Tag Archives: Biographies

2020, Biographies, Books, New in Chess

Timman’s Triumphs : My 100 Best Games

October 17, 2020 Richard James Leave a comment

Timman’s Triumphs : My 100 Best Games : Jan Timman

From the publisher :

“Jan Timman is the author of highly acclaimed books such as Curacao 1962 and The Art of the Endgame. His best-selling Timman’s Titans won the 2017 English Chess Federation Book of the Year Award. His previous book, The Longest Game, is a riveting account of the epic rivalry between Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov.”

From the book’s rear cover :

“Jan Timman is one of the greatest chess players never to win the world title. For many years ‘the Best of the West’ belonged to the chess elite, collecting some splendid super tournament victories. Three times Timman was a Candidate for the World Championship and his peak in the world rankings was second place, in 1982. For this definitive collection, Timman has revisited his career and subjected his finest efforts to fresh analysis supported by modern technology. The result is startling and fascinating. From the games that he chose for his Timman’s Selected Games (1994, also published as Chess the Adventurous Way), only 10(!) made the cut. Some games that he had been proud of turned out to be flawed, others that he remembered as messy were actually well played. Timman’s Triumphs includes wins against greats such as Karpov, Kasparov, Kortchnoi, Smyslov, Tal, Spassky, Bronstein, Larsen and Topalov. The annotations are in the author’s trademark lucid style, that happy mix of colourful background information and sharp, crystal-clear explanations. Once again Jan Timman shows that he is not only one of the best players the game has seen, but also as one of the best analysts and writers.”

Jan Timman (b 1951) has had an active chess career lasting over half a century. For much of the 1980s he was considered the strongest player in the West, with only Karpov and Kasparov clearly his superior. He also has an enviable reputation as an excellent writer and annotator, as well as an expert on endgame studies.

Here, we have a collection of Timman’s 100 best games. In fact, that’s not quite true. The introduction includes two games which just missed the cut, plus another three extracts where he played a study-like move.

As this is a best games collection, you won’t find any losses. There are two draws, from either end of his career, and 98 wins. As you’ll see from the back cover, there’s very little overlap with Timman’s earlier best games collection, and those games now have totally different annotations.

The analysis has all been double checked using strong engines, so you can be pretty sure of its accuracy. At the same time, Timman’s annotations are resolutely old school, and, for this reviewer at least, none the worse for that. You don’t get reams of computer generated tactics, just lucid explanations, with variations only when necessary.

Take, for example, one of his quicker wins, a victory with the black pieces over Nigel Short from Linares 1992. Here’s how Timman annotates the conclusion.

But, as an endgame connoisseur, he occasionally goes into more detail when a fascinating ending appears on the board.

This position is from a game, again with Black, against Artur Yusupov (the book uses the German spelling Jussupow) played in Belgrade in 1989. This position arose just after the adjournment at the second time control. Here’s how Timman explains this position.

“The analysis during the break had taught me that a transfer to a rook ending was the most convincing path to the win. Jussupow had mainly looked at 63… b2. During the post-mortem, he told me that he had found drawing chances in that line. However, the computer is unrelenting. Black wins also here with two accurate king moves: 64. Rb1 Rd2 65. f5 Kd6! 66. Nf7+ Ke7!, and White cannot take on g6, since Black has the d3-square for his bishop.

“During the analysis, I also looked at the spectacular 63… Rd3+ 64. Kg4 Rd1. If this had worked, it would have been a study-like conclusion to the game. Alas, it doesn’t work. The main line continues as follows: 65. Rxd1 Be2+ 66. Kxh4 Bxd1 67. f5 Be2 68. f6 Kd6

and now White has the incredible finesse 69. Nc6!!. Luckily, I found this study-like save in my hotel room in Belgrade. After 69… Bc4 70. Na5! Bf7 71. Nxb3, a theoretically drawn endgame ensues.”

(The game concluded 63… Bd3 64. Nxd3+ Rxd3+ 65. Kg4 Rd4! 66. Rb1 Kb4 67. Rf1 b2 68. Kxh4 Rc4 69. Rb1 Kb3 70. Kg3 Rc3+ 71. Kg2 Kc2 and White resigned.)

