2021, Biographies, Deaths, History, Player, Players, Remembering

Remembering Johannes Zukertort (07-ix-1842 20-vi-1888)

June 20, 2020 John Upham 3 Comments

BCN Remembers Johannes Hermann Zukertort (07-ix-1842 20-vi-1888)

From the July 2012 editorial in British Chess Magazine we had this report :

“Johann Hermann Zukertort’s (1842-1888) grave was rededicated last month in London’s crowded Brompton Cemetery, largely thanks to an initiative led by Stuart Conquest. The resting place of one of the leading players of the nineteenth century was recorded but the grave had fallen into terrible disrepair. See BCM 1888, pp.307-8 and p.338-340 for the obituary of the great man. We read that his death ‘was terribly sudden’, that he was buried on 26th June, 1888 and that ‘several pretty wreaths were laid on the coffin …’”

GM Stuart Conquest at the re-dedication of Zukertort's grave at Brompton Cemetery in June 2012, photograph by Ray Morris-Hill — GM Stuart Conquest at the re-dedication of Zukertort’s grave at Brompton Cemetery in June 2012, photograph by Ray Morris-Hill

From The Oxford Companion to Chess by Hooper & Whyld :

Polish-born Jew, from about 1871 to 1886 second player in the world after Steinitz. From about 1862 to 1866 Zukertort, then living in Breslau, played many friendly games with Anderssen, at first receiving odds of a knight but soon meeting on even terms. They played two matches in Berlin, Zukertort losing the first in 1868 (+3 = 1—8) and winning the second in 1871 (+5 — 2).

In 1872 a group of London players, anxious to find someone who could defeat Steinitz, paid Zukertort 20 guineas to come to England. He came, he stayed, but he failed to beat Steinitz.

Zukertort took third place after Steinitz and Blackburne at London 1872, the strongest tournament in which He had yet played, and later in the year was decisively beaten by Steinitz in match play ( + 1=4—7). Zukertort settled in London as a professional player.

[pgn]
[Event “London International Masters”]
[Site “London”]
[Date “1883.05.05”]
[Round “6.2”]
[White “Zukertort, Johannes Hermann”]
[Black “Blackburne, Joseph Henry”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “A13”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “65”]
[EventDate “1883.04.26”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “26”]
[EventCountry “ENG”]
[SourceTitle “HCL”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceVersion “2”]
[SourceVersionDate “1999.07.01”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,65,16,-16,-3,6,13,13,19,22,17,13,12,12,18,18,11,11,7,9,28,20,56,23,21,
32,48,51,60,52,61,59,63,63,73,60,61,64,58,63,79,61,64,37,58,54,42,42,6,32,25,0,
0,0,0,73,70,0,521,1440,29985,29986,29987,831,1929,1849,2547,1952]} 1. c4 {
[%mdl 1]} e6 2. e3 Nf6 3. Nf3 b6 4. Be2 Bb7 5. O-O d5 6. d4 Bd6 7. Nc3 O-O 8.
b3 Nbd7 9. Bb2 Qe7 {[#]} 10. Nb5 Ne4 11. Nxd6 cxd6 12. Nd2 Ndf6 13. f3 Nxd2 14.
Qxd2 dxc4 15. Bxc4 d5 16. Bd3 Rfc8 17. Rae1 Rc7 18. e4 Rac8 19. e5 Ne8 20. f4
$14 g6 {[#]} 21. Re3 f5 (21… h5) 22. exf6 $16 Nxf6 $2 (22… Qxf6) 23. f5 $18
Ne4 24. Bxe4 dxe4 25. fxg6 Rc2 26. gxh7+ Kh8 27. d5+ e5 {[#]} 28. Qb4 $1 $18 {
Steinitz wrote (according to Bill Hartston in “The Guinness Book of Chess
Grandmasters” ) White’s 28th move literally electrified the spectators. A
bystander remarked : “The fiend has offered his queen, and it cannot be taken
without suffering mate”} R8c5 29. Rf8+ Kxh7 30. Qxe4+ Kg7 31. Bxe5+ Kxf8 32.
Bg7+ Kg8 33. Qxe7 1-0
[/pgn]

He won matches against Potter in 1872 ( + 4=8—2), Rosentalis in 1880 ( + 7=11-1), and Blackburne in 1881 ( + 7=5-2), He also had a fair record in tournament play: Leipzig 1877, second equal with Anderssen after L. Paulsen ahead of Winawer:-* Paris 1878, first ( + 14=5—3) equal with Winawer ahead of Blackburne (Zukertort won the play-off, +2=2); Berlin 1881, second alter Blackburne ahead of Winawer; and Vienna 1882, fourth equal with Mackenzie after Steinitz, Winawer, and Mason.

Johannes Herman Zukertort (07-ix-1842 20-vi-1888)

The world’s nine best players were among the competitors in the double-round London tournament of 1883 when Zukertort achieved his greatest victory: first prize (+22—4) three points ahead of Steinitz, the second prize winner, in seven weeks and a day he played 33 games (seven draws were replayed) and towards the end he relieved the strain by taking opiates, the cause of his losing his last three games. This victory led to the first match for the world championship, a struggle between him and Steinitz, USA, 1886. After nearly ten weeks of relentless pressure by his opponent Zukertort lost (- 1 – 5=5 —10) i winning only one of the last 15 games. His spirit crushed, his health failing, he was advised to give up competitive chess, but there was nothing else he could do. I am prepared, he said, l to be taken away at any moment.’ Seized by a stroke while playing at London’s famous coffee-house, Simpson’s Divan, he died the next day.

Johannes Zukertort playing Wilhelm Steinitz

Like Anderssen, his teacher, Zukertort had a direct and straightforward style, and in combinative situations he could calculate far ahead. Having a prodigious memory he could recollect at will countless games and opening variations, a talent which may have limited his vision. (For his match with Steinitz in 1872 his extensive opening preparations brought him only one win. Steinitz was the better player in unfamiliar situations.) As an annotator and analyst Zukertort was outstanding in his time, and much of his work in these fields appeared in the Chess Monthly which he and Hoffer edited from 1879 to 1888.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zau3g9aMRi0[/embedyt]

Zukertort read widely and what he read became, as he said ‘iron-printed in my head’. Hoffer recalls Zukertort holding a visitor from India spellbound with a convincing and detailed account of a tiger-hunt, although it must have been outside his experience. Zukertort’s own account of his early life was reported in the Norfolk News, 16 Nov. 1872, He claimed aristocratic (Prussian and Polish) descent, and fluency in nine languages. “He learnt one language to read Dante, another to read Cervantes, and a third, Sanskrit, to trace the origin of chess,’ Besides the study of theology, philology, and social science he is also an original thinker on some of the problems that perplex humanity , ” He is ‘an accomplished swordsman, the best domino player in Berlin, one of the best whist players living, and so good a pistol shot that at fifteen paces he is morally certain to hit the ace of hearts . , , has found time to play 6,000 games of chess with Anderssen alone … a pupil of Moscheles, and in 1862-6 musical critic of the first journal in Silesia … is also a military veteran … he served in the Danish, in the Austrian, and in the French campaign , , , he was present at the following engagements, viz, in Denmark, Missunde, Duppcl, and Alsen; in Austria, Trauienau, Koniginhof, Kdniggratz (Sadowa), and Blumcnau; in France, Spicheeren, Pange (Vionville), Gravelotte, Noisevillc, and all other affairs before Metz, Twice dangerously wounded, and once left for dead upon the field, he is entitled to wear seven medals besides the orders of the Red Eagle and the Iron Cross, . . . He obtained the degree of M.D. at Breslau in 1865, having chiefly devoted his attention to chemistry under Professor Bunsen at Heidelberg, and to physiology at Berlin under Professor Virchow … is now on the staff of Prince Bismarck’s private organ, the Allgemeine Zetiling, and is chief editor of a political journal which receives “officios’” from the Government at Berlin. He is . . . the author of the Grosses Schach Handbuck and a Leitfaden , and , . . was for several years editor of the Neue Berliner Schachzeitung. ’ There is some truth in the last sentence: he was co-author of the books, co-editor of the chess magazine.

