BCN wishes Happy Birthday to GM Daniel Fernandez who at 26 is currently England’s youngest Grandmaster. The previous GM title holder was Jonathan Hawkins in 2014 making two in seven years.
Daniel Howard Fernandez was born in Stockport, Manchester on Sunday, March 5th 1995. “Think Twice” by Celine Dion was top of the UK hit parade.
Daniel started playing chess at the age of seven (after his father taught him the rules) and at this time attended King’s School, Harpenden. His first chess club was Little Heath which became the ECF Small Club of the Year in 2015. They play in the Potter’s Bar area and include IM John Pigott in their membership.
At Little Heath Chess Club Daniel was coached by Mark Uniacke (who worked extensively on the early chess engine HIARCS).
Daniel went up to Queen’s College, Cambridge to read mathematics and left to become a Data Analyst at Mu Sigma Inc. He can speak several languages (including Serbian!) and works as a translator when opportunities arise.
He currently lives in Australia offering coaching and writing chess books (for Thinkers Publishing) and columns for Chessbase. In his spare time (!) Daniel is studying for The Master of Complex Systems degree at The University of Sydney.
Daniel’s first ECF graded game was rapidplay on July 5th 2003 in the SCCU Junior Under-14 Final.
His first standard play game was in August 2003 at the Edinburgh based British Under-8 Championship.
On August 13th 2004 in Scarborough Daniel became British Under-9 Champion sharing the title with Daniel Hunt & Saravanan Sathyanandha.
The Fernandez family relocated to Singapore in August, Daniel attending the Anglo-Chinese School in Singapore. He was swiftly recruited into the Singapore Chess Federation’s (SCF) National Junior Squad. Also in that squad were Danielle Ho and Howard Chiu (remember this for later!).
Barely three weeks after his Scarborough triumph on September 4th 2004 Daniel played his first FIDE rated game in the 5th Asian Under-10 Championship organised by the ASEAN Chess Confederation. His performance in this event was rewarded with a FIDE Master title in 2005. Because he was no longer active in English events the ECF had the unusual scenario of having a ten year old FIDE Master with a published grade of ~120!
In typically modest fashion Daniel confesses that he did not “deserve” the FM title at this time and that it was the consequence of the strong position of the ASEAN and SCF organisations within world chess. At the same event Wesley So gained his FM title in the Under-12 section.
FM Daniel Fernandez
Another interesting consequence of the relocation was that when Daniel returned to England in 2012 his last published grading went from ~ 120 to ~230!
One of the motivations of returning to England was to obtain the necessary entrance requirement to study mathematics at Cambridge. This he did by studying for A-levels at Manchester Grammar School.
Daniel with IM Jovan Petronic during the 2010 world juniors in Chotowa, Poland | Photo: Diana Mihajlova
Consequently Daniel’s FIDE rating profile also showed a fast pace of development:
FIDE rating profile for Daniel Fernandez
Sydney 2009 and Sydney 2010 both provided IM norms with the third one coming from Kuala Lumpar 2010 and with these Daniel became an International Master in 2010 the title being confirmed at the 3rd quarter Presidential Board Meeting 2010, 24-25 July 2010, Tromso in Norway.
IM Daniel Fernandez, 100th British Championships, Round 5, Torquay. Courtesy of John Upham Photography
He won the Budapest Sarkany Tournament in 2014 as follows:
Full Crosstable from Budapest Sarkany Tournament, 2014.
earning his first GM norm in the process.
IM Daniel Fernandez, 101st British Championships, Aberystwyth. Courtesy of John Upham Photography
BCN asked Daniel for three of his favourite games. The first one is this Polish Defence game from 2015 played at the Visma Arena in Vaxjo, Sweden. First we have the crosstable showing that Daniel earnt his second GM norm from this event.
Full Crosstable for Vaxjo, Visma tournament in Sweden, 2015.
{[%evp 0,86,63,13,126,116,101,97,97,97,84,96,96,57,79,51,50,52,38,58,82,70,93,
31,-1,-22,-19,-35,-16,-50,29,-1,0,-22,-36,-36,-36,-92,-81,-92,-84,-82,-73,-104,
-95,-79,-36,-33,-51,-74,-42,-51,-51,-91,-86,-99,-91,-87,-87,-82,-105,-100,-127,
-111,-148,-160,-139,-127,-136,-254,-164,-257,-259,-257,-309,-663,-691,-933,
-153,-747,-809,-824,-875,-986,-1014,-2303,-2794,-29999,-30000]} 1. d4 b5 {
The Polish Defence as used by Spassky against Petrosian.} 2. e4 a6 3. Nf3 {
When is it the right time for White to play a4?} Bb7 4. Bd3 e6 5. O-O c5 6. c3
d6 ({more common is} 6… Nf6 7. Re1 Be7 8. Bg5) 7. Re1 Nd7 8. Nbd2 Qc7 {
A rare choice but must be reasonable.} (8… Be7 9. Nf1 Ngf6 10. Ng3 O-O 11. h3
Qc7) 9. a4 $18 {[#] and eventually we get the thematic break against …b5 The
engines are complimentary of White’s position.} c4 10. Bb1 $6 {This would
appear to be a strange decision.} (10. Bf1 {Maintaining the presssure on
Black’s pawns must be superior.}) 10… Be7 11. Nf1 {You’d imagine that b3 at
some point would make sense leaving the pressure on c4.} Ngf6 12. Ng3 O-O 13.
h4 Rfe8 14. h5 {White seems to be struggling to find a decent plan.} e5 15. Nf5
Bf8 16. axb5 axb5 17. Rxa8 Rxa8 18. Nd2 g6 $1 {If Black can expell the knight
on f5 then probably he is better.} 19. hxg6 hxg6 $17 20. Ne3 Bg7 {Strong
pointing e5 further.} 21. d5 Nc5 {[#] Black is gaining the upper hand.} 22.
Ng4 Bc8 23. Nxf6+ Bxf6 24. Qf3 Bg5 25. Nf1 Qe7 26. Ne3 Nb3 27. Bc2 Nxc1 28.
Rxc1 {Black can now really dominate the dark squares.} Ra2 29. b3 Qa7 30. bxc4
bxc4 31. Qe2 {[#]} Bg4 $1 {Ouch! Perhaps White had missed this shot?} 32. Qe1
Bxe3 33. fxe3 Qa3 $1 {and it is all over bar the shouting…} 34. Kh2 (34. Rb1
Rxc2 35. Rb8+ Kg7 36. Qh4 Qc1+ (36… Bh5 37. Qe7 Qc1+ 38. Kh2 Rxg2+ $1 39.
Kxg2 Qd2+ 40. Kg3 Qe1+ 41. Kh2 Qe2+ 42. Kh3 Qf1+ 43. Kh4) 37. Kh2 Bh5) 34…
Kg7 35. Qf1 Be2 $1 36. Qe1 Qb2 37. Bb1 Ra1 38. Rc2 Qxb1 (38… Qxc2 $1 {
is more efficient} 39. Bxc2 Rxe1) 39. Qxe2 $2 (39. Qxb1 Rxb1 40. Rxe2 {is a
better defence.}) 39… Qg1+ 40. Kg3 Re1 41. Qf2 Rxe3+ $1 42. Kg4 Qd1+ 43. Kg5
Qh5# 0-1
[/pgn]
and during the 2015/15 4NCL season Daniel obtained his final GM norm playing for Wood Green.
In March 2015 he made his first of three Varsity match appearences for Cambridge re-uniting with Danielle Ho and Howard Chiu (remember those names from earlier?).
Daniel won the 10th Jessie Gilbert Memorial in 2017:
Full Crosstable from the 2017 10th Jessie Gilbert Memorial
and also in 2017 Daniel was awarded the Grandmaster title at the 88th FIDE Congress 2017, 7-15 October, Goynuk, Antalya, Turkey.
On March 11th Daniel represented Cambridge in the 135th Varsity Match at the RAC Club in Pall Mall. According to chess24.com ‘IM Daniel Fernandez, playing board 2 for Cambridge, was awarded the Brilliancy Prize by GM Ray Keene in consultation with McShane and Speelman, for his “high-class swindle” after recovering from a bad blunder.’ See here for details.
GM Daniel Fernandez, 2019 British Championships, Torquay. Courtesy of John Upham Photography
In 2018 Daniel ventured into the world of book writing when Thinker’s Publishing released The Modernized Caro-Kann on September 8th 2018. This was a repertoire book for Black based around the Smyslov Variation :
[fen]r1bqkbnr/pp1npppp/2p5/8/3PN3/8/PPP2PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq – 0 1[/fen]
The Modernized Caro-Kann, Daniel Fernandez, Thinkers Publishing, 2018
From the rear cover we have:
“GM Daniel Fernandez (born 1995) has been an active and accomplished player for several years. He represented his native Singapore twice at Olympiads (2010 and 2012) before transferring to the English chess federation. There, he won the national classical titles at U-18 and U-21 levels and worked to become a Grandmaster while simultaneously studying at Cambridge. The Caro-Kann was instrumental in his quest for that title. Currently, Daniel is known in the chess scene not only as a solid player, but also as a mentor figure to younger English players, as a producer of well-received commentary and analysis, and as a multilingual chess coach. This is his first book.”
From January 2019 we have this interesting encounter between Gawain Jones and Daniel from the annual 4NCL meeting of Guildford and Wood Green:
With the White pieces Daniel has played a wide range of first moves but the majority move by far is 1.e4. His choice versus the Najdorf is some eclectic : sometime ago 6. Rg1 was the favourite and now 6.a4 is preferred.
[fen]rnbqkb1r/1p2pppp/p2p1n2/8/3NP3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R1BQKBR1 b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]
Against 1…e5 Daniel offers a main line Ruy Lopez.
What does a Caro-Kann expert play against the Caro-Kann? Nowadays the Two Knights Variation is employed!
As the second player he plays the Sicilian Najdorf as well as the Caro-Kann plus an equal mixture of the Grünfeld and King’s Indian Defences.
In 2019 Daniel was interviewed by Edwin Lam on behalf of ChessBase : fascinating reading!
In the same year Daniel joined IM Adam Taylor’s venture Making Grandmasters.
{[%evp 0,63,19,-30,-33,-42,-34,-34,-35,-26,-27,-27,-5,-28,-2,5,14,-30,-62,-77,
-39,-90,-40,-79,-59,-73,-56,-52,-37,-37,-38,-105,44,60,63,56,98,17,60,3,86,32,
61,68,65,66,96,95,118,109,136,153,132,211,211,202,269,280,383,424,450,477,542,
539,782,836]} 1. f4 d5 2. b3 {Larsen would have been proud!} Nf6 3. Bb2 Bf5 4.
Nf3 e6 5. e3 h6 {Black creates a luft on h7 for his light squared bishop.
Otherwise with a knight on e5 combined with a h-pawn push Black could get into
trouble. You might not think it but …h6 scores best for Black and is
labelled “Hot” by Megabase 2020.} (5… Be7 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O c5 8. Ne5 h6 9.
d3 {is a more usual way to proceed.}) 6. h3 (6. Be2 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Ne5 Nbd7
9. d3 Nxe5 10. Bxe5 Nd7 11. Bb2 Bf6 12. d4 c5) {The first appearence for this
TN.} 6… a5 $146 7. g4 Bh7 {As facilitated by h6….} {Now pause the video….
} 8. Bxf6 $5 {I bet you did not predict this capture and nor did I!} Qxf6 9. d4
a4 (9… c5) 10. bxa4 g5 $1 11. fxg5 hxg5 $17 {I’d give Black the nod here but
only just.} 12. Bd3 {[#]} Bd6 (12… Nc6 {would take advantage of White’s lack
of control of b4 and is a bit awkard to meet. Black threatens ….Nb4}) 13. Ke2
{an ugly requirement with the h-file open. This is needed so as White may
re-capture on d3 with the queen.} Nd7 (13… Bxd3+ 14. Qxd3 Nc6) 14. Bxh7 Rxh7
15. c4 dxc4 16. Nbd2 Qg6 17. Nxc4 Ke7 18. Qb1 (18. Qb3) 18… Qxb1 (18… Rxa4
{seems natural}) 19. Rhxb1 Rxh3 20. Nxg5 Rh2+ 21. Kd3 Ra7 ({Why not} 21… Rxa4
{I don’t understand.}) 22. Ne4 $1 $18 {[#] white is getting on top.} Nf6 $2 23.
