Tag Archives: British

Birthday of IM Alan Merry (08-xi-1996)

BCN send Birthday greetings to IM Alan Merry

Alan Baxter Merry was born on Friday, November 8th, 1996 in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. His mother’s maiden name is Guymer. Alan has a younger brother James Clayton Merry (born 1999). James is also registered with Suffolk CCA but have never had a published grading or rating.

FIDE rating profile for IM Alan Merry
FIDE rating profile for IM Alan Merry
Crosstable for Purley Big Slick International, 2013
Crosstable for Purley Big Slick International, 2013

He became a FIDE Master in 2013 and an International Master in 2016. His peak rating according to Felice was 2396 in July 2016. However this has been surpassed and according to MegaBase 2020 it is 2460 in June 2018 at the age of 22.

Alan won the 2014 Golders Green Open with a convincing 5.5/6 :

Part crosstable for 2014 Golders Green Open
Part crosstable for 2014 Golders Green Open

and has won further events since including the Kingsley Healthcare Great Yarmouth Congress in 2018.

IM Alan Merry at the 2019 Basingstoke 4NCL Congress
IM Alan Merry at the 2019 Basingstoke 4NCL Congress

Alan plays for Suffolk County Chess Association and in 4NCL started with Anglian Avengers, then the ADs and finally moving to Barbican in the 2015/16 season. His current ECF grading is 237A for standard-play and 236A for rapid-play. His FIDE standard play rating is 2427.

Alan has a plus score against : James Jackson, Ravi Haria, John Nunn, Peter Sowray, James Adair, Matthew Wadsworth, Jack Rudd and Simon Williams to name but a few.

With the white pieces Alan has a varied repertoire favouring (unusually) the Four Knights game.

As the second player he champions the French Winawer and the Modern Benoni.

IM Alan Merry
IM Alan Merry

Birthday of IM Alan Merry (08-xi-1996)

BCN send Birthday greetings to IM Alan Merry

Alan Baxter Merry was born on Friday, November 8th, 1996 in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. His mother’s maiden name is Guymer. Alan has a younger brother James Clayton Merry (born 1999). James is also registered with Suffolk CCA but have never had a published grading or rating.

FIDE rating profile for IM Alan Merry
FIDE rating profile for IM Alan Merry
Crosstable for Purley Big Slick International, 2013
Crosstable for Purley Big Slick International, 2013

He became a FIDE Master in 2013 and an International Master in 2016. His peak rating according to Felice was 2396 in July 2016. However this has been surpassed and according to MegaBase 2020 it is 2460 in June 2018 at the age of 22.

Alan won the 2014 Golders Green Open with a convincing 5.5/6 :

Part crosstable for 2014 Golders Green Open
Part crosstable for 2014 Golders Green Open

and has won further events since including the Kingsley Healthcare Great Yarmouth Congress in 2018.

IM Alan Merry at the 2019 Basingstoke 4NCL Congress
IM Alan Merry at the 2019 Basingstoke 4NCL Congress

Alan plays for Suffolk County Chess Association and in 4NCL started with Anglian Avengers, then the ADs and finally moving to Barbican in the 2015/16 season. His current ECF grading is 237A for standard-play and 236A for rapid-play. His FIDE standard play rating is 2427.

Alan has a plus score against : James Jackson, Ravi Haria, John Nunn, Peter Sowray, James Adair, Matthew Wadsworth, Jack Rudd and Simon Williams to name but a few.

With the white pieces Alan has a varied repertoire favouring (unusually) the Four Knights game.

As the second player he champions the French Winawer and the Modern Benoni.

IM Alan Merry
IM Alan Merry

Birthday of IM Alan Merry (08-xi-1996)

BCN send Birthday greetings to IM Alan Merry

Alan Baxter Merry was born on Friday, November 8th, 1996 in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. His mother’s maiden name is Guymer. Alan has a younger brother James Clayton Merry (born 1999). James is also registered with Suffolk CCA but have never had a published grading or rating.