A. Olson, J. H. Zukertort (1912) is a collection of 201 games with Swedish text.

[pgn]
[Event “Match Zukertort-Rosenthal +7-1=11”]
[Site “London”]
[Date “1880.06.12”]
[Round “15”]
[White “Zukertort, Johannes Hermann”]
[Black “Rosenthal, Samuel”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “D06”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “117”]
[EventDate “1880.05.03”]
[EventType “match”]
[EventRounds “19”]
[EventCountry “ENG”]
[SourceTitle “EXT 2002”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2001.11.25”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2001.11.25”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,117,25,34,32,30,39,27,13,5,2,-13,-6,1,11,1,19,19,18,-14,11,11,7,10,14,
14,15,5,9,7,31,0,12,12,29,31,31,20,27,32,18,32,67,58,60,63,89,83,108,60,81,27,
69,40,68,61,57,63,65,65,65,-16,65,65,65,31,95,74,76,80,86,87,86,86,86,86,93,93,
103,107,129,129,107,117,121,121,225,79,208,79,205,205,205,208,208,206,205,203,
203,232,286,326,323,337,417,449,495,515,549,584,584,635,630,673,715,722,1126,
1608,2048,29982]} 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Bf5 3. e3 e6 4. c4 Nf6 5. a3 Bd6 6. Nc3 c6 7.
b4 a6 8. Bb2 Nbd7 9. Be2 Ne4 10. Nxe4 Bxe4 11. c5 Bc7 12. O-O O-O 13. Nd2 Bg6
14. a4 Nf6 15. f3 Qb8 16. f4 Ne4 17. Nxe4 Bxe4 18. Qd2 Qd8 19. b5 axb5 20. axb5
Qd7 21. b6 Rxa1 22. Rxa1 Bb8 23. Bc3 Qe7 24. Qb2 h6 25. Be1 Kh7 26. Bg3 f5 27.
Bf1 Rg8 28. Qf2 Rf8 29. Be2 Rg8 30. Ra8 Rf8 31. Ra3 Rg8 32. h4 Qf7 33. Ra1 Qe7
34. h5 Qf7 35. Bh4 Re8 36. Qg3 Rg8 37. Ra8 Re8 38. Kf2 Kg8 39. Qg6 Qxg6 40.
hxg6 Kf8 41. g3 Rc8 42. Ke1 Ke8 43. Kd2 Bg2 44. Kc3 Bh3 45. Ba6 Kd7 46. Bxb7
Re8 47. Kb4 Bg4 48. Ka5 Bh5 49. Ba6 Bxg6 50. Ra7+ Bxa7 51. bxa7 Kc7 52. Be7 Ra8
53. Bd6+ Kd8 54. Kb6 Be8 55. Bb7 Rxa7 56. Kxa7 g5 57. Kb6 g4 58. Bxc6 Bf7 59.
Bb5 {The Chess-Monthly 1880/81, p. 6; Deutsche Schachzeitung 1880, p. 248} 1-0

[/pgn]

From The Encyclopedia of Chess by Anne Sunnucks

“One of the leading players of the last century, Zukertort was born in Riga on 7th September 1842. His father was a Prussian and his mother a Pole. When he was 13, his family moved to Breslau. After studying chemistry at Heidelberg and physiology at Berlin, he obtained his doctorate of medicine at Breslau University in 1865. He served as a doctor with the Prussian Army during his country’s wars against Denmark, Austria and France and was decorated for gallantry.

Zukertort was a man of many talents. He had a prodigious memory, and it was said that he never forgot a game he had played. He spoke 11 languages, and he was an excellent pistol shot and fencer but it was journalism and chess that he chose for a career.

Zukertort learned to play chess when he was 18, and two years later he met Anderssen and became his pupil. Within three years he had become one of the strongest players in North Germany. He first drew attention to himself as a blindfold simultaneous player. In 1868, he gave a simultaneous blindfold display against seven players in Berlin. This was his first blindfold performan@, and it was so successful that he gave several further performances, almost immediately increasing the number of his opponents to 12.

Between 1867 and 1871, he was joint editor with Anderssen of the Neue Berliner Schachzeityng. In 1871 he played a match against Anderssen, probably the second strongest player in the world at that time, and beat_him by 5-2. Following this victory, he was invited to take part in the 1872 London Tournament. He came 3rd and, probably because he was disappointed at his result, immediately challenged – the winner, Steinitz, to a match for the title of World Champion. Steinitz had claimed this title after his victory over Anderssen in 1866. Zukertort lost the match by + 1 -7 :4.

Meanwhile, Zukertort had decided to make England his permanent home and became a naturalised Englishman in l878.

Zukertort tied with Anderssen for 2nd prize in a master tournament in Leipzig in 1877, but his first major international event was Paris 1878, when he tied for lst place with Winawer and won the play-oft. In 1880 he beat the French champion, Rosenthal, in a match 7-1, and the following year he beat Blackburne +7 -2 – 5. The greatest performance of his career came in 1883, when in the London Tournament he won lst prize, three points ahead of Steinitz, who came 2nd. His victory was certain two weeks before the end of the tournament when he had a score of 22 out of 23. With victory secure, he went on to lose his last three games, the strain having proved too much.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgv5Y3qa8BA[/embedyt]

Zukertort was advised by his doctor to give up serious chess but he refused and within a short time left England for a chess tour of the United States, Canada and Europe. On his return from this tour, he left almost immediately to play a second match for the world title against Steinitz. This took place in 1886. Zukertort was in no fit state of health
for such a match, and it proved too much for him. He lost by +5 -10 =5 and returned to England a physical and nervous wreck.

Zukertort never fully recovered. He continued to play chess, but with little success. He died at Charing Cross Hospital on 20th June 1888 of cerebral haemorrhage, following a game at Simpson’s ‘Divan’.”

From The Encyclopedia of Chess by Harry Golombek :

“One of the most talented players of all time and possibly an English Prussian Polish Jewish grandmaster, the antecedents and early career of Zukertort are shrouded in mystery, a mystery that was the more complete in that the only account of these comes from Zukertort with a lack of corroboration so great that perhaps he really was telling the truth. Whatever the truth may be it is certain that he was a great chess player, one of those who carry with them the aura of certain genius. According to Zukertort, then, he was born in Lublin of mixed Prussian and Polish descent and his mother was the Baroness Krzyzanovska. The name of his mother sounds incredibly like an invention of W. C. Fields and it is difficult to believe that his father’s name, Zukertort, was not Jewish.

Again according to Zukertort he studied chemistry at Heidelberg and physiology at Berlin, claiming to have obtained his doctorate of medicine at Breslau University. His versatility was astonishing. He spoke nine languages including Hebrew and was acquainted with several more. He had been a soldier, having fought in several campaigns for Prussia against Austria, Denmark and France; and once had been left for dead on the battlefield.

A music critic, editor of a political paper, on the staff of Bismarck’s newspaper, the Allgemeine Zeitung; gifted with a memory so colossal that he never forgot a game he played; a consummate fencer, a blindfold simultaneous player of undoubted repute (he had played as many as fifteen simultaneously blindfold) and a grandmaster with justified pretensions towards the world title: most of these attributes we have to take on Zukertort’s word. But there is enough left that is substantiated to show his great importance in the history of chess.

His early chess career had much to do with Anderssen whom he beat in a match, when Anderssen had grown old, in 1871 in Germany by +5-2, having lost a previous match to him in Berlin in 1868 by +3 -8 =1. On the strength of his win over Anderssen in the second match he was invited to play in a small but strong tournament in London in 1872 where he came 3rd below Steinitz and Blackburne. Immediately afterwards he played a match with Steinitz in which he was overwhelmingly defeated by +1-7 =4.It is unlikely that this was for the World Championship since no mention was made of the title at the time and the stakes were small, £2O for the winner and £l0 for the loser.

Despite this disastrous loss, which contained the seeds of further disasters, Zukertort felt that London was his true home and decided to stay in England, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1878. His results in tournament and match play from then on showed a steep upward curve. He was 2nd in London 1876, lst in a small tournament in Cologne 1877 and :2nd at Leipzig that year. He came lst in a big tournament at Paris 1878 where he tied with Winawer and won the play-off.

In 1880 he won a match in London against Rosenthal by +7 -l =11 and in the following year he was 2nd to Blackburne in Berlin. He was no less than 3 points behind Blackburne but he avenged this by beating him in a match in London the same year by +7 -2 =5.

A comparative setback came in a great tournament at Vienna in 1882 when he tied for fourth place with Mackenzie, below Steinitz, Winawer and Mason but in 1883 came the peak of his career when
he won lst prize in the great London tournament, 3 points ahead of Steinitz and 5.5 points ahead of Blackburne who came 3rd.

The remarkable nature of his victory is to be seen from the fact that he was sure of first prize with some two weeks still to go when he had a score of 22/23. But, ominously, his health was giving way and he had been sustaining himself by the use of drugs. He lost his last three games. It is very probable that this high point in his career was also the time when his health began to deteriorate under the excessive nervous strains by his conscious efforts to out rival Steinitz.

Thus, though he had been warned by his doctor he refused to abandon serious play and in 1886 he played his match for the World Championship against Steinitz in the USA, losing by +S -10 =5. The strain was this time too great an and he returned to England with his health completely shattered.

This was reflected in his subsequent results. =7th in London 1886 and =3rd in a smaller tournament at Nottingham that year, he had disastrous results throughout 1887: =l5th at Frankfurt-am-Main, 4th in a small tournament in London and a match loss there to Blackburne by +1-5:8.

In the last year of his life he was =7th in London in 1888 playing to the last possible moment, he died from a cerebral haemorrhage after a game at Simpson’s Divan.

