MOVES The newsletter of the English Chess Federation | 6 issues per year | May/June 2015

John Nunn, and Mick Stokes at the 15th European Senior Chess Championships - John with his Silver Medal and Keith with his Bronze for the Over 50s section IN THIS ISSUE - ECF News 2-4 Calendar 14-16 Tournament Round-Up 5-6 Supplement --- Junior Chess 6-8 Simon Williams S7 Euro Seniors 9-10 Readers’ Letters S36 National Club 10 Never Mind the GMs S44 Grand Prix 11-12 Home News S52-53 Book Reviews 13

1 ECF NEWS

The Chess Trust

The Chess Trust has now been approved by the Charity Commission as registered charity no. 1160881. This will be the charitable arm of the ECF with wide ranging charitable purposes to support the provision and development of chess within England. This is good news

There is still work to be done to enable the Trust to become operational, which the trustees will address over the next few months. The initial trustees are Ray Edwards, Keith Richardson, Julian Farrand, Phil Ehr and David Eustace.

Questions about the Trust can be raised on the ECF Forum at http://www.englishchess.org.uk/Forum/view- topic.php?f=4&t=261

FIDE – ECF meeting report

FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, ECF President Dominic Lawson and Russian Chess Federation President Andrei Filatov met in London on 11 March 2015. The other ECF participants were Chief Executive Phil Ehr and FIDE Delegate Malcolm Pein. The other FIDE participants were Assistant to the FIDE President Barik Balgabaev and Secretary of FIDE’s Chess in Schools Commission Sainbayar Tserendorj, who is also the founder and ECF Council member for the UK Chess Academy. Mr Filatov was in London to open his Art Russe exhibit at the Saatchi Gallery.

Mutual congratulations were exchanged between Mr Lawson and Mr Ilyumzhinov on success in their respective presidential elections. Frank discussions about the 2014 FIDE election took place in a spirit of cooperation for the shared interest to develop chess. Issues included ECF’s continuing concern at the lack of advanced economy spon- sors for chess, the developments within FIDE which affect negatively efforts to attract them, the apparent waste of Mr Ilyumzhinov’s personal investment in chess since 1995, the effects of the AGON Memorandum (with Mr Ehr recommending financial transparency as the path to restoring public trust in FIDE’s long-term contract with AGON for the World Championship Cycle), the status of Mr Ilyumzhinov’s campaign pledges and the politicisation of international chess. Mr Ilyumzhinov’s clarified his pledge of $20 million, saying that it was to be spent through- out his term rather than to be deposited in FIDE account the very afternoon of the election as stated in his cam- paign speech. Mr Pein expressed dismay that Rex Sinquefeld’s pledge to support FIDE with $10 million if led by Kasparov’s team had been wrongly characterised.

Mr Balgabaev gave assurances that a FIDE working group was progressing Mr Ilyumzhinov’s pledge of $500,000 for an Africa fund that Mr Ilyumzhinov, at the General Assembly, invited to direct. Mr Ilyumzhinov shared his plans for a children’s chess match between North and South Korean children along the Korean border and his plans to open a chess training academy in . Mr Filatov, who was born in Ukraine, reviewed his and the RCF’s activity on behalf of Ukrainian children. Recognising the reality that chess, like other sports, can play a cultural role to ease geo-political tensions, it was agreed to explore the potential of a -Ukraine-England match and a FIDE tournament in England. Mr Pein led a discussion about ways to energise chess through positive promotion of World Champion , creative use of television (commending two Norwegian produc- tion companies) and a legal tip for FIDE’s plan to organise the next World Championship Match in the United States. The candid and cordial meeting ended with a commitment from Mr Ilyumzhinov to meet the ECF on his next visit to London.

Chess business continued to feature on 12 March in a private viewing of The Legacy of WWII in Russian Art at the Saatchi Gallery. The Russian ambassador to the UK spoke about the importance of chess to Russian culture to an

2 audience that included venerable army veterans and many people sporting FIDE lapel pins! The ambassador noted with pleasure that the 2015 Women’s World Chess Championship was to begin on 15 March in Sochi. Several of Mr Ilyumzhinov’s London-based advisors and business associates exchanged ideas with Mr Ehr and ECF Non-executive Director John Foley whilst admiring an impressive array of iconic Russian art commemorating World War II.

– Dominic Lawson, Phil Ehr, Malcolm Pein

2015 Yearbook erratum

Please note – for the Devon County Chess Association — Congress Secretary and Treasurer: Alan Crickmore, 550 Budshead Road, Whitleigh, Plymouth PL5 4DG Tel: 01752 768206 Email: [email protected]

Arbiters Course

Matthew Carr, ECF Manager of Arbiters (Home), is organizing an Arbiters Course on Saturday 19th September – Sunday 20th September 2015. Registration costs £20. There will be an exam at the end of the course. You must be an ECF bronze member or higher to take the test.

The venue is Ryecroft Community Hub in Walsall, West Midlands Lecturer – David Welch, ECF Chief Arbiter

If you would like more information or to apply for the course please contact Matthew Carr on [email protected] or [email protected]

Obituary – Colin Stamford Crouch Ph.D

Colin Crouch died at home in Harrow in April 2015. He was 58, having been born in 1956 in Bushey, in Hertfordshire. He lived most of his life in Harrow and was a pupil at Haberdashers, once a chess power-house. He was a student first at Cambridge and then Durham Universities.

He won the British Under 16 Championship in 1972 with 10.5/11! In 1974 he won the Under 18. Colin was a very experienced international master with a peak International Rating this century of 2448. There are nearly 1000 of his games on ChessBase dating back to 1973; he having joined Harrow Club in 1970. He was first internationally rated, at 2300, in 1977, but he was not awarded the International Master title until 1991. Much of his chess was played in England, although he was also active in Scotland and played some events elsewhere.

He scored 7/9 in the Hastings Challengers of 1991-1992 including a very original win over Valeriy Neverov. This result qualified him to play in the Hastings Premier of 1992-3. He did not disgrace himself in a field that included Judit Polgar and Evgeny Bareev, scoring 3½/14 in this 8 powerful double round all-play-all.

At the end of 2004 Colin had a stroke from which he never fully recovered. This left him with sight only in half of one eye. He decided to concentrate more on chess following that as he wanted to prove he had recovered his intellectual capacity and felt that the logic of chess lent itself more to that ambition. He continued to play against sighted players and last played international chess March 2014 in the 4NCL. His last tournament was the Open of December 2013 where he scored 4½/9.

He won the silver medal in 2008 in the IBCA Olympiad on board 1. He played Board 1 for England in the for the Blind of August 2012 where he scored 7½/9, although he gave up playing against blind players 3 as he didn’t find the opposition strong enough. Colin wrote 15 books on chess which have been well-received. The most recent is ‘Magnus Forces – How Carlsen beat Kasparov’s Record’. He learnt to use a computer for this purpose and after he became partially sighted, used the only type-face he could read.