Nxf6 Kxf6 24. a5 $1 {black must be regretting leaving this pawn on and is
definately worse now.} Bf8 25. Rb5 Rf2 26. a4 Bh6 27. Rh1 Kg6 28. Rhb1 b6 29.
Ne5+ Kh7 30. Rh1 f6 31. Nc6 Ra6 32. Rbh5 {and Black resigned.} 1-0
[/pgn]
Daniel’s most recent publication is The Modernized Modern Defence from Thinker’s Publishing:
The Modernized Modern Defence, Daniel Fernandez, Thinker’s Publishing, 2021
and BCN has been told that Daniel has a book in the pipeline about the Tata Steel 2021 tournament at Wijk aan Zee.
BCN remembers Nancy Elder MBE who passed away on Wednesday, March 4th 1981, i.e. forty years ago in Perth, Western Australia.
Nancy Conchar Gordon was born on Tuesday, May 25th 1915. On the same date was born Robin Day in High Wycombe who went on to design the polypropylene stacking chair.
Nancy was born in Kirmabreck, Kirkcudbrightshire in the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland.
In the 1939 register Nancy was living at 18 Thornton Avenue, Urmston, Manchester, M41 5DJ with a married couple, William Furnish (a railway time keeper) and Gertrude Furnish who performed unpaid domestic duties. Presumably Nancy was their lodger.
18 Thornton Avenue, Urmston, Manchester, M41 5DJ
Her occupation was given as a teacher of music and physical training. At this time she was single at the age of twenty-four.
In the mid-1940s Nancy relocated from Manchester to Dundee where she continued her teaching career at Dundee High School. During that time she encouraged and coached a number of players some of whom represented Scotland.
In 1950 in Tealing, Angus, Scotland Nancy married David Livie Elder. They had a daughter Christine who played chess as a junior. Tealing has a strong connection with the Elder family.
According to Alan McGowan (Chess Scotland): “She was the main instigator in forming both the Schools’ and Primary League in Dundee, and she assisted in the organisation of the Dundee 1967 International Centenary Tournament.”
When she passed away Nancy was living at 39 Whitefauld Road, Dundee, DD2 1RJ :
39 Whitefauld Road, Dundee, DD2 1RJ
Her passing was reported in the Dundee Courier and Advertiser on March 6th 1981 as follows :
Nancy Elder dies after heart attack on flight
Mrs Nancy Elder 39 Whitefauld Road, Dundee, a former music teacher at Dundee High School and one of Scotland’s best known chess players, has died after taking ill on a flight to Australia.
She was off for a long holiday which she planned to spend with relatives and friends from the world of international chess, but, after suffering a heart attack on a plane from Singapore, had been in intensive care in Perth, Western Australia.
Her daughter Christine, a primary school teacher in Tighnabruaich, received daily telephone reports on her mother’s condition from a cousin and, at the weekend, heard that she was improving gradually.
The shock news of her mother’s death came late on Wednesday night.
Mrs. Elder, who went into semi-retirement recently, has been to the fore in chess for about 35 years at local, national and international levels.
Nancy Elder MBE. Source : Milos Petronic
She has represented her country five times, having taken part in the chess Olympiad in Yugoslavia in 1963 and 1973, in Israel in 1976, in Buenos Aires in 1978 and in Malta last year.
Buenos Aires Olympiad 1978. From left: Morag McGhee, Nancy Elder, Owen Hindle, Kathleen Hindle and Lynne Houston. Courtesy of Chess Scotland
She turned down the chance to take part on three other occasions.
Haifa Olympiad 1976 – Scotland v Switzerland. From left: Nancy Elder, Kathleen Hindle, Lynne Houston. Courtesy of Chess Scotland
She was awarded the MBE for her services to chess in 1974.
She was President of Dundee Chess Club, chairman of the congress committee of the Scottish Chess Association and on the council of the Scottish Junior Chess Association.
Self-taught
She started playing chess during her school days with her brother and the two of them were more-or-less self taught.
It wasn’t until after the Second World War that she received any sort of coaching, by which time she had established her own style.
She retired on April 14th last year after 24 years in the music department of Dundee High School, where she specialised in teaching the oboe.
She continued to teach privately.
Dundee Courier and Advertiser, March 6th 1981
From British Chess Magazine, Volume CI (101, 1981), Number 6 (June), pp. 219-220 we have this obituary from Bernard Cafferty :
“Nancy C. Elder, MBE, died in Perth, Western Australia on March 4th 1981. Mrs. Elder had recently retired after a lifetime of teaching, her last post being in Dundee. I well remember her account of teaching under difficult conditions in World War 2 in Manchester. 15 Scottish Women’s Champion (the record for the event which she set-up at Troon in 1980).
Prizegiving at the 1966 Scottish Championships. From the left: Michael Fallone, Nancy Elder, W.P. McColl, President of Dundee Chess Club, Kathleen Patterson, Gerald Bonner. Courtesy of Chess Scotland
Mrs Elder was a regular competitor in the British Women’s Championship (sometimes in rivalry with her daughter Christine) and showed her playing strength with a score of 5.5/12 on board two for Scotland at the Women’s Chess Olympiad, Malta, 1980.
Malta Olympiad 1980 Left-right: Kathleen, Rosie Giulian, Owen Hindle (Team Captain), Nancy Elder, Lynne Houston. Courtesy of Chess Scotland
I am sure she will be best remembered though for her decades of effort in the organising of chess in Scotland, particularly for juniors and in schools, in recognition of which she was awarded the MBE, the only such honour ever given for services to chess ‘north of the border’ as Alan Borwell puts it in his Newsflash obituary.”
{[%evp 0,71,19,31,72,53,51,40,38,35,42,42,41,21,45,40,44,31,38,44,43,35,37,37,
56,37,60,54,156,124,220,183,183,139,160,91,90,96,101,80,101,0,5,0,6,0,1,16,1,5,
21,25,38,2,28,0,37,8,42,20,45,6,202,261,285,366,920,931,29993,29994,29995,
29996,29997,29998]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2
g6 7. Be3 Bg7 8. O-O O-O 9. h3 {A choice of Smyslov and Kudrin.} ({A more
modern way to proceed is} 9. Nb3 Be6 10. f4 Qc8 11. Kh1 Rd8 12. Bf3 Bc4 13. Rf2
e5 14. Rd2 Qe6 15. fxe5 Nxe5 16. Nd4 Qe7 17. b3) 9… a6 (9… Bd7 10. Qd2 Rc8
11. f4 a6 12. Rad1 b5 13. a3 Qc7) 10. Qd2 Qc7 11. f4 Rd8 12. Rad1 Nxd4 13. Bxd4
e5 $2 $146 {[#] The only game to feature this position.} (13… Be6) 14. Bxe5
$18 Qb6+ 15. Kh2 (15. Bd4 {Appears more natural.}) 15… Be6 16. Bxf6 (16. Bd4)
16… Bxf6 17. Nd5 {White immediately seeks exchanges.} Bxd5 18. Qxd5 Rac8 19.
Bc4 Qc7 20. Bb3 (20. Bd3) 20… Bxb2 21. a4 Qe7 {Black has equalised after the
earlier blunder.} 22. Rf3 Rc5 23. Qd3 Rc3 24. Qe2 Rdc8 25. Rxc3 Bxc3 26. Rd3
Kf8 27. Qf3 Bb4 28. g4 Rc5 29. Kg2 h6 30. Kf1 {[#]} f5 $2 {after all of
Black’s efforts lashing out is not a good idea.} (30… b5 {was reasonable.})
31. gxf5 gxf5 32. Qh5 $1 {and Black is busted.} fxe4 33. Qxh6+ Qg7 34. Qxd6+
Qe7 35. Qh6+ Qg7 36. Rd8+ {and Black resigned.} 1-0
[/pgn]
Chess Scotland award the Nancy Elder Cup annually for an individual competition for “club level” players.
We are grateful to Helen Milligan who told BCN :
My most memorable incident was when I refused to play in the Scottish Ladies at the annual Congress, preferring to try to improve my chess by playing in the Open section (really the B-Grade, below the Championship proper). I got given a piece of Nancy’s mind for that – she did not approve!
BCN remembers CGM Adrian Hollis who passed away in Wells, Somerset on Tuesday, February 26th 2013 at the age of seventy-two.
Adrian Swayne Hollis was born in Bristol, Avon on Friday, August 2nd 1940. During this critical period the Luftwaffe was wisely extending its Battle of Britain targets to include Britain’s airfields. Furthermore, Bristol was bombed heavily between June 1940 and May 1944. The longest period of regular bombing, known as the ‘Bristol Blitz’ began in autumn 1940 and ended the following spring. The first bombs of the Bristol Blitz fell at around 6 pm on Sunday 24 November 1940.
Adrian was the only child of MI5 director general Roger Henry Hollis KB CBE (later to become Sir Roger Hollis) and Evelyn Esme Hollis (née Swayne) who was Roger’s first wife. Roger was from Wells and Evelyn from Burnham-on-Sea and they were married on July 17th 1937 in Wells Cathedral with Evelyn’s father performing the ceremony.
Adrian won a scholarship in classics to Eton College and then went up to Keble College, Oxford where he took a first in mods and greats. Whilst at Keble Adrian represented Oxford in four varsity matches between 1959 and 1962. Indeed, his support for varsity matches was maintained for many years attending a large number into and beyond the Lloyds Bank era. Stalwart organiser Henry Mutkin would always be sure to extend an invitation.
In 1961 Adrian become the youngest ever West of England Champion at the age of 21.
Adrian met Margaret Mair Cameron Edwards in 1967 at St. Andrew’s University where he taught Classics and she taught German. They married in the parish of St. Leonards in St. Andrews and had two daughters, Jennifer Margaret M (b. 1974) and Veronica Swanye (b. 1977) and a son, Michael David C.
He was the Games Editor for the British Correspondence Chess Association (BCCA) resigning in 1969.
In 1984 Adrian was forced to endure allegations against his father by Chapman Pincher (in CPs book Too Secret too Long) that Sir Roger had been a Soviet spy / mole. These allegations were demonstrated to be false. He may well also have been aware of allegations against his friend and chess mentor Graham Mitchell earlier in 1963. Ironically, it was Adrian’s father who initiated the investigation into Graham. Again, the rumours were shown to be unfounded.
Adrian became a director of the company Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies Limited on the September 1st 1996 and resigned on May 12th 2007. He was also a Vice President of the West of England Chess Union (WECU).
Between 2003 and 2007 (according to the Electoral Roll) Adrian lived at 63, Bainton Road, Oxford, OX2 7AG :
63, Bainton Road, Oxford, OX2 7AG
and following his retirement (and the time of the 2008 electoral roll) Adrian had moved to Pound House, Southover, Wells, BA5 1UH :
Pound House, Southover, Wells, BA5 1UH
Adrian has written many learned papers and has had two books published :
Fragments of Roman Poetry C.60 BC-Ad 20, AS Hollis, Oxford University Press, 2007
and
Ovid Metamorphoses VIII (Schools Edition): Bk. 8, AS Hollis. Oxford University Press, 2008
Julian was a personal student of Adrian’s and was kind enough to tell us :
I do remember Adrian well. He could quote Latin verse ad infinitum. He was an expert on Ovid.
In terms of chess he had a huge pile of Informators in his study still in their cardboard packaging. He was very kind to me and insisted I play above him for Keble in the intercollegiate matches.
I gave him a copy of Developments in the Orthodox QGD which I had written in 1987. He was quite taken back when I didn’t want any money for it. He seemed to have quite a lot of respect for me.