Despite a career that stopped as if it were halfway, Zukertort is clearly one of the chess immortals and there is about his best game a sort of resilient and shining splendour that no other player possesses.”

Zukertort was buried in the Brompton Cemetery. He are details.

The grave was rededicated in 2012 thanks to the efforts of many chess enthusiasts.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTbrwbmf_Gg[/embedyt]

Several opening variations have been named after Zukertort :

The Zukertort Defence in the Vienna Game, a variation advocated by Zukertort from 1871.

[fen]2kr1bnr/ppp2ppp/8/2nP4/3P1pbq/2N2N2/PPP1K1PP/R1BQ1B1R w KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

After 6 exd5 Bg4T 7 Nf3 Black castles, sacrificing a piece for counterattack :

[fen]r1b1kbnr/ppp2ppp/2n5/3p4/3PPp1q/2N5/PPP1K1PP/R1BQ1BNR w KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

The Zukertort Opening, 1.Nf3 abhorred by Ruy Lopez, used by Zukertort always as a preliminary
to 2.d4, now the fourth most popular opening move, after 1.e4, 1.d4, and 1 c4.

The Zukertort variation, in the Spanish opening, favoured by Zukertort in the 1880s :

[fen]r1bqkb1r/2p1nppp/p7/1p1pP3/4n3/1B3N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQ1RK1 w KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

but laid to rest soon after.

The Zukertort Variation in the Philidor Defence :

[fen]rnbqkbnr/ppp3pp/3p4/4pp2/3PP3/2N2N2/PPP2PPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

Possibly the Colle-Zukertort Opening is the most well-known

[fen]rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/3P4/1P1BPN2/PBPN1PPP/R2Q1RK1 b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

and still continues to be written about to this day.

He was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame in 2016.

Here is an interesting article from the ruchess web site.

Dominic Lawson wrote this article in 2014.

An interesting article from chess.com

Here is his Wikipedia entry

Johannes Zukertort: Artist of the Chessboard

2020, Biographies, Birthday, Player, Players

Happy Birthday FM Terence PD Chapman (19-vi-1956)

June 19, 2020 John Upham Leave a comment

BCN wishes Happy Birthday to FM Terence PD Chapman (19-vi-1956)

Terry became a FIDE Master in 2013. His peak rating was 2331 in October 2013.

The ever youthful Terry represents Barbican Youth in 4NCL.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCYXV_dG2GA[/embedyt]

[pgn]
[Event “EU-ch 12th”]
[Site “Aix les Bains”]
[Date “2011.03.22”]
[Round “1”]
[White “Chapman, Terry PD”]
[Black “Kovacevic, Aleksandar”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “A33”]
[WhiteElo “2242”]
[BlackElo “2598”]
[Annotator “TPDC”]
[PlyCount “81”]
[EventDate “2011.03.22”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “11”]
[EventCountry “FRA”]
[SourceTitle “CBM 142 Extra”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2011.06.27”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2011.06.27”]
[SourceQuality “1”]
[TimeControl “40/5400+30:1800+30″]

{[%evp 0,81,19,27,62,20,19,-13,-10,-25,-23,-23,13,12,24,23,23,-11,31,35,39,9,
28,23,19,-16,68,-23,60,41,26,70,52,52,52,31,32,36,46,-25,28,15,15,2,25,55,109,
32,37,-2,91,178,190,312,231,258,258,301,366,354,713,723,807,908,898,688,1598,
2270,28933,29982,29983,29980,29981,29982,29983,29984,29985,29986,29987,29988,
29989,29988,29989,29990]} 1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. d4 (3. Nc3 Nd4) 3… cxd4 4.
Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. a3 (6. Ndb5) (6. g3 Qb6 7. Nb3 Ne5 8. e4 Bb4 9. Qe2 d6
10. f4 Nc6 11. Be3 Bxc3+ 12. bxc3 Qc7 13. Bg2 O-O 14. c5 dxc5 15. Bxc5 Rd8 16.
e5 Na5 17. Bb4 Nxb3 18. axb3 Nd5 19. Qc4 Qxc4 20. bxc4 Ne3 21. Be4 Nxc4 22. O-O
$13) 6… Be7 (6… Qb6) 7. e4 O-O 8. Be2 Qc7 9. Be3 b6 10. Rc1 {85″} Bb7 {
[#] 01h10} 11. O-O $146 ({RR} 11. Nb3 Ne5 12. f3 d6 13. O-O Rac8 14. Nd2 Qb8
15. f4 Ng6 16. g3 Rfd8 17. Bf3 d5 18. cxd5 exd5 19. exd5 Nxd5 20. Nxd5 Bxd5 21.
Qe2 {[%emt 0:33:17] 1/2-1/2 Sher,M (2505)-Wegner,H (2365)/Hamburg 1992/EXT})
11… Rac8 12. f4 Qb8 13. Kh1 Na5 14. e5 {66″} Ne8 15. Ncb5 a6 16. b4 axb5 17.
cxb5 {54″} Nc7 {40″} 18. bxa5 Bxa3 19. axb6 Nd5 20. Rxc8 Rxc8 21. Bg1 {26″} Rc1
{32”} 22. Qa4 Rc3 23. Nb3 Be7 24. Ra1 {[#]} g5 $2 (24… Nxf4) 25. Na5 $36 Nxf4
26. Nxb7 Nxe2 27. Nd6 {[%csl Gd6]} Bxd6 28. exd6 Rc8 29. Qg4 Nxg1 30. Qxg5+ Kh8
31. Qf6+ Kg8 32. b7 Qxb7 33. Ra4 h5 34. Qg5+ Kf8 35. Qe7+ Kg7 36. Qg5+ Kf8 37.
Qh6+ Kg8 38. Qxh5 f5 39. Qg6+ Kf8 40. Qf6+ Kg8 41. Rh4 1-0
[/pgn]

2023, Birthday, History, Players

Happy Diamond Wedding Anniversary Michael & Jean Franklin (18-vi-1960)

June 18, 2020 John Upham 3 Comments

We send best wishes to Michael & Jean (née Fey) Franklin, married sixty years ago this day, June 18th in 1960.

A report of Mike Franklin's success at the 1963 Ilford Whitsun Congress by Peter Clarke. Source : British Chess Magazine, Volume LXXXIII, Number 7 (July), page 193 — A report of Mike Franklin’s success at the 1963 Ilford Whitsun Congress by Peter Clarke. Source : British Chess Magazine, Volume LXXXIII, Number 7 (July), page 193

[pgn]
[Event “Ilford Whitsun Congress”]
[Site “Ilford”]
[Date “1963.06.03”]
[Round “5”]
[White “Franklin, Michael John”]
[Black “Wheatcroft, Timothy Martin”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B28”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “59”]
[EventDate “1963.05.31”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “5”]
[EventCountry “ENG”]

{[%evp 0,59,19,38,40,41,87,26,15,1,54,32,47,27,19,26,31,-3,-12,-10,3,-10,-14,
-27,22,29,58,-22,-2,-15,-2,-11,1,19,9,-3,54,26,-15,40,140,135,161,149,173,170,
170,181,193,190,190,204,212,100,140,145,421,502,535,563,563,563]} 1. e4 c5 2.
Nf3 a6 3. g3 Nc6 4. d3 e6 5. Bg2 d5 6. Nbd2 Nf6 7. O-O Be7 8. e5 Nd7 9. Re1 Qc7
10. Qe2 b5 11. Nf1 Nd4 $6 $146 (11… Bb7) 12. Nxd4 cxd4 13. Bf4 (13. Qg4)
13… Bb7 14. h4 Rc8 15. Rec1 Qb8 16. Nh2 O-O 17. h5 Rc7 18. Qg4 Rfc8 19. Nf3
$14 Nf8 $6 20. Nxd4 (20. Bh6 g6 21. Nxd4) 20… Bc5 21. c3 (21. Bh6 g6 22. c3)
21… Qa7 22. Be3 (22. Bh6) 22… b4 23. Rf1 bxc3 24. bxc3 Qa8 25. Rab1 $1 Ba7
26. f4 (26. Bg5 Rxc3 27. Bf6) 26… Rxc3 27. f5 {[#]} Rxd3 $2 (27… Bxd4 28.
Bxd4 exf5 29. Qxf5 R3c7) 28. f6 $1 $18 g6 29. Qg5 Bxd4 30. Bxd4 {and it is
mate in 6.} 1-0
[/pgn]

Michael played for a number of clubs in recent years, viz :

Richmond & Twickenham
Coulsdon CF
Surrey CCA
4NCL Richmond
4NCL Bristol
Richards Butler

Michael became a FIDE Master in 1980 and achieved his highest rating in the Elo era of 2345 in January 1979.

