We send best wishes to GM Julian Hodgson on his birthday, this day July 25th) in 1963.
Julian Michael Hodgson was born at St. Mary Abbott’s Hospital, Marloes Road, Kensington, West London son of (Ronald) George Hodgson and Johanna Hodgson (née Birch) and the birth was registered in the district of Hammersmith.
Julian’s father has asserted to be a descendent of George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys and we are looking to establish this claim following further research.
Julian attended St. Paul’s School (See below) and then attended The University of Leicester for one year.
Julian married Lizette and David Norwood was his Best Man.
Julian and Lizette Hodgson
(Curiously both Felice and Gaige state Julian was born in Saint Asaph in Wales. This is incorrect.)
Julian Hodgson
Harry Golombek wrote this about Julian in a 1980 Dataday chess diary :
“I think that the first time I saw Julian Hodgson in play was some four years ago in a London tournament. Upon my arrival Leonard Barden told him that he must now be careful how he played as Golombek was watching.
Julian and Nigel Short play Korchnoi in a simul. Leonard Barden observes.
“Who”, enquired the twelve-year old Julian, “is Golombek?”
Neil Carr and Julian Hodgson at the 1976 Lloyds Bank Match by Telex, London – New York. From BCM, volume XCVI (96) Number 11 (August), Page 494. The venue was the Bloomsbury Hotel, London. Photo courtesy of Lloyds Bank.Julian Hodgson aged 13 in 1976 giving a simultaneous display at the Guildhall in London scoring +14=2-4. Photograph courtesy of the Keystone agency.
I felt grateful at the time that he did not say who or what is Golombek but I tell this story chiefly to show the cheerful insouciance with which Master Hodgson treated all comers whether chess masters or chess rabbits.
Julian playing Simon L Triggs. Event and photographer unknown
Julian astonishing maturity as a player has been impressive ever since at the age of ten, he won the Southern Counties Under 14 Championships in 1973. Since then he has acquired a host of such championships culminating in the British Under-21 Championship in 1977.
Streatham & Brixton becoming BCF National Club Champions in 1989. The team was Tony Kosten, Mark Hedben, Daniel King, Nigel Povah (Captain), Joe Gallagher and Julian Hodgson : quite a strong team
Perhaps his most remarkable performance so far has been his equal 3rd in a strong challengers section at Hastings where he scored 7.5 out of 10. 1977 was a good year for him and here, from the Lloyds Bank Silver Jubilee Tournament of that year is his fine win over a strong opponent :
Here is his entry (written by Richard W O’Brien) in British Chess (Pergamon Press, 1983, Botterill, Levy, Rice and Richardson) :
“Following a series of excellent results Julian, at the tender age of 11, became the second youngest ever to play in an international tournament when he took part in the London Chess Club International Invitation tournament in September 1974. Only Reshevsky had been younger. Julian’s first opponent was Michael Woodhams, an Australian international who had just scored 15.5/18 in the recent Olympiad (Nice)
The following year he became the youngest player ever to win the London Amateur Championship. A year later he reached a grading of 200 (BCF), only Reshevsky, Pomar, Karpov and Kasparov had done so at an earlier age.
By now he was at St. Paul’s School, which was in the process of becoming one of the strongest chess playing schools in the country. In 1977 he shared first place with WN Watson (also St. Paul’s) in the British U21 Championship. Progress was however not as fast as had at one time been anticipated
It was at Ramsgate, late in 1980 before his first IM norm. A month later he finished second in the Hastings Challenger. Other good results followed in 1981. First he was selected for the Glorney Cup and shortly afterwards did well to come fourteenth in the British Championship (Morecambe). He represented England in the World Youth Team championships scoring 4/6. His second IM norm followed when he shared fifth place at Manchester in the same year. Good results in weekend congresses meant that he finished fourth in the Leigh Grand Prix. The year had finished with Julian needing a draw in the last round at Ramsgate to get his title. He lost and was to wait another 12 months to achieve his final norm.
