BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//British Chess News - ECPv6.17.4.1//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://britishchessnews.com X-WR-CALDESC:Events for British Chess News REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:UTC BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:+0000 TZOFFSETTO:+0000 TZNAME:UTC DTSTART:20190101T000000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201211 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201212 DTSTAMP:20260817T135555Z CREATED:20200411T223934Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T135555Z UID:4523-1607644800-1607731199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Christopher Wood (11-xii-1940) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of FM Christopher Baruch Wood (11-xii-1940) URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-christopher-baruch-wood-11-xii-1940/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201211 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201212 DTSTAMP:20260817T135547Z CREATED:20210125T154414Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T135547Z UID:13467-1607644800-1607731199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Richard Griffith (22-vii-1872 11-xii-1955) DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of Richard Griffith (22-vii-1872 11-xii-1955) \nSee Chess World\, Volume 11\, Number 6\, June 1956\, page 128. \nHere is his Wikipedia entry. URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-richard-griffith-22-vii-1872-11-xii-1955/ CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,History,Player,Writer END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201212 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201213 DTSTAMP:20201212T190642Z CREATED:20200407T103614Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201212T190642Z UID:4127-1607731200-1607817599@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of David Pritchard (19-x-1919 12-xii-2005) DESCRIPTION:We remember David Pritchard who passed away on Monday\, December 12th\, 2005. \nDavid Brine Pritchard was born on Sunday\, October 19th\, 1919. On this day the first US Distinguished Service Medal was awarded to a living female recipient\, Anna Howard Shaw. \nHe was born in Wandsworth taking his mothers’  Winifred maiden name of Brine (as was customary in those days). His father was Arthur Pritchard (DoB : 4th January 1890) and he was the managing director of an Engineering Company. Arthur and Winifred married in Maidenhead\, Berkshire in 1917. \nAt the time of the 1939 census David was a chiropodist and recorded as single and living in Munee Cottage\, Main Street\, Bedford. Main Street appears to have been renamed to Main Road which is in Biddenham. It is likely DBPs cottage was something like : \n48 and 50 Main Road Biddenham\, Bedford\, Hertfordshire\nDuring the second world War David joined the Royal Air Force and was stationed in the Far East and following the war\, he switched to intelligence work also for the RAF. He attained the rank of Squadron Leader and played much chess during this period of his life. \nIn 1950 David completed his first book : The Right Way to Play Chess\, Elliot Right Way Books\, 1950\, ISBN 1-58574-046-2 \nThe Right Way to Play Chess\, Elliot Right Way Books\, DB Pritchard\, 1950.\n(Ed : This was the first chess book of this article’s author and was thoroughly consumed!) \nOn page 224 of said book David wrote : \nChessplayers – and this must be whispered – are generally an egotistical\, ill-mannered crowd. If they conformed to common rules of decorum these words would not have to be written \nfollowed by \nI once carried out a private survey at a well-known chess restaurant where a large number of ‘friendly’ games are always in progress. In less than 30 per cent of those observed was resignation made with a good grace. In two-thirds of the games the loser either knocked his king over\, abruptly pushed the pieces into the centre of the board\, started to set up the men for a fresh game\, or got up and walked away without saying a word to his opponent. \nHe married Elaine Saunders in 1952. \nElliot Right Way Books was an excellent choice of publisher for David and only 36 minutes by car from his new home in Godalming. \nHe won the Singapore Championship in 1954 and the Malaysian Championship in 1955. \nVisiting https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter97.html you will find two images of David and Elaine playing chess in Singapore. \nDavid and Elaine had a daughter\, Wanda on March 21st 1958. She became Wanda Dakin who was also a chess player. Wanda attended Guildford High School for Girls and then Royal Holloway College\, Egham. \nDavid was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 1958-59 and 1965-66 seasons. \nFrom the British Championships\, 1959 in York we have this sparkling game with Frank Parr : \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nBy now David had developed an  interest in chess variants and board games in general. \nHe played in and won (several times) the Battle of Britain Chess Tournament : DBP was the organisations President. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nIn 1970 he brought out his third book :  Begin Chess\, David Pritchard\, Elliot Right Way Books\, 1952 \nBegin Chess by David Brine Pritchard\, Elliot Right Way Books\, 1970\nBegin Chess by David Brine Pritchard\, Elliot Right Way Books\, 1970\nDavid became President of British Chess Variants Society and wrote many books on variants and indoor games. \nHere is an interview compiled by Hans Bodlaender about David’s Encyclopedia of Chess Variants : \nEncyclopedia of Chess Variants\, DB Pritchard\, GAMES & PUZZLES PUBLICATIONS\, 1994\nParticularly interesting was this Q&A : \nDo you think computers and the Internet will have effect on chess and on chess variants? If so\, in what way? \nI think that the Internet will inevitably introduce chess to more players but I forsee chess variants\, because of their novelty\, benefitting in particular from publicity on the net. I expect variants to gain more and more adherents in the future. \nDavid was preparing a second edition before he passed away. This was completed and made available on-line by John Beasley. \nThe Pritchard family lived at Badgers Wood\, Hascombe Road\, Godalming\, Surrey\, GU8 4AA in an idyllic location : \nBadgers Wood\, Hascombe Road\, Godalming\, Surrey\, GU8 4AA\nand here is the exceptional interior with games room : \n  \nBadgers Wood\, Hascombe Road\, Godalming\, Surrey\, GU8 4AA\nAt the time of his passing he had five grand children. \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXVI (126\, 2006)\, Number 2 (February)\, page 76 : \n“David Brine Pritchard (19 x 1919 Streatham\, London – 12 xiii 2005\, London) has died following a fall . He was a strong amateur player and a successful author of books on chess and other games. \nDavid Pritchard was a Squadron Leader in the RAF during the war and later rejoined it to work in intelligence. Whilst serving with the RAF he won the Malayan Chess Championships in 195\, and he was also instrumental in the running the UK event known as Battle of Britain Tournament which attracted a strong field in its heyday and generated revenue for the RAF Benevolent Fund. \nHe was a dangerous. attacking played who scored a number of notable scalps in the British Championship including Penrose and Miles\, without ever achieving the consistency required to challenge for the leading positions.  He won the Southern Counties championships in 1959 and 1966. \nAs an author\, Pritchard’s most successful book was The Right Way to Play Chess (Elliott\, 1950\, with numerous reprints). which is still to be found for sale in many British bookshops. \nHe will also be remembered as a leading authority on chess variants : he was reported to be in the process of preparing a second edition of The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants (1994) at the time of his death. He was also a very good correspondence player\, an inventor composer of chess puzzles of all sorts (some of which appeared in BCM) and his interest in Fairy chess dated back to the 1940s. \nHis wife Elaine Pritchard\, the leading woman player of the 1950s and 1960s\, and their daughter Wanda (who also played competitive chess) survive him. We send them our condolences on behalf of BCM and its readers.” \nDavid Pritchard (19-x-1919 12-xii-2005)\, Passport photograph\nHe was a leading member of Godalming Chess Club and played in the Surrey Border League. \nThe David Pritchard Shield from the Surrey Border League\nHere is David’s Wikipedia entry \nThe Family Book of Games\, DB Prichard\, Brockhampton Press\, 1994 URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-david-brine-pritchard-19-x-1919-12-xii-2005/ CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Variants,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/David-Parlett-and-David-Pritchard-when-asked-who-is-the-better-and-most-prolific-gamebook-author.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201213 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201214 DTSTAMP:20201212T223944Z CREATED:20191213T135517Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201212T223944Z UID:2383-1607817600-1607903999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of David Shire (13-xii-1947) DESCRIPTION:Happy Birthday to David Shire. \nDavid John Shire was born on Saturday\, December 13th 1947. On the same day “Ballerina” by Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra hit #1 on the Billboard Best Sellers in Stores record chart. URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-david-j-shire-13-xii-1947/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Composer,Player,Problemist ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/JUA3089-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201213 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201214 DTSTAMP:20201213T110541Z CREATED:20191213T140256Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201213T110541Z UID:2387-1607817600-1607903999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of Colin Sydenham (13-xii-1937) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of Colin Peter Sydenham (13-xii-1937) URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-colin-peter-sydenham-13-xii-1937/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Composer,Player,Problemist ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/13.12-colin_sydenham.