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DTSTART:20190101T000000
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210203
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210204
DTSTAMP:20220202T175629Z
CREATED:20190822T164132Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220202T175629Z
UID:1002-1612310400-1612396799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of John Cochrane (04-ii-1798 02-iii-1878)
DESCRIPTION:BCN remembers John Cochrane who passed away on March 3rd 1878. \nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess by Hooper & Whyld : \nScottish player\, barrister\, called to the bar in 1822. If the so-called romantic style existed then Cochrane has a claim to be regarded as its founder. A dashing player\, he attacked at all costs often sacrificing pieces with abandon\, a style that was successful in the England of the 1820s; but when in 1821 he went to Paris\, then the world’s chess centre\, he was beaten by both Deschapelles and Bourdonnais. Subsequently he studied the game but he did not change his style. In 1822 he published A Treatise on the Game of Chess\, a popular book largely based on Traite des Amateurs (see Verdoni) and Lolli but with a few contributions of his own.  \nAlthough Cochrane came from an old Scottish family he led the London team in the famous correspondence match against Edinburgh\, 1824-8. He persuaded his team to play the Scotch Gambit\, but when London had obtained a fine position Cochrane left for India. Although the Londoners\, led by Lewis\, failed to carry the attack\, the Scotch Gambit became fashionable for more than 15 years\, and other lively attacking openings were developed.  \nCochrane stayed in India until his retirement in 1869 except for one visit to England\, 1841-3\, when he played hundreds of friendly games against Staunton\, who began by winning a large majority\, Wilhelm Steinitz knew both contestants and states that their last encounter was a match of 12 games. Staunton conceding pawn and move for the first six- and that Cochrane made an even score when receiving odds but won (-1-3—2— !) when playing on even terms\, John Cochrane should not be confused with James Cochrane (c\, 1770-1830)\, co-author of a book on the Muzio gambit. \nHere is his Wikipedia entry \n[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHk229rnvY8[/embedyt] \n[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQX8qsD6iS0[/embedyt]  \nThe Cochrane Gambit is : \n[fen]rnbqkb1r/ppp2Npp/3p1n2/8/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq – 0 1[/fen] \nand the Cochrane Variation in the King’s Gambit is : \n[fen]rnb1kbnr/pppp1p1p/8/4N3/2B1P1pq/5p2/PPPP2PP/RNBQ1K1R w KQkq – 0 1[/fen] \nThe Sicilian Defence\, Staunton-Cochrane Variation is : \n[fen]rnbqkbnr/pp1ppppp/8/2p5/2P1P3/8/PP1P1PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq – 0 1[/fen] \nand the Scotch Gambit\, Cochrane Variation is : \n[fen]r1bqkb1r/pp1p1Npp/2p1nn2/8/2B1P3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w KQkq – 0 1[/fen] \nThe Cochrane Defence is a drawing method for in the rook\, bishop & king vs rook & king ending.
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-john-cochrane/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/gif:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/John_Cochrane_19th-century_chessplayer.gif
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210304
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210305
DTSTAMP:20210304T122602Z
CREATED:20210301T142500Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210304T122602Z
UID:14612-1614816000-1614902399@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Nancy Elder MBE (25-v-1915 04-iii-1981)
DESCRIPTION:BCN remembers Nancy Elder MBE who passed away on Wednesday\, March 4th 1981\, i.e\, forty years ago in Perth\, Western Australia. \nNancy Conchar Gordon was born on Tuesday\, May 25th 1915. On the same date was born Robin Day in High Wycombe who went on  to design the polypropylene stacking chair. \nNancy was born in Kirmabreck\, Kirkcudbrightshire in the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. \nIn the 1939 register Nancy was living at 18 Thornton Avenue\, Urmston. Manchester\, M41 5DJ with a married couple\, William Furnish (a railway time keeper) and Gertrude Furnish who performed unpaid domestic duties. Presumably Nancy was a lodger. \n18 Thornton Avenue\, Urmston. Manchester\, M41 5DJ\nHer occupation was given as a teacher of music and physical training. At this time she was single at the age of twenty-four. \nIn the mid-1940s Nancy relocated from Manchester to Dundee where she continued her teaching career at Dundee High School. During that time she encouraged and coached a number of players some of whom represented Scotland. \nIn 1950 in Tealing\, Angus\, Scotland Nancy married David Livie Elder. They had a daughter Christine who played chess as a junior. Tealing has a strong connection with the Elder family. \nAccording to Alan McGowan (Chess Scotland): “She was the main instigator in forming both the Schools’ and Primary League in Dundee\, and she assisted in the organisation of the Dundee 1967 International Centenary Tournament.” \nWhen she passed away Nancy was living at 39 Whitefauld Road\, Dundee\, DD2 1RJ : \n39 Whitefauld Road\, Dundee\, DD2 1RJ\nHer passing was reported in the Dundee Courier and Advertiser  on March 6th 1981 as follows : \nNancy Elder dies after heart attack on flight\nMrs Nancy Elder 39 Whitefauld Road\, Dundee\, a former music teacher at Dundee High School and one of Scotland’s best known chess players\, has died after taking ill on a flight to Australia.\nShe was off for a long holiday which she planned to spend with relatives and friends from the world of international chess\, but\, after suffering a heart attack on a plane from Singapore\, had been in intensive care in Perth\, Western Australia. \nHer daughter Christine\, a primary school teacher in Tighnabruaich\, received daily telephone reports on her mother’s condition from a cousin and\, at the weekend\, heard that she was improving gradually. \nThe shock news of her mother’s death came late on Wednesday night. \nMrs. Elder\, who went into semi-retirement recently\, has been to the fore in chess for about 35 years at local\, national and international levels. \nNancy Elder MBE. Source : Milos Petronic\nShe has represented her country five times\, having taken part in the chess Olympiad in Yugoslavia in 1963 and 1973\, in Israel in 1976\, in Buenos Aires in 1978 and in Malta last year. \nBuenos Aires Olympiad 1978. From left: Morag McGhee\, Nancy Elder\, Owen Hindle\, Kathleen Hindle and Lynne Houston. Courtesy of Chess Scotland\nShe turned down the chance to take part on three other occasions. \nHaifa Olympiad 1976 – Scotland v Switzerland. From left: Nancy Elder\, Kathleen Hindle\, Lynne Houston. Courtesy of Chess Scotland\nShe was awarded the MBE for her services to chess in 1974. \nShe was President of Dundee Chess Club\, chairman of the congress committee of the Scottish Chess Association and on the council of the Scottish Junior Chess Association. \nSelf-taught\nShe started playing chess during her school days with her brother and the two of them were more-or-less self taught. \nIt wasn’t until after the Second World War that she received any sort of coaching\, by which time she had established her own style. \nShe retired on April 14th last year after 24 years in the music department of Dundee High School\, where she specialised in teaching the oboe. \nShe continued to teach privately. \nDundee Courier and Advertiser\, March 6th 1981\nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume CI (101\, 1981)\, Number 6 (June)\, pp. 219-220 we have this obituary from Bernard Cafferty : \n“Nancy C. Elder\, MBE\, died in Perth\, Western Australia on March 4th 1981. Mrs. Elder had recently retired after a lifetime of teaching\, her last post being in Dundee. I well remember her account of teaching under difficult conditions in World War 2 in Manchester. 15 Scottish Women’s Champion (the record for the event which she set-up at Troon in 1980). \nPrizegiving at the 1966 Scottish Championships. From the left: Michael Fallone\, Nancy Elder\, W.P. McColl\, President of Dundee Chess Club\, Kathleen Patterson\, Gerald Bonner. Courtesy of Chess Scotland\nMrs Elder was a regular competitor in the British Women’s Championship (sometimes in rivalry with her daughter Christine) and showed her playing strength with a score of 5.5/12 on board two for Scotland at the Women’s Chess Olympiad\, Malta\, 1980. \nMalta Olympiad 1980 Left-right: Kathleen\, Rosie Giulian\, Owen Hindle (Team Captain)\, Nancy Elder\, Lynne Houston. Courtesy of Chess Scotland\nI am sure she will be best remembered though for her decades of effort in the organising of chess in Scotland\, particularly for juniors and in schools\, in recognition of which she was awarded the MBE\, the only such honour ever given for services to chess ‘north of the border’ as Alan Borwell puts it in his Newsflash obituary.” \n[pgn]\n[Event “British CF-53 Women”]\n[Site “Sunderland/ Tyne and Wear”]\n[Date “1966.08.??”]\n[Round “?”]\n[White “Elder\, Nancy Conchar”]\n[Black “Moore\, Gillian A”]\n[Result “1-0”]\n[ECO “B73”]\n[Annotator “British Chess News”]\n[PlyCount “71”]\n[EventDate “1966.08.08”]\n[EventType “tourn”]\n[EventRounds “11”]\n[EventCountry “GBR”]\n[SourceTitle “EXT 1999”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “1998.11.16”]\n[SourceVersion “1”]\n[SourceVersionDate “1998.11.16”]\n[SourceQuality “1”] \n{[%evp 0\,71\,19\,31\,72\,53\,51\,40\,38\,35\,42\,42\,41\,21\,45\,40\,44\,31\,38\,44\,43\,35\,37\,37\,\n56\,37\,60\,54\,156\,124\,220\,183\,183\,139\,160\,91\,90\,96\,101\,80\,101\,0\,5\,0\,6\,0\,1\,16\,1\,5\,\n21\,25\,38\,2\,28\,0\,37\,8\,42\,20\,45\,6\,202\,261\,285\,366\,920\,931\,29993\,29994\,29995\,\n29996\,29997\,29998]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2\ng6 7. Be3 Bg7 8. O-O O-O 9. h3 {A choice of Smyslov and Kudrin.} ({A more\nmodern way to proceed is} 9. Nb3 Be6 10. f4 Qc8 11. Kh1 Rd8 12. Bf3 Bc4 13. Rf2\ne5 14. Rd2 Qe6 15. fxe5 Nxe5 16. Nd4 Qe7 17. b3) 9… a6 (9… Bd7 10. Qd2 Rc8\n11. f4 a6 12. Rad1 b5 13. a3 Qc7) 10. Qd2 Qc7 11. f4 Rd8 12. Rad1 Nxd4 13. Bxd4\ne5 $2 $146 {[#] The only game to feature this position.} (13… Be6) 14. Bxe5\n$18 Qb6+ 15. Kh2 (15. Bd4 {Appears more natural.}) 15… Be6 16. Bxf6 (16. Bd4)\n16… Bxf6 17. Nd5 {White immediately seeks exchanges.} Bxd5 18. Qxd5 Rac8 19.\nBc4 Qc7 20. Bb3 (20. Bd3) 20… Bxb2 21. a4 Qe7 {Black has equalised after the\nearlier blunder.} 22. Rf3 Rc5 23. Qd3 Rc3 24. Qe2 Rdc8 25. Rxc3 Bxc3 26. Rd3\nKf8 27. Qf3 Bb4 28. g4 Rc5 29. Kg2 h6 30. Kf1 {[#]} f5 $2 {after all of\nBlack’s efforts lashing out is not a good idea.} (30… b5 {was reasonable.})\n31. gxf5 gxf5 32. Qh5 $1 {and Black is busted.} fxe4 33. Qxh6+ Qg7 34. Qxd6+\nQe7 35. Qh6+ Qg7 36. Rd8+ {and Black resigned.} 1-0\n[/pgn] \nChess Scotland award the Nancy Elder Cup annually for an individual competition for “club level” players. \nWe are grateful to Helen Milligan who told BCN : \nMy most memorable incident was when I refused to play in the Scottish Ladies at the annual Congress\, preferring to try to improve my chess by playing in the Open section (really the B-Grade\, below the Championship proper). I got given a piece of Nancy’s mind for that – she did not approve! \nHere are her playing records from the Olympiads. \nHere is a potted biography from Chess Scotland.
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-nancy-elder-mbe-25-v-1915-04-iii-1981/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Honours,Player,Remembering
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Eld02271.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20200316
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20200317
DTSTAMP:20260817T141220Z
CREATED:20201106T193152Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260817T141220Z
UID:11055-1584316800-1584403199@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Reginald Bonham MBE MA (31-i-1906 16-iii-1984)
DESCRIPTION:BCN remembers Reginald Bonham (known as “Bon”) who passed away\, this day\, March 16th in 1984 in Worcester\, Worcestershire. \nIn 1970 New Years Honours\, Civil Division he was awarded the MBE for “Services to the blind”. Interestingly\, in 1992 his sister Mary also received an MBE for “Services to the blind” This is surely an unusual happening. \nReginald Walter Bonham was born on Wednesday\, January 31st 1906 : the same day as the Ecuador–Colombia earthquake which measured 8.8 on the Richter Scale. \nHe was born in St. Neots\, Huntingdonshire\, Cambridgeshire. \nIn the 1911 census aged 5 he lived in the High Street\, St. Neots with William R Bonham (father\, master butcher\, aged 45)\, Edith Mary Ann Bonham (mother\, 38)\, Howard William Bonham (6)\, Maurice George Bonham (3) and Ernest Charles Bonham (1). The family had a servant / domestic duties assistant called Elise Annie Goss aged 18. The census did not record any disability for Reginald. \nReg\, like others in his family\, suffered from deficient eyesight and was therefore unable to attend a “mainstream” school. \nFrom 1922 – 1925 he attended the Royal Worcester College for the Blind (originally Worcester College for the Blind Sons of Gentlemen) in Whittington Road\, Worcester\, WR5 2JX. The Headmaster (GC Brown) encouraged his chess and rowing talents and in 1926 he was sent up to St. Catherine’s College\, Oxford to read mathematics. \nReginald was a highly competant rower\, competing for his college and reaching the trial stage for the Oxford Varsity crew. \nIn 1934 Reg founded the Braille Chess Magazine. \nIn the 1939 census he was recorded as living at 4\, St. Catherine’s Hill\, Worcester\, WR5 with his wife\, Josephine Bonham (born 24th September 1904). Reginald was listed as being a Mathematics tutor at the Royal Worcester College for the Blind (originally Worcester College for the Blind Sons of Gentlemen) in Whittington Road\, Worcester\, WR5 2JX. The college is now named New College Worcester. Their home was around a mile from the College. Josephine was listed as carrying out “unpaid domestic duties”. \nHe taught a combination of Braille and mathematics and was an amateur thespian and keen bridge player. \nRW Bonham and a Braille chess set set-up incorrectly\nInterestingly RWB in 1939 was an ARP (Air Raid Precautions) Warden and a St. John Ambulance volunteer for the College. \nHe was Worcester champion twenty times and four times Midlands champion winning the Birmingham Post Cup twice. \n[pgn]\n[Event “British CF-36 Championship”]\n[Site “Felixstowe/ Suffolk”]\n[Date “1949.08.12”]\n[Round “5.9”]\n[White “Harris\, Peter A”]\n[Black “Bonham\, Reginald Walter”]\n[Result “0-1”]\n[Annotator “Harry Golombek”]\n[SetUp “1”]\n[FEN “r3r1k1/pp3qpp/3B1n2/2P5/1P2p3/8/1PQ3PP/3RR1K1 w – – 0 26”]\n[PlyCount “8”]\n[EventDate “1949.08.08”]\n[EventType “swiss”]\n[EventRounds “11”]\n[EventCountry “GBR”]\n[SourceTitle “EXT 2018”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “2017.10.13”]\n[SourceVersion “1”]\n[SourceVersionDate “2017.10.13”]\n[SourceQuality “1”] \n{[%evp 0\,8\,25\,0\,10\,-96\,-41\,-636\,-650\,-650\,-667]} 26. Re3 $2 (26. b5 $14) 26…\nNd5 27. Rb3 e3 28. Qc4 $4 (28. Rf1 $11) 28… Qf2+ 29. Kh1 e2 {Source: BCM\,\nSept 1949\, p301} 0-1\n[/pgn] \nOn June 6th 1947 Bonham played in Birmingham in a match between Great Britain and Czechoslovakia playing Ladislav Alster and won this attractive game : \n[pgn]\n[Event “Match/Nation GBR-CSR”]\n[Site “Birmingham”]\n[Date “1947.06.17”]\n[Round “1”]\n[White “Bonham\, Reginald Walter”]\n[Black “Alster\, Ladislav”]\n[Result “1-0”]\n[ECO “A42”]\n[Annotator “British Chess News”]\n[PlyCount “79”]\n[EventDate “1947.06.17”]\n[EventType “team-match”]\n[EventRounds “2”]\n[EventCountry “ENG”]\n[SourceTitle “EXT 1999”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “1998.11.16”]\n[SourceVersion “1”]\n[SourceVersionDate “1998.11.16”]\n[SourceQuality “1”] \n{[%evp 0\,79\,37\,25\,29\,-16\,35\,42\,44\,39\,31\,-1\,-11\,8\,8\,-19\,-22\,-24\,-24\,-16\,-24\,-30\,\n-22\,-31\,-21\,-51\,-8\,-22\,-37\,-56\,-45\,-35\,-35\,-46\,0\,-12\,0\,-8\,-8\,-10\,-10\,-2\,-4\,-11\,\n53\,53\,75\,75\,54\,67\,67\,67\,82\,55\,135\,96\,135\,139\,151\,168\,172\,169\,173\,160\,185\,225\,\n215\,195\,213\,213\,247\,230\,240\,247\,559\,629\,717\,763\,820\,664\,786\,843]} 1. d4 Nf6 2.