I once asked him why he had given me a place at Oxford. He replied that he couldn’t have rejected someone with my passion and enthusiasm.
I kept in touch with Adrian until his passing. He gave me a lovely reference when I resumed my studies in 2007 at Kingston University.
I remember him as a kind and unassuming man. He became a lifelong friend.
CGM Adrian Hollis
From British Chess (Pergamon Press, 1983) Botterill, Levy, Rice and Richardson :
“I was born on August 2nd, 1940, educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford and now teach Classics at Keble College, Oxford. I learned the moves at the advanced age of thirteen from a cousin* who himself could have made a good chess player had he not been seduced by Philosophy and brain-teasers; all that remains in the mind from these encounters is a vision of perpetually losing my rooks to fianchettoed bishops.
*We are grateful to John Clarke who informed us that
“The cousin would have been Martin Hollis, who contributed the “Tantaliser” column to the New Scientist for many years. I always enjoyed his puzzles, which for me at any rate were at just the right level of difficulty – neither trivial nor totally impossible.”
Adrian Hollis. Source : The Potter Memorial
My first ever tournament was the London Boys’ Championship 1956-7. In the opening round fate allotted me Black against David Rumens. As it happened, the brochure included a game of his from the previous year in which he had answered 1.d4 with 1…Nc6, quite enough, in my opinion, to condemn him utterly.
[fen]r1bqkbnr/pppppppp/2n5/8/3P4/8/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq – 0 1[/fen]
(Ed: The above position did not impress Adrian hugely.)
This view seemed confirmed when within twelve moves of an advance French I was two pawns up. Then, however, aided by my over confidence he worked up a fierce attack, and I just escaped with a draw. Nevertheless, I won the tournament; an opponent remarked how quickly I played my moves.
Thereafter the game was never so easy, but I did reasonably, well, winning the championships of the British Universities, West of England and East of Scotland, and playing for England quite regularly during the 1960s (including 7.5/12 in six Anglo-Dutch matches).
Leonard Barden, Henry Mutkin, Adrian Hollis and Bob Wade observe Nick Ivell vs Ken Regan at the 1983 Varsity match
The high spot of my over-the-board chess was the series of World Student team championships from 1960 to 1964 in glamorous places (Leningrad, Helsinki, Mariánské Lázně, Budva and Cracow); most enjoyable of these being Budva, 1963 where one could bathe every day in the Adriatic and I won the (?) gold medal on Board 1 with 7.5/9., the year after Spassky (this must look good in the records, unless they happen to reveal that for the first time in preliminary and final sections, and that England did not qualify for the top final).
My best chess was probably played at Mariánské Lázně, 1962, where in successive rounds I had favourable draws with Radulov and Hort, coming close to beating the latter. Ironically, I was awarded the British Master title after I had virtually retired from over-the-board chess.
{[%evp 0,18,19,-22,0,-31,-9,-5,9,-19,-25,-22,-34,-17,-10,5,21,21,31,5,13]} {
This game appeared in The Spectator, April 20th, 2013 as part of an obituary
from Ray Keene. The original source was British Chess Magazine, 1966, page 302,
game #14,225.} 1. g3 Nf6 2. Bg2 d5 3. Nf3 g6 4. b4 {ASH : This set-up, in fact
a primitive form of the Reti, has been patronised recently by Smyslov, among
others. RDK : This set-up, a form of the Reti, has been championed by,
amongst others, Vassily Smyslov.} Bg7 5. Bb2 O-O 6. O-O a5 ({BCN : Nowadays}
6… c6 7. d3 a5 8. a3 axb4 9. axb4 Rxa1 10. Bxa1 Qb6 11. c3 Nbd7 12. Nbd2 e5
13. e4 Re8 {is the modern (2020) continuation.}) 7. b5 ({ASH :} 7. a3 {, or}) (
{even} 7. c3 {came into consideration here.}) 7… c5 $146 {BCN : This was the
first game to feature this position.} 8. d3 (8. bxc6 {ASH: was quite possible.}
) 8… b6 $146 {BCN : This is the only recorded game with this move.} 9. c4 e6
{ASH : Black decides to maintain a pawn centre, without worrying if the pawns
should hang. RDK : Black decides to create a pawn centre without worrying if
the pawns will end up hanging.} 10. Qc2 Bb7 11. Nbd2 Nbd7 {[#]} 12. e3 {
RDK : White has to prevent … d4 and … e5.} Qc7 13. Rad1 ({ASH : Harston
later preferred RDK: Hartston later preferred} 13. Rac1 Rad8) 13… Rad8 14.
Qb1 e5 {ASH : Somewhat risky, but the only way to progress. RDK : Somewhat
risky, but the only way to make progress.} 15. cxd5 Nxd5 16. Nc4 Rfe8 17. Qa1
f6 18. Rc1 Nf8 19. d4 exd4 20. exd4 Ne6 21. Rfd1 {[#]} Ndf4 $1 $17 {ASH :
Seizing his chance. This sacrifice is necessary because the central position
is beginning to look rickety, and appears to be sound. White has terrible
weaknesses and his queen is marooned far away. RDK : Seizing his chance.
This sacrifice is necessary because the central position is beginning to look
rickety. The sacrifice looks sound as White has terrible weaknesses and his
queen is miles away.} 22. gxf4 Nxf4 23. Ne3 (23. Bh1 Qd7 {ASH : is too slow.})
(23. d5 {ASH : Might be a shade better – see next note.}) 23… Nxg2 $19 24.
Kxg2 Be4 $1 (24… Qf4 {ASH : is also possible but the win would not be so
easy after} 25. d5 Rxd5 26. Rxd5 Bxd5 27. Nxd5 Qg4+ {ASH : etc}) 25. Nf1 Qf4
26. Rc3 cxd4 27. Rcd3 Rd5 28. Qc1 Qg4+ 29. Ng3 Rf5 30. h3 {ASH : There is
nothing better} Bxf3+ 31. Kh2 Rh5 32. Rxf3 Qxf3 33. Nxh5 {ASH : The rest is
straightforward} Qxf2+ {RDK : Now it’s straightforward for Black.} 34. Kh1
Qf3+ 35. Kg1 gxh5 36. Bxd4 Qg3+ 37. Kh1 Qxh3+ 38. Kg1 Qg4+ 39. Kh1 Rc8 40. Qd2
Rd8 {and White resigned.} 0-1
[/pgn]
In 1964 I decided that henceforth for me ‘serious’ chess would mean correspondence, while OTB became a pleasant social activity. My introduction to the postal game had been made about 1955 by a colleague of my father’s, International Master Graham Mitchell, to whom I owe an enormous debt for the patience and kindness with which he played a series of games, bearing with me when I lost interest in worsening positions. The switch to postal play was caused by a number of factors, negative and positive : an impending move to Scotland, where there was less OTB chess, frustration at constantly spoiling good positions through mistakes in time pressure – on the other hand a feeling that correspondence chess should suit an academic temperament, and a particularly fascinating game played in 1963-4 with Michael Haygarth (see below) on which I spent so much time and energy that I almost feared it would ruin my post-graduate exams.
{[%evp 0,20,19,38,40,41,66,77,66,55,55,20,70,53,40,34,30,28,47,32,47,-3,30]} 1.
e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Bc4 (
8. Qd2 Nc6 9. O-O-O d5 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Bd4 e5 13. Bc5 Be6 14.
Ne4 Re8 15. h4 h6 16. g4 Qc7 17. g5 h5 18. Bc4 Red8 19. Qf2 {is modern
practise.}) 8… Nc6 9. Qd2 Bd7 10. h4 (10. O-O-O Rc8 11. Bb3 Ne5 12. h4 h5 13.
Bg5 Rc5 14. Kb1 b5 15. g4 hxg4 16. h5 Nxh5 17. Nd5 Re8 18. Rxh5 gxh5 19. Qh2
Rxd5 20. Bxd5 Qb6 21. Qxh5 e6 22. Bb3) 10… Rc8 {ASH : At that time people
always played the queen’s rook to c8. Later it became the custom to play …
Qa5 and …Rfc8. Later still fashion swung back.} 11. Bb3 Ne5 (11… h5 12.
O-O-O Ne5) 12. Bh6 {ASH : Of all the attacking possibilities, White chooses a
relatively ineffective one.} ({The modern way is} 12. O-O-O h5 13. Bg5 Rc5 14.
Kb1 b5 15. g4 hxg4 16. h5 Nxh5 17. Nd5 Re8 18. Rxh5 gxh5 19. Qh2 Rxd5 20. Bxd5
Qb6 {transposes to a previous line.}) 12… Nc4 {ASH : A nice little finesse.}
13. Bxc4 Bxh6 ({more usual is} 13… Rxc4 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. h5 Qa5 16. hxg6
fxg6 (16… hxg6 $4 17. Qh6+ Kg8 18. Qh8#) 17. O-O-O) 14. Qxh6 ({Believe it or
not,} 14. Bxf7+ $4 Kg7 $1 {ASH : Resigns, has actually occurred in an
international (over-the-board!) tournament. BCN : It was, in fact, Zuidema
– Lee, Zurich Junior, 1964.} (14… Kxf7 $2 15. Qxh6) (14… Rxf7 $2 15. Qxh6
$14)) 14… Rxc4 15. O-O-O Rxc3 16. bxc3 Qa5 {ASH : Black has carried out his
exchange sacrifice under unusually favourable circumstances.} 17. Kb2 Rc8 {[#]}
18. Rd3 ({ASH : In a later game (British Correspondence Championship 1965-6).
S.Milan played against me} 18. Qd2 Rc4 19. Nb3 {, keeping more active chances
(the game was drawnin 50 moves).}) 18… Bb5 19. Nxb5 {The exchange of minor
peices suite Black.} (19. Qg5 Rc5 {would be ingenious but not better.}) 19…
Qxb5+ 20. Ka1 Rc5 21. Rb1 Qa6 22. Qc1 Ra5 23. Rb2 b6 24. Qb1 Nd7 25. Rb4 Ne5
26. Re3 Nc4 {[#] ASH : Black’s knight has reached ideal squares, and for the
next few moves makes the White rooks dance to his tune.} 27. Rd3 Rc5 28. Qe1
Ra5 29. Qb1 Ne5 30. Re3 ({ASH : Not} 30. Rd5 Rxd5 31. exd5 Qe2 {and White’s
position collapses.}) 30… Rc5 31. Rb3 b5 32. Qd1 Qc6 33. Qd4 Nc4 34. Rd3 a5
35. g4 {ASH : Natural, but in the end providing a target.} a4 36. Rb4 Ne5 37.
Re3 Qc8 $1 38. Kb1 {[#] ASH : Something must fall so White decides to return
the exchange.} h5 $1 39. gxh5 Nc6 40. Qd3 Nxb4 41. cxb4 Rxh5 42. e5 {Unable to
protect his weaknesses, White tries to break out.} Rxe5 43. Rxe5 dxe5 44. Qxb5
Qc3 45. Qxa4 Qxf3 46. b5 e4 47. b6 e3 48. Qb3 Qf1+ 49. Kb2 e2 50. b7 e1=Q 51.
b8=Q+ Kh7 52. Q8b6 Qc1+ 53. Kc3 Qcf4 {White resigns. A remarkable position,
with four queens on the board. Material is level, but the exposed White king
is helpless. This game was played just before I left Oxford to teach in
Scotland (where, at that time, over-the-board chess was not so strong as it
has since become), and it was to a great extent responsible for turning my
main interest to postal chess.} 0-1
[/pgn]
In 1964-5 I qualified for the British Championship by winning a candidates’ section with 100%, and then competed three times in the British Championship itself (1965-6, 1966-7, 1970-71), winning on each occasion (the first time jointly with S. Milan) and remaining unbeaten. International play also proved successful, and I soon collected the two norms necessary for the IM title (Ed: awarded in 1970).
