Taulbut\nShaun occasionally plays for Crowthorne in the Berkshire League and the Surrey Border League and has played for the BCM Dragons 4NCL team managed by John Upham. \nPositional Chess by Shaun Taulbut
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-shaun-mark-taulbut-11-i-1958/
CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/IMG.jpg
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230118
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230119
DTSTAMP:20230118T103106Z
CREATED:20230118T103105Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230118T103106Z
UID:22215-1674000000-1674086399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Paul Littlewood (18-i-1956)
DESCRIPTION:BCN wishes Happy Birthday to Paul Littlewood \nPaul Edwin Littlewood was born on Wednesday\, January 18th\, 1956 in Skegness\, East Lindsey\, Lincolnshire. His parents were John and Jean Littlewood (née) Hadwick. Paul’s chess playing uncle was Norman Littlewood. \nJohn and Paul on Skegness beach circa 1958. Kindly supplied by Paul Littlewood. George and Ringo are out of shot !\nJohn\, Jenny and Paul Littlewood\, circa 1962. Kindly supplied by Paul Littlewood.\nPaul attended Glenburn Comprehensive School in Skelmersdale from 1967 and then read Natural Sciences at Christ’s College\, Cambridge from 1974. \nPaul played badminton for Lancashire and Cambridge and\, in 1971\, won the English Schools Mixed Championship when he was 15 years old. \nPaul and family receive a chess lesson from John following John’s win in the 1972 Southport Open\nOn leaving University Paul taught science at Southbrook Comprehensive\, Daventry. Four years later Paul became a dealer at Phillips & Drew and followed this as an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs. Stays at Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan were followed by a change of direction and since then Paul has been director of various food supply companies retiring in 2014. \nPaul is married (3rd November 2006) to (his second wife) Fiona and lives in St. Albans\, Hertfordshire. \nPEL won the ECF President’s Award in 2007 and from the 2008 ECF Yearbook we have the following citation : \n“International Master and accomplished bridge player. From British Chess champion (1981) Paul has presided over the 4NCL as chairman during its most successful period. When he became chairman over ten years ago the league consisted of two divisions and 32 teams. The league has now expanded to four divisions and a total of 72 teams. Most of England’s juniors play 4NCL. During this time 4NCL became one of the strongest leagues in Europe\, at one time boasting a Division 1 rivalling the Bundesliga in strength in the top matches. \nPaul has demonstrated the sound judgement of Solomon when dealing with league disputes and has drawn on his business acumen\, honed during a successful career in the City with Goldman Sachs to make 4NCL the financially stable and expanding league it is today.” \nRoll of Honour \n\nBritish U18 Champion 1972\nBritish U21 Champion 1975\nBritish Champion 1981\nAs a junior represented England in Glorney Cup\nInternational Master 1980\n\nFrom British Chess (Pergamon Press\, 1983) by Botterill\, Levy. Rice and Richardson we have this article from Richard W. O’Brien : \n“Paul Littlewood was destined to become a strong player from birth. His father John was for some time one of the strongest players in the country and represented England on many occasions. His uncle Norman was for a few years not far behind. Paul\, however\, has surpassed them both and has become the first in the family to reach IM status. (Ed: JEL was very much worthy of the IM title but insufficient events of the right type held him back). \nA. Howard Williams\, Martyn J. Corden\, Paul E. Littlewood and A. Jonathan Mestel\nAll three are essentially attacking players. There have been times in recent years when play