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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20220401
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20220402
DTSTAMP:20220404T160618Z
CREATED:20200401T115720Z
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SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of CM David Anderton OBE (02-viii-1941 01-iv-2022)
DESCRIPTION:BCN remembers CM David Anderton OBE who passed away on Friday\, April 1st\, 2022 aged 80. \nIn the 1977 New Years Honours List\, Civil Division\, David was awarded the OBE. The citation read simply : “For services to Chess” \nDavid William Anderton was born in the district of Walsall\, Staffordshire\, West Midlands. His mother’s maiden name was Coltart and David resided in Walsall. \nDavid was married to Doreen in 2005. \nDavid Anderton (rhs) congratulates Sir Philip Stuart Milner-Barry for winning the “Board of Honour ” game versus Edward Lasker at the 1976 Lloyds Bank Match by Telex\, London – New York. From BCM\, volume XCVI (96) Number 11 (August)\, Page 494. The venue was the Bloomsbury Hotel\, London. Photo courtesy of Lloyds Bank\nDavid was an Honorary Life Vice-President of the English (formerly British) Chess Federation. \nJohn Nunn\, David Anderton and Jonathan Speelman\n“David won the ECF President’s Award in 2009 following his stepping down as ECF legal expert. This is the citation from the 2010 ECF Yearbook : \n“As this is Gerry Walsh’s last year as President it was considered appropriate that he be allowed to choose someone receive the award. Gerry has worked with David for all his time with BCF and ECF and has selected him due to his tireless and selfless devotion to both the BCF and ECF over many years. \nDavid Anderton OBE\, ? and Teresa Needham\nMost of you will know David and will agree that this is a well deserved award. It is fair to state that David’s assistance over the years has been invaluable and that without it many areas of the Federation would have found it difficult\, if not impossible to operate. \nJim Plaskett with David Anderton OBE at the 1983 Benedictine International (Manchester)\nSince my election David has been a constant friend and confidante. He has invariable given sound advice throughout my term of office. It was John Wickham who rang me and suggested that due to my length of tenure\, a special award might be in order. \nJim accepts the 1981 Grand Prix shield from David Anderton OBE\nAfter years of selfless and generous devotion serving as ECF President\, International Director\, Captain of the England Team and legal adviser\, this seems to be a fitting tribute. \nFrom the Praxis Bath Zonal Tournament of 1987. David Anderton OBE is second from right\nDavid’s advice both legal and general\, has been invaluable in such matters as the John Robinson legacy and the change of name from BCF to ECF Limited\, and I certainly hope that this advice will continue. \nGerry Walsh” \nBob Wade OBE\, Murray Chandler MNZM and David Anderton OBE\nDavid is a FIDE Candidate Master (CM). \nFrom the BCF 1979-80 Year Book of Chess : Robert Bellin\, the new British Champion\, explains the secret to the Mayor of Chester (?) and to David Anderton\, BCF President\nWith the White pieces David exclusively plays 1.d4 aiming for a Queen’s Gambit and main lines. \nWith Black David plays the Winawer and the Classical French plus the Lenningrad Dutch. \nMrs. Joan Agar; Chairman of Leigh Interests\, presents the Leigh trophy (for 1981) to Mark Hebden. Left\, David Anderton\, BCF President; on the right Malcolm Wood\, Leigh’s Chief Executive. BCM\, 1981\, page 104\nHere are his games. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nDW Anderton OBE plays BH Wood MBE in 1981 in a Blitz tournament outside of the National Film Theatre. Photograph courtesy of John Saunders\nDuring 1989-93 David was an Executive Board Member of FIDE. \nThe England Team from the 1990 Novi Sad Olympiad : John Nunn\, Jon Speelman\, Julian Hodgson\, David Anderton OBE (Captain)\, Nigel Short\, Michael Adams and Murray Chandler\nIn 2002 David was awarded the title of International Master by the ICCF (correspondence chess) \nIn 2015 David stood down from all of his roles within the ECF. \nDavid Anderton OBE\, Paul Bazalgette (Senior Partner at Philips & Drew) and Tony Banks (GLC Arts & Recreation Department) at the 1982 Philips and Drew Kings Tournament Opening Ceremony. Photograph by Clive Field\nDavid has won the British Seniors Championship in 2003 (shared)\, 2005\, 2007 (shared)\, 2009 (shared) and 2011. \nHere is a potted biography from The Express and Star Newspaper \nDavid Anderton OBE at the 2019 British Championships in Torquay\, courtesy of John Upham Photography\nDavid is Head of Regulatory Law at Anson’s Solicitors. He is also Secretary of the Erasmus Darwin Foundation (03270753) and Director of Unionist Buildings Ltd.\, Wallsall Conservative Investments Ltd. and Wallsall Unionist Holdings Ltd. \nCM David William Anderton OBE