\nc4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. g3 O-O 6. Bg2 e5 7. Nge2 exd4 8. Nxd4 Nc6 9. Nxc6\nbxc6 10. O-O Be6 11. Qa4 Nd7 12. Be3 {[#]} Ne5 $146 (12… Bxc3 13. bxc3) 13.\nc5 $1 Nc4 14. Nd1 Nxe3 15. Nxe3 dxc5 16. Rad1 Qe7 17. b3 $11 Bd7 18. Qa5 Be6\n19. Rd2 Bd4 20. Nc2 Rfd8 21. Nxd4 cxd4 $6 (21… Rxd4 $11) 22. Rc1 $16 Rab8 23.\nRxc6 Rb6 24. Qc5 Qxc5 25. Rxc5 Rd7 26. e5 (26. f4) 26… Ra6 27. f4 h5 28. Bb7\n$1 Rb6 29. Bc8 Rd8 30. Bxe6 Rxe6 31. Rxc7 $18 {[#]} Ra6 32. Kf2 Ra3 33. Kf3 a5\n34. Rc4 Kf8 35. Ke4 d3 36. Rd4 Rxd4+ $2 (36… Ra8) 37. Kxd4 a4 38. b4 Ke7 39.\nKc4 Ke6 40. b5 {time} 1-0\n[/pgn] \nIn 1951 he founded the International Braille Chess Association (IBCA) and continued as its President for 23 years. The IBCA affiliated to FIDE in 1964. see http://www.schachkomet.de/ibcachp4.htm for historical detail. \nHe was Blind World Champion in 1958 and Correspondence Blind World Champion in 1957\, 1959\, 1961\, 1964 (jointly) and 1966. \nOne of his students was broadcaster Peter White MBE who described Bon in his autobiography See it My Way \nSee it My Way\, Peter White\, 1994\nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume XCII (92\, 1972) Number 6 (June)\, page 216 we have this item in News in Brief : \n“At the closing ceremony of the 4th Chess Olympiad for the Blind at Pula\, Yugoslavia (April 6-18) the International Braille Chess Association awarded the title of Correspondence Grandmaster of the Blind to R.W. Bonham of Worcester\, for having won the Postal Championship more than three times.” \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume CIV (104\, 1984) Number 5 (May)\, page 194 we have this obituary : \n“We regret to announce the death in March of two early winners of the grandmaster title (the other was Comins Mansfield MBE). \nR.W.Bonham (31 i 1906 – 16 iii 1984) died at Worcester\, where he had long served as a Master at the Royal Worcester College for the Blind. In the 1950s he took part in the British Championship with success. Many older players will remember him fingering his special board before announcing his move and checking his clock with its markers outside the glass face. \nHe was also active in postal play\, taking part in international events in the decade after the war when few British players ventured “into Europe”. A note in the 1972 BCM (page 216) records the award of the title Correspondence GM of the Blind by the International Braille Chess Association\, so his omission from the recent book British Chess seems rather unfortunate. \nAmong the titles won by Reginald Bonham were British Correspondence Championship\, shared in 1947 with J. Cairncross and shared in 1951 with E. Brown) and Midland Champion (1947 and 1950). \nHe was also (with Wormald) joint author of those fine little books Chess Questions Answered and More Chess Questions Answered.” \nSadly\, RWB did not merit articles in Sunnucks or Golombek’s Encyclopedias or Hooper’s and Whyld’s Oxford Companion or\, as mentioned previously\, British Chess. \nHere is a short biography from Ray Collett and here is his Wikipedia article. \nMore information here. \nThe Braille Chess Association has this entry in its Hall of Fame. \nChess Questions Answered\, RW Bonham & RD Wormald\, Jordan & Sons Ltd\, London\, 1945\nMore Chess Questions Answered\, RW Bonham & RD Wormald\, Jordan & Sons Ltd\, London\, 1948
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/11055/
CATEGORIES:Blind,Death Anniversary,History,Honours,Player,Remembering,Writer
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/CHESS-BULLETIN.-P5.jpeg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210318
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210319
DTSTAMP:20230317T091443Z
CREATED:20200402T175239Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20230317T091443Z
UID:3990-1616025600-1616111999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of FM Steve Berry (18-iii-1951 04-i-2019)
DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of FM Stephen H Berry (18-iii-1951) \nObituary from Andrew Stone
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/birthday-of-fm-stephen-h-berry-18-iii-1951/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,Player,Remembering
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/319.jpg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210325
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210326
DTSTAMP:20210321T164305Z
CREATED:20190824T102732Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210321T164305Z
UID:1155-1616630400-1616716799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Sir Stuart Milner-Barry KCVO CB OBE (20-ix-1906 25-iii-1995)
DESCRIPTION:BCN remembers Sir Stuart Milner-Barry KCVO CB OBE who passed away on Saturday\, March 25th\, 1995 in Lewisham Hospital\, London aged 88. He was laid to rest in the Great Shelford Cemetery\, Cambridge Road\, Great Shelford\, Cambridge CB22 5JJ. \nA memorial service was held for him at Westminster Abbey on 15 June 1995. \nGreat Shelford Cemetery Gravestone of Sir Philip Stuart Milner-Barry KCVO CB OBE by Geoffrey Gillon\nSignature of PS Milner-Barry from a Brian Reilly “after dinner” postcard from Margate 1936.\nPhilip Stuart Milner-Barry was born on Thursday\, September 20th 1906 in Mill Hill in the London Borough of Barnet. Mill Hill falls under the Hendon Parliamentary constituency. \nParents\nHis parents were Lieutenant-Commander Edward Leopold (1867-1917) and Edith Mary Milner-Barry (born 17th May 1866\, died 1949\, née Besant). Edward was in the  Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve\, H.M.S. “Wallington.” Prior to his war service his father was a professor of modern languages at the University of Bangor and Edith was the daughter of Dr. William Henry Besant\, a renowned mathematical fellow of St John’s College\, Cambridge University. \nStuart was the second born of six children\, There was  an older sister Alda Mary (18th August 1893-1938) and four brothers Edward William Besant (?-1911) \, Walter Leopold (1904-1982)\, John O’Brien (4 December 1898 – 28 February 1954) and Patrick James . Many of the Milner-Barry family were laid to rest in the Great Shelford churchyard. \nStuart learned chess at the age of eight and his autobiographical article below goes into more depth. \nHe was educated at Cheltenham College\, and won a scholarship to Trinity College\, Cambridge\, where he obtained firsts in classics and moral sciences. \nOn leaving Cambridge in 1927 he went to work at the London Stock Exchange (LSE). \nAccording to the 1928 and 1929 electoral rolls he was living with his mother Edith  and his brothers Walter and John O’Brien at 50 De Freville Avenue\, Cambridge CB4 1HT: \n50 De Freville Avenue\, Cambridge CB4 1HT\nIn 1931 the family had relocated to 11\, Park Terrace\, Cambridge which is nearby to Emmanuel College. Now living  with the family was brother Patrick James. \n11\, Park Terrace\, Cambridge\, CB1 1JJ\nPeriod map of the area of 11\, Park Terrace\, Cambridge\, CB1 1JJ\nHe discovered that he did not enjoy his LSE work and switched careers to became chess correspondent of The Times in 1938. \nAt the time (September 29th) of the 1939 register he (aged 33) was living as a journalist in a household of three with his mother Edith who carried out “unpaid domestic duties” and sister Alda who was of “private means”. \nHonours\nIn 1946 Stuart was awarded the OBE from the Civil Division in the  New Years Honours . The citation reads that was “employed in a Department of the Foreign Office”. A modern translation of this was he was engaged in Top Secret work at Bletchley Park alongside Alan Turing\, Gordon Welchman and Hugh Alexander and was thus honoured for his war work. More on this later… \nAfter the war he worked in the Treasury\, and later in 1966 administered the British honours system where he helped to facilitate the award of honours to other chess players ultimately retiring in 1977. \nAs well as the OBE he was made Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1962 and Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCV0) in 1975. \nA conference room was named after him at the Civil Service Club\, 13 – 15 Great Scotland Yard\, London SW1A 2HJ. \nPeter Hennessy* and The Rewarding Career of Sir Stuart Milner-Barry\n*Peter Hennessy is a renowned historian and journalist. The following was originally published in The Times in 1977 following  PSMBs retirement. \n“Few careers can have been as varied and rewarding as that of Sir Stuart Milner-Barry\, who retires today as Ceremonial Officer to the Civil Service Department and custodian of the British honours system. \nInto the 48 years since he left Cambridge with a degrees in classics and moral sciences\, he has crammed spells as a stockbroker\, chess correspondent of  The Times and member of the British chess team\, a wartime codebreaker for MI6 and a senior Treasury official before taking over administration of the nations “gongs and bongs ” nearly 11 years ago. \nThe richness of Sir Stuart’s progression is all the more striking given the difficulty he experienced in finding a job at all after university because of the Wall Street crash in 1929. His first 10 years spanned the slump of the 1930s\, when there was little for a stockbroker to do\, but fill his days reading The Times. \nIn 1938 he joined the paper full time as chess correspondent and\, along with many of the world’s leading players\, he was nearly trapped in Buenos Aires when war broke out the next year (ed. should be month rather than year). Catching the first ship home\, he finished up with that brilliant collection of dons\, antique dealers\, mathematicians and chess players billeted in Nissen huts in the park of Buckinghamshire country house\, who broke the code transmitted by the German Enigma machine. \nThe original Hut 6 building (photographed in 2004). Milner-Barry joined Hut 6 in early 1940\, and worked in the section throughout World War II. He became head of Hut 6 in Autumn 1943.\nSir Stuart eventually rose to lead hut six\, which broke the most secret messages of the Luftwaffe. Quartered in a comfortable Bletchley public house with another formidable chess player\, C. H. O’D. Alexander\, and Gordon Welchman\, the Cambridge mathematician\, he acquired a taste  for rum\, the only alcohol in plentiful supply for some reason\, and a sense of guilt about enjoying\, his stimulating\, important job\, safe while other men faced the bullets. \nHe was not tempted to stay on in the arcane world of code-breaking after the war\, unlike his friend\, the late Hugh Alexander\, as he regards such activities in peacetime as akin to reading somebody’s private correspondence\, though he recognizes the necessity of such efforts for intelligence work. Instead\, he took the reconstruction competition for the administrative class of the Civil Service and entered the Treasury. \nWhile battling with the post-war dollar shortage in Treasury Chambers he “found a wife\, carried her off and lived happily ever after”\, as he cheerfully puts it. Apart from a spell as establishment officer to the Ministry of Health\, he stayed at the Treasury until he reached the normal retiring age of 60 in 1966. \nLord Helsby\, then Head of the Home Civil Service\, asked him to stay on and take over the smooth machine that underpins the honours system\, which had been built up over many years by Sir Robert Knox. Sir Stuart has loved every minute of it. \nHe looks every inch the part\, a tall stately man of immense natural dignity\, he is the incarnation of propriety. The stresses to which the honours system has been subjected to in recent years must have caused him great distress but he is far too proper a civil servant to talk about it. His retirement at 70 has nothing to do with the alarums and excursions stimulated by the honours lists associated with Harold Wilson. \n“One of my principal jobs has been the protection of the system”\, he says. “The pleasures are very great. It’s fascinating in itself. You see so much of the history of people in every walk of like”. \nSir Stuart waxes eloquent about the beauty and uniqueness of the British honours system. He is a confirmed monarchist\, so the spontaneity of the jubilee celebrations  provides the perfect backcloth for his departure. He is succeeded by Mr. Richard Sharp\, an under-secretary at the Treasury.” \nBelow is the original article: \nSir Philip Stuart Milner-Barry OBE\nMarriage to Thelma\nIn the third quarter of 1947 Stuart married Thelma Tennant Wells in Westminster. A consequence of the “rules of the day” of the marriage was that Thelma had to resign her post in the Treasury immediately.  (Ed: this somewhat antiquated view of life was finally corrected in 1972 when the Civil Service dispensed with this rule). \nLady Thelma was to support Stuart in his chess activities for their married life. She also served as the first UK Director of Women’s Chess and made many lasting friendships in the chess world. She was buried together with Stuart in 2007. Stuart himself was President of the British Chess Federation between 1970 and 1973 as well as being Director of International Chess following his presidency. \nStuart and Thelma had three children\, one son and two daughters: Philip O. (born 1953)\, Jane E (born 1950) and Alda M (born 1958). \nDave Rumens is pleased to accept a cheque for £200 from Lady Thelma Milner-Barry for winning the 1978 Nottingham Congress with 5.5/6. Photograph provided by Nottinghamshire County Council.