The 1964 England Olympiad (Tel Aviv) Team : Owen Hindle, Čeněk Kottnauer, Peter Clarke, Michael Franklin, Norman Littlewood & Michael Haygarth

Owen Hindle, Michael Franklin, Harry Golombek and Michael Haygarth

[pgn]
[Event “Ilford Premier”]
[Site “Ilford”]
[Date “1956.??.??”]
[Round “2”]
[White “Franklin, Michael J”]
[Black “Fazekas, Stefan”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “D05”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “71”]
[EventDate “1956.??.??”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “5”]
[EventCountry “ENG”]
[SourceTitle “EXT 1999”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1998.11.16”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1998.11.16”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,71,19,29,23,13,18,9,19,19,73,74,51,27,109,65,65,54,52,42,71,53,33,47,
51,42,43,28,63,60,48,48,38,59,57,23,23,18,20,11,35,59,114,88,107,98,113,114,
140,138,138,162,172,137,143,127,124,143,187,125,239,24,331,334,334,428,440,466,
29987,29988,29989,957,977,977]} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 e6 3. e3 d5 4. Bd3 Ne4 5. Nbd2
f5 6. Ne5 Qf6 7. O-O Bd6 $146 8. f4 O-O 9. c4 c6 (9… c5) 10. Qh5 g6 11. Qh3
c5 12. Ndf3 Nc6 13. b3 a5 14. Bb2 cxd4 15. Nxc6 (15. Bxe4 dxe4 16. Nxc6 bxc6
17. Bxd4 Qe7 18. Ng5) 15… bxc6 16. Bxd4 Qe7 17. Bxe4 fxe4 18. Ne5 c5 19. Bc3
a4 20. Qh6 (20. Qg3 $1) 20… d4 21. exd4 Bxe5 $2 22. fxe5 Bb7 23. Qe3 $1 axb3
24. axb3 Rfd8 25. Rxa8 Bxa8 26. Ra1 Bc6 27. Rd1 Qa7 28. Qg5 (28. h3) 28… Rf8
29. d5 (29. Qe3) 29… exd5 30. cxd5 Bxd5 $2 31. e6 $1 $18 Qa2 32. h3 Qf2+ 33.
Kh1 Qf5 34. Qe7 Rf7 35. Qxf7+ Qxf7 36. exf7+ 1-0
[/pgn]

Michael Franklin playing board two in the London - Belgrade Telex Match on April 3rd, 1976 from the St. James Hotel, Buckingham Gate. Sourced from BCM, Volume XCVI (96), Number 5, page 192. Photographer probably Freddy Reilly. — Michael Franklin playing board two in the London – Belgrade Telex Match on April 3rd, 1976 from the St. James Hotel, Buckingham Gate. Sourced from BCM, Volume XCVI (96), Number 5, page 192. Photographer probably Freddy Reilly.

Leonard Barden, Stewart Reuben and Michael Franklin at the 1978 Aaronson Masters

We are grateful to Leonard Barden for these words produced at short notice :

“Michael made his name as a young player first by his successes in the Saturday evening Gambit Guinea speed events at the Gambit chess cafe in Cannon Street which he often won ahead of master level rivals. He remained a strong speed player all his life.

Michael Franklin (left) at the Lloyds Bank Masters playing IGM Leonid Shamkovich

Aaronson Masters at Harrow 1978, was his best individual success, sharing first place with IM Aldo Haik of France with (I think) an IM norm.

Joint winners of the 1978 Aaronson Masters : Michael Franklin and french IM Aldo Haik

Michael was a regular British championship, Surrey, Hastings and London League player (forget club, Richmond? Clapham Common?) and was one of the first to play the London System (d4/Bf4) as as his regular opening with white.

[fen]rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/3P1B2/2PBPN2/PP1N1PPP/R2Q1RK1 b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

He also had success as Black with the O’Kelly Sicilian 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6.

[fen]rnbqkbnr/1p1ppppp/p7/2p5/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

When Surrey won the counties championship a few years back they took the trophy specially to Michael’s home in Norbury, such was their regard.

Michael’s work career was in the Patent Office and he retired when they introduced computers as he doesn’t like them and does not use the internet at all.”

Michael Franklin receives £220 from Councillor Robert Dickson at the 1980 Nottinghamshire Congress

2022, Birthday, Player, Players, Writers

Happy Birthday GM Paul Motwani (13-vi-1962)

June 13, 2020 John Upham Leave a comment

FM Paul Motwani (See full caption in photograph below)

BCN wishes GM Paul Motwani Happy Birthday (13-vi-1962)

Here is his Wikipedia entry

GM Paul Motwani has just played a brutal double check in the 1990 Scottish Lightning Championship. Photograph by Alistair Mulhearn

Paul Motwani plays Bent Larsen at the 1990 Watson, Farley and Williams International Chess Challenge. The game was a 3.Lb5 sicilian which was drawn

Paul Motwani during a simultaneous display

GM Paul Motwani demonstrates one of his games

[pgn]
[Event “BCF-ch”]
[Site “Edinburgh”]
[Date “2003.07.14”]
[Round “1”]
[White “Motwani, Paul”]
[Black “Collins, Sam E”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B22”]
[WhiteElo “2525”]
[BlackElo “2381”]
[Annotator “Winants,L”]
[PlyCount “51”]
[EventDate “2003.07.14”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “11”]
[EventCountry “SCO”]
[SourceTitle “CBM 095 Extra”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2003.09.04”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2003.09.04”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,51,19,31,40,4,17,15,8,17,11,27,30,0,29,33,33,26,35,1,38,0,6,17,36,27,
28,28,67,7,31,-36,18,12,33,-285,30,29,-11,2,286,264,267,240,252,266,454,461,
461,478,491,490,490,490]} 1. e4 c5 2. c3 {Une variante où les succès de
Sviechnikov ont bénéficié d’un effet boule-de-neige. Les Blancs y projettent
d’avancer sur d4.} Nf6 {Les Noirs traitent l’ouverture dans l’esprit de la
défense Alekhine.} 3. e5 Nd5 4. Nf3 e6 {Une continuation solide, régulièrement
adoptée par Sviechnikov lui-même lorsqu’il se trouve de l’autre côté de
l’échiquier.} 5. d4 cxd4 6. Bc4 d6 7. cxd4 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Qe2 Nc6 {Le point
de départ de nombreuses recherches théoriques. Les Blancs jouissent d’un
avantage d’espace, où la position avancée du pion e5 et l’éloignement du Cf6
offrent quelques chances d’attaque sur le roque..} 10. Qe4 {Le dernier cri ;
Les Blancs préparent une batterie, via Fd3, tout en envisageant un autre
transfert vers g4.} Re8 {Apparemment trop passif ;} ({Les experts préfèrent}
10… Bd7 {(vers c6) et si} 11. Bd3 {alors} f5) 11. Re1 Nb6 12. Bd3 g6 13. Nc3
Nb4 14. Bb1 N4d5 {Les Noirs continuent de jouer sans cesse la même pièce sans
chercher de contre-jeu. La punition ne tarde pas.} 15. Qg4 Nxc3 16. bxc3 Qc7
17. h4 {Une conception peu banale ; Paul ne se laisse pas distraire par la
menace contre sa Tour (Dxc3-a1) et poursuit l’offensive en direction du Roi.
L’idée consiste à démanteler les remparts, par l’élimination du pion g6, par
h5, si besoin appuyé encore du sacrifice du Fb1.} ({Personnellement, j’aurais
plutôt opté pour} 17. Bg5 {Supposons alors} Bf8 ({si} 17… Qxc3 18. Bxe7 Rxe7
19. Qh4 {avec une belle position d’attaque.}) 18. Qh4 Qxc3 19. Bf6 Qxa1 (19…
Nd7 20. Bxg6 fxg6 21. Ng5 h6 22. Qe4) 20. Ng5 h6 (20… h5 21. Qxh5 $3 gxh5 22.
Bh7#) 21. Nxf7 Qc3 (21… Kxf7 22. Bxg6+ $1 Kg8 23. Bf7+ $1) 22. Qe4 Bg7 23.
Nxh6+ {et les Blancs gagnent.}) 17… Nd7 {En arrière toute !} ({Cependant, le
charme de la combinaison mériterait d’être vérifié.} 17… Qxc3 18. h5 Qxa1 19.
Bh6 ({non pas} 19. hxg6 Qxb1) 19… Bf8 20. hxg6 hxg6 ({sur} 20… Bxh6 21.
gxf7+ Kxf7 22. exd6 $1 {gagne.}) 21. Bxg6 (21. Qh4 Nd7 $1) 21… Qxe1+ {(forcé)
} 22. Nxe1 Bxh6 23. Qh5 Re7 $1 (23… fxg6 24. Qxg6+ Kf8 25. Qxh6+ Ke7 26. Qg7+
Kd8 27. exd6 Bd7 28. Nf3 {puis Ce5}) 24. Qxh6 (24. exd6 fxg6) 24… fxg6 25.
Qxg6+ Rg7 (25… Kf8 26. Nf3 Nc4 27. Ng5 dxe5 28. dxe5 Nxe5 29. Nh7+ Rxh7 30.
Qxh7 Nf7 31. g4) 26. Qe8+ Kh7 27. Qh5+ Kg8 {et je ne vois guère mieux que
l’échec perpétuel. Cependant cette analyse n’est pas exhaustive et avec un peu
plus de temps on pourrait sans doute trouver un gain.}) 18. h5 f5 19. Qg3 Kg7
20. hxg6 hxg6 {Il semblerait que les Noirs aient réussi à consolider l’édifice,
mais il n’en est rien ! [#]} 21. Bxf5 $3 {Très joli : la position s’ouvre
avant que la Ta8 ne puisse intervenir.} exf5 22. exd6 Bxd6 23. Bh6+ {La pointe
pour échapper à l’attaque du Fd6 avec gain de temps.} Kxh6 (23… Kh7 24. Ng5+)
24. Qh4+ Kg7 25. Rxe8 Nf8 26. Rae1 {et les Noirs abandonnent car l’échec de la
Tour sur e7 est mortel. Si 26… Rf7 27.Cg5+ Rg7 28.Txf8 ! gagne la Dame ou
fait mat.} 1-0
[/pgn]