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-cm-david-william-anderton-obe-02-viii-1941/
CATEGORIES:4NCL,Birthday,British Championships,Honours,Official,Player,Remembering
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200803
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200804
DTSTAMP:20210801T180718Z
CREATED:20190822T165409Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210801T180718Z
UID:1008-1596412800-1596499199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Captain William Davies Evans (27-i-1790 03-viii-1872)
DESCRIPTION:BCN Remembers Captain William Davies Evans (27-i-1790 03-viii-1872) \nCaptain William Davies Evans (27-i-1790 03-viii-1872)\nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess (OUP\, 1984) by Hooper & Whyld : \n“Inventor of the Evans gambit\, for about half a century one of the most popular attacking weapons. He was born in (Musland Farm in the parish of Saint Dogwells\,) Pembroke\, Wales\, went to sea at the age of 14\, was employed by the Postal Department from about 1815\, and rose to the rank of captain four years later. In 1824\, soon after taking command of the first Royal Mail steam packet to sail from Milford Haven to Waterford\, and while aboard\, he invented his gambit. Evans was a keen player. He gathered a small chess circle in Waterford\, and when on leave in England played chess in London\, notably in 1826 when he showed his gambit to Lewis and McDonnell\, and in 1838 when he played a long series of games with Staunton at the Westminster Chess Club. In Jan. 1840 he was pensioned off on account of ill-health. He went to Greece\, became captain of a steamer that sailed the Mediterranean\, and returned to London at the end of 1842. During the next 13 years there are several accounts of his presence in London\, and then he settled abroad. He died and was buried in Ostend\, \nEvans claimed to have solved the three pawns problem (See below) \, which\, however\, had already been solved by others. His claim to the invention of tri-coloured lighting for ships has not been verified independently\, although he is known to have investigated the subject. For this invention he states that the Tsar of Russia gave him a gold chronometer\, and that he also received money. For a more detailed life of Captain Evans see British Chess Magazine\, 1928\, pp\, 6-18.” \nThe Evans Gambit is a variation of the Giuoco Piano or Italian Game : \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nWhen Evans originally devised his gambit the move order was slightly different : \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nin which White sacrifices the b-pawn for increased central control and development viz : \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 Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale\, 1970 & 1976) by Anne Sunnucks : \n“Inventor of the Evans Gambit\, an opening described by a player in the last century as ‘A yellow fever attack : if you live through the initial stages and avoid any carelessness that may bring on a relapse\, you will come out alright’. \nCaptain Evans discovered the gambit in about 1824. It was a favourite opening during the last century and was adopted by a number of leading players including La Bourdonnais and Morphy. \nFor some years Commander in H.M. Royal Mail Packet Service on the Milford and Waterford station\, Captain Evans later became Commander in the P.& O. Company’s service and agent for the Royal Mail Steampacket Company\, Port Grande. On retirement he lives for many years in Holland and Belgium. \nThe story is told of how\, in 1870\, the Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia\, brother of the Tsar\, was visiting Bruges when he heard that the inventor of the Evans Gambit was living in Ostend. Being a keen chess player he invited Evans to play a game. When Evans had won\, the Grand Duke turned to his adversary and said : ‘I believe you invented the Evans Gambit ?’