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201214 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201215 DTSTAMP:20201213T185406Z CREATED:20191211T173844Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201213T185406Z UID:2311-1607904000-1607990399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Brandon Clarke (14-xii-1995) DESCRIPTION:Happy Birthday Wishes to IM Brandon George I Clarke born on this day (December 14th)\, 1995. “Earth Song” by Michael Jackson was the UK Number One single. \nIn the 2003 London Junior Championships he was =13 with 4/7 \nIn July 2004 he secured his first published standard play grading of 84D and 62D for rapid play.  His first recorded rapid  play tournament was on the 4th of October 2003 being the Mini Squad Under 8s. In this event he beat a certain Jamie Horton who had a grading of 45D at the time. \nIn 2006 Brandon won outright the London Under 12 title with 7.5/9. Marcus Harvey was a runner-up. This situation was repeated one year later. \nIn 2009 Brandon won the LJCC Under-16 title this time with Akash Jain as runner-up. His TPR for a score of 5/6 was 199. \nBrandon was a chess scholar at Wellington College\, Berkshire and was part of the strongest school / college team to play in the National Schools competition for many years that included James Holland\, Felix Jose Ynojosa-Aponte\, Alexander Galliano\, Latefah Meesam-Sparkes\, Akash Jain\, Adrian Archer-Lock and latterly William Foo and Richard Zhu. Despite being easily the strongest team they were denied the title by the antiquated age handicapping rules. \nFIDE rating profile for Brandon Clarke according to MegaBase 2020\nHe became an International Master in early 2019 and plays much chess in Australia\, New Zealand and England having lived in the USA for some time after leaving Wellington College. \nAged 24 Brandon has achieved his highest FIDE rating of 2445 and it shows every sign of increasing. \nIM Brandon Clarke\, British Championships (Major Open)\, Torquay 2019\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nWith the White pieces Brandon is almost exclusively an e4 player with occasional forays with the Queen’s pawn. Against the Najdorf he prefers 6.Bg5 and allows the Marshall against the Ruy Lopez. \nAs the second player he plays the Najdorf and the King’s Indian Defence most of the time. \nBrandon has his own YouTube Channel. \nOn Chess.com he plays under the handle of Biranidun with a blitz rating of 2847. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nIn January 2019 Brandon scored a very impressive victory in the 126th (!) New Zealand Open. “The 2019 126th New Zealand Open is part of the 126th New Zealand Congress and is a 9-round Swiss event being held at the Waipuna Conference Centre in Auckland from 14-22 January 2019.” \nCross table from the 126h New Zealand Open\nBrandon made a welcome return to the UK and comfortably won the 2019 Major Open in Torquay with 8.5/9 as an IM. \nBrandon plays for Australia Kangaroos in the Pro Chess League. \nThe ECF grading web site shows his only club to be Littlethorpe (in Leicestershire) although Brandon played for Warwickshire Select in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL). \nIM Brandon Clarke\, British Championships (Major Open)\, Torquay 2019\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-brandon-george-i-clarke-14-xii-2005/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/bct_4620_lv-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201214 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201215 DTSTAMP:20201030T162932Z CREATED:20191211T174157Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201030T162932Z UID:2315-1607904000-1607990399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Ian Thomas (14-xii-1967) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of IM Ian Thomas (14-xii-1967) URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-ian-thomas-14-xii-1967/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/IMG_1433-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201214 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201215 DTSTAMP:20201030T163058Z CREATED:20191211T174833Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201030T163058Z UID:2317-1607904000-1607990399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Karl CC Mah (14-xii-1980) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of IM Karl CC Mah (14-xii-1980) \nIM Karl CC Mah\nIM Karl CC Mah URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-karl-cc-mah-14-xii-1980/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/IMG_1070-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201215 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201216 DTSTAMP:20201226T165141Z CREATED:20190822T163644Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201226T165141Z UID:1000-1607990400-1608076799@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Horatio Caro (05-vii-1862 15-xii-1920) DESCRIPTION:We remember Horatio Caro who passed away on Wednesday\, December 15th\, 1920. \nHoratio Caro was born on Saturday\, July 5th 1862. On the same day Heinrich Georg Bronn\, German geologist and paleontologist passed away. \nHis parents were (in the 1861 census) Jacob and Mathilda Caro (née Lüpschütz\, possibly Lipschütz) living at 4\, Warwick Place\, Jesmond\, Newcastle upon Tyne. \nHoratio’s birth was recorded at Lombard Street\, Newcastle upon Tyne. \nJacob and Horatio moved to Berlin to live at 2\, Winterfeld Strasse. They both had joint German/British citizenship. \nIn 1896 Jacob passed away and his affairs were handled by family solicitors\, Daggett and Grey of 3 Dean Street\, Newcastle-upon-Tyne : \nThe London Gazette\, 1896\nOn December 15th 1920 JHD Reid\, Master of the Institution of South Grove (a workhouse) recorded the discharge of Horatio. The reason stated was “dead”. \nHis death was registered in Mile End Old Town and he is buried in the East Ham Jewish cemetery\, London Borough of Newham\, Greater London located at Section E Row 18 Plot 14. \nGrave marker for Horatio Caro. Photograph from Gordon Cadden to Ken Whyld Assocation\nAccording to Wolfgang Heidenfeld in The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE : \n“A minor English master who spent most of his chess life in Berlin. Though he had indifferent tournament not much better match results (he lost to Mieses\, and Winawer\, drew twice with Von Bardeleben and beat Lewitt)\, his name has become immortal through the Caro-Kann Defence\, which he expounded in his own journal\, Brüderschaft\, in 1886.” \nThe Caro-Kann Defence is characterised by \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\n(as an alternative to the French Defence) in which the c8 bishop may be active from an early stage. \nCaro famously was able to overcome Emanuel Lasker in just 14 moves in 1890 : \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nThere is also the Caro Variation of the Ponziani Defence which was known since the 1850s and recommended by Caro in Deutsches Wochenschach\, 1893: \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nFrom Chess\, Facts and Fables (McFarland and Company\, Inc.\, 2006)\, page 12\, Chess Note 3096\, Edward Winter : \n“We can now add a tenth specimen to the collection (of ‘Rare queen sacrifices’)\, having noted the following position on page 81 of Brüderschaft\, 10 March 1888 : \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nThe magazine (see also page 155 of the 12 May 1888 issue) stated that in this game\, played in February 1888 (in Berlin?)\, Horatio Caro mated his unidentified opponent in five moves as above.” \nIn another place we are grateful to Brian Denman who mentioned that  Caro made an  appearance for the Great Britain team in the 1898 cable match against America. He lost on board 3 against John Barry. \nRichard James replied : “He also represented Berlin in a cable match against New York in 1905. EdoChess has his highest rating as 2545 (11th in the world) in 1892.” \nAlso\, according to Richard James : \n“He spent most of his life in Germany. Page 353 of the Jubiläums-Ausgabe (1926) of Kagans Neueste Schachnachrichten (yes\, I also read Edward Winter’s Chess Notes) claims that he lived in Frankfurt up to his 22nd year and in Berlin from 1882 onwards (arithmetic fail). Some sources claim\, incorrectly\, that he died in Berlin. \nHis death was registered in Mile End Old Town. In the 1911 census there are a lot of Caros in St George in the East\, just the other side of the Commercial Road from Mile End Old Town\, from their first names clearly Jewish. There’s also Blanche Caro\, a 65-year-old Polish born widow\, described as a furrier\, in hospital in Mile End Old Town.” \nThere is extensive discussion from the same above source. \nFrom Wikipedia : \n“Horatio Caro (5 July 1862 – 15 December 1920) was an English chess master. \nCaro was born in Newcastle upon Tyne\, England\,[1] but spent most of his chess career in Berlin\, Germany. He played several matches. In 1892\, he drew with Curt von Bardeleben (+2 –2 =2)\, lost to Szymon Winawer (+2 –3 =1). In 1897\, he lost to Jacques Mieses (+3 –4 =3). In 1903\, he drew with Bardeleben (+4 –4 =0). In 1905\, he won against Moritz Lewitt (+4 –3 =5). \nIn tournaments\, he won in Berlin (1888\, 1891\, 1894\, 1898 (jointly)\, and 1903). He also took 10th at Berlin 1883\, took 4th at Berlin 1887\, tied for 2nd-3rd at Nuremberg 1888\, took 3rd at Berlin 1889\, took 2nd at Berlin 1890. \nHe took 3rd at Berlin 1894\, took 9th at Berlin 1897\, took 17th at Vienna 1898\, took 4th at Berlin 1899\, tied for 6-7th at Berlin 1902\, tied for 11-12th at Coburg 1904\, tied for 7-8th at Barmen 1905\, took 9th at Berlin 1907\, tied for 3-5th at Berlin 1908\, and took 4th at Berlin 1911. \nCaro died in London at age 58. \nHis claim to fame is linked to the opening Caro-Kann Defence (B12)\, which he analysed along with Marcus Kann and jointly published about on the German journal Bruederschaft in 1886.” URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-horatio-caro/ CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Horatio_Caro.