These two examples will give you some idea of Timman’s annotation style.

Timman has always been a universal player who uses a wide range of openings so there’s a lot of variety in the play: no chance of getting bored by seeing the same type of position over and over again. Each game is put into its context regarding the tournament or match in which it took place. The text is also enlivened by many entertaining anecdotes, often concerning Timman’s rather hedonistic (especially in his early years) lifestyle. We read, for instance, about listening to Frank Zappa with Ray Keene, and taking the young Nigel Short to a nightclub on the eve of an important game.

There are many readers and who particularly enjoy best games collections: they will certainly revel in this excellent book. For those of you of Timman’s (and my) generation the book will also bring back many memories. For younger readers, though, much of it will be ancient history: perhaps they’ll get the same pleasure out of it that I got from studying the games of Alekhine and Capablanca many years ago.

You might prefer a more spacious layout for the games. You might have liked a summary of his tournament and match results. You might have liked some tournament cross tables. But of course publishers have to make hard commercial decisions. At least we get an index of players (all players mentioned in the book for any reason, rather than an index of opponents) and an index of openings.

But, most importantly, you get 100 great games from one of the best players of the past 50 years, with lucid and instructive annotations. I’m pleased to give this book a warm recommendation.

One last thought. Timman tells us that someday he might write a book of his most exciting games, which would include more draws and several losses. Yes, please!

Richard James, Twickenham 17th October 2020

Book Details :

Paperback : 352 pages
Publisher: New in Chess (15 Oct. 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10:9056919172
ISBN-13: 978-9056919177
Product Dimensions : 17.15 x 2.18 x 23.77 cm

Official web site of New in Chess

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

Happy Birthday GM John Shaw (16-10-1968)

October 16, 2020 John Upham 1 Comment

GM John Shaw, courtesy of John Upham Photography

BCN offers birthday greetings to GM John Shaw

John K Shaw was born on Wednesday, October 16th, 1968 in Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland.

On this day Americans Tommie Smith (gold 19.83 WR) and John Carlos (bronze) famously give the Black Power salute on the 200m medal podium during the Mexico City Olympics to protest racism and injustice against African-Americans.

He became a FIDE Master in 1994 at the age of 26. Five years later in 1999 he became an International Master and finally a Grandmaster in 2006 at the age of 38.

He won the Scottish Championship in 1995 (with IM Steve Mannion and GM Colin McNab), outright in 1998 and in 2000 with AJ Norris.

Not that many years previously (1988) John had a rating of 1700 at the age of 19 and therefore he falls into that rather rare category of GMs who were not strong players as juniors.

According to Felice and Megabase 2020 his peak FIDE rating was 2506 in January of 2002.

FIDE Rating profile for GM John Shaw

John’s FIDE federation is Scotland and is currently ranked fifth in that country.

In 2005 John was interrogated by ChessBase upon his return from Gibraltar.

He acquired his three GM norms at Gibraltar 2003, Calvia Olympiad 2004 and 4NCL Season 2005/6.

According to ChessBase (in 2005) :

“IM John Shaw has written two books for Everyman Chess and co-edited Experts vs. the Sicilian. He has represented Scotland on many occasions, recently in the Olympiad in Calvià, where he obtained his second GM-norm. As John has once had 2500 in Elo, it is his hope that he will complete his Grandmaster title in 2005 with a third GM-norm.

Together with Jacob, John constitutes two thirds of the new chess publisher Quality Chess Europe which has published Experts vs. the Sicilian by ten different authors and Learn from the Legends – Chess Champions at their Best by Romanian GM Mihail Marin.”

John plays / has played for 4NCL Alba and his peak ECF grading was 240B in July 2009.

With the white pieces almost exclusively plays 1.e4 and the Ruy Lopez, Exchange Variation.

As the second player John has a wide repertoire versus 1.e4 essaying the Sicilian La Bourdonnais (Löwenthal) and against 1.d4 the Slav is the weapon of choice.