at the Hastings Premier has become dull. However\, Paul one of the English representatives at the last three tournaments\, was certainly not to blame. (His game against Brito of Brazil which follows is a striking example of this).” \nCoached by his father\, Paul became British U18 champion in 1972 and three years later became British U21 champion. \nClearly more interested in an academic career he went up to Cambridge and then followed his father into the teaching profession. Opportunities to play in strong tournaments were thus very limited. These opportunities\, however\, were grasped in both hands. Three times in thirteen months between August 1978 and August 1979 he obtained an IM norm and thus the title. \nPartial crosstable for the Lloyds Bank Open\, 1978\nThe first caused a sensation as it was totally unexpected. He shared first place at Lloyds Bank ahead of several grandmasters including Shamkovich\, who was the first grandmaster he ever defeated. \nLeonid Shamkovich plays Paul Littlewood during the 1978 Lloyds Bank Masters. Paul won the game.\nEight months later Aaronson Masters was won and then came the final norm\, also at Lloyds Bank. \nTournaments abroad were limited although he represented England students. He did play at Kringsja (2nd equal) in 1978 and Borovo where he scored 6.5.13 finishing ahead of 3 GMs. \nIn 1981 came his finest achievement – winning the British Championship with a massive 9/11. \nPartial crosstable from the 1981 British Championship in Morecambe\nHis father who was also competing in the championship was as proud as could be and deservedly so (he also coached Sheila Jackson who retained her British Ladies Championship that year). His excellent all round play took him to the title and only once during the tournament did he stand worse. His endgame play was so good that CHESS even published an article solely on these endings. \nPaul Littlewood and friends during the 1978 Lloyds Bank Masters\nDuties at school in Daventry meant he was\, in February 1982\, unable to take part in the zonal at Marbella. This followed an excellent Hastings when as British Champion he made a plus score – a rare event indeed. \nIM Paul Littlewood during filming for the “Trick of the Mind” series from Derren Brown\nIn the summer he gave up teaching and joined Phillips & Drew (stockbrokers). He now (ed : this was in 1983) lives with his (first) wife Sue and family in the wilds of Essex (Billericay). \nIM Paul Littlewood\, event and photographer unknown\n[pgn]\n[Event “Christmas Congress 1980/81-56 Premier”]\n[Site “Hastings”]\n[Date “1980.12.29”]\n[Round “1”]\n[White “Brito\, Luismar Jorge”]\n[Black “Littlewood\, Paul E”]\n[Result “0-1”]\n[ECO “C89”]\n[BlackElo “2440”]\n[Annotator “British Chess News”]\n[PlyCount “82”]\n[EventDate “1980.12.29”]\n[EventType “tourn”]\n[EventRounds “15”]\n[EventCountry “ENG”]\n[EventCategory “10”]\n[SourceTitle “MCD”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “1999.07.01”]\n[SourceVersion “1”]\n[SourceVersionDate “1999.07.01”]\n[SourceQuality “1”] \n{[%evp 0\,74\,38\,46\,10\,19\,22\,18\,17\,-4\,3\,-20\,5\,-11\,-3\,-3\,3\,-22\,16\,28\,6\,41\,12\,18\,\n37\,37\,37\,-8\,19\,23\,29\,24\,24\,2\,29\,38\,18\,6\,23\,17\,-122\,-311\,-312\,-312\,0\,-228\,-322\,\n-287\,-271\,-271\,-271\,-271\,-303\,-827\,-205\,-205\,-230\,-195\,-152\,-193\,-193\,-180\,\n-193\,-172\,-240\,-866\,-1079\,-1149\,-1149\,-1281\,-1152\,-1149\,-1277\,-1272\,-1275\,\n-1275\,-1332]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7.\nBb3 O-O 8. c3 d5 $1 {The Marshall Gambit and why not!} 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5\nNxe5 11. Rxe5 c6 12. d4 Bd6 13. Re1 Qh4 14. g3 Qh3 15. Be3 Bg4 16. Qd3 Rae8 17.\nNd2 Re6 {[#]} 18. c4 $6 {An idea of Byrne but not played since 2002.} ({\n2021 thinking is} 18. a4 $1 f5 19. Qf1 Qh5 20. f4 bxa4 21. Rxa4 g5 22. Rxa6\ngxf4 23. Bxf4 {is a modern main line.