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201215 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201216 DTSTAMP:20201030T163431Z CREATED:20200323T141033Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201030T163431Z UID:3700-1607990400-1608076799@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary for Thomas Ricketts (03-vii-1896 15-xii-1979) DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary for Thomas Charles Donald Ricketts (03-vii-1896 15-xii-1979) \nSee Sunnucks URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-for-thomas-charles-donald-ricketts-03-vii-1896-15-xii-1979/ CATEGORIES:Composer,History,Problemist END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201216 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201217 DTSTAMP:20201216T152412Z CREATED:20190823T104100Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201216T152412Z UID:1076-1608076800-1608163199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Thomas Dawson (28-xi-1889 16-xii-1951) DESCRIPTION:We remember Thomas Dawson who passed away on Sunday\, December 16th\, 1951. \nHe was also known by the pseudonym T. Dyke Robinson (we are looking for a primary source for this) \nThomas Rayner Dawson was born on Thursday\, November 28th 1889 in Leeds\, Yorkshire to Henry and Jane Dawson (née Rayner). \nThe early history of TRD and his family has been meticulously researched by Yorkshire chess historian\, Steve Mann. We recommend you visit this page to discover the detail. \nAccording to Edward Winter in Chess Notes TRD lived at the following addresses : \n\n5 Clyde Road\, Wallington\, Surrey\, England (Ranneforths Schachkalender\, 1925\, page 139)\n2 Lyndhurst Road\, Thornton Heath\, Surrey\, England (Ranneforths Schach-Kalender\, 1930\, page 65).\n31 Clyde Road\, Croydon\, England (Fairy Chess Review\, issues from 1946 to 1949*).\n\nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess (OUP\, 1984 & 1996)by Hooper & Ken Whyld : \n“English composer\, pioneer of both fairy problems and retrograde analysis. His problems in these fields form the greater part of his output (about 6\,500 compositions) and are better remembered than his studies and orthodox problems. For fairy problems he invented new pieces: grasshopper (1912) LEO (1912)\, NEUTRAL MAN (1912) NIGHT RIDER (1925)\, and VAO (1912); he codified new rules such as the maximummer (1913) and various kinds of series-mover; and he used unorthodox boards. \nIn 1915 he wrote Retrograde Analysis\, the first book on the subject\, completing the project begun several years earlier by the German composer Wolfgang Hundsdorfer (1879-1951). \nRetrograde Analysis\, Thomas Dawson & Hundsdorfer\, 1915\nFrom 1919 to 1930 Dawson conducted a column devoted to fairy problems in the Chess Amateur\, In 1926 he was a co-founder of The Problemist \, which he edited for its first six years and he founded and edited The Problemist Fairy Supplement (1931-6) continued as The Fairy Chess Review (1936-51). \nAsymmetry\, TR Dawson & Wolfgang Pauly\, Chess Amateur\, 1927\nBesides conducting columns in several newspapers and periodicals\, one of them daily and one in the Braille Chess Magazine\, Dawson edited the problem section of the British Chess Magazine from 1931 to 1951; he devised and published in its pages (1947-50) a systematic terminology for problem themes in the hope that it would supplant the extensive jargon then and now in use\, Dawson wrote five hooks on fairy problems: Caissa’s Wild Roses (1935); C. M. Fox\, His Problems (1936); Caissa’s Wild Roses in Clusters (1937); Ultimate Themes (1938); and Caissa’s Fairy Tales (1947). \nCaissa’s Wild Roses in Clusters\, TR Dawson\, Chess Amateur\, 1937\nCharles Masson Fox (1866-1935) was a patron whose generosity made possible the publication of four of these books and the two fairy problem magazines founded by Dawson. Ultimate Themes deals with tasks\, another of Dawson’s favourite subjects. In 1973 all five books were republished in one volume. Five Classics of Fairy Chess. \nFive Classics of Fairy Chess\, TR Dawson\, Dover Publications Inc.; Revised edition (1 Sept. 1973)\nDawson found it difficult to understand the problemist’s idea of beauty because it is not susceptible to precise definition. The artist talks of “quiet” moves\, oblivious that they are White’s most pulverizing attacks! This aesthetic folly\, reverence\, response thrill to vain-glorious bombast runs throughout chess.(See Bohemian for a problem showing 16 model mates\, a task Dawson claimed as a record but a setting Bohemian composers would reject.) His genius did not set him apart from his fellows; he could find time for casual visitors and would explain his ideas to a tyro with patience\, modesty\, and kindness. Although he won many tourney prizes much of his work was designed to encourage others\, to enlarge the small band of fairy problem devotees\, He composed less for fame than to amuse himself\, confessing to another composer ‘We do these things for ourselves alone.’ \nCaissa’s Fairy Tales\, TR Dawson\, Chess Amateur\, 1947\nA chemistry graduate\, Dawson took a post in the rubber industry in 1922 and rose to be head of the Intelligence Division of the British Rubber Manufacturer for which he founded\, catalogued\, and maintained a technical library. Unwell for the last year of his life\, he died from a stroke. K. Fabel and C. E. Kemp\, Schach ohne Grenzen or Chess unlimited (1969) is a survey\, written in German and English\, of Dawson’s contribution to the art of fairy problems.” \nThomas Rayner Dawson (28-xi-1889 16-xii-1951)\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale 1970 & 1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“British problemist. Born on 28th November 1889. Died on 16th December 1951. Universally known as TRD.\, the great master of Fairy problems. His wealth of invention held the chess world enthralled. His output comprised about 6\,400 problems and 150 studies. \nDawson was a nephew of the late James Rayner\, himself a noted chess problemist . From as early as about 1910\, TRD had conducted the ‘Chess Endings‘ section in the Chess Amateur\, and its Fairy section from 1919. He worked with BG Laws from Mark 1930 conducting the problem pages of the British Chess Magazine\, and following Laws’ death he assumed complete charge of the section from October 1931 to February 1951 when ill health forced him to relinquish the work. \nFairy Chess Review\nThe Problemist Fairy Chess Supplement subsequently renamed The Fairy Chess Review was started by TRD in August 1930. TRD was concerned in a number of other chess publications ; chess for the Blind\, several books of the AC White Christmas series\, BCPS Honours 1926-29\, and the CM Fox series. \nHe was largely instrumental in the publication of the first issue of The Problemist on 1st January 1926\, and was editor until May 1931. He was President of The British Chess Problem Society from September 1931 to 1943. \nUltimate Themes\, TR Dawson\, Chess Amateur\, 1938\nApart from chess\, Thomas Dawson\, MSc\, FRIC\, FIRI was an international authority on rubber\, and was responsible for the creation of the world-famous rubber library at Croydon\, as well as its ‘Dawson’ system of rubber literature documentation. A Guide to Fairy Chess and The Problemist March 1952 detail the remarkable life-time accomplishments of TRD.” \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXI (71\, 1951)\, Number 3 (March) pp. 78-80 we have notice of the retirement of TRD written by Brian Reilly : \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXX1 (71\, 1951)\, Number 3 (March) pp. 77 – 80.\nFollowing that we have this appreciation from the incoming Problem Editor\, Stanley Sedgwick of 337 Strone Road\, Manor Park\, London E12 : \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXX1 (71\, 1951)\, Number 3 (March) pp. 77 – 80.\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXX1 (71\, 1951)\, Number 3 (March) pp. 77 – 80.\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXX1 (71\, 1951)\, Number 3 (March) pp. 77 – 80.\nUnfortunately TRD was to pass away not much more than a year after the retirement notice and in British Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 4 (April) pp. 107 – 108 we have this obituary also from Stanley Sedgwick : \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 4 (April) pp. 107 – 108\nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 4 (April) pp. 107 – 108\nThe same obituary contains the following appreciate by Gerald Abrahams : \nBritish Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXII (72\, 1952)\, Number 4 (April) pp. 107 – 108\nFrom Wikipedia : \n“Thomas Rayner Dawson (28 November 1889 – 16 December 1951) was an English chess problemist and is acknowledged as “the father of Fairy Chess”.[1] He invented many fairy pieces and new conditions. He introduced the popular fairy pieces grasshopper\, nightrider\, and many other fairy chess ideas. \nDawson published his first problem\, a two-mover\, in 1907. His chess problem compositions include 5\,320 fairies\, 885 directmates\, 97 selfmates\, and 138 endings. 