Linda Brownson (Newnham & Basildon), left, playing Maria Eagle (Pembroke & Formby) being observed by John Nunn, Adrian Hollis and Harry Golombek posing for the obligatory “staring at the board” picture for the 1981 Varsity Match sponsored by Lloyds Bank.
The first chance for the Grandmaster title came on Board 1 in the Seventh Olympiad final. Despite a rare loss with the White pieces(my only defeat with white for a stretch of 15 years), things went well, including a lucky win against the reigning World Champion, Horst Rittner, and the enticing prospect beckoned if only I could beat the Russian Moiseyev. He held a slight advantage since the opening, but I thought I saw the chance of tempting him to an incorrect sacrifice. Back came his move; he had indeed made the sacrifice and the envelope burnt a hole in my pocket during an important meeting (my mind was elsewhere). After a mere two days’ thought I sent my reply. The post between England and the USSR takes about a month for the return trip. Soon after posting my move, as I was walking from the Ashmolean Museum to Keble, just passing the front gate of St. John’s, the realisation of what I had overlooked hit me, and there followed an inexorable wait for the death blow which I now saw only too clearly.
So no Grandmaster title, but Great Britain still took the bronze medals, and I scored 6/9 (+5=1-2).
Bob Wade, Harry Golombek and Adrian Hollis observe Penny Coxon (Newnham) and Anita Rakshit (St. Hilda’s) during the 1983 Varsity match sponsored by Lloyds Bank
Another opportunity came when the British Postal Chess Federation organised a tournament (1974-6) in memory of its former secretary RJ Potter. This started inauspiciously for me with a heavy defeat at the hands of Grandmaster Endzelins of Australia., a country which has so far provided my least favourite opposition (not only is the postage extremely expensive, but my score to date is 0/2).
Adrian Hollis (far right) as Club President of the 1985 Oxford team of Peter Wells, Karl Bowden, Anita Rakshit, Kenny Shovel, IM Colin McNab, IM Jon Levitt, FM Neil Dickinson and FM John Hawksworth
From The Potter Memorial, Ken Messere, Chess (Sutton Coldfield), 1979 we have this potted biography from Ken Messere :
The Potter Memorial, Ken Messere, Chess (Sutton Coldfield), 1979
“Adrian Hollis is 36, was educated at Eton and Oxford, has written two books on the poet Ovid and is a Fellow and Tutor in Classics at Keble College, Oxford. He is a British Master at over the board chess and has been Champion of British Universities, West of England and East Scotland.
In 1964, he went to teach at St. Andrews University where his wife, Margaret, taught German. They were married and moved to Keble College in 1967 and now have two daughters. Jennifer is nearly five and Veronica is two.
Adrian began to concentrate on correspondence chess in 1964 and won the British Correspondence Chess Championship jointly in 1966 and outright in 1967 and 1971. He won the I.M. title in 1970 and his fine score of 6/9 on top board for Great Britain in the I.C.C.F. VIIth Correspondence Chess Olympiad Final contributed to the team’s winning the bronze medal in this event.”
and now back to Adrian’s British Chess article…
Thereafter my fortunes improved; one opponent accepted too trustingly some faulty analysis by Szabo in Informator (for a while it seemed that the Hungarian might earn me not one but two points). The East German Dr. Baumbach failed to find an improvement in a line with which I had been successful in the Seventh Olympiad Final.
Also, I had a win with the Black pieces against the Russian Kopylov. The result was a score of 9/12 (+8=2-2), which sufficed for the grandmaster title and first place half a point ahead of the Finn Kauranen.
Since then I have played quite well on second board behind Keith Richardson in the Eighth Olympiad Final (+5=7-0), and very badly indeed (scoring just about 50% in the Heilimo Memorial Tournament organised from Finland (I was much impressed by the strength of the Finnish players, most of whom I had not encountered before). Having twice narrowly failed, I would still like to qualify for the Final of the Individual World Championship. Of course life becomes increasingly busy, but the examples of Hugh Alexander and Graham Mitchell encourage me to believe that one can continue to play well at postal chess longer than over-the-board. So perhaps around the year 2000, when the children are grown up….”
Adrian Hollis and Harry Golombek observer Andrew Dyson (Trinity) having played 1.d4 versus IM William Watson (Merton) during the 1984 Varsity match sponsored by Lloyds Bank
{[%evp 0,121,18,26,36,-22,54,32,37,19,27,28,30,3,26,19,17,42,20,13,27,31,31,31,
19,24,27,11,47,61,50,85,90,77,66,63,67,54,73,53,40,43,55,36,46,65,45,46,49,49,
48,54,48,69,83,93,102,102,103,112,98,89,114,100,99,91,98,98,94,79,79,82,90,87,
91,85,91,82,78,76,96,101,96,75,100,91,92,103,118,118,118,118,118,118,121,139,
179,182,206,240,191,212,205,205,205,192,192,192,192,183,192,104,155,96,96,96,
100,527,537,28911,29983,29984,29985,29986]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3
d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 O-O ({ASH : It is rather more challenging for Black to
postpone castling, and to organise an immediate attack on White’s d-pawn with}
6… Nb6 7. Nc3 Nc6) 7. O-O Nb6 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. d5 Na5 ({ASH : I have never yet
found an opponent to accept the pawn with} 9… Bxc3 $6 {too risky to accept P}
10. dxc6 Bg7 11. Qc2 bxc6 12. Rd1 Bf5 13. Qb3 Qe8 14. Nd4 Bd7 15. Qc2 {BCN :
is a typical line.}) 10. Bf4 c6 11. dxc6 {ASH : Such are the subtleties of
transposition that, although occasionally played before, this line does not
appear in the Grunfeld books of Hartston or Richardson and Boyd.} Nxc6 ({
ASH : In Olympiad VIII Finals (1977) Dr. S. Aarseth (Norway) played against me
} 11… Qxd1 12. Rfxd1 Nxc6 13. Nd2 $1 Bf5 (13… Be6 {Hollis}) 14. Rac1 Rac8
15. Nde4 Nc4 16. b3 Na3 $6 (16… N4e5 {wastes two tempi}) 17. Nd5 Rfe8 (17…
Kh8 18. Nxe7 $1 Nxe7 19. Bd6) 18. Bg5 Kf8 (18… f6 $5 {although Hollis says
it “hardly appeals”}) 19. Nxe7 Nxe7 20. Nd6 b6 (20… Rxc1 21. Bxc1 {xNa3}) 21.
Nxc8 Bxc8 22. Bxe7+ Kxe7 23. Rc7+ Kf6 24. Bc6 Rf8 25. Rxa7 Nc2 26. Be4 $18 {
Hollis-Aarseth, corr-CCOL8 fin 1975-77}) 12. Qc1 e5 13. Be3 {13 Rd1 was theory
but why drive Black Q where she wants to go?} Nd4 {An outpost which cannot be
maintained.} 14. Rd1 Be6 15. Nxd4 exd4 16. Bxd4 Bxd4 17. e3 Bxe3 18. Qxe3 $14 {
[#] ASH : So White emerges with a small but clear advantage (better placed
pieces, pressure on the b-pawn and on the Black squares).} Qe7 19. Ne4 Bd5 20.
Qc5 Qxc5 21. Nxc5 Bxg2 22. Kxg2 Rac8 $6 {ASH : A difficult decision. Black
surrenders a pawn for some counterplay.} ({ASH : He might have had better
chances of a draw with the passive} 22… Rab8 {better drawing chance despite}
23. Nd7 Nxd7 24. Rxd7 {not sufficient to win}) 23. Nxb7 Rc2 24. b4 Re8 25. Rd8
Rxd8 26. Nxd8 Na4 27. a3 Rc3 28. Re1 Kf8 29. Re5 Rc7 30. h4 h6 31. Ra5 Nc3 32.
Ra6 {threat Nc6 forces play} Rd7 33. Nc6 Rd6 34. a4 Nxa4 35. Rxa4 Rxc6 36. Rxa7
Rc3 37. b5 Rb3 {See page 80 in Essential Chess Endings by Howell.} 38. Rb7 Kg7
39. b6 h5 {This move produces a model endgame as analysed by Hollis etc. [#]
cf ending in Portisch-Petrosian [INF 17-0568] after Portisch’s 47th move.
White plan is to play K to d-file, Black captures f-pawn but then K goes to
c-file and R cannot return behind passed P (only works with b-pawn)} ({Hollis
suspected Black should have played} 39… g5 $5 {not fearing h4-h5}) 40. Kf1 {
The general case of a draw is threatened but not overturned. Averbakh
“Comprehensive Chess Endings” vol 5 (Pergamon ed) analyses both the Hollis and
Portisch endgames (see pp291-292)} Rb2 41. Ke1 Kf6 {As White threatens to
support the advance of his passed P with his K, it is very important for Black
to seek counterplay on the other wing – Averbakh} 42. f3 Rb3 43. Kd2 Rxf3 44.
Kc2 {ASH : The idea is realized.} Rf5 $2 (44… Ke6 $2 45. Rc7 $1 (45. Re7+ $6
Kxe7 46. b7 Rf5 47. b8=Q {hard to see how White can win}) 45… Rf5 {see game})
(44… Rxg3 $6 45. Rc7 $1 {Howell wrongly attributes this move to Hollis but I
don’t find it in Hollis’ notes. Averbakh claims as his?} (45. Rxf7+ Kxf7 46. b7
{Hollis said this may win as Pg6 weak but Averbakh gives:} Rg2+ $1 47. Kc3 Rg3+
48. Kc4 Rg4+ 49. Kc5 Rf4 $1 50. b8=Q Rf5+ 51. Kd6 Kg7 $1 {“Black creates an
impregnable fortress” – Averbakh}) 45… Rg2+ $140 46. Kb3 Rg1 47. Kb2 Rg2+ 48.
Rc2 $1 Rg4 49. Rc3 Rxh4 50. Ka3 Re4 51. b7 Re8 52. Rc8 Re3+ 53. Kb2 Re2+ 54.
Kc3 Re3+ 55. Kc2 Re2+ 56. Kd3 Rb2 57. b8=Q Rxb8 58. Rxb8 Kf5 59. Rf8 f6 60. Ke3
g5 61. Kf3 $18 {Averbakh}) (44… Re3 $3 {is the right plan:} 45. Rc7 Re8 46.
b7 Rb8 {Hollis thought White could now win:} 47. Kd3 Kf5 $1 48. Rxf7+ Kg4 49.
Rf4+ $1 Kxg3 50. Rb4 {[#]} g5 $1 {The saving move not considered in Hollis
article, but later discovered by Russian analysts. Black creates a
countervailing passed pawn.} (50… Kh3 $2 51. Ke2 $1 Kg3 (51… Kg2 52. Rb3) (
51… Re8+ 52. Kf2 Rf8+ 53. Ke3 Rb8 54. Kf3 {as in main line}) 52. Ke3 Kh3 53.
Kf3 Rf8+ 54. Ke4 Rb8 55. Ke5 $18) 51. hxg5 h4 52. g6 (52. Ke2 h3 53. Kf1 h2 54.
Rb3+ Kf4 55. Kg2 Kxg5 $11) 52… h3 53. g7 h2 54. Rb1 Kg2 $11 {Averbakh}) 45.