}) (18. Qf1 Qh5) 18… Bf4 $1 $17 19. cxd5\n$2 (19. Qf1 {was required} Nxe3 20. Qxh3 Bxh3 21. cxb5 Nc2 {[#] A pretty wild\nposition! Do you know what is going on here?}) 19… Rh6 $19 20. Qe4 Qxh2+ 21.\nKf1 f5 (21… Bxe3 {is possibly more accurate.} 22. Rxe3 Rf6 23. f3 Bh3+ 24.\nKe1 cxd5 25. Qh4 Rh6 26. Qf4) 22. dxc6+ $146 (22. d6+ Kh8 23. Qxc6 Rxd6 24. Qb7\nBxe3 25. Rxe3 f4 26. Re7 fxg3 27. Rf7 Rf6 28. Rxf6 gxf6 29. fxg3 Re8 30. Ne4\nQe2+ 31. Kg1 Bf3 {Gesos – Fabry\, 1977\, 0-1.}) 22… Kh8 23. Qd5 Bxe3 24. Rxe3\nf4 25. gxf4 Qxf4 26. Re2 (26. Nf3 Rh1+ 27. Ke2 Rxa1 28. Bc2 Rxa2 $1 $19) 26…\nRh2 (26… Qh2) 27. f3 Bh3+ 28. Ke1 Rh1+ 29. Kf2 Rh2+ 30. Ke1 Rh1+ {Oh what\nfun!} 31. Kf2 Rxa1 32. Qe4 (32. Qe5) 32… Qg5 33. Nb1 Rxb1 34. Qxb1 Qg2+ 35.\nKe3 Rxf3+ 36. Kd2 Qg5+ 37. Kd1 Rf1+ {and white resigned.} {If} 38. Re1 Bg4+ 39.\nKc2 Rf2+ 40. Kd3 Bf5+ 41. Re4 Qd2# 0-1\n[/pgn] \nPaul gives a simultaneous display in Letchworth. \n[pgn]\n[Event “London Aaronson Masters”]\n[Site “London”]\n[Date “1979.04.16”]\n[Round “5”]\n[White “Basman\, Michael John”]\n[Black “Littlewood\, Paul E”]\n[Result “0-1”]\n[ECO “A00”]\n[WhiteElo “2405”]\n[BlackElo “2405”]\n[Annotator “British Chess News and George Botterill”]\n[PlyCount “56”]\n[EventDate “1979.04.12”]\n[EventType “swiss”]\n[EventRounds “9”]\n[EventCountry “ENG”]\n[SourceTitle “EXT 1999”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “1998.11.16”]\n[SourceVersion “1”]\n[SourceVersionDate “1998.11.16”]\n[SourceQuality “1”] \n{[%evp 0\,54\,19\,-63\,-56\,-53\,-52\,-89\,-55\,-70\,-50\,-46\,-26\,-42\,-48\,-27\,-38\,-13\,-18\,\n-50\,-12\,-67\,-32\,-98\,-56\,-99\,-83\,-83\,-83\,-73\,-38\,-100\,-89\,-89\,-125\,-108\,-163\,\n-159\,-164\,-154\,-163\,-144\,-144\,-446\,-303\,-361\,-364\,-371\,-364\,-812\,-1568\,-2013\,\n-2191\,-29975\,-1329\,-1430\,-1569]} 1. b4 {Mike liked pushing his knight’s pawns.\nOn this day the b2 pawn was the victim.} e5 2. a3 d5 3. e3 Nf6 4. Bb2 Bd6 5. c4\nc6 6. cxd5 cxd5 7. Nf3 {White’s strategy is to induce the advance ….e4 and\nthereby establish a strong outpost on d4.} Qe7 {Black resists temptation.} 8.\nNc3 Nc6 9. h3 $146 {Hardly an inspired choice. Maybe White thought he was\nworse already?} ({Better is} 9. d3 O-O 10. Be2 Rd8 11. O-O $17) 9… O-O $17 {\nBlack’s lead in development is clear.} 10. g4 $6 {This can hardly be justified\nbut then again we refer to our note after move 1. Michael does sometimes get\ncarried away wit his outlandish ideas : GB.} Be6 11. Ne2 {Heading for f5\ncombined with Rg1 might stir up trouble for Black.} a6 (11… Ne4 12. Bg2 f5 {\nand the f2 square is under some pressure.}) 12. Ng3 e4 {Black finally succumbs\nto temptation\, though not without justification. White’s set-up is too\nartificial.} 13. Nd4 Nxd4 14. Bxd4 Nd7 15. Qb3 {[#]} Ne5 $1 16. Be2 Nc6 $1 {\nThe refutation of White’s strategy. With the loss of his blockade on d4\,\nWhite’s game disintegrates.} 17. Bb2 d4 $1 $19 {The time has come to open the\nposition.} 18. Qd1 Bxg3 19. fxg3 d3 20. Bf1 f5 21. Qc1 {Desperation\,} ({but on\n} 21. gxf5 Rxf5 22. Bg2 Qg5 {he is defenceless.}) 21… fxg4 22. Qc5 Qf7 23.\nO-O-O {White seeks some salvation on his side of the board\, but instead finds\nhimself walking into a mating net.} Ba2 $1 24. hxg4 Na5 $1 {A neat touch} ({\nthough the prosaic} 24… Rac8 {also wins of course.}) 25. bxa5 ({Or} 25. Qxa5\nRac8+ 26. Bc3 Qb3 {forces mate}) 25… Rac8 26. Rh5 Rxc5+ 27. Rxc5 Qxf1 $1 {\nand White resigned} 28. Rxf1 Rxf1# 0-1\n[/pgn] \nChess Tactics\, Paul Littlewood\, Crowood Chess Library\, 1991\n[pgn]\n[Event “British CF-68 Championship”]\n[Site “Morecambe/ Lancashire”]\n[Date “1981.08.08”]\n[Round “6”]\n[White “Chandler\, Murray G”]\n[Black “Littlewood\, Paul E”]\n[Result “0-1”]\n[ECO “E52”]\n[WhiteElo “2455”]\n[BlackElo “2430”]\n[Annotator “Bill Hartston\, George Botterill and British C”]\n[PlyCount “62”]\n[EventDate “1981.08.03”]\n[EventType “swiss”]\n[EventRounds “11”]\n[EventCountry “ENG”]\n[SourceTitle “EXT 1999”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “1998.11.16”]\n[SourceVersion “1”]\n[SourceVersionDate “1998.11.16”]\n[SourceQuality “1”] \n{[%evp 0\,62\,19\,35\,34\,-14\,0\,-4\,33\,16\,34\,17\,17\,25\,44\,6\,8\,4\,-4\,3\,-6\,0\,-2\,-2\,17\,-5\,\n-5\,-22\,6\,-22\,-18\,-37\,-21\,-93\,17\,-26\,-13\,-44\,-101\,-101\,-107\,-91\,-152\,-150\,-33\,\n-25\,-100\,-93\,-95\,-108\,-110\,-120\,-117\,-192\,-169\,-187\,-38\,-345\,-312\,-710\,-996\,\n-996\,-1001\,-1027\,-1029]} {Annotations sourced from BCM\, 1981\, page 498\, game #\n20170\, Bill Hartston\, British Chess\, 1983\, George Botterill and British Chess\nNews\, 2021.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 {This is the third time these two\nhave crossed swords in this opening in 1981\, though on the other two occasions\nit was Chandler who had Black. Littlewood won at Hastings in January\, but then\nChandler hit back with a masterly endgame performance in the ARC tournament.}\n4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 b6 ({WRH : Both Chandler and and Littlewood have\nplayed the fashionable line with} 6… c5 7. O-O cxd4 8. exd4 dxc4 9. Bxc4 b6 {\nHere\, perhaps just for a change\, perhaps to avoid any prepared lines\nLittlewood chooses something different.}) 7. a3 {GB : It seems to me that this\nmove would fit i better with the development of the white knight at e2 rather\nthan f3. WRH : This move is usually delayed until after 7.00 Bb7 Now tha game\nquickly develops along unusual paths.} (7. O-O Bb7 8. cxd5 exd5 9. a3 Bd6 10.\nb4 a6 11. Qb3 Qe7 12. b5 axb5 13. Nxb5 Nbd7 14. a4 c5 15. Ba3 Ba6) 7… Bxc3+\n8. bxc3 Ba6 $1 {GB : White squares! WRH : When your opponent has the bishop\npair\, you should exchange one of them. So said Nimzowitsch and here Littlewood\ntakes his advice. Black’s plan is gain control of the white squares after the\nexchange of bishops.} 9. cxd5 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 exd5 11. c4 Nc6 {Black’s play is\nreminiscent of the Tchigorin Defence to the Queen’s Gambit relying on piece\nplay to contest and restrain the centre.} 12. Bb2 $2 $146 {Underestimating the\nactivity of Black’s pieces.} (12. O-O Na5 13. Ne5 c5 14. Bb2 Rc8 15. Rad1) ({\nInstead} 12. Bd2 Ne4 13. O-O {leads to an equal game.}) 12… Na5 13. Nd2 c5\n14. dxc5 {This move indciates that White is still hoping for an advantage from\nthe opening.} ({but he would have done better to settle for slight inferiority\nafter} 14. O-O dxc4 15. Nxc4 Nc6) 14… dxc4 $1 15. Qc3 ({Black’s queenside\npawns give him the better chances after} 15. Qxd8 Rfxd8 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. O-O-O\nRd3) 15… Qd5 $17 16. cxb6 Rfd8 $1 {A fine pawn sacrifice. White cannot\ncastle kingside because his knight on d2 hangs. Meanwhile the Black major\npieces become very active.} 17. bxa7 Rxa7 ({WRH : note that} 17… Qxg2 {\nwould have been met by} 18. O-O-O Rxd2 19. Rdg1 $1) 18. e4 $6 (18. Nf3) 18…\nRe7 19. O-O-O {At last the king has escaped from the centre\, but its new home\nis also far from safe.} Qa8 $19 20. Kb1 Rd3 21. Qc2 Red7 {Black’s simplest\nthreat now is 22..Qd8 followed\, if necessary\, by Nb3 or Nxe4. The pin on the\nd-file must be broken before it is too late.} 22. e5 Ne8 23. Nf3 Qd5 {Mighty\ncentralisation of the black forces.} 24. Nd4 Rb7 {WRH : The final shift of the\nattack to the b-file proves the last straw for White’s strained defences.} 25.\nRxd3 cxd3 26. Qa4 {Otherwise …Nc4 wins the pinned bishop} (26. Qxd3 {WRH :\nloses to the prosaic} Nc4) 26… Rb8 {WRH : calmly defending the attacked\nknight and renewing the threat of Nc4. To add to his problems\, White was now\nseverly short of time.} 27. Ka1 Nc7 28. Rb1 d2 $1 {GB : White is quite lost\nhere. He has no defence against …Ne6 followed by a fatal check on b3. WRH :\nWith so many white pieces trying simply to plug gaps in his leaky position it\nis almost impossible to find a move which does not lose everything.} 29. Bc3\nRxb1+ 30. Kxb1 Qc4 $1 31. Qc2 ({WRH : the final shock} 31. Qxc4 d1=Q+ {leaves\nBlack a queen ahead.}) 31… Qf1+ {and White resigned. WRH : a total triumph\nfor Black’s white-square strategy.} 0-1\n[/pgn]