FIDE rating profile for IM Alan Merry
FIDE rating profile for IM Alan Merry
Crosstable for Purley Big Slick International, 2013
Crosstable for Purley Big Slick International, 2013

He became a FIDE Master in 2013 and an International Master in 2016. His peak rating according to Felice was 2396 in July 2016. However this has been surpassed and according to MegaBase 2020 it is 2460 in June 2018 at the age of 22.

Alan won the 2014 Golders Green Open with a convincing 5.5/6 :

Part crosstable for 2014 Golders Green Open
Part crosstable for 2014 Golders Green Open

and has won further events since including the Kingsley Healthcare Great Yarmouth Congress in 2018.

IM Alan Merry at the 2019 Basingstoke 4NCL Congress
IM Alan Merry at the 2019 Basingstoke 4NCL Congress

Alan plays for Suffolk County Chess Association and in 4NCL started with Anglian Avengers, then the ADs and finally moving to Barbican in the 2015/16 season. His current ECF grading is 237A for standard-play and 236A for rapid-play. His FIDE standard play rating is 2427.

Alan has a plus score against : James Jackson, Ravi Haria, John Nunn, Peter Sowray, James Adair, Matthew Wadsworth, Jack Rudd and Simon Williams to name but a few.

With the white pieces Alan has a varied repertoire favouring (unusually) the Four Knights game.

As the second player he champions the French Winawer and the Modern Benoni.

IM Alan Merry
IM Alan Merry

Birthday of IM Alan Merry (08-xi-1996)

BCN send Birthday greetings to IM Alan Merry

Alan Baxter Merry was born on Friday, November 8th, 1996 in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. His mother’s maiden name is Guymer. Alan has a younger brother James Clayton Merry (born 1999). James is also registered with Suffolk CCA but have never had a published grading or rating.

FIDE rating profile for IM Alan Merry
FIDE rating profile for IM Alan Merry
Crosstable for Purley Big Slick International, 2013
Crosstable for Purley Big Slick International, 2013

He became a FIDE Master in 2013 and an International Master in 2016. His peak rating according to Felice was 2396 in July 2016. However this has been surpassed and according to MegaBase 2020 it is 2460 in June 2018 at the age of 22.

Alan won the 2014 Golders Green Open with a convincing 5.5/6 :

Part crosstable for 2014 Golders Green Open
Part crosstable for 2014 Golders Green Open

and has won further events since including the Kingsley Healthcare Great Yarmouth Congress in 2018.

IM Alan Merry at the 2019 Basingstoke 4NCL Congress
IM Alan Merry at the 2019 Basingstoke 4NCL Congress

Alan plays for Suffolk County Chess Association and in 4NCL started with Anglian Avengers, then the ADs and finally moving to Barbican in the 2015/16 season. His current ECF grading is 237A for standard-play and 236A for rapid-play. His FIDE standard play rating is 2427.

Alan has a plus score against : James Jackson, Ravi Haria, John Nunn, Peter Sowray, James Adair, Matthew Wadsworth, Jack Rudd and Simon Williams to name but a few.

With the white pieces Alan has a varied repertoire favouring (unusually) the Four Knights game.

As the second player he champions the French Winawer and the Modern Benoni.

IM Alan Merry
IM Alan Merry

Happy Birthday IM Gary Quillan (07-xi-1970)

Best wishes to IM Gary Quillan on his birthday, this day (November 7th) in 1970.

Garry Quillan
Garry Quillan

Birthday of FM Marcus Harvey (24-vii-1996)

BCN wishes Happy Birthday to FM 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
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.
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 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
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 Harvey’s FIDE rating profile according to Megabase 2020

On 6th November 2019 we reported that Marcus had obtained his second International Master norm at the recent (October 2019) Hull 4NCL International Congress by scoring 4.5/9 with wins over IM Andrew Greet and IM Richard Palliser.

On July 17th 2021 Marcus was joint winner with IM Peter Roberson in the 1st Chessfest Decode Rapidplay with an impressive 6/6 and a TPR of 2911.

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.

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 easily of IM strength and surely is a strong candidate for England’s next Grandmaster.

FM Marcus Ross Harvey
FM Marcus Ross Harvey