Colin McNab and Paul Motwani in post mortem analysis

The Most Instructive Games of the Young Grandmasters

2022, Biographies, Birthday, Player, Players, Writers

Happy Birthday WIM Natasha Regan (12-vi-1971)

June 12, 2020 John Upham Leave a comment

WIM Natasha Regan, courtesy of John Upham Photography, King's Place Rapidplay, 2013 — WIM Natasha Regan, courtesy of John Upham Photography, King’s Place Rapidplay, 2013

BCN wishes Happy Birthday to WIM Natasha K Regan (12-vi-1971)

From Amazon :

“Natasha Regan was born in 1971 in London, the elder daughter of two Australian doctors. She studied Maths at Cambridge University, earned a half blue for chess, and edited the chess magazine “Dragon”. She debuted in the English Women’s chess Olympiad team in Manila, 1992.”

From Gambit Publications :

“Natasha Regan is a Women’s International Master from England who achieved a degree in mathematics from Cambridge University. While pursuing a successful career as an actuary in the insurance industry, she has raised a family and maintained a strong interest in chess and other board games, including Go.”

[pgn]
[Event “Lloyds Bank op 18th”]
[Site “London”]
[Date “1994.??.??”]
[Round “9”]
[White “Regan, Natasha K”]
[Black “Duncan, Christopher R”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “B21”]
[WhiteElo “2115”]
[BlackElo “2300”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “133”]
[EventDate “1994.08.??”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventCountry “ENG”]
[SourceTitle “EXT 2000”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1999.11.16”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1999.11.16”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,133,19,38,72,45,30,-3,31,22,24,22,27,14,14,27,28,14,25,0,-10,0,0,0,0,
-43,-47,-58,-32,-50,-28,-15,-8,-12,32,50,64,67,25,-38,-38,-20,-16,-65,8,1,5,2,
107,110,151,142,150,92,109,106,101,24,16,5,23,17,17,0,30,19,6,-14,57,43,34,32,
153,148,140,174,161,143,139,139,202,196,196,195,191,226,254,283,298,295,315,
312,309,309,309,201,195,192,275,293,288,277,297,288,302,302,294,297,308,284,
283,272,281,307,345,274,327,291,287,332,390,317,331,341,382,407,423,421,461,
465,514,418,521,459,456,470]} 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 Nc6 5. Nf3
d6 6. Bc4 e6 7. O-O a6 8. Qe2 Bd7 (8… Be7 $142 9. Rd1 Qc7 10. Bf4 Nf6 11.
Rac1 O-O 12. Bb3 Qb8 13. Na4 Nd7 14. Qd2) 9. Rd1 Be7 10. Bf4 e5 11. Be3 Nf6 12.
Rd2 (12. h3 $142) 12… h6 $146 (12… O-O) 13. Rad1 Qc7 14. Bd5 Nb4 15. Bb3
O-O 16. Nh4 $1 Be6 17. Bxe6 fxe6 18. a3 Nc6 19. Qc4 Kf7 20. Nf5 (20. Nd5) 20…
Rfd8 (20… b5 $142 21. Qa2 Rad8) 21. Nd5 exd5 22. exd5 b5 23. Qxc6 Qxc6 $6 (
23… Rdc8) 24. dxc6 Ne8 25. Bb6 Rdc8 26. c7 Ke6 27. Nxe7 Kxe7 28. Rc2 Kd7 29.
Rdc1 a5 30. b4 axb4 31. axb4 Ra6 32. Ba5 Nf6 33. Rc3 Ke6 34. Kf1 Ne4 35. Rd3
Kd7 36. Re1 Rxa5 37. bxa5 Nc5 38. Rg3 g5 39. Rh3 Rh8 $2 40. Rb1 $18 {[#]} Kxc7
41. Rxb5 h5 42. Rf3 Kc6 43. Rb6+ Kd5 44. Ra3 Ra8 45. a6 Ra7 46. Ke2 Ke6 47. Ra5
Kd7 48. Rb8 Ke6 49. Rh8 h4 50. Rh6+ Kd5 51. Rg6 Kc6 52. Rxg5 Kb6 53. Ra3 Nxa6
54. Rg4 Rh7 55. Rh3 Nc5 56. Rhxh4 Rd7 57. Rh8 Ne6 58. Rc8 Nd4+ 59. Kd3 d5 60.
Rxd4 exd4 61. Kxd4 Rg7 62. g3 Rf7 63. f4 Rh7 64. Kxd5 Rxh2 65. Rc3 Kb5 66. Rb3+
Ka4 67. Rf3 1-0
[/pgn]

Natasha Regan, Lloyds bank Open, Unknown photographer

Chess For Life. Gambit. ISBN 978-1910093832.

Game Changer. New In Chess. ISBN 978-9056918187.

WIM Natasha Regan, courtesy of John Upham Photography at the Keith Richardson Memorial, 2017

2022, Biographies, Birthday, Players, Writers

Many Happy Returns IM Jovanka Houska (10-vi-1980)

June 10, 2020 John Upham Leave a comment

BCN wishes many Happy Returns to IM Jovanka Houska (10-vi-1980)

From Wikipedia :

Jovanka Houska is an English chess player with the titles International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She is an eight-time winner of the British Women’s Chess Championship.

From Chessgames.com :

“Jovanka Houska is an English IM and WGM. She is currently the highest-rated woman in England. British women’s champion in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. Her brother is IM Miroslav Houska. She is the author of several books on the Caro-Kann Defense and Scandinavian Defense, and the co-author (with James Essinger) of the novel “The Mating Game.””

Jovanka was born in London and became a Women’s International Master in 1999, a Woman’s Grandmaster in 2000 and an International Master in 2005. Her peak rating was 2443 in July 2010 at the of 30.

She plays for 4NCL Wood Green and her brother is IM Miroslav Houska. Her father Mario plays for Slough.

IM Jovanka Houska, courtesy of John Upham Photography

[pgn]
[Event “BCF-ch 86th”]
[Site “Scarborough”]
[Date “1999.08.01”]
[Round “1”]
[White “Sasikiran, Krishnan”]
[Black “Houska, Jovanka”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “D10”]
[WhiteElo “2536”]
[BlackElo “2251”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “118”]
[EventDate “1999.08.05”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “11”]
[EventCountry “ENG”]
[SourceTitle “CBM 071 Extra”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1999.09.14”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1999.09.14”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,118,19,31,19,-16,26,44,46,20,57,19,36,13,36,19,35,27,37,34,42,18,39,
28,28,32,41,-11,-17,0,-9,-10,-3,-3,13,-4,17,-1,-33,-29,-36,-41,-43,-55,-71,-71,
-92,-139,-90,-97,-100,-122,-119,-142,-138,-131,32,17,13,6,7,0,0,-56,-56,-140,
-143,-169,-183,-193,-190,-206,-216,-241,-190,-217,-217,-212,-202,-212,-207,
-209,-198,-212,-213,-229,-233,-233,-223,-233,-269,-309,-377,-381,-380,-425,
-468,-492,-425,-488,-556,-558,-558,-558,-558,-603,-712,-799,-863,-892,-1444,
-1962,-28767,-29981,-29982,-29983,-29984,-29985,-29986,-29995,-29988]} 1. d4 d5
2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 a6 5. b3 Bg4 6. Qc2 e6 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. Nge2 {[#]} e5
$146 (8… Bd6) 9. f3 Be6 10. Bb2 Bd6 11. c5 Bc7 12. b4 Qe7 13. Qd2 e4 $1 14.
Bc2 O-O 15. Ng3 Rae8 16. O-O exf3 17. gxf3 Bh3 $15 18. Rfe1 $6 {[#]} Nh5 $19
19. Qf2 (19. Nxh5 Qg5+ 20. Kh1 Qxh5 {[%cal Gh5f3]} 21. Qf2 Re6 22. Bd1 Rfe8 $19
) 19… Qg5 20. f4 Qh4 21. Nf5 Qxf2+ 22. Kxf2 g6 23. Ng3 Ndf6 24. Nxh5 Nxh5 25.
Rg1 Bd8 26. Kf3 f5 27. Bc1 h6 28. Rxg6+ Kh7 29. Rg1 Rg8 30. Bd2 Kh8 31. Ne2
Bg4+ 32. Kf2 $6 (32. Rxg4 fxg4+ 33. Kg2 Nf6 $17) 32… Bh4+ 33. Rg3 Bxe2 34.
Kxe2 Bxg3 35. hxg3 Nxg3+ 36. Kf2 Ne4+ 37. Bxe4 fxe4 38. Rh1 Re6 39. Be1 Reg6
40. Kf1 Kg7 41. a4 Rg4 42. a5 Kg6 43. Bf2 Rf8 44. Be1 Rf5 45. Rg1 Rxg1+ 46.
Kxg1 Kh5 {[#]} 47. Kg2 Kg4 48. Bf2 Rh5 49. Bg1 Rh3 50. Bf2 Rf3 51. Bg1 h5 52.
Bf2 h4 53. Bg1 h3+ 54. Kh2 Rf1 55. f5 Rxf5 56. Kh1 Rf7 57. Kh2 Rf1 58. b5 axb5
59. Kh1 b4 0-1