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-paul-edwin-littlewood-18-i-1956-2/
CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230120
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230121
DTSTAMP:20230120T111043Z
CREATED:20200118T154340Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230120T111043Z
UID:2910-1674172800-1674259199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Ali Mortazavi (20-i-1971)
DESCRIPTION:We send best wishes to IM Ali Mortazavi on his birthday\, this day (January 20th) in 1971 \nIM Ali Mortazavi\nAli is a British IM who was a successful trader in the financial markets. \nIn the FIDE directory he is listed as a Councillor in the Global Strategy Commission (GSC). \nHe was a professional player and became the CEO of Silence Therapeutics (SLN) : \n[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4jn9ksND5w[/embedyt] \nAli reached his hightest FIDE rating of 2410 in July 1994 aged 23. \nHe has played for Beeson Gregory in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL). He played at the Isle of Man Open in 2018 but sadly\, little since. \n[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY3kLjUqZNc[/embedyt] \n[pgn]\n[Event “Lloyds Bank op 16th”]\n[Site “London”]\n[Date “1992.??.??”]\n[Round “?”]\n[White “Mortazavi\, Ali”]\n[Black “Van der Sterren\, Paul”]\n[Result “1-0”]\n[ECO “D29”]\n[WhiteElo “2320”]\n[BlackElo “2530”]\n[Annotator “British Chess News”]\n[PlyCount “47”]\n[EventDate “1992.08.??”]\n[EventType “swiss”]\n[EventRounds “10”]\n[EventCountry “ENG”]\n[SourceTitle “CBM 031 Extra”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “1993.01.01”]\n[SourceVersion “1”]\n[SourceVersionDate “1993.01.01”]\n[SourceQuality “1”] \n{[%evp 0\,47\,19\,27\,5\,28\,21\,-23\,41\,51\,50\,54\,60\,45\,47\,40\,11\,-15\,-13\,-2\,-17\,4\,-3\,\n-20\,-19\,-23\,-38\,-74\,-86\,-85\,-92\,-101\,-90\,-105\,-83\,-124\,-59\,-81\,247\,245\,274\,271\,\n283\,266\,333\,327\,408\,408\,478\,448]} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 d5 3. c4 dxc4 4. e3 e6 5.\nBxc4 c5 6. O-O a6 7. Nc3 b5 8. Bb3 Bb7 9. Qe2 Nbd7 10. Rd1 Qb8 11. a3 Bd6 12.\nBc2 cxd4 $146 13. Rxd4 $6 (13. exd4 O-O 14. Re1) 13… Bxf3 14. Qxf3 Bxh2+ 15.\nKh1 Be5 16. Rh4 h5 $19 17. Ne4 Ng4 $2 (17… Qd8) 18. Bd2 Qd8 $2 19. Qxg4 $1 g6\n20. Qh3 f5 21. Bb4 $18 Rc8 22. Bb3 Rc6 23. Rd1 Qb6 24. f4 1-0\n[/pgn] \nIM Ali Mortazavi
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-ali-mortazavi-20-i-1971/
CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230121
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230122
DTSTAMP:20230123T102607Z
CREATED:20230120T150446Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230123T102607Z
UID:22227-1674259200-1674345599@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Neil McDonald (21-i-1967)
DESCRIPTION:We send birthday wishes to GM Neil McDonald born on this day (January 21st) in 1967. \nNeil McDonald\nNeil McDonald\nFrom Wikipedia : \nNeil McDonald (born 21 January 1967) is an English chess grandmaster and a player on the international chess circuit. He is an English Chess Federation coach\,[1] who has trained many of the country’s strongest junior players. McDonald is a regular coach of the English junior team and was Head Coach of the English Chess Federation team at the Greece World Schools Championship in 2013.[2] He regularly escorts blind and partially sighted chess players to international World Championship events and is also a chess writer. \nMcDonald authored the French Defence monthly updates on chesspublishing.com from October 1999 until March 2009\,[3] 1 e4 … updates from November 2009 until January 2010\,[4] 1 e4 … from June 2014 until February 2015[5] and returned to 1 e4 … in March 2017 until January 2018.