Rc7 Rb5 46. b7 {“The outwardly active position of Black R prevents his K from
approaching the pawns” – Averbakh} Ke6 (46… Kf5 {according to Fine’s recipe
(idea 47 Rxf7+? Kg4) but..} 47. Kc3 $1 {threat 48 Rxf7+ Kg4 49 Rf4+ and 50 Rb4;
prevents …Kg4 by same idea} f6 $140 (47… Kg4 48. Rc4+ $1 Kxg3 49. Rb4 Rxb7
50. Rxb7 Kxh4 (50… f5 51. Rg7) 51. Rxf7 Kg3 52. Kd2 g5 53. Ke1 $18) 48. Kc4
Rb1 49. Rc5+ Kg4 50. Rb5) 47. Kc3 f6 48. Kc4 Rb1 49. Kc5 Kf5 50. Rd7 $1 $18 {
prevents Kg4 and threatens Rd5+ followed by either Rd6+ or Rd4+ and then
inserting R on b-file} Rc1+ 51. Kd6 Rb1 52. Kc7 Rc1+ 53. Kd8 Rb1 54. Kc8 Kg4
55. Rd6 g5 56. Rxf6 gxh4 57. gxh4 Kxh4 58. Rg6 $1 Kh3 59. Kc7 {According to
Howell, Black resigned here but Hollis gives further moves, see e.g. ‘British
Chess’ pp105-107} Rxb7+ 60. Kxb7 h4 61. Kc6 {ASH : It would be extremely rash
to claim this ending as a theoretical win. The outcome nearly always depends
on a single tempo, and may be swayed by secondary factors (e.g. it proved
vital in the above for White’s rook to be on the seventh rather than the
eighth). But at least this game can be added to the example for future
research. Perhaps this is the kind of problem that one day computers might be
able to solve.} 1-0
[/pgn]
From British Chess Magazine, Volume CXXXIII (133, 2013), Number 4 (April), pp.194-5 we have this obituary written by James Pratt :
Adrian Swayne Hollis (2 viii 1940 Bristol – 26 ii 2013 Wells), British Master and Correspondence Grandmaster (1976), three times British Correspondence Champion, has died. He played most of his OTB chess as a young man, finishing seventh equal at the British Aberystwyth, 1961, when he beat, amongst others, A.R.B. Thomas and former champion, Alan Phillips. He gave future champion, Jonathan Penrose, a tough fight in the last round before conceding the half-point. He played in the Hastings Premier, 1962/3 and emerged with a plus score in the Anglo-Dutch matches. He was an occasional reviewer for BCM.
From the 1985 Varsity Match : Laura Cohen (Newnham), Brian Reilly (BCM), Bill Hartston (Cambridge), Adrian Hollis (Oxford), Anita Rakshit (St. Hilda’s), Leonard Barden (The Guardian etc) and Bob Wade (BCF)
It was, of course, in the realm of postal player that he shone most brightly!
In 1966 we see him playing board two for England, below Slade Milan, and, two years later, Adrian scored 9/12 in a World Postal Qualifier, narrowly missing a place in the final. In 1971 he won the British Correspondence Championship, easily outdistancing a tough field. He played top board for England in the 1972-7 Olympiad. In 1974-6 he won the Reg Potter Memorial. In the ninth Olympiad – 1982-5 – Adrian Hollis was undefeated on board two. And England took the Gold Medal!
Ravi Haria was born Sunday, February 7th, 1999 in Elstree, Hertfordshire. “Maria” by Blondie was top of the hit parade. Ravi currently resides in London.
Ravi learnt at the age of 6 and joined Barnet Knights Chess Club in 2005. His first chess teacher was Angela Eyton who taught him the moves and Angela was followed by Tony Niccoli and then Julian Meszoras on his ascent of the chess ladder.
Ravi’s first recorded tournament was the 35th Barnet Knights Under-8 rapidplay on September 25th 2005. Also playing of note were Jonathan Pein and Isaac Sanders.
His first recorded standard play game was in the London Junior Under-10 Championships on December 9th 2006.
By the time he was eight he had attracted the attention of the England selectors and played in the 2008 Commonwealth Championships in New Delhi coming home with a bronze medal.
Ravi aged 8 photographed by The Borehamwood and Elstree Times in January 2008Ravi aged 9 photographed by The Borehamwood and Elstree Times in August 2008
In 2008 Ravi won the British Under-9 title in Liverpool. He said afterwards:
It was quite nice to be leading everyone and I felt proud of myself. I’m not sure how I control my nerves but it feels really good to win.
His mother Sona said:
It’s a bit overwhelming but we just support him. It means you have to give up a lot of time for him but it’s really nice to see that he’s getting somewhere.
This was followed in 2014 by winning the British Under-18 championship in Aberystwyth aged 15 and then the same title in 2017 in Llandudno.
Ravi Haria, UKCC Southern Gigafinal, 2013
In 2016 Ravi was equal 2nd to Deep Sengupta at the Hastings Masters Open with an impressive 6/9 and a TPR of 2563. This performance secured his second IM norm.
The IM title was conferred at the 88th FIDE Congress 2017, 7-15 October, Goynuk, Antalya, Turkey.
He scored six points after 11 rounds at the 2017 World Junior championship in Italy and 5.5 points at the 2017 WYCC U-18 group in Uruguay.
Ravi completed his British junior titles run by becoming the current (no OTB event in 2020) British Under-21 champion in 2019 in Torquay scoring an emphatic 6.5/9 securing a share of third place.
Partial crosstable for the 2019 British Championships in Torquay
Ravi became a FIDE Master in 2015 at the age of 16 and and International Master two years later making him England’s second youngest IM after Matthew Wadsworth.
OTB Elo rating profile for IM Ravi Haria according to MegaBase 2020
His peak FIDE rating was 2497 in October 2021 and currently (February 2022) is 2490.
FM Ravi Haria, ECF Secondary Schools Rapidplay, 2016
On January 28th 2021 Thinker’s Publishing released The Modernised Anti-Sicilians, Volume 1, Rossolimo Variation which is a massive 520 page tome on the following position :
[fen]r1bqkbnr/pp1ppppp/2n5/1Bp5/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]
GM John Emms plays IM Ravi Haria in the final round of the 2019 British Championships in Torquay
With the white pieces Ravi unsurprisingly plays the Moscow and Rossolimo variations against the Sicilian, the Ruy Lopez and, in recent years, he has adopted the Reti/English complex.
As the second player he plays the French Winawer and (refreshingly) the Abrahams-Noteboom Variation of the Semi-Slav.
For your entertainment we have these two brevities :
Ravi has played for University College London. Hendon and Cavendish in the London and other leagues and in 4NCL he started with Kings Head, transferring to Cambridge in 2014 and finally moving in 2016 to Wood Green.
In this game Ravi punishes IM Malcolm Pein who has a bad day at the office :
Over the 19th – 23rd August 2021 Ravi played in the Wood Green Invitational round-robin event at Oddfellows Hall, Stafford.
Ravi scored 7.5/10 and secured his second Grandmaster Norm and a TPR of 2680.
Wood Green Invitational Round-Robin event at Oddfellows Hall, Stafford. August Bank Holiday Weekend, 2021
Over the August Bank Holiday weekend of 2021 Ravi played in the Northumbrian Masters GM Tournament at the splendid Marriott MetroCentre, Gateshead winning jointly with Conor Murphy scoring 6.5/9 with a TPR of 2600. This gave Ravi his third and final GM norm.
The norm was ratified at a recent FIDE Congress. As of February 2022 Ravi stood at 2490 for standard-play.
Jimmy was married to Sharon and they have a daughter, Charlotte.
In 1958 Jimmy at the age of 11 joined his local Islington Chess Club (at the time Islington & North London Chess Club) and soon afterwards became a London Junior Champion. Following this Jimmy played little chess and was working for John Lewis (echoes of CHO’D Alexander and Leonard Barden). Following John Lewis Jimmy worked as a Health and Safety Officer for Islington Council.
At this time Islington Chess Club was one of the strongest in England and included such members as Kenny Harman, Ron Harman, Danny Wright, Stewart Reuben and others. Its most famous member was probably IM Simon Webb
The Spassky-Fischer match of 1972 re-kindled his lapsed interest and he won with a 100% score the London Amateur Championship.
He joined and was a staunch member of London Central YMCA (CENTYMCA) chess club and he wrote a privately published history of the club entitled The CENTYMCA Story. This is now a much sought after publication. His membership continued during the 1970s until around 1979.
The CentYMCA Story by Jimmy Adams, 1976The CentYMCA Story by Jimmy Adams, 1976
During this period Jimmy was extremely active at the Endell Street premises.
Here is Jimmy playing Viktor Korchnoi at Endell Street (in the Phase Two classrooms) :
Jimmy plays Viktor Korchnoi at the Endell Street premises of London Central YMCA on January 18th, 1976. Photographer potentially John Yeo
In 1974 Jimmy embarked on a highly successful career as a writer and journalist. He contributed articles to both CHESS and the British Chess Magazine and authored a number of acclaimed books for Batsford, The Chess Player, Caissa Books and latterly, New in Chess. He also self-published the first book on Bobby Fischer’s successor entitled K is for Karpov! His books on Chigorin, Zukertort and Breyer are universally regarded as some of the finest chess biographies published.
In 1979 Jimmy joined Metropolitan Chess Club to play in the London League A Division. He played top board and scored very highly with many significant scalps.
Jimmy gained his FM title in 2014 (at the age of 67!). 67 must be one of the most advanced ages to acquire an FM title. According to Felice his peak rating was 2300 in January 1981 aged 34.
Jimmy giving a simultaneous display
He joined Metropolitan Chess Club. He joined Barbican, as did many other CENTYMCA players, following the hiatus over their Tottenham Court Road venue loss.
Jimmy records a game between David Howell and Andrew Whiteley in 2000.
In December 2009 Jimmy visited the London Chess Classic and was photographed with VIP guest Viktor Korchnoi :
Viktor Korchnoi in conversation with Jimmy Adams at the 2009 London Chess Classic. Photograph by Mark Huba
Jimmy was Editor of Middlesex Chessletter and Bayswater Chess in the early 1970s and produced major bulletins on the hugely successful Islington Congresses of the same period. He then worked for Pergamon Chess Books which led to his editorship of CHESS / CHESS Monthly magazine from until 2010 although his name remained on the masthead until February 2012.
In 2012 Jimmy and Ray Cannon attended a meeting of the Ken Whyld Association in Norwich :
Jimmy Adams and Michael Negele at the 2012 meeting of the Ken Whyld AssociationJimmy and Ray Cannon at a 2012 meeting in Norwich of the Ken Whyld Association
In January 2016 Jimmy (together with Josip Asik) became co-editors of British Chess Magazine taking over from James Pratt and John Upham.
Jimmy also jointly edited Chess Informants 109-132 up to 2017 before taking on the role of Deputy Editor of the newly created American Chess Magazine whilst continuing to work as editor for Batsford Chess which had changed ownership over the years and had now been taken under the umbrella of Pavillion Books.
In 2014 Jimmy and Ray attended an event organised by the father of Emma Bentley
Jimmy Adams and Ray Cannon at an event organised by Emma Bentley’s father.
The Games of Anatoly Karpov, Batsford, Jimmy Adams, 1974The Complete Games of World Champion Anatoly Karpov, Jimmy Adams, 1976The Complete Games of World Champion Anatoly Karpov, Jimmy Adams, 1976Sicilian Defence Najdorf Poisoned Pawn, Jimmy Adams, The Chess Player, 1977Sicilian Defence 10 : Main Line Najdorf, Jimmy Adams, The Chess Player, 1977Sicilian Najdorf Polugaevsky Variation, Jimmy Adams, The Chess Player, 1978The Richter Veresov System, The Chess Player, Jimmy Adams, 1978Trompovsky Attack, The Chess Player, Jimmy Adams, 1979Schliemann/Jaenisch Gambit, The Chess Player, Jimmy Adams, 1982Paris 1900, The Chess Player, Jimmy Adams, 1986ISAAC BOLESLAVSKY Selected Games, Caissa Books, Jimmy Adams, 1988Johannes Zukertort: Artist of the Chessboard, New in Chess, Jimmy Adams, 2014Mikhail Chigorin, the Creative Genius: New in Chess, Jimmy Adams, 2016Gyula Breyer : The Chess Revolutionary, Jimmy Adams, New in Chess, 2017
We send best wishes to Michael Franklin on his 92nd birthday.
Growing Up
Michael John Franklin was born on Monday, February 2nd, 1931 in Battersea, London to Albert George (27 ix 1906, Dover – ? iii 1983, Wandsworth) and Helen Ann Franklin (née Colson, 1908-2003) who married in the third quarter of 1928 in Wandsworth. Albert was a clerk as was his father.