120 of his problems have been awarded prizes and 211 honourably mentioned or otherwise commended. He cooperated in chess composition with Charles Masson Fox. \nDawson was founder-editor (1922–1931) of The Problemist\, the journal of the British Chess Problem Society. He subsequently produced The Fairy Chess Review (1930–1951)\, which began as The Problemist Fairy Chess Supplement. At the same time he edited the problem pages of The British Chess Magazine (1931–1951). \nPublications \nCaissa’s Playthings a series of articles in Cheltenham Examiner (1913)\nRetrograde Analysis\, with Wolfgang Hundsdorfer (1915)\nFata Morgana\, with Birgfeld\, Nanz\, Massmann\, Pauly (1922)\nAsymmetry\, with W. Pauly (1928)\nSeventy Five Retros (1928)\nCaissa’s Wild Roses (1935)\nC. M. Fox\, His Problems (1936)\nCaissa’s Wild Roses in Clusters (1937)\nUltimate Themes (1938)\nCaissa’s Fairy Tales (1947)\nThe last five titles were collected as Five Classics of Fairy Chess\, Dover Publications (1973)\, ISBN 978-0-486-22910-2.” URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-thomas-rayner-dawson/ CATEGORIES:Composer,Death Anniversary,History,Problemist ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/DawsonThomasRayner.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201216 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201217 DTSTAMP:20201030T164341Z CREATED:20200408T130020Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201030T164341Z UID:4193-1608076800-1608163199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Stephen J Cullip (16-xii-1973) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of FM Stephen J Cullip (16-xii-1973) URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-stephen-j-cullip-16-xii-1973/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201217 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201218 DTSTAMP:20211217T150849Z CREATED:20200408T124730Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211217T150849Z UID:4181-1608163200-1608249599@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Paul Cooksey (17-xii-1971) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of FM Paul S Cooksey (17-xii-1971) URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-paul-s-cooksey-17-xii-1971/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201218 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201219 DTSTAMP:20211221T100514Z CREATED:20190823T191554Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211221T100514Z UID:1132-1608249600-1608335999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of William Winter (11-ix-1898 18-xii-1955) DESCRIPTION:William Winter\, British Open Chess Champion\, 1934. The verso frontispiece of Chess for Match Players\, William Winter\, London\, Lawrence & Wishart\, 1st edition. 1936\nAuthor’s inscription from Chess for Match Players\, William Winter\, London\, Lawrence & Wishart\, 1st edition. 1936\nBCN remembers William (Willy) Winter who passed away on Sunday\, December 18th\, 1955 from tuberculosis (at the time known as “the white plague”). He refused to enter a sanatorium. \nThere is some variation from sources who quote his Date of Birth. All have 11th of September as the date but vary by the year giving either 1898 or 1899. However careful research by John Townsend (Wokingham) gives 1897 and this work is cited by Edward Winter. \nLate in 2021 historian Gerard Killoran (Ilkley) discovered this clipping from the Hampshire Advertiser – Wednesday 22 September 1897 p.2: \nHampshire Advertiser – Wednesday 22 September 1897 p.2\nwhich confirms JTs evidence from the 1939 register. \nHis father was William Henderson Winter and his mother Margaret Winter. He was born in Medstead\, Hampshire. In the 1911 census their address was recorded as “The Boynes”\,  Four Marks\, Alton\, Hampshire and the family had two servants : a cook and a housemaid. In 1936 Winter lived at The Old Cottage\, North Road\, Three Bridges\, Sussex. \nIn the second quarter of 1933 William married Amelia Jennett (née Potter) in the district of Pancras. William knew Amelia as Molly and wrote about her extensively in his memoirs. Amelia was married to Dennis Jennett but Dennis had an affair with another woman and a convenient to all parties “arrangement” was entered into. However\, Willy’s father was less than impressed. \nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale 1970&1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“International Master\, chess. professional and British Champion in 1935 and 1936\, William Winter is one of the most colourful  figures that British chess has produced. A born bohemian\, Winter could on many occasions have been mistaken for a tramp\, yet he was equally capable of turning up at a dinner or some other official occasion\, well-groomed and looking the split image of his famous uncle\, Sir James Barrie\, and making a speech of such wit and culture that every other speech would seem flat. \nBorn in Medstead in Hampshire on 11th September 1898\, of Scottish parentage. Winter’s mother was the youngest sister of Sir James Barrie\, and his father a brilliant scholar who had entered St. Andrew’s University at the age of 16\, taken honours in classics and then won a scholarship to Cambridge to read mathematics. \nWinter was taught to play chess by his father\, who was a strong player\, when he was 12. From the time he was introduced to the game his main aim in life was to become a first-class player\, and his previous interest\, cricket\, had to take a back seat. \nWhen he was 15\, he joined the city of London Chess club\, one of the leading clubs in the country\, and his game-rapidly improved. He went up to Cambridge to read law for a year during-the l9l4-l9l8 war\, before he became of age for military service and joined the Honourable Artillery Company. While he was stationed at Leeds he learned that the British champion\, F. D. Yates\, and the Mexican master\, A. G. Conde\, were in the habit of playing chess on a Saturday afternoon in a café in Bradford. \nWinter started going to this café and made the acquaintance of the two masters\, who would occasionally give him a game. \nOn returning to Cambridge when the war was over\, Winter became President of the University Chess Club and also started to take an active interest in politics. He joined the University Socialist Society and the local branch of the Independent Labour Party\, and when the Communist Party was formed he became a Communist. \nIn 1919 Winter became Cambridge University Champion and won a match against R. H. V. Scott\, a leading British player\, by a score of 4-2\, thereby securing for himself an invitation to play in the Victory Congress at Hastings. His lack of experience of master play proved too great a handicap\, and he came 11th out of 12. \nEdo rating profile for William Winter from http://www.edochess.ca/players/p7187.html\nOn leaving Cambridge after taking his degree in 1919\, Winter persuaded his parents to allow him a year in which to play chess before settling down to a career. He hoped that during that year he might be able to prove that he had sufficient talent to become a professional player. This did not prove the case\, and Winter had to resign himself to becoming a solicitor. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nIn 1921 he became articled to a London firm\, but after a dispute with his father\, which resulted in his allowance being stopped\, Winter had to give up his articles and decided to concentrate his energies on politics. He went to live in Bristol and addressed open-air meetings all over the city on behalf of the Communist party\, until he was arrested for sedition and sentenced to six months imprisonment. After his release Winter continued his political activities until he was forced to abandon them on medical advice. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nHaving given up politics\, Winter decided to try his luck as a chess professional. This proved to be a success\, and within two years he was making a reasonable living teaching the game\, playing games for fees at St. George’s Cafe in St. Martin’s Lane in London and writing for The Manchester Guardian and The Daily Worker. \nWinter remained a chess professional for the rest of his life\, apart from the war years. He wrote two chess best sellers: Chess for Match Players\, published in 1936 \nChess for Match Players\, William Winter\, Carroll & Nicholson\, 1936\nand reprinted in 1951\, and Kings of Chess; \nKings of Chess\, William Winter\, Carroll and Nicholson Ltd\, 1954\nand was co-author with F. D. Yates of Modern Master Play\, \nModern Master Play\, FD Yates and W. Winter\, 1930\nand with FD Yates of World Championship Candidates Tournament\, 1953. \nWinter never reached the very highest ranks as a player\, although he won the British Championship twice and represented his country in four Chess Olympiads: Hamburg in 1930\, Prague in 1931\, Folkestone in 1933 and Warsaw in 1935. In the Great Britain v. U.S.S.R. radio match in 1946 he defeated Bronstein in the first round and then characteristically went out and celebrated his victory in such a way that his defeat in the return round was inevitable. \nWilliam Winter (11-IX-1897\, 18-XII-1955)\nAlthough he achieved no great successes in international tournaments\, in individual games he beat many of the world’s leading players\, including Nimzowitsch and Vidmar\, and had draws against Capablanca and Botvinnik among others. \nWilliam Winter (11-IX-1897\, 18-XII-1955)\nWilliam Winter (11-IX-1897\, 18-XII-1955)\nHe died of tuberculosis in London in December 1955\, after refusing to go into a sanatorium.” \nIn Kings\, Commoners and Knaves\, (Russell Enterprises\, 1999)\, page 393 Winter quotes Winter (!) from Chess Masterpieces (Marshall) as follows: \nI consider [Winter v Vidmar\, London\, 1927] to be my best game partly on account of the eminence of my opponent and partly because of the importance of the occasion on which it was played\, and also because on three occasions in which the situation was extremely complicated. I was fortunate enough to discover the only continuation which not only was necessary to secure