He also coached chess, particularly at Pinner Junior Chess Club. He designed a very spe- cialised Crouch Swiss Pairing System. It was used around 2000. It never caught on: peo- ple distrust anything new; it is heavily reliant on accurate ratings; the two top players may meet as early as round 2. Thus he was something of a polymath. His Ph.D thesis was on ‘Economic Geography of Recession in the UK; the early 1980s and historical perspective’. So much hap- pened in that period in England that it ended up as three very large A4 volumes and wasn’t completed until 1989. He was also politically active. He predicted the recent bust and also the breaking-up of the British two-party sys- tem. Our condolences to his family.

– Stewart Reuben

Obituary - Craig Woolcock

It is with great sadness that I have to report the sudden death of Craig Woolcock at the all too young age of 42. I have known Craig for over 20 years and his warm, calm personality has enhanced many social occasions on the chess circuit. Craig was a very talented chess player who won many tournaments in England and Wales, frequently with the maximum score. He was a member of Barry Chess Club for 20years and will be sadly missed by his many friends and colleagues ... [picture by Brendan O’Gorman]

- Colin Gardiner

Three C’s Chess Club – ECF Club of the Year 2014 Award

Almost a hundred parents, children and chess players, all part of the Three C’s Chess Club in Oldham, joined together to receive the ECF accolade of “Best Chess Club in England”. The Award was made by the English Chess Federation and the citation was put together by the ECF Awards Committee chaired by Stewart Reuben.

The club was congratulated for its performance in a number of areas: · The success of club players and club teams in local, regional and national tournaments. Ironically on the night of the presentation the Club’s first team was away playing in the Manchester Chess Federation’s Reyner Shield Cup Final against Bolton. Three C’s has a long record of success in challenging tournaments. · The club’s development of a unique and dedicated club room for chess use. · The long term emphasis upon junior players with the club producing several generations of very strong young players. The current crop being no exception. · The club’s contribution to the running of the Manchester Chess Federation and to the wider world of chess.

In making the presentation, Julian Clissold [above], on behalf of the ECF Board, paid tribute to the club and to its active officers and in particular to Stephen Rigby and Phil Adams but also to a large number of parents and chess players who are the heartbeat of the club. 4 Tournament Round-Up

Rothay Manor Chess Holiday

The 7th holiday took place at Rothay Manor Hotel, Ambleside from 15th to 19th March 2015 … The rapidplay was won by John Webb from Fareham, and various tutorial sessions were held. There was a 7 round Swiss competition held with 1 hour each on the clock. Results were as follows — 1st – Rupert Guinness from Kings Lynn with 5.5/7 2nd – Bill Egan, Scunthorpe 5/7 3rd = Gordon Pearce, Alwoodley and John Webb from Fareham 4.5/7 5th – Bob Wardle, Nottingham 4/7 6th = Neville Pearce, York; Bruce Cater, Kings Lynn and Dennis Driscoll, Norwich 3.5/7 9th – Owen McCoan, Great Witchingham 1/7 As usual, the event was blessed with excellent food and good company!

– Peter Cloudsdale

St Albans Chess Congress

The 2015 St Albans Chess Congress took place at St Colomba’s College on 28 and 29 March and saw an increase of nearly 30 on the entry for the previous year. The organisers would like to thank all those who entered for their support. Brendan O’Gorman’s photos from the event can be seen at http://tinyurl.com/StAlbans2015

Prizewinners

Open 1. Alexander Chernaiev 4½/5 2. Svetlana Sucikova 4 3= Christian Stevens, Philip Orgler, Gautam Jain, Simon Roe and Peter Davies 3 Grading prize: Gautam Jain and Peter Davies

Challengers (under 181) 1. Paul Kelly 4½/5 2= Julien Shepley, Finlo Rohrer, Daniel Ellis, Richard Bryant, ANdrew Price and Hugh Fenwick 3½ Grading prize Hugh Fenwick

Major (under 161) 1= John Cawston, William Phillips and Leo Sanitt 4 Grading Prize Leo Sanitt

Intermediate (under 141) 1. Rob Parsons 5/5 2= Rob Hewitt and Steven Dale 4 Grading prize Patrick Sartain

Minor (under 121) 1. Marek Piedel 5/5 2. Jacob Yoon 4½ 3= Peter Brander, Victor Jamroz, Timothy Allen, Jeff Tomy, Brian Foster and Terence Vincent Greenaway 4 Grading prize: Jacob Yoon

Veteran’s prize: William Phillips (Major), Timothy Allen (Minor) and Brian Foster (Minor) Junior prize: Jacob Yoon (Minor)

5 York Junior Chess Day

The above event was held at Archbishop Junior School, Bishopthorpe, York on Saturday 18th April 2015. The event was opened by the Lord Mayor of York, Ian Gillies. Sheila Jackson WGM from London assisted with coaching ses- sions and was well received. A beginners section took place with 20 entrants on a 7 round Swiss basis – results as follows —

1st Mooyeon Won, Osbaldwick School 2nd Thomas Moss, Wigginton 3rd = Xander Thorpe-Wallis, Wigginton; Ben Nesom, Archbishop; Abbey Driffield, Osbaldwick; Sam Drewer, Archbishop 7th Sam Bruce, Wigginton.

In the main section for the UK Chess Challenge there were 40 entries and results were — 1st Ewan Miller, York College 2nd Yash Gulve, Yarm 3rd Max Littlewood, Pennistone Grammar 4th = Hannah Westwich, Redcar; Joshua Burland, Manor; James Eddison, Fulford; Rachel Topping, Manchester; Akshar Cowlagi, Fishergate

Merit awards to Aditya Krishnan, Wakefield; Zoe Usher and Poppy Thompson, Archbishop; Lucas Whitehead, Fishergate; Aaarush Senthill, Wakefield; Puyuan Ge, Copmanthorpe; Bardy Hills-Savage, All Saints York. Thanks to the school for excellent facilities and refreshments. Thanks also to the controllers Dean Morris, David Mills, Stephen Greep, Noel Stewart, Paul Johnson, Adam Ismail and David Baren. The event was sponsored by the John Robinson Trust and York R I Chess Club

– Peter Cloudsdale, Organiser

Junior Chess

ECF Team Chess Challenge results

The national final was held at Imperial College, London on Wednesday 22nd April. Congratulations to Manchester Grammar School who won with 5 straight wins, and 18 game points out of a maximum of 20. The winning team was Andrew Horton (234); Michael Fernandez (201); Daniel Abbas (181) and Jason Lau (174)

School Totals 1 Manchester GS 18; 2 RGS Newcastle 12; 3 Wilson’s School 11.5; 4 Hampton School 11.5; 5 Millfield School 11; 6 Eltham College 11; 7 Mill Hill HS 10.5; 8 Nottingham High School 10.5; 9 Magdalen College School 9.5; 10 Reserves 9.5; 11 Torquay Boys’ GS 9; 12 Westminster Under School 8; 13 KE VI Camp Hill 5; 14 Bangor GS 3

English Schools Team Problem Solving Championship

The final of this new event took place in parallel with the Team challenge Event at Imperial College. After two prelim- inary rounds, which were conducted by email, five schools qualified for the final (including two girls teams) and after five rounds of problems The Kings School Grantham emerged as winners. The final results were —

Kings School Grantham 70; Hampton School 61.5; Westminster School 54; The Abbey School 49.5; Portsmouth High School 19.5