At the commencement of the Second World War, when eight years old, Michael was evacuated to Frome in Somerset. As a consequence Michael would delight in playing in the Frome Congress whenever possible. He played in the first event in 1990 organised by Leon York (whose name is the memorial trophy for the Major section). The story of Michael’s return to Frome made its’ way in to the local newspaper and was reported by Gary Lane as follows :
From British Chess Magazine, Volume CX (110, 1990), Number 7 (July), page 296 :
“A special presentation by the sponsor, Mrs. Jean Mackereth, Managing Director of Keyford Frames, was made to Londoner Michael Franklin, who was returning for the first time in 51 years to the town to which he was evacuated during the war. His final appearance at Frome was in the 2010 event.
The Early Years
Michaels interest in chess started in 1944 aged 13 when he witnessed games being played on Clapham Common. He was fascinated by the pieces and taught himself to play, never receiving any formal coaching. He joined the Clapham Common Chess Club in 1944. (CCCC became incorporated into Battersea Chess Club some time later).
CHECK MATES: Elderly members of the Clapham Common Open Air Chess and Draughts Club, circa 1920. The club met regularly during the afternoons to play on Clapham Common in south London. Copyright : Keystone
Apart from summer events such as the above the club had a Winter Section that played matches in the London League. The club won the first division (now known as the Brian Smith Trophy) of the London League in the 1946-47 and 1947-48 seasons. Michael played his final game in the London Chess League for Richmond & Twickenham on April 14th 2010 drawing with John Hodgson, giving a sixty year span.
In his formative years he played at the Gambit Chess Café, Budge Row, Cannon Street, London, EC4N. Many strong players regularly visited the Gambit to play skittles, blitz and the frequently held lightning tournaments hosted by the proprietor Mr GH White.
Events such as these enabled Michael to develop his quick sight of the board and his flair for tactical play.
Leonard Barden added :
“Michael made his name as a young player first by his successes in the Saturday evening Gambit Guinea speed events at the Gambit Chess Café in Cannon Street which he often won ahead of master level rivals. He remained a strong speed player all his life.”
In the early 1950s Michael was persuaded by his friends Aird Thomson (who was Scottish Boys’ Champion in 1932, and 1933 ( equal-first). In 1951 he was Scottish Champion. In 1954 he moved to London. He married Susan Mary Hamilton in 1961 who went on to become Scottish Ladies’ Champion in 1965.) and oriental carpet expert Robert Pinner to join the Richmond and Twickenham Chess Club playing for the club in the London League, Surrey Trophy and National Club Championship until he retired from competitive play 2010.
Making Progress
Michael’s first appearance in British Chess Magazine was in Volume LXVI (66, 1946), Number 2 (February). Page 52 contained this report of the 1945 London Boy’s Championship in which Michael reached the final A section :
British Chess Magazine, Volume LXVI (66, 1946), Number 2 (February), page 52
On leaving school Michael joined a firm of Patent Agents remaining in their employ in the accounts department for around forty years before retiring in the late 1980s. His retirement was prompted by the firm’s adoption of electronic computers. When he retired he was Chief Cashier.
On June 18th 1960 Michael’s happiest day was when he married Jean Fey. They celebrated their diamond anniversary in 2020.
To the present day Michael has maintained an aversion toward modern technology. He did, however, concede to the ownership of a mobile telephone. This was for the specific purpose of updating Jean on his days progress in any chess tournaments where he was away from home.
In 1946 (aged 15) Michael won the Felce Cup awarded by the Surrey County Chess Association. A result indicating rapid improvement since Michael had only started playing competitively in 1944.
The Felce Cup held by the hands of Stephen Moss in 2014
In 1951 Michael finished third in the Surrey Championships behind the winner Frank Parr and runner-up David Hooper. In 1961, 1966, 1968, 1969 and 1970 Michael won the Surrey Championship outright and made many appearences in county matches for Surrey from 1950 onwards until 2010.
Unfortunately Michael’s rapid progress was threatened by two bouts of ill health. In 1948 aged 17 Michael was diagnosed with Tuberculosis which lasted for eighteen months including a twelve month stay in the Royal National Hospital for Diseases of the Chest in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight. Aged twenty the TB returned leading to yet another twelve months illness.
Michael has suffered from ill health all of his life interrupting his chess career at various times. Fortunately the TB has not returned.
Michael won the National Chess Centre Championship in 1953 and 1955 being runner-up in 1954. The venue was Hill’s Restaurant, 158 Bishopsgate, London, EC2 opposite Liverpool Street Station since the original John Lewis department store venue was bombed in 1940.
The British Chess Federation first published a National Grading list in 1953 (using the Richard Clarke system). In the 1954 list MF appeared with a grade of 2A (225-232) and from then on with a grade of either 2A or 2B. In 1964 a numeric system had him at 225 ranking Michael 4th in England behind Penrose 244, Kottnauer 238 and Clarke 231.
Michael played many times in the annual Battle of Britain Tournament organised by Squadron Leader David Pritchard and his committee. He won it four times : 1959, 1960, 1961 and 1962.
The Ilford Whitsun Congress was a regular part of Michael’s season throughout the sixties. He won the Premier Reserves in 1961 ahead of Hilton, Hindle, Howson, Sales and Blaine and was runner-up to Kottnauer in 1962. In 1963 he went one step better by winning the Premier :
A report of Mike Franklin’s success at the 1963 Ilford Whitsun Congress by Peter Clarke. Source : British Chess Magazine, Volume LXXXIII, Number 7 (July), page 193
This buoyant, optimistic attitude of his is a great strength and always makes him a dangerous opponent.
Away from Home : International Progress
1964 saw selection by the BCF to play in the Tel Aviv Olympiad :
The 1964 England Olympiad (Tel Aviv) Team : Owen Hindle, Čeněk Kottnauer, Peter Clarke, Michael Franklin, Norman Littlewood & Michael Haygarth
and scored a creditable 4/6. This was followed in 1965 with 3/5 in Clare Benedict tournament held in Berlin.
He played in the annual Anglo-Dutch match on no less than six occasions in 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1968 and finally in 1969. His aggregate score was an impressive 8/12.
Hugh Alexander, Čeněk Kottnauer, Michael Franklin and Owen Hindle
On the national scene Michael repeated his 1963 victory at the 1969 Ilford Premier with a clear first place : Franklin 4; RG Wade and D Wright 3; JB Howson 2.5; BH Wood 2; PH Clarke 0.5.
In 1970 Michael won the London Championship which was also known as the Budget Cup which had last been held in 1956 . He followed this in 1972 by rightly earning the (now defunct) title of British Master.
Michael’s final appearance for England was in 1971 in the Cheltenham based Anglo-German match with a somewhat disappointing 0.5/2 against Juergen Dueball.
Owen Hindle, Michael Franklin, Harry Golombek and Michael Haygarth
Michael played board two for London in a Telex match versus Belgrade playing Marjanovic. The game was drawn.
Michael Franklin playing board two in the London – Belgrade Telex Match on April 3rd, 1976 from the St. James Hotel, Buckingham Gate. Sourced from BCM, Volume XCVI (96), Number 5, page 192. Photographer probably Freddy Reilly.
The Ultimate Prize : The Aaronson Masters
The Aaronson Masters at *Imperial Hotel, Russell Square, Bloomsbury, London, 1978 brought his best individual success at the age of 47, sharing first place with IM Aldo Haik of France and to boot, earning an IM norm.
(*Venue location thanks to Ken Norman)
Joint winners of the 1978 Aaronson Masters : Michael Franklin and IM Aldo Haik
Michael scored an undefeated 7.5/10 and finished ahead of Short, Speelman, Nunn, Hartston, Mestel, Webb, Basman, Botterill and numerous other illustrious players. Michael remarked of his lifetime best result that it was
just one of those occasions when everything went right!
But he scored 3.5/5 against the IMs, was alert to every opportunity, and the games show he owed little to luck.
Leonard Barden, Stewart Reuben and Michael Franklin at the 1978 Aaronson Masters
Like many others Michael made appearences in Lloyds Bank events of 1977, 1978, 1984, 1989, 1991, 1993 and 1994.
Michael Franklin (left) at the 1978 Lloyds Bank Masters playing IGM Leonid ShamkovichMichael and friends during the 1978 Lloyds Bank Masters
The Hastings Years
Michael first played at Hastings in 1964 when he was invited to play in the Premier Tournament. The tournament was won by Mikhail Tal and Michael finished in last place.
Undaunted he returned to Hastings in 1968 to play in the Challengers tournament. One of the attractions of playing in the Challengers was that the winner received a place the following years Premier. Frustratingly Michael finished second three years in a row! In 1968 the Challengers was won by Danny Wright, in 1969 by Martyn Corden and in 1970 by Peter Markland. Finally, in 1971 his patience was rewarded and he won the Challengers and qualified to the following years Premier.
The 47th Hastings Premier of 1971-72 had been changed from the traditional 10 player all-play-all to a 16 player tournament. Also, having obtained sponsorship from various organisations the committee were able to invite some of the top names of the day. The sponsors were:
So, the entry included Karpov, Korchnoi, Andersson, Najdorf, Mecking, Gligoric, Unzicker and Robert Byrne to name but a few. This was undoubtedly the strongest Hastings Premier since World War Two and possibly the strongest Hastings Tournament since 1895.
Michael started well with a draw against the Rumanian GM Ciocaltea followed by a draw in with the Brazilian prodigy Mecking. In round three he surprised everyone by beating Ray Keene. With 2/3 things were looking promising. However, after this bright start Michael only managed a draw against Unzicker and a draw with Hartston finishing in a disappointing last place with a score of 3/15.
In the tournament report Peter Clarke opined
Franklin suffered the usual fate of the gifted amateur in a professional field of simply not being accustomed to this kind of chess.
Despite this Michael continued to play in the Hastings Challengers. He played in nineteen out of the next twenty-five years! He came close to winning the tournament in 1982: he was leading the tournament with a score of 7/8 when he was informed that Jean’s Father had passed away. Having drawn his ninth round game and needing only a draw in the last round to ensure at least a tie for first place he withdrew from the tournament and immediately left for home.
The Weekend Scene
Like all players with a full time job Michael had to play most of his chess at the weekend so the explosion of weekends tournaments in the early 1970’s gave him ample opportunities. His habit of playing quickly was ideally suited to the fast time limits of the weekend tournament. During the 1970 and 1980’s he was very successful. He won numerous events and was more often than not in the prize list.
FM Michael Franklin, Photo by Cathy Rogers
In later years he restricted himself to London based tournaments and those in the West Country. His regular tournaments being Exeter, Torquay and old favourite, Frome. Michael at the age of 78 shared first place at Frome 2009. Frome 2010 was his farewell appearance.
FM Michael Franklin
Michael played for a number of clubs viz : Richmond & Twickenham, Coulsdon CF, Surrey CCA, 4NCL Richmond, 4NCL Bristol and Richards Butler to name but a few.
Finally, in 1980, Michael was awarded the FIDE Master title and achieved his highest rating (in the Elo era) of 2345 in January 1979. It is most likely that his highest ever rating would have been more like 2450.
FM Michael Franklin vs Paul Helbig
Appropriately enough Michael was the inaugural winner of the BCF/ECF Senior Prix in 2000 and won it again in 2002 and 2003. The event last ran in 2006.
When Surrey won the counties championship a few years back the team took the trophy around to Michael’s home in Norbury, such was their regard for his contributions.
The London System
Any currently active club player cannot have missed the explosive rise to prominence of the system for White he developed :
[fen]rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/3P1B2/2PBPN2/PP1N1PPP/R2Q1RK1 b KQkq – 0 1[/fen]
The London System and Accelerated London System has acquired a huge cohort of followers in recent times probably not realising the debt they (and many authors, book and DVD publishers!) owe to Michael. If only he could have earnt a royalty every time it was played!
Also Michael had notable success as Black with the O’Kelly Sicilian 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6.
