We wish IM Richard Palliser all the very best on his birthday

Richard Julian David Palliser was born September 18th in 1981 in Birmingham, West Midlands. His mother’s maiden name was Hyde.

He became a FIDE Master in 2000 and an International Master in 2001.

His peak FIDE rating (according to Felice and Megabase 2020) was 2482 in July 2012 at the age of 31.

In 1995 Richard was joint British U13 Champion together with David Hodge and Richard S. Jones.

Palliser was joint (with Danny Gormally) British Rapidplay Chess Champion in 2006. He writes regularly for ChessMoves and “Everyman Chess” who also employ him as an editor and advisor.

In recent times Richard has become the editor of “Popular Chess” and of CHESS Monthly.

Richard represents in matches 4NCL White Rose, York RI, Yorkshire CA, and ‘Eagle and Child’

According to “Play 1.d4!” :

IM Richard Palliser at the King's Place Rapidplay, 2013. — IM Richard Palliser at the King’s Place Rapidplay, 2013.

According to “tango!” :

“His debut book Play 1.d4! was very well received by critics and the chess public alike”

His handle on the Internet Chess Club is “worcester”.

With the White pieces Richard plays 1.d4(!) and the Queen’ Gambit, Exchange Variation is the main weapon of choice.

As the second player Richard plays the Sicilian Najdorf and the King’s Indian Defence.

IM Richard Palliser and IM Jovanka Houska, British Championships, 2019

Richard is Editor of “CHESS” and has authored a number of publications :

Palliser, Richard (2005). Tango! A Dynamic Answer to 1 d4. Everyman Chess. ISBN 1-85744-388-8.

Palliser, Richard (2006). Beating Unusual Chess Openings. Everyman Chess. ISBN 1-85744-429-9.

Palliser, Richard (2006). Starting Out: Closed Sicilian. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-414-8.

Palliser, Richard (2007). Starting Out: Scilian Najdorf. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-601-2.

Palliser, Richard (2007). Starting out: the Colle. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-527-5.

The Complete Chess Workout, Everyman, 2007

Palliser, Richard; Kosten, Tony; Vigus, James (2008). Dangerous Weapons: Flank Openings. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-583-1.

Palliser, Richard (2008). Starting out: d-pawn attacks. The Colle-Zukertort, Barry and 150 Attacks. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-578-7.

Palliser, Richard (2009). Starting Out: the Trompowsky Attack. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-562-6.

Palliser, Richard; Williams, Simon; Vigus, James (2010). Dangerous Weapons: The Dutch. Everyman Chess. ISBN 978-1-85744-624-1.

Dangerous Weapons : The Caro-Kann, Everyman, 2010

The Complete Chess Workout II, Everyman, 2012

The Iron English, Richard Palliser & Simon Williams, Everyman Chess, 2020, ISBN-13 : 978-1781945803

2020, Biographies, Books, Elk and Ruby, Reviews

‘The Rise and Fall of David Bronstein’ – Genna Sosonko

September 12, 2020 John Upham Leave a comment

‘The Rise and Fall of David Bronstein’ – Genna Sosonko.

20 chapters, 17 black and white photos. Foreword by Garry Kasparov which states ‘Bronstein was the first player to propose changing the starting position of the pieces’. Now, is that really correct? But the former World No.1 gives the book the thumbs-up adding: ‘Soviet reality was so complicated’. Now, that I do agree with!

First published in 2014 in Russian, this is a more recent translation of rather a sad book. In what way ‘sad’? Well, Davy B (1924-2006) was obviously a top chesser but the stress of World Championship matches – he drew a match for the crown with Botvinnik in 1951 – meant that the remainder of his life was spent trying to explain, regroup and, above all, recover. None of the games of the match are given; in fact, no games are given at all.

It all began sadly. Dad was seven years in the Gulag. Davy narrowly escaped the Holocaust. The author is at some pains to explain his subject and I believe Sosonko has succeeded. Bronstein blamed his baldness (“I gave my hair” he told me) on the life he was obliged to live.

Chess.com on Twitter: "The great David Bronstein was born on this day in 1924 🗓️. Few have more narrowly missed the world championship title than Bronstein when he drew a match with

Ridiculously overpriced – the cover price is £24.15 – the book, one of a series, tells the tale of a gentleman sent mad by a board game whilst war raged. His writings are given generous praise but his riches lay in his games and wonderful annotations. Here we get none of this.