The event involved a wide age range from Year 7 to Year 13 and, following this year’s success, is likely to become an annual event. The event was run by Brian Stephenson (British Chess Problem Society), who compiled all the problem rounds. The prizes were presented by Dr. (ex-world Problem Solving Champion and 18 times British Champion) --- Phill Beckett

6 Harrogate Junior Chess Competition 2015

The Harrogate Junior Chess Championship 2015 took place at Apley Grange on 21st March and attracted 28 entrants from local primary schools. The winners were as follows —

6-8 age group: 1st Edward Evans (Oatlands Infants) 2nd Conor Lister (Oatlands Infants) 3rd Lochlan Reah (Pannal) 8-9 age group: 1st William Bailey (Oatlands Junior) 2nd Lucas Moyser (Oatlands Junior) 3rd Isaac Young (Meadowside) 9-10 age group: 1st Max Houseman (Oatlands Junior) 2nd Kallum Shaw (Bilton Grange) 3rd Samuel Speight (Oatlands Junior) 10-12 age group: 1st Olivia Claire 2nd Matas Laukaitis (Western) 3rd Hugo O’Reilly Bolger (Oatlands Junior)

The Trumper Cup for the highest scoring school went to Oatlands Junior. All children taking part received a certifi- cate. In addition to the competition Mick Stokes hosted a short training session for those present and the event proved very enjoyable for all involved. Harrogate Chess Club congratulates all winners and thanks the organisers for making the event happen.

For more information about the Harrogate and District Primary Schools Association, their website can be found at http://harrogatejuniorchess.com/

Report from Frydek-Mistek

At Easter a team of 18 players and 3 adults made our usual trip to the tournament of young talents at Frydek Mistek in the Czech Republic. This was the 37th event, and the biggest for many years, with over 350 players from 15 countries. As 17 of our players were in the U15s, opportunities for prizes was limited, but nevertheless we had two in the top five. James Moreby, although only 31 days too old for the U12s won the event, being unbeaten with 7/8 whilst, a point behind, Callum Brewer was 4th.

As well as the chess, we had a good social programme – swimming and playing soccer as well as shopping, visit- ing the Anselm mine in Ostrava and the Tatra Museum in Kopravnice. All in all an excellent week when the play- ers were a credit to their country.

– Peter Purland

Manchester Junior Chess – Rybnik, Poland Easter Tour

A party of children from Manchester have visited Rybnik, Poland to play chess against children from a school in Rybnik. Rybnik is about two hours from Krakow and is in the industrial region close to Silesia, most famous for its coal mines. The school is one of four chess schools in Poland that has a responsibility to promote chess. Their chil- dren figure every year as winners in Polish Junior Championships.

The Manchester party included: Tom Green, Chorlton Chess Club; Robert McLean, Three C’s Chess Club; George Harman, Worsley Chess Club; Rachel Horton, Three C’s Chess Club; Rachel Topping, Worsley Chess Club

The children played two matches against Rybnik on standard play times. Unhappily we lost both by the score of 1-4; this probably flatters the Rybnik team, but they were clearly stronger. Good wins from Tom Green and Robert McLean were the highlights.

The party also enjoyed some sightseeing and a rapidplay event with the whole of the school chess club. On the final afternoon all the children played “Fun Chess” trying different variants of the game. One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to the Rybnik Chess Club. A dedicated room in a community centre adorned with photographs of past champions from the club, trophies and high quality chess sets and boards available for club members 24/7, all paid for by the local government.

7 8 15th European Senior Chess Championship 2015

Final Scores

50+ Zurab Sturua 7.5/9 – Gold 6.5/9 – Silver TPR 2572 Keith Arkell 6/9 – 3-8= Bronze TPR 2532 Brian Hewson 4.5/9 Terry Chapman 4/9 Meyrick Shaw 3.5/9 Thus Zurab is now both European and World 50+ Champion. John and Keith reversed their position in the World 50+ Individual. Both qualify for the right to free full board hospitality in the World 50+ Championship in Italy 20- 30 November.

65+ Jan Rooze – Gold, Viktor Kupreichik – Silver – both 7.5/9 Michael Stokes 5.5/9 TPR 2215 (higher than his published rating of 2135) Anthony Ashby 4.5/9 Alan Gregg 4/9

Please note – the European 60+ Team Championship takes place in Vienna from the 12th-21st July. The 19 English players who have so far signed up are, in alphabetical order — Kevin Bowmer, John G Cooper, Colin Davison, Ray Edwards, Keith Emerton, Brian Ewart. Julian Farrand, Richard Hall, Geoff James, Bill Phillips, John Quinn, Stewart Reuben, Keith Richardson, James Scholes, Roger Scowen, Anthony Stebbings, Mick Stokes, Kevin Thurlow, Peter R Wood. It is not too late to enter. Your 60th birthday must be no later than 31 December 2015. Apart from the air fare and living expenses, the entry fee is €85 + €600 b&b single, or €400 b&b each with two sharing. If you are inter- ested please contact [email protected]

Report - Anthony Ashby

The 15th European Senior Chess Championship took place between 29th April and 7th May 2015 in Eretria, Greece. In line with new FIDE rules there were two sections, 50+ and 65+.

The 65+ tournament included the women competitors as there were not sufficient numbers to justify a women’s only section. 42 players participated, including 4 GMs, 3 IMs, 3 FMs, a CM and a WGM. Three English players took part – Michael Stokes, Tony Ashby, and Alan Gregg. In addition there were 3 Scottish entrants and 1 Irish.

Overall winner was Jan Rooze, an IM from Belgium, who put in a scorching performance which netted him some 45 grading points. He scored 7.5/9, equal with GM Kupreichik, but beating him on the tie-break. Kupreichik’s play was all the more impressive given that he had to undergo dialysis treatment half-way through the tournament. However, the most impressive performance by far was from 72 year old Salih Muratoglu from Turkey. Seeded 55th with a FIDE rating of 1960 he came 4th with 6 points, with a performance rating of 2337, gaining an incredible 83 points.

Mick Stokes was the best placed English player coming 9th on 5.5 points. Tony Ashby scored 4.5 and Alan Gregg 4.

The venue was an attractive resort complex some 60 miles north of Athens. Playing conditions were excellent, with plenty of room between boards. Pairings were produced very shortly after the last game had finished and were put on the website and printed in the playing hall lobby. There were criticisms about the unreliable internet connections in the rooms; there was no opening ceremony; and a very low-key prize giving.

9 Report - Mick Stokes

Club members Douglas McKerracher and Mick Stokes travelled all the way to the Greek island of Evia to compete in the European Seniors 65+ Individual Championship – then found that they were playing each other in the first round! After this game was drawn, Douglas did not have the best of fortunes but still finished with a creditable score of 3.5 out of 9 in this very strong tournament. Mick had better success, sharing the prize for 5th place by amassing 5.5 points alongside two Grandmasters, one of whom was Nona Gaprindashvili of who was the first woman to achieve the title and was World Ladies Champion for 16 years. Amongst Mick’s vic- tims was the Dutch International Master Nico Schouten who won the 2014 event.