[fen]rnbqkbnr/1p1ppppp/p7/2p5/4P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq – 0 1[/fen]
Life Outside of Chess
Michael had many interests apart from Chess. He was for many years a member of the Surrey County Cricket Club. After he retired he would arrange to meet fellow Surrey Member Frank Parr at the Oval and after lunch in the Pavilion they would spend the day enjoying the Cricket. Tennis was another sport that Michael followed. Michael was also interested in horseracing. Several players were surprised when visiting one of the racetracks around London to find Michael also attending the race meeting.
Michael was the typical “natural” player. He never studied the game and his only sources of opening information were the British Chess Magazine and the chess columns in The Times and the Guardian. He never kept the scores of his games. Once the game was finished it was time to move on. One of Michael’s greatest strengths was his optimistic attitude at the chessboard. No matter how bad the position he was confident of ultimate success.
Michael Franklin receives £220 from Councillor Robert Dickson at the 1980 Nottinghamshire CongressCaption for above photograph
HE Atkins from Westminster Budget (18/09/1896) from the Yorkshire Chess History web site
We remember Henry Atkins who passed away, Monday, January 31st, 1955.
Henry Ernest Atkins was born in Leicester on Tuesday, August 20th, 1872 to Edward (a schoolteacher) and Jane Atkins (née Threapland).
He was baptised on August 6th, 1872 in the Anglican Cathedral Church of St. Martin, Leicester. At the time of the baptism the Atkins family was living at 57, King Richard’s Road, Leicester. The address in 2021 appears to be occupied by an industrial premise for Sunco Knitwear Specialists. The signatory on the baptism record is that of DJ Vaughan.
Baptismal record for Henry Ernest Atkins
Henry was admitted to Wyggeston Boys Grammar School, Leicester on March 30th 1880 when eight years old. He was expected to leave at the end of the Winter Term in 1890.
School admission record for Henry Ernest Atkins
Curiously his school admission record includes the following addition (although we don’t know exactly when) :
Amendment to school admission record for HEA.
Henry, aged 18, went up to Peterhouse College, Cambridge in 1890 to study mathematics. From his year of entry he was ranked as 9th “Wrangler” studying for the Mathematical Tripos. As part of his Part II examinations he did well enough to be “mentioned” for the Smith’s Prize for examination performance.
Following University Henry became a teacher of mathematics at Northampton County Modern School and then returned to Wyggeston Boys Grammar School from 1902 – 1908. He then became the principal of Huddersfield College in 1909 and continued until 1915. Huddersfield College (founded in 1839) was merged with Hillhouse Technical School to form a new boys’ grammar school at a new campus at Salendine Nook with 950 boys.
According to Ranneforths Schach-Kalender (cited by C.N.), 1915, page 55, during the period at Huddersfield College Henry lived firstly at 49 New North Road, Huddersfield, Yorkshire :
49 New North Road, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, HD1 5NR
On June 1st, 1915 (aged 43) Henry was registered as a teacher whilst at Huddersfield College for the fee of one guinea :
Teacher registration form for Henry Ernest Atkins
Henry retired from teaching in 1936.
In the 1939 register Henry (now a retired schoolmaster) was recorded as living with his wife, Elspeth Skene Atkins (née Wilson) at 29 East Avenue, Leicester, Leicestershire :
29 East Avenue, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE2 1TE
Elspeth was born on August 5th 1880 and was therefore roughly eight years his junior. She carried out “unpaid domestic duties” but as a member of the Women’s Voluntary Service (WVS) she was a surgical dresser. The WVS transformed into the RVS. It would seem that Henry and Elspeth did not have children. She outlived Henry passing away in 1973 in Southampton.
On Monday, January 31st 1955 passed away in The Fielding Johnson Private Hospital :
Probate notice from March 26th 1955The Fielding Johnson Private Hospital
Henry was buried at Gilroes Cemetery and Crematorium, Groby Road, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE3 9QG.
In the October 1976 issue of Newsflash Badmaster (aka GH Diggle) wrote :
“… we well remember his giving a “simultaneous” at the Lincoln Chess Club in 1924, winning 17 and drawing two. One of his more elderly opponents (a notorious non-resigner) who for 30 moves had been wobbling along with a piece down until “time” had to be called, then proceeded to “demonstrate a draw” by concocting a continuation so optimistic that even clubmates with lifelong experience of his powers stood aghast. Atkins, with his greatcoat on ready to go home, made no attempt to refute this analytical masterpiece but merely remarked with great deference: “I don’t think we can play it quite like that!” and then beat a craven retreat “escorted by Club Officials”
From British Chess Magazine, Volume LXXV (75, 1955), Number 3 (March), pp.102-3 we have this obituary written by RN Coles :
“With the passing, on January 31st, at the age of eighty-two of Henry Ernest Atkins the chess world has lost a recognized international master, and British chess one of its strongest players of all time. Yet Atkins was the despair of chess enthusiasts because he played so little international chess and confined himself largely – and at that intermittently – to local affairs, where the strength of most of his opponents could hardly extend him. One leading player recently regretted that Atkins spent so much time “in the wilds,” but Atkins would have taken an opposite view and have considered that he was “in the wilds” if he had spent more of his time playing chess; teaching was his whole life, and the game of chess he insisted on treating as a game.
Consequently as a chess-player Atkins was almost always out of practice and playing below his true strength, yet in his five international events-Amsterdam, 1899; Hanover, 1902; London, 1922; London Team Tourney, 1927; and Warsaw Team Tourney, 1935-he scored 63.2 per cent, or if Amsterdam which was virtually a Hauptturnier is excluded, 53.5 per cent.
Full crosstable from Amsterdam 1899
Sir George Thomas considered that only lack of opportunity prevented him from establishing himself in the world championship class. As it is, he will be remembered chiefly by chess-players as the man who played eleven times in the British Championship and won it nine times, failing only at the first attempt in 1904 after a tie for first place, and at the last in 1937, at the age of sixty-five, when he shared third place, a record which has never been remotely approached by any other player and is not likely to be. Atkins played in a clear-cut strategical style which makes his games ideal studies for the beginner, and he finished them with the elegance to enchant the artist; like the Etudes of Chopin, they provide technical exercises and works of art in one.
But I believe that if Atkins had his wish – and this wish I am sure he will have – he would wish to be remembered by his many pupils, whether they be pupils of the chess master or of the schoolmaster, not for any practical achievements but for being a true guide, philosopher, and friend to all who came under his tutelage.-R. N. C.”
{[%evp 20,83,12,-8,0,0,25,2,8,-33,-33,-31,-18,-30,-33,-31,-29,-45,-46,-39,-50,
-57,-57,-58,-67,-60,-57,-81,-91,-93,-36,-92,-118,-200,-58,-123,-147,-138,-92,
-238,-233,-1269,-1312,-2155,-2148,-1709,-1307,-1700,-1457,-29992,-29993,-29994,
-29995,-29995,-29996,-29996,-29997,-29997,-29995,-29996,-29995,-29997,-29997,
-29998,-29999,-29999] C55: Two Knights: 4 d3, 4 d4 exd4 5 e5 and Max Lange
Attack Sources: Tartakower & du Mont, 500 Master Games of Chess, pp. 49-50;
Maroczy: London, 1922, pp. 66-67 The elemental power of Rooks commanding open
lines is well illustrated In this beautiful game.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4
Nf6 4. Nc3 ({Maroczy: An alternative and perhaps preferable continuation for
White is} 4. d3 {, bringing about the regular Giuco Piano.}) 4… Nxe4 5. Nxe4
d5 6. Bd3 dxe4 7. Bxe4 Bd6 8. d4 ({Maroczy:} 8. Bxc6+ {, doubling the c-pawn
would not gave been good for White, as his opponent’s two bishops would have
been too powerful.}) 8… Nxd4 9. Nxd4 exd4 10. Qxd4 O-O {Marcozy: Black has
now the advantage in development, as White cannot castle at once because of
Bxh2+, winning the queen.} 11. Be3 ({Not} 11. O-O {on account of} Bxh2+ {
. But now White puts his trust in his cluster of forces in the centre.}) 11…
Qe7 {Preventing 12.0-0, as 12….Be5 would be awkward for White.} 12. O-O-O {
Maroczy: There is generally an element of danager in castling queenside, as
the king is there more exposed to attack than after castling on the kingside.
12….} Re8 13. Bd5 {As this helps Black’s counter-play (14….c6)} ({the best
course was} 13. Bf3 $144 {with level chances.}) ({A magnificent trap would be}
13. Rhe1 Qxe4 14. Bh6 Bf4+ 15. Kb1 {, and wins. But Black coolly replies 13….
Be6, obtaining the better game.}) 13… Be5 14. Qa4 $146 c6 {Gradually Black
obtains the initiative.} 15. Bf3 {Maroczy: Both Black’s bishops are now
bearing on the white king’s entrenchment, whereas White’s bishops are
threatening nothing. 15….} Be6 16. Kb1 a5 {A strong move, threatening 17.Qb4.
Maroczy: The storming of the enemy’s position commences with the move.} 17. Bd4
Bd6 18. Bb6 Bb4 19. c3 Ra6 20. Be3 Bf5+ 21. Ka1 b5 22. Qb3 Bd6 23. a4 {Instead
of further compromising his position, he should have resorted to the patient
manoeuvre 23.Rd2. 23….} Rb8 {Now Black definitely has the better game.
Maroczy: All Black’s pieces are now well posted for the attack.} 24. Rd2 Be6
25. Qd1 Be5 26. Bd4 {[#]} Bf4 27. Be3 Bxe3 28. fxe3 b4 {The decisive advance,
forcibly opening up the position.} 29. cxb4 {[#]} Rab6 {Black conducts the
attack with superb élan. Maroczy: Better than recapturing the pawn at once.} (
{Both the following lines would have been premature: 29….Rxb4 or} 29… Qxb4
{(because of} 30. Rd8+ {)}) ({and} 29… axb4 {, on account of} 30. b3 {
, again closing up the critical a-file.}) 30. Rd6 {[#]} ({The following
variation loses beautifully:} 30. bxa5 Ra6 31. b4 Rxa5 32. bxa5 Qa3+ {,
followed by mate.}) 30… Rxb4 {Threatening not only 31….Rxa4+, but also 31..
..Bb3, followed by Rxa4+.} 31. Bxc6 Rxb2 32. Bb5 Ra2+ 33. Kb1 Rxa4 34. Kc2 ({
The white King attempts to escape. If} 34. Qxa4 Qxd6 {, the bishop is lost.})
34… Ra2+ 35. Kc3 Rc8+ 36. Bc6 {[#]} Rxc6+ {This curious break-through
sacrifice is a crowning touch to a powerfully conducted game.} 37. Rxc6 Qb4+
38. Kd3 Qb5+ 39. Kd4 Qxc6 40. Ke5 Qc5+ 41. Kf4 Qf5+ 42. Kg3 Qf2# {Maroczy: A
very fine game played by Atkins in his best style.} 0-1
[/pgn]
From The Oxford Companion to Chess by Hooper & Whyld
English player, born in Leicester, International Master (1950), schoolmaster. Between 1895 and 1901 he played in seven minor tournaments, winning four, taking second place in three, and losing only three out of 70 games. In one of these events, Amsterdam 1899, he made a clean score against 15 opponents. In his first international tournament, Hanover 1902, he came third (+8=7-2) after Janowski and Pillsbury ahead of Mieses, Chigorin, and Marshall. Emanuel Lasker believed that Atkins would have joined the leading grandmasters had he continued his international career, but Atkins played in only one more big tournament (London 1922). He had a genuine concern for his profession, and preferred not to give more of his life to chess. He played in 12 of the Anglo-American cable matches, won the British Championship nine times (1905-11, 1924, 1925), and represented the British Chess Federation in the Olympiads of 1927 and 1935.
International Master (1950) and nine times British Champion. Born in Leicester on 20th August 1872, Atkins learned the game at school in Leicester at the age of 12. When he was 15, he joined Leicester Chess Club and within two years was playing on top board. In 1890 he went up to Peterhouse, Cambridge, and played top board for the University. On leaving Cambridge he became a schoolmaster.