\nStuart was knighted on January 1st 1975 for his role as the “Ceremonial Officer of  Civil Service Department” between 1966-77. Technically the knighthood is known as a KCVO. \nMilner-Barry was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 1960-61 season. \nHe first competed in the British Championship in 1931 and made regular appearences as late as 1978: a span of 47 years! \nIn their retirement  years Stuart and Thelma lived at the salubrious location of 43 Blackheath Park\, Blackheath\, London SE3 9RW. \nAutobiography\nIn June of 1933 at the age of 27 Stuart wrote an autobiographical piece for British Chess Magazine to be found in Volume LIII (53\, 1933)\, Number 6 (June)\, pp. 241-2 as follows: \nStuart Milner-Barry in 1933 taken from BCM\, 1933\, June\nP.S. Milner-Barry\nChampion of the City of London Chess Club\nI learned chess at the age of eight and played regularly after that with members of my family. My first-class practise (with due respect to my family) began at fourteen\, when Mr. Bertram Goulding Brown and  started a series of serious friendly games which has continued ever since\, almost without interruption. The vast majority of these games were begun with 1 P-K4\, P-K4\, and as we both eschewed the Lopez and the Four Knights\, we have acquired  a fairly extensive knowledge of the older forms of the King’s side openings – King’s Gambit (all sorts)\, Vienna\, Guioco Piano\, Evans’s Gambit\, Danish Gambit\, Bishop’s Opening\, etc. These games have undoubtedly born the most important influence in my development\, apart from which the serious friendly game is to me much the most enjoyable form of chess. We each have runs of success\, and there has never been much to choose between us. \n(An aside : Stuart wrote a extensive obituary of Bertram Goulding Brown which appeared in British Chess Magazine\, Volume LXXXV (85\, 1965)\, Number 12(December) pp.344-45 in which he noted: \nB. Goulding Brown was my oldest and closest Cambridge friend\, I started playing with him in 1920\, and we have played ever since\, though\, alas\, not nearly so often since the War as in the 1920s and 1930. Our last games\, when he was eighty three\, were played about a year ago in the same book-congested upstairs study at Brookside as all the others had been. Both were cut-and-thrust draws: a Kieseritzky Gambit from myself and Two Knights’ (with 4.P-Q4 for White) were typical of the openings we adopted. We were planning another this Autumn\, but he died suddenly and peacefully at the end of August\, ) \nI have also been very fortunate in playing a good deal with C.H.O’D. Alexander. Our games have taken the form of a series of short matches (first player to win three games) played with clocks. Alexander was already stronger than me when he came up to Cambridge\, and he won the University Championship from me in his first year and my fourth. \nCHO’D Alexander plays his old friend PS Milner-Barry\nAll three matches have been won by him\, the first easily and the last two by the narrowest possible margin; a fourth now in progress looks like coming to an early  and ignominious conclusion (Score 0-2-2). These results have neither surprised nor disappointed me : I would not back any player in England to do better. \n(ed. For more detail on PSMBs matches with Hugh we refer to you our article on Hugh). \nIn 1923 I won the first Boy’s Championship at Hastings\, but lost badly the following year (ed. Alexander won). \nBoy Chess Champion PS Milner-Barry (Cheltenham College)\, first boy chess champion of England\, receiving the cup from Mrs. AG Ginner\, the donor \, at the Hastings Chess Club\nSince then I have competed twice at Hastings\, once tieing with Miss Menchik in the Major Reserve for the first place and once for the last\, in the Major. In between I played in the Major Open at Tenby\, and came out fifth\, with my first important win against Znosko-Borovsky. \n[pgn]\n[Event “British CF-21 Major Open”]\n[Site “Tenby (Wales)”]\n[Date “1928.07.09”]\n[Round “7”]\n[White “Milner-Barry\, Philip Stuart”]\n[Black “Znosko Borovsky\, Eugene”]\n[Result “1-0”]\n[ECO “B13”]\n[Annotator “British Chess News”]\n[PlyCount “51”]\n[EventDate “1928.07.02”]\n[EventType “tourn”]\n[EventRounds “11”]\n[EventCountry “GBR”]\n[SourceTitle “EXT 2019”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “2018.10.10”]\n[SourceVersion “1”]\n[SourceVersionDate “2018.10.10”]\n[SourceQuality “1”] \n{[%evp 0\,51\,20\,24\,64\,70\,60\,53\,44\,23\,19\,15\,31\,25\,37\,15\,47\,15\,61\,38\,71\,56\,52\,46\,\n44\,37\,36\,28\,34\,18\,47\,16\,27\,12\,8\,10\,12\,10\,6\,-6\,0\,-20\,29\,-2\,71\,89\,168\,300\,312\,\n312\,944\,1219\,1218\,1245]} {This game does NOT feature in The Art of Chess\nCombination by EZB but perhaps it should have done.} 1. e4 {[%mdl 128]} c6 2.\nd4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 Nf6 (5… Qc7 {was a favourite of\nTartakower.}) 6. Bf4 Bg4 7. Nf3 e6 8. Qb3 Qc8 9. Nbd2 Be7 10. O-O O-O 11. h3 ({\nIn 2021 the following is de rigour:} 11. Rfe1 Bh5 12. Ne5 Nxe5 13. Bxe5 Bg6 14.\nBxg6 hxg6 15. a4 Qc6) 11… Bh5 12. Rae1 (12. Rfe1 Bg6 13. Bxg6 hxg6 14. Ne5\nNxe5 15. Bxe5 Qc6 16. a4 Rfc8) 12… Bg6 13. Bxg6 hxg6 14. Ne5 Nd7 15. Ndf3\nNcxe5 $146 16. Nxe5 Nxe5 17. Bxe5 Qc6 $11 {[#] and now a typical plan for\nblack against the c3 pawn would be to launch a minority attack.} 18. Re3 $1 {\nMB wishes to recapture on c3 with the lifted rook.} b5 {as predicted…} 19.\nQd1 $1 b4 20. h4 $5 bxc3 ({ZB probably should capture but It is not inviting\nto allow white potential access to h7 and h8.} 20… Bxh4 21. Qg4 Bd8 22. Rh3\nbxc3 23. bxc3 Rc8) 21. Rxc3 $14 Qa6 $2 {(Corrected from Qb6 in a note in BCM\,\nNov 1928\, p434)} ({Better is} 21… Qb6 22. Rb3 Qc6 23. h5 $14) 22. h5 g5 $2 {\nAs Sergeant Wilson might say: Is that wise?} 23. h6 $1 $18 {Of course. Did ZB\nreally miss this move?} f6 {giving the king a flight square.} 24. Qh5 Bd8 25.\nQg6 $1 {Crushing…} Qb7 {[#] and now pause the video.} 26. Rc7 $3 {Sources:\nYorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer\, 11 July 1928; Western Daily Press\, 12\nJuly 1928; Glasgow Herald\, 21 July 1928; Cheltenham Chronicle\, 28 July 1928;\nBCM\, Sept 1928\, p349; Cheltenham Chronicle\, 6 October 1928} 1-0\n[/pgn] \nMeanwhile I played four years against Oxford\, with somewhat chequered results. The first year I won against G. Abrahams\, the second and third years\, I played K.H. Bancroft and scored a (very fortunate) draw and a win\, while finally I permitted Abrahams to fork my King and Queen with a Knight\, a performance unhappily repeated by R.L. Mitchell in the following year (his Queen was pinned by a Bishop). Since then the spell has been broken. In 1931 I played in the British Championships at Worcester\, and was quite satisfied with my form\, though my score of 5 out of 11 was nothing to write home about. In February 1932\, I have the great good fortune to fill a vacant place in the Sunday Referee* London International Tournament\, an extremely exhausting but very valuable experience which I greatly appreciated. \n*The Sunday Referee was a newspaper of the time which was adsorbed into The Sunday Chronicle in 1939. \nFull Crosstable for the 1932 Sunday Referee or London International Masters Tournament\nMy score of 3.5 out of 11\, equal with Sir George Thomas and above W. Winter and V. Buerger\, was quite as good as I expected. After this came the Cambridge Tournament\, which\, though a very delightful little congress\, was a fiasco from my point of view. Three of my opponents were unkind enough to show their best form against me\, and two other games I spoilt by clock trouble. \nI do not expect to play much serious competitive chess in future. I admire sincerely the business man who is ready\, after a hard day at the office\, to undergo a further four hours of strenuous mental exertion; and who is also prepared to spend his all too brief holidays in the same exhausting pursuit. Moreover\, while many players find the atmosphere of match and tournament play a stimulus or an inspiration\, it only renders me nervous\, and though this does not affect my play it certainly interferes with my enjoyment. As long as I can play my week-end games with B.G.B.\, and inveigle Alexander from Winchester to add another to his monotonous series of victories\, I shall not much mind if I can only occasionally take part in congresses. ” \nPS Milner-Barry Cup\nIn issue #53 (April 1946)  of West London Chess Club’s Gazette we have a news item concerning a newly inaugurated trophy called the PS Milner-Barry Cup: \nissue #53 (April 1946)  of West London Chess Club’s Gazette\nSergeant on Milner-Barry\nWriting in A Century of British Chess (Hutchinson\, 1934)\, PW Sergeant records in Chapter XXI\, 1925 to 1934: \nThe City of London C.C.’s Championship Tournament which ended this (1933) spring deserves special mention; for it introduced an entirely new name on the list of champions\, that of P.S. Milner-Barry\, formerly of Cheltenham College and of Cambridge University.  Ten years previously he had won the first boys’ championship at Hastings. \nNow\, he won the City of London Championship with a score of 11 out of 14\, followed by the bearers of such noted names as R.P. Michell (10 points)\, Sir George Thomas (9)\, and E.G. Sergeant (8.5). It caused some surprise\, therefore\, when it was found that he was not selected as a British representative at Folkestone. \nGolombek on Milner-Barry\nSurprisingly and disappointingly there is no direct entry in either Hooper & Whyld or Sunnucks for Sir Stuart but (as you might expect) Harry Golombek OBE does not let us down  in The Encyclopaedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977): \n“British master whose chess career was limited by his amateur status but whose abilities as a player and original theorist rendered him worthy of the title of international master. \nBorn at Mill Hill in London\, he showed early promise and in 1923 won the British Boys Championship\, then held at Hastings. \nHe studied classics at Cambridge and developed into the strongest player there. At the university he was to meet (ed. three years later) C. H. O’D. Alexander with whom he played much chess. \nThough nearly three years younger\, Alexander exerted a strong influence over him and both players cherished and revelled in the brilliance of play in open positions. \n[pgn]\n[Event “Kent County CA-28 Premier”]\n[Site “Margate”]\n[Date “1935.04.24”]\n[Round “1”]\n[White “Milner-Barry\, Philip Stuart”]\n[Black “Mieses\, Jacques”]\n[Result “1-0”]\n[ECO “B00”]\n[Annotator “British Chess News”]\n[PlyCount “43”]\n[EventDate “1935.04.24”]\n[EventType “tourn”]\n[EventRounds “9”]\n[EventCountry “ENG”]\n[SourceTitle “HCL”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “1999.07.01”]\n[SourceVersion “2”]\n[SourceVersionDate “1999.07.01”]\n[SourceQuality “1”] \n{[%evp 0\,41\,29\,28\,20\,40\,40\,21\,46\,46\,28\,-1\,15\,-5\,-5\,-10\,-3\,-3\,-3\,-5\,7\,-24\,-17\,\n-30\,2\,19\,7\,-3\,-13\,-13\,45\,-71\,-67\,-67\,263\,295\,295\,74\,573\,573\,691\,831\,1288\,1363]\n} 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. d5 Ne5 5. f3 {A Blackmar-Diemer style\nsacrifice of which Milner-Barry was so fond. He loved opening the f-file toward\nhis opponents king!} exf3 6. Nxf3 Nxf3+ 7. Qxf3 Nf6 8. Bf4 a6 9. h3 g6 10. g4 (\n10. O-O-O Bg7 11. g4 Bd7 {transposes}) 10… Bg7 11. O-O-O Bd7 $146 (11… O-O)\n12. Qg3 Rc8 13. Be2 O-O 14. h4 c6 15. h5 (15. dxc6 Rxc6) 15… Nxd5 16. hxg6 {\n[#]} Bxc3 $4 {The losing move} (16… fxg6 {is fine and Black remains in the\ngame.}) 17. Qh4 {Should have been spotted by Mieses.} Nf6 18. g5 (18. Bg5 {\nis even more crushing} Bxb2+ 19. Kxb2 Qb6+ 20. Kc1) 18… Qa5 {to support h5\nand offer the exchange of queens.} 19. gxf6 h5 20. gxf7+ Kxf7 21. Bxh5+ {\nand it is mate in six so Mieses resigned.} Ke6 22. Bg4+ {etc.} 1-0\n[/pgn] \n24th April 1935: J Mieses of Germany in play against PS Milner-Barry during the Premier Tournament of the Kent County Chess Association in the Grand Hotel\, Margate. (Photo by F. Sayers/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)\nBy then along with Alexander and Golombek\, he had become recognized as one of the three strongest young players in the country. Whilst not as successful as they were in tournaments as the British championship in which stamina was essential\, he was a most formidable club and team match player\, as he had already shown in 1933 when he won the championship of the City of London Club ahead of R. P. Mitchell and Sir George Thomas. \nHarry Golombek OBE plays Sir Philip Stuart Milner-Barry OBE\nHe played in his first International Team tournament at Stockholm 1937 and was to play in three more such events : in 1939 at Buenos Aires where\, on third board\, he made the fine score of 4/5 ; in Helsinki 1952; and in Moscow 1956 where\, again on third board\, he was largely responsible for the team’s fine showing. \nLeft to right Baruch H Wood\, Stuart Milner-Barry\, Vera Menchik (playing in the women’s world championship (held concurrently with the 1939 Buenos Aires Olympiad) which she won with 17 wins and 2 draws)\, Sir George Thomas\, Conel Hugh O’Donel Alexander and Harry Golombek. England withdrew after their preliminary group due to the outbreak of war despite qualifying for the top final. Thanks to Leonard Barden\nIn 1940 he shared first prize with Dr. List in the strong tournament of semi-international character in London and then\, like Alexander and (later) Golombek\, helped in the Foreign Office code-breaking activities at Bletchley Park for the duration of the Second World War. Staying in the Civil Service afterwards\, he rose to the rank of Under-Secretary in the Treasury and was knighted for his services in 1975. \nSir Stuart Milner-Barry talks about Malik Mir Sultan Khan\nBelow is footage (start at 1′ 55″) of Sir Stuart discussing the talent of Malik Mir Sultan Khan: \n[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYCwOpjKab0[/embedyt] \nAfter the war\, too\, he had some fine results in the British championship\, his best being second place at Hastings in 1953. \nHartston on Milner-Barry\nThe following article is sourced from November 1995 edition* of Dragon\, the Cambridge University Chess Club magazine: \n(*Edited by Jonathan Parker) \nA sample cover of Dragon\, the Cambridge University Chess Club Magazine\n“I first met Sir Stuart Milner-Barry when I was fifteen years old (1962) playing in a tournament in Bognor Regis who played some rustic king’s pawn opening against me\, sacrificing a pawn for nothing in particular and then astonished by writing “castles” in full on his scoresheet.  I think he used “kt” for a knight too. I thought I had discovered  a true relic from a bygone age and the more I got to know him I realised the more correct that judgement was. \nMilner-Barry was the last of the true gentlemen amateurs and was one of the few people I have ever met who played chess for the sheer love of the game. \nA few typical incidents may give a flavour of his unique personality. First and most typical was the way he would resign: with a firm handshake\, a smile and a booming whisper of ‘You are far too good for me I’m afraid!’ When I first heard those words I was totally taken aback : What was this\, a chessplayer acknowledging that his opponent was better than him? Impossible! \nOnce\, at close of play in a county match against Milner-Barry I had the extra pawn in a difficult queen and pawn ending.  We analysed a little with most variations suggesting I was winning. It was the kind of position you would send for adjudication even if you are convinced it is lost. It avoids having to resign anyway and the adjudicator may always discount the pawns. But\, Sir Stuart never thought like that. After ten minutes analysing he extended his hand and congratulated me. \nSir Stuart Milner-Barry in play against Daniel Yanofsky from round 6 of the British Championship in Hastings\, 15th August 1953\nFinally there was the splendid incident in Moscow during the (Ed. 6th) European Team Championships in the late 1970s (Ed. 1977) Stuart was then the President of the BCF and took up an invitation of his old friend the British Ambassador to the USSR (Ed. Sir Howard Smith) to visit the event.  Since he was staying at the Embassy he had a KGB tail assigned to him to follow him everywhere. On one of his morning walks Sir Stuart got lost and was not certain which bridge he should be on to get back to the Embassy. So\, he turned around and walked back to the not very secret policeman\, followed him and asked for directions! For the rest of his stay they walked practically hand-in-hand. \nWhilst most of us knew Stuart as an amiable old gent who played for Kent and in the Lloyds Bank Masters who could still play brilliant attacking games in his eighties  most knew little of his distinguished career in real life. \nSir Stuart Milner-Barry\nWe suspected with some justification  that in his civil service career he was responsible for doling out all those OBEs to chess players  in the 70s and 80s when he was in charge of the honours list. \nIt was the wartime work at Bletchley Park that was Milner-Barry’s greatest achievement. As everybody knows the allies won the Second World War mainly because of the brilliant code-breaking work of the Cambridge quartet of Alan Turing\, Gordon Welchman\, Hugh Alexander and Stuart Milner-Barry. Turing and Welchman were mathematical geniuses\, Milner-Barry was the supreme administrator and Alexander straddled the gap with great talents in both areas. \nThe astonishing achievement at Bletchley was not so  much in breaking enemy codes as maintaining complete secrecy of the entire operation for the duration of the war. Only with such people as Milner-Barry and Alexander in charge could such a large operation be run so successfully without anybody knowing about it. \nMilner-Barry’s importance in the running at Bletchley may be judged from the fact that he personally delivered the note to Winston Churchill stressing overriding importance of their work asking for more funds. \n[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4hHCeA7ZSs[/embedyt] \nCompared with that the invention of the Milner-Barry Gambit and the Milner-Barry variation of the Nimzo-Indian are minor achievements. \nSir Stuart was proof that nice guys can be chess players although one cannot help suspecting he would achieved even better results if he had even a slight streak of nastiness about him. He would surely have not let Capablanca off the hook in Margate in 1938 when the attacking player secured a winning position against the ex-champions dragon variation and he would have surely also not let the British Championship slip from his grasp in 1953 when he finished as runner-up  after losing his last two games. \nHe always performed well when playing in Olympiads (or Team Tournaments as they were known then) for England during the 1930s and 50s. He was\, after all\, one of the most naturally gifted players this county has produced.  