The England Team from the 1990 Novi Sad Olympiad : John Nunn, Jon Speelman, Julian Hodgson, David Anderton OBE (Captain), Nigel Short, Michael Adams and Murray Chandler
When the final norm came it arrived out of the blue. With a score of 2.5/5 at Lewisham in November 1982 the chances seemed remote, 3.5/4 was required against a strong field and it even seemed doubtful whether he could actually play those he needed to play. He scored 2.5/3 and now had to play Jon Tisdall, who still had a chance of winning the tournament.
Julian finished second equal in the tournament behind Jim Plaskett who had beaten him earlier.
Julian Hodgson
The next six weeks saw Julian come equal first in the Pergamon sponsored British Lightning championship, a highly creditable sixth in the Nightflight International at Brighton (equivalent to an IM rating) and second place yet again in the Hastings Challengers.
John Delaney plays Julian Hodgson at the Bath Zonal Tournament in 1987
Earlier in 1983 he scored 6.5/9 at Lugano, probably Europe’s strongest ever Swiss (Swiss !) tournament, losing narrowly to Jan Timman.
Julian Hodgson. Event and photographer unknown.
He left Leicester University after just one year preferring to concentrate on chess.
FM Andrew Whiteley, IM Julian Hodgson and FM Byron Jacobs at Cappelle Le Grand, 1988. Photograph by Caroline Winkler
He plays fairly regularly for Streatham & Brixton Chess Club which encouraged juniors for several years. Daniel King is another junior who also played frequently for Streatham. ”
This is what was written about Julian prior to the 1979 Spassky vs the BCF Junior Squad simultaneous display : “St Paul’s and Shepherds Bush. Rating 210. Standard London Amateur Champion at age 12, 1975.
Standard London under-18 champion, 1976. British under-21 co-champion, 1977. Youngest ever to beat two grandmasters in successive games, 1978.”
Aside from more formal achievements, he developed a sharp, relentless, attacking style of play and against lesser opponents this frequently resulted in devastating quick wins, earning him the epithet “Grandmaster of Disaster”.
Hans Ree plays Julian Hodgson at the Cannes Team Tournament, 1992
Hodgson’s greatest legacy as a chess player may however lie in his resurrection of an almost forgotten opening system. The Trompowsky Attack (1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5) had floundered in the doldrums for many years, prior to his adoption and development of the opening. In interviews, he reveals that this was born out of laziness and a reluctance to learn established chess opening theory. It soon became his weapon of choice with the white pieces, leading to a surprising popularisation of the system, the spawning of a whole generation of devotees and ironically, a number of theoretical guides, containing a high quota of Hodgson’s own games and analysis. Indeed, his expert treatment of the system once prompted fellow grandmaster Joe Gallagher to write that it should be renamed the Hodgson–Trompowsky Attack, a view shared by many other masters. A chess journalist once wrote that Hodgson put the ‘romp’ into Trompowsky.
A related, but more obscure version of the system (1.d4 d5 2.Bg5), has been dubbed by some the Hodgson Attack and by others the Pseudo-Trompowsky or Queen’s Bishop Attack.
and
Julian, Dominic Lawson and Matthew SadlerChess Traveller’s Quiz Book, Julian Hodgson, Cadogan Press, 1996, ISBN-13 : 978-1857440300Attack with Julian Hodgson, Book No.1Attack with Julian Hodgson, Book No.2Quick Chess KnockoutsJulian Hodgson drawn by Rupert van der Linden
We are delighted to offer (Arthur) John Roycroft best wishes on his birthday, this day (July 25th) in 1929.
John was born in Hendon, London and his mother’s maiden name was Banks.
AJR aged 9, courtesy of the BCPS web site.
John moved to Brighton and then evacuated to Calcot, North Wales and returned to Brighton when the threat of war had subsided.
He married Betty in 1961 and they had a son and a daughter and now have several grand children.
He claimed that he had never suffered a common cold.
John is Platinum Life Member of the English Chess Federation and an “ECF Supporter”.
The Chess Endgame Study
“From The Oxford Companion to Chess (Oxford University Press, 1984) by David Hooper and Ken Whyld :
English study composer and author, International Judge of Chess Compositions (1959), Computer systems analyst.