His first appearance in the British Championship was in 1904, when he came 2nd. The following year he won the championship and repeated his success every year up to and including 1911. He did not compete between 1912 and 1923, and on reappearing in the event in 1924, he regained his title and held it the following year. His final appearance in the British Championship was in 1937, when at the age of 65 he came =3rd.
In the five international events in which he played – Amsterdam 1899, Hanover 1902, London 1922 and the Chess Olympiads of 1927 and 1935 – he scored over 60 per cent.
His devotion to teaching and his insistence on treating chess as merely a game was all that prevented him from becoming one of the leading players in the world.
He died on 31st January, 1955.
H. E. Atkins Doyen of British Chess Champions by R. N. Coles
In the above book RN Coles points out that Atkins regularly played f4 or …f5 early in the game and claims this was HEAs pet or signature move.
British international master and regarded by many as Britain’s more talented player in the history of the game. Born in Leicester and never very fond of leaving England. Atkins was a schoolmaster and devoted relatively little time to chess, and yet he became one of the strongest amateurs every known to chess. He was known on the Continent as “the little Steinitz“.
His record in British Championship is unique; out of eleven appearances he won the event nine times : 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1924 and 1925. I t should be added that in 1904 (his first attempt) he finished 1st= and only lost to Napier after a play-off and in 1937 (his last championship) he finished =3rd at the age of 65!
The British Chess Championship Trophy
His international career comprises only six events. In 1895 Atkins was placed =2nd behind Maróczy in the Hastings Minor Tournament and in 1899 he won the Amsterdam tournament, leading the field by 4 points. At Hanover 1902 he scored his most notable result : 3rd prize behind Janowski and Pillsbury but ahead of Chigorin and Marshall among others. At London 1922 he finished only 10th of 16 but still claimed Rubinstein and Tartakower among his victims. He represented the B.C.F. in the Olympiads of 1927 and 1935.
Atkins was retrospectively awarded the title of international master in 1950 on his pre-war record. (Ray Keene).
According to chessgames.com : “He graduated from Cambridge and taught mathematics at Northampton and Wyggeston. In 1909, he was appointed Principal of Huddersfield College.”
Here is an article from the Yorkshire Chess History site
Raymond Dennis Keene was born on Thursday, January 29th 1948 in Wandsworth, London to Dennis Arthur and Doris Anita Keene (née Leat). Dennis and Doris were married in 1943 in Camberwell. Doris was born on May 27th, 1921 in Lambeth and was a shorthand and invoice typist.
Dennis and Doris also had a daughter Jackie Keene who later married chess historian, RG Eales. Jackie is Emeritus Professor at The University of Kent in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. Jackie played in the Glorney Cup.
Raymond Keene
Ray was educated at Dulwich College between 1959 and 1966 thereby becoming an Old Alleynian. In 1967 Ray went up to Trinity College, Cambridge to study Modern Languages specialising in German and graduating with an MA. Amongst their Alumni are five spies including Blunt, Burgess and Philby. During the gap between Dulwich College and Cambridge Ray (aged 18) wrote his first (and one of his best) book : Flank Openings :
Flank Openings, Raymond Keene, British Chess Magazine, 1967.
Being published at the age of 19 this must be close to the earliest age an English player has had a chess book published that was not ghost written. (Leave a comment if you know differently!)
Following this legendary tome Ray collaborated with Leonard Barden and Bill Hartston on The King’s Indian Defence from BT Batsford Ltd:
The King’s Indian Defence, Barden, Keene and Hartston, BT Batsford, 1969.
and in 1972 we have
The Modern Defence, BT Batsford, 1972, GS Botterill and RD Keene
followed in 1973 by
The Pirc Defence, BT Batsford, 1973, GS Botterill and RD Keene
All of which were favourably received helping Batsford to establish a strong reputation.
In July 1974 Ray married ex-ballerina (and now Dance Teacher) Annette Sara Goodman in Brighton, East Sussex. Annette became a director of World Memory Championships International Limited on January 17th 2008 and resigned on April 9th 2008. They have one son, Alexander Phillip Simon Keene, born in 1991. Godfather to Alexander is Scottish International, IM David Levy.
Also in 1974 George Bell & Sons published Ray’s most acclaimed work (and arguably his best) : Aron Nimzowitsch: A Reappraisal
Aron Nimzowitsch: A Reappraisal, RD Keene, George Bell & Sons, 1974
Alexander is currently the Company Secretary of the aforementioned company, Julian (a retired teacher from Brighton) is another active director.
In 1985 Ray became the sixth British chess player to be awarded the OBE when it was awarded in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. The citation read “For Services to Chess”.
According to Companies House Ray has held a total of 30 directorships in various companies such as :
Brain Plan 2020
World Mind Mapping Championships
World Speed Reading Championships
Buzan International Technology
Buzan World
The World is My Oyster
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(Our particular favourite has to be the unpretentiously entitled “World Peace and Prosperity Foundation” although “The World is My Oyster” runs it a close second.)
Ray, Annette and Julian Simpole currently live in Clapham Common North Side, London, England.
English player and author, British champion 1971, From 1966 he played in several Olympiads and his performance in two of them, Nice 1974 ( + 7=6-2) and Haifa 1976 (+4=6), gained him the title of International Grandmaster (1976). His best tournament win was at Dortmund 1980 (category 8), He studied the games and teaching of Staunton and Nimzowitsch and revealed with unusual insight the strategy of the former and the stratagems of the latter in two books: Staunton : the English World Champion (1975) and Nimzowitsch: a Reappraisal (1974). He also wrote Flank Openings (3rd edn, 1979); these openings are the ones which he prefers to play, which he knows best, and which suit his solid positional style.
International Master (1972), British Champion in 1971 and a regular member of the British team since 1966 playing on top board on a number of occasions.
Ray Keene
Raymond Keene was born on 29th January 1948 in London and learned to play chess at the age of six. He began to play seriously when he was thirteen. While at Dulwich College from 1959 -1966 he played top bard for the school team which won the Sunday Times National Schools’ Chess Tournament in 1965 and 1966.
English chess player Raymond Keene, winner of the 1971 British Chess Championship, posed in London on 6th June 1972. Raymond Keene has been awarded the chess title International Master. (Photo by Harry Dempster/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
In 1964, he won the London and British Boys’ Under 18 Championship (ed : In fact, the title was shared with Brian Denman) and the following year, at the age of seventeen, he became the youngest player to win the Surrey Championship. While at Cambridge he graduated in German Literature (B.A. Honours), he played top board for the university.
Brian Reilly, Ray Keene, George Botterill, Anatoly Karpov, Harry Golombek and Viktor Korchnoi
During his chess career, he has beaten both Botvinnik and Gligoric, In 1967, he came 2nd in the World Junior Championship and in 1968 he won the prize for the best score on board 4 in the Lugano Olympiad.
Raymond Keene
A difficult player to beat, Keene played in four British Championships without losing a game and also went through the Lugano and Siegen Olympiads unbeaten in 33 games.
“British Grandmaster, British Champion 1971, Keene was born in London and was both London Boy Champion and British Junior Champion in 1964 (ed : In fact, the title was shared with Brian Denman).
Educated at Dulwich College and Trinity College, Cambridge, he soon became recognised, along with Hartston, as one of the two leading younger players in England. His style of play was different from that of his rival, being more complicated and less direct; but, like Hartston, he became a most formidable opening theorist with a vast knowledge of opening theory.
His first Olympiad was at Havana 1966 where he was the youngest member of the side and scored 65% on board six. In 1968 at Lugano he obtained 76.5% on board four and in 1970 at Siegen, playing on board two in the preliminaries and board one in the finals he score 68.8%.
Raymond Keene
The year 1971 saw a double achievement, for in that year he won the British Championship at Blackpool and also secured the title of International Master.
Playing on top board in the 1972 Olympiad at Skopje, he scored 11.5 out of 20.
Ray & friend
In 1974 he came 6th in a very strong Hastings tournament and then won first prize in the Capablanca Memorial Masters in Cuba. At the Nice Olympiad he scored 66.66% on 2nd board, attaining the first leg of the grandmaster norm. At Mannheim 1975 he was 3rd in the German Open championship and in that year he also came 2nd at Alicante. In 1976 he was 2nd at the Aarhus tournament in Denmark. He finished a most successful year in international chess by fulfilling the second grandmaster norm on 2nd board in the Haifa Olympiad, thereby becoming England’s second international grandmaster (after Tony Miles). (Harry Golombek)”
1. Nf3 { Notes by Raymond Keene. } Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6
4. e3 e6 5. d4 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Bd3 cxd4 {Perhaps 7…Be7 is
more accurate, maintaining the central tension.} 8. exd4 Be7
9. O-O O-O {One of the classical isolated queen’s pawn
positions, in which White’s extra space and attacking chances
compensate for the structural weakness.} 10. Re1 Nf6 {A solid
alternative is 10…Bf6 11 Be4 etc.} 11. Bg5 {!? Fashionable
was 11 a3, but the text is not bad. All White’s pieces are
coming out at great speed while Black still has problems
completing his queenside development.} 11…Nb4 {The immediate
11…b6 deserves attention. Black’s plan to dominate the
blockade square d5 instantly is possibly too straightforward.}
12. Bb1 b6 {12…Bd7 is a more cautious treatment, planning a
later development with …Bc6.} 13. Ne5 Bb7 {It might look as
if Black is over the worst but now a vicious attack appears
almost out of nowhere.} 14. Re3 {!! A difficult and bold
move. When I played it I already had to be sure that my
kingside attacking chances would be sufficient compensation
for my lack of queenside development and the clumsy position
of my rook on the third rank. Strangely, a similar rook
manoeuvre occurred in a game Filip – Pogats, played 14 years
previously, but neither Miles nor I had any notion of this
until I discovered the theoretical background after our
game. Incidentally, the Filip game ended in a draw.} 14…g6
{To prevent 15 Bxf6 Bxf6 16 Bxh7+ Kxh7 17 Qh5+ and 18 Rh3.}
15. Rg3 {! It looks odd to aim the rook against a granite wall
(g6) but the granite has faulty foundations. In contrast, the
more natural 15 Rh3 achieves nothing.} 15…Rc8 {?! At the
time the course I feared most was 15…Nc6! 16 Bh6 Qxd4! when
Black breaks White’s attack by sacrificing the exchange. In
view of the lack of weaknesses in Black’s position it would
then be a distinctly uphill struggle for White to win. After
the move played the solution became susceptible to precise
tactical analysis.} 16. Bh6 Re8 17. a3 Nc6 {17…Nbd5 does not
alter things significantly.} 18. Nxg6 {!} hxg6 19. Bxg6 {Apart
from capturing the bishop Black has two other defences: a)
19…Bf8 20 Bc2+ Kh8 21 Bxf8 Rxf8 22 Qd2 Ng8 23 Rh3+ Kg7 24
Rh7+ (Fritz gives 24 Qf4) 24…Kf6 25 d5+-; b) 19…Bd6 20
Bxf7+ Kxf7 21 Rg7+ Kf8 22 Qf3+-. In this position Black is
quite helpless, in spite of his extra material.} 19…fxg6
20. Qb1 {! An original square for the queen in a mating
combination, but neither 20 Qd3 Ne5 nor 20 Qc2 Ne5! 21 dxe5
Ne4 (exploiting the pin on the c-file) would be good enough
for White.} 20…Ne5 21. dxe5 Ne4 {Without the c-file pin this
is sheer desperation.} 22. Nxe4 Kh7 23. Nf6+ Bxf6 24. Qxg6+
Kh8 25. Bg7+ Bxg7 26. Qxg7# 1-0
[/pgn]
Sheen Mount Under Eleven Chess Champion Richard Bates and Robin Laisby enjoying a game during time out from the Teachers Assurance National Primary Schools Chess Championships. Malaysian Elephant Leyang Leyang and her keeper Duncan McGinnie help them not to forget their chess moves.
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