What other Englishman has two opening (or even just one) named after him? \nWhile at Cambridge while he won the University Championship in 1928\, losing to Alexander in the following year\, Milner-Barry composed some fine problems\, a frivolity he never returned to later in his life. \n[pgn]\n[Site “Swansea”]\n[Date “1951.08.30”]\n[Round “10”]\n[White “Mardle\, Denis Victor”]\n[Black “Milner Barry\, Stuart”]\n[Result “0-1”]\n[ECO “C58”]\n[Annotator “Milner Barry\, Stuart”]\n[PlyCount “52”]\n[EventDate “1951.08.20”]\n[EventType “swiss”]\n[EventRounds “11”]\n[EventCountry “GBR”]\n[SourceTitle “EXT 2018”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “2017.10.13”]\n[SourceVersion “1”]\n[SourceVersionDate “2017.10.13”]\n[SourceQuality “1”] \n{[%evp 0\,52\,10\,34\,43\,38\,28\,3\,7\,-29\,5\,5\,-25\,8\,-11\,1\,1\,9\,34\,0\,24\,26\,10\,-5\,-30\,\n-121\,-164\,-206\,-171\,-166\,-186\,-314\,-284\,-341\,-378\,-376\,-217\,-284\,-443\,-443\,\n-739\,-727\,-983\,-29985\,-29986\,-29989\,-793\,-947\,-999\,-1027\,-1123\,-1123\,-1123\,\n-1123\,-1134]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6\n7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Qf3 ({An old move recently revived with considerable success.\nAll the same I believe} 8. Be2 {to be solider.}) 8… Rb8 ({Giving up the\nexchange by} 8… cxb5 9. Qxa8 {is probably not good enough. But the text move\nseems to be a very promising gambit.}) 9. Bxc6+ (9. Bd3) 9… Nxc6 10. Qxc6+\nNd7 11. d4 Be7 12. Nxf7 Kxf7 13. Qd5+ Ke8 14. dxe5 Bb7 15. Qe6 Bxg2 16. Rg1 Rb6\n17. Qf5 Rb5 18. f4 Nxe5 19. fxe5 Rf8 20. Qe6 Rb6 21. Qc4 Bh4+ 22. Ke2 Bf3+ 23.\nKe3 Bg5+ 24. Rxg5 Qxg5+ 25. Kd3 Qxc1 26. Nd2 Qxa1 {Sources: Manchester\nGuardian\, 3 Sept 1951; BCM\, Nov 1951\, p320} 0-1\n[/pgn] \nAn excellent though infrequent writer on the game\, he wrote a fine memoir of C.H.O’D. Alexander in Golombek’s and Hartston’s The Best Games of C.H.O’D. Alexander\, Oxford\, 1976.” \n\nThe Best Games of C.H.O’D. Alexander\, Harry Golombek and William Hartston. With A Memoir by Sir Stuart Milner-Barry\, Oxford University Press\, 1976\, ISBN 10: 0192175351 ISBN 13: 9780192175359\nAn Obituary from Bernard Cafferty\nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume CXV (115\, 1995)\, Number 5 (May)\, pp. 258-59 we have this obituary by Bernard Cafferty: \n“Sir Philip Stuart Milner-Barry KCVO CB  OBE (20 ix 1906 – 25 iii 1995) was the oldest of the British chess masters who came to prominence in the 1930s\, He was always thought of in conjunction with his great friends Hugh Alexander and Harry Golombek who both predeceased him. The length of Stuart’s career is amazing  – he was inaugural British Boy Champion in 1923 and was still playing for Kent first team in the Counties Championship  of recent years\, thus spanning a period of seven decades! Botvinnik spoke of him to me on my 1994 visit to Moscow. \nDavid Anderton OBE (rhs) congratulates Sir Stuart Milner-Barry OBE 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\nYet Stuart\, who never gained the IM title\, was always the true amateur and genuine English gentleman\, whose sense of duty and tradition was very great. It speaks volumes of him that he agonised over whether he should attend the Times Kasparov-Short match of 1993\, in a private capacity. He would have liked to watch the play\, but as a former British Chess Federation President\, 1970-73\, he felt it was his duty not to lend any extra recognition to the contest other than that assigned it by the BCF. \nBefore the war\, after graduating from Cambridge in Classics\, he took some fine scalps including those of Tartakower and Mieses and should have beaten Capablanca at Margate 1939. \n[pgn]\n[Event “Kent County CA-32 Premier”]\n[Site “Margate”]\n[Date “1939.04.17”]\n[Round “6”]\n[White “Milner-Barry\, Philip Stuart”]\n[Black “Capablanca\, Jose Raul”]\n[Result “1/2-1/2”]\n[ECO “B74”]\n[Annotator “British Chess News”]\n[PlyCount “57”]\n[EventDate “1939.04.12”]\n[EventType “tourn”]\n[EventRounds “9”]\n[EventCountry “ENG”]\n[SourceTitle “EXT 2017”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “2016.10.25”]\n[SourceVersion “1”]\n[SourceVersionDate “2016.10.25”]\n[SourceQuality “1”] \n{[%evp 0\,57\,38\,38\,46\,59\,71\,91\,58\,43\,26\,27\,84\,45\,32\,34\,41\,36\,36\,20\,20\,23\,34\,39\,\n48\,18\,22\,12\,19\,1\,24\,24\,40\,10\,5\,-10\,-10\,-10\,-10\,-2\,140\,21\,21\,71\,71\,71\,68\,68\,68\,\n88\,41\,-15\,3\,0\,0\,0\,0\,0\,0\,0]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6\n6. Be2 Bg7 7. Be3 Nc6 8. O-O O-O 9. Nb3 Be6 10. f4 Na5 11. f5 Bc4 12. Nxa5 Bxe2\n13. Qxe2 Qxa5 14. g4 Nd7 15. Nd5 e6 16. f6 exd5 17. fxg7 Kxg7 18. Rad1 dxe4 19.\nRxd6 Rad8 20. Qf2 Kg8 21. Bh6 e3 22. Qxe3 Rfe8 23. Qf4 Qc5+ 24. Kh1 f6 25. Rfd1\nQxc2 26. Qd2 Qe4+ 27. Qg2 Qe1+ 28. Qg1 Qe4+ 29. Qg2 1/2-1/2\n[/pgn] \nCapablanca and Stuart Milner-Barry at Margate\, England\, April 15\, 1936. AP Photos\n[pgn]\n[Event “London International Masters”]\n[Site “London”]\n[Date “1932.02.02”]\n[Round “2”]\n[White “Milner Barry\, Philip Stuart”]\n[Black “Tartakower\, Saviely”]\n[Result “1-0”]\n[ECO “B12”]\n[Annotator “British Chess News”]\n[PlyCount “81”]\n[EventDate “1932.02.01”]\n[EventType “tourn”]\n[EventRounds “11”]\n[EventCountry “ENG”]\n[SourceTitle “HCL”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “1999.07.01”]\n[SourceVersion “2”]\n[SourceVersionDate “1999.07.01”]\n[SourceQuality “1”] \n{[%evp 0\,81\,36\,36\,65\,73\,117\,105\,90\,89\,106\,86\,88\,89\,109\,99\,109\,103\,89\,60\,106\,51\,\n77\,47\,54\,54\,110\,37\,38\,19\,21\,41\,26\,-3\,-1\,16\,30\,32\,84\,84\,84\,79\,79\,82\,82\,82\,82\,47\,\n76\,60\,62\,58\,153\,67\,64\,56\,40\,59\,128\,106\,144\,121\,182\,217\,257\,254\,268\,276\,258\,249\,\n245\,259\,407\,414\,630\,631\,631\,674\,688\,681\,686\,696\,941\,982]} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 Nf6 3.\ne5 Nd5 4. c4 Nc7 5. Nc3 d6 6. f4 dxe5 7. fxe5 g6 8. Nf3 Bg7 9. Be3 f6 10. exf6\nexf6 11. Qd2 O-O 12. O-O-O Be6 13. Bh6 Bxh6 14. Qxh6 Qd7 15. Bd3 Nba6 16. h4\nNb4 17. Be2 Qf7 (17… Qg7 $1) 18. Rhf1 Qg7 19. Qxg7+ Kxg7 20. a3 Nba6 21. d5\ncxd5 22. cxd5 Bd7 23. Nd4 Rac8 24. Kb1 Nc5 25. Bf3 Rcd8 26. Rfe1 Rfe8 27. Rxe8\nRxe8 28. b4 Na4 29. Nxa4 Bxa4 30. Rc1 Nb5 $2 {[#]} 31. Ne6+ Kh6 32. Nc5 Nxa3+\n33. Kb2 Nc2 34. Nxa4 Nxb4 35. Rc7 b5 36. Nc5 Re5 37. d6 Rxc5 38. d7 Nd3+ 39.\nKb1 Rxc7 40. d8=Q Rc1+ 41. Ka2 1-0\n[/pgn] \nHe worked\, rather unhappily\, in a stockbroking firm up to 1938 and it is in that capacity that his name appears on the official document that set-up the British Chess Magazine as a limited company in 1937. \n[pgn]\n[Event “Ilford “]\n[Site “?”]\n[Date “1951.??.??”]\n[Round “?”]\n[White “Milner-Barry\, Philip Stuart”]\n[Black “Trott\, Arthur Henry”]\n[Result “1-0”]\n[ECO “C02”]\n[Annotator “British Chess News”]\n[PlyCount “33”]\n[SourceTitle “BCM\, 115\, page 259”] \n{[%evp 0\,29\,26\,29\,48\,28\,30\,0\,-4\,19\,2\,-4\,6\,3\,38\,52\,46\,24\,161\,316\,614\,614\,646\,\n648\,735\,735\,766\,734\,29993\,29994\,29995\,29996]} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3\nNc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Bd3 Nge7 $2 (6… Bd7 7. O-O cxd4 8. cxd4 Nxd4 9. Nxd4 Qxd4\n10. Nc3 a6 11. Qe2 Ne7 12. Kh1 Nc6 13. f4 Nb4 14. Rd1 Nxd3 15. Rxd3 Qb6 16. Be3\nBc5 17. Bxc5 Qxc5) 7. dxc5 $1 Qc7 {[#]} (7… Qxc5 8. b4 Qb6 9. b5) 8. Na3 $1\n$146 {This is the only documented game in this position AND Na3! is the best\nmove.} (8. Qe2) (8. O-O) 8… Nxe5 $2 (8… a6 {was required}) 9. Nb5 $18 Nxd3+\n10. Qxd3 Qxc5 11. Be3 d4 12. Bxd4 Qc6 13. Ne5 Qxg2 14. Nd6+ Kd8 {[#] Now pause\nthe “video”….} 15. Bb6+ $1 {and Black resigned as it mate in two.} axb6 16.\nNdxf7+ Kc7 (16… Ke8 17. Qd8#) 17. Qd6# 1-0\n[/pgn] \nDuring the war he played his part in the Bletchley Park code-breaking undertaking along with Alexander and Golombek\, and after the war went into the Civil Service where he had a distinguished career at the Treasury. Then his career was extended as he spent his final working years in the patronage department that sifted recommendations for the honours list. \nI recall asking him in 1981 if there was any chance that Brian Reilly could qualify for an award. Stuart’s diplomatic answer was to the effect that he was now retired but would drop a word in the right quarter. \nStuart represented England at the Olympiads or 1936\, 1939\, 1952 and 1956. At the last of these he played particularly well on fourth board. He was conscious that his old friend Hugh Alexander could not take part in Moscow because of the sensitive nature of his work in the Intelligence Service. \n[pgn]\n[Event “Olympiad-12 Preliminaries C”]\n[Site “Moscow”]\n[Date “1956.09.05”]\n[Round “5”]\n[White “Milner-Barry\, Philip Stuart”]\n[Black “Hanninen\, Veikko”]\n[Result “1-0”]\n[ECO “C29”]\n[Annotator “British Chess News”]\n[PlyCount “43”]\n[EventDate “1956.09.01”]\n[EventType “team-tourn”]\n[EventRounds “9”]\n[EventCountry “URS”]\n[SourceTitle “MCD”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “1999.07.01”]\n[SourceVersion “1”]\n[SourceVersionDate “1999.07.01”]\n[SourceQuality “1”]\n[WhiteTeam “England”]\n[BlackTeam “Finland”]\n[WhiteTeamCountry “ENG”]\n[BlackTeamCountry “FIN”] \n{[%evp 0\,43\,48\,29\,42\,26\,6\,1\,9\,-36\,-36\,-34\,-38\,-25\,-27\,-27\,8\,7\,4\,-3\,9\,8\,23\,-19\,\n45\,25\,-12\,5\,395\,383\,394\,413\,464\,478\,445\,240\,322\,415\,453\,432\,815\,1004\,1004\,1010\,\n1040\,1040]} {This game appeared in BCM\, 1995\, May\, page 259 within an Obituary\nby Bernard Cafferty.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. d3 Nxc3 ({\nSafer than} 5… Qh4+ 6. g3 Nxg3 7. Nf3 Qh5 8. Nxd5 {which is a line\nMilner-Barry revelled in} Nxh1 9. Nxc7+ Kd8 10. Nxa8 Bg4 11. Bg2 Nc6 12. d4\nBxf3 13. Qxf3 Qxf3 14. Bxf3 Nxd4 15. Be4 Bc5 16. c3) 6. bxc3 d4 7. Nf3 c5 8.\nBe2 Be7 9. O-O O-O (9… dxc3) 10. Qe1 f6 (10… dxc3) 11. Qg3 {[#]} fxe5 $2 {\nToo many pawn moves for comfort when the Englishman has so many open lines.} ({\nBetter is} 11… Nc6) 12. Bh6 $16 Bf6 13. Nxe5 $1 Bxe5 $4 $146 {The losing move\n} (13… Nd7 {keeps Black in the game.} 14. cxd4 cxd4 15. Nc4) (13… Qe7 14.\nBf3 Be6 15. Ng4 Bxg4 16. Qxg4 Nd7 17. Rae1 Ne5 18. Qg3 Kh8 19. Bf4 Nxf3+ 20.\nRxf3 Qd7 21. Ref1 dxc3 22. Be5 Qe6 23. Bxc3 Rae8 24. Qf2 Qd6 25. Bxf6 Rxf6 26.\nRxf6 gxf6 27. Qxf6+ Qxf6 28. Rxf6 Re2 29. Rf8+ Kg7 30. Rb8 b6 31. Rb7+ Kg6 32.\nRxa7 Rxc2 33. Ra6 Rb2 34. Ra3 Kf5 35. Kf1 Kf4 36. Ra7 Ke3 37. Re7+ Kxd3 38.\nRxh7 Rxa2 39. Rd7+ {and a draw was agreed in Milner-Barry – Alexander\, British\nChampionship\, round 11\, 1931\, 21st August.}) 14. Qxe5 Rf6 ({Worse is} 14…\ngxh6 15. Rxf8+ Qxf8 16. Bf3 $18) 15. Bxg7 Re6 (15… Kxg7 16. Qg5+ Kh8 17.\nQxf6+ Qxf6 18. Rxf6 {winning.}) 16. Qh5 Qe7 17. Bh6 {[#]} Nd7 {Development at\nlast!} 18. Bg4 Re5 19. Qh3 Nb6 $2 20. Rf8+ $1 Qxf8 21. Bxf8 Kxf8 22. Qxh7 {\nand Black resigned with his position in ruins.} 1-0\n[/pgn] \nIn playing style Milner-Barry\, a tall gaunt figure\, delighted in an open tactical fight. \nHe was The Times correspondent 1938-45\, resigning the post to let Harry Golombek take over. His best result after the war\, apart from the 1956 Moscow Olympiad\, was probably his second place in the British Championships of 1953 at Hastings. The abiding impression of his opponents over the years must have been  that here was a player who greatly enjoyed the game\, win\, lose or draw. \nCertainly\, that was my idea of him in the tussles we had from the British Championship of 1957 up to county matches in the 1980s. \nWe shall not see his like again. The England that formed his character is no longer with us.” \nMilner-Barry Variations\nThough never at home in close(d) positions\, he was an outstanding strategist in the open game and it is significant that his most important contribution to opening theory was the Milner-Barry variation of the Nimzo-Indian Defence which is essentially as attempt to convert a close position into an open one (1.P-Q4\, N-KB3; 2.P-QB4\, P-K3; 3. N-QB3\, B-N5; 4.Q-B2\, N-B3).” \n[fen]rnbqk2r/pppp1ppp/4pn2/8/1bPP4/2N2N2/PP2PPPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq – 0 1[/fen] \nHooper & Whyld (1996) note: \n“Sometimes called the Zurich or Swiss variation\, this is a line in the Nimzo-Indian Defence introduced by Milner-Barry in the Premier Reserves tournament\, Hastings 1928-9. This line became more widely known when it was played at Zurich 1934.” \nTwo famous opening lines are named after him – 4…Nc6 in the Nimzo-Indian (as above)\, and the gambit in the French Defence: 1.e4 e6;2.d4 d5;3.e5 c5;4.c3 Nc6;5.Nf3 Qb6;6.Bd3 cxd4;7.cxd4 Bd7;8.0-0 Nxd4; \n[fen]r3kbnr/pp1b1ppp/1q2p3/3pP3/3n4/3B1N2/PP3PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w KQkq – 0 1[/fen] \nStuart played this line both in correspondence and over-the-board play. If Black takes the pawn with 10…Qxe5\, White gets a fierce attack by 11\,Re1 Qd6 (else 12.Nxd5) 12.Nb5. \nThere is also a sub-variation of the Caro-Kann which is named after Sir Stuart viz: \n[fen]rnbqkbnr/pp2pppp/2p5/8/3Pp3/2N2P2/PPP3PP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq – 0 1[/fen] \nwhich is a Blackmar-Diemer style pawn sacrifice. \nThere is also a Milner-Barry variation in the Falkbeer Counter Gambit to the King’s Gambit thus: \n[fen]rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/8/3pp3/4PP2/2N5/PPPP2PP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq – 0 1[/fen] \nwhich is an ancient line that he revived at Margate 1937. \nand finally\, there is a Milner-Barry Variation in the Petroff Defence: \n[fen]r1b1kb1r/pppnqppp/3p1n2/6B1/8/3P1N2/PPP1QPPP/RN2KB1R w KQkq – 0 1[/fen] \ngiving a total of five named variations. How many English players have that many? \nProblems and Compositions\nStuart developed an interest in problem composition in the 1920s \nSir Stuart Milner-Barry\, Problem\, Morning Post\, 1923\nSir Stuart Milner-Barry\, Problem\, The Observer\, 1925\nSir Stuart Milner-Barry\, Problem\, British Chess Magazine\, 1926\nFurther examples may be found on the excellent Meson Database maintained by Brian Stephenson \nMilner-Barry on The English Chess Explosion\nStuart was a great supporter of the development of British chess. Nothing would have given him more pleasure than to witness  the meteoric advances of English players in the 1970s. Indeed\, he wrote the foreword to the English Chess Explosion (Batsford\, 1980) by Murray Chandler and Ray Keene: \nThe English Chess Explosion (from Miles to Short)\, Murray Chandler & Ray Keene\, Batsford\, 1981\, ISBN 0 7134 4009 0\n“It gives me great pleasure to have been asked to write a foreword for this book. Nothing has given me more satisfaction than the flowering of British chess talent that has taken place in the past few years. \nBetween the wars\, though we had some splendid players like H. E. Atkins\, Sir George Thomas and F. D. Yates\, we were a second rate power at chess: in the great Nottingham tournament of 1936\, for example\, our quartet brought up the rear\, and that was where\, with occasional shining exceptions\, our representatives in international tournaments tended to find themselves. Similarly\, after the war in the 1950’s and 1960’s\, in spite of Alexander and Penrose\, we seldom achieved a really creditable place in the Olympiads. \nAlexander who retired early from the arena because of the exacting demands of his profession\, must have had rather a depressing time as non-playing captain. \nSir Stuart Milner-Barry OBE\nI myself date the renaissance from the Spring of 1974 when we won a closely contested match against West Germany at Elvetham Hall.