\, ‘Yes’ replied Evans ‘and it’s not the only thing I’ve invented for which you have not paid me.’ ‘What’s the other?’ asked the Grand Duke.\nEvans then explained that he was the inventor of the ship’s lights which were being used by the Russian Navy\, in which the Grand Duke held the rank of Admiral. Several months later Evans was invited to the Russian Consulate in Ostend\, where he was handed a letter from the Grand Duke\, a gold chronometer\, a gold chain and a draft of money\, ostensibly in payment for the Russia’s rights to use the captain’s invention in her ships. ” \nEnjoy this interesting article from “Introuble2” on chess.com \nEvans analyzed the “Little Game of Chess” (an endgame composition involving only two kings with three pawns each) \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess diagram visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nto independently discover that it actually won for the player who moves first\, not drawn as had been believed for over a hundred years. \nFrom The Encyclopedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977) by Harry Golombek we have : \n“After his retirement Evans went to live abroad and eventually found a haven is Ostend and there\, ill\, and almost blind and in very straightened circumstances\, he dictated a letter on 22 March 1871\, which was published in the Gentlemen’s Journal supplement for June 1872\, along with an appeal for him organised by George Walker. The letter gives the authentic facts of his life and is worth quoting in full\, if only to refute various unfounded reports about a meeting with the Tsar’s brother\, or according to that rich source of misinformation\, the Rev GA MacDonnell\, that the Evans Gambit was discovered off the coast of Africa by a middle-aged lieutenant in the Royal Navy -perhaps the reverend gentleman was confusing Waterford with the Canary Islands. \nThe letter runs : \nWilliams Davies Evans is a native of Pembrokeshire\, South Wales\, and was born on 27 January 1790. He commenced a naval career at the age of fourteen. He was about twenty-eight years of age when he first learnt the moves of the game of Chess. Having the advantage of frequent practise with Lieut H. Wilson\, R.N.\, who was a player of some reputation in his time\, beside corresponding on the subject of the game with the late Mr. W. Lewis\, and also with George Walker\, the able Chess Editor of Bell’s Life \, he made a rapid progress in the game. Captain Evans received at first the odds of a Rook from Lieut. Wilson. After a continuance of play for some years\, the odds were greatly reduced\, until ultimately Captain Evans succeeded in defeating his formidable antagonist playing even. \nAbout the year 1824\, being then in command of a Government Mail Steamer\, the passages between Milford Haven and Waterford were favourable to the study of the game of Chess and at this time he invented the Gambit\, which bears his name. The idea occurred to him while studying a narration of Giuoco Piano in Sarratts’s Treatise on Chess. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nCaptain Evans was the first who gave to the world a true solution of that very difficult end game\, the King and three Pawns unmoved against King and three Pawns also unmoved. This position was handed down to us through a period of some centuries as a drawn game\, but Captain Evans proved that the first player can always win. \nCaptain Evans acquired some celebrity as “Inventor of the System of Tri-Coloured Lights for Ships to Prevent Collisions at Night”\, which has been adopted by all nations possessing a marine. For this invention the English Government awarded him the sum of £1\,500 \, and the Czar of Russia a gold pocket chronometer\, value £160\, together with a donation of £200. \nThe subscription that amounted to over £200 was too late. He died in 1872 and was buried in Ostend where his grave bears the inscription : \nTo the sacred memory of William Davies Evans\, formerly Commander in the Post Office and Peninsular and Oriental Steam Services\, Superintendent In the Royal Mail Shipping Company\, and inventor of the system of tri-coloured light for shipping. Also well known in the Chess World as the author of the Evans Gambit \nBlue Plaque for Captain WD Evans\nHere is his Wikipedia entry. \nRead here of the Plaque in Wolfscastle \nBlue Plaque for Captain William Davies Evans (27-i-1790 03-viii-1872)\nPlay The Evans Gambit (co-author Tim Harding). Cadogan. ISBN 1-85744-119-2.