[6] \nNeil shared first place in the 1986 GLC Masters with Jonathan Levitt\, was outright first at the Elekes Memorial\, 1995\, first at The Leinster IM Tournament in Dublin\, 1997\, and other tournaments since. Neil plays for Wood Green in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL). \nHe became an International Master in 1986 and was awarded the Grandmaster title in 1996. \nMcDonald obtained his FIDE Trainer qualification in 2016.[7] \n[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IogslcWxKEc[/embedyt] \nNeil is a prolific and successful author\, most recently with “Coach Yourself” \nCoach Yourself : A Complete Guide to Self Improvement at Chess\nbut also thirty eight titles for Chess Press\, BT Batsford Ltd. and Everyman Chess Books. \n[pgn]\n[Event “Hastings op 8889”]\n[Site “Hastings”]\n[Date “1988.??.??”]\n[Round “?”]\n[White “McDonald\, Neil R”]\n[Black “Gufeld\, Eduard”]\n[Result “1-0”]\n[ECO “B60”]\n[WhiteElo “2375”]\n[BlackElo “2485”]\n[Annotator “British Chess News”]\n[PlyCount “73”]\n[EventDate “1988.12.??”]\n[EventType “swiss”]\n[EventRounds “10”]\n[EventCountry “ENG”]\n[SourceTitle “EXT 1997”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “1996.11.15”]\n[SourceVersion “1”]\n[SourceVersionDate “1996.11.15”]\n[SourceQuality “1”] \n{[%evp 0\,73\,16\,12\,56\,47\,39\,44\,2\,32\,52\,61\,34\,73\,87\,80\,56\,42\,41\,46\,35\,24\,21\,18\,6\,\n13\,20\,13\,22\,-16\,6\,-19\,-7\,5\,68\,93\,106\,42\,36\,8\,9\,28\,44\,9\,51\,-97\,-159\,-150\,-116\,\n-181\,-97\,-75\,-73\,-78\,-99\,-174\,-145\,-209\,-155\,-155\,-85\,-85\,-55\,-59\,-66\,-53\,112\,\n112\,313\,313\,566\,566\,29989\,29990\,29991\,29992]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4.\nNxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 Qb6 7. Nb3 e6 8. Qd2 Be7 9. Be3 Qc7 10. f3 O-O 11. g4\na6 12. g5 Nd7 13. h4 b5 14. a3 $146 Nde5 15. Be2 Rb8 $15 16. h5 b4 $2 (16…\nRe8) (16… Nc4 17. Bxc4 bxc4 18. Nd4 Ne5 $15) 17. axb4 Nxb4 18. Nd4 d5 19. f4\nNc4 20. Bxc4 dxc4 21. g6 fxg6 22. h6 $2 (22. hxg6 h6 $11) 22… gxh6 23. Rxh6\ne5 24. fxe5 Qxe5 (24… Bg4) 25. O-O-O Rf7 (25… Bg4) 26. Qg2 Bf8 27. Rh4 Qa5\n28. Qh2 Rbb7 29. Rg1 Qb6 $2 (29… Rg7) 30. e5 Na2+ $2 31. Nxa2 Qxb2+ 32. Kd2\nQxa2 33. Rxg6+ $1 Rg7 34. Rxh7 c3+ 35. Kd3 Rxg6 36. Rh8+ Kf7 37. Qf2+ 1-0\n[/pgn] \nModern Defence. Everyman\, 2000\nGM Neil McDonald
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-neil-mcdonald-21-i-1967-2/
CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230122
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230123
DTSTAMP:20230120T152357Z
CREATED:20230120T152356Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230120T152357Z
UID:22229-1674345600-1674431999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of GM Nick Pert (22-i-1981)
DESCRIPTION:We send birthday wishes to GM Nick Pert born this day (January 22nd) in 1981. \nJeremy Morse\, Adam Hunt\, Nick Pert and Nigel Short at the Lloyds Bank Masters\nNick won the Southern Counties (SCCU) championship for the 2016-17 season sharing with Richard Bates. \nNick and Richard Pert\nHere is Nick’s Wikipedia entry \nNick and Richard Pert\n[pgn]\n[Event “Hastings Masters op”]\n[Site “Hastings”]\n[Date “2007.12.30”]\n[Round “3”]\n[White “Pert\, Nicholas”]\n[Black “Dinger\, Florian”]\n[Result “1-0”]\n[ECO “E12”]\n[WhiteElo “2539”]\n[BlackElo “2378”]\n[Annotator “Pert\,N”]\n[PlyCount “97”]\n[EventDate “2007.12.28”]\n[EventType “swiss”]\n[EventRounds “10”]\n[EventCountry “ENG”]\n[SourceTitle “CBM 122”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “2008.01.30”]\n[SourceVersion “1”]\n[SourceVersionDate “2008.01.30”]\n[SourceQuality “1”] \n{[%evp 