Neil McDonald (born 21 January 1967) is an English chess grandmaster and a player on the international chess circuit. He is an English Chess Federation coach,[1] who has trained many of the country’s strongest junior players. McDonald is a regular coach of the English junior team and was Head Coach of the English Chess Federation team at the Greece World Schools Championship in 2013.[2] He regularly escorts blind and partially sighted chess players to international World Championship events and is also a chess writer.
McDonald authored the French Defence monthly updates on chesspublishing.com from October 1999 until March 2009,[3] 1 e4 … updates from November 2009 until January 2010,[4] 1 e4 … from June 2014 until February 2015[5] and returned to 1 e4 … in March 2017 until January 2018.[6]
Neil shared first place in the 1986 GLC Masters with Jonathan Levitt, was outright first at the Elekes Memorial, 1995, first at The Leinster IM Tournament in Dublin, 1997, and other tournaments since. Neil plays for Wood Green in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL).
He became an International Master in 1986 and was awarded the Grandmaster title in 1996.
McDonald obtained his FIDE Trainer qualification in 2016.[7]
Neil is a prolific and successful author, most recently with
Dynamic Defence, Neil McDonald, Everyman Chess, 1st December 2021, ISBN-13 : 978-1781945902
John Wisker (30 May 1846 in Kingston upon Hull, England – 18 January 1884 in Richmond, Victoria) was an English chess player and journalist. By 1870, he was one of the world’s ten best chess players, and the second-best English-born player, behind only Joseph Henry Blackburne.
Wisker moved to London in 1866 to become a reporter for the City Press and befriended Howard Staunton. His proficiency at chess improved rapidly, and he won the 1870 British Chess Championship after a play-off against Amos Burn, ahead of Blackburne, the defending champion. He won again in 1872 after a play-off against the first British champion, Cecil Valentine De Vere. After this second victory, the British championship was not resumed until 1904. Wisker edited chess columns for The Sporting Times and Land and Water. From 1872 to 1876, Wisker was Secretary of the British Chess Association and co-editor of The Chess Player’s Chronicle. After learning that he had contracted tuberculosis, Wisker emigrated to Australia in the autumn of 1876 to try to regain his health. In Australia, he wrote a chess column for the Australasian. In 1884, Wisker died from bronchitis and tuberculosis.
John Wisker (30-v-1846, 18-i-1884)
Here is a short item from the Ken Whyld Association web site :
and here is a more detailed article from chess.com
From The Oxford Companion to Chess by David Hooper & Ken Whyld :
John Wisker was an English player and journalist. After moving from Yorkshire to London in 1866 Wisker improved rapidly, so that in the early 1870s he could be ranked among the world’s best ten and second only to Blackburne among English-born players. In 1870 Wisker won the British Championship ahead of Blackburne (the holder) after a play-oil against Burn, and in 1872 he again won the title after a play-off against De Vere. (winner of the first British Championship). By winning twice in succession Wisker retained the trophy and the contests ceased until 1904 (when
Napier won). Against two of his contemporaries Wisker played six matches: Bird in 1873 (+6 =1 -6 and +4 =3 -7) and again in 1874 (+10 =3 -8 and +3 =1 -5); and MacDonnell in 1873 ( = 1 -3) and 1875 ( + 7 =4 -4), Discovering that he had tuberculosis, Wisker emigrated to Australia in the autumn of 1876, hoping to improve his health. In England he edited excellent chess columns in The Sporting Times and Land and Water, and was co-editor of the Chess Player’s Chronicle from 1872 to 1876; in
Australia he edited a chess column in the Australasian.
From The Encyclopedia of Chess by Anne Sunnucks :
British Champion in 1879 and 1872 and Hon. Secretary of the British Chess Association from 1872 – 1877. Wisker was born in Hull. His parents were poor and, he received little schooling, but by his own efforts educated himself and by the time he was 19 was contributing articles to the Fortnightly Review. In 1866 he came to London to report for the City Press and was introduced to London chess circles by Howard Staunton. His play rapidly improved, and his victory in the British Championship in 1870 was achieved after a ply-off against Burn, ahead of Blackburne. In 1872, by successfully defending his title, he won the BCA Challenge Cup outright. On this occasion he won a play-off against De Vere. In 1872 Wisker became co-editor with Skipworth of the Chess Player’s Chronicle.
in 1875, Wisker was found to have consumption, and two years later. on medical advice, he emigrated to Australia. He became chess editor of The Australian, an appointment which he held at the time of his death. He died on 18th January 1884 from bronchitis on top of consumption.