2015 National Club Championships results

Open: Sutton Coldfield; Major: Newton Abbot; Major Plate: Drunken Knights; Intermediate: Sutton Coldfield; Intermediate Plate: Redditch; Minor: Sutton Coldfield; Minor Plate: GLCC

10 Grand Prix Leader Boards - 5th May 2015

180+ Ref Name Club/Area Grade Mem No Pts 1 154721F Cherniaev, Alexander Hackney 236 S25369 652 2 105817E Arkell, Keith CC 4NCL Cheddleton 234 G15972 646 3 282399J Kalavannan, Koby Coulsdon CF 186 JG6614 641 4 241589G Jaunooby, Ali Reza Denton 205 G4139 637 5 242398E Hjort, Helge Hendon 185 G3467 619 6 267990F Landau, Jonathan Hendon 182 G22677 616 7 283656H Golding, Alex Coulsdon CF 180 JG17052 612 8 112455K Hebden, Mark L 4NCL Guildford 244 G4157 604 9 258768D Merry, Alan B Bury St Edmunds 226 JG17393 583 10 267851C McPhillips, Joseph Bolton 219 JG5762 573 11 224790C Villiers, Thomas Muswell Hill 195 G17811 563 12 119904D Surtees, Mike J Bolton 199 G17950 562 13 277139B Haridas, Girinath Kent Junior Congresses 182 JG6693 560 14 245792B Atako, Chino C Coulsdon CF 187 G19875 555 15 245061G Jackson, James P Chess Mates Northants 224 G6746 532

160-179 Ref Name Club/Area Grade Mem No Pts 1 113386L Ireland, David J Coventry Chess 166 G24784 569 2 107035G Boumphrey, Luke S Atticus 172 G18517 554 3 104852B Whitehead, Mark A Rochdale 174 G15489 547 4 107574D Bryant, Richard BE Chester 176 G2289 545 5 116801A Patrick, David A Courier Halifax 160 G5137 543 6 152545B Ashcroft, Graham J Preston 161 S25273 530 7 115575B Millward, David J Writtle 165 G299 515 8 113478E Jacob, Sydney J Lewisham 166 G6237 514 9 270505K Miu, Marinel Watford 160 S19995 503 10 162291C Jackson, Paul G Coulsdon CF 161 G4609 499 11 265676A Potter, Karl H Latimer 164 G7094 492 12 111035E Gamble, Raymond J Spondon 160 G383 484 13 163643B Coward, Neil Blackpool 169 G4561 483 14 260784A Allison, Conrad Petts Wood & Orpington 179 G17006 483 15 290163J Shaw, Meyrick Exmouth 173 G17941 480

140-159 Ref Name Club/Area Grade Mem No Pts 1 230106E Clegg, Robert Huddersfield 159 G3088 604 2 128713J Wilson, Matthew R Devon * 157 G17805 604 3 248245K Wright, Jonathan London * 152 G5722 554 4 109622K Desmedt, Richard E Wombwell 157 G3411 553 5 170919H Williams, Stephen Cwmbran 140 S25816 552 6 283075K Bovtramovics, Vladimirs Russia 157 G18255 518 7 122453A Finnegan, Oliver Loughton 158 G17636 515 8 109533L Dean, Robert A Pudsey 157 G9164 513 9 116382G O’Gorman, Brendan DHSS 152 G4320 512 10 127076L Woodward, Tim F Trowbridge 150 G6434 511 11 108722J Connor, Michael I Great Lever 152 S15540 510 12 247156F Rubeck, Jonathan Hendon 151 G25948 506 13 220688C Papier, Alan R Bristol & Clifton 148 G6187 504 14 149122C Georgiou, George Swindon 141 S21655 501 15 117410B Price, Andrew Leamington 157 G2613 497

120-139 Ref Name Club/Area Grade Mem No Pts 1 279615G Crockett, Stephen J Redditch 120 G6367 678 2 129445D Sommerville, Gordon BR Buckley/Mold 124 S26350 605 3 276572L Egan, William J Scunthorpe 133 G6039 600 4 123333G Gilbert, David J DHSS 133 G3430 561 5 143011H White, Gary M Priorslee Lions 133 G6822 548 6 154244J McKeon, John E Milton Keynes 122 G6326 526 7 276212C Mahony, Jonathan Leeds 132 S18433 523 8 273499A Davis, John G Ashtead 122 G20299 510

11 9 290162G McGeeney, David B Bristol Cabot 122 S17408 510 10 121781B Sandercock, E Barry Buckinghamshire * 133 S4167 500 11 139288J Boustred, Noel J Gosforth 124 S8192 492 12 264336E Crouch, Timothy J Kings Head 129 P5843 489 13 247342C Alexander, Ken RD Seaton 128 S6705 488 14 137558B Smith, Paul Hastings & St Leonards 136 G1546 482 15 283350F Bullock, Lee London * 130 G18801 480

U120 Ref Name Club/Area Grade Mem No Pts 1 258940A Allen, Timothy S Battersea 117 G4415 591 2 274725L Fraser, Chris A West Bridgford 115 S19796 573 3 140257C Fraser, Alan R Beckenham & Bromley 107 G2908 571 4 274379G Macdonald, John R Kings Head 114 G6972 570 5 111052E Gardiner, Colin J Newmarket 109 S1469 532 6 111361G Goldsmith, Jennifer Harrow 107 G6876 529 7 156363E Greenaway, Terence V Torquay 118 S17343 521 8 163954H Miles, Barry S Coulsdon CF 119 G4976 520 9 180180G De Santos, Andrew R Preston 112 G15092 504 10 267739J Wallman, James Dorset * 110 G16504 489 11 107186F Bramley, Douglas Spondon 117 S18495 488 12 251770L Shaughnessy, Phillip J Urmston 111 S24837 487 13 270857H Hughes, Peter J Mutual Circle 100 S24576 477 14 191456L Maber, Martyn J Taunton 100 G25858 474 15 136890E Broderick, Paul G Shifnal & Telford 104 G20480 464

Women’s Prix Ref Name Club/Area Grade Mem No Pts 1 280882B Varney, Zoe Cumnor 160 JG17170 546 2 294266F Sheikh, Anum Middlesex Juniors 100 JG24565 542 3 291209A Rahulan, Thivyaa Cheddleton & Leek 129 JG17341 538 4 111361G Goldsmith, Jennifer Harrow 107 G6876 529 5 290588H Somton, Anita Bury Knights 138 JG6955 508 6 291801J Desai, Nilomi Surrey Juniors 114 JG22807 499 7 291563H Sawhney, Anisha N. London Collegiate Sch. 90 JG23132 491 8 288605E Raghavendra, Mahima G Atherton 143 JG6900 490 9 293599F Volovich, Julia Kings College CU 110 JS24317 484 10 280020C Kalaiyalahan, Akshaya Coulsdon CF 197 JG6425 478 11 290059C Ragavan, Soumiya Surrey Juniors 115 JG21623 475 12 284503K Gelain-Sohn, Emmanuelle Middlesex Juniors 115 JG20546 467 13 287616E Haridas, Navieinaah Kent Junior Congresses 94 JG17185 463 14 181078K Robson, Caroline J Barnet Elizabeth 112 G4002 462 15 284928J Ramaiya, Arushi Surrey Juniors 118 JG6987 444