victory\, but to actually save the game \nHere is that game: \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nFrom The Anglo-Soviet Radio Chess Match by Klein and Winter : \nThe Anglo-Soviet Radio Chess Match\, E. Klein and W. Winter (1947\, Pitman)\n“W. Winter was born in 1899 in Hampshire. A Cambridge graduate in Law\, he devoted himself eventually entirely to chess and is the only Englishman who\, despite all vicissitudes\, has faithfully remained a professional. After winning the Cambridge University Championship in 1921 he competed in a number of international tournaments. His outstanding performance was in the tournament in Scarborough 1928\, which he won. He won the British Championship in 1935 and 1936\, and has represented his country on four occasions in international team tournaments. In Hamburg\, 1930\, he was undefeated. \nScene at London. From left to right – Seated : Fairhurst\, List and Winter in play. Standing König and Sir George Thomas\nHis literary activities include Chess for Match Players and The Alekhine-Capablanca World Title Match\, 1927. He edits the chess column in the Soviet Weekly. \nGames Played In the World’s Championship Match between Jose Paul Capablanca and Alexander Alekhine\, FD Yates and W\, Winter\, 1928\, Printing Craft Limited\nHis chess record is erratic and does not reflect his true ability. He is capable of some of the finest chess\, but often plays too impulsively. His greatest strength lies in King’s side attacks. which he handles with skill and accomplishment.” \nWilliam Winter (11-IX-1897\, 18-XII-1955)\nFrom the Preface of The World Chess Championship : 1951 by Lionel Sharples Penrose we have : \n“Mr. Winter’s chess career has been a long one and he occupies an extremely high position among British players. He has been British Champion twice\, in 1935 and 1936. Among other notable successes was his first place in the Scarborough International Tournament in 1928. He defeated Nimzovich in the London Tournament in 1927. Against the present world championship contenders he has a very fine score\, a draw against Botvinnik at Nottingham in 1936 and a win and a loss against Bronstein in the Radio Match\, Great Britain v U.S.S.R. in 1946. Mr. Winter is a specialist in writing about the art of chess\, and players throughout the country owe a great deal to his deep and logical expositions.” \nGames Played in the World’s Championship Match between Alexander Alekhin (Holder of the Title) and E D Bogoljubow (Challenger)\, Printing Craft Limited\, 1930\, FD Yates and W. Winter\nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (BT Batsford\, 1977) Edited by Harry Golombek : \nInternational Master and twice British Champion (1935 and 1936)\, Winter was an excellent illustration of Réti’s thesis that players tend to be opposite over the board to their character in real life. Over the board he was classical\, scientific and sober; away from the board he was revolutionary\, moved by his emotions (he contrived to be both a fervent Communist and a staunch patriot)\, and more often than not\, drunk. \nHis university career\, where he read law\, coincided with the First World War and\, after a brief interruption for military service he returned to Cambridge where in 1919 he became university champion and defeated R. H. V. Scott (a strong player who won the British Championship in 1920) in a match by 4-2. On the strength of this he was invited to play in the Hastings Victory tournament of 1919 where\, however\, he did badly\, coming 11th out of 12. \nWilliam Winter (11-ix-1897\, 18-xii-1955)\nAfter an interval during which he fervently pursued a political career to such an extent as to incur a six-months prison sentence for sedition (Winter always denied the sedition and said that the charge was trumped-up one)\, he took up the career of chess professional. The life suited him since it enabled him to lead the kind of Bohemian existence that pleased his artistic temperament. It should be mentioned that he was a nephew of Sir James Barrie and would have fitted in well on one of his uncle’s plays. \nAs a player he was eminently sound and\, being an apostle of Tarrasch\, a fine clear strategist. But he was lacking in tactical ability and his poor health and his way of life interfered with his consistency and impaired his stamina. But he had a number of fine victories over great players (Bronstein\, Nimzowitsch and Vidmar for example). \nIM William Winter (11-ix-1897\, 18-xii-1955)\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nHe played in four Olympiads: Hamburg 1930 (scoring 76.7% on 4th board)\, Prague 1931 (58.8% on 4th board)\, Folkestone 1933 (59.1% on 3rd board) and Warsaw 1935 (41.7% on 1st board). He was selected to play at Stockholm in 1937 but\, having “lost” his passport three times. he was refused a fresh one by the authorities. \nHis best international individual results were =6th at London 1927\, and =5th at Lodz 1935. \nHis career as a chess journalist (he wrote for the Manchester Guardian following FD Yates and the Daily Worker) was somewhat impeded and spoilt by his Bohemian ways\, be he wrote some excellent works on chess : Chess for Match Players\, London\, 1936″ \nWinter was a popular subject for his Swiss namesake\, Edward Winter and there are several mentions in his excellent books. \nIn Chess Facts and Fables (McFarland\, 2006) we have Chess Note 2819\, page 71 which shows a photograph (from CHESS\, November 1935) taken in Poland of Winter and Max Krauser\, Heavyweight wrestling Champion of Europe. Quite what the occasion we are not told. \nHere is an excellent article (as you’d expect) from Edward Winter \nApart from all of the contributions above possibly the most comprehensive comes from FM Steve Giddins writing in three parts in British Chess Magazine\, during 2006 and 2007 : \nPostscript: Since our article was published we were contacted by Steve Giddins who informed us that he owned the copyright to the articles (rather than the publisher BCM) and that he did not wish us to make them available via this article. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nIn the “Mid-October” issue of CHESS for 1962\, (Volume 27\, Number 418)  we had the following announcement: \nWILLIAM WINTER’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY\nEdited by David Hooper\, will be serialised in CHESS commencing with our next number. Nephew of Sir James Barrie\, twice British Chess Champion\, a lifelong Communist and freethinker\, imprisoned for his political views\, “Willie Winter”\, with his Bohemian way of life\, was undoubtedly the most colourful figure in British Chess for many decades irrespective of whether you agree with his views (most readers may not!)\, you will find him a delightful writer whose gifted pen draws you engrossed from page to Page. \nAnd so\, for your delectation\, here are William Winter’s Memoirs. URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-william-winter/ CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,History,Remembering,Writer END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201218 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201219 DTSTAMP:20201030T175740Z CREATED:20191012T092904Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201030T175740Z UID:1515-1608249600-1608335999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Peter Copping (12-x-1922 18-xii-1989) DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of Peter Fairburn Copping (12-x-1922 18-xii-1989) URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-peter-fairburn-copping-12-x-1922-18-xii-1989/ CATEGORIES:Composer,Death Anniversary,History,Problemist END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201221 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201222 DTSTAMP:20211220T110902Z CREATED:20200410T214751Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211220T110902Z UID:4390-1608508800-1608595199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of FM Robin Moss (21-xii-1964) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of FM Robin BW Moss (21-xii-1964) URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-robin-bw-moss-21-xii-1964/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201222 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201223 DTSTAMP:20211222T110618Z CREATED:20191212T144348Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211222T110618Z UID:2341-1608595200-1608681599@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM David Eggleston (22-xii-1987) DESCRIPTION:Best Wishes to IM David Eggleston on his birthday. \nDavid James Eggleston was born on Tuesday\, December 22nd 1987 in Sunderland\, County Durham to Ian and Janet Eggleston (née Robson). David has a brother\, Thomas A\, also born in 1987 who plays chess to a high standard (2178 in 2020). Thomas also plays for Durham City and for 4NCL North East England. \nThere is one game in Megabase between the brothers from round 5 of the Durham Open in 2003 which resulted in a 13 move draw. They shared the 1st prize with 4/5. \nDavid currently resides in Durham and plays for Durham City in the North East League and for Cheddleton in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL). \nDavid became a FIDE Master in 2007 and an International Master in 2013. \nAccording to ChessBase David’s peak FIDE rating was 2434 aged 26 in December 2013. However\, this could easily be surpassed. \nHe has a plus score against Keith Arkell\, James Jackson\, Peter Sowray and Chris Ward to name but a few. \nIM David James Eggleston\nWith the white pieces David is a staunch e4 player playing open Sicilians\, the Italian Game and 3.Nc3 versus the French and the Caro-Kann. \nAs the second player David plays the Najdorf and the Nimzo-Indian Defence. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nDavid has one book\, published in July 2014 : Hacking up the King published by Mongoose Press : \nHacking Up The King\nIM David James Eggleston URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-david-james-eggleston-22-xii-1987/ CATEGORIES:4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/JB4_7645-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201224 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201225 DTSTAMP:20201030T175937Z CREATED:20200410T131002Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201030T175937Z UID:4340-1608768000-1608854399@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of FM Victor W Knox (24-xii-2001) DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of FM Victor W Knox (24-xii-2001) URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-fm-victor-w-knox-24-xii-2001/ CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,Player END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201225 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201226 DTSTAMP:20201224T161521Z CREATED:20191212T161528Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201224T161521Z UID:2345-1608854400-1608940799@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Graeme Buckley (25-xii-1971) DESCRIPTION:BCN sends best wishes to Graeme Buckley on his birthday. \nGraeme Noel Buckley born on Saturday\, December 25th\, 1971 in Wolverhampton\, West Midlands. \nHis first chess club was Bushbury which is also known as Bilston Sports & Social Club Ltd. His father David is the long time club President. \nGraeme’s first recorded games in Megabase 2020 were at the 1987 British Championship in Swansea were he scored a modest 4/11. \nGraeme married IM Susan Lalic in Sutton\, Surrey in 2001 and they reside in Sutton. They have two daughters\, Lucy and Emma who attend Nonsuch High School for Girls following in the footsteps of their mother. \nGraeme became a FIDE Master in 1994 and an International Master in 1995. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nHe has played for Midland Monarchs and Wood Green in 4NCL\, Surrey CCA\, Wimbledon 4NCL Guildford and Bushbury (in Wolverhampton) \nAccording to ChessBase Graeme reached his highest FIDE rating in July 2003\, aged 32 of 2420. \nGraeme teaches chess in many Surrey Schools and in conjunction with Susan. \nGraeme has been a director of Surrey County Chess Association for four years resigning in 2011. \nGraeme was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 2009-10 season \nAccording to Easy Guide to the Queen’s Gambit Accepted\, Cadogan\, 1998 : \n“Graeme Buckley caused a stir in his first year as a professional player securing his International Master title in a matter of months\, quickly followed by his first grandmaster norm. More recently he has been involved in some major coaching projects. In 1996 he was manager of the English youth team\, who achieved the impressive double of winning both the Glorney and Faber Cups.” \nWith the white pieces Graeme playa the Queen’s Gambit nowadays with Nf3 appearing before c4 having flirted with the Trompowski in the early days. \nAs the second player he plays the Sicilian Scheveningen\, the King’s Indian and not the Queen’s Gambit Accepted despite authoring a book about it! \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nMultiple Choice by Graeme Buckley\nEasy Guide to the Queen’s Gambit Accepted by Graeme Buckley\nTrends in the Trompovsky\, Vol. 4\nIM Graeme Buckley\, Surrey Open\, 2013\, courtesy of John Upham Photography URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-graeme-noel-buckley-25-xii-1971/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/JEU0590-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201225 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201226 DTSTAMP:20201225T130823Z CREATED:20200401T144556Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201225T130823Z UID:3934-1608854400-1608940799@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of WIM Rita Atkins (25-xii-1969) DESCRIPTION:BCN wishes Happy Birthday (and seasonal greetings) to WIM Rita Atkins (25-xii-1969) \nRita Zimmersmann was born on Thursday\, December 25th 1969 in Hungary. \nShe became a Women’s International Master in 1992. \nHer peak FIDE rating according to Felice was 2225 in January 1998 aged 29\, however according to MegaBase 2020 her peak rating was 2280 in July 1992 aged 23. \nRita has played for the Cambridgeshire CCA and 4NCL Blackthorne Russia. \nRita’s first recorded game in Megabase 2020 was runner-up the 5th Schoeneck Under-18 Girl’s Open with 5.5/7. \nIn 1990 she was =runner-up with 6/9 in the Aarhus Women’s tournament. \nShe was =1st in the Budapest Women’s IM tournament securing a norm. \nCrosstable for the 1991 Budapest IM Women’s tournament\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nIn 1992 she became Hungarian Women’s champion with 8/11 : \nCrosstable for 1992 Hungarian Women’s Championship\nWith the white pieces Rita both 1.e4 and 1.d4 playing open Sicilians\, the Trompowsky Attack and the Accelerated London System. \nAs the second player she plays the Sicilian Four Knights\, the Modern Benoni and recently\, the Czech System. \nWIM Rita Atkins\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nIn 1997 Rita relocated to England and played in her first 4NCL weekend for Slough. She married IM Michael Hennigan and settled in London. \nBy 2014 Rita had transferred to Blackthorne in the Four Nations Chess League and had become Rita Atkins. \nIn the last few years Rita has become active in the field of chess education and has combined her interests of mathematics and chess especially in the teaching of children. She has presented at various London Chess Conferences and works with John Foley within ChessPlus. \nWIM Rita Atkins at the 2016 London Chess Conference : The Didactics of Chess\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography. URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-wim-rita-atkins-25-xii-1969/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/jb4_7844_lv-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201226 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201227 DTSTAMP:20201223T150159Z CREATED:20200411T130309Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201223T150159Z UID:4431-1608940800-1609027199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday for IM Vaidyanathan Ravikumar (26-xii-1959) DESCRIPTION:Vaidyanathan Ravikumar (“Ravi” to his friends) was born in Paramakudi\, Ramanathapuram\, Tamil Nadu\, India on Saturday\, December 26th\, 1959. On this day Nelson Rockefeller announced that he would not seek the Republican Party nomination for 1960. \nRavi credits his father N. Vaidyanathan for help with his early chess development. \nAn early image of Vaidyanathan Ravikumar from page 81 of Ulf Andersson’s Decisive Games\nIn 1978 Ravi won the Asian Junior Championships in Tehran and was awarded the International Master title as a consequence. Ravi was India’s second International Master : Manuel Aaron was the first in 1961. \n“Ravi” at the 2013 UKCC Terafinal at Loughborough Grammar School\, Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nHis earliest recorded game in Megabase 2020 was from the 3rd of September 1978 and was from the World Under-20 Championships in Graz\, Austria. The event was won by Sergei Dolamatov and Ravi finished =25th on 6.5/13. The following year (Norway\, 1979) Ravi improved to =12th with 7.5/13 and the title was won by Yasser Seirawan. James Plaskett was =3rd. \nRavi at the UKCC Southern Gigafinal 2014 at the Rivermead Leisure Centre\, Reading. Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nBy now ( 1979) Ravi had graduated from The University of Madras with a degree in commerce and relocated to England seeking more playing opportunities. He played in his first Lloyd’s Bank Open in 1979. \nRavi and IM Andrew Martin providing the commentary for the 2015 British Championships in Warwick. Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nRavi made his first appearance for India in an Olympiad at Valetta\, Malta 1980. In 1981 he was runner-up to Bjarke Sahl in the 6th North Sea Cup followed by a creditable equal 10th in the 68th British Championships at Morecambe won by Paul Littlewood. In round eight he played this attractive game against Daniel King. Notes by PC Griffiths : \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nIM Vaidyanathan Ravikumar v. Vassily Smyslov\, Lloyds Bank Open\, round 6\, 30th August 1981. The game was drawn in 33 moves.\nIn 1982 Ravi scored a creditable =3rd at the 1982 British Championships (Mile’s year) in Torquay including wins over Basman\, Muir and Plaskett : \nCross table for the 1982 British Championship in Torquay\n1983 included an excellent win over James Tarjan at the Lloyds Bank Open but Danny King got revenge for his 1981 defeat! \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nRavi at the closing ceremony of the 2014 British Championships at Aberystwyth. Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nRavi’s second Olympiad appearance for India came at Thessaloniki\, Greece in 1984. This year provided Ravi’s highest FIDE rating of 2415 in January. \nIM Vaidyanathan Ravikumar and friends at the 1990 NatWest Young Masters\nRavi continued to be active as a player until 2000 when he started a career in coaching. He was the National Coach of the Emirates for eight years and has accompanied the ECF junior chess team to World Youth Chess Championships in 2014\, held in Al Ain\, UAE. \nRavi at the 2014 British Championships at Aberystwyth. Courtesy of John Upham Photography\nAccording to Spectrum Chess Calculation : “He is an experienced chess coach and provides chess coaching in 10 schools in Hertfordshire” \nHis first book was Karpov’s Best Games\, Chess Check\, 1984. \nFollowing that Ravi wrote a biographical work on Ulf Andersson : \nUlf Andersson’s Decisive Games\, IM Vaidyanathan Ravikumar\, Peja International\, 1985.