In 1965 he founded EG, a quarterly publication which became the world’s first and only long-running magazine devoted wholly to studies.
His Test Tube Chess (1972), the best English language guide to the art of studies., was revised and republished as The Chess Endgame Study (1981).
Test Tube Chess, AJ Roycroft, Faber and Faber Limited, 1972, ISBN 0 571 09573 9
Studies are commonly classified by means of the GBR code of which he was co-inventor.”
From The Encyclopedia of Chess (Robert Hale, 1970 & 1976) by Anne Sunnucks :
“FIDE Judge of Endgame Studies. Born on 25th July 1929. Founder of the Chess Endgame Study Circle in London in March 1965.and its quarterly magazine EG, the first and only publication exclusively devoted to the composed chess ending. Roycroft who is a computer systems analyst and lives in London, has composed about 20 endgame studies.”
Marcus Harvey at the 2013 Hastings International Congress, Courtesy of John Upham Photography
BCN wishes Happy Birthday to IM Marcus Ross Harvey born on this day (Wednesday, July 24th) in 1996. Killing Me Softly by the Fugees was top of the hit parade.
Marcus was born in Oxford and attended The Marlborough School, Woodstock, Oxfordshire and then (in 2014) at The University of Southampton he studied mathematics.
Originally playing for Bicester Marcus now represents Witney Chess Club in local leagues.
Marcus first played in the British Championship in 2011 (Sheffield).
Marcus Harvey at the 2013 King’s Place Rapidplay, courtesy of John Upham Photography
Originally playing for Oxford he now plays for Wood Green in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) and Southampton University in the Southampton League.
Marcus playing IM Yang-Fan Zhou at the 2013 Delancey UKCC Terafinal at Loughborough Grammar School. Courtesy of John Upham Photography.
In 2014 Marcus won the title of “Strat” (the overall Terafinal winner) of the 2014 Delancey UK Chess Challenge at Loughborough Grammar School.
Marcus Harvey at the 2013 Delancey UKCC Terafinal at Loughborough Grammar School, courtesy of John Upham Photography.
Marcus has a FIDE rating of 2440 and an ECF grading of 240.
2014 Delancey UKCC Terafinal winner, Marcus Harvey at Loughborough Grammar School. Courtesy of John Upham Photography
In 2018 he won the Witney Open outright with 4/5 and, in the same year, was runner-up to David Howell in the UK Blitz Open with 12.5/15 and a of 2589.
In 2019 he was =1st (with Mark Hebden) in the 4NCL Easter Open in Stevenage. Later that year Marcus was losing semi-finalist (to Gawain Jones) in the London Classic Blitz Knockout.
Marcus, on home ground, won the 43rd Kidlington Open in 2020 and followed this with and is the current 2020 English Online Blitz Champion beating IM Andrew Greet, FM Jonah Willow, IM Ameet Ghasi and IM Andrew Horton in the final.
In the Pro chess league he represents UK Lions.
Marcus Harvey’s FIDE rating profile according to Megabase 2020
Marcus overcame Rory McLean, Theo Koury, Steven Coles, FM Alexis Harakis, CM Jonathan Pein and rapidplay / blitz specialist IM Ameet Ghasi to share first place.
Over the 19th – 23rd August 2021 Marcus played in the Wood Green Invitational round-robin event at Oddfellows Hall, Stafford.
Marcus scored 6/9 and secured his second International Master Norm and a TPR of 2532.
<img class=” wp-image-18696″ src=”http://britishchessnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/untitled_wgi.jpg” alt=”Wood Green Invitational Round-Robin event at Oddfellows Hall, Stafford. August Bank Holiday Weekend, 2021″ width=”654″ height=”229″ /> Wood Green Invitational Round-Robin event at Oddfellows Hall, Stafford. August Bank Holiday Weekend, 2021
Over the August Bank Holiday weekend of 2021 Marcus played in the Northumbrian Masters GM Tournament at the splendid Marriott MetroCentre, Gateshead scoring 6/9 and TPR of 2559 and earing his fourth IM norm. His standard play rating of 2451 (September 2021) is sufficient and now only requires the next FIDE Congress to ratify the IM title.
