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SUMMARY:Death Anniversary of IM Čeněk Kottnauer (24-ii-1910 14-ii-1996)
DESCRIPTION:BCN remembers IM Čeněk Kottnauer (24-ii-1910 14-ii-1996) \nČeněk Kottnauer was born in Prague on Thursday\, February 24th\, 1910. Čeněk was employed in the Ministry of Education in Prague. \nWhilst playing in the Lucerne International tournament (28-xii-1952 03-i-1953) he sought political asylum : \nFrom the Milwaukee Journal\, January 3\, 1953 we have \n“Czech Chess Star Asks for Asylum \nLucerne\, Switzerland – Cenek Kottnauer\, 42\, Czecho-Slovakian chess champion and an employee of the ministry of education in Prague\, announced Saturday that he would not return to Czech-Slovakia and would request political asylum in Switzerland. Kottnauer had been participating in a chess tournament. \nHe said that the political situation in his country had grown “more and more critical” and he wanted “to leave before it is too late”. He said that he had been divorced recently and had no children in Czech-Slovakia”. \nIn a January 2009 post to the English Chess Forum Leonard Barden wrote : \n“Cenek Kottnauer defected from Czechoslovakia during the Lucerne New Year tournament of 1952-3 (I am precise on this because I was present). His wife Daniela joined him there\, having been smuggled from Prague in the boot of a diplomat’s car. Kottnauer had been a water polo player of international standard before 1939 so came into serious chess only his mid-30s. He made his name with his good showing in the Prague v Moscow match of 1946 and his Bxh7+ win then against Kotov. He competed in great tournaments like Groningen 1946 and Moscow 1947; his first visit to England was in 1947 when the Czech team came here. \nČeněk Kottnauer plays Friedrich Sämisch during the Duras Memorial in Prague. December 7th 1942\, The game was a Slav drawn after 42 moves\nIn the 1940s he had a job in the Czech sports ministry but got implicated in the purges following the Slansky trial. He also believed that Pachman and Opocensky were involved in the campaign against him.” \nČeněk married Daniela (née Horska\, also Czech\, having met in Austria) and they had a son Daniel VR Kottnauer. Daniela was born in 1934 and was 24 years younger than Čeněk. She died on February 20th 2008 in a hospice in Essen\, Germany close to where Daniel currently resides.  Daniel has been a pianist and singer for 30 years\, an event manager for 19 years and a coach and VIP limousine driver for 5 years and may be found on LinkedIn. \nČeněk  became a British citizen on 16th December 1960 when he obtained naturalisation certificate BNA64338. \nIn 1965 Čeněk and Daniela were living at Flat 2\, 7-8 Bathurst Street\, London\, W2. \n7-8\, Bathurst Street\, London\, W2\nIn Kings\, Commoners and Knaves (Russell Enterprises\, 1999)\, page 108\, Edward Winter wrote : \n“The obituaries of Čeněk Kottnauer (1910-1996) have\, in common with all of the encyclopaedia entries on him\, been strangely wanting in pre-1940s references to his chess career. Czech magazines of the 1930s contain occasional games by ‘Kottnauer’ (no forename or initial given)\, including the following : \n[pgn]\n[Event “Prague clock simul”]\n[Site “Prague”]\n[Date “1932.02.09”]\n[Round “?”]