Junior Prix Ref Name Club/Area Grade Mem No Pts 1 282399J Kalavannan, Koby Coulsdon CF 186 JG6614 641 2 288604C Munshi, Aditya West Nottingham 163 JG18647 632 3 294585L Ratnesan, Ranesh Kingston * 130 JG24219 615 4 283656H Golding, Alex Coulsdon CF 180 JG17052 612 5 294003G Pramod Paleri, Adithya Watford * 142 G23838 610 6 275426F Anilkumar, AP (jnr) Coulsdon CF 172 G17157 609 7 287750J Ahluwalia, Amardip Sussex Juniors 152 JG17043 598 8 258768D Merry, Alan B Bury St Edmunds 226 JG17393 583 9 291291A See, Tristian Cambridgeshire * 130 JG17519 582 10 267851C McPhillips, Joseph Bolton 219 JG5762 573 11 287441G Salmons, Calum Sussex Juniors 140 JG23315 560 12 277139B Haridas, Girinath Kent Junior Congresses 182 JG6693 560 13 284337H Rushbrooke, Remy Middlesex Juniors 137 JG26769 557 14 294993D Yoon, Jacob D Middlesex Juniors 72 JG24229 553 15 291679E Mao, Ximan Kent Junior Congresses 142 JG20472 553

Please note - these are only top fifteens for each category. The full leader boards can be found online at --- http://www.englishchess.org.uk/competitions-plp/ecf-grand-prix/

12 BOOK REVIEWS - Gary Lane

Liquidation on the Chess Board by Joel Benjamin Published by New In Chess, 253 pages £16.95

I was a junior when I first heard Joel Benjamin's name because outside of the Soviet Empire he was one of two child prodigies tipped for success and comparisons with Fischer were end- less. The other prodigy was Nigel Short who some thought could be as good as C.H.O'D. Alexander. Nigel went on to over achieve somewhat by challenging for the World Championship in 1993, while Joel never quite made it to the very top but is still a 3- time US Champion which is very impressive. He also helped the computer Deep Blue to defeat Kasparov in the 1990s and is heavily fea- tured in the books and films associated with the subject. Now a family man who spends a lot of time coaching rather than playing, he has the time to devote to writing. In this tome the sub title is Mastering the Transition into the Pawn Endgame so really we have a book about king and pawn endings. Frankly, it sounds rather boring but the author has a knack of making it inter- esting by looking at a critical moment in an ending from a game and then demonstrating the right moment to exchange major pieces. The analysis of is broken up by puzzles where you have to start thinking about opposition, triangulation and . There is a sprinkling of black and white photos which adds some background to the players, including an old one of Englishman Jonathan Mestel.

A labour of love that has produced an outstanding book on the ending.

The English Attack Against the Taimanov Sicilian by Zaven Andriasyan Published by New in Chess, 175 pages £18.95

This aims to be a high level book containing a way to create aggressive positions against the Taimanov Sicilian. The author starts every game with the sequence 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nc6 5 Nc3 Qc7 6 Be3 which indicates the English Attack, named in honour of such play- ers as John Nunn and Nigel Short who used attacking schemes with Be3 and Qd2 with great success in the 1980/90s. Andriasyan presents a repertoire which is supposed to cater for all levels of play but I think someone who regularly plays in weekend tournaments will benefit most because you will need study to remember the variations. The beauty of the set-up is that even if the computer thinks there are equal chances, the real- ity is that it is usually a lot easier to conduct the attack rather than defend like a champion. It is clear a lot of thought has gone into the lines and he does a convincing job of making it seem that White should win against the Taimanov. The only downside is that the author by his own admission has barely read any books on the theory of the lines that the majority of Sicilian players will own. This is not that surprising considering the grandmaster comes from Armenia but just anecdotally from players I have talked to, their repertoire lines are overlooked such as those from The most flexible Sicilian by Semkov. It might not be the end of the world but sometimes it can be comforting to know of a superior line to crush a variation trumpeted in an old book.

A good guide on how to beat the Sicilian.

13 ECF Event Calendar

KEY --- @ FIDE rated; # British Championships qualifying tournament; * English Chess Federation Grand Prix; ~ ECF Graded Event; Y Juniors only; + English Youth Grand Prix

15 May 4th Bad Bishop Blitz, The Large Hall, 21 Wanstead Place, London E11 2SR Contact: Gary Cook Email: ncclsecre- [email protected] Website: http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~cernunos/badbishopblitz.html - 10 round Open 5-minute blitz with £230 prize fund, £100 first prize and 5 prizes. 7:00 registration ~*# 15-17 May 26th Frome Chess Congress, Selwood Academy, Berkley Road, Frome, Somerset BA11 2EF Contact: Gerry Jepps Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.somersetchess.org - Four sections: Open, Major (U165), Intermediate (U140) and Minor (U115). Further details to follow. ~* 15-17 May Rhyl Chess Congress, Rhyl Town Hall, Wellington Road, Rhyl LL18 1AB Contact: Stuart Hamilton Email stuar- [email protected] - starts 7:00PM ends 6:00PM. 5 round Swiss pairing, 40 moves in one hour then an 20 extra minutes to complete the game ~ 16 May County Championships Quarter Finals Contact: Alex Holwczak Email: [email protected] ~Y 16 May Sussex Junior Worthing Rapidplay, Worthing College, Hill Barn Lane, Worthing, West Sussex BN14 9QB Contact: Sandra Manchester Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.sussexjuniorchess.org/ - 6 round swiss in 4 sections (U11 Major, U11 Minor, U18 Minor, U18 Major). Open to all aged under 18 on 31st August 2014 ~* 16 May Kings Head Rapidplay Open and Under 150, Westbourne Grove Church, Westbourne Grove, London Contact: Colin Mackenzie Tel: 02089921849 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.khcc.org.uk/ - Six-round Swiss rapidplay (30 minutes each) in two separate sections (Open and Under 150). First prize of £150 in each section with a total prize fund of £650 ~*@ 16-17 May 28th Hampstead Congress: Under 2200, Henderson Court Day Centre, 102 Fitzjohn’s Ave, London, Greater London NW3 6NS Contact: Adam Raoof Email [email protected] Website http://www.hampsteadchess.blogspot.co.uk/ - starts 10:30AM ends 5:30PM ~Y 17 May Colchester Junior Tournament, St Benedict's College, Norman Way, Colchester, Essex CO3 3US Contact: Dave Hawkins Email: [email protected] Tel: 020 8531 5066 Website: http://www.ejca.co.uk - starts 9:45AM ends 5:30PM. Essex Junior Grand Prix 4 - 2015 ~* 21 May Pimlico Summer Tournament, St Saviours Church, St.George's Square, Pimlico, London SW1V 3QN Contact: Richard Fries Email: [email protected] - 5 round Swiss standard play tournament, played over 5 consecutive Thursday evenings, starting on Thursday, 21 May and ending on Thursday, 18 June 2015. 3 ECF Graded sections – Open, U150, U120 ~* 22-24 May Calderdale Chess Congress, Lee Mount Social Club, Lee Mount Road, Halifax HX3 5EQ Contact: Mr N. Boustred Email [email protected] Website www.noelschess.weebly.com - starts 7:00PM ends 5:15PM. Massive venue with fantastic facilities. 3 sections - Minor U121; Major U156; Open. Open 1st prize £160, Major 1st prize 40% fees in section, Minor 1st prize £160 ~* 23 May 1st Castle Rapidplay Potters Bar, Potters Bar United Reformed Church, Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Herts EN6 1BZ Contact: Tony Corfe Email [email protected] Website www.castlechess.co.uk - starts 10:00AM ends 6:00PM. Sections arranged by grading bands on the day. Prize fund for each section minimum £100. Entry fee £18 ECF discounts apply. Number of rounds - 6. Time limit 30 minutes ~* 23-25 May 47th Cotswold Chess Congress, King’s School, Gloucester GL1 2BG Contact: John Harris Email [email protected] Website www. cotswoldcongress.co.uk - starts 10:00AM ends 7:00PM. 6 round Swiss - OPEN £32, MAJOR (Grade: Below 155) £28, MINOR (Grade: Below 125) £26 *@ 25 May CCF FIDE Open Blitz, 84-90 Chipstead Valley Road, Coulsdon, Surrey CR5 3BA Contact: CCF Email chess@ccf- world.com Website http://www.ccfworld.com/Chess/Adult%20Competitions/Blitz_info.html - starts 7:30AM ends 10:15PM. 7 round open FIDE rated Blitz - 8 minutes each plus 2 second Fischer increments ~*Y 25 May 1st Castle Chess Junior Rapidplay Potters Bar, Potters Bar United Reformed Church, Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Herts EN6 1BZ Contact: Tony Corfe Email Email [email protected] Website www.castlechess.co.uk - starts 9:30AM ends 5:30PM. Number of rounds - 6. Time limit 30 minutes. Sections arranged by grading bands on the day, including a section for ungraded players. All players must be under 18 at 31st August 2014. Entry Fee £15 ECF discounts apply Y 27-28 May 11th Grand Master Training Camp, Langley Park School for Boys, South Eden Park Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 3BP Contact: Luca Bernardini Email: [email protected] Tel: +447932279446 - starts 9:30AM ends 4:00PM. GM Chris Ward and GM , will head a group of four coaches which will work with small groups of children to improve their chess awareness and skill in a fun environment. We aim for small groups of about 10 so that we can dedicate enough attention to everyone, from experienced county players to beginners. Children will be divided in four skill groups according to ECF rating and chess experience. The cost will be £35 per child per day (£30 per child if booking 2 or more siblings). If booking for both days, the cost is reduced to £30 per child per day (£27.50 per day if booking two or more sib- lings for both days). There are only 40 spaces available; to reserve a place for your child please e-mail Luca Bernardini [email protected], with name, age, chess experience and ECF grade of your child if available, and which day you would