Marcus enjoys playing the Smyslov-Larsen opening with white
and the classical French and the Nimzo-Indian Defence.
It is clear that Marcus is now surely a strong candidate for England’s next Grandmaster.
We wish Tony Kosten best wishes on his birthday, this day (July 24th) in 1958.
Tony was born in North Eastern Surrey, and eventually relocated to France where he now resides.
Tony is married to Gyongyver Kosten-Forintos, the daughter of Hungarian Grandmaster Győző Forintos.
Streatham & Brixton becoming BCF National Club Champions in 1989. The team was Tony Kosten, Mark Hedben, Daniel King, Nigel Povah (Captain), Joe Gallagher and Julian Hodgson : quite a strong team
Tony played for Lower Earley Chess Club in the Berkshire League and for Streatham & Brixton in the National Club competition.
He was =3rd in the 1982 British Championship in Torquay (won by Tony Miles)
He was =2nd in the 1984 Robert Silk Young Masters.
He won the Berkshire Chess Association Quickplay title in 1985.
Tony was runner-up to Yuri Balashov at Minsk 1986.
He won Naujac 2000 with 7.5/9
Tony won many other events : See his Wikipedia entry for details.
Tony Kosten (fourth from left) at a NatWest Bank sponsored event
Tony is the founder of chesspublishing.com, a subscription based web site specialising in cutting edge opening theory with many contributors.
He plays for Guildford in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) is registered as a member of the French federation. He also plays for Schott Mainz in the German Team Championship.
According to Megabase 2020 his highest FIDE rating was 2551 in July 2002 at the age of 44.
With the white pieces Tony prefers the Ruy Lopez and Giuoco Piano with the English coming a close second.
With black Tony defends the Lopez and the Nimzo-Indian defence.
Tony KostenWinning Endgames, Crowood, 1987Winning with the Philidor, Batsford, 1992101 Tips to Improve your Chess, Batsford, 1996The Dynamic English, Gambit, 1999
BCN sends best wishes to John Rice on his birthday, July 19th in 1937.
John Michael Rice was born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, North Riding, his mother’s maiden name was Blake. John lives in Surbiton, Surrey and teaches Modern Languages at Tiffin School, Kingston-Upon-Thames.
An ABC of Chess Problems
From An ABC of Chess Problems :
“The author is one of the country’s most prolific foremost composers and problem critics. He has gained mainly tourney honours, both at home and abroad, and since 1961 has been editor of a flourishing problem section in the British Chess Magazine, the country’s leading chess periodical. He lives in London and teaches Modern Languages at Tiffin School, Kingston-Upon-Thames.”
From chesscomposers.blogspot.com :
John Rice was the chief editor of the problems section of the “British Chess Magazine” from 1961 until 1974 and is a faithful collaborator of “The Problemist“. He has written “Chess Problem: Introduction to an Art” (1963) together with Robin Matthews and Michael Lipton and “The Two-Move Chess Problem” (1966), “Serieshelpmates” (1978) with Anthony Dickins or “Chess Wizardry: The New ABC of Chess Problems” (1996).
Translated from https://peoplepill.com/people/john-michael-rice/ :
“Since the mid-fifties he has composed problems of all kinds, but above all in two moves. In the 1960s he was editor of the problems section of the British Chess Magazine. Since 1999 he has been editor of The Problemist magazine.
International Master of Composition since 1969 and International Judge for Composition since 1972.
President of the PCCC (Permanent Commission for Chess Composition) from 2002 to 2006.
He worked as a teacher of modern languages in a school in Kingston-upon-Thames.
Winton Capital British Chess Problem Solving Championships 2016
Together with Barry Barnes and Michael Lipton he wrote the book Chess Problems: Introduction to an Art (Faber & Faber, London 1963).
Chess Problems : Introduction to an Art
He composes mostly direct mates, but can composes as well in other genres, including fairies. He is an International Judge for twomovers, helpmates and fairy problems and the former President of the PCCC from 2004 until 2006.
John was awarded the title of “International Grandmaster for chess compositions” in 2015.