\n[White “Kottnauer\, Cenek”]\n[Black “Bogoljubov\, Efim”]\n[Result “1-0”]\n[ECO “D47”]\n[Annotator “British Chess News”]\n[PlyCount “63”]\n[EventDate “1932.??.??”]\n[SourceTitle “chessgames.com”] \n{[%evp 0\,63\,19\,31\,19\,-16\,24\,16\,27\,44\,43\,47\,54\,39\,55\,63\,33\,16\,2\,-2\,4\,-18\,-15\,\n-35\,-43\,-46\,-45\,-45\,-18\,-23\,-23\,-33\,-43\,-49\,-29\,-29\,-34\,-88\,-86\,-86\,-65\,-107\,\n-71\,-77\,-56\,-131\,-77\,-183\,-156\,-174\,-199\,-189\,-96\,-144\,-117\,-117\,29\,36\,71\,88\,\n138\,132\,409\,422\,436\,443]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nc3 Nbd7 6.\nBd3 dxc4 {The Meran Defence} 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bb3 b4 $1 {Wells} 9. Ne2 Be7 {\nhas come back into fashion in 2020.} (9… Bb7 {is more common} 10. O-O Bd6 11.\nNf4 O-O 12. Ng5 Bxf4 13. exf4 c5 14. Be3) 10. O-O O-O (10… Bb7 {transposing})\n11. Ng3 (11. Nf4) 11… c5 {Black has equalised.} 12. e4 Bb7 13. Re1 $146 (13.\ne5) 13… cxd4 14. Nxd4 Nc5 $17 15. Bc2 Rc8 16. Bf4 Qb6 17. e5 Nd5 18. Qh5 $6 (\n18. Qg4) 18… g6 19. Qh6 Nxf4 20. Qxf4 Rfd8 21. Rad1 {[#]} Rd5 (21… Nd3 $1\n$19) 22. Nh5 Nd7 23. Ng3 Rc4 24. Nge2 Rxe5 25. Bb3 Re4 26. Bxc4 Rxf4 27. Nxf4\nBc5 $2 {[#]} (27… Nc5) 28. Nfxe6 $1 Ba6 (28… fxe6 29. Rxe6 {is crushing})\n29. Bb3 Bxd4 $6 30. Rxd4 $1 Nf8 $4 31. Rd8 $1 fxe6 32. Rxe6 {and Bogoljubow\nresigned.} 1-0\n[/pgn] \nSource : Československý šach\, January\, 1932\, page 9. The score was also given\, with notes\, by Vera Menchik\, on page 153 of the April 1932 issue of The Social Chess Quarterly. ” \nFrom Šachový Týdeník\, 25th February\, 2010 that Čeněk was twice Prague lightning champion. \nIn 1943 Čeněk was a clear first overall with 10.5/13 in the Zlin tournament. \nCrosstable for the Zlin (Czechoslovakia) 1943 tournament\nČeněk Kottnauer plays Svetozar Gligorić during the Chigorin Memorial\, Moscow\, November 26th 1947.\nFrom The Oxford Companion to Chess (OUP\, 1984)\, David Hooper & Ken Whyld : \nInternational Master (1950)\, International Arbiter (1951)\, a Czech player who emigrated to England in 1953 and was naturalised in 1960. He played in Olympiads for Czechoslovakia (1950*\, 1952)\, on the second occasion making the best score (+10=5) on the fourth board\, and in two Olympiads for England (1964\, 1968). In 1961 he won the Beverwijk Masters tournament (not the concurrent grandmasters event) with a clean score\, a fine achievement. \n*Ed : In fact\, this is not true since Czechoslovakia did not send a team to Dubrovnik 1950.  This was the last year the event was limited to sixteen countries. \nCrosstable for Beverwijk 1961\nConsulting the 2nd edition (1992) of Hooper & Whyld may cause disappointment since there is no entry for CK. \nČeněk Kottnauer from Šachový Týdeník\, 25th February\, 2010\nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess (Robert Hale 1970 & 1976)\, Anne Sunnucks : \n“International Master (1950) and International Judge (1951). \nBorn on 24th February 1910. Kottnauer represented Czechoslovakia in the 1952 Olympiad in Helsinki. In the years after the war his successes in international tournaments included 3rd at Beverwijk 1947\, =2nd at Vienna 1947\, 4th at Bad Gadstein 1948 and 1st at Lucerne 1953. \nCrosstable for Lucerne 1952/1953\nAfter the Lucerne tournament he sought political asylum in Switzerland. He later settled in England and became a naturalised British citizen. He played for the British Chess