I met David a couple of times, in London and then Hastings, just after the second Fischer-Spassky match. We got on well. I had always dreamt of meeting the Soviet GM so this was a treat that nothing could spoil beyond everyday comparison. I wrote about it – twice, I think – so repeating much of it here about 30 years later is not going to happen.

The Sosonko text contains dozens of classical references to foreign authors chessers are not going to have heard of. Much is delivered verbatim. Bronstein, a born raconteur, told stories far into his old age when much of chess was lost to him. Having heard one or two, I can assert Sosonko has the patience, background and great love of the game; in short an excellent amanuensis. And you won’t get far into the book without encountering irrelevance heaped upon irrelevance.

The publishers website contains a 12 page PDF which I hope you’ll find revealing. I did not like this book. I doubt David Bronstein would have liked it either.

The author is a Dutch, formerly Soviet, Grandmaster.

(Also see ‘American Chess Magazine’ No.7, p.122 and Richard James’s review of same penned on this site last May).

Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Limited Liability Company Elk and Ruby Publishing House (10 Aug. 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 5950043316
ISBN-13: 978-5950043314
Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 1.6 x 19.8 cm.

chessparrot

James Pratt (on the right!)

Basingstoke 09/20

2021, 4NCL, Biographies, Birthday, British Championships, Player, Players

Happy Birthday WGM Anya Sun Corke (12-ix-1990)

September 12, 2020 John Upham Leave a comment

We wish happy birthday to WGM Anya Sun Corke on her birthday.

Anya Sun Corke was born in California, USA on Wednesday, September 12th 1990.

In 2013, Anya graduated from Wellesley College summa cum laude with a B.A. in Russian and Philosophy

She became a woman’s Grandmaster in 2004.

Her peak FIDE rating (according to Felice) was 2301 in October 2008.

FIDE rating profile of WGM Anya Sun Corke

With the white pieces Anya played the Queen’s Gambit and Trompowski Attack

As the second player Anya played the Sicilian Kan, French Rozentalis (3.Nc3 Nc6) and the Grünfeld Defence.

Anya won outright the 2007 Budapest First Saturday FM tournament :

Budapest First Saturday FM Tournament, 2007

She gave up competitive chess in 2014.

An almost miniature from the 2006 British Championship :

From Wikipedia :

“Anya Sun Corke (born 12 September 1990 in California, USA) is an English chess player holding the title of Woman Grandmaster (WGM). She played for Hong Kong, where she was the top ranked chess player, until 2009.[1]

Corke earned the WGM title with her performance in the 36th Chess Olympiad, playing for the Hong Kong men’s team.[2][3]

She was the 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008 Hong Kong National Champion (for men and women), one of the youngest national champions ever at the age of 13 years and 9 months.

She was the British Junior Under-11 Champion in 2002[4] and the Under-12 Champion in 2003,[5] the first girl to win either of these age groups. In 2004, she became joint British U-14 Champion.[6]

In December 2004, she won the Asian Youth Girls U-14 Championship in Singapore.[7]

In August 2005, she jointly won with Alisa Melekhina and Abby Marshall the second annual Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls under-19.[8]

Corke represented the England Women’s team at the 2012 Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey,[9][10] and the 2013 European Team Championship in Warsaw, Poland.[11]

In 2013, she graduated from Wellesley College summa cum laude with a B.A. in Russian and Philosophy.[12][13]

In 2014, she started a Ph.D. program in Slavic Languages and Literatures at Yale University.”

2021, 4NCL, Biographies, Birthday, Players

Best Wishes FM William Claridge-Hansen (11-ix-1999)

September 11, 2020 John Upham 1 Comment

FM William Claridge-Hansen, British Championships 2019, courtesy of John Upham Photography

We wish FM William Claridge-Hansen all the best on his birthday.

William Joseph Claridge-Hansen was born on Saturday, September 11th in 1999 in Chesham in the registration district of Chiltern, Buckinghamshire.

“Mambo No 5 (A Little Bit of …)” by Lou Bega was top of the UK singles chart.

William learnt chess at the age of 5 and his father Hans-Peter, is a strong county player having been over 200ECF for a number of years.

William is a keen table-tennis player as is his chess playing brother, Douglas. His father Hans-Peter is also a strong chess player.

Whilst living in Chartridge William attended Great Missenden Church of England School and whilst there was selected for England:

William Claridge-Hansen. Source : Bucks Free Press

William attends The University of Exeter and resides in London.

William plays for Exeter University, Buckinghamshire CCA and 4NCL Oxfordshire and has a current ECF grading for 230B and a FIDE rating of 2290 for standard play.

His first BCF / ECF grading was 63D in July 2008 aged 8.

William Claridge-Hansen, Southern Gigafinal, 2012, courtesy of John Upham Photography

His first title was to win the West of England Junior (U12 Challengers) in 2008 with 5.5/6 and followed by sharing the British U8 title with Mark Kenyon & Rohan Shiatis. In the following year William shared the British U10 title with future IM Matthew Wadsworth

He was rapidly recruited to the AMCA (Andrew Martin Chess Academy) 4NCL squad and quickly climbed the board order within the squad. The AMCA squad morphed into the BCM (British Chess Magazine) squad.

FIDE rating profile for FM William Claridge-Hansen

In 2013 William won (with 6/7) the British U-13 Championship in Torquay.

In 2015 William became a FIDE Master.

In 2016 William was British U-18 Champion and now had an ECF grading of 220. He scored 7/11 in the British Championship.

By now William was playing for Oxford in the Four Nations Chess League.

With the white pieces William plays the English Opening with an early king side fianchetto.

As the second player William plays the Hyper Accelerated Dragon and the Queen’s Indian Defence so clearly a student of the Hypermodern School of the 1920s!

In December 2021 William competed in the 2nd EJCOA Forest Hall Invitational event and gained his first FIDE International Master norm with a score of 6/9 and TPR of 2472.

2020, Books, Mongoose Press, Opening Theory, Reviews

Openings for Amateurs – Next Steps

September 9, 2020 John Upham Leave a comment

‘Openings for Amateurs – Next Steps’ – Pete Tamburro (Mongoose Press 2020). 5 sections. Amusing cartoon cover. Rabars.

This is the sequel to Openings For Amateurs ~ see below ~ which was written by the same author and published by the same publisher in 2014.

Since that time British Chess Magazine has published many monthly columns by Pete Tamburro, a US writer of vast experience and understanding with, I might add, a reference library as large as any ocean. He is a brilliant teacher, respectful of his material, his many students and of the past, in which he revels. The book has been favourably reviewed on Amazon.

He divides his material according to openings:

Open Games, Semi-Open Games, Closed Games, Isolated Queen’s Pawn games and Queen’s Pawn Majority Openings. Some (random) examples: Smith-Morra Gambit, Missed opportunities to play … d5, the Two Knights Defense (“Let’s look at the Ng5 matter first”), Petroff’s (” .. equal positions do not mean drawn positions .. “), the Wormald and Worrall Attack with George Thomas at the controls and so on.

He asks ‘How many games have you played when you made the right move one or two turns too late?.’ So there is philosophy here too and humour is not forgotten: though never intrudes.

Sixty-nine games are presented featuring encounters from almost every available decade including several visitors from the Nineteenth Century: Blackburne, Anderssen, Steinitz, Paulsen, Kieseritzky prowl these pages along with, for example, Adams, McShane and Hawkins. Is anybody forgotten? Not that I spotted. Is it necessary to have studied the first (2014) volume beforehand? For the stronger – Elo 1850+ – player, I would think not. Clearly it wouldn’t hurt, especially for the inexperienced or junior player. A pleasant checklist, a mere closing page, offers 20 tips to improve your rating by 100 points. Useful, useful.

A closing chapter, ‘Final Thoughts’ sees the author lapsing into autobiography, his lessons from Gulko, his bucket list and colleagues and so on. In sum, a sympathetic book. I hope it sells well.

The author is a veteran American chess man like no other. And he has written for the Kasparov Chess Foundation.

James Pratt, Basingstoke, Hampshire, September 10th, 2020

Paperback 280 pages
Publisher Mongoose Press, 1005 Boylston St., Suite 324, Newton Highlands, MA 02461, USA. (04/20)
Language English
ISBN-10 1936277948
ISBN=13 978-1936277940
Product Dimensions: 15.24 x 1.91 x 22.86 cm
Kindle £11.35 Paper £18.89.

2021, 4NCL, Biographies, Birthday, British Championships, Players, UKCC

Happy Birthday IM Yang-Fan Zhou (08-ix-1994)

September 8, 2020 John Upham Leave a comment

We send best wishes to IM Yang-Fan Zhou on his birthday.

Yang-Fan George Zhou was born on Thursday, September 8th, 1994 in Wandsworth, London. His mother’s maiden name was Yang. “Parklife” by Blur was number one in the UK Singles chart.

His brother, Yangjian Zhou, is also a strong player.

Yang-Fan attended Whitgift School, Croydon (founded by John Whitgift in 1596) and then Churchill College, The University of Cambridge where he studied Chemical Engineering (same subject as Malcolm Pein)

During his undergraduate years he worked as a punter for the Traditional Punting Company in Cambridge.

Yang-Fan works for The Hut Group and resides in Manchester.

Here is an article from the Guardian which included
“The Whitgift 13-year-old recently won the Coulsdon Premier with 8.5/9, gaining nearly 100 world rating points which will make him England’s highest ranked under-18 after Howell in the July FIDE list.”

He became a FIDE Master in 2009 and an International Master in 2011.

Yang-Fan claimed the title of UK Chess Challenge “Strat” in 2011 for winning the Terafinal outright. Only Mike Basman knows what “Strat” means.

IM Yang-Fan Zhou at a Wellington College Training Event in 2014, courtesy of John Upham Photography

He scored 9/9 in the 2011 e2e4 Brighton Masters Closed tournament, including beating the two grandmasters (Keith Arkell and Alexander Cherniaev) in the tournament.

In 2012 he won the Hong Kong International Open

His peak FIDE rating was 2486 in October 2013 at the age of 19.

FIDE Rating Profile of IM Yang-Fan Zhou

In 2014 Yang-Fan Zhou represented Cambridge in the annual Varsity match (the 132nd) and played on top board drawing with David Zakarian.

Yang-Fan Zhou plays board one in the 2014 Varsity Match, courtesy of John Upham Photography

With the White pieces Yang-Fan is exclusively an e4 player using the Scotch Game as his main weapon playing open Sicilians and championing 6.h3 versus the Najdorf.

As the second player he employs the Sicilian Dragon and King’s Indian Defences.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r753_VazlC8[/embedyt]

and this article from Leonard Barden

IM Yang-Fan Zhou at the Big Slick Tournament, June 2013. Courtesy of John Upham Photography

In 2026 Yang-Fan was in China coaching and teaching chess.

2021, Biographies, History, Player, Remembering

Remembering William Napier (17-i-1881 06-ix-1952)

September 6, 2020 John Upham Leave a comment

Remembering William Ewart Napier (17-i-1881 06-ix-1952)

2021, 4NCL, Biographies, Birthday, Player, Players, Writers

Happy Birthday IM Lorin D’Costa (05-ix-1984)

September 5, 2020 John Upham Leave a comment

We wish Happy Birthday to IM Lorin D’Costa.

Lorin Alexander R D’Costa was born on Wednesday, September 5th 1984. “What’s Love Got To Do With It” by Tina Turner was number one in the UK singles chart. His mother’s maiden name was Antheunis. He studied Dutch and Management at University College, London. See here for an interview.

According to Wikipedia : “Lorin is a masculine given name. The meaning of Lorin derives from a bay or laurel plant; of Laurentum (wreathed/crowned with laurel). Laurentum, in turn is from laurus (laurel), from the place of laurel trees, laurel branch, laurel wreath. Laurentum was also a city in ancient Italy.”

Lorin was born in Lambeth, London and became a FIDE Master in 2004 and an International Master in 2008.

His first ever BCF/ECF grading was 36D in July 1994 aged 10 but his grading very quickly improved :

BCF/ECF Grading Profile

His peak FIDE rating was 2485 in April 2009.

Lorin’s FIDE Rating Profile

Lorin has the unique distinction of gaining the title of “Strat” four times for winning the UK Chess Challenge Terafinal in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003. Only four other players have won the title more than once : Peter Poobalasingam, Félix José Ynojosa Aponte, Marcus Harvey and Koby Kalavannan.

Lorin plays for Hendon in the London League and 4NCL Barbican in the Four Nations Chess League.

IM Lorin D'Costa at the 2017 Michael Uriely Memorial Tournament — IM Lorin D’Costa at the 2017 Michael Uriely Memorial Tournament

Lorin was Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 2008-09 season.

Lorin became a Director of Lorinchess Ltd in March 2020 and currently resides in Wembley, Middlesex. This has since been replaced by Eagleide Chess Consulting.

In April 2020 Lorin founded “She Plays to Win” which is dedicated to the furtherment of girls, women’s and ladies chess in England.

Lorin started his 4NCL career in 1999 with Barbican and has been loyal all the way to 2019.

With the white pieces Lorin prefers the Queen’s Gambit but does also play 1.e4, 1.c4 and 1.Nf3 so a fairly wide repertoire.

As the second player Lorin prefers the Sicilian Kan and the Nimzo-Indian Defence.

Here is a convincing win against Ian Nepomniachtchi from Budva, 2009 :