[/pgn]

[pgn]
[Event “Douglas PokerStars op”]
[Site “Douglas”]
[Date “2015.10.11”]
[Round “9”]
[White “Houska, Jovanka”]
[Black “Neelotpal, Das”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “D78”]
[WhiteElo “2372”]
[BlackElo “2465”]
[Annotator “johnu”]
[PlyCount “57”]
[EventDate “2015.10.03”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “9”]
[EventCountry “IOM”]
[SourceTitle “CBM 168 Extra”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2015.10.29”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2015.10.29”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,57,19,31,14,30,64,47,24,7,17,17,12,-14,-3,3,8,21,26,13,13,8,11,11,47,
26,36,32,13,34,34,9,36,27,22,17,52,35,38,40,60,51,67,59,95,111,205,119,182,172,
182,209,209,214,221,229,303,370,505,516]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. g3
c6 5. Bg2 d5 6. Qb3 O-O 7. O-O Qb6 8. Nc3 Rd8 9. c5 Qxb3 10. axb3 Na6 11. Bf4
Nd7 12. Rfd1 Re8 13. h3 h6 14. g4 {[#]} e5 $6 $146 (14… g5 15. Bg3 e5 $11)
15. Nxe5 Naxc5 $2 16. Nxd7 Nxd7 17. b4 $1 $16 g5 18. Bh2 Nb6 19. b5 {Minority
Attack !} Bf8 20. bxc6 bxc6 21. Rdc1 f5 22. Bc7 $18 {[%cal Gc7b6]} Nd7 {[#]}
23. Nxd5 $1 Bb7 (23… cxd5 24. Bxd5+) 24. Bh2 Rxe2 25. Nc7 Rb8 26. gxf5 Rxb2
27. Rxa7 Bc8 28. Bxc6 Nf6 $2 29. Nd5 $1 $18 1-0
[/pgn]

2022, Biographies, Birthday, Players

Happy Birthday GM Dharshan Kumaran (07-vi-1975)

June 7, 2020 John Upham 1 Comment

BCN wishes Happy Birthday to GM Dharshan Kumaran (07-vi-1975)

His highest Elo rating was 2505 in January 1995 at the age of 20.

Lawrence Cooper, Demis Hassabis, Cathy Haslinger and Dharshan Kumaran in around 1986. Possibly at a Lloyds Bank event.

From Wikipedia :

Dharshan Kumaran (born 7 June 1975) is an English chess grandmaster.[1] He won the World Under-12 Championship in 1986, the World Under-16 Championship in 1991, and finished 3rd equal in the World Under-20 Championship in 1994. He currently works as a neuroscience research scientist at DeepMind.[2]

[pgn]
[Event “Dublin zt”]
[Site “Dublin”]
[Date “1993.??.??”]
[Round “8”]
[White “Kumaran, Dharshan”]
[Black “Miles, Anthony John”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “D02”]
[WhiteElo “2385”]
[BlackElo “2565”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “29”]
[EventDate “1993.04.??”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “11”]
[EventCountry “IRL”]
[SourceTitle “CBM 034 Extra”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “1993.07.01”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “1993.07.01”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,29,19,31,98,32,20,-21,-6,-4,51,2,8,13,50,10,10,30,135,135,362,355,337,
329,796,828,29993,29994,29995,29996,29997,29998]} 1. d4 Nc6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Bg4
4. Bg2 Qd7 5. c4 e6 6. O-O O-O-O 7. Nc3 dxc4 8. Qa4 {[#]} Bb4 $4 (8… Kb8 9.
Rd1 Bxf3 10. Bxf3 Nb4 11. Qa5 Nf6 $11) 9. Ne5 $1 Nxe5 10. Qxa7 c6 11. Bf4 $18
Bd6 12. Qa8+ Kc7 {[#]} 13. Nb5+ $1 Kb6 14. Qa7+ Kxb5 15. a4+ 1-0
[/pgn]

2020, Biographies, Birthday, Player, Players

Happy Birthday WIM Ingrid Lauterbach (06-vi-1960)

June 6, 2020 John Upham Leave a comment

WIM Ingrid Lauterbach, 4NCL 2012, courtesy of John Upham Photography

Here is Ingrid’s German Wikipedia entry

BCN wishes Happy Birthday to WIM Ingrid Lauterbach (06-vi-1960)

Ingrid became a WIM in 1987 and her peak rating was 2205 in July of 2000.

Ingrid plays for 4NCL Barbican.

WIM Ingrid Lauterbach, 4NCL 2014, courtesy of John Upham Photography

[pgn]
[Event “EU-ch (Women) 12th”]
[Site “Tbilisi”]
[Date “2011.05.08”]
[Round “2”]
[White “Lauterbach, Ingrid”]
[Black “Houska, Jovanka”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “A12”]
[WhiteElo “2100”]
[BlackElo “2429”]
[Annotator “British Chess News”]
[PlyCount “83”]
[EventDate “2011.05.07”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[EventRounds “11”]
[EventCountry “GEO”]
[SourceTitle “CBM 142 Extra”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2011.06.27”]
[SourceVersion “1”]
[SourceVersionDate “2011.06.27”]
[SourceQuality “1”]

{[%evp 0,83,19,-12,34,32,26,-2,2,-14,-6,-25,-47,-12,-5,-8,-6,-13,8,-12,-15,-8,
45,23,18,-14,14,2,8,-7,4,-14,-3,3,-32,-42,-30,-53,-26,-88,-69,-86,-69,-69,-45,
-47,-33,-40,-24,-21,-21,-14,-19,-33,-39,-39,-39,-61,-59,-60,-51,-61,-49,-41,
-15,-40,0,0,30,21,52,36,79,120,129,57,90,95,69,81,105,110,309,81,82,96]} 1. c4
c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. b3 Nf6 4. Bb2 Bf5 5. g3 e6 6. Bg2 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. d3 h6 {[#]}
9. a3 $146 (9. Nbd2 Nbd7 10. Re1 Bh7 11. e4 dxe4 12. dxe4 e5 13. Qc2 Qe7) 9…
a5 10. Nbd2 Bh7 11. Re1 Nbd7 12. d4 Ne4 13. Nxe4 Bxe4 14. c5 Be7 15. b4 Bf6 16.
e3 b6 $1 17. cxb6 axb4 18. axb4 Qxb6 19. Rxa8 Rxa8 20. Bc3 Be7 21. Qd2 Rb8 22.
Rc1 Qb7 23. Ne1 Bxg2 24. Kxg2 Nb6 25. Nd3 Nc4 26. Qe2 Ra8 27. Nc5 Qb5 28. Rc2
Ra3 29. Be1 Bxc5 30. dxc5 Qa4 31. e4 Kh7 32. exd5 {[#]} exd5 $2 (32… cxd5)
33. Bc3 f6 34. Qd3+ Kg8 35. Qg6 $16 Rxc3 $6 (35… Ne5 36. Bxe5 fxe5 37. Rb2)
36. Rxc3 Qxb4 37. Rc2 Qb1 38. Qe8+ Kh7 39. Qe2 Qb3 40. Ra2 $18 g5 41. Qc2+ (41.
Ra7+ Kg6 42. Qe8+ Kf5 43. Qxc6) 41… Qxc2 42. Rxc2 1-0

[/pgn]

2020, Books, Opening Theory, Reviews, Thinkers Publishing

The Caro-Kann Revisited : A Complete Repertoire for Black

June 5, 2020 John Upham 2 Comments

From the rear cover we have :

“Francesco Rambaldi is an Italian Grandmaster who currently lives in St. Louis (USA) and plays for the Saint Louis University Chess Team. Shortly after graduating from high school, Francesco was awarded the Grandmaster title after winning the Wien International Open when he was 16 years old. Throughout his career, he found success at a national level both in youth championships, becoming Italian champion in the U10 (2009), U12 (2011) and U14 (2013) categories, and in open championships, becoming Italian Champion for Rapid and Blitz in 2016. Francesco also won numerous international opens including the previously mentioned Wien International Open (August 2015), the Bergamo International Open (July 2016), the Capo d’Orso International Chess Festival (June 2017) and the Panama Chess Rumble (November 2017).”