From The Encyclopedia of Chess by Harry Golombek :
A prominent British player and chess administrator. Wisker won the BCA Challenge Cup in 1870 after a play-off with Burn. In 1871 he narrowly lost (+2 -3 =4)a match to the French master Rosenthal, who had fled to London to avoid the rigours of war. Wisker retained the Challenge Cup in 1872, this time after a play-off with De Vere. In the following year Wisker played a series of matches against Bird, drawing the first (+6 -6 =1) losing the second (+4 -6 =2) and winning the third (+10 -8 = 3).
From 1872 to 1877 Wisker was secretary of the BCA and jointly edited the Chess Player’s Chronicle. wisker suffered from consumption and in 1877 under doctor’s orders emigrated to Australia where he died (H.G.)
We send best wishes to IM Shaun Mark Taulbut born on this day (January 11th) in 1958.
IM Shaun Mark Taulbut
Here is his Wikipedia article from the Polish (!) version :
In 1974. I shared m. In the championship of Great Britain juniors to 16 years [1] , whereas in 1977. Won the Brighton title of vice-champion of Great Britain (won the George Botterill ). He achieved the greatest success in his career at the turn of 1977 and 1978 in Groningen , where he won the title of European champion up to 20 years [2] . In 1978 in Mexico he won the title of team world champion in the category up to 26 years [3] . He achieved another success in 1981 in Copenhagen , sharing the first town (together with Petyr Welikow and Tom Wedberg ) inopen tournament Politiken Cup . In the same year, he divided II-IV in New York , while in 1982 he repeated this achievement in London (after William Watson , together with Jonathan Tisdall and Mark Hebden ). In 1983 he ended his chess career.
IM Shaun Mark Taulbut
He reached the highest ranking in his career on July 1, 1982, sharing 9-10 points with 2465 points. place among English chess players [4] .
He is the author of many books on chess, primarily devoted to the theory of debuts .
IM Shaun Mark Taulbut (right) playing Adrian Mikhalchishin
and here is the game from the above photograph :
(from l-r) Jonathan Kinlay, Shaun Taulbut, Jonathan Speelman, David Goodman and Jonathan Mestel accepting 1st prize at the 1978 World U26 Student Olympiad in Mexico CityShaun Taulbut (upper right) and David Goodman (lower right) from the 1978 U26 Olympiad
Shaun coached strong juniors especially Michael Adams. This was done via the postal system using audio cassettes on a weekly basis and funded by the Friends of Chess and he was a British Chess Federation Coach.
Shaun Taulbut and friends during the 1978 Lloyds Bank Masters
Shaun largely gave up competitive chess in 1983 to pursue a financial services career. He reached a senior position in ANZ (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group) reporting to Ian Snape. In ANZ Shaun met Stephen Lowe and on September 19th 2005 they became Directors and owners of British Chess Magazine Ltd. Shaun lives in Wokingham with his wife, Christine.
They have two children Verity and ?, various cats and a wormery.
(second from right standing ) Shaun Taulbut
Shaun occasionally plays for Crowthorne in the Berkshire League and the Surrey Border League and has played for the BCM Dragons 4NCL team managed by John Upham.
Niksic 1978, SM Taulbut, , Master Chess Publications, 1978Positional Chess, Shaun Taulbut, George Allen & Unwin, 1983, ISBN 0 04 794017 4An Introduction to CHESS, Shaun Taulbut, Crowood Chess Library, 1984, ISBN 0 946284 85 7Chess Exchanges, S. Taulbut & S.Jones. Pergamon Press, 1986, 0 08 029751-X
We send best wishes to IM Shaun Mark Taulbut born on this day (January 11th) in 1958.