Federation in the Olympiads of 1964 and 1968. \nKottnauer has played in the British Championship twice. In 1961 he came =4th\, and in 1962 he came =3rd.” \nIM Čeněk Kottnauer\nFrom The Encyclopaedia of Chess (Batsford\, 1977)\, Harry Golombek OBE (entry written by Bill Hartston): \n“Born in Czechoslovakia\, Kottnauer played for that country in many events including the 1952 Olympiad. He emigrated in 1953 and subsequently took British nationality\, representing England in the Olympiads of 1964 and 1968. Awarded FIDE titles of international master in 1950 and International Judge in 1951. Winner of Lucerne 1953 International tournament. \nČeněk Kottnauer plays Frans Kuijpers during the 1964 Anglo-Dutch match at Vlissingen on September 19th\nCo-author with TD Harding and GS Botterill of The Sicilian Sozin\, Batsford\, London\, 1974.” \nThe Sicilian Sozin\, TD Harding\, GS Botterill\, C. Kottnauer\, Batsford\, 1974\nFrom British Chess (Pergamon Press\, 1983) we have this insight from Tim Harding : \n“At a time when home-grown International Masters were thin on the ground in Britain (the 1950s and 1960s) this Czech-born IM brought a lot of valuable experience to BCF teams. \nAmsterdam 1950\, first day; Gideon Stahlberg versus Cenek Kottnauer Date: November 11\, 1950\nAfter emigrating to England in 1953\, he became naturalized and subsequently represented the BCF in the Tel Aviv\, 1964 and Lugano\, 1968\, Olympiads. On board one in 1964 he scored +8 =7 -3 (63.9%) on board two below Penrose in 1968 (with some board one games) he scored 41.7: +3 =5 -4. \nČeněk Kottnauer\nWhen FIDE rating lists appeared in the early 1970s\, Kottnauer was listed at 2370 but by this time had more or less retired from active play at the top level\, although he took (and still takes) a keen interest in coaching promising young players\, He was one of the most regular and most valuable coaches at the one-day junior training events organised by the London Chess Association at the Mary Ward Centre in Bloomsbury\, London in the mid-1970s. \nIM Čeněk Kottnauer\, event unknown\nAt this time he also wrote many articles for his friend Grandmaster Pachman\, who had been freed to live in West Germany where he became editor of Schach-Archiv\, and also made a major contribution to the Batsford opening theory work. The Sicilian Sozin\, written in collaboration with George Botterill and Tim Harding\, and published in 1974. \nLubomir Kavalek & Čeněk Kottnauer from Šachový Týdeník\, 25th February\, 2010\nKottnauer’s most active years as a player were however 1946-53; in the year that he came to England he took first prize in the Lucerne\, 1953 International tournament. Had he been a professional player throughout the the 1950s\, there is little doubt that he would have become a grandmaster. \n[pgn]\n[Event “Match/City Prague-Moscow 13\,0-23\,0”]\n[Site “Moscow”]\n[Date “1946.03.??”]