From British Chess, Pergamon Press, 1983 by GS Botterill, DNL Levy, JM Rice and MJ Richardson :
“I was taught the moves of chess in 1947 at the age of ten and quickly realised that I liked the game no more than Ludo or Snakes and Ladders where the chances of losing seemed to me unfairly high. But the chess pieces and their moves fascinated me, so it is hardly surprising that before long I had turned to problems and become an ardent fan of Brian Harley in his Observer column, especially as I had come across and paid two shillings (!) for his Mate in Two Moves in a second-hand bookshop in Reigate. Harley, together with T. R. Dawson in the British Chess Magazine and C. S. Kipping in CHESS, provided the sources of my first solving pleasure and the inspiration for my first efforts at composition. Among my early successes was problem l, heavily constructed but strategically rich, a first prize winner in a tournament for composers under 21, one of a series organised by the British Chess Problem Society.
I had grown up in Scarborough (Yorkshire), out of contact with other problem enthusiasts, and a chance meeting in December, 1954 with Michael Lipton in Cambridge, where we were both taking Scholarship examinations, brought the realisation that there was far more to the two-move chess problem than the solidly entrenched traditionalism espoused in those days by the columns of The Problemist and CHESS. Very soon the bulk of my output was in the modern style (with set and try-play) and published abroad, notably in Die Schwalbe, whose two-move editor, Hermann Albrecht, did much to stimulate my interest. Problem 2 gained a coveted prize in an extremely strong formal tournament judged by Michael
Lipton, following an article of his on the potentialities of the half-battery theme (illustrated here by the arrangement on the c-file).
2
5th prize, 133rd Theme Tournament, Die Schwalbe, 1961.
The half-battery is only one of several themes which have commanded my attention over the past 20 years, others being white self-pin in try and key (illustrated by problem 3), Grimshaw and Nowotny (problem 4), reciprocal and cyclic play (problem V, the first published example of cyclic mates in three phases), pawn-promotion effects, and tasks of various types, especially open gates. My total problem output numbers about 600.
3
The Tablet, Commended, BCPS Ring Tournament 1958; Brian Harley Award
In 1961 I took over from S. Sedgwick the editorship of the problem section of the British Chess Magazine, which post I held until December, 1974. It was a source of pride to me that I was now doing the job once done by the great T. R Dawson, though I knew that I could never bring to it the same tireless energy and all-round expertise which he had displayed so impressively. At about the same time I embarked with Michael Lipton and Robin Matthews on a venture which was to have repercussions throughout the entire problem world,
namely a series of books on problems published by Faber and Faber. The first, Chess Problems: Introduction to an Art (Lipton, Matthews and Rice), appeared in 1963, and was followed three years later by The Two-move Chess Problem: Tradition and Development, also with Michael Lipton, but this time the third collaborator was Barry Barnes, who has long been a close friend and influence. The third book in the series, An ABC of Chess Problems (1970), was a solo effort.
My interest in Fairy Chess dates from a meeting in the mid-1960s with the late John Driver, whose enthusiasm for the pleasures to be derived from non-orthodox forms I found highly infectious. Fairy problems soon began to appear in the BCM column and were favourably received. The serieshelpmate, where White remains stationary while Black plays a sequence of moves to reach a position where White can mate in one, has perhaps interested me more than any other non-orthodox form (see problem Vl), and in 1971 I collaborated with Anthony Dickins to produce a book on the subject, The Serieshelpmate (published by the Q Press, first edition 1971, second edition 1978).
5
1st Prize, Problem 37th Theme Tournament, 1961-62
White mates in 2
Set: 1…Kc6; 2. Qe8 (A)
1…Ke6; 2. Qc8 (B)
Try: 1.Nb6+?, Kc6;2.Qc8 (B)
Ke6;2.Qd6 (C)
Ke7!
Key : 1.Nf6+! Kc6;2.Qd6 (C)
Ke6;2.Qe8 (A)
Since 1974 my problem activities have necessarily been restricted by the demands of family life (wife and two sons, none of them much interested in chess) and my career (schoolmaster, formerly Head of Modern Languages Department and now Director of Studies at Tiffin School, Kingston Upon Thames. Other leisure-time interests (not that there is much leisure time) include cricket and classical music.”