14 like to book ~ 29 May Huddersfield Congress, Huddersfield Ukrainian Club, 7 Edgerton Road, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire HD1 5RA Contact: Nigel Hepworth Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.huddersfieldchessclub.co.uk/ - 3 section Swiss tournament – Open, Major (U165) and Minor (U125) ~*@ 30 May 4th Muswell Hill Rapidplay, The Clissold Arms, 105 Fortis Green, East Finchley, London N2 9HR Contact: Adam Raoof Email [email protected] Website http://www.muswellhillchess.blogspot.co.uk/ - starts 10:30AM. Swiss 6 rounds Open/Major U160/Amateur U120 Total prize fund: £500 ~ 30 May 1st Hastings and St Leonards Weekend Chess Tournament 2015, Hastings and St Leonards Chess Club, 2 Cornwallis Terrace, Hastings, East Sussex TN34 1EB Contact: Marc Bryant Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.hastingschess.club/category/events/ - Round 1 Saturday 9.30 am Round 2 Saturday 1.30 pm Round 3 Saturday 5.30 pm Round 4 Sunday 10 am Round 5 Sunday 2.00 pm. For any chess player graded under 180. One section only. Prizes £250 as follows — 1st £90 2nd £60 3rd £25 with three grading prizes of £25 each (U160, U140, U120) Entry fee Standard=£25, Hastings Chess Club member=£20, Under 18=£15 ~*# 30-31 May East Anglian Chess Union Chess Congress, The Turner Hall, Church Lane, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 Contact: Richard Freeman Tel: 01908 234014 Email: [email protected] - A 5 round Swiss tournament, with three sections – Open, U-170 and U-130 ~* 29-31 May 11th Castle Potters Bar, Potters Bar United Reformed Church, Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Herts EN6 1BZ Contact: Tony Corfe Email [email protected] Website www.castlechess.co.uk - starts 9:30AM ends 6:00PM. 6 rounds - Open including Premier U180, Major U160 including Intermediate U140, Minor U120 including Challengers U100 ~@ 1 Jun - 13 Jul CCF Cup 2015, 84-90 Chipstead Valley Road, Coulsdon, Surrey CR5 3BA Contact: CCF Email chess@ccf- world.com Website http://ccfworld.com/Chess/ChessClubHome/ChessClubIndex.htm - starts 7:30PM ends 11:30PM. Monday Night FIDE Rated Chess (1 round per week): Open, U2000, U1750, U1500, U1250 @ 2 Jun Greater London Chess Club Evening Blitz Tournament, Upper Vestry House, 6 Little Russell Street, London WC1A Contact: Nigel Blades Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.glcc.org.uk - 10-round FIDE rated, single-sec- tion Swiss. Entry fees – GLCC member £3, non-member in advance £7, non-member from 1st June £12. Half of entry fees returned as 1st, 2nd and grading prizes. Free tea and coffee available throughout the evening 2 Jun 16th Sam Black Memorial Open Blitz, Wanstead House, 21 The Green, London E11 2NT Contact: Gary Cook Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.northcircularchess.co.uk/samblackentry.html - 6-double rounds (12 games). First Prize £100, 2nd prize £50, 3rd prize £40. 3 Grading prizes of £30 each and slow starter (0/4) £20. Entry £10 (email entry with payment on the night accepted). Entry on the night £13. Loyalty discount £1 for those who played in the 2014 event @ 4 Jun Hendon ‘First Thursday’ FIDE Blitz, Golders Green Unitarians Church, Hoop Lane, Golders Green, London NW11 8BS Contact: Adam Raoof Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.hendonchessclub.com/blitz - One section, 10 minutes per player per game, six rounds, FIDE rated ~*@ 6 Jun Golders Green Rapidplay Congress, Golders Green Church Hall, West Heath Drive, London NW11 7QG Contact: Adam Raoof Email [email protected] Website http://www.goldersgreenchess.blogspot.co.uk - starts 10:30AM ends 5:45PM. Open, Under 170, Under 145 and Under 120 sections, 6 round Swiss open, £500.00 prize fund ~ 7 Jun EMJCA Grand Prix 2014 - 2015, Risley Village Hall, Derby Road, Risley, Derbys DE72 3SU Best 4 results from 6 events counted. £100 to the winner. £20 entry fee per event. Entries to: Christopher Dunworth, 54 Wolfa Street, Derby DE22 3SD Tel: 07577-273275 Email: [email protected]. Cheques payable to BHJCC. BACS payments to: BHJCC | 30- 98-74 | 03097514 - please give name of child and date of event as reference. ~* 7 Jun Bridge Chess Club 1st Rapidplay, Bridge and Patrixbourne CEP School, Conyngham Lane, Bridge, Canterbury, Kent CT4 5JX Contact: Alan Atkinson Email: [email protected] - tournament has two sections: Open and U130 ECF. Subject to entries, first prize in each section £100 and trophy; £50 second prize in each section; and grading prizes too. Bridge is three miles from Canterbury, easy access from the A2 ~* 12-14 Jun South Lakes Chess Congress, Cumbria Grand Hotel, Lindale Rd, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria LA11 6EN Contact: Trevor Blower Email [email protected] - starts 12:00PM ends 12:00PM. 5 round Swiss in 5 sections: Open, 170, 150, 130, 110 ~*@ 13-14 Jun 29th Hampstead Congress: Under 2200, Henderson Court Day Centre, 102 Fitzjohn’s Ave, London, Greater London NW3 6NS Contact: Adam Raoof Email [email protected] Website http://www.hampsteadchess.blogspot.co.uk/ - starts 10:30AM ends 5:30PM ~ 14 Jun Leek Rapidplay, St.Edward’s Academy, Westwood Road, Leek, Leek, Staffordshire ST13 Contact: Robert Milner Email: [email protected] - 6 round rapidplay using Fischer timings of 25 minutes plus 10 seconds per move. 2 sections – Under 210 and Under 145 based on January 2015 gradings. ~# 19 Jun 4th Bournemouth Grand Chess Congress, The Carrington House Hotel, Knyveton Road, Bournemouth BH1 Contact: M Simons Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.bournemouthchesscongress.org.uk/index.php - ECF Congress of the Year 2012 – Sections: Open, Challengers, Intermediate, Minor – also Individual Handicap Rapidplay | Guaranteed 1st prize in each of the four main sections – £1,000 in the Open section, £300 in the Challengers, £250 in the Intermediate and £200 in the Minor