\n[Round “2”]\n[White “Kottnauer\, Cenek”]\n[Black “Smyslov\, Vassily V”]\n[Result “1-0”]\n[ECO “D18”]\n[Annotator “British Chess News”]\n[PlyCount “111”]\n[EventDate “1946.03.02”]\n[EventType “team-match”]\n[EventRounds “6”]\n[EventCountry “URS”]\n[SourceTitle “MCL”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “1999.07.01”]\n[SourceVersion “1”]\n[SourceVersionDate “1999.07.01”]\n[SourceQuality “1”] \n{[%evp 0\,111\,80\,5\,26\,-10\,34\,32\,31\,31\,44\,-4\,0\,7\,21\,21\,2\,11\,20\,0\,7\,2\,-15\,-22\,-22\,\n-34\,-4\,-8\,-11\,-18\,-19\,-8\,-3\,-2\,17\,5\,0\,17\,57\,11\,69\,10\,17\,5\,16\,0\,14\,7\,30\,35\,106\,\n110\,60\,47\,166\,151\,148\,159\,172\,184\,192\,171\,180\,166\,182\,145\,160\,161\,160\,162\,170\,\n161\,183\,139\,195\,172\,185\,158\,149\,113\,201\,132\,214\,170\,273\,187\,199\,154\,223\,245\,\n260\,250\,267\,267\,260\,265\,265\,240\,247\,250\,245\,260\,264\,220\,265\,265\,271\,202\,209\,\n217\,338\,378\,385\,401]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3\ne6 7. Bxc4 Nbd7 (7… Bb4 8. O-O Nbd7 9. Qe2) 8. O-O Bb4 9. Qe2 {transposes}\nBg6 10. e4 Bxc3 (10… O-O) 11. bxc3 Nxe4 12. Ba3 {The point of sacrificing\nthe e-pawn.} Qc7 13. Rfc1 O-O-O 14. a5 Nd6 (14… Rhe8 15. a6 b6 16. Nh4 Nd6\n17. Bb3 e5 18. Nxg6 hxg6 19. Qg4) 15. a6 b6 16. Bb3 Bh5 $146 (16… Nf5) 17. h3\nKb8 18. c4 Nc8 (18… Bxf3 19. Qxf3 Nf5) 19. Qe3 Rhe8 20. Bb2 $11 (20. c5 $16)\n20… h6 21. Ba4 Ne7 22. Ra3 g5 23. Rb3 Ka8 24. Ba3 Nb8 25. g4 Bg6 26. Ne5 $16\n{[#]} f6 $2 (26… Ng8 27. Bb2) 27. Bxe7 fxe5 28. Bxd8 Rxd8 29. Qxe5 Qxe5 30.\ndxe5 $18 Be8 31. Rf3 Nxa6 32. Rf8 Kb7 33. Rh8 Nc5 34. Bc2 Kc7 35. Rxh6 Rd4 36.\nRh7+ Bd7 37. Bg6 a5 38. Be8 a4 39. Bxd7 Nxd7 40. Re7 Kb7 41. Rxe6 Nc5 42. Re7+\nKa6 43. Re8 Kb7 44. e6 Re4 45. e7 Na6 46. Rg8 Rxe7 47. Rxg5 Nc5 48. Rxc5 bxc5\n49. Ra1 Kc7 50. Rxa4 Kd6 $2 (50… Re4) 51. Ra3 Re1+ 52. Kg2 Rc1 53. Re3 Rxc4\n54. g5 Rb4 55. g6 c4 56. h4 {and Black resigned.} 1-0\n[/pgn] \nAs early as the end of the war\, when regular play resumed\, he was almost of that strength (as wins against Kotov and Smyslov in the February\, 1946 Prague v Moscow match showed) but lacking in experience at the top level\, which told against him at Groningen\, 1946\, when he was placed 13th with 9 points out of a possible 19 in a very strong field.  This was the first great post-war tournament\, with nine Master and eleven Grandmasters (including Botvinnik and former world champion Euwe). \nPlayers at the 1946 Groningen Tournament\nAlso in 1946 Kottnauer scored wins against Simagin (in Prague) and Levenfish (in Leningrad) and was clearly one of the up-and-coming stars in a strong Czech team that included Filip and Pachman.  In 1950 he was one of the first players to be awarded the FIDE title of International Master. \nThe following year he was also made a FIDE International Judge (now known as FIDE Arbiter). \nUnfortunately there was no Czech representation at the Dubrovnik\, 1950 Olympiad\, but in 1952\, one of his last appearances for Czechoslovakia\, Kottnauer achieved a remarkable record playing board four (below Filip\, Pachman and Sajtar) at the Helsinki Olympiad. He went through unbeaten with ten wins and five draws (83.3%) and easily won the board prize. \nKottnauer shortly thereafter came to England where he eventually made a successful career as an executive with Trust House Forte’s hotel group; he has also helped with the BBC overseas service Czech-language broadcasts. He lives in West Central London with his wife and their son. \nThe following is undoubtedly Kottnauer’s most famous win. \n[pgn]\n[Event “Match/City Prague-Moscow 13\,0-23\,0”]\n[Site “Moscow”]\n[Date “1946.03.??”]\n[Round “4”]\n[White “Kottnauer\, Cenek”]\n[Black “Kotov\, Alexander”]\n[Result “1-0”]\n[ECO “D49”]\n[Annotator “British Chess News and Tim Harding”]\n[PlyCount “55”]\n[EventDate “1946.03.02”]\n[EventType “team-match”]\n[EventRounds “6”]\n[EventCountry “URS”]\n[SourceTitle “BCM\, 1949. 