From The Encyclopaedia of Chess (Batsford, 1977), Harry Golombek OBE, John Rice write about himself:
“British problem composer, output about 500, mainly modern-style two-movers but also several helpmates, serieshelpmates and fairy problems. Editing: problem section of British Chess Magazine (1961-1974). Author of An ABC of Chess Problems(1970), and co-author of Chess Problems: Introduction to an Art (1963), The Two-move Chess Problem: Tradition and Development (1966) and The Serieshelpmate (1971). International master (1969): International Judge (1972).”
The Two Move Chess Problem : Tradition and DevelopmentJohn Rice at a Winton Capital BCPS Problem Solving event at Eton CollegeChess Problems for SolvingThe SerieshelpmateBritish Chess, Pergamon Press, 1983. Editors : GS Botterill, DNL Levy, JM Rice and MJ Richardson
IM Nigel Povah, courtesy of John Upham Photography
BCN wishes IM Nigel Edward Povah all the best on his birthday, July 17th in 1952.
Nigel Povah, from Knightmare, Volume 2 (1976-77) drawn by Chris Jones.
Nigel was born in Wandsworth, London.
He became a FIDE Master in 1980, an International Master in 1983 and an International Correspondence Master in 1983. He became England’s 7th ICCF GM in 1989. His predecessors were :
210048 Markland, Peter Richard ENG GM 1984
210060 Penrose, Dr. Jonathan ENG GM 1983
210178 Webb, Simon ENG GM 1983
210011 Clarke, Peter Hugh ENG GM 1980
210029 Hollis, Adrian Swayne ENG GM 1976
210062 Richardson, Keith Bevin ENG GM 1975
Nigel has been Southern Counties (SCCU) champion for the 1974-75 and 1975-76 seasons.
Nigel Povah, circa 1979
Nigel has played for Streatham & Brixton Club (see the Andrew Martin video below) and was part of this very strong London club which developed many original opening ideas.
Nigel was a strong opening theoretician and developed ideas in the Sicilian Lasker-Pelikan, Sveshnikov and English Openings amongst others.
Knightmare magazines are a valuable source of information about the club and it’s members.
Below we have the game Berg-Povah, Wijk aan Zee, 1979 annotated by Streatham & Brixton team mate, IM Andrew Martin :
and here is the game in full:
Nigel continues to play for Guildford in the Surrey League and in the Surrey Border League as well as Guildford in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL).
Nigel started the highly successful 4NCL teams sponsored by his company Guildford A&DC (Assessment & Development Consultants) and the 4NCL team(s) are now run by Roger Emerson and Julien Shepley having taken a back seat since June 2017.
His peak rating was 2385 in January 1980 aged 28.
Nigel is married to Gill and has a daughter Lucy and a son, Jonathan.
In recent times Nigel has been playing more nationally and internationally and and has become a specialist in the Accelerated London System (with 2.Lf4) and is a regular on the International veterans circuit.
Here is an article written by Richard W. O’Brien from British Chess, Pergamon Press, 1983 :
“Nigel Povah was for the majority of the seventies a chess professional. He mixed playing with teaching in various schools and also coached individuals. He is a BCF qualified coach. Danny King (our second youngest international master) and the late Ian Wells were two who clearly benefited from his teachings.
On the playing front he won numerous congresses including Hammersmith 1970, Paignton 1974, LARA 1974, Evening Standard 1974, LARA(again) 1978 and Charlton 1979. In 1975 he won the SCCU Championship and again in 1976. He first played in international tournaments in 1973 when as one of the weaker players in the tournament he produced excellent annotations for the bulletin, even for the games he lost. These were the first signs of becoming a chess writer. To date he has shared first place in four international tournaments Robert Silk 1976, Malta 1976, Malta(again) 1979 and Wijk aan Zee Master Reserves 1979. It can be seen that 1979 was a good year. He also shared 4th place in the British Championship and represented
England at senior level against Denmark in the same year.