\nThereafter we went from strength to strength\, with the appearance year by year of highly talented\, original and adventurous young men from the Universities – Keene and Hartston\, closely followed by Miles\, Stean\, Nunn\, Mestel\, Speelman\, and a still younger generation of schoolboy prodigies like Nigel Short. \nThe peak of our performance so far has been the third place (after the USSR and Hungary) last winter in the finals of the European Team Tournament at Skara (compared with our eighth and last place at Moscow in 1977). \nSir Stuart Milner-Barry OBE presents Dr. Jana Hartston with the ? prize\nHow did all this come about in the short space of six years? The Spassky-Fischer match of 1972 was a watershed. Since then\, and the first time\, it has been possible for able young men from universities to consider chess seriously as a full-time profession\, or at least as a career to which they devote the major part of their time and interest\, Secondly\, the fruits were being reaped of the unobtrusive but devoted spadework in junior training pioneered by Barden\, Wade and many others. Lastly\, no doubt\, sheer good fortune smiled upon us in the simultaneous emergence of a group of brilliant enthusiastic and likeable young men\, five of them already grandmasters and others likely to become so before long. \nIt is sad that Alexander\, who did so much to uphold the prestige of British chess in the doldrums\, did not survive to witness the transformation. I would like to wish the BCF President\, David Anderton\, and Alexander’s successor as captain\, all possible success for the future.” \nFooter from the foreword of The English Chess Explosion (from Miles to Short)\, Murray Chandler & Ray Keene\, Batsford\, 1981\, ISBN 0 7134 4009 0\nFurther Material\nAn obituary from The Independent by Bill Hartston \nAn article from Spartacus Educational \nHere are his games from chess.com \nMore on his time at Bletchley Park \nLocation of his grave \nHere is his Wikipedia entry \n\nSignature of Sir Stuart Milner-Barry\nAccording to Edward Winter in Chess Notes PSMB lived at these addresses : \n\n11 Park Terrace\, Cambridge\, England (Ranneforths Schachkalender\, 1938\, page 78).\n43 Blackheath Park\, Blackheath\, London SE3 9RW\, England (letter reproduced in C.N. 3809).
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-sir-philip-stuart-milner-barry-obe/
CATEGORIES:British Championships,Death Anniversary,English,History,Journalist,Player,Remembering,Writer
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20210328
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20210329
DTSTAMP:20220328T115326Z
CREATED:20190823T180814Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20220328T115326Z
UID:1092-1616889600-1616975999@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Comins Mansfield MBE (14-vi-1896 28-iii-1984)
DESCRIPTION:BCN remembers Comins Mansfield MBE who passed away on March 28th 1984 in Torbay\, Devon. \nComins was the first English born chess grandmaster when in 1972 he was awarded the the title of “International Grandmaster of the FIDE for Chess Composition” three years before the first correspondence GM and four years before the first English born OTB grandmaster. \nIn the 1976 New Years Honours list Civil Division Comins was awarded the MBE. The citation read simply “For services to Chess”. \nEarly Years\nComins Mansfield was born on Sunday\, June 14th 1896 in Witheridge\, North Devon. The birth was registered in the district of South Molton\, Devon. His parents were Herbert John (who was a banker) and Julia Emma Mansfield (née Frost). Miss Anne Comins was Herbert’s mother who he memorialised using her name for his only son. \nComins had two sisters Edith K and Margaret M plus a paternal step-sister Harriett C Mansfield. \nHe was baptised on the 18th July 1896 in Witheridge as an Anglican and the ceremony was performed by JT Benson. \nSt. John the Baptist Church\, Witheridge\, Devon courtesy of SIERKSMA’S SEQUENCES\nHe was admitted to Witheridge School on September 18th 1899 (aged three) and in 1901 Comins continued to live in Witheridge\, Devon attending Blundell’s School. The family “left the district” on August 13th 1909. \nAt the time of the 1911 Census Comins was a boarder at a school in Tiverton\, Cheshire. Possibly this was Tarporley High School. \nA Career Beckoned\nComins left school in 1914 and did not attend University. He started work at tobacco company W. D. & H. O. Wills (which became part of  Imperial Tobacco in 1901) in Bristol being a prime location for a company which relied on export markets of physical goods. \nInterruption by War\nAccording to RH Jones on the Chess Devon web site: \nIn September 1915 he joined the Royal Artillery\, and carried a small travelling set at all times\, with which to while away the long hours spent in the trenches. He never lost contact with Chandler during the war\, even though the latter was involved in a rather messy British invasion of Iraq\, (then Mesopotamia)\, and the two combined on problems by post\, one of which won 1st Prize in the Good Companions magazine in January 1918. Shortly after\, he was temporarily blinded by mustard gas\, requiring 12 months in hospital. \nGunner Mansfield courtesy of SIERKSMA’S SEQUENCES\nOn his release from hospital\, the war was over and he re-joined Wills in Bristol and his local chess club\, Bristol & Clifton. His skill over the board should not be overlooked – he soon became established in Gloucestershire as a very strong player\, winning his club championship for the first time in 1920 and the county championship continuously from 1927 – 34. From his return to Bristol he played for the county regularly\, never lower than Bd. 3 and from the time of his first county championship\, always on top board. From 1926 to the time of his move to Scotland he was also the Problem Editor of the Bristol Times and Mirror . \nAccording to the National Records Office: \nWith reference to the medal card of Comins Mansfield we have: \n\n\n\nRoyal Field Artillery\n3024\nGunner\n\n\nRoyal Field Artillery\n826184\nGunner\n\n\n\nCareer Resumption\nComins career with W. D. & H. O. Wills lasted 45 years and in 1934 relocated to Glasgow which halted his composition career until 1936 labelling his problems “Mansfield – Glasgow. His job in Scotland finished in 1950 returning to live in Carshalton Beeches\, near Croydon in South London working for a W. D. & H. O. Wills subsidiary. \nMarriage\nOn September 19th 1923 Comins married Marjorie Erica Ward (born 1899) at the Parish Church\, St. Paul\, Bedminster\, Bristol\, Gloucestershire. Marjorie died in 2003. Comins and Marjorie had three children\, Geoffrey\, Hilary and Roderick. \nComins Mansfield MBE in 1976\nAt the time of their marriage Comins was living at 25 Sommerville Road\, Bishopston\, Bristol\, BS7 9AD: \n25 Sommerville Road\, Bishopston\, Bristol\, BS7 9AD\nChess Beginnings\nComins interest in chess started at the age of nine with his father Herbert who played correspondence chess for Devon but his interest in the world of problems was initiated in 1910 with an article (First Steps In The Classification of Two-Movers by Alain C. White) on problems in British Chess Magazine. In 1914 aged 18 he joined the Bristol and Clifton Chess Club and following World War I he became club champion for the first time in 1920. Also\, Comins was Gloucestershire Champion from 1927 – 1934 before he relocated to Glasgow where he won the West of Scotland and Glasgow Championships.  At Cheltenham 1928 not only did he draw in 50 moves with FD Yates but he beat Sir George Thomas in 20 moves! \n[pgn]\n[Event “Cheltenham”]\n[Site “Cheltenham”]\n[Date “1928.??.??”]\n[Round “7”]\n[White “Thomas\, Sir George Alan”]\n[Black “Mansfield\, Comins”]\n[Result “0-1”]\n[ECO “C77”]\n[Annotator “British Chess News”]\n[PlyCount “46”]\n[EventDate “1928.04.07”]\n[EventType “tourn”]\n[EventRounds “7”]\n[EventCountry “ENG”]\n[SourceTitle “EXT 2001”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “2000.11.22”]\n[SourceVersion “1”]\n[SourceVersionDate “2000.11.22”]\n[SourceQuality “1”] \n{[%evp 0\,40\,19\,31\,34\,19\,13\,4\,13\,-2\,-9\,-40\,-40\,-39\,-9\,-21\,-13\,-38\,-14\,-69\,-44\,\n-42\,-14\,-20\,-15\,-1\,14\,14\,13\,-2\,23\,-25\,5\,-28\,23\,9\,7\,-34\,-18\,-236\,-266\,-268\,-230]\n} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Qe2 {The Wormald or Alapin\nAttack.} b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 (6… Be7 7. c3 O-O 8. O-O d6 9. Rd1 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11.\nd4 Qc7 12. d5 Bd7 13. b3 Nb7 14. Nbd2) 7. O-O (7. c3 O-O 8. O-O d6 9. Rd1 Bg4\n10. h3 Bh5 11. d3 h6) 7… O-O 8. c3 d6 9. h3 (9. Rd1 Bg4 10. h3 Bh5 11. d3 h6\n12. Nbd2) 9… Be6 10. Rd1 (10. Bc2) 10… Qe7 $146 {A move not seen since\n1928 but it deserves to be seen again.} (10… Re8 11. d3) 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. d4\nexd4 13. cxd4 Bb6 14. Nc3 {[#]} Nh5 $1 $11 15. e5 $2 {Too ambitious relying on\nthe loose piece on h5.} (15. Qd3) 15… dxe5 16. Nxe5 Nxe5 (16… Nxd4 $1 17.\nQxh5 (17. Rxd4 $2 Bxd4) 17… Rf5 18. Qg4 Rxe5 19. Be3) 17. Qxe5 Rf5 18. Qe4\nRaf8 {[#]} 19. g4 $4 {An unbelievable blunder from Sir George.} (19. Be3 {\nwas required and not difficult to find.}) 19… Rxf2 $1 {and white is busted.}\n20. Be3 {Presumably Sir George was relying on this.} {but missed}\nQh4 $1 {and White resigned. A great scalp for Comins.} 21. Qxe6+ Kh8 22. Ne4\nNf4 23. Bxf4 R2xf4 {is hopeless for white.} 0-1 \n[/pgn] \nBCM Obituary\nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume CIV (104\, 1984)\, Number 5 (May)\, p. 194 : \n“Comins Mansfield (14 v 1896 – 27 iii 1984) was an outstanding figure in chess problems\, notably in the field of two-movers. Awarded the IM title for problems in 1959 and the GM title in 1972\, he served for eight years as President of the FIDE Permanent Commission for Chess Compositions. In 1976 he was awarded an MBE for his services to chess. \nComins Mansfield courtesy of Chess Scotland\nAs an OTB (over-the-board) player he won the championship of the Bristol Club and of Gloucestershire. From 1964 to 1978 he contributed the weekly puzzle to the Sunday Telegraph.” \nChessboard Delights Selected from the Sunday Telegraph 1964-1974\, Comins Mansfield\, Routledge & Kegan Paul/Sunday Telegraph\, London \, 1976\, ISBN 10: 0710082878ISBN 13: 9780710082879\nCHESS Obituary by Colin Russ\nFrom CHESS\, Volume 48 (1984)\, Numbers 921-922\, page 316 we have this rather modest mention: \n“Problem Album\nWho was Britain’s first chess grandmaster? His name start with M\, but no\, the answer is Comins Mansfield\, to whom F.I.D.E. awarded its newly created title of grandmaster for Chess Composition in 1972\, and who died in March this year aged 87. In tribute to him we recall\, two of his masterpieces\, separated by over half a century.” \nComins Mansfield\nComins Mansfield\nBCF Tourney 1974 \n[fen]8/8/q1p5/p7/B2Q4/p2N4/Rn1bk1K1/8 w – – 0 1[/fen] \nWhite mates in two \nand \nComins Mansfield\nGood Companions 1918 \n[fen]4Q1Nn/1N6/b1r1P2p/2Brk2K/4B2R/2p2p2/1q6/4R3 w – – 0 1[/fen] \nWhite mates in two \nInterestingly the July 1984 issue of CHESS publishes a letter from Ken Whyld taking issue with the above. Ken wrote: \nWho was Britain’s first chess grand master? His name starts with M but no\, the answer is not Comins Mansfield (page 316 in CHESS\, No. 921-2. No\, it isn’t. It is J. Mieses in 1950. The error is repeated on page 328. Why do we\, as a nation\, have to be so snotty about those who chose to be become naturalised? \nFrom page 328 we have this detailed obituary from Colin AH Russ: \nWe regret to report the death of Comins Mansfield MBE\, peacefully at his home in Torquay on 28 March 1984. During his long life of more than 86 years\, Mansfield received every possible honour in the realm of chess problem art. \nHe was born at Witheridge\, North Devon\, on 14 June 1896\, and at 9 was taught to play chess by his father\, a keen correspondence player. One of his earliest efforts won First Prize in 1912 in the Illustrated Western Weekly News. \nOther problems of his early period were published in the Folders of the Good Companion Chess Problem Club\, of Philadelphia\, USA. This brought him into contact with Alain C. White\, who also recognised his genius and gave him every encouragement. Some of the problems at this time were composed in the trenches\, “somewhere in France”\, while Mansfield was serving in the Royal Artillery with the British Army. He was severely gassed in May 1918\, and discharged from the Army. \nHe won the West of Scotland and Glasgow Championships while stationed in that city. He was one of the founder members of\nthe British Chess Problem Society\, and served as its President. In 1947\, he started a feature in The Problemist entitled “Selected with Comments” which continued in his hands for 35 years. His weekly column in the Sunday Telegraph\, mainly confined to game positions\, ran from 1964 to 1978. \n  \nMansfield’s other venture into publishing was his “Adventures in Composition” in which he takes the reader step by step through the Process that he went through in composing 20 of his problems. \nAdventures in Composition\, Comins Mansfield\, CHESS\, Sutton Coldfield\, 1948\nThe book was edited by A. C. White and first appeared in the USA in 1942\, and was published in Britain by CHESS\, Sutton Coldfield\, in 1948. it became a classic\, and many composers could testify to the help they have received from it. \nIn “Adventures in Composition“\, Mansfield expounded his principles for making good chess problems: originality\, economy\, and artistic finish. if he found that an idea could not be set without forfeiting one of these principles\, then he put it on one side\, and turned his attention to something else. Therefore\, although one can say that some of his problems are better than others\, it is impossible to find one that is bad. \nA. C. White made Comins Mansfield the subject of his last book in the Christmas Series: “A Genius of the Two-Mover” in which he gave some 100 of the master’s 300 problems. \nA Genius of the Two Mover\, C. Mansfield by AC White\, The Christmas Series\, 1936.\nHe wrote: “The key-note of his style lies in his freshness of outlook and in a clarity of vision with which few composers have been gifted.” Brian Harley\, the distinguished author and editor of the\nfamous Observer column for so many years\, continued the story with a further 100 of Mansfield’s Problems. \nIn view of his international reputation\, it was only fitting that Mansfield should represent the BCPS at the first meeting\nof the FIDE Problem Commission in Piran in 1958\, that he should serve as its President from 1963-71\, and that in 1972 he should be awarded one of the first grand master titles\, honoris causa\, in recognition of his contribution to problem chess. He thus became the first Briton to receive this title\, before any British chess players had reached any title norms. Four years later he received the recognition of his country\, when his name appeared in the Queen’s New Year Honours list as recipient of the MBE\, for services to chess. \nSource: The Problemist\, May 1996. Photo taken March 1996 at the Mansfield Centenary Meeting at Paisley\, when Barry Barnes delivered a lecture on Comins Mansfield. Left to right: Geoffrey Mansfield (son of Comins)\, Robert Gray and Barry Barnes\, International Master of Chess Composition.