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-captain-william-davies-evans/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200827
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200828
DTSTAMP:20210827T142749Z
CREATED:20200409T081050Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210827T142749Z
UID:4238-1598486400-1598572799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of FM Max Fuller (28-i-1945 27-viii-2013)
DESCRIPTION:September 15th\, 1980. Australian Open Chess Champion Max Fuller (35) is currently on a grand chess playing tour of Britain and Europe. He played in the British Championships last month and has included three tournaments in Denmark in his busy schedule.His tour culminates in Malta in December when he plays in his 8th chess Olympiad.Max has been playing chess since he was 13.He lives in Hamilton Avenue\, Earlwood\, Sydney.In the picture Max is playing in the Benedictine International Chess tournament in Manchester in which he was equal fourth.The Benedictine Championship was won by Britain’s number 2 seeded Grandmaster John DM Nunn of Oriel College Oxford.Picture from John Madden (NUJ)\nBCN Remembers FM Max Fuller (28-i-1945 27-viii-2013) \nTonight two Sydney ***** the N.S.W. Chess Championship at the Chess centre Liverpool St.\, City. They are Fred E Flatow\, 28 of Belmore (left.) and Max Fuller\, 21\, of Kingsgrove (right). They have been playing for about 10 Hrs up till 6.15 p.m. and had move 121. The match will go on till move 144 at which stage a draw will be declared or until either man wins before then. February 23\, 1966. (Photo by Richard John Pinfold/Fairfax Media via Getty Images).\nMaxwell Leonard Fuller was born on Sunday\, January 28th 1945 in Sydney\, New South Wales. He was brought up by his mother and\, according to Ian Rogers\, his step-father with whom he did not get on. \nKnight moves: Max Fuller in 1964. He went on to become Australia’s No.1 player and toured the world.CREDIT:STUART MACGLADRIE\nHe was Australian Junior Champion in 1962. \nHe won the New South Wales title in 1965 (and then in 1986 and 1988). \nMax came to England in late 1968 to play at Hastings and then chose to settle here. He played for Lewisham chess club. He won the Whitby Open in 1969 (See BCM\, Volume LXXXIX\, Number 8\, page 264). \nIn the 1970s be played board one for Australia whilst maintaining a FIDE rating of 2450\, and\, according to chessgames.com : “Fuller finished equal second in the British championship in 1970 and 1975\, winner of the Doeberl Cup three times\, winner of the Australian Open three times\, Joint Australian Champion 1972 with Trevor Hay and competed in nine Olympiads for Australia from 1964-1990. In 1974\, he won the 101st Athenaeum Chess Club Jubilee tournament\, held in London.” \nHe became a FIDE Master in 1980 \nFuller returned to chess in 2004 after an eight-year absence and finished equal second in the 2004 and 2005 NSW championships. \nAccording to IM Gary Lane : “Max had a heart attack and died on the day he was attending the funeral of his pal Peter Parr” \nWith the white pieces Max essayed the Ruy Lopez with a penchant for the exchange variation but nonetheless he was flexible and varied. \nAs the second player against 1.e4 he was versatile with a broad range of defences and likewise facing 1.d4/1.Nf3 he was difficult to prepare for. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nAccording to British Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXXIII (2013)\, Number 9 (September)\, page 450 : \n“From Australia the saddest of news\, the passing Maxwell Leonard Fuller (28 i 1945 Sydney – 27 viii 2013 Sydney). FM Max Fuller played in seven BCF Championships\, 1969 -80. He later claimed the scalps of Short\, Miles and Chandler. He was the most determined player imaginable and had the broadest of opening repertoires. (James Pratt)” \nAleandro Trimboli (10) of Leichhardt plays Mr Max Fuller of Newtown\, Australian Open Chess Champion. As part of the Waratah Festival Celebrations the NSW Chess Association is conducting chess games with chess champions playing up to 30 players at once\, in Hyde Park. October 17\, 1973. (Photo by Golding/Fairfax Media via Getty Images).\nIn this obituary from Ray Keene\, Ray very thoughtfully provides a game in which Max loses to Ray. \nGM Ian Rogers wrote this detailed obituary \nGreg Canfell posted this item \nMax Fuller at the Doeberl Cup in 1985. Photo : William Anderson-Smith\nHere is his Wikipedia article \nFM Max Fuller (28-i-1945 27-viii-2013) from around 1992\nSicilian Defence 11 Lines with c3\, Max Fuller and Len Pickett\, The Chess Player\, 1977\, ISBN ?\n 
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-fm-maxwell-leonard-fuller-27-viii-2013/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,Hastings,Player,Remembering,Writer
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210827
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210828
DTSTAMP:20260817T135403Z
CREATED:20210915T110705Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T135403Z
UID:18847-1630022400-1630108799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Remembering IMC James Adams (04-ix-1921 27-vii-2013)
DESCRIPTION:BCN remembers IMC James Adams who passed away aged 91 on July 27th\, 2013 in Worcester Park\, Kingston Upon Thames\, Surrey. \nJames Frederick Adams was born on September 4th\, 1921 in Lambeth. His parents were James J Adams (DoB: 10th October 1884) who was a plumber’s mate and Lucy M Adams (née Ayres\, DoB: 22nd December 1886). He had an older brother who was William A Adams who was also a plumber’s mate and and Uncle George T (DoB: 8th March 1882) who was the plumber who presumably had many mates. \nAt the time of the 1939 register James was a telephone operator. \nThe Adams family lived at 52\, Broadway Gardens\, Mitcham\, Surrey\, CR4 4EE (rather than 001 Cemetery Lane) \n52\, Broadway Gardens\, Mitcham\, Surrey\, CR4 4EE\nFrom CHESS\, 1991\, March\, page 91 we have: \n“Whatever Happened to Human Effort? \nI am giving up postal chess after 57 years for the reason that\, like Jonathan Penrose and recently Nigel Short\, I am increasingly disturbed over the increase in the use of computers in correspondence play. It is impossible to prove but one has the feeling that many opponents see nothing wrong in using a machine and I see no pleasure in having to bash one’s brains out against a computer. I am happy in the knowledge that I won my FIDE IM title long before dedicated chess computers were ever heard of. I shudder to think of the proliferation in the use of computers in a competition like the World CC Championship. I don’t wonder that Penrose objects. \nUnfortunately\, this is the sort of thing against which it is impossible to legislate. The BCCA has banned their use but it doesn’t mean a thing. \nThe latest monstrosity is where Kasparov plays a match against another GM and both are allowed to use computers whilst the game is in progress. To me\, this is absolutely shocking. Dr. Nunn admits to the use of computers in the compilation of one of his books and I see that even ordinary annotators use a programme like Fritz to assist with their notes to a game. What happened to human effort? \nAnyway\, I have about five postal games left in progress and when they are finished I will call it a day. \nJim Adams\nWorcester Park\, Surrey \nSo who was Jim Adams? \nFrom British Chess (Pergamon Press\, 1983) Botterill\, Levy\, Rice and Richardson we have this: \nThe smoke-laden atmosphere of the chess rooms of St. Bride’s Institute\, in the heart of the City of London\, could hardly be considered a positive encouragement to any ambitions to become an International Master\, but certainly this was so in my case. Let me explain the sequence of events. \nFace-to-face\, or over-the-board chess\, had been my main interest since my war-time days as a member of the Civil Defence. Passing time between air-raids led to the adoption of many pastimes and an absorbing game such as chess was ideal. Fortunately for me\, one of my ambulance station colleagues was a very fine player named A. F. (Algy) Battersby\, later to become General Secretary of the British Correspondence Chess Association. \nHe had spent the greater part of the First World War playing chess in the Sinai Desert and\, with his tremendous experience\, he brought to the game strategical ideas and tactical skills that\, in those early days\, were well beyond my comprehension. \nArthur Frank Battersby\, BIRTH 2 JUN 1887 • Brixton\, Surrey\, England  DEATH 11 APR 1955 • Surrey\, England\n‘Algy’ was kind enough to say some years afterwards that I was ‘the best pupil he ever had’\, but whether this was true or not\, he certainly passed on to me the theoretical groundwork that was to be so useful to me in later years. Among other books\, he encouraged me to purchase the Nimzowitch classic My System\, with the kindly warning that I would not understand it at first reading but would perhaps get some grasp of the ideas at a second or third attempt. \nMy System was a revelation to me and proved to be the greatest help to an understanding of the game that I had ever received. Up to my fortuitous meeting with ‘Algy’\, my games had been of a simple tactical nature. Pieces were left en prise\, oversights and blunders were the order of the day and an actual checkmate came as a surprise not only to the loser but often to the winner as well! \nTo win a game through sheer strength of position was completely unknown to me\, but ‘Algy’ and Nimzowitch changed all that! Under their combined influence my general playing strength improved enormously and I was soon second only to ‘Algy’ in such tournaments as were held in my home town of Mitcham\, where the local chess club was revived after the war. \nOur club soon attracted a few strong players and we played regularly in county competitions and\, later\, the London Chess League. During those years chess was an absolute joy to me and all my spare time was spent at the local club or at chess matches\, whilst Saturday afternoons were spent at the now defunct Gambit Chess Room\, in Budge Row\, where I passed countless hours playing chess\, pausing only to order light refreshment from the indefatigable ‘Eileen’\, a waitress of somewhat uncertain age who almost certainly regarded all chess players as raving lunatics! \nThe ‘Gambit’ could never have been a viable commercial proposition on what we bought and it was eventually thought necessary to introduce a minimum charge depending on the time of day. Gone for ever were the days when one could spend the entire evening playing chess\, analysing\, or having a crack at the local Kriegspiel experts\, all for the price of two cups of tea and the occasional sandwich. Sadly\, it all disappeared in the aftermath of the\nwar. \nBy 1950 I had become Match Captain of the Mitcham Chess Club and\, of course\, responsible for arranging