\nand then \nPlay the Benko Gambit\, Vaidyanathan Ravikumar\, Pergamon Press\, 1991\nfollowed by \nThe Closed Sicilian\, Vaidyanathan Ravikumar\, Tournament Chess\, 1993\nChess Tactics Quiz Book\, Chess Check\, Vaidyanathan Ravikumar\, 2004\nand most recently \nSpectrum Chess Calculation\, Vaidyanathan Ravikumar\, Chess Check\, 2011\nThere were also works on Anatoly Karpov and Jan Timman as well as works on the Caro-Kann Defence. URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-for-im-vaidyanathan-ravikumar-26-xii-1959/ CATEGORIES:Birthday,Player,UKCC,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/IMG_0630-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201228 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201229 DTSTAMP:20201229T172508Z CREATED:20200409T195301Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201229T172508Z UID:4300-1609113600-1609199999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Charles (Mike) Bent (27-xi-1919 28-xii-2004) DESCRIPTION:BCN remembers Mike Bent who passed away on Tuesday\, December 28th 2004. \nCharles Michael Bent was born on Thursday\, 27th of November 1919 and in that year Charles was the fifth most popular boy’s name. \nHe was born in Portsmouth\, Hampshire. \nIn 1939 he was living at 5\, Ashburton Road\, Gosport with his mother Eileen B. Bent (née Hill) and was a Sub Lieutenant in the Royal Navy. \nHe wrote “Best of Bent: Composer’s Choice of His Chess Endgame Studies\, 1950-93” This was edited by TG Whitworth. \nThe Best of Bent\, CM Bent\, edited TG Whitworth\, July 1993\nHe died in Swindon on the 28th of December\, 2004 having last resided in Hungerford\, RG17. Whilst writing the Studies column for British Chess Magazine he resided at “Black Latches”\, Inkpen\, Newbury\, Berkshire. \n“Black Latches”\, Inkpen\, Newbury\, Berkshire\nThe C. M. Bent Memorial Composing Tourney was held in 2006-07. \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume XCV (95\, 1975)\, Number 1 (January)\, page 22 we have a charming introduction to CMB from the retiring editor of the Studies column\, AJ Roycroft : \n“A studies article without a diagram? Yes\, and without an apology either. Instead this introduced my successor\, Charles Michael Bent\, who is as remarkable without the chessboard as he is with it. Now since\, as at May 1974\, he has composed the total\, rarely exceeded by anyone\, of 670 studies (of which only 375 have been published)\, and about 600 problems (one tenth published)\, his other achievements and activities\, insofar as he can be persuaded to talk about them\, are worth recounting. \nMichael Bent has a passion for all-the-year-round tennis\, and loves the country life. Walking and climbing\, all-forms of do-it-yourself\, word-play nabla/del\, puzzles\, conjuring and listening to music make the mixture extraordinarily rich. Yet if there was a single word to characterise him it would be simplicity (his choice)\, with (my addition) a strong and individual sense of humour. \nPhysically he is a lean\, balding 54-year-old as fit as most men half his age. He played at Junior Wimbledon before the War and only three of four years back won the singles tennis championship of his half of Berkshire. He is a modest and delightful companion\, and to visit him and his wife Viola\, to whom he credits responsibility for the serenity of his condition and surroundings\, is a relaxing pleasure I always look forward to in my own hustled and tense London-centered existence. \nIn his own words he was never really a player of chess at all\, but first sight of problems (during the war) and endings (just after it) acted like fireworks on a dark night and lit an imagination which still lacks basic technical knowledge. So\, artistic rather than ‘scientific’\, have never knowingly composed a didactic study. Am told my ‘style’ is easily recognised. Am aware\, but perfectly content\, that I compose much that the expert will easily solve\, in the hope that the less initiated may be entertained and as attracted as I was in the beginning. \nThere is a feast\, including many surprises\, in store for you and me\, at the hands of your new chess-chef\, ‘CMB of the BCM’.” \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume 125 (2005)\, Number 2 (February)\, page 98 we have a brief obituary from John Beasley : \n“Charles Michael Bent died just over a month after his 85th birthday. Mike Bent had long been Britain’s leading composer of endgame studies\, he was a witty and entertaining writer on the subject (and on many others)\, and the pleasure he gave was rightly acknowledged by the granting in 2001 of one of the BCF President’s Awards for services to chess. \nBCM published his first study in 1950 and one of his last 50 years later\, and he was our endgame study columnist from January 1975 to March 1985. There will be a steady flow of quotations in Endgame Studies during the coming months. John Beasley” \nThe Studies column was taken over in April 1985 by Paul Lamford. \nHere is his Wikipedia entry (complete with errors). \nCMB won the BCF President’s Award in 2001. \nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess (Robert Hale 1970 & 1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“Born on the 27th November 1919\, Michael Bent has only one possible challenger\, Harold Lommer\, as the finest composer of endgame studies England has ever produced. Although up to October 1967\, he had composed 546 problems and 320 studies\, he now concentrates almost exclusively on studies. His 17 honoured studies include three 1st prizes. His partiality towards Knights is shown in the typical study selected here. \nMichael Bent was educated at the Royal Naval College\, Dartmouth\, but had to leave the Navy because of chronic sea-sickness. He served in the Rifle Brigade in the Second World War and afterwards became a rubber plant in Johore\, where he survived several terrorist attacks. How now lives with his wife in a Berkshire Village. \nApart from Chess\, Michael Bent has other recreations\, including wood carving\, stamp collecting\, composing crossword puzzles and butterfly collecting. His butterfly collection included 500 Malayan specimens. He is also a strong tennis player. Thirty-one years after playing at Wimbledon as a junior\, he won the Newbury and District singles title in 1967.” \nCM Bent\n2nd Honorable Mention\nNew Statesmen 1964 Tourney Award\,\n5th March 1965 \n  \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization. URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-charles-michael-bent-27-xi-1919-28-xii-2004/ CATEGORIES:Composer,Death Anniversary,History,Problemist ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/gif:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/27.11-Bent.gif END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20201228 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20201229 DTSTAMP:20260817T135536Z CREATED:20210201T132752Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T135536Z UID:13692-1609113600-1609199999@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Frank Parr (17-xii-1918 28-xii-2003) DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of Frank Parr (17-xii-1918 28-xii-2003) URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-frank-parr-17-xii-1918-28-xii-2003/ CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT 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\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\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:20200110 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200111 DTSTAMP:20260817T141234Z CREATED:20200504T085859Z LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T141234Z UID:5221-1578614400-1578700799@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Roland Scott (25-iii-1888 10-i-1953) DESCRIPTION:BCN remembers Roland Scott who passed away in Monte Carlo on Saturday\, January 10th\, 1953. \nRoland Henry Vaughan Scott was born in either Barnes or Holloway depending which Census record is correct. His parents were Walter Frederick Scott\, a GP who was born in April 1960 and died in 1891 when Roland was three years of age. \nHis mother was Lucie Vaughan was born in 1855 and died in October 1933. \nRoland had two sisters\, Nina Vaughan Scott and Lucie / Lucia Audrey Scott (who died before her first birthday) and a brother Guy Francis D Scott who lived until 1977. \nIn 1891 Roland lived in Tottenham\, in 1901 in Hampstead and in 1911 in St. Pancras where he was listed as a law clerk. \nIn 1917 The London Gazette lists him as a lieutenant in the Norfolk Regiment. \nThe 1920 electoral rolls for the Gospel Oak polling district lists Scott as voter #2006 living at 2\, Estelle Road\, North St. Pancras which is now in Belsize Park\, NW3 2JX. At the same address was his sister Lucie and in 1921 they were joined by brother Guy. \nIn July 1922 in the district of Brighton Roland married Irma Clareboudt. No children from the marriage are recorded. \nThe 1939 register lists Scott as “War Disabled ? Officer Retired In War 1914” (invalided from army) and Irma as a saleswoman (born 25th July 1895) living at 42\, Sherwell Lane\, Paignton\, Torquay\, TQ2 6BD. \n42\, Sherwell Lane\, Paignton\, Devon\, TQ2 6BD.