15 ~* 20 Jun Heywood Chess Congress, HEYWOOD CIVIC CENTRE, Heywood Contact: Bill O'Rourke Email: worchess@ntl- world.com Website: http://www.heywoodcongress.org.uk/ - ECF Congress of the Year 2014 – Open, U180, U160, U140 and U120. Free parking all weekend, 5 minutes from M62 or M66. Hot and cold food available all weekend. Large prize fund ~ 21 Jun Suffolk Junior Chess Open, Woodbridge School, Burkitt Road, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 4JJ Contact: Adam Hunt Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.woodbridgechess.wordpress.com/ - This is a rescheduling of the event in March. Open section for adults as well as trophies for every age group from Under 8 to Under 18 ~Y 21 Jun ECF U18 & U13 County Championships, The King's School, Brook Street, Grantham, Lincolnshire NG31 6RP Contact: Phillip Beckett Email [email protected] - the annual national competition for junior county teams, both U18 and U13 events. The ECF is grateful for the support of The King's School and of Phill and his organising team @ 22 Jun Commonwealth Chess Championship 2015, Hotel Park Plaza, Shahdara, New Delhi India Contact: AK Verma Tel: +91 9891468906 Email: [email protected] Website: www.delhichess.com @ 25 Jun Hampstead Summer Blitz, Henderson Court Day Centre, 102 Fitzjohn's Avenue, London NW3 6NS Contact: Adam Raoof Email: [email protected] Website: www.chessengland.com - SWISS 9 ROUNDS Open (one section) ~*# 26-28 Jun Sheffield Chess Congress 2015, King Edward VII Upper School, Glossop Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire Contact: Brian Stephenson Email: [email protected] - Open section incorporates the 2015 NCCU Open, Senior (over- 60) and Junior (under-18) Championships, and is a British Championship Qualifier (1 NCCU-only place, 1 open place); Major (U171); Intermediate (U146); and Minor (U121) ~*@ 27 Jun CCF FIDE Open Rapid Play, 84-90 Chipstead Valley Road, Coulsdon, Surrey CR5 3BA Contact: CCF Email [email protected] Website http://www.ccfworld.com/Chess/Adult%20Competitions/Rapidplay_Summer.html - starts 10:15AM ends 6:30PM. FIDE Rapidplay over 7 rounds: Open & Under 1600/U120 ~@ 27 Jun 1st Watford Rapidplay, Jurys Inn, Clarendon Road, Watford, Hertfordshire WD17 1JA Contact: Marinel Miu Email: [email protected] Website: http://watfordrapidplay.blogspot.co.uk/ - £500 prize fund guaranteed. Excellent playing conditions, air conditioning, free internet access, water station in the playing room at Jurys Inn Watford. Good transport links for buses, trains and tube. For most London locations it will take 1 hour or less to get to the Watford Junction. ~@ 27 Jun Under 120 Watford Rapidplay, Jurys Inn, Clarendon Road, Watford, Hertfordshire WD17 1JA Contact: Marinel Miu Email: [email protected] Website: http://watfordrapidplay.blogspot.co.uk/ - Under 120 ECF section of the Watford Rapidplay tournament. Prizes: 1st – £80, 2nd – £40 and grading prize Best Under 100 – £40. This is the newest and latest section of the tournament. Winners apart from financial rewards will also receive a certificate for their achieve- ments. ~Y 28 Jun 15th Chess Coaching Services Tournament and Training Day, John Keble Church , Church Close Edgware , Middlesex HA8 9NS Contact: Rob Willmoth Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.chesscoachingser- vices.co.uk - starts 12:30PM ends 6:00PM. The only tournament in the UK that provides specific training and a graded tournament organised by Rob Willmoth and International Master Lorin D'Costa. The subjects being taught are displayed on the entry form beforehand, so you can decide if the training categories are suitable for your child. Children are split into groups according to ability and allocated a professional coach @ 2 Jul Hendon ‘First Thursday’ FIDE Blitz, Golders Green Unitarians Church, Hoop Lane, Golders Green, London NW11 8BS Contact: Adam Raoof Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.hendonchessclub.com/blitz - One section, 10 minutes per player per game, six rounds, FIDE rated ~ 3 Jul 2nd Colwyn Bay Chess Congress, Ferguson Centre, Combermere Road, Colwyn Bay, Conwy LL29 Contact: Andrew R Camp Email: [email protected] Open, Major (U160/1900) and Minor (U120/1600) sections. R1: Fri 19:00 R2: Sat 10:00 R3: Sat 15:00 R4: Sun 10:00 R5: Sun 15:00. Entry Fees: £30 all sections (£20 juniors U18 as at 1st January 2015). This is a registered English Chess Federation (ECF) Game Fee event. Players who are current ECF Silver, Gold and Platinum Members and all Welsh Chess Union (WCU) Members may deduct £6 (£4 for juniors) from their entry fee. £5 late entry surcharge for entries postmarked after Fri 26th June. Email entries to [email protected] accepted with bank transfer (email for account details) ~ 5 Jul EMJCA Grand Prix 2014 - 2015, Bramcote Memorial Hall, Church Street, Bramcote, Nottm NG9 3HD Best 4 results from 6 events counted. £100 to the winner. £20 entry fee per event. Entries to: Christopher Dunworth, 54 Wolfa Street, Derby DE22 3SD Tel: 07577-273275 Email: [email protected]. Cheques payable to BHJCC. BACS payments to: BHJCC | 30-98-74 | 03097514 - please give name of child and date of event as reference. #@ 11 Jul Scottish International Open, Tom Fleming Centre, Stewart's Melville College, Queensferry Road, Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh EH4 3EZ Contact: Alex McFarlane Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.scottishchess- champ.co.uk/ - title potential, free entry to (W)GMs, (W)IMs and (W)FMs ~*@ 11 Jul 3rd Kings Place Chess Festival, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9AG Contact: Adam Raoof Email: adam- [email protected] Website: www.kingsplace.co.uk/chess - starts 10:30AM ends 6:00PM. Format: 6-SS Time control: 25 minutes + 5 seconds a move. Entry fee: see website for details ECF Membership: minimum Silver. ALL sections are ECF graded and FIDE rated. The event is in at least four sections, Open (for the strongest players), Major Under 170, Minor Under 145 and Amateur Under 120