GM Francesco Rambaldi, photograph by David Lada

and also

“This book presents a comprehensive, ready-to-use, and high-quality repertoire for Black against 1.e4. With meticulous analysis and in-depth explanations, the author demonstrates how the Caro-Kann Defense can be used successfully by players of any level. He also draws on his experience and on his trove of novel ideas to present a new take on the Caro-Kann: one that emphasizes Black’s dynamic options while maintaining a solid and flexible setup.”

As with every recent Thinkers Publishing publication high quality paper is used and the printing is clear. We had got used to glossy paper in previous titles but this one reverts to matt. Bring back glossy!

The book can easily be laid flat next to the board and does not require weights to prevent it from “self-closing” (a particular bugbear of ours !). Each diagram is clear and the instructional text is typeset in two column format, which, we find, enables the reader to maintain their place easily. Figurine algebraic notation is used throughout and the diagrams are placed adjacent to the relevant text.

A welcome addition is a bibliography which is normally absent from TP publications.

However, there is no index which, unfortunately, is a standard omission of Thinkers Publishing books. Some readers will be disappointed.

This first book from GM Francesco Rambaldi provides a more or less complete repertoire for Black versus 1.e4

In the BCN office we have examined books on the Caro-Kann that use various adjectives in their title :

First Steps, Move by Move, Dangerous Weapons, Main Line, Classical, Novelties, Dynamic, Understanding, Easy Guide, Grandmaster Secrets, Training, In Black & White, Krusher, Play the, Starting Out, Grandmaster Repertoire, Beating, New Ideas and finally Modernised. Revisited is a welcome addition!

Previously from Thinkers Publishing we had “The Modernized Caro-Kann” from GM Daniel Fernandez which focused on the Smyslov variation.

The main content is divided into seventeen chapters distributed amongst six parts as follows :

Advance Caro-Kann
Open Caro-Kann
Two Knights Caro-Kann
Panov Variation
Exchange Caro-Kann
Miscellaneous

Each chapter’s content is treated in familiar Thinker’s Publishing style : variations are analysed in detail move by move with game references liberally sprinkled into the text. The explanations and discussion are detailed presenting the ideas in the position.

We kick-off with a thorough discussion of the third most popular line for White : the Advance variation.

[fen]rnbqkbnr/pp2pppp/2p5/3pP3/3P4/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

Every Caro-Kann player should know that 3.e5 deserves much respect and accurate play from Black to avoid a painful experience : we quite agree that this should be the first chapter therefore. Rambaldi recommends the trendy 3…c5 which scores slightly better than the conventional 3…Bf5. There are 157 pages on 3…c5 alone with most emphasis on the critical 4. dxc5 including the very topical 5.a3 :

[fen]rnbqkbnr/pp3ppp/4p3/2PpP3/8/P7/1PP2PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

which is treated in great depth with new ideas for Black in a line that White in increasingly turning to.

We then turn to the main “meat and potatoes” of this book : the Korchnoi Variation. We have seen this line referred to as the Tartakower Variation in “Understanding the Caro-Kann Defence” by Keene, Soltis, Mednis, Peters and Kaplan (Pitman, 1980). Rambaldi dedicates 70 pages including more explanation of the ideas than for the other parts.

[fen]rnbqkb1r/pp3ppp/2p2p2/8/3P4/8/PPP2PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

as the main line after

[fen]rnbqkbnr/pp2pppp/2p5/3p4/3PP3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

5…exf6 has hitherto largely been ignored in the Caro-Kann literature in favour of the Bronstein-Larsen variation, 5…gxf6, the Capablanca / Classical Variation of 4…Bf5 and Smyslov’s Variation of 4…Nd7. One might have to employ the Tardis and visit (from 1989) Jeremy Silman’s “The Dynamic Caro-Kann” to find any appreciable treatment. JS dubs 5…exf6 the Original Caro-Kann for those who are keen on labels. Rambaldi calls this the Open Caro-Kann, presumably after 3…dxe4.

The popular Two Knights Variation is treated with the reliable 3…Bg4 line and the Panov via Bg4 and Be6 ideas depending on White’s tries. Even the (in)famous double rook endgame (that rarely gets an outing these days at the highest levels) is given a detailed treatment. All of White’s ideas are covered in detail with appropriate recommendations for Black.

The so-called Pseudo-Panov

[fen]rnbqkbnr/pp2pppp/2p5/3p4/2P1P3/8/PP1P1PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

and the Fantasy Variations

[fen]rnbqkbnr/pp2pppp/2p5/3p4/3PP3/5P2/PPP3PP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

are covered in adequate depth providing almost complete coverage from Black’s perspective.

The coverage of the King’s Indian Attack is disappointingly thin, almost superficial. OK, so 2.d3 is rather uncommon but, nonetheless, a better treatment would have been welcome.

In summary, we have roughly 400 pages of quality analysis with in-depth explanations and new ideas for Black. There is a fresh (and not before time) treatment of the Korchnoi Variation and excellent coverage of the Advance, Two Knights, Panov and Exchange Variations. Of course, these are the lines you will face day-to-day.

Rambaldi recommends the unusual 4…Nf6!? move order in the Exchange Variation :

[fen]rnbqkb1r/pp2pppp/5n2/3p4/3P4/3B4/PPP2PPP/RNBQK1NR w KQkq – 0 1[/fen]

rather than the more common 4…Nc6 (and 5…Qc7) with the idea to develop the c8 bishop more quickly : interesting!

Rambaldi is a welcome new writer with a friendly style. He is not afraid to disagree with previous authors and present his own ideas.

We would recommend this book as a stand-alone treatment of the Caro-Kann. If you have played 4…Bf5 and / or 4…Nd7 and want to freshen up repertoire then why not consider 4…Nf6 ? It is less drawish and more ambitious if you need to play for the full point with Black.

John Upham, Cove, Hampshire, 5th June, 2020

Book Details :

Hardcover : 406 pages
Publisher:Thinkers Publishing; 1 edition (14 July 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9492510766
ISBN-13: 978-9492510761
Product Dimensions: 17 x 23.5 cm

Official web site of Thinkers Publishing

The Caro-Kann Revisited A : A Complete Repertoire for Black

2020, Books, History, Middlegame, New in Chess, Reviews

On the Origin of Good Moves: A Skeptic’s Guide at Getting Better at Chess

June 3, 2020 Richard James 1 Comment

On the Origin of Good Moves: A Skeptic’s Guide at Getting Better at Chess : Willy Hendriks

IM Willy Hendriks, Photo by Zhaoqin Peng

“Willy Hendriks (1966) is an International Master who has been working as a chess trainer for over 25 years. His acclaimed bestseller ‘Move First, Think Later’ won the English Chess Federation Book of the Year Award.”

From the rear cover :

“The way a beginner develops into a strong chess player closely resembles the progress of the game of chess itself. This popular idea is the reason why many renowned chess instructors such as former World Champions Garry Kasparov and Max Euwe, emphasize the importance of studying the history of chess.

Willy Hendriks agrees that there is much to be learned from the pioneers of our game. He challenges, however, the conventional view on what the stages in the advancement of chess actually have been. Among the various articles of faith that Hendriks questions is Wilhelm Steinitz’s reputation as the discoverer of the laws of positional chess.

In The Origin of Good Moves Hendriks undertakes a groundbreaking investigative journey into the history of chess. He explains what actually happened, creates fresh perspectives, finds new heroes, and reveals the real driving force behind improvement in chess: evolution.

This thought-provoking book is full of beautiful and instructive ‘new’ material from the old days. With plenty of exercises, the reader is invited to put themselves in the shoes of the old masters. Never before has the study of the history of chess been so entertaining and rewarding.”

What we have here is a hugely ambitious work covering the development of chess ideas over a period of almost 300 years, from roughly 1600 to 1900, from Greco to Tarrasch. Willy Hendriks considers the evolution of both tactical and positional concepts, as well as covering, to a lesser extent, opening theory.

A number of authors over the years, from Réti onwards, have attempted something similar but Hendriks takes the genre to a new level. His view is that previous authors, using a small sample of Famous Games, have presented a crude and misleading view of ‘the history of improvement in chess’. Chess, he believes, has evolved in very much the same way as species evolve.

Hendriks’ previous book, Move First, Think Later, (MFTL) proved controversial. It attracted the attention of the ECF Book of the Year panel, but there were others who considered it highly dangerous. A confrontational title and controversial, extremist views on how chess should be taught. My own views, are, as they are on most subjects, somewhere in the middle, but I still found it an entertaining read. You’ll find a typically well considered review by John Watson here.

Just as in MFTL, each of the 36 chapters is preceded by some exercises which readers might like to attempt before reading on.

Here’s one from Chapter 1:

[fen]r1bq1rk1/ppppbppp/2n1p3/3nP3/3P3P/3B1N2/PPP2PP1/RNBQK2R w KQ – 0 7[/fen]

Finding the answer won’t be difficult for any experienced player, but it was Greco who was the first to play, or at any rate publish, a Bxh7+ sacrifice. Ideas like this, and there are many, positional as well as tactical, throughout the book, gradually become better and better known until they become part of every serious player’s armoury, which is how standards improve. We’re all standing on the shoulders of giants, but it takes genius to be the first.

When we think of Greco we probably think of brilliant miniatures against opponents who either misplayed the opening or made tactical oversights, but Hendriks maintains there’s a lot more to him than that. “If you play over all the games by Greco you cannot but be amazed by the enormous strength of this player and by the importance and variety of his ideas.” In the first chapter we look at some of his tactical ideas, but in Chapter 2, where he is billed as the Nimzowitsch of the 17th century, we discover that Greco was also aware of some relatively sophisticated positional ideas.

The next few chapters continue Hendriks’ revisionist view of chess history. Philidor in Chapters 3 and 4, La Bourdonnais and McDonnell in Chapter 5, Staunton and Saint Amant in Chapter 6. Generally speaking, the book is free from mistakes, but here the magazine Le Palamède is sometimes awarded the wrong definite article. On p85 it’s both right and wrong within four lines.

In Chapter 7 we visit London in 1851 and look at some of the chess played in the first international tournament of modern times. The next two chapters then spin off to take a couple of detours.

Chapter 8 features a positional idea: the pawn formation labelled by Hans Kmoch (whose book Pawn Power in Chess Hendriks seems to admire, although it would have been helpful if the publishers had used the English title) the Wyvill Formation – doubled c-pawns such as White might acquire in the Nimzo-Indian. The English player Elijah Williams, a man ahead of his time, demonstrated how to fight against this in his games against the eponymous Marmaduke Wyvill and Howard Staunton.

[fen]1r3rk1/p1q2pbp/b1p1p1p1/2ppPn2/2P2P2/1PNP1N2/P3Q1PP/R1B2RK1 w – – 0 15 [/fen]

In this rather modern looking position Williams played Ba3 against Staunton (Hendriks points out that Na4 and Qf2 were also strong), winning the c5 pawn and, eventually, the game.

We then look at some much more recent examples of games featuring this formation.

Chapter 9 returns to London and riffs off in a tactical direction.

[fen]4rrk1/pppq1pp1/2nb1n1p/5b2/2BP4/4BN1P/PP2NPP1/R2Q1RK1 w – – 0 13[/fen]

This is a position from another Elijah Williams game. Here, he was Black against Johann Löwenthal. White, to move, decided Black might be threatening Bxh3, so played Bf4 to prevent the sacrifice, later losing after a blunder. Staunton, writing in the tournament book, considered it a mistaken precaution. Hendriks demonstrates that the sacrifice would have been sound, and spends the rest of the chapter looking at precursors and more recent examples of the same tactical idea.

Chapter 10 is a brief visit to India in the company of John Cochrane, where opening theory developed very differently – an interesting topic in its own right.

We then move on to Paul Morphy, the hero of the next few chapters. Chapter 13, Anderssen versus Morphy, will raise a few eyebrows. We all know what to think, don’t we? Both men were tactical geniuses but Morphy was also a positional genius, while Anderssen, a representative of the romantic school of chess, was just a high class hacker. Hendriks, acknowledging Mihail Marin, who first made the point some years ago, explains that the opposite was closer to the truth. We all know Anderssen’s brilliant Immortal and Evergreen Games, but they were casual encounters where he could afford to take risks. In tournament games he sometimes experimented with more modern openings and ideas while Morphy stuck resolutely to 1. e4 e5. The difference between them was not that Morphy was a better positional player but that he was more accurate and efficient.

As we continue through the 19th century we meet Steinitz and reach what, in some ways, is the heart of the book. Because Morphy gave up serious chess before Steinitz achieved prominence, it’s easy to forget that the latter was a year older.

Very many writers over the years, from Lasker onwards, have portrayed Steinitz as the father of modern positional chess. Hendriks begs to differ. Steinitz never wrote down his principles: it was Lasker who did this, attaching Steinitz’s name to them. Hendriks demonstrates that most of his ideas were generally known before his time. His only genuinely new idea was to do with using the king as a strong piece in the opening, and that didn’t stand the test of time. Chapter 25 deals with this.

[fen]r1bnkq1r/pp1p1ppp/2pb3n/4p1B1/Q1N1P3/2P2N2/P3BPPP/R4RK1 w kq – 0 15[/fen]

The first exercise at the start of the chapter poses an intriguing question. “Your opponent in the coming World Championship match is prepared to play this position as Black at least four times against you. Do you accept?”

Well, you certainly should as, after Nb6, White is clearly much better, even though Steinitz stubbornly insisted that Black was fine.

[fen]r1b1kbnr/pppp1ppp/2n5/8/3PPp1q/2N5/PPP1K1PP/R1BQ1BNR b kq – 0 5[/fen]

Here is the infamous Steinitz Gambit after White’s 5th move. Steinitz played it a lot but, although White does quite well with it over the board, it really is as bad as it looks.

As we approach the end of the 19th century, it’s time for Hendriks to start drawing conclusions. Comparisons are often made between today’s players and those from the past. If Magnus Carlsen were to travel back in time, how would he fare against Lasker, Morphy or Philidor? Here’s Hendriks, in Chapter 28: “If I might venture a wild guess regarding the average strength of say the top five or top ten players throughout the (19th) century I would say it gradually went from about 2000 around the thirties to 2400 near the end of the century.”

This sounds about right to me, but even near the end of the century, top players were making horrendous blunders which would shame a 1400 player, let alone a 2400 player.

A famous example: Chigorin-Steinitz from the 23rd game of their 1892 World Championship match.

[fen]8/pp2R2p/3BNkb1/3P1p2/7p/8/PP1rr2P/5R1K w – – 0 32[/fen]

Rxb7, for example, wins for White, but Chigorin’s choice of Bb4 proved rather unsuccessful.

Chapters 31 and 32, in which Hendriks links his discoveries to his teaching methods outlined in MFTL, might prove controversial to some. In Chapter 31 he explains why he believes that creating plans is overrated, and in Chapter 32 he tells you that, contrary to the recommendations of other teachers, you should spend a lot of time studying openings. Of course you might not agree, but it’s often worthwhile listening to those who have well thought out views which differ from yours.

Finally, we reach Chapter 36. Here’s how Hendriks concludes:

“The human history of chess, with all its theoretical struggles and its remarkable personalities, is a fascinating one. However, the general theories that supposedly unify and systematize all those pieces are in my opinion more the result than the cause of the progress made, and as a guide to finding the best moves they are of only limited use.

“As in nature, variety and complexity in chess aren’t the result of some sort of plan from above. It works the other way around, on all levels, even the individual one. As soon as you start looking at a position, all those basic bits of knowledge you gathered before start working. They come up with plans and moves to be played. You can almost sit by and wonder. And watch the good moves replicate.”

I’ve said before that we’re fortunate to be living in a golden age for chess literature, and On the Origin of Good Moves goes right in somewhere very near the top of my favourite chess books of all time. I found it well researched, endlessly fascinating, always thought provoking, often digressive, sometimes provocative and sometimes extremely funny. (Humour in chess books seems to be something of a Dutch speciality: think of Donner and Tim Krabbé.) It’s well produced, and enlivened by copious illustrations, some of only tangential relevance (soldiers in the Franco-Prussian War, a police telephone box, Charles Darwin). If you have any interest at all in the development of chess ideas this will be an essential purchase. If you want to improve your rating you’ll find a lot of inspiring suggestions, although you might not agree with all of them, a lot of great chess, much of which will probably be unfamiliar to you, and a lot of beautiful moves. You’ll find quite a lot of rather bad chess as well, but it all adds to the fun.

Five stars and a top recommendation from me. I do hope you enjoy it as much as I did. It’s certainly a book I’ll return to over and over again.

You can read some sample pages here.

Richard James, Twickenham 3rd June 2020

Book Details :

Paperback : 432 pages
Publisher: New in Chess (10 April 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9056918796
ISBN-13: 978-9056918798
Product Dimensions: 17 x 23.1 cm

Official web site of New in Chess

We focus on the British Chess Scene Past & Present !