\nThe April 1953 British Chess Magazine (Volume LXXIII\, Number 4\, page 101 onwards) contained this obituary from DJ Morgan: \nIt is with much regret that we record the death\, on January 10th\, at Monte Carlo\, of R. H. V. Scott. He had long been out of active chess\, but older readers will need no reminding of the 1920 British Champion\, with his quiet manner but attacking chess; one who was composure itself at the table but aggressiveness personified on the board. \nThe son of a doctor\, Scott was born in 1889. He was nineteen before taking to the game\, but a ready aptitude combined with great enthusiasm led to rapid progress. He joined the Hampstead Club in 1908\, and in his first tournament\, the Third Class\, came out first. ln the years that follow he pursued the game with much energy. \nAt the B.C.F. Congress\, Glasgow\, l9ll\, he won the only section of the First Class. In 1913 and in 1914 he was Hampstead Club Champion. In 1913 he was tenth in the British Championship\, at Cheltenham\, and equal fifth to sixth at Chester in the following year\, defeating Yates and drawing with Blackburne. \nIn 1915 he came second in the City of London Club Championship\, but won that of the Metropolitan Club. During the same year he lost a short match with Sir G. A. Thomas 1-3. The war years\, with a commission in the Norfolk Regiment\, intervened\, but chess filled his available moments. \nIn 1916 he defeated L. I. Estrin\, a young Russian who was Hampstead Champion\, 5-2 in a match. ln 1919 he lost a match with Winter at Hastings (2-4)\, and shared seventh to eighth positions with Dr. Olland (Holland) at the B.C.F. Hastings Victory Congress\, with victories over Olland\, \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nR. P. Michell\, Marchand\, and Conde. Then came the B.C.F. Edinburgh Congress of 1920\, Scott became British Champion\, losing only\nto Sir G. A. Thomas. \nIn this year he also drew a match\, 3-3\, with Marchand\, of Holland\, also at Hastings. There followed three more appearances in the championship\, Malvern\, 1921 (equal fifth to sixth); Southsea\,1923 (equal third to fourth); and Southport\, 1924 (fourth). And with this Scott passed out of British chess. Ill health and failing eyesight\, direct results of sufferings and injuries endured on active service during the war\, began to take their toll. On medical advice he sought a warmer climate\, and the Riviera henceforth became his home. \nWe find him sharing seventh to eighth positions at the Hyères Congress\, in 1926\, and coming equal fifth to sixth\, with B. Reilly (our Editor’s first international tourney we believe)\, at Hyères\, 1927. \nThe days of active play were over\, but his great interest in the game remained. Scott was a natural attacking player\, more likely\, perhaps\, to win the Brilliancy Prize than the First Prize. \nEdo rating profile for RHV Scott\nWe have given the bare outline of a career that was all too short\, one cut down\, in a sense before reaching full maturity. Contemporary records sometimes expressed the need for more stability in Scott’s chess\, but they chronicle games of his that speak forcibly of the imaginative\, refreshing\, and invigorating qualities of his play. We offer an early game\, the Brilliancy Prize winner\, City of London C.C. Championship\, 1913-14. White’s 20th move sets the game alight. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume XLI (1920)\, Number 10 (October)\, page 305 we have the following report of his exploits winning the 1920 British Championship in Edinburgh: \n“We are glad to be able to present to our readers a photograph of the new champion\, Mr. R.H.V Scott. He informs us that it is his most recent one\, taken in 1917 when subaltern in the Norfolk Regiment. He saw service with the latter in France\, and\, as is probably know to most of our subscribers\, was badly gassed\, from the effects of which is now happily quite recovered. \nHis victory in the recent Congress in Edinburgh is welcome from at least two points of view; one\, that he is one of our youngest first class players (ed: he was 32 at the time\, a veteran by the standards of 2022!)\, having been born in 1889 (ed: this should have been 1888)\, and therefore may justifiably be expected to improve still further with experience and some curbing of his impatience in defence; and\, two\, that he claim to represent the more brilliant school of chess\, that of Pillsbury\, Marshall\, Charousek\, and Morphy\, rather than the more solid school\, of say\, Steinitz and Rubinstein\, who theory was the pilling up of small advantages. \nScott has an excellent “nose” for attack\, and has some exceedingly “chessy” ideas. During the congress he put a much greater restraint on himself than is his wont\, and we believe this to be the reason he so improved on his previous records. \nHe had what might be described as the worst of the draw\, since he had Black against Sir George  Thomas\, EG Sergeant and RP Michell. Some writers have described him as lucky to win\, but a study of his games and a comparison with those of others in the tourney go to prove that he played more far-sightedly than any of the others. \nWe are quite aware that the form of any player is variable\, and we have seen Sir George Thomas play much better chess and much less strainedly than he did at Edinburgh. EG Sergeant was generally playing quite at his best\, but once or twice his play deteriorated\, perhaps as the result of a sleepless night\, he then seemed bereft of ideas\, and allowed the clock to beat him. This also was the case with Michell\, who had many a rush to save his flag falling before the necessary moves were made. Now Scott almost invariably had time to spare. \nPerhaps the worst reversal of form was that of JH Blake; but he had been working very hard and late for some time right up to the day the Congress commenced\, and was not really in a fit state of health to take part. \nScott has twice before competed for the Championship; in 1913 where he finished eighth\, and in 1914 when he was fifth\, beating FD Yates\, the then Champion and drawing with JH Blackburne. \nHe has won several brilliancy prizes in congress and club tourneys\, and was the champion of the Hampstead Chess Club (where he may have been said to have learnt the game) in 1913 and 1914. He was first acquainted with the moves in 1908. \nHe is keen on all sports\, and puts his whole energy into each line he may be taking. With yet more self-restraint we think his chess will still further improve\, and we venture to prophesy this will not be the last British Chess Championship he will win.” \nIn his memoirs William Winter wrote this: \n“I also had the opportunity of playing a number of semi-serious games with RHV Scott and D. Miller\, two of the leading London amateurs. Scott was probably the most brilliant combinative played England has ever seen and had already won almost every honour except the British Championship\, which fell to him in 1920. \nSince those days I have played over hundreds of games\, including the beautiful brilliancies of the modern Russian school\, and Scott’s best combinations stand up quite well beside them. There were however weaknesses in his play which I shall discuss later. Miller was just the opposite type\, a dour solid player exceptionally hard to beat. He is\, I am glad to say\, still with us\, but Scott died a few years ago – he had been out of chess for a long time.” \nand this: \n“It is entirely legitimate\, and can prove very useful until one comes up against an opponent like Capablanca who had no weaknesses of any kind. ln Scott’s case\, one of his foibles was an aversion to exchanging queens\, and I took full advantage of this in the first two games of the match both of which I won with comparative ease; but Scott was not finished yet.’ In the third game he tied me up in a variation of the Sicilian which I had not previously seen\, and in the fourth I made the fatal mistake in going for an early win of material and allowing him a king’s side attack. Things now looked bad for me. I had the black pieces in the fifth game and I dared not play my favourite Sicilian defence because I could not discover a satisfactory answer to his new line.” \nStrangely\, none of the Encyclopaedia’s by Golombek\, Sunnucks or Hooper & Whyld felt that RHVS merited an entry. However Gaige does not forget. \nHere is an interesting article from “introuble2” entitled 100 years ago… chess in London during World War I in which Scott is mentioned. \nHere is an excellent article from John Saunders \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-roland-henry-vaughan-scott-25-iii-1888-10-i-1953/ CATEGORIES:2023,British Championships,History,Player,Remembering ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/95500810_3277144515638845_8586271723630886912_o.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\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\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:20210115 DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210116 DTSTAMP:20230109T222958Z CREATED:20200409T181200Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230109T222958Z UID:4293-1610668800-1610755199@britishchessnews.com SUMMARY:Birthday of IM Andrew Horton (15-i-1998) DESCRIPTION:Birthday of IM Andrew P Horton (15-i-1998) \nAndrew became a FIDE Master in 2015 and an International Master in 2018. URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-andrew-p-horton-15-i-1998/ CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/jb4_4220_lv-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE: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\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nPaul gives a simultaneous display in Letchworth. \n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nChess Tactics\, Paul Littlewood\, Crowood Chess Library\, 1991\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-paul-edwin-littlewood-18-i-1956-2/ CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player,Writer ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG.jpg END:VEVENT 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\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\n\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\nIM Ali Mortazavi URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-im-ali-mortazavi-20-i-1971/ CATEGORIES:2023,4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Player ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/mum_5865_lv-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT 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\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\n\n \n\n\n \n \n You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\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 ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/jb4_2543_lv.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR