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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200622
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200623
DTSTAMP:20210623T063812Z
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SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Howard Staunton (??-iv-1810 22-vi-1874)
DESCRIPTION:Here is his Wikipedia entry \nBCN remembers Howard Staunton (??-iv-1810 22-vi-1874) \nA curious article about Staunton \nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess by Hooper and Whyld : \nThe world’s leading player in the 1840s\, founder of a school of chess\, promoter of the world’s first international chess tournament\, chess columnist and author\, Shakespearian scholar. Nothing is known for certain about Staunton’s life before 1836\, when his name appears as a subscriber to Greenwood Walkers Selection of Games at Chess \, actually played in London\, by the late Alexander McDonnell Esq. He states that he was born in Westmorland in the spring of 1810\, that his father’s name was William\, that he acted with Edmund Kean\, taking the part of Lorenzo in The Merchant of Venice\, that he spent some time at Oxford (but not at the university) and came to London around 1836. Other sources suggest that as a young man he inherited a small legacy\, married\, and soon spent the money.  \nEdmund Kean (4 November 1787 – 15 May 1833)\nHe is supposed to have been brought up by his mother\, his father having left home or died. He never contradicted the suggestion that he was the natural son of the fifth Earl of Carlisle\, a relationship that might account for his forename\, for the Earl’s family name was Howard: but the story is almost certainly untrue\, not least because in all probability Howard Staunton was not his real name. A contemporary\, Charles Tomlinson (18O8- 97)\, writes: ‘Rumour . . . assigned a different name to our hero [Staunton] when he first appeared as an actor and next as a chess amateur. \nA stamp printed in Guinea-Bissau shows Howard Staunton\, Chess players serie\, circa 1988\nAt the unusually late age of 26 Staunton became ambitious to succeed at chess; a keen patriot\, his motivation may in part have sprung from a desire to avenge McDonnell’s defeat at the hands of a Frenchman. A rook player in 1836 (his own assessment)\, Staunton rose to the top in a mere seven years. In 1838 he played a long series of games with W. D. Evans and a match of 21 games with Alexandre in which he suffered ‘mortifying defeat’ during the early sittings; but he continued to study and to practise with great determination.  \nIn 1840 he was strong enough to defeat H. W. Popert\, a leading German player then resident in London. In the same year he began writing about the game. A short-lived column in the New Court Gazette began in May and ended in Dec. because\, says G. Walker\, there were ‘complaints of an overdose’. More successful was his work for the British Miscellany which in 1841 became the Chess Player’s Chronicle\, England’s first successful chess magazine\, edited by Staunton until 1854\, Throughout 1842 Staunton played several hundred games with John Cochrane\, then on leave from India\, a\nvaluable experience for them both.  \nJohn Cochrane\nIn 1843 the leading French player Saint-Amant visited London and defeated Staunton in a short contest -(+3 = 1—2)\, an event that attracted little attention; but later that year these two masters met in a historic encounter lasting from 14 Nov. to 20 Dec. This took place before large audiences in the famous Café de la Régence. Staunton’s decisive victory ( + 11 = 4—6) marked the end of French chess supremacy\, an end that was sudden\, complete\, and long-lasting. From then until the 1870s London became the world’s chess centre. In Oct. 1844 Staunton travelled to Paris for a return match\, but before play could begin he became seriously ill with pneumonia and the match was cancelled. Unwell for some months afterwards\, he never fully\nrecovered: his heart was permanently weakened. In Feb. 1845 he began the most important of his journalistic tasks\, one that he continued until his death: in the Illustrated London News he conducted the world’s most influential chess column. Each week he dealt with a hundred or more letters; each week he published one or more problems\, the best of the time. In 1845 he conceded odds of pawn and two moves and defeated several of his countrymen and in 1846 he won two matches playing level: Horwitz (+14=3 — 7) and Harrwitz (+ 7). In 1847 Staunton published his most famous chess book\, the Chess Player’s Handbook\, from which many generations of English-speaking players learned the rudiments of the game: the last of 21 editions was published in 1939. He published the Chess Players Companion in 1849.  \nIn 1851 Staunton organized the world’s first international tournament\, held in London. He also played in it\, an unwise decision for one burdened with the chore of organization at the same time. After defeating Horwitz (+4=1—2) in the second round he lost to Anderssen\, the eventual winner. Moreover he was defeated by Williams\, his erstwhile disciple\, in the play-off for places. Later that year Staunton defeated Jaenlsch ( + 7=1 — 2) and scored +6 = 1—4 against Williams\, but lost this match because he had conceded his opponent three\ngames’ start. In 1852 Staunton published The Chess Tournament\, an excellent account of this first international gathering. Subsequently he unsuccessfully attempted to arrange a match with Anderssen\, but for all practical purposes he retired from the game at this time.  \nThe Chess Tournament London 1851\nAmong his many chess activities Staunton had long sought standardization of the laws of chess and\, as England’s representative\, he crossed to Brussels in 1853 to discuss the laws with Lasa\, Germany’s leading chess authority. Little progress was made at this time\, but the laws adopted by FIDE in 1929 are substantially in accordance with Staunton’s views. This trip was also the occasion of an informal match\, broken off when the score stood +5=3-4 in Lasa’s favour. Staunton took the match seriously\, successfully requesting his English friends to send him their latest analyses of the opening.  \nOriginal Staunton chess pieces\, left to right: pawn\, rook\, knight\, bishop\, queen\, and king. Photo used by permission of Frank A. Camaratta\, Jr.; The House of Staunton\, Inc.; houseofstaunton.com\nStaunton had married in 1849 and\, recognizing his new responsibilities\, he now sought an occupation less hazardous than that of a chess-player. In 1856. putting to use his knowledge of Elizabethan and Shakespearian drama\, he obtained a contract to prepare an annotated edition of Shakespeare’s plays. This was published in monthly instalments from Nov. 1857 to May 1860\, a work that ‘combined commonsense with exhaustive research’. (In 1860 the monthly parts ready for binding in three volumes were reissued\, in 1864 a four-volume reprint without illustrations was printed\, and in 1978 the original version was published in one volume.) Staunton\, who performed this task in a remarkably short period\, was unable to accept a challenge from Morphy in 1858: his publishers would not release him from his contract. After the proposal for a match was abandoned Frederick Milnes Edge (c. 1830-82)\, a journalist seeking copy\, stirred up a quarrel casting Staunton as the villain. Morphy unwisely signed some letters drafted by Edge\, while Staunton\, continuously importuned by Edge\, was once driven to make a true but impolitely worded comment about Morphy. Generally however these two great masters behaved honourably\, each holding the other in high regard; but Edge’s insinuations unfairly blackened Staunton’s reputation.  \nSubsequently Staunton wrote several books\, among them Chess Praxis (I860) and the Great Schools of England (1865)\, revised with many additions in 1869. At the end of his life he was working on another chess book when\, seized by a heart attack\, he died in his library chair.  \nStaunton was no one’s pupil: what he learned about chess he learned by himself. For the most part he played the usual openings of his time but he introduced several positional concepts. Some of these had been touched upon by Philidqr\, others were his own: the use of the ranch mo for strategic ends\, the development of flank openings specially suited to pawn play. He may be regarded as the precursor of the hypermodern movement\, the Staunton system the precursor of the Reti opening. In his Chess Players Companion Staunton remarks that after 1 e4 e5 Black’s game is embarrassed from the start\, a remark anticipating Breyer’s ideas about the opening by more than half a century\, Fischer wrote in 1964: “Staunton was the most profound opening analyst of all time. He was more theorist than player but none the less he was the strongest player of his day. Playing over his games I discover that they are completely modern.\nWhere Morphy and Steinitz rejected the fianchetto. Staunton embraced it. In addition he understood all the positional concepts which\nmodern players hold so dear\, and thus with Steinitz must be considered the first modern player. \nTall\, erect\, broad-shouldered\, with a leonine head\, Staunton stood out among his fellows\, walking like a king’. He dressed elegantly\, even ostentatiously\, a taste derived perhaps from his\nbackground as an actor. G. A. Macdonnell describes him: “… wearing a lavender zephyr outside his frock coat. His appearance was slightly gaudy\, his vest being an embroidered satin\, and his scarf gold-sprigged with a double pin thrust in\, the heads of which were connected by a glittering chain . . .’ A great raconteur\, an excellent mimic who could entertain by his portrayals of Edmund Kean\, Thackeray\, and other celebrities he had met\, he liked to hold the stage\, ‘caring for no man’s anecdote but his own’. He could neither understand nor tolerate the acceptance of mediocrity\, the failure of others to give of their best.  \nHoward Staunton (01-iv-1810 22-vi-1874)\nA man of determined opinions\, he expressed them pontifically\, brooking little opposition. Always outspoken\, he often behaved\, writes Potter\, ‘with gross unfairness towards those whom he disliked\, or from whom he suffered defeat\, or whom he imagined to stand between himself and the sun’; ‘nevertheless’\, he continues\, ‘there was nothing\nweak about him and he had a backbone that was never curved with fear of anyone.’ Widely disliked\, Staunton was widely admired\, a choice that would have been his preference. Reminiscing in 1897\, Charles Edward Ranken (1828-1905) wrote: “With great defects he had great virtues; there was nothing mean\, cringing\, or small in his nature\, and\, taking all in all\, England never had a more worthy\nchess representative than Howard Staunton. \nR. D. Keene and R. N. Coles Howard Staunton the English World Chess Champion (1975) contains biography\, 78 games\, and 20 parts of games.  \nHoward Staunton\, The English World Chess Champion\nThe Staunton Defence has remained a completely playable gambit versus the Dutch Defence : \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nBlue Plaque for Howard Staunton\nHoward Staunton’s tombstone\n Save as PDF
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-howard-staunton/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200624
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200625
DTSTAMP:20210621T084640Z
CREATED:20190624T001040Z
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SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Alan Phillips (28-x-1923 24-vi-2009)
DESCRIPTION:BCN remembers Alan Phillips (28-x-1923 24-vi-2009) \nHere is his far too brief Wikipedia entry \nFrom Chessgames.com : \n“Alan Phillips\, joint British Champion in 1954\, was born in England in 1923. He was the author of Chess: 60 Years on with Caissa and Friends (Caissa Editions\, 2003) and The Chess Teacher (Cadogan\, 1995).” \nHere is an item from the Shropshire Chess web site \nHere is Alan Phillips autobiography from his own book\, Chess: Sixty years on with Caissa & Friends \n“Born in Stockport in 1923\,I was playing pontoon in an air-raid shelter in the autumn of 1940 with a friend from our school\, Stockport Grammar\, when he suddenly announced that he knew a better game\, being the school chess champion. Ostensibly studying for a Cambridge Scholarship with a view to reading Classics\, I played about 200 games with Norman Stephens\, emerging the victor perhaps because I studied Alekhine’s and Euwe’s games\, obtained from the Public Library\, whence I had been borrowing difficult piano works for the previous two years. When I got up to Magdalene in 1941\, I found standing next to me in the University Chess Club Wykehamist James Lighthill\, destined to become\, arguably\, our greatest applied mathematician of the second half of the last century; I played chess with him one evening a week and piano duets another\, and as Match Captain and Hon.Sec. in my second year – shared top board\, while now supposedly reading Italian\, as a War Office scheme\, and French\, languages I unfortunately then considered beneath contempt\, compared with the glory that was Greek. \nAlan Phillips plays David Hooper on August 20th 1954 in round five of the British Championships in Nottingham\, photographer unknown\nEnrolled but not commissioned – the War Office having ratted on its promise to a large bunch of first-class linguists – in the Army Intelligence Corps from August 1943 to October 1946\,I spent nearly three years abroad in Sicily and Palestine\, riding a motor-bike – our American equivalents in the CIC were mostly majors or colonels and rode in Cadillacs – and playing\, when stationary\, much music with singers and violinists\, especially in Palestine\, and chess with the Captain of the Harbour in Sicily\, a charming moustached Neapolitan who got about three draws in 300 games\, and then in Haifa\, Hadera and Jerusalem chess clubs\, beating the youth champion of Palestine and Aloni when he played simultaneously\, but losing to Porath\, and enjoying ‘skittles’ in cafes with many other players of near-master rank. Demobilised and put\, like the Goons\, on the Z-reserve in autumn 1946\, I went back to Cambridge to read Classics Pt II and found Peter Swinnerton-Dyer\, as far as I know our best number theorist of the past fifty years\, waiting for me – we tied for the University Championship having begun a series of trips to Hastings with Alan Truscott\, and later continued to Birmingham for the Midland Championship\, which I won in 1951. I usually won prizes in increasingly strong sections at Hastings except in two Premiers\, 1950-1 and 1954-5\, when my emotions were otherwise engaged\, as happened in the British Championship in 1952\, when\, after I had beaten all the best players and scored 7/8 with three rounds to go\, a