\nln 1975\, Gerhard Jensch\, editor of the problem column in Schach-Echo\, brought out a supplement to “Adventures in Composition”\, containing 63 of Mansfield’s later problems\, showing how he had reacted to the changing themes and styles of the post second World War period. Barry Barnes\, the following year\, brought out “Comins Mansfield MBE: Chess Problems of a Grandmaster“\, in which he presented 2O0 problems with full solutions and comments\, many of them culled from Mansfield’s private notes and correspondence. \nComins Mansfield MBE: Chess Problems of a Grandmaster\, BP Barnes\, 1976\nIt is appropriate to finish with the comment with which E. L. Umnov concluded his introduction to Barry Barnes’s book in 1976: “Mansfield’s work is a source of pride not only to British chess\, but to chess the world over”.\nC.A.H.R. \nHooper & Whyld on Mansfield\nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess (OUP\, 1984) by Hooper & Whyld : \n“English two-mover composer widely regarded in his time as the greatest in this field. During the life of the GOOD COMPANION CHESS PROBLEM CLUB (1913—24) he was one of the pioneers who gave new life to the two-mover. The ideas then introduced have since become traditional\, and Mansfield has adhered to them\, continuing to gain successes although not always following the latest trend. In 1942 he wrote Adventures in Composition\, an excellent guide to the art of composing. In 1957 he was awarded the title of International Judge of Chess Compositions; in 1963 he accepted and held for eight years the presidency of the FIDE Commission for Chess Compositions; in 1972 he was one of the first four to he awarded the title of International Grandmaster for Chess Compositions. \nA. C. White\, A Genius of the Two-mover (1936) contains 113 problems by Mansfield; B. P. Barnes\, Comins Mansfield MBE: Chess Problems of a Grandmaster (1976) contains 200 problems. “ \n101 Chess Puzzles and How to Solve Them\, Brian Harley and Comins Mansfield\, Sterling Publishing\, New York\, 1960\nSunnucks on Mansfield\nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess by Anne Sunnucks : \n“International Grandmaster of the FIDE for Chess Compositions (1972)\, International Master of the FIDE for Chess Compositions (1959)\, International Judge of the FIDE for Chess Compositions (1957). President of the Permanent Commission of the FIDE for Chess Compositions from 1963 to 1971. President of the British Chess Problem Society from 1949 to 1951. \nBorn at Witheridge in North Devon on 14th June 1896. He has composed about 1\,000 problems\, nearly all of them two-movers\, since 1911. He is regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time. His outstanding ability was recognised early when A Genius of the Two-Mover in the A.C. White Christmas series of books was published in 1936. He is the author of Adventures in Composition (1944) and co-author with the late Brian Harley of The Modern Two-Move Problem. \nThe Modern Two- Move Chess Problem\, Brian Harley and Comins Mansfield\, Museum Press\, London\, 1944 & 1958\nFrom 1926-1932 he was Problem Editor of The Bristol Times and Mirror\, and he is at present Problem Editor of The Sunday Telegraph His feature “Selected with Comments” has been a permanent feature of The Problemist. A strong player\, Mansfield won the Gloucestershire Championship from 1927 to 1934. He has a recorded win over Sir George Thomas\, a late British Champion and International Master. \nMansfield made a life-times career with the tobacco firm of W.D. & H.O. Wills. He is a dedicated family man with three children. \nC. Mansfield\, 1st Prize\, Hampshire Post\, 1919 \n[fen]8/8/2P1Q3/B2R4/r1k1n2r/pNn4p/B1qP3K/N1R2b1R w KQkq – 0 1[/fen] \nWhite to play and mate in two moves.“ \nSolution to Two-Mover above : 1. Qf5 ! \nHarry Golombek on Mansfield\nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess by Harry Golombek we have: \nBritain’s most distinguished problem compose\, output about 859\, nearly all two-movers. Very active during the period of the Good Companions\, contributing to their folders many classic examples of half-pin\, cross-check\, and other important themes. Books include Adventures in Composition (1943)\, a fascinating expose of the composers methods. President of the British Chess Problem Society\, 1949-51. President of the FIDE Problem Commission\, 1963-71\, and Hon. President since 1972. International Judge (1957); international master (1959)\, grandmaster (1972). \nCuriously RH Jones wrote \n“At Paignton\, Mansfield seemed to know Milner-Barry quite well\, but Golombek kept his distance. It is noticeable that Golombek’s Encyclopaedia of Chess (Batsford 1977) is almost unique of its kind in containing no individual entry for Mansfield; even a long 3½ page article on the history of chess problems\, which mentions numerous half forgotten composers\, contains no reference to him. This is surely no oversight and must be interpreted as some kind of inexplicable snub.” \nWe too made initially made the same error and it is true that there in individual entry for CM outside of the Problemists section.  Did RHJ miss the above entry as we initially did? \nJohn Rice on Mansfield\nFrom British Chess (Pergamon Press\, 1984) John Rice writes: \n“Comins Mansfield was born at Witheridge\, Devon on 14th June 1896. At the age of 18 he joined the Bristol and Clifton Chess Club\, and after World War 1 he soon won the club championship and the Gloucester Championship several times. For 14 years until 1978 he conducted the weekly chess features in the Sunday Telegraph. \nIn 1959 he he became an ‘International Master of the FIDE for Chess Composition’ and in 1972 one of the first four grandmasters. For 7 years he was President of the FIDE’s Permanent Commission for Chess Compositions. \nMansfield is widely regarded as being one of the three greatest composers of chess problems of all time. In 1976 was awarded the MBE for his services to chess. \nMr. Mansfield worked for 45 years in the tobacco firm W.D & H.O. Wills – first in Bristol\, then in Glasgow and finally in London. He is now enjoying retirement in Torbay. \nMr. Mansfield writes: It was in 1959 that the FIDE decided to broaden their titles to include artificial positions such as ‘problems’ (the so-called poetry of chess)\, where mate has to be forced in a specified number of moves. The Master title then came into being\, while the ‘Grandmaster’ distinction was withheld until 1972. \nComins Mansfield\nI have always felt that life is too short to deal with anything but two-movers. Here is one of my earliest successes (ed: shown here in Desert Island Chess) composed in the trenches in World War 1.” \nDesert Island Chess\nFrom The Complete Chess Addict (Faber&Faber\, 1987\,p.222)\, Fox & James we have a section entitled Desert Island Chess which includes this problem: \nC. Mansfield \nFirst Prize Good Companions\, March 1917 \n[fen]1B4n1/7N/K1pN4/5P2/R1n2k2/2P1R2P/4b1B1/2Q5 w – – 0 1[/fen] \nMate in 2 \nOf it\, Alain White\, the world connoisseur wrote – ‘This may well be taken as the standard cross-check problem of the twentieth century’.  The key-move 1.Be4 looks senseless\, as it sets the black king free and apparently jeopardizes the white one by unpinning the black knight. But it threatens mate by 2.Nxc4 This knight can open fire on the white king in four ways. If 1…Ne5+\,2.Rd3 is mate. If 1…Nxd6+\, the mate is 2.Bd3. If 1…Nxe3+\, Nb5 mates\, while 1…Nd2+ is answered by 2.Nc4. \nThe next position is of a quite different type: \nCHESS\, 1950\, First Prize \n[fen]B5r1/8/P1R1N3/2Nk3p/K3R2r/BP6/3p3b/7Q w – – 0 1[/fen] \nWhite to play and mate in two moves \nIt illustrates several quiet defences by a single black piece. This has a rather colourless key\, 1.Bb2\, which threatens mate by 2. Rg4. Moves of the black bishop stop this but give rises to six other mates. If 1…Bg1;2.Nc7. So the bishop must stay on its long diagonal. 1…Bg3 allows 2.Rxh4. If 1…Bf4 (unpinning the R)\, 2.Re5. If 1…Be5\, 2.Rd4. If 1…Bd6\, 2.Rc8. If 1…Bb8\, 2.Rb6. There are three other subsidiary mates\, after 1…Rf8\, 2.Rf4. If 1…d1=q\,2.Qd1 and finally if 1…Rg2  (or Rg1 or Rg3). \nIn the 1950s it became fashionable for composers to try to hoodwink solvers by arranging close tries which almost solved the problem. But this trend often militated against the merit and interest of the actual solution.  In  this problem the solver soon discovers that he must set-up a double-threat by 1.g4\,g3\,f4 or f3\, each move cutting off both a black rook and bishop. \nDie Schwalbe\, 1956\, First Prize \n[fen]8/3Rp3/2K1P3/3B2Bb/4p2r/nppk3r/5PPb/NN2Q2n w – – 0 1[/fen] \nWhite to play and mate in two moves \nBut which is the right move? 1.g4 threatens mate by 2.Qxe4 and Qd1\, but is defeated by 1…Nxf2. Similarly 1.g3 (threatening 2.Qe3 and Bxb3) is met by 1…Nc2. So try 1.f4 (threatening 2.Qxe4 and Bxb3)\, but this fails to 1…e3. This leaves the key-move 1.f3 which does the trick. There is a fair amount of by-play. 1…Rf4 forces 2.Bxb3.  1…Bf4 forces 2. Qxe4; while after 1.Kd4 and Nc4\, the mates are 2. Qxc3 and Bxe4 respectively. \nIn an ABC of Chess Problems\, Section III\, Composition and Solving\, page 266 onwards\,  John Rice discusses in detail the methods of Comin Mansfield and any student of solving and composition would do well to study this chapter. \nAn ABC of Chess Problems\, John Rice\, Faber & Faber\, London\, 1970\, SBN 571 08672 1\nOther Sources\nHere is an excellent biography from Chess Devon by RH Jones \nHere is a biography from Keverel Chess by RH Jones \nHere is the entry for CM from the BCPS web site \nBiography from Chess Scotland by Alan McGowan \nHere is the largest collection of his games from Britbase and John Saunders \nHere are his games from chessgames.com \nHere is his Wikipedia entry \nAmerica Salutes Comins Mansfield MBE
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-comins-mansfield/
CATEGORIES:Composer,Death Anniversary,History,Problemist,Remembering
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UID:4541-1617062400-1617148799@britishchessnews.com
SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of Augustus Mongredien (1807 - 30-iii-1888)
DESCRIPTION:Death Anniversary of Augustus Mongredien (1807 – 30-iii-1888) \nHere is his Wikipedia entry
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-augustus-mongredien-1807-30-iii-1888/
CATEGORIES:Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering
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SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of IMC Ken Messere OBE (16-iv-1928 31-iii-2005)
DESCRIPTION:BCN remembers Ken Messere who passed away on Thursday\, March 31st 2005 aged 76 in Paris-16E-Arrondissement\, Paris\, France. \nKenneth Charles Messere was born on Monday\, April 16th\, 1928 in Richmond-on-Thames\, Surrey. His father was Charles (George) Messere (1901-1974) or Eisenberg and aged 26. His mother was Gertrude Marie Newman (1899-1978) and aged 29. \nKen had three siblings: Barbara Marie Messere (1930–2005)\, Hugh Martin Messere (1932–1985) and Derek R Messere (1934–2012) \nKen attended St. Peter’s College\, Oxford from 1946 – 1951 to read philosophy and is reported in the 1951 St. Edmund Hall Magazine\, as a member of the Trillick (debating) Society as follows: \n‘ That this House would rather be a live Communist than\na dead Democrat.’ The proposer established to his own satisfaction that democracy was founded on ‘selfishness\, capitalism and bourgeois hypocrisy.’ He did not satisfy J. F. R. Bonguard of St. Peter’s Hall who opposed\, using arguments taken from Hindu philosophy. K. C. Messere of St. Peter’s Hall\, spoke third and added some able arguments. \nIn June 1954 Ken married Mary Elizabeth Humphrey (1929-2003) in Ealing. They had a son Miles Jonathan Messere born in 1964 who passed away in 1965. \nPrior the time of his passing his wife Mary was living at 142B\, Herbert Road\, Woolwich\, London\, SE18 3PU. \nIn 1991 he was awarded the OBE (Civil Division) in the Queen’s Birthday honours list. The citation reads: Kenneth Charles Messere\, lately Head of Fiscal Affairs Division\, OECD\, Paris. \nKen appears each year from 1953 to 1967 in the noted publication Britain\, Royal And Imperial Calendars the function of which is to list entries for those engaged in UK public service. He worked for HM Customs and Excise. Prompted by this we consulted the venerable A History of Chess in the English Civil Service by Kevin Thurlow (Conrad Press\, 2021) on page 447 and found \n“He played for Customs. In 1964\, he went to work for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and was head of fiscal affairs from 1971 – 1991. In 1954 he began playing postal chess and became a leading player. He won a semi-final of the 5th World Correspondence Championship (1961 – 64) and became the first English player to compete in a World Championship Final.” \nThere are 31 games listed at his personal entry at chessgames.com starting with games from 1965. \nChessbase’s Correspondence Database 2020 records 69 games the earliest being from 1958 listing Ken’s federation as being France. \nFrom British Chess (Pergamon Press\, 1983) we have this lengthy contribution from Ken himself: \n“Between the ages of 6\, when I learnt to play and 23 (ed: 1951)\, when I ceased to be a student\, chess had a relatively low priority among various time-competing interests and activities\, so I never got around to studying theory. Things changed when I became a civil servant and needed a replacement for philosophy as an intellectually absorbing subject which could be argued about with friends over beers\, and for the next 12 years chess became my main interest. \nSince 1964 I have been working for the OECD in Paris\, where my friends are not chess enthusiasts and\, although chess remains a major pleasure\, my commitment to it has lessened. Nowadays\, out-side correspondence chess\, I play only occasional blitz games. \nComing late to serious chess has probably had at least some influence on my deficiencies and stylistic preferences. The deficiencies include an inability to visualize ahead with sufficient clarity to support accurate analysis\, slow sight of the board which leads to silly errors through time trouble or failing stamina and less familiarity with theory than my better opponents. As to chess style\, I have had to play romantically and subjectively to get good results. \nIf a game takes the form of a clear-cut position\, where strategical objectives are clear and superior technique prevails\, then mine generally does not. Consequently I have tended to play either sharp gambits or counter-gambits or to try to render the position sufficiently obscure for imagination and intuition to assume maximum importance. In keeping\, my chess heroes have been Alekhine\, Bronstein and Tal who revel in fantasy\, however much Alekhine may claim that it is logically based. \nWhen I took up competitive chess seriously in 1952\, I made some progress and won a few minor tournaments\, but in view of the defects already mentioned\, it soon became clear that my potential for improvement was limited and that nearly all my games were aesthetically flawed. Fortunately\, these defects represent no great handicap at correspondence chess\, where I found myself pleased with a reasonable proportion of the game I played\, and in addition\, capable on the day (or more accurately over the years) of winning against almost anyone. Thus\, against world champions I have two wins and one loss\, (see below). I also have 80 per cent from five games against Russian grandmasters\, even if a meagre 28 per cent from my eighteen games against all correspondence grandmasters. In 1954 when I began playing postal chess competitively\, I did sufficiently well in a few British Postal tournaments to be accepted at a reasonably high level in the official international tournaments. \n[pgn]\n[Event “ICCF Championship 1958-60”]\n[Site “?”]\n[Date “1958.??.??”]\n[Round “?”]\n[White “Messere\, Kenneth Charles”]\n[Black “Bergquist\, Rune”]\n[Result “1-0”]\n[Annotator “Ken Messere and BCN”]\n[SetUp “1”]\n[FEN “8/1p1bk3/pK5p/2R1P1p1/2pP4/8/8/8 w – – 0 46”]\n[PlyCount “11”]\n[EventDate “1958.??.??”]