193\, game #96”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “1999.07.01”]\n[SourceVersion “1”]\n[SourceVersionDate “1999.07.01”]\n[SourceQuality “1”]\n[WhiteTeam “Prague”]\n[BlackTeam “Moscow”] \n{[%evp 0\,55\,19\,-12\,7\,-14\,-4\,-6\,41\,25\,43\,54\,55\,54\,37\,42\,20\,26\,24\,-1\,1\,-36\,-25\,\n-38\,-20\,-4\,0\,6\,12\,-6\,17\,-5\,-35\,-39\,0\,-47\,-47\,-149\,-60\,-60\,-60\,-43\,-27\,-28\,230\,\n-144\,216\,300\,740\,360\,1161\,1448\,1448\,1517\,1517\,1583\,1664\,1664]} {Source : BCM\,\n1946\, page 193\, game #9649.} 1. c4 ({Megabase 2020 has this as the move order\n(which is incorrect).} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3\ndxc4) 1… e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 c6 {The so-called Triangle Variation and a\npotential prelude to the Abrahams-Noteboom Variation.} 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. e3 Nbd7 6.\nBd3 dxc4 {The Meran Defence} 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 a6 9. e4 c5 10. e5 ({TDH :\nNowadays (1983)} 10. d5 {is usually preferred but that move was little\nanalysed at the time. The text leads to a very sharp middle-game in which both\nplayers followed up-to-date theory\, which was changed by this game!}) 10…\ncxd4 {[#]} 11. Nxb5 $1 axb5 ({TDH : Sozin’s} 11… Nxe5 {is now that approved\nrecipe for Black. BCM : The latest move is from Euwe v. Walthuis\, Amsterdam.}\n12. Nxe5 axb5 13. Bxb5+ Bd7 14. Nxd7 Qa5+ 15. Bd2 Qxb5 16. Nxf8 Kxf8 17. a4\nQxb2 18. O-O Ne4) 12. exf6 Qb6 13. fxg7 Bxg7 14. O-O O-O 15. Qe2 (15. Re1 Bb7\n16. Bf4 Bd5 17. Ne5 Nxe5 18. Bxe5 Bxe5 19. Bxh7+ Kxh7 20. Qh5+ Kg7 21. Qg5+ {\nis a well-known GM agreed draw variation}) 15… Nc5 $6 {[#] TDH : Probably\nlosing with best play.. White’s next may have surprised Kotov\, or perhaps he\nthought it was unsound.; Kottnauer says he played the sacrifice ‘without much\nthinking’. Stockfish 12 gives this as the top move allowing the Greek gift.} (\n15… Ba6 {is SF12’s next top move.}) ({TDH : A few months later\, Kotov\nreached the same position against Kottnauer at Groningen\, varied with the\nbetter move} 15… Bb7 {but went wrong later.} 16. Bxh7+ $2 Kxh7 17. Ng5+ Kg8\n18. Qh5 Nf6 $19) 16. Bxh7+ $1 {At this stage SF12 sees no more than a draw for\nWhite but cannot find anything better.} Kxh7 17. Ng5+ Kg6 ({TDH : A game by\nSatjar in 1944 had gone instead} 17… Kg8 $2 18. Qh5 Rd8 19. Qxf7+ Kh8 20.\nQh5+ {with a draw} ({In fact} 20. Qg6 Kg8 21. Bf4 $1 $18 {is crushing}) ({\nbut Kottnauer intended to improve on this by} 20. Bf4 $1 {‘with an\nirresistible attack’.})) 18. Qg4 f5 19. Qg3 {Now it is time to “pause the\nvideo” as [#] we reach a critical position.} Kf6 {SF12 rates this as second\nbest.} ({SF12 gives} 19… Rg8 $1 {as the best defence for Black.} 20. Nxe6+\nKf7 21. Ng5+ Kf8 22. Nh7+ Ke8 23. Re1+ Be6 24. Bh6 Qb7 $11) ({After the game}\n19… Rf7 {was recommended for Black\, and tried the following year by Pachman\nagainst Kottnauer in the Chigorin Memorial in Moscow.} 20. Bf4 {was played \,\nleading to equality\,} ({but Vukovic’s} 20. b4 {seems stronger.})) {Kottnauer\nopted for ‘power play’ using the maximum activity of his pieces!} 20. Bf4 $1 ({\nIn the present game\, both players had moved very quickly but now Kottnauer\nthought for three quarters of an hour\, rejecting the theoretical recommendation\n} 20. Qh4 {(which at best draws\,} {and would have been met by Keres’s idea} e5\n$1 {which Kotov knew about).}) 20… Ke7 21. Rac1 Ra7 22. Rfe1 Bd7 (22… Bf6 {\nloses to} 23. Nh7 Rf7 ({or} 23… Ne4 24. Rxe4) 24. Nxf6 Rxf6 25. b4 {but\nafter Kotov’s move ‘I saw in a flash the final breakthrough’\, wrote Kottnauer.}\n) 23. b4 $1 Na6 $2 ({Against} 23… Na4 {Kottnauer would have had to win in\nthe endgame\, although this would not have been difficult.} 24. Nxe6 Bxe6 25.\nQxg7+ Rf7 26. Bg5+ Kd7 27. Qh8 {Black could then play here} Nc3 {when\nKottnauer gives as best} 28. Rxe6 Qxe6 29. Qxd4+ Kc8 30. Rxc3+ Rac7 31. Rxc7+\nRxc7 32. h4 {winning the ending.}) 24. Nxe6 Bxe6 25. Qxg7+ Rf7 26. Bg5+ Kd7 27.\nQh8 $1 {Now you can see why 23…Na4 was superior -} Qb8 ({Black cannot block\nthe c-file with} 27… Rc7 {because of} 28. Qd8#) (27… Nc7 28. Qd8#) 28.\nQxd4+ {Black resigned.} 1-0\n[/pgn] \nand here we have the same game analysed by Tryfon Gavriel : \n[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtPpdjZQWpg[/embedyt] \nFrom British Chess Magazine\, Volume CXVI (116\, 1996)\, Number 4 (April)\, pp 202-203 we have this obituary by Bernard Cafferty : \nČeněk Kottnauer\, the Czech/British IM\, and the first chess defector died in St. Margaret’s Hospital\, London\, on 14th February after heart trouble and abdominal cancer. \nA giant of a man\, a fine athlete and swimmer\, he was born on 24th February 1910 and came to prominence in the 1942 tournament in Prague in which Alekhine took part. He extended the great man to 70 moves before resigning. His wins against Kotov and Smyslov in the Moscow-Prague match of 1946 and his 13th place in the great Groningen tournament of the same year confirmed his status\, as did his excellent showing for Czechoslovakia in the 1952 Olympiad at Helsinki (+10=5-0 on fourth board). He also took part in the 1947 Chigorin Memorial in Moscow\, and won a tournament at Lucerne in early 1953\, the same year in which he emigrated to Britain. \nHoogovens\, Beverwijk\, 1962. In the opening round (played 11th January)\, Theo van Scheltinga (Netherlands) faces Čeněk Kottnauer (England\, formerly ČSSR). (Photo credit: W. van Rossem\, ANEFO\, via http://gahetna.nl. Courtesy of Douglas Griffin\nOn this form he would have gained the GM title had he continued playing\, but he had to take a full-time job (with Trusthouse Forte) to support his family. \nČeněk had met his much younger wife in Austria\, though she too was Czech. They had a son. The master’s appearences were therefore limited to London League matches and other sporadic events. That he had lost none of his skill was shown when he played top board for England at the 1964 Tel-Aviv Olympiad (Penrose was not available) and made +8=7-3. His only other big event was the Lugano Olympiad of 1968 when he was on second board and made +3=5-4. \nThe 1964 England Olympiad (Tel Aviv) Team : Owen Hindle\, Čeněk Kottnauer\, Peter Clarke\, Michael Franklin\, Norman Littlewood & Michael Haygarth\nČeněk (pronounced CHEnek) Kottnauer was one of the early professionals in the German Bundesliga; on a visit to his Bayswater flat in 1995 by Murray Chandler and myself\, Čeněk told us about the great transport difficulties he had in those days. He mentioned that he had recently had a heart bypass operation and showed us the medication he had to take on a regular basis\, opining that after Golombek and Milner-Barry he would be the next to go. \nHugh Alexander\, Čeněk Kottnauer\, Michael Franklin and Owen Hindle\nČeněk was involved in junior coaching in London for many years\, wrote extensively for the Dutch and German press and in recent years was a regular visitor to the Lloyds Bank Masters to see old friends and acquaintances. Amongst those he coached were Julian Hodgson\, William Watson and Dharshan Kumaran\, as well as Stuart Conquest. \nIM Čeněk Kottnauer in Argentina during the 1981 World Under-16 Championship\nIn Stuart’s case he came regularly to Hastings to do the coaching which was financed by the Slater Foundation and by Lloyds Bank. \nThe fruit of his effort was Stuart’s 1981 World U-16 title in Argentina\, where Čeněk’s great physical strength came in handy when the huge trophy had to be carried back to Britain. \nIM Čeněk Kottnauer with Stuart Conquest during the World Under-16 Championship in Argentina.\nAll his pupils and friends will attest to his wonderful manner. A great personality has left us.” \nAccording to Leonard Barden “Čeněk’s students included Demis Hassabis\, then aged six.   He once told me that Dharshan Kumaran\, then seven\, was the more talented of the pair  but that Demis was also ‘very clever and tricky’ ” \nDaniel tells us that Nigel Short visited his family home for coaching and we believe that both Anita and Mira Rakshit were CKs students. Doubtless there were many more… \n[pgn]\n[Event “Olympiad-10 Final A”]\n[Site “Helsinki”]\n[Date “1952.08.30”]\n[Round “9”]\n[White “Rellstab\, Ludwig Sr”]\n[Black “Kottnauer\, Cenek”]\n[Result “0-1”]\n[ECO “B50”]\n[Annotator “Tim Harding and British Chess News”]\n[PlyCount “78”]\n[EventDate “1952.08.21”]\n[EventType “team-tourn”]\n[EventRounds “9”]\n[EventCountry “FIN”]\n[SourceTitle “MCD”]\n[Source “ChessBase”]\n[SourceDate “1999.07.01”]\n[SourceVersion “1”]\n[SourceVersionDate “1999.07.01”]\n[SourceQuality “1”]\n[WhiteTeam “Germany”]\n[BlackTeam “Czechoslovakia”]\n[WhiteTeamCountry “GER”]\n[BlackTeamCountry “CSR”] \n{[%evp 0\,78\,19\,28\,40\,40\,81\,18\,33\,-24\,16\,-13\,2\,-20\,-43\,-39\,-34\,-42\,-42\,-84\,-66\,\n-47\,-42\,-64\,-51\,-46\,-33\,-50\,-45\,-46\,-30\,-34\,-69\,-70\,-68\,-68\,-44\,-89\,-70\,-91\,\n-68\,-105\,-144\,-146\,-155\,-182\,-182\,-175\,-175\,-185\,-177\,-262\,-282\,-298\,-314\,-308\,\n-227\,-236\,-254\,-267\,-267\,-337\,-350\,-361\,-277\,-280\,-364\,-338\,-326\,-373\,-328\,\n-415\,-425\,-403\,-416\,-486\,-479\,-515\,-495\,-796\,-819]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. c3\nNf6 4. Bd3 Bg4 5. Bc2 {TDH : Incorrect. BCN : In 2021 Bc2 is the most popular\nmove in Megabase 2020 but h3 scores slightly better among the top players.} ({\nTDH : Pfeiffer-Kottnauer\, earlier in the same event\, went} 5. h3 Bh5 6. Bc2 {\nwhen} d5 {would be met by} 7. e5 Nfd7 8. g4 Bg6 9. Bxg6 hxg6 10. e6 $1 fxe6 11.\nNg5 {with a promising attack\, according to Kottnauer.}) 5… d5 $146 {was a\nnovelty in 1952 but has not really caught on since.} ({BCN : More usual is}\n5… Nc6 6. d3 e6 7. Nbd2 {This position resembles a reversed Hanham Variation\nwith the bishop on c2 instead of e2.} Be7 8. h3 Bh5 9. Nf1 d5 10. Ng3 Bg6 11.