girl-friend turned up and I lost my last three games\, refusing a draw in round nine in a not superior position\, not out of arrogance\, but in order to clinch the title. \nAlan Phillips and Leonard Barden are joint British Champions of 1954 in Nottingham\, photographer unknown\nOtherwise\, with one or two exceptions\, I only lost to the strongest players in the British Championships I played in\, i.e. 1949-55 and 1961\, tying for first place at Nottingham 1954 and coming third equal in a very strong Championship at Aberystwyth 1955\, which earned me a place as Board 6 on the English team at the Moscow Olympiad in 1956\, where I only drew against Luxembourg\, and lost to Geller\, but drew in two cases from bad positions with Johner\, Sanguinetti and Ghitescu. \nDavid Hooper (left) in conversation with Alan Phillips. Location and photographer unknown.\nIn l96l I moved up to Derbyshire\, where – though playing top board for Manchester as well as the county – having switched to Maths teaching after several years part-time study at Birkbeck and acquired offspring as well as promotion\, I also started annual visits to Dartington Summer School of Music\, now totalling 38 out of a possible 40\, all of which made it virtually impossible for me to play in tournaments\, apart from the odd visit to Hastings or fairly strong week-end tournaments\, e.g. Ilford\, which I won for the second time in 1973\, beating Basman. My responsibilities on my return to London as Head of Charlton School in 1967\, where I got Bob Wade to teach chess as part of mathematics in the Lower School\, and then of Forest Hill School\, where we organised many tournaments\, although I played generally as top board for Kent\, whom I led twice to victory in the County Championship in 1975 and 1976\, meant that I had even less time for tournament chess\, except at Islington and in the Challengers\, so that my real heyday ended there\, with a final move to a ‘quiet’ county\, Shropshire – as far as chess was concerned – as Adviser for Secondary Education and Area Adviser\, 1976-82\, in which capacity I avoided as much paper-work as I could and taught chess in the lunch-hour to all the primary and handicapped pupils I visited. I should say most of my successes at chess have been at County Level\, where I played top board for Cambridgeshire and London University\, as well as the counties mentioned\, and in the very strong London League\, as far as I can estimate I had a success rate of some 70% in those contests. In general the games in this book\, with one or two exceptions for historical or anecdotal reasons\, were played at high levels\, and won by the right player\, not suddenly lost by a blunder\, like some games published nowadays because the blunder is perpetrated by a famous player. \nPhotograph taken in Hastings on 28 December 1950. Lord Dunsany (standing on the right) is watching the first-round game between Alan Phillips and Weaver Adams\, source : http://boylston-chess-club.blogspot.com/\nWith regard to the general assessment of players and tournaments\, I have only one comment “Look at the games!” When even\, or especially\, David Bronstein wails “They give me a number”\, I think it time to end a spuriously precise system and revert to the earlier English practice or the traditional Soviet one of putting players in classes\, preferably according to a sufficiently large number of results in tournaments or strong club or county matches. And when players are inhibited\, when the match is won\, from offering an opponent\, who has played well\, a draw\, that is a diminution of sportsmanship\, so a draw\, even with Kasparov\, should not count in grading. Finally the use of seconds or computers once a game is started should be\nregarded as totally unsporting\, and players should be put on their honour\, as bridge-players are in matters of cheating\, not to use them. \nI should like to dedicate this book to the memory of my good friends\, David Hooper\, Stuart Milner-Barry\, and A.R.B.Thomas\, men of integrity\, humour\, and many other talents\, who brought to their chess the same qualities of courage and sportsmanship they showed in the rest of their lives. \nAlan Phillips (28-x-1923 24-vi-2009) : Source : https://www.shropshirechess.org/History/1970s.htm\nAlan Phillips\nBritish Master\, Joint British Champion 1954\nThorn Cottage\, Appleton Thorn\, Warrington\, Cheshire\nSeptember 2003″ \nObituary of Alan Phillips by John Saunders from British Chess Magazine\, 2009. Part One\nObituary of Alan Phillips by John Saunders from British Chess Magazine\, 2009. Part Two\n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nHere is his obituary from The Times of London \nThe Chess Teacher\nChess: Sixty years on with Caissa & Friends\n Save as PDF
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-alan-phillips-28-x-1923-24-vi-2009/
CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering,Writer
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