A writer of chess books, John is the Chief Editor of the publishing house Quality Chess and has written the following (amongst others) :

starting out : the queen's gambit — starting out : the queen’s gambit

Experts on the Anti-Sicilian (Grandmaster Repertoire Series)

2020, British Championships, Honour, Honour, Organiser

Congratulations Kevin Staveley, BEM

October 11, 2020 John Upham Leave a comment

Kevin Staveley, BEM at the 2015 British Championships in Warwick courtesy of John Upham Photography

BCN offers Kevin Staveley the warmest congratulations on being awarded the British Empire Medal in the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

The citation reads : “For services to Chess in Wales”

Kevin Charles Staveley was born on December 30th 1955 in Pontypridd, Mid Glamorgan, Wales and has resided in Treorchy, Glamorgan, Wales. Currently he lives in Cwmparc, Rhondda.

He is a member of Newport Chess Club.

Kevin is Home Director for the Welsh Chess Union and many times Tournament Director of the British Chess Championships.

Kevin is ECF Manager of the British Chess Championships and is Director of the South Wales International Chess Festival, Bridgend and the South Wales Megafinal to name but a few.

He became a FIDE International Arbiter in 1991 and a FIDE International Organiser in 2013.

Kevin is editor of the Welsh Chess Union Yearbook.

Kevin is keen to encourage young players to become arbiters.

Kevin Staveley, BEM at the 2014 British Championships in Aberystwyth courtesy of John Upham Photography

2020, Biographies, Birthday, Player, Players, Writers

Happy Birthday Susan Caldwell (02-x-1958)

October 2, 2020 John Upham 3 Comments

Happy Birthday Susan Linda Caldwell (02-x-1958)

Susan is / was a director of the Hallas Foundation Ltd. and Larkham Printers and Publishers Ltd. and is a partner to former Scottish international Les SF Blackstock.

A few (11) of her games may be found on chessgames.com

Susan Caldwell, from the CentYMCA Story by Jimmy Adams

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, 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.

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 :

IM Lorin D'Costa at the 2013 King's Place Rapidplay, courtesy of John Upham Photography — IM Lorin D’Costa at the 2013 King’s Place Rapidplay, courtesy of John Upham Photography

In 2012 Lorin and Nick Murphy created Chess on Toast and published a series of introductory DVDs including :

Lorin has authored several chess books and DVDs including :

The Sicilian Scheveningen, Move by Move, Everyman, 2012

The Panov-Botvinnik Attack, Move by Move, Everyman, 2013

The Queen's Indian, Move by Move, Everyman, 2016 — The Queen’s Indian, Move by Move, Everyman, 2016

and several Chessbase DVDs including :

Fritz Trainer : A Repertoire Against the Sicilian, 2015

IM Lorin D'Costa at GM Matthew Sadler at the 2017 Michael Uriely Memorial Tournament, courtesy of John Upham Photography — IM Lorin D’Costa at GM Matthew Sadler at the 2017 Michael Uriely Memorial Tournament, courtesy of John Upham Photography

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

Happy Birthday IM Sam Collins (05-ix-1982)

September 5, 2020 John Upham Leave a comment

BCN wishes Happy Birthday to IM Sam Collins (05-ix-1982)

Samuel E Collins was born on Sunday, September 5th, 1982 in Dublin, Republic of Ireland.

He attended Gonzaga College, Ranelagh, Dublin (founded in 1950) famously very active at chess and then studied at University College, Dublin (UCD).

Sam spent three years in London and one year in Japan where he found time to win their national championship.

Sam became a FIDE Master in 2003 and an International Master in 2004 and holds three GM norms.

His peak FIDE rating was 2495 in August 2014 at the age of 32.

According to chessgames.com :

“Collins won the Irish Championship twice, in 2002 and 2014, and the Japanese Championship in 2009.”

According to The Tarrasch Defence, move by move :

“Sam Collins is an International Master with tree Grandmaster norms, and a former Irish and Japanese Champion, He has represented Ireland at eight Olympiads, winning an individual gold medal at Bled 2002. He has a wealth of teaching and writing experience, and has produced many books, DVDs and magazine articles on chess.”

According to An Opening Repertoire for White :

“Sam Collins is a chess writer who regularly contributes to Chess, British Chess Magazine, Chess Mail and Chess Today. He is a former Irish Champion and Olympic gold medal winner.”