His road to the lM title has been long and hard. On several occasions he got close to the norm requirement just to fail. At Lloyds Bank in 1978 and 1980 and Lewisham 1981 he got the necessary three norms. Had he then ceased playing (with an Elo of 23751 he would automatically have had the lM title confirmed at Lucerne in 1982. He however continued playing and became the victim of some complicated and, with respect, unfair FIDE regulations, and his title was delayed until 1983. Clearly had the General Assembly met between January 1982 and June 1982 he would have been awarded the title at least a year earlier!
He has written several books-Chess Training published by Faber, English:Four Knights Batsford, How to Play the English Batsford and was co-author of Sicilian: Lasker-Pelikan Batsford. These last three Batsford publications indicate his interest in current theory. Two of the games which follow- v Berg (see 16…Rb8) and v Speelman (see 12 NgS)certainly confirm this. The Streatham and Brixton club owe much to Nigel Povah in becoming one of the strongest clubs in the country. At one time an average second division side (London league) they have since won the league and been in contention more than once. For several years he was one of the main three organisers at the club and even today still continues to play for them and is currently their National Club match-captain although he now lives some twenty miles away in Guildford.
In 1979 he organised the First Regency International at Ramsgate. In conjunction with Ian Josephs (sponsor) and Bob Wade (controller) this has become a highly successful annual event.
Now married, his wife Gill presented him with a daughter Lucy shortly after the completion of the Regency International in 1982.
He now works for ICL as training consultant and limits his over the board chess to club chess for Streatham.
He has recently taken up postal chess and in 1983 after competing in the BPCF Jubilee he became a correspondence International Master.
He has a BSc in Psychology and an MSc in Occupational Psychology.”
Streatham & Brixton becoming BCF National Club Champions in 1989. The team was Tony Kosten, Mark Hedben, Daniel King, Nigel Povah (Captain), Joe Gallagher and Julian Hodgson : quite a strong team
According to Chess Training : “Two of his pupils were members of England’s victorious 4-man team in the World Under-16 team event.”
Sicilian Lasker-PelikanChess Training : Nigel PovahEnglish : Four KnightsHow to play the English OpeningAssessment Centres and Global Talent ManagementIM Nigel Povah, courtesy of John Upham Photography
IM Lawrence Hugh Cooper, photograph from Cathy Rogers
BCN wishes Happy Birthday to IM Lawrence Cooper (16-vii-1970)
Lawrence was born in Stone, Staffordshire and attend Walton High School, Stafford.
Lawrence Cooper, Demis Hassabis, Cathy Haslinger and Dharshan Kumaran in around 1986. Possibly at a Lloyds Bank event.
He became a FIDE Master in 1989 and then an International Master in 2001.
Lawrence was awarded the FIDE International Organiser title in 2011 and the FIDE Arbiter title in 2016.
Tim Dickinson and Lawrence Cooper at the 2012 London Chess Classic, Olympia
His peak rating was 2430 in January 1988.
Lawrence plays for Wood Green in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) plus Newport (Shropshire), Stafford, Bushbury and Worcestershire CCA in other competitions.
Lawrence Cooper (centre with trophy) being presented with 1992 BCF Counties Championship trophy by WIM Cathy Forbes. Others in the group include Michael Gough, Alan A Smith, Gerald Acey, Mike P Townsend, Malcolm Armstrong, Martin Costley, Alan Crombleholme, Graeme N Buckley, Paul Wallace, Mark A . Wheeler, Dave Carless, Darren P Wheeler, Keith Thompson, Ralph MA Allen and Graham SmithFull caption in image belowFull caption for above 1986 BCF Junior Squad group photograph
IM Lawrence Cooper, photography by Fiona Steil-Antoni
He plays for Cavendish, Hendon and 4NCL MK Phoenix.
He gained his FM title in 1982.
His peak rating of 2335 was achieved in January, 1980.