\n[EventType “tourn”]\n[SourceTitle “British Chess\, page 168”] \n{[%evp 0\,11\,-29\,-29\,-59\,-59\,-11\,-90\,0\,65\,207\,237\,260\,260] [#]} 46. d5 $1 {\nKCM: Capturing either b or c-pawn loses.} ({In fact} 46. Rxc4 $16 {is also\nwinning but not as strong.} g4 47. d5 h5 48. e6 Bb5 49. Kc7 $1 Bxc4 50. d6+\nKxe6 51. d7 $18) (46. Kxb7 $2 g4 47. d5 g3 48. Rxc4 h5 49. Rc2 h4 $19) 46… g4\n47. Rxc4 h5 48. e6 $18 Bb5 $2 {KCM: the move played enables White to sacrifice\nrook and pawn to win with his last pawn.} ({KCM: Correct is} 48… Bxe6 $1 {\nKCM: which should draw after} 49. Re4 $1 Kd6 $1 50. Rxe6+ $1 (50. dxe6 $2 Ke7\n$1 {KCM: wins for Black. BCN: in fact this is winning for white as follows:}\n51. Kc5 g3 52. Re1 b5 53. Kd4 h4 54. Ke5 g2 55. Rc1 a5 56. Rc7+ Ke8 57. Kd6 Kf8\n58. e7+ Kf7 59. Rc8 Kf6 60. e8=Q {etc but this was hideously complicated to\nwork out and SF10 did the work for us!}) 50… Kxd5 51. Rh6 $11) 49. Kc7 $1\nBxc4 50. d6+ Kxe6 51. d7 {and Black resigned six moves later.} 1-0\n[/pgn] \nNot without luck (see Diagram l)\, I secured the 75 per cent necessary in two seven-player tournaments to qualify for the fourteen player preliminaries\, the winner of which was to qualify for the following world championship. In the 1961-64 preliminaries\, I played the best chess of my life\, including valid opening innovations\, imaginative pawn and piece sacrifices and even a technically efficient win in a queen and pawn end-game. I won the tournament with eleven wins\, one draw and one loss\, 1.5 points ahead of Maly of Czechoslovakia and two points ahead of Masseev\, the Russian favourite\, thereby obtaining my first norm towards the International Master title. My first annotated game is the win against Maly (ed: to be inserted once we have tracked down the game score!) which was typical stylistically and also crucial\, since if he had won it\, he would have qualified for the World Championship instead of me: the second against Bartha of the United States is the most compulsive and difficult tactical game I have ever played\, the last five moves alone requiring over 100 hours of analysis. \n[pgn]\n[Event “W-ch05 sf03 corr”]\n[Site “ICCF corr”]\n[Date “1962.??.??”]\n[Round “?”]\n[White “Bartha\, Ferenc”]\n[Black “Messere\, Kenneth Charles”]\n[Result “0-1”]\n[ECO “A41”]\n[Annotator “Messere”]\n[PlyCount “92”]\n[EventDate “1962.??.??”]\n[EventType “tourn (corr)”]\n[SourceTitle “Myers”]\n[Source “Myers”]\n[SourceDate “2012.11.12”]\n[SourceVersion “1”]\n[SourceVersionDate “2012.11.12”]\n[SourceQuality “1”] \n{[%mdl 36928][%evp 0\,92\,19\,27\,80\,59\,88\,37\,24\,24\,52\,32\,36\,55\,64\,5\,8\,10\,18\,-40\,0\,\n-17\,9\,-3\,-8\,-8\,1\,-20\,-13\,-123\,-40\,-48\,-27\,-55\,-48\,-48\,-11\,-2\,6\,-21\,58\,92\,92\,92\,\n92\,102\,99\,104\,150\,139\,143\,135\,128\,35\,153\,91\,95\,-17\,-17\,23\,34\,34\,26\,-18\,-18\,-18\,\n-18\,-66\,0\,-6\,-1\,-47\,-72\,-72\,-72\,-105\,-40\,-40\,-52\,-51\,-50\,-50\,-50\,-70\,-40\,-28\,0\,\n-86\,0\,-5\,0\,0\,0\,-63\,-63] Messere: My game with Bartha\, superficially a wild\ntactical skirmish\, required a number of unexpected moves by both players for\nsurvival even in the beginning. The last five moves\, which took me at least\n100 hours of analysis going nearly twenty moves deep in several variations\,\nrendered it quite the most compulsive game I have ever played. That the margin\nbetween win and draw was so fine and that in many variations K and two pawns\ndefeated K\, R\, N and pawns made it even more deeply absorbing.} 1. Nf3 {\nMyers Harding Messere} d6 2. d4 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. e4 Bg4 5. Be2 Nc6 6. Be3 e5 7.\nd5 Bxf3 8. Bxf3 Nd4 {[#]} 9. Bg4 $146 (9. Bxd4 $1 exd4 10. Nd2 (10. Na3 Ne7 11.\nO-O c6 12. Rb1 O-O 13. Nc2 c5 14. b4 Nc8 15. Qd3 Qc7 16. Be2 Re8 17. bxc5 dxc5\n18. f4 b5 19. Rxb5 Nd6 20. e5 Nxb5 21. cxb5 Qa5 22. d6 Qxa2 23. Qc4 Qb2 24. Bf3\nRab8 25. Bc6 Red8 26. Qxc5 d3 27. Nb4 d2 28. Nd3 Qb3 29. Nf2 Qa4 30. g3 a6 31.\nb6 Rdc8 32. b7 Rxc6 33. Qa7 Rxb7 34. Qxb7 Rc1 35. Qf3 Qd4 36. Kg2 Re1 37. Nd1\nBf8 38. Qf2 Qd5+ 39. Kg1 Rxf1+ 40. Kxf1 f6 41. exf6 Bxd6 42. Qe3 Kf7 43. Ke2\nBc5 44. Qc3 Qe4+ 45. Kf1 Qh1+ 46. Ke2 Qxh2+ 47. Kf3 Qh1+ {0-1 Portisch\,\nL-Timman\,J/Antwerp 1989/}) 10… Ne7 (10… c5 11. dxc6 bxc6 12. b4 Rb8 (12…\nNe7 13. O-O O-O 14. Nb3 Qb6 15. a3 Rab8 16. c5 dxc5 17. Nxc5 Rfd8 18. Nd3 a5\n19. Qc2 axb4 20. axb4 Ra8 21. g3 Ra7 22. Rxa7 Qxa7 23. e5 Qa6 24. Re1 Nd5 25.\ne6 Qb5 26. exf7+ Kxf7 27. Qe2 Bf6 28. Qe6+ Kg7 29. Ne5 Rf8 30. Bxd5 cxd5 31.\nNd7 Rf7 32. Nxf6 Rxf6 33. Qe7+ Rf7 34. Qe5+ Kh6 35. Qxd4 Qc4 36. Qd2+ Kg7 37.\nRc1 Qe4 38. b5 d4 39. Qb2 Rb7 40. b6 Qe5 41. Ra1 Qc5 42. Rb1 h5 43. Qb5 Qd6 44.\nQb4 Qf6 45. Rb3 Qd8 46. Qb5 Qd6 47. h4 d3 48. Qa6 Rd7 49. Qa1+ Qd4 50. Qd1 d2\n51. Rb1 Qe4 {1/2-1/2 Epishin\,V-Gulko\,B/Yerevan 1996/}) 13. Rb1 Ne7 14. a3 O-O\n15. Nb3 c5 16. b5 f5 17. O-O Kh8 18. a4 fxe4 19. Bxe4 d5 20. Bd3 dxc4 21. Bxc4\nQd6 22. Rc1 Rbc8 23. Qd3 Rf5 24. Nd2 Nd5 25. Bxd5 Qxd5 26. Nc4 Rcf8 27. Rce1\nRg5 28. Re4 Rf4 29. Rfe1 h5 30. a5 Kh7 31. g3 Rxe4 32. Rxe4 Rf5 33. b6 axb6 34.\naxb6 Rf7 35. Kg2 Re7 36. f3 Rxe4 37. fxe4 Qb7 38. Qf3 Qa6 39. Qb3 Be5 40. Qd3\nBb8 41. e5 Qa2+ 42. Kg1 Kg7 43. Qf1 Qc2 44. Nd6 d3 45. Qf6+ Kh7 46. Qe7+ Kg8\n47. Qd8+ Kg7 48. Qd7+ Kh6 49. Nf7+ Kg7 50. Ng5+ Kh6 51. Nf7+ Kg7 52. Nd6+ Kh6\n53. Nf7+ {1/2-1/2 Epishin\,V-McNab\,C/Catalan Bay 2003/}) (10… Nf6 11. O-O Nd7\n12. Be2 d3 13. Bxd3 Bxb2 14. Rb1 Bg7 15. f4 O-O 16. Nf3 Qf6 17. Qd2 Bh6 18. g3\nNc5 19. Rbe1 Rae8 20. Bb1 Qd8 21. h4 Qd7 22. Kg2 Qa4 23. Qc2 Re7 24. Rf2 Rfe8\n25. Rfe2 Bg7 26. e5 a6 27. h5 Qxc2 28. Bxc2 dxe5 29. hxg6 hxg6 30. fxe5 f5 31.\ne6 Bf6 32. g4 fxg4 33. Ne5 Bh4 34. Rh1 Nxe6 35. dxe6 Rxe6 36. Rxh4 Rxe5 37. Rf2\nRg5 38. Rd2 Re7 39. Bd1 Kg7 40. Rxg4 Rxg4+ 41. Bxg4 Re4 42. Bc8 b6 43. Bxa6 Kf7\n44. Rd7+ Re7 45. Rxe7+ Kxe7 46. c5 bxc5 47. a4 Kd6 48. a5 {1-0 Epishin\,\nV-Djuric\,S/Cutro 1999/}) 11. Be2 O-O 12. O-O c5 (12… c6 13. Nf3 Qb6 14. Qd2\nf5 15. Bd3 fxe4 16. Bxe4 cxd5 17. cxd5 Rac8 18. Qe2 Bf6 19. Ne1 Bg7 20. Nd3\nRce8 21. Rfe1 Qb5 22. g3 Nxd5 23. Nf4 Nc7 24. Qxb5 Nxb5 25. Ne6 Rxe6 26. Bd5\nKh8 27. Rxe6 d3 28. Rd1 Bd4 29. Rxd3 Bxf2+ 30. Kg2 Nd4 31. Re4 Nc2 32. Rf3 Ne1+\n33. Rxe1 Rxf3 34. Re8+ {1-0 Epishin\,V-Gulko\,B/Philadelphia 1998/}) 13. f4 (13.\ng3 Nc8 14. h4 Nb6 15. h5 Nd7 16. hxg6 hxg6 17. Kg2 Re8 18. Rh1 Rb8 19. f4 a6\n20. a4 d3 21. Bxd3 Bxb2 22. Ra2 Bf6 23. e5 dxe5 24. f5 g5 25. Ne4 Bg7 26. f6\nNxf6 27. Rf2 b5 28. Nxf6+ Bxf6 29. Rh7 e4 30. Qh5 Rb7 31. Be2 bxc4 32. d6 Qxd6\n33. Bxc4 Re6 34. Rxf6 Rb2+ 35. Kh3 g4+ 36. Qxg4+ {1-0 Epishin\,V-De la Villa\nGarcia\,J/Lausanne 2001/}) 13… a6 14. Bd3 Rb8 15. h4 b5 16. h5 Nc8 17. hxg6\nfxg6 18. Qg4 Kh8 19. b3 Nb6 20. Nf3 Qd7 21. Qxd7 Nxd7 22. g3 bxc4 23. bxc4 Rb2\n24. Rf2 Rxf2 25. Kxf2 Rb8 26. Re1 Rb2+ 27. Re2 Rxe2+ 28. Kxe2 Bf6 29. Bc2 Kg7\n30. Kd3 g5 31. Ba4 Nb6 32. Be8 Kf8 33. Bh5 gxf4 34. gxf4 Na4 35. e5 Be7 36. Nd2\nNc3 37. Ne4 dxe5 38. d6 Bxd6 39. Nxd6 exf4 40. Ne4 Na4 41. Kc2 {1-0 Epishin\,\nV-Hennig\,D/Hamburg 1997/}) (9. Nc3 Ne7 10. h4 (10. g4 c5 11. h4 a6 12. Be2 Rb8\n13. h5 h6 14. hxg6 fxg6 15. g5 hxg5 16. Rxh8+ Bxh8 17. Bxg5 b5 18. b3 bxc4 19.\nBxc4 Qd7 20. Bxa6 Qh3 21. Be3 Nf3+ 22. Ke2 Nd4+ 23. Kd3 Bf6 24. Qh1 Qd7 25. Bc4\nKd8 26. Qg2 Qa7 27. Rh1 Qa3 28. Bc1 Qa5 29. Rh7 Rb7 30. Rf7 Nxd5 31. Bxd5 {\n1-0 Ftacnik\,L-Lipka\,J/Czechia 2001/}) 10… h5 (10… c5 11. h5 a6 12. Be2 f5\n13. hxg6 hxg6 14. Rxh8+ Bxh8 15. Bd3 Kd7 16. b4 f4 17. Bxd4 exd4 18. Na4 cxb4\n19. c5 Ke8 20. Qg4 dxc5 21. Nxc5 Qc8 22. Qh4 Qxc5 23. Qxh8+ Kf7 24. Qh7+ Kf6\n25. Kf1 Re8 26. e5+ Kxe5 27. Qf7 Qc8 28. Re1+ {1-0 Krasenkow\,M-Zlotnikov\,M/\nVoskresensk 1992/}) 11. Be2 c5 12. Bd3 Qd7 13. a3 O-O 14. b4 b6 15. Rb1 f5 16.\nbxc5 bxc5 17. Bg5 f4 18. Qa4 Rfd8 19. Qxd7 Rxd7 20. Kd2 Kf7 21. Nb5 Nxb5 22.\nRxb5 Bf6 23. Rhb1 Bxg5 24. hxg5 Ke8 25. Bc2 Kd8 26. Ba4 Rc7 27. Ra5 a6 28. Rb6\nNc8 29. Rbxa6 Rxa6 30. Rxa6 h4 31. Bd1 Rb7 32. Kc2 f3 33. Bxf3 Rf7 34. Bg4\nRxf2+ 35. Kb3 Rxg2 36. Be6 h3 37. Ra8 Rxg5 38. Rxc8+ Ke7 39. Rh8 Rg3+ 40. Ka4\nRc3 41. Kb5 {1-0 Krasenkow\,M-Kakageldyev\,A/Oviedo 1993/}) ({Relevant:} 9. Nc3\nNe7 10. h4 c5 11. Bg4 f5 12. exf5 gxf5 13. Bh5+ Ng6 14. g4 Qd7 15. gxf5 Qxf5\n16. Bg4 Qc2 17. Rb1 h5 18. Bxh5 Qxd1+ 19. Bxd1 Nxh4 20. Ba4+ Ke7 {1/2-1/2 (20)\nSalm\,M-O’Kelly de Galway\,A ICCF corr 1959}) 9… c5 $2 (9… Nf6 $142 $1 {\nMessere} 10. Bxd4 exd4 11. Nd2 O-O 12. O-O c5 13. Rb1 Qa5 (13… Re8 14. Bf3\nBh6 15. b4 b6 16. b5 Bxd2 17. Qxd2 Nxe4 18. Bxe4 Rxe4 19. Rfe1 Rxe1+ 20. Rxe1\nQd7 21. a4 a6 22. Qg5 axb5 23. axb5 Kg7 24. h3 h6 25. Qc1 Qf5 26. Rd1 Ra2 27.\nRd2 Qf4 28. Rc2 Qxc1+ 29. Rxc1 d3 30. Kf1 Rc2 31. Rd1 Rxc4 32. Rxd3 Rb4 33. Ke2\nRxb5 34. Re3 c4 35. Rc3 Rb2+ 36. Ke1 b5 37. h4 Kf6 38. g4 Ke5 39. Rf3 f5 40. h5\ngxh5 41. Rxf5+ Ke4 42. Rxh5 c3 43. Rxh6 Rb1+ 44. Ke2 c2 45. f3+ Kd4 {0-1\nFernandes\,E-Silveira\,N/Vitoria BRA 2006/}) 14. Bh3 Qxa2 15. f4 Rae8 16. Re1 Qa5\n17. e5 Nh5 18. e6 fxe6 19. Bxe6+ Kh8 20. g3 Qc7 21. Ne4 Bh6 22. Qd3 Ng7 23. Nf2\nNf5 24. Ng4 Bg7 25. h4 b5 26. b3 Qa5 27. Rec1 Rb8 28. Ra1 Qb6 29. Rab1 bxc4 30.\nbxc4 Qc7 31. Nf2 Ne3 32. Ne4 Rxb1 33. Rxb1 Rb8 34. Ng5 Bf6 35. Ne4 Bd8 36. Re1\nRb2 37. Nxd6 Rg2+ 38. Kh1 Rxg3 39. Nf7+ Kg7 40. Qe4 Qe7 41. Qe5+ Qf6 42. Nxd8\nQxe5 43. fxe5 d3 44. d6 d2 45. Rb1 Rg2 46. Bg4 Rxg4 47. Ne6+ Kf7 48. d7 Rxh4+\n49. Kg1 Rg4+ 50. Kh1 Rd4 51. Nxd4 Ke7 52. Nc2 d1=Q+ 53. Rxd1 Nxd1 54. e6 Nf2+\n55. Kg2 Ne4 56. Ne3 Ng5 57. Nd5+ Kd8 58. Nf4 a5 59. Kg3 a4 60. Kg4 h6 61. Nxg6\nNxe6 62. Ne5 a3 63. Kf5 Nf8 {0-1 Beutelhoff\,J-Bednarski\,J/Dortmund 1975/}) (\n9… Ne7 10. Nc3 (10. f4 O-O 11. fxe5 dxe5 12. O-O c5 13. dxc6 bxc6 14. Nc3 Qb6\n15. Na4 Qb4 16. b3 Rad8 17. Qc1 f5 18. Bd1 fxe4 19. Nc3 Rxf1+ 20. Kxf1 Rf8+ 21.\nKe1 Nef5 22. a3 Qb6 23. Bf2 e3 24. Bg1 Nh4 25. Qb2 e4 26. b4 Ndf3+ 27. gxf3\nexf3 28. c5 f2+ 29. Bxf2 exf2+ 30. Qxf2 Bxc3+ {0-1 Chekhova Kostina\,T-Frog\,I/\nMoscow 1991/}) (10. h4 h5 11. Bh3 O-O 12. Nc3 c5 13. Rc1 f5 14. exf5 Nexf5 15.\nBg5 Bf6 16. Ne4 Be7 17. Rc3 a6 18. Bxf5 Nxf5 19. g4 Nxh4 20. Bh6 Rf7 21. gxh5\ng5 22. Rg1 Kh7 23. Nxg5+ Bxg5 24. Bxg5 Qg8 25. Rcg3 Nf5 26. Qc2 e4 27. Rg4 Rg7\n28. Qe2 Re8 29. Bf6 Rxg4 30. Rxg4 Qf7 31. Rg6 Nd4 32. Qg4 Rg8 33. Rxg8 Qxg8 34.\nQxe4+ Kh6 35. Bxd4 cxd4 36. Qe6+ Kh7 37. Qxg8+ Kxg8 38. c5 {1-0 Luna\,J-Duin\,L/\nBuenos Aires 1965/}) (10. O-O c5 11. Bxd4 cxd4 12. Qa4+ Kf8 13. f4 exf4 14.\nRxf4 Be5 15. Rf1 Kg7 16. Qb3 b6 17. Nd2 Rf8 18. Qd3 a6 19. Nf3 b5 20. c5 f6 21.\nNxd4 Bxd4+ 22. Qxd4 g5 23. Bf5 Ng6 24. Bxg6 hxg6 25. b4 Qe7 26. Rac1 Rh8 27. h3\ng4 28. cxd6 Qxd6 29. Rc6 Qe5 30. Qxe5 fxe5 31. Rff6 gxh3 32. Rxg6+ Kf7 33. Rxa6\nhxg2 34. Raf6+ Ke7 35. Re6+ Kf7 36. Rxg2 Rac8 37. Rf2+ Kg7 38. Rxe5 Rh4 39. d6\nRc1+ 40. Kg2 Rd1 41. Rg5+ Kh6 42. Rd5 Rxd5 43. exd5 Rd4 44. Rf8 Rxd5 45. Rd8\nKg5 46. d7 {1-0 Glawischnig\,A-Wilczek\,R/Feffernitz 1999/}) 10… O-O 11. Nb5 c5\n12. dxc6 Nexc6 13. O-O a6 14. Nxd4 exd4 15. Bf4 Re8 16. Re1 Ne5 17. Be2 Qb6 18.\nQb3 Qc6 19. Bf1 Nd7 20. f3 Nc5 21. Qa3 a5 22. Rad1 Ra6 23. Bg3 Qb6 24. b3 Qb4\n25. Qxb4 axb4 26. Bd3 Rxa2 27. Bxd6 b6 28. Re2 Rea8 29. Rxa2 Rxa2 30. Bc7 Bh6\n31. h4 Nd7 32. Bf1 Rb2 33. Bd6 Rxb3 34. f4 Nc5 35. Rxd4 Ne6 36. Rd3 Rxd3 37.\nBxd3 b3 38. g3 Bg7 39. e5 Bf8 40. Kf2 Bxd6 41. exd6 Kf8 42. Ke3 Ke8 43. f5 Nc5\n44. fxg6 fxg6 45. h5 Nxd3 46. hxg6 hxg6 47. Kxd3 Kd7 48. Kc3 Kxd6 49. Kxb3 Ke5\n50. Kb4 Kd4 51. g4 g5 52. Kb5 Kd3 53. Kb4 {1/2-1/2 Krijgelmans\,J-Marechal\,A/\nBelgium 2002/}) (9… h5 10. Bxd4 hxg4 11. Bc3 Qh4 12. Qa4+ Kf8 13. Nd2 Bh6 14.\nNf1 Nf6 15. Ng3 Bf4 16. Qb4 b6 17. Bd2 Kg7 18. O-O-O Nh5 19. Qc3 Qf6 20. Rdf1\nRh7 21. Ne2 Rah8 22. f3 Qg5 23. fxg4 Bxd2+ 24. Qxd2 Qxg4 25. Qe3 Nf6 26. Nc3\nRxh2 27. Rxh2 Rxh2 28. Qf3 Qg5+ 29. Kd1 Rxg2 30. Rf2 Rxf2 31. Qxf2 Qg4+ 32. Qe2\na6 {0-1 Facino\,H-Dolezal\,C/San Fernando 1992/}) 10. Qa4+ $146 (10. Nc3 $5 h5 (\n10… Nh6 11. h3 f5 12. exf5 Nhxf5 13. O-O O-O 14. Bd2 a6 15. Be2 b5 16. cxb5\nNxe2+ 17. Qxe2 Nd4 18. Qc4 axb5 19. Nxb5 Nxb5 20. Qxb5 Rb8 21. Qc4 Rxb2 22. Bc3\nRf4 23. Qd3 Rb7 24. a4 Qa8 25. a5 c4 26. Qd2 Bh6 27. Qe2 Qa6 28. Rfb1 Rbf7 29.\nBd2 Rh4 30. Rb6 Qc8 31. Bxh6 Rxh6 32. a6 c3 33. a7 Rxa7 34. Rxa7 c2 35. Qxc2\nQxc2 36. Rb8+ {1-0 Janjgava\,L-Fang\,J/Philadelphia 1990/}) 11. Qa4+ Kf8 12. Bh3\ng5 13. g3 a6 14. Qd1 b5 15. Bf1 b4 16. Nb1 Nh6 17. Nd2 Bf6 18. Bd3 Ng8 19. a3\na5 20. Qa4 Rb8 21. axb4 axb4 22. Qa5 Qe7 23. Qa7 Rb7 24. Qa8+ Kg7 25. Qc8 Rc7\n26. Qh3 g4 27. Qg2 Bg5 28. h3 Nh6 29. h4 Bf6 30. Rf1 Ra7 31. Rb1 Ra2 32. Kd1\nQd7 33. Bxd4 exd4 34. Kc1 b3 35. Kd1 Rha8 36. Ke2 Qa4 37. Rfd1 Re8 38. Kf1 Qb4\n39. Kg1 Bd8 40. Qf1 Ba5 41. Kh1 Qb7 42. f4 f5 43. Qg2 Bxd2 44. Rxd2 fxe4 45.\nBxe4 Qe7 46. Bd3 Qe3 47. Rbd1 Kf6 48. Re2 Qxe2 49. Bxe2 Rxb2 50. f5 Rexe2 51.\nQf1 Rf2 52. Qe1 Rbe2 53. Qa5 Nxf5 54. Qd8+ Kf7 {0-1 Knyshenko-Katalymov\,B/\nSochi 1952/}) 10… Kf8 11. Nd2 (11. Nc3 a6 12. Bxd4 $2 (12. O-O $142 $1 Nf6\n13. Qd1 b5 14. cxb5 axb5 15. f3 $16 {Myers}) 12… exd4 13. Ne2 Nf6 14. Bf3 Nd7\n15. O-O Ne5 16. Ng3 h5 17. Bd1 h4 18. Ne2 b5 19. cxb5 axb5 20. Qxb5 Rb8 21. Qa6\nRxb2 22. f4 Ng4 23. Qd3 Ne3 24. Rf3 c4 25. Qa3 Nxd1 26. Rxd1 Rxe2 27. e5 d3 28.\nQb4 Rc2 29. a4 Kg8 30. e6 fxe6 31. dxe6 h3 32. Qb7 Bd4+ 33. Rf2 Bxf2+ {0-1\nJackson\,D-Harper\,B/London 1972/}) 11… h5 (11… Bh6 12. O-O Kg7 13. Bd1 f5\n14. Qa3 $16 {[%cal Gb2b4\,Ge4f5] Myers}) 12. Bd1 $1 a6 13. Bxd4 (13. b4 $5 b5\n14. Qa3 cxb4 15. Qxb4 a5 16. Qc3 b4 17. Qd3 Qh4 18. Nf3 Nxf3+ 19. Bxf3 Bh6 20.\nc5 Bxe3 21. Qxe3 dxc5 22. Rc1 $16 {Myers}) (13. O-O $5 a5 14. f4 Nh6 15. h3 Kg8\n16. Nb3 Kh7 17. fxe5 Bxe5 18. Nxd4 Bxd4 19. Bxd4 cxd4 20. Bc2 $16 {Myers})\n13… exd4 (13… cxd4 $5) 14. b4 $6 (14. O-O $142 $5 h4 15. Rb1 h3 16. g3 Qe8\n17. Qa3 Nf6 18. Re1 $16 {Myers}) 14… Bh6 (14… d3 $5) 15. Nf3 b5 $6 (15…\nb6 16. bxc5 bxc5 17. O-O $14) (15… Qe7 $2 16. O-O $1 Qxe4 $2 17. Re1 $16) (\n15… Qe8 $142 $1 $14 {Harding}) (15… Nf6 $142 $5 $14 {Myers}) 16. Qb3 (16.\ncxb5 $5) 16… Nf6 17. Bc2 Kg7 $6 (17… Qb6 $142 $1 $14 {Myers}) 18. O-O Re8 (\n18… Qb6 $5) 19. Rae1 $6 (19. bxc5 $142 $1 dxc5 20. Rfe1 Rb8 21. e5 $1 $16 {\nMyers}) 19… a5 $2 (19… Qb6 $5) 20. bxc5 bxc4 21. Qxc4 dxc5 22. d6 $1 (22.\ne5 $6 Nxd5 23. Be4 $8 (23. Bb3 $2 a4 $17) 23… Nb6 $5 (23… Nf4 $6 24. Bxa8\nQxa8 25. Qxc5 d3 26. Rd1 $16) 24. Qxc5 Rc8 25. Qb5 Nc4 26. Bb7 Rc7 27. Bd5 $14\n{Harding}) (22. Qxc5 $2 Rc8 23. Qxd4 Rxc2 24. d6 Re6 25. e5 Nd7 26. Qa7 $132 {\n[%cal Yf3d4] Myers}) 22… Nd7 23. e5 $1 Bf4 24. Qd5 $1 Rc8 25. g3 (25. Bb3 $5\nRf8 26. Qe4 Bh6 27. Bc2 $18 {Harding}) 25… Bh6 26. Nh4 $2 (26. e6 $3 {Harding\n} fxe6 27. Rxe6 Rxe6 28. Qxe6 Qe8 (28… Nf8 29. Qd5 $1 Qd7 30. Ne5 $18 {\nHarding}) 29. Qh3 $1 {[%cal Yf1e1]} Qf7 (29… Nf8 30. Re1 Qc6 31. Ne5 $18 {\nHarding}) 30. Nh4 $1 Rd8 31. Bxg6 Qf6 32. Re1 Nf8 33. Bd3 $18 {Myers}) (26. Rb1\n{[%cal Yb1b7]} Rb8 27. Rxb8 Qxb8 28. Bb3 Rf8 29. Qe4 $5 Qc8 30. Re1 $18 {Myers}\n) 26… Nb6 27. Qe4 Nc4 {[%cal Yc4d6\,Yc4e5]} 28. Qb7 $2 (28. Nxg6 $142 $5 {\nMessere} Nxd6 $8 (28… Nd2 $2 29. Qf5 Qg5 30. Ne7 Qxf5 31. Nxf5+ $18 {[%cal\nGe5e6]}) 29. Qd3 {[%csl Rh7][%cal Yg6e7]} c4 $8 30. Qxd4 $8 Nf5 31. Qxd8 $8\nRcxd8 $8 (31… Rexd8 $2 32. Bxf5 $18) 32. Bxf5 fxg6 33. Bb1 $14 {Harding}) (\n28. Nf5+ $142 $1 {Harding} gxf5 29. Qxf5 $1 Rh8 $8 (29… Kf8 $2 30. d7 $18)\n30. Bb3 $5 (30. d7 Rb8 31. e6 Qf6 32. Qxc5 Nb6 33. f4 $1 fxe6 34. Bb3 Nxd7 35.\nQd6 Rbe8 36. Qxd7+ $16 {Harding}) 30… Qg5 31. Qxg5+ Bxg5 32. Bxc4 Bd2 33. Re2\nBc3 34. f4 Rcd8 35. f5 Rhf8 36. Re4 $18 {Myers}) 28… Rxe5 (28… Rb8 29. Qd5\nNd2 30. e6 $1 $16 Rxe6 (30… Nxf1 $2 31. Nf5+ $1 $18) (30… fxe6 31. Qxc5\nNxf1 $2 32. Qa7+ $18) 31. Rxe6 fxe6 32. Qe5+ Qf6 33. Qxc5 Kg8 34. Qc7 Rf8 (\n34… Qd8 35. Bxg6 $18) 35. Nxg6 Nxf1 36. Nxf8 Be3 37. fxe3 Nd2 38. Bh7+ Kxf8\n39. Qc8+ Kg7 40. Qg8+ Kh6 41. Qg6+ Qxg6 42. Bxg6 dxe3 43. d7 e2 44. Kf2 Nf3 45.\nKxe2 Nd4+ 46. Ke3 Nc6 47. Be4 Nd8 48. Kd4 $18 {Harding}) 29. Rxe5 Nxe5 30. Bxg6\n$5 (30. f4 Qd7 {Tait} (30… Nc4 $5 31. Bxg6 Nxd6 32. Nf5+ Kxg6 33. Nxd6 Qxd6\n34. Qxc8 d3 35. Qh8 d2 36. Rd1 $11) (30… Nd7 31. Bxg6 fxg6 32. Re1 Rb8 33.\nRe7+ Qxe7 34. dxe7 Rxb7 35. e8=Q Nf8 36. Qe5+ $18 {Myers}) 31. Qe4 Nc6 (31…\nQxd6 $1 32. fxe5 Qc6 33. Qg2 Qxg2+ 34. Kxg2 c4 $15 {Myers}) 32. Nxg6 Qxd6 33.