\nQe2 Qc7 12. O-O Bd6) 6. e5 (6. d3) 6… Nfd7 7. d4 e6 8. Be3 Qb6 $15 {[#] TDH :\nThe position is similar to the 3.e5 variation of the French\, except that\nBlack’s main worry in that line (his queen’s bishop) is here developed\nsatisfactorily.} 9. b3 cxd4 10. cxd4 Bb4+ 11. Kf1 ({TDH : Not} 11. Nbd2 Bc3 12.\nRc1 Bxf3 {when Black wins a pawn.}) 11… Nc6 $17 12. a3 Be7 13. Nc3 $6 (13.\nNbd2) 13… Rc8 14. Na4 $6 (14. Ne2) 14… Qc7 15. Bd3 f6 16. exf6 Bxf6 17. Rc1\nQd6 18. b4 O-O 19. Be2 a5 20. b5 $2 (20. Nc5) 20… Ne7 21. Nc5 {[#]} Nf5 22.\nNxd7 ({TDH : If} 22. Nxb7 Qxa3 {threatening Nxe3+}) 22… Qxd7 23. Rxc8 Rxc8\n24. a4 Qd6 25. Ng1 Qa3 26. Bd2 {TDH : Black was threatening 26…Nxe3+ 27 fxe3\nRc1} Bxe2+ 27. Nxe2 Nxd4 28. Bxa5 Nb3 29. Be1 Qxa4 {TDH: The rest is just\nmopping-up :} 30. g4 Qxb5 31. Kg2 Rc4 32. h3 d4 33. Ng3 Qd5+ 34. Qf3 d3 35. Nf1\nBg5 36. Qxd5 exd5 37. f4 Bxf4 38. Bg3 d2 39. Nh2 Bxg3 0-1\n[/pgn] \nLeonard added : \n“After he retired he did chess coaching and\, although never named in the BCF’s list of coaches\, was the most successful of all in terms of achievements by those he taught. He normally did weekly sessions of a couple of hours and got results through his challenging and sceptical approach to ideas from his pupils. \nKottnauer pupils included Hodgson\, Watson\, and Kumaran\, who all became grandmasters. When he came to our junior invitation tournaments in the mid-seventies I used to give a prize of a game and session with him to exceptional talents. So he played Nigel Short in spring 1975 (probably Short’s first one-to-one with an IM) and was enthusiastic about his promise. \nIn 1981 when Stuart Conquest was going to the the world U16 championship in Argentina Cenek coached him for several months beforehand and went with him to the event. No news reports were available during the tournament so the first I knew was when Cenek phoned me on his return to London and complained that he was tired having to carry this enormous trophy home (Stuart had broken his arm before the event and played in a sling) and how the food had been terrible but that Eliskases\, who was involved in the organisation\, had sworn him to secrecy. \nIM Čeněk Kottnauer in Argentina during the 1981 World Under-16 Championship\nI used to visit him a couple of times a month for talk and blitz sessions and have warm memories. A great guy\, and a significant figure in the long departed English chess boom.” \nHere is an excellent article from Tim Harding originally  on chesscafe.com but now via the Wayback Machine. \nHere is an obituary from Bill Hartston \nHere is his Wikipedia entry \nAnd finally\, according to chessgames.com : \n“Cenek Kottnauer was born in Prague. He was awarded the IM title in 1950 and became an International Arbiter in 1951. Kottnauer played the Helsinki Olympiad 1952 on board 4 for Czechoslovakia\, scoring +10 =5 -0. In 1953 he won the Lucerne international tournament. That same year\, he emigrated to England\, and eventually became a naturalized citizen and played for England in the Olympiads of 1964 and 1968. In the 1970s he became one of England’s top coaches of young players.”
URL:https://britishchessnews.com/event/death-anniversary-of-im-cenek-kottnauer-24-ii-1910-14-ii-1996/
CATEGORIES:Arbiter,Coach,Death Anniversary,History,Player,Remembering
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