16 A

The Even More Flexible French Strategic Ideas & Powerful Weapons Viktor Moskalenko 304 pages - £19.99 When Viktor Moskalenko’s The Flexible French appeared in 2008, it caused a sensati on. It was hailed by reviewers from all over the world as eye-opening, full of new ideas, easy to read, sparkling, and inspirati onal. Seven years aft er its publicati on, Viktor Moskalenko has decided to fully revise, update and extend his modern classic. There are twelve new chapters on lines that have grown in importance, 28 more games, NEW! and throughout Moskalenko has found hundreds of improvements, alternati ves, new ideas and fresh weapons.

A Cunning Chess Opening for Black Lure Your Opponent into the Philidor Swamp! Sergey Kasparov 334 pages - £21.99 Taking your opponent out of his comfort zone is a good idea to start your game with. GM Sergey Kasparov pushes this concept one step further: White will walk into the Philidor Swamp in which he runs a big risk of getti ng stuck! Kasparov does not bother the amateur reader with variati ons of 15 or 20 moves deep, but concentrates on NEW! the plans and counterplans for both Black and White.

The English Att ack against the Taimanov Sicilian A guide for White Zaven Andriasyan 176 pages - £18.99 Against the popular Taimanov Sicilian, the English Att ack has long been considered harmless. GM Zaven Andriasyan has thoroughly and systemati cally investi gated this unexplored territory. He unveils the structures, explains the plans and counterplans, and presents a wealth of highly interesti ng new ideas and novelti es. An easy-to-grasp and dangerous new weapon! NEW!

Liquidati on on the Chess Board Mastering the Transiti on into the Pawn Ending Joel Benjamin 256 pages - £16.95 “An excellent new book.” – GM Karsten Müller “Well writt en and thoroughly researched. The selected examples have a strong practi cal value.” – GM Daniel King “The book works quite addicti vely (..) It’s dealing with one of the big moments of uncertainty in practi cal chess.” – GM Matt hew Sadler NEW! available at the London Chess Centre - www.chess.cowww.chess.co.uk/shop.uk/shop Williams-Collins at Bunratty this year. Things are a bit different in Ireland though...

And a highly memorable opponent? Magnus Carlsen now, but not at the time. However, in general, there are so many players who leave strong impression. I remember playing one English guy who would S.Williams-Y.Benitah always make catlike noises during the game; purr here, purr there. One time at Hastings I Glorney Cup, Oakham 1997 decided to make a little bark noise back, just to see his reaction. He jumped – like a cat.

Favourite game of all time? Very hard to pick one, but Ivanchuk-Yusupov was simply brilliant.

The best three chess books: Mikhail Tal’s The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal, Chess for Tigers by Simon Webb, and Brilliancies and Born: 30th November 1979, Guildford. Blunders by Ian Mullen and Moe Moss.

Place of residence: Godalming. Is FIDE doing a good job? Things could be better.

Occupation: Anything chess related. Or the your National Federation? Here too things could be much better. Enjoyable? For sure. Any advice for either? I have little dealings And home life? Very good. with international chess, but chess in England 27 Ëf6+!! Îxf6 28 Îxd7+ Êe8 29 Îxb7 could certainly be dealt with in a different Îff8 30 Îc8+ Ëd8 31 Îxd8+ Êxd8 32 b6 But sometimes good to escape to: The pub way. For a start presentable people should be (1-0, 58) with good friends or somewhere wild and barren. put in charge of finding sponsorship. Sports played or followed: Those days At junior level, I have been amazed in the past seem to have left me. by the level of some players who have V.Ivanchuk-A.Yusupov represented England. My impression has been Brussels Candidates (rapid play-off) 1991 A favourite novel? I’ve recently been that only wealthy families, who are willing to pay enjoying some novels by Dennis Wheatley. a large amount of money, can send their kids to tournaments and not always for the right Piece of music? Quite a wide taste, but The reasons. Not for long-term improvement, but as Doors’ ‘The End’ can be very unreal and another thing that they can put on their C.V. suitably dreamlike. Meanwhile chess tuition and improvement for juniors seems to be stuck on an artificial Film or TV series? Again, I’ve a very wide level in England. No long-term plans are in place. taste. Two favourite films of all time are, How can a coach teach a child everything in the maybe, Seven Samurai and Heat, but I’m space of a week at a world junior event? enjoying a lot of horror films at the moment. Parents are really in a tough position and I And, of course, when it comes to TV series, admire any who supports their child with Game of Thrones and Vikings are unmissable. coaching and travelling, but it would really help What’s the best thing about playing if there was more support available from the chess? The artistic beauty and joy the game national federation. At this rate England will can bring oneself. Also the many long-term struggle to generate any future grandmasters. friends that I have met on my journeys. 28...Îg6! 29 Ëxa8+ Êh7 (Black has only Can chess make one happy? It certainly has three pieces attacking, but they are more helped me, so yes. And the worst? The despair and self than enough) 30 Ëg8+ Êxg8 31 Ìce7+ loathing that a loss can trigger. Ê Ì Ì Ì A tip please for the club player: I improved h7 32 xg6 fxg6 33 xg7 f2 34 Íxf4 Ëxf4 35 Ìe6 Ëh2 36 Îdb1 Ìh3 Your best move? Hard to say, but I remember most by doing 30 minutes of tactic puzzles a 37 Îb7+ Êg8 38 Îb8+ Ëxb8 39 Íxh3 feeling naturally high after playing and winning day, whilst lying in the bath. You can take the Ëg3 0-1 with 27 Ëf6+ in Williams-Benitah. bath out of that equation, but tactics are always good for the mind. The other obvious But less memorable than your worst way to improve anyone’s game is to purchase all Ed. – Simon’s latest book, ‘The Killer Dutch’, is move? Just as memorable. So many bad the GingerGM DVDs. That should improve your now out and available from Chess & Bridge, moves of late to mention. One of my worst game by at least 50 ECF points (I am afraid that retailing at £19.99 or £17.99 for Subscribers. mistakes as a GM must have been in does not come with a guarantee