\nNe5 (33. Nh4 Kf8 $1 34. Qh7 Qf6 35. Bd3 Ne7 36. Rc1 $11 {Myers}) (33. Qf5 Qe6\n34. Nh4 Kf8 35. Qxh5 Ne7 36. Nf5 $11 {Myers}) 33… d3 34. Bxd3 Qd4+ 35. Qxd4\nNxd4 36. Rb1 Nc6 37. Nxc6 Rxc6 38. Bc4 Kg6 39. Rb7 f5 40. Ra7 $16) (30. Qd5 $2\nNd7 $1 31. Bb3 Qf6 32. Rd1 Rd8 $17 {Myers}) (30. Re1 $5 d3 31. Ba4 d2 32. Rxe5\nQxd6 33. Rd5 {Harding} Qe6 34. Rd7 Rb8 35. Rxf7+ Qxf7 36. Qxb8 Bg5 37. Qb2+ $16\n{Myers}) 30… Qd7 $8 (30… Nd7 $2 31. Bxh5 Rb8 32. Nf5+ Kh7 33. Qd5 $18 {\nMyers}) (30… Rb8 $6 31. Qd5 fxg6 (31… Nxg6 $2 32. Nf5+ $18) 32. Qxe5+ Kh7 (\n32… Qf6 33. Qxc5 $18) 33. Qxc5 $1 Bf8 34. Qa7+ Bg7 35. d7 $1 $18) (30… Nxg6\n$2 31. Nf5+ Kf8 32. Nxh6 Ne5 33. Re1 $18) 31. Nf5+ $2 (31. Qxd7 $142 $1 Nxd7\n32. Bxh5 Bg5 33. Nf5+ Kf6 34. Ne7 $1 Rh8 35. Bg4 Ne5 36. Nd5+ Kg6 37. Bd1 $16 {\nMyers}) 31… Kf6 32. Qxd7 Nxd7 33. Ne7 Rb8 $2 (33… fxg6 $6 34. Nxc8 c4 35.\nf4 c3 36. Kf2 Bg7 37. Ke2 Ke6 38. Re1 Kd5 39. h3 $14 {Myers}) (33… Rh8 $142\n$1 34. Bxh5 $1 c4 $5 (34… Bf8 35. Nd5+ Ke6 $15 {Harding}) 35. Bg4 Ne5 $1 36.\nNd5+ Kg6 37. Bc8 Bd2 38. f4 Nd3 39. d7 c3 $17 {Myers}) 34. Bf5 $2 (34. Bxh5\n$142 $1 Bd2 35. Bg4 $1 Nf8 36. Rd1 Rb2 37. Nc6 Rxa2 38. d7 $1 Nxd7 39. Bxd7 d3\n40. Be8 $16 {Myers}) 34… Rb7 $1 (34… Ne5 35. f4 $5 (35. Bc8 Bf8 36. Nd5+\nKg7 37. d7 Nc6 38. Rc1 $14) 35… Nc4 36. Nc6 Nxd6 37. Nxb8 Kxf5 38. Nc6 d3 39.\nKf2 c4 40. Nxa5 $14) 35. Be4 $2 (35. f4 $5 Bf8 $1 (35… c4 36. Rd1 d3 37. Bxd7\nRxd7 38. Nd5+ Ke6 39. Ne3 Rxd6 40. Nxc4 $14 {Harding}) 36. Re1 $1 (36. Rc1 $2\nBxe7 37. dxe7 Kxe7 38. Bxd7 Rxd7 39. Rxc5 d3 40. Rc1 Kf6 $17 {Harding}) 36…\nc4 37. Bxd7 Rxd7 38. Nd5+ Kg6 39. Nb6 Rxd6 40. Nxc4 Rd5 41. Rd1 $11 {Myers}) (\n35. Re1 $5 c4 36. Bxd7 Rxd7 37. Nd5+ Kg7 38. Nb6 Rxd6 39. Nxc4 Rd5 40. Rd1 $11\n{Myers}) 35… Rb2 36. Ng8+ Ke5 $1 (36… Kg7 $2 37. Nxh6 Kxh6 38. Bf5 $1 Nf6\n39. d7 Nxd7 40. Bxd7 Rxa2 41. Rd1 $16 {Myers}) 37. Bc6 Kxd6 $2 (37… Nb8 $142\n$1 {Myers} 38. Be8 (38. f4+ Kxd6 39. Be8 Bg7 40. Bxf7 Nd7 $17) 38… Bd2 39.\nBxf7 (39. d7 Nxd7 40. Bxd7 c4 41. Be8 Ke6 42. Ba4 c3 $19 {Myers}) 39… Kxd6\n40. f4 Nd7 41. Nh6 Ke7 42. Bxh5 c4 $1 (42… Rxa2 43. Nf5+ Kf6 44. Nd6 Be3+ 45.\nKh1 a4 46. g4 a3 $17 {Harding}) 43. Nf5+ Kf8 44. Nxd4 Be3+ 45. Kh1 Bxd4 46. Rd1\nc3 47. Rxd4 c2 48. Rc4 Rxa2 49. Rc8+ Ke7 50. Re8+ Kf6 51. Rc8 Ra1+ 52. Kg2 c1=Q\n53. Rxc1 Rxc1 $19 {Myers}) 38. Bxd7 Bd2 (38… Kxd7 39. Nxh6 Ke6 $1 40. Re1+\nKd5 41. Re8 c4 42. Nf5 c3 $1 (42… Rxa2 43. Rd8+ Ke4 44. Nxd4 c3 45. Nb3 a4\n46. Nc5+ Ke5 47. Nd3+ Ke4 48. Nc5+ $11 {Harding}) 43. Rd8+ Ke4 44. Nxd4 Rd2 45.\nf3+ Ke5 46. Nc6+ Kf6 47. Rc8 c2 48. Nxa5 Rd1+ 49. Kg2 $1 c1=Q 50. Rxc1 Rxc1 51.\nNb3 Rc2+ 52. Kh3 Rxa2 53. f4 {Harding} Kf5 54. Nd4+ Ke4 55. Nb5 Rd2 56. Nc7 Rd7\n57. Na6 Kd5 $1 58. Kh4 Rb7 59. Kxh5 Kd6 60. Kg5 Rb6 $19 {Myers}) 39. Bf5 $6 (\n39. Be8 $2 c4 40. Bxf7 c3 41. Bg6 c2 42. Bxc2 Rxc2 43. Nf6 Rxa2 (43… Ke5 44.\nNxh5 d3 {Messere} 45. a4 Ra2 46. Rd1 Kd4 47. Nf6 Bc3 48. Kf1 Rxa4 $17 {Myers})\n44. Ne4+ Kd5 45. Nxd2 Rxd2 46. Ra1 d3 47. Rxa5+ Kd4 48. Ra1 Kc3 $17 {Myers}) (\n39. Ba4 $5 c4 40. Nf6 Rxa2 (40… Ke5 41. Nd7+ Kd6 42. Nf6 Rxa2 43. Bb5 c3 $15)\n41. Bb5 Kc5 (41… c3 $5 42. Bc4 Rb2 43. Ne4+ Ke7 44. Bd3 f5 45. Nxd2 Rxd2 46.\nBxf5 Kf6 (46… c2 47. Bxc2 Rxc2 48. Rd1 Rc4 $15) 47. Be4 d3 (47… Ke5 {\nHarding} 48. Re1 Kf6 49. f4 a4 50. Ra1 $14) 48. Rc1 c2 49. Bf3 Ke5 50. Bxh5 Kd4\n$19 {Myers}) 42. Be8 d3 43. Bxf7 Rb2 (43… Kd4 $5) 44. Ne4+ Kd4 45. Nxd2 Rxd2\n46. Ra1 $8 Rb2 $3 (46… c3 $5 47. Ra4+ Ke5 48. Rxa5+ Kf6 49. Bxh5 c2 50. Ra1\nRe2 51. Bxe2 d2 $1 52. Rd1 $1 c1=Q 53. h4 $14) 47. Rxa5 (47. Ra4 $5 d2 (47…\nRb4 $5 48. Rxa5 c3 49. Rd5+ Ke4 $11) 48. Bxh5 Rb5 49. Bg4 (49. Be2 Rb4 50. Ra1\nc3 51. Bd1 Kd3 52. Kg2 a4 $11) 49… Rb4 50. Ra1 c3 51. Bf5 Ke5 52. Bd3 Rb2 53.\nKf1 $16) 47… c3 48. Rd5+ $8 Ke4 49. f3+ $8 Ke3 50. Bg6 Rb1+ 51. Kg2 Rd1 52.\nRe5+ $8 (52. Bxd3 Rd2+ 53. Kh3 Rxd3 $17) 52… Kd4 53. Re4+ Kc5 54. Re8 d2 $1\n55. f4 Rc1 56. Bxh5 c2 57. Rd8 d1=Q 58. Bxd1 cxd1=Q 59. Rxd1 Rxd1 $19) 39… c4\n40. Rb1 (40. a4 d3 41. Kg2 Ke5 42. Bh7 Ke6 43. Kf3 f5 44. Nh6 $8 Bxh6 45. Bg8+\nKe5 46. Bxc4 Kd4 $17 {Myers}) 40… Rxa2 41. Rb8 $6 (41. Rb7 $142 $5 $17 {Myers\n}) 41… a4 $5 (41… d3 $1 42. Rd8+ (42. Nf6 $2 Ke5 43. Bxd3 cxd3 44. Nxh5\nRa1+ 45. Kg2 Bc3 $19 {Harding}) 42… Ke5 43. Bxd3 cxd3 44. Rxd3 a4 45. Kg2 Ke6\n(45… Bb4 46. Nh6 a3 47. Nxf7+ Kf6 48. Rf3+ Kg7 49. Ne5 Re2 $19 {Harding}) 46.\nRd8 a3 47. Re8+ Kd5 48. Nf6+ Kc4 49. Rc8+ Kb3 50. Rb8+ Ka4 51. Nd7 Rc2 52. Nb6+\nKa5 53. Ra8+ Kxb6 54. Rxa3 f6 $19 {Myers}) 42. Rc8 c3 43. Be4 Bg5 (43… a3 $5\n44. Rc6+ Ke5 (44… Kd7 $2 45. Nf6+ Ke7 46. Nd5+ Kf8 47. Ra6 c2 48. Bxc2 Rxc2\n49. Rxa3 Kg7 $15 {Harding}) 45. Bh7 Rb2 46. f4+ Bxf4 47. gxf4+ Kxf4 48. Ne7 a2\n49. Rf6+ Ke5 50. Rf1 c2 51. Nc6+ Kd5 52. Bxc2 Kxc6 53. Be4+ Kd6 $17 {Myers})\n44. h4 (44. f4 $5 Re2 45. Bf3 Rb2 $2 (45… a3 $142 $1 46. fxg5 (46. Bxe2 a2\n47. Ra8 c2 $17) 46… a2 $1 47. Rc6+ Kd7 48. Nf6+ Ke7 49. Nd5+ Kf8 50. Bxe2\na1=Q+ $17 {Harding}) 46. Rc6+ $5 (46. fxg5 c2 47. Rc6+ Kd7 48. Nf6+ Kd8 49.\nBxh5 (49. Bd5 Ke7 50. Ng8+ Ke8 51. Nf6+ Ke7 52. Ng8+ $11 {Myers}) (49. Rd6+ Ke7\n50. Rd7+ Ke6 51. Bd5+ Ke5 52. Re7+ Kd6 53. Rd7+ $11 {Myers}) 49… d3 50. Ne4\nKe7 51. Rc7+ Kd8 52. Rc5 Ke7 53. Rc7+ $11 {Harding}) 46… Kd7 47. fxg5 a3 48.\nNf6+ Kd8 (48… Ke7 $142 49. Nd5+ $11 {Harding}) 49. Rd6+ Kc7 50. Rc6+ (50.\nRxd4 $4 a2 $19 {Harding}) 50… Kd8 51. Bd5 c2 52. Bxf7 d3 53. Ne4 a2 54. Bxa2\nRxa2 55. g6 $16 {Myers}) (44. Rc6+ Ke5 $1 45. Bh7 (45. f3 $2 Re2 46. Rc5+ Kd6\n47. Rxg5 Rxe4 48. fxe4 c2 49. Rd5+ Ke6 50. Rc5 d3 $19 {Messere}) 45… f5 46.\nf4+ Bxf4 47. gxf4+ Kxf4 48. Ne7 Kf3 {[%cal Ra2a1]} 49. h3 c2 50. Nxf5 Ra1+ 51.\nKh2 c1=Q 52. Rxc1 Rxc1 53. Nxd4+ Ke3 $17 {Harding}) 44… Re2 $1 45. Bd3 (45.\nBf3 Re1+ 46. Kg2 a3 $1 (46… Be7 47. Bxh5 a3 48. Bxf7 Kd7 $1 49. Nxe7 Rxe7 $17\n) 47. Rc6+ Kd7 48. hxg5 a2 49. Nf6+ Ke7 50. Rc7+ Kd8 51. Ra7 c2 $19 {Myers})\n45… Rd2 $6 (45… a3 $142 $5 {Harding} 46. Rc4 $3 (46. Bxe2 a2 47. Ra8 c2 48.\nRxa2 c1=Q+ 49. Kg2 Qc8 50. Ra5 Qc2 (50… Qxg8 51. Rxg5 Qc8 52. Rxh5 $11 {Tait}\n) 51. Bxh5 Be3 52. Ra6+ Kc5 53. Rf6 d3 54. Ne7 Bd4 $17 {Myers}) (46. hxg5 Re1+\n47. Kg2 a2 48. Ra8 a1=Q 49. Rxa1 Rxa1 50. Nh6 Ra7 51. Kf3 Kc5 $17 {Harding})\n46… a2 47. Rxd4+ Ke5 48. Ra4 c2 49. Bxc2 Rxc2 50. hxg5 Rc1+ 51. Kg2 a1=Q 52.\nRxa1 Rxa1 53. f4+ $5 (53. Nf6 Ra2 54. Nxh5 Kf5 55. Nf4 Kxg5 56. Nd5 Kf5 $11 {\nTait}) 53… Kf5 54. Nh6+ Kg6 55. g4 Ra2+ 56. Kh3 Ra3+ 57. Kh4 hxg4 58. Kxg4\nRa1 59. Nf5 $11 {Myers}) 46. Be4 $2 (46. Bb5 $3 a3 47. Rc6+ $1 (47. hxg5 a2 48.\nRc6+ Ke5 49. Rc5+ Ke6 $15) 47… Kd5 (47… Ke5 48. Rc5+ Kd6 49. Rc6+ Ke5 50.\nRc5+ Kd6 51. Rc6+ $11 {Harding}) 48. hxg5 a2 49. Nf6+ $8 Ke5 50. Ra6 (50. f4+\nKf5 51. Ra6 $8 Rd1+ $8 52. Kf2 a1=Q 53. Bd3+ $1 Rxd3 54. Rxa1 c2 $1 $11 {Myers}\n) 50… Rd1+ 51. Kg2 a1=Q 52. f4+ Kf5 53. Bd3+ Rxd3 54. Rxa1 c2 $11 {Myers})\n46… a3 $1 (46… Be7 47. Rc6+ (47. Ra8 d3 48. Rxa4 Rd1+ 49. Kg2 d2 50. Bc2\nRc1 51. Bb3 $11 {Messere}) 47… Ke5 48. Bg2 Bd6 49. Nh6 Ke6 50. Bh3+ Kd5 51.\nBg2+ $11 {Myers}) (46… Rd1+ $5 47. Kg2 a3 $1 48. Rc6+ Ke5 49. Kf3 a2 50. Rc5+\nKd6 51. Rc6+ Kd7 52. Ra6 a1=Q 53. Rxa1 Rxa1 54. hxg5 Ra2 $19 {Myers}) (46… a3\n$1 47. hxg5 a2 48. Rd8+ (48. Ra8 $5 Rd1+ 49. Kg2 a1=Q 50. Rxa1 Rxa1 51. Nh6 Ra7\n$17) 48… Kc5 49. Ra8 (49. Rc8+ $5 Kb4 50. Rb8+ Kc5 51. Rc8+ Kd6 52. Rd8+ Kc7\n53. Ra8 Rd1+ $17) 49… Rd1+ (49… Kc4 50. Kg2 d3 51. Nf6 $11 {Myers}) (49…\nc2 50. Bxc2 Rxc2 51. Kg2 d3 52. Kf3 d2 53. Ke2 Kd4 $17 {Myers}) 50. Kg2 a1=Q\n51. Rxa1 Rxa1 52. Nh6 $1 {Messere} Re1 53. Bc2 Re2 54. Bf5 c2 $19 {Myers}) (\n46… Bxh4 47. gxh4 a3 48. Kg2 a2 49. Ra8 c2 50. Bxc2 Rxc2 51. Nh6 d3 $17) 0-1\n[/pgn] \nIMC Ken Messere OBE (16-iv-1928 31-iii-2005)\nThe quality of my chess in the 1965-68 World Championship was much inferior. The tournament began disastrously. I went in for three losing variations as Black and made a suicidal clerical error in the opening so that after 3 months I had four losses from four games. Later\, there were compensations. I won against V. Zagarovsky\, the reigning world champion (the third annotated game) and obtained just (but only just) the necessary 33.3% per cent to obtain the correspondence chess international master title. For this I needed a win and draw from my last two games which\nafter 3.5 years\, had to be adjudicated. \n[pgn]\n[Event “W-ch05 corr6568”]\n[Site “ICCF corr”]\n[Date “1965.??.??”]\n[Round “?”]\n[White “Estrin\, Yakov Borisovich”]\n[Black “Messere\, Kenneth Charles”]\n[Result “0-1”]\n[ECO “C45”]\n[Annotator “Ken Messere and BCN”]\n[PlyCount “110”]\n[EventDate “1965.??.??”]\n[EventType “tourn (corr)”]\n[EventRounds “16”]\n[SourceTitle “Corr Nr. 1\, British Ches”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “1997.09.01”]\n[SourceVersion “2”]\n[SourceVersionDate “2000.04.19”]\n[SourceQuality “1”] \n1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. Nf3 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nb3 Bb4+ 6. c3 Be7 {[#]} 7. Be2\n$146 ({Relevant:} 7. f4 d6 8. Bc4 Nf6 9. O-O Nxe4 10. Bxf7+ Kxf7 11. Qd5+ Be6\n12. Qxe4 Bf6 13. f5 Bxb3 14. axb3 Re8 15. Qd5+ Kf8 16. Bf4 Qe7 17. Nd2 a6 18.\nRa4 Qf7 19. Qd3 d5 20. Nf3 h6 21. Qd2 Re4 22. Rxe4 dxe4 23. Nd4 Nxd4 24. cxd4\nRd8 25. Qb4+ Kg8 26. Be5 Qd5 27. Bxf6 gxf6 28. Qe7 Qd6 29. Qxe4 Qxd4+ 30. Qxd4\nRxd4 31. Rc1 c6 32. Rc3 Rf4 33. Rg3+ Kf7 34. Rg6 Rxf5 35. Rxh6 Kg7 36. Rh3 a5 {\nLazarevic\,M-Gaprindashvili\,N Leningrad 1964 1/2-1/2}) 7… Nf6 8. N1d2 d5 9.\nexd5 Nxd5 10. Nf3 O-O 11. O-O Bf5 12. Nbd4 Nxd4 13. Nxd4 Bg6 14. Qb3 Nb6 15.\nBf3 c6 16. Bf4 Bd6 17. Ne6 fxe6 18. Qxe6+ Rf7 19. Qxd6 Qxd6 20. Bxd6 Nc4 21.\nRfd1 Nxb2 22. Rd4 Re8 23. h4 h6 24. a4 Nd3 25. a5 Ne1 $16 {Here I offered\nEstrin a draw but he turned the offer down.} 26. a6 $17 (26. Bd1) 26… Nxf3+\n27. gxf3 b6 28. f4 {KCM: I refused draw offers from Estrin at 28 and 30 and\nlater the shadow of adjudication came into play.} c5 29. Rdd1 Bc2 30. Re1 Rc8\n31. Re3 Rc6 32. Be5 b5 33. Kh2 h5 34. Rg3 g6 35. Ra2 Bf5 36. Rg1 Rd7 37. Re1\nKf7 38. Ree2 b4 $2 {KCM:Believing there were only three moves left to play\, I\nwanted to show the adjudicator a passed pawn on the sixth rank and sent this\nand the 39th move as a conditional; BCN: The engines both rate this as the\nbest move by some margin.} ({KCM: Both the slower} 38… Ke6) ({and} 38… Be6\n{were both better.}) 39. Reb2 (39. Rab2 Rb6 40. cxb4 cxb4 $19) 39… Rb6 $2 {\nBCN: The ? is rather harsh since this move is still good for Black.} ({KCM:\nBetter} 39… Be6 40. Ra4 b3 41. c4 Rb6) 40. Ra5 bxc3 41. Rxb6 $2 (41. Bxc3 $1\n{draws after} Rxb2 42. Bxb2 c4 ({or} 42… Rc7 43. Be5 {KCM: Another\nadjudication induced error?}) 43. Rc5) 41… axb6 42. a7 Be4 $1 43. Ra4 $1 {\nKCM: Other moves lose quickly.} Ba8 $1 ({BCN: According to SF} 43… c2 $1 44.\nRxe4 Rxa7 45. Rc4 Ra2 46. Bc7 b5 47. Rxc5 b4 $17) 44. Bxc3 Ke6 ({KCM: Not}\n44… b5 $2 45. Ra6 {draws. At this point we learnt adjudication was postponed\n5 months\, but now I am winning. BCN: SF evaluates this as dead level!}) 45.\nRa6 Rd6 46. Ra1 b5 $1 47. Ra5 Rb6 (47… b4 {KCM: Not} 48. Be5 {draws}) 48. Bd2\n$11 Kd5 49. Be3 Kc4 50. Ra1 Rc6 51. Rd1 Rc8 ({KCM: Not} 51… Rc7 $4 52. Rd8 $1\nRxa7 53. Rc8 {draws}) 52. Rd6 $2 {BCN: this is Black’s losing move although\nKCM does not mention this.} ({BCN: In fact\, Estrin should have played} 52. Rc1+\nKd5 53. Rd1+ {and Black cannot make progress.}) 52… b4 $1 {KCM: Only this\npawn sacrifice wins} 53. Rxg6 ({KCM: is no better} 53. Rb6 Rc7) 53… b3 54. f5\nRc7 55. f6 b2 {and wins} 0-1\n[/pgn] \nFortunately\, the win and draw were relatively clear\, though this would not have been so a few moves earlier. An an illustration of how the threat of adjudication breeds irrationality\, Diagram II gives the closing stages of my win against J.Estrin of the USSR – a more recent correspondence chess world champion. My only other game against a world champion was against the winner of this tournament\, Hans Berliner of the United States\, with whom I collaborated on a book of the tournament. The collaboration was stimulating but not without friction\, since I had to write 75 per cent of the book to see it ever finished. It took a year to complete\, 3 years to appear (published by BCM) but in the end was well-reviewed\, sold over 2000 copies and royalties are still (gently) drifting in. \nThe Fifth Correspondence Chess World Championship\, Hans Berliner & Ken Messere\, British Chess Magazine\, BCM Quarterly Nunber 14\, 5th December 1971\, ISBN 978-0-900846-05-2.\n  \nIn the early seventies\, in order to reduce numbers of games\, I retreated altogether from individual tournaments\, just playing twice for England in the Olympiads. Whether team play did not suit my style\, or whether my technique had improved but imagination withered\, I drew nine of my seventeen games from the two tournaments\, winning four and losing four. As England looked likely to aspire to medals for the first time ever\, my 50 per cent would not help matters and I gladly retreated to first reserve\, which to my dismay required taking over five unfinished games of Hugh Alexander\, who died during the tournament\, and who\, for me\, has always been England’s most attractive player and writer. My most uncomfortable decision in correspondence chess was a rejection of Hugh’s intended continuation in one of these games\, {Diagram III). Of these five games\, I lost one and drew four and England won a bronze medal. \nIn 1974 was invited to compete in the Potter Memorial Tournament of four postal grandmasters and nine international masters. After so many years of responsible’ team chess for England\, I went beserk and sacrificed a pawn in ten of the twelve games\, trying later to salvage inferior end-games. Result 33 % per cent. B. H. Wood invited me to write a book of the tournament\, to which a number of the players contributed and this was published in 1979. \nThe Potter Memorial\, Ken Messere\, CHESS (Sutton Coldfield)\, 1975\nAlso in 1979 I began to play in another invitation tournament of thirteen players organised by the Australian Correspondence Chess League\, which became a memorial to CJS Purdy\, its president and the first world postal champion\, who died soon after the tournament began. At the time of writing\, this tournament\, comprising four grandmasters (including one former world champion and two runners-up) and eight international masters\, is still in its early stages.” \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume CXXV (125\, 2005)\, Number 5 (May)\, page 226 we have this obituary: \n“Kenneth Charles Messere (16 iv 1928\, Richmond – 31 iii 2005\, Paris) was one of Britain’s strongest correspondence players (he held the correspondence IM title) and well-known author of books on the subject. After graduating from Oxford University\, Ken Messere went to HM Customs and Excise\, and thence to the Organisation for Economic Development (OECD) where he became head of the fiscal affairs division and a world expert on fiscal law. He reached the final of 1965-8 world correspondence championship\, beating world champions Zagorovsky and Estrin\, and wrote the book of the tournament with Hans Berliner (published by BCM)” \nFrom The Potter Memorial by Ken Messere\, CHESS (Sutton Coldfield)\, “Chess for Modern Times” Series\, 1975 we have this potted biography: \n“Compiler of this book\, took 3rd place in 1957 and 2nd in 1968 in the championship of the Postal Chess Club. Scores of 4.5 out of 6 in the ICCF Masters 1957-8 and 4/6 in the 1959-61 Championship took him to victory with 11/5 out of 13 in the 1961-3 semi-finals\, securing him his first international master norm and qualifying him for the 5th World Championship 1964-7 in which he scored 5.5\, just enough for the IM title\, with wins over Zagorovsky\, then world champion and Estrin\, world champion now. Ken Messere collaborated with Berliner\, who won it\, in a book on the tournament. \nHe then switched to play exclusively as a member of the British Olympiad team\, taking over 2nd board when Alexander died. \nThe switch back from rather cautious team play to enterprising individual games in 1974-7 provides some of the subject matter of this book.” \n  \nThe Tax System in Industrialized Countries\, Ken Messere\, Oxford University Press\, 1998\, ISBN 10: 1982933135 / ISBN 13: 9781982933135
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