various matches. Getting a team together was not difficult as the club membership was quite large for such a lowly club. The playing standard too was surprisingly high and whilst I\, myself\, was fortunate enough to win the club championship several times it was never easy. \nOn one occasion a ‘friendly’ match had been arranged with the BBC and all was well until a ‘flu epidemic a few days before the date of the match laid most of the Mitcham players low. On the morning of the match I was left with five players for a 1O-board match! As it was only a ‘friendly’ and in order to avoid disappointing all concerned I took myself off to the Gambit and recruited a few of the ‘regulars’ to help us out. It must be remembered that most of the strongest players in London frequented the ‘Gambit’ and since those pressganged into service were extremely strong players it seemed only courteous to give them the honour of playing on the top five boards\, leaving the Mitcham ‘stars’ who\, coincidentally\, were our usual top board players\, to bring up the rear. \nNow this composite team\, in my judgement\, was probably good enough to win the London League A Division and it was no surprise when we won 10-0. Only a friendly indeed! Any Match Captain would have given his queen’s rook for such a team but\, whilst the BBC players were warned beforehand of the composition of our team\, they were not amused and further matches were not arranged! \nMr A Corish (right)\, receives the Chess Champion cup from Mr J Adams. 18th September 1958 from the Merton Advertiser\, Photographer unknown.\nRound about this time I was playing regularly in London League matches\, nearly all of which were held at St. Bride’s Institute\, where my story began. A non-smoker myself\, I found the conditions intolerable. The place seemed to be completely airless and Government warnings about the dangers of smoking did not exist! not exist! Consequently\, the entire playing area was reminiscent of the Black Hole of Calcutta! Always susceptible to headaches\, I began to return home physically ill after every match. If this was playing chess for pleasure then something was wrong! \nMr A Corish (right)\, receives the Chess Champion cup from Mr J Adams. 18th September 1958 from the Merton Advertiser\, Photographer unknown.\nHowever\, salvation was at hand. Ever since the war I had been playing a few games by post under the auspices of the BCCA (British Correspondence Chess Association )\, and my somewhat traumatic experiences at St. Bride’s were beginning to make postal chess a far more attractive way of playing the\ngame. And so my chess career started all over again! \nMy correspondence chess activities up to the 1960s were not particularly successful\, although I had managed to win three Premier Sections and finish\nequal third in the British Correspondence Championship of 1962-63. However\, during that time a group of BCCA players\, of whom I was one\, were\nbecoming somewhat dissatisfied with the Association’s attitude towards international chess and eventually a splinter group formed a rival organization which became known as the British Correspondence Chess Society. \nThe BCCS was\, almost from the start\, internationally orientated and it was possible to play foreign players\, many of master strength. With strong opposition it seemed easier to improve and my first real success came in the Eberhardt Wilhelm Cup in 1966-67 when I was able to obtain the lM norm giving me a half=master title. However\, gone were the days when a superficial analysis was enough before posting a move\, which even if it was not the best\, was generally good enough to hold one’s own with even the best of British CC players at that time. Fortunately for British chess\, the situation is now vastly different and the strongest British CC players are recognized as being among the best in the world. \nThe Eberhardt Wilhelm Cup consisted of players all of master or near-master strength and it was in one of the games I played in this tournament that I played probably the most surprising move of my life. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nTo win the full IM title involved getting one more IM norm and happily for my prospects\, I was selected for the British team in both the Olympiad Preliminary of 1972 and the European Team Championships of 1973. \nAlthough I was trifle unlucky to miss the IM norm by half a point in the European Championship I finally clinched the coveted IM title in the Olympiad Preliminary which\, although starting a few months before the European tournament\, went on so long that I was in suspense long after the European games finished. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nOne of my most interesting games in the European Team Championship of 1973 was against F. Grzeskowiak\, himself an IM and a feared attacking player. \n\n\n \n\n\n    \n        \n            You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.        \n    \n    \n    \n\n\n \n\nHere is a discussion of James Adams on the English Chess Forum initiated by Matt Mackenzie (Millom\, Cumbria) \nHere is his entry on the ICCF web site. \nHere is his entry from chessgames.com \n39 Games of James Adams (27) of thirty nine of his games.
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/remembering-imc-james-adams-04-ix-1921-27-vii-2013/
CATEGORIES:Correspondence,English,History,Remembering
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