0\,97\,19\,31\,14\,30\,28\,4\,27\,41\,33\,17\,24\,8\,18\,-2\,24\,3\,15\,-15\,12\,-2\,3\,-2\,7\,\n-20\,-16\,-17\,-10\,15\,16\,-19\,62\,1\,8\,40\,51\,51\,48\,33\,53\,53\,82\,79\,72\,72\,64\,66\,61\,64\,\n72\,64\,75\,65\,69\,65\,79\,71\,59\,54\,61\,51\,52\,43\,58\,39\,56\,54\,46\,48\,70\,65\,81\,44\,81\,80\,\n65\,62\,65\,48\,47\,-15\,-21\,-17\,-8\,-116\,-109\,-114\,-94\,-88\,233\,311\,397\,396\,414\,407\,\n346\,377\,604\,624]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 b6 4. Nc3 Bb7 5. a3 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5\n7. e3 {The old main line is going through a mini-revival recently\, so I\nthought I would try and keep up with the trends. Here g6 is a popular move for\nBlack\, but the game transposed to a more common variation which can also be\nreached as follows:} (7. Qc2 Be7 8. e4 Nxc3 9. bxc3 O-O 10. Bd3 c5 11. O-O Qc7\n12. Qe2 Nd7 13. Bb2) 7… Nd7 8. Bd3 c5 9. e4 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Qc7 11. O-O Be7 12.\nBb2 O-O 13. Qe2 {By a strange move order we have reached one of the main\npositions of the Petrosian Variation of the Queen’s Indian.} Rac8 14. Nd2 {\nOne of Black’s main plans in this position is to close down the centre\, and\nhence limit the potential of White’s bishops by playing c4 and e5. This move\nis designed to add more control to the c4 square\, whilst readying kingside\nexpansion with f4.} Bg5 $5 {An interesting way to stop f4. Another alternative\nis to put the queen on f4 before the pawn gets there! Then if White wants to\nshift the queen he has to weaken the long diagonal with g3.} 15. Rad1 $146 {\nThis is technically a novelty\, but according to my database the position has\nbeen reached once before by transposition.} e5 $6 {Black goes for it and\nchallenges the centre right away. Rfd8 comes into consideration as a useful\nalternative.} 16. Nf3 (16. d5 Bxd2 17. Qxd2 c4 {I expect this was his\nintention\, closing up the position\, but probably White has slightly the better\nof it with the bishop pair if he can find a way to activate them.}) 16… Bf6\n17. Bb5 $1 {I don’t want Black to close me in with c4.} cxd4 18. cxd4 exd4 19.\nNxd4 Nc5 20. Nf5 $1 Bxb2 {This hands White a comfortable edge. The risky Bxe4\nwas the other option when white has the choice between 2 reasonable ways to\nfight for the advantage.} (20… Bxe4 21. Nh6+ (21. Bxf6 Bxf5 22. Be7 Rfe8 23.\nBxe8 Rxe8 24. Bd6 {with a pull for White.}) 21… Kh8 22. Bxf6 gxf6 {is also\npossible when Black has an extra pawn\, but a weak king provides at least\nsufficient compensation.}) 21. Qxb2 f6 22. Nd6 Rb8 {Forced.} (22… Rcd8 23.\nQa2+ Kh8 24. Nf7+ Rxf7 25. Qxf7 {Wins.}) 23. f3 $6 (23. e5 {I think e5 is\nmarginally preferable. This ensures that White’s king is safer than Black’s.\nHowever the game continuation keeps a strong hold in the centre and blunts\nBlack’s bishop.}) 23… Kh8 $1 24. Rf2 Ba6 {Black is advised to swop his\nbishop for White’s more active counterpart.} 25. Bxa6 Nxa6 26. Rfd2 Nc5 27. Qc3\n(27. Rd5 {I wanted to continue with Rd5 and Qf2 -> kingside but Na4 would have\nbeen irritating threatening a fork on c3.} Na4 28. Qb3 Nc3 29. Nb5 Nxb5 30.\nQxb5 Rbd8 $14) 27… h6 $1 {Black has found some strong moves\, and the task of\nconverting the edge is not easy.} 28. h3 {I tried to look for a way to\nconsolidate my own king position\, but it is not so simple with my pawn on f3.\nMoving the f pawn around a castled king\, can often leave it much more\nvulnerable.} Kh7 {Black hopes to play Rbd8 without any Nf7+ problems.} 29. Kh1\nRbd8 30. Qc2 Kg8 31. Qc4+ Kh7 32. Qd5 Rd7 $6 {Probably Qd7 was better covering\nthe f5 square.} 33. Qf5+ Kg8 34. Qg6 $1 Ne6 $1 (34… Rfd8 {Black would love\nto play this move but it fails tactically.} 35. Ne8 Rxd2 36. Rxd2 Rxd2 37.\nNxf6+ {And mate follows.}) 35. Qg4 Nc5 36. Qg6 Ne6 37. Qg4 {I repeated as my\ntime was getting low and I needed to make it to move 40.} Nc5 38. Rd5 $6 (38.\nf4 $1 {Would have been stronger\, ready to support the d6 knight with e5\nagainst Rfd8 ideas. I rejected this based on a miscalculation.} Qc6 39. Nf5\nNxe4 40. Rxd7 Nf2+ 41. Kg1 Nxg4 42. Ne7+ {Wins for White\, but Black could\nfight on with 39…Rc7. In fact White would probably be best off playing 39.\nKh2 looking after the king – the most important feature of major piece\nendgames.}) 38… Kh7 $1 39. h4 $2 {I start going wrong in time trouble.} (39.\nQf5+ Kg8 40. Qg6 Kh8 41. h4 {is a more accurate version of the same idea.})\n39… Rfd8 $1 40. Nf5 $2 (40. Qf5+ Kg8 41. e5 {Still retains a slight edge.})\n40… Rxd5 41. exd5 g6 $1 {The only move but a very important one. I’d seen\nthis and hoped that h5 might have maintained the initiative for White but…}\n42. Ng3 (42. Qg3 {Moving to an equal ending was probably the best option\, but\nI was still after more.}) (42. h5 gxf5 43. Qg6+ Kh8 44. Qxf6+ Kg8 45. d6 Qd7 {\nLooks at least ok for Black.}) 42… h5 $1 {Before White plays h5 – so now i’m\nobliged to sacrifice a piece.} 43. Nxh5 gxh5 44. Qxh5+ Kg7 $4 {After a fine\nseries of moves\, my young opponent finally cracks.} (44… Kg8 45. d6 (45. Qg6+\nQg7 46. Qf5 Rd7 {And Black is slightly better.}) (45. Rd4 Qh7 {is the point\,\nwhen the black king can hide on h8.}) 45… Rxd6 46. Qg6+ Kf8 47. Qh6+ Ke8 48.\nQg6+ Kd7 49. Rxd6+ Qxd6 50. h5 {It is still not over but Black has the better\nchances.}) 45. Rd4 $1 {Now I think Black is lost\, but he comes up with an\ninteresting last roll of the dice.} Ne6 46. Rg4+ $1 (46. Qg4+ $2 Ng5 47. hxg5\n$4 Qc1+ 48. Kh2 Rh8+ 49. Kg3 Qe1+ 50. Kf4 Qe5#) 46… Kf8 47. Qh6+ $1 Ke7 (\n47… Ng7 48. Qh8+ {Wins}) 48. Re4 $1 Rxd5 49. Qg7+ {And Black resigned since:}\n(49. Qg7+ Kd6 (49… Kd8 50. Qg8+ Kd7 51. Qxe6+ Kd8 52. Qe8#) 50. Rxe6+ {\nwins the queen.}) 1-0\n[/pgn] \nGM Nick Pert\nGM Nick Pert
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-gm-nick-pert-22-i-1981-2/
CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Writer
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20230122
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20230123
DTSTAMP:20230121T130520Z
CREATED:20230121T130519Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230121T130520Z
UID:22231-1674345600-1674431999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Richard Pert (22-i-1981)
DESCRIPTION:Happy Birthday IM Richard Pert (22-i-1981) \nIM Richard Pert\n[pgn]\n[Event “GBR-ch 106th”]\n[Site “Torquay”]\n[Date “2019.08.02”]\n[Round “7”]\n[White “Pert\, Richard G”]\n[Black “Pert\, Nicholas G”]\n[Result “1-0”]\n[ECO “D15”]\n[WhiteElo “2430”]\n[BlackElo “2563”]\n[Annotator “British Chess News”]\n[PlyCount “81”]\n[EventDate “2019.07.27”]\n[EventType “swiss”]\n[EventRounds “9”]\n[EventCountry “ENG”]\n[SourceTitle “CBM 191 Extra”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “2019.09.30”]\n[SourceVersion “1”]\n[SourceVersionDate “2019.09.30”]\n[SourceQuality “1”] \n{[%evp 0\,81\,19\,31\,43\,-23\,33\,17\,37\,22\,8\,2\,14\,-9\,-16\,-16\,-15\,-24\,-15\,-210\,-201\,\n-116\,-18\,-12\,3\,-38\,23\,18\,29\,-26\,12\,2\,18\,18\,4\,15\,85\,29\,29\,80\,311\,306\,341\,230\,\n223\,246\,215\,215\,336\,309\,321\,322\,285\,264\,325\,275\,317\,341\,339\,333\,333\,152\,172\,\n177\,173\,189\,198\,182\,205\,216\,217\,242\,257\,291\,422\,452\,525\,642\,656\,316\,475\,680\,\n687\,922]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. e4 b5 6. Be2 e6 7. O-O\nBb7 8. b3 Bb4 9. e5 Bxc3 10. exf6 gxf6 11. Rb1 c5 12. bxc4 Bxd4 $6 (12… cxd4\n$142) 13. Rxb5 Bc6 14. Rb3 $16 Rg8 15. g3 Na6 16. Nxd4 cxd4 17. Bf3 Rc8 18.\nBxc6+ Rxc6 19. Qh5 $18 f5 20. Qxh7 Rf8 21. Bh6 Qf6 22. Bxf8 Kxf8 23. Rb7 Rxc4\n24. Rxa7 Nc7 25. Rb1 f4 26. Rab7 Ke7 27. Rb8 e5 28. Qg8 Rc6 29. Qd8+ Ke6 30.\nQxf6+ Kxf6 31. R8b6 Rxb6 32. Rxb6+ Kf5 33. gxf4 Nd5 34. Rb2 Kxf4 35. a4 e4 36.\na5 d3 37. a6 f5 38. a7 Nc7 39. Kg2 Ke5 40. Kf1 f4 41. Rb7 1-0\n[/pgn] \nNick and Richard Pert\nNick and Richard Pert
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-richard-pert-22-i-1981-2/
CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player
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