IM Shaun Mark Taulbut
Here is his Wikipedia article from the Polish (!) version :
In 1974. I shared m. In the championship of Great Britain juniors to 16 years [1] , whereas in 1977. Won the Brighton title of vice-champion of Great Britain (won the George Botterill ). He achieved the greatest success in his career at the turn of 1977 and 1978 in Groningen , where he won the title of European champion up to 20 years [2] . In 1978 in Mexico he won the title of team world champion in the category up to 26 years [3] . He achieved another success in 1981 in Copenhagen , sharing the first town (together with Petyr Welikow and Tom Wedberg ) inopen tournament Politiken Cup . In the same year, he divided II-IV in New York , while in 1982 he repeated this achievement in London (after William Watson , together with Jonathan Tisdall and Mark Hebden ). In 1983 he ended his chess career.
IM Shaun Mark Taulbut
He reached the highest ranking in his career on July 1, 1982, sharing 9-10 points with 2465 points. place among English chess players [4] .
He is the author of many books on chess, primarily devoted to the theory of debuts .
IM Shaun Mark Taulbut (right) playing Adrian Mikhalchishin
and here is the game from the above photograph :
(from l-r) Jonathan Kinlay, Shaun Taulbut, Jonathan Speelman, David Goodman and Jonathan Mestel accepting 1st prize at the 1978 World U26 Student Olympiad in Mexico CityShaun Taulbut (upper right) and David Goodman (lower right) from the 1978 U26 Olympiad
Shaun coached strong juniors especially Michael Adams. In MAs case it was by means of correspondence and this was funded by the Friends of Chess.
Shaun largely gave up competitive chess in 1983 to pursue a financial services career. He reached a senior position in ANZ (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group) reporting to Ian Snape. In ANZ Shaun met Stephen Lowe and on September 19th 2005 they became Directors and owners of British Chess Magazine Ltd. Shaun lives in Wokingham with his wife, Christine and several pets including a wormery.
(second from right standing ) Shaun Taulbut
Shaun occasionally plays for Crowthorne in the Berkshire League and the Surrey Border League and has played for the BCM Dragons 4NCL team managed by John Upham.
We send best wishes to IM Shaun Mark Taulbut born on this day (January 11th) in 1958.
IM Shaun Mark Taulbut
Here is his Wikipedia article from the Polish (!) version :
In 1974. I shared m. In the championship of Great Britain juniors to 16 years [1] , whereas in 1977. Won the Brighton title of vice-champion of Great Britain (won the George Botterill ). He achieved the greatest success in his career at the turn of 1977 and 1978 in Groningen , where he won the title of European champion up to 20 years [2] . In 1978 in Mexico he won the title of team world champion in the category up to 26 years [3] . He achieved another success in 1981 in Copenhagen , sharing the first town (together with Petyr Welikow and Tom Wedberg ) inopen tournament Politiken Cup . In the same year, he divided II-IV in New York , while in 1982 he repeated this achievement in London (after William Watson , together with Jonathan Tisdall and Mark Hebden ). In 1983 he ended his chess career.
IM Shaun Mark Taulbut
He reached the highest ranking in his career on July 1, 1982, sharing 9-10 points with 2465 points. place among English chess players [4] .
He is the author of many books on chess, primarily devoted to the theory of debuts .
IM Shaun Mark Taulbut (right) playing Adrian Mikhalchishin
and here is the game from the above photograph :
(from l-r) Jonathan Kinlay, Shaun Taulbut, Jonathan Speelman, David Goodman and Jonathan Mestel accepting 1st prize at the 1978 World U26 Student Olympiad in Mexico CityShaun Taulbut (upper right) and David Goodman (lower right) from the 1978 U26 Olympiad
Shaun coached strong juniors especially Michael Adams. In MAs case it was by means of correspondence and this was funded by the Friends of Chess.
Shaun largely gave up competitive chess in 1983 to pursue a financial services career. He reached a senior position in ANZ (Australia and New Zealand Banking Group) reporting to Ian Snape. In ANZ Shaun met Stephen Lowe and on September 19th 2005 they became Directors and owners of British Chess Magazine Ltd. Shaun lives in Wokingham with his wife, Christine and several pets including a wormery.
(second from right standing ) Shaun Taulbut
Shaun occasionally plays for Crowthorne in the Berkshire League and the Surrey Border League and has played for the BCM Dragons 4NCL team managed by John Upham.
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