David Friedgood (far right) and a victorious Wood Green team. Trophy presented by Magnus Magnusson
Winners of the Lloyds Bank 1987-8 British Solving Championships: (l-r) David Friedgood (runner-up), Sir Jeremy Morse, Jonathan Mestel (winner) and Jonathan Lennox (third-place)FM David Friedgood at the 2014 Winton Capital Problem Solving Championship at Eton College, courtesy of John Upham PhotographyDavid was part of the successful 2010 England team in the World Solving Championships along with John Nunn, Jonathan Mestel and Colin McNabSecrets of Spectacular Chess
IM Robert Bellin, courtesy of John Upham Photography
BCN sends IM Robert Bellin best wishes on his birthday, this day (the 30th of June) in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.
His first tournament that appears in MegaBase 2020 was the British Under-14 championship.
He was 1st= in the Islington U18 tournament in 1970 with Sergio Mariotti ahead of Michael Stean, John Nunn and a very young Tony Miles
Robert Bellin (middle row, second from left))
Robert was awarded the IM title in 1977. He was outright British Champion in 1979 in Chester having tied first equal (with six others) in 1974 in Clacton. The play-off was won by George Botterill.
From the BCF 1979-80 Year Book of Chess : Robert Bellin, the new British Champion, explains the secret to the Mayor of Chester (?) and to David Anderton, BCF President
His best international success was in 1981 in Shanghai coming clear first overall.
His highest Elo rating of 2440 was achieved in 1980 at the age of 28.
Robert Bellin with Leonard Barden and Stewart Reuben at the 1978 Aaronson Masters in London
Robert plays for 4NCL Cheddleton.
He was a member of the Under-65 seniors world championship winning team in 2019.
Robert is married to WGM Dr. Jana Bellin and they have two sons.
IM Robert BellinRobert Bellin, British Champion, CHESS, Volume 45, Numbers 827-28, page 27.
The Classical DutchWinning with the DutchTest Your Positional PlayQueen’s Pawn : Veresov SystemMastering the King’s Indian DefenceLondon System RepertoireTrompowski Opening and Torre Attack
BCN wishes IM Matthew Wadsworth Happy Birthday this day (June 27th).
Previously we reported:
IM Matthew Wadsworth, one of England’s most promising young players, has earned his first Grandmaster norm from his excellent performance in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL). Matthew, who is twenty, has a current FIDE standard play rating of 2413 and is ranked 34th amongst the active players in England (by FIDE rating) earning his FM title in 2016 and IM title in 2019.
Matthew could leapfrog to Grandmaster status with further norms and by increasing his live rating to 2500. The IM title was ratified at the FIDE Congress, 2nd quarter PB 2019, 27-30 June, Baku, Azerbaijan when his live rating had topped 2400.
Matthew with father Jim at the 2012 Surrey Congress
Matthew’s first ECF grade was 66A in 2007 (aged 7) and he played for Maidenhead in local leagues, St. Pirans’s School and then Reading School.
Matthew at the 2013 British Championships in Torquay
Matthew is reading Economics at Queen’s College, Cambridge and rows for the college team.
Matthew joined 4NCL at an early age and played for AMCA (Andrew Martin Chess Academy) soon rising the ranks to the AMCA first team and he currently represents the Guildford 2 team in Division One of the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL). Matthew’s 4NCL results for the 2018-19 season were :
1. Fodor, Tamas Jr, draw
2. Ashton, Adam G, win
3. Gonda, Laszlo, draw
4. Kulon, Klaudia, win
5. Holland, James P, win
6. Stewart, Ashley, win
7. Ledger, Andrew J, win
8. Plat, Vojtech, loss
9. no game
10. Jackson, James P, win
11. no game
giving a performance of 7/9
Matthew at the 2014 British Championships in Aberystwyth
One of the undoubted highlights of Matthews 2018 chess year was his draw with Oxford domiciled GM Hou Yifan, three times Women’s World Champion from China during the annual Varsity match, Matthew representing Cambridge.
In 2021 Matthew supported Guildford Chess Club in its 125th Anniversary event by being part of the simultaneous display team:
IM Matthew Wadsworth at the Guildford Chess Club 125th Anniversary event on September 11th, 2021. Courtesy of John Upham PhotographyIM Matthew Wadsworth at the Guildford Chess Club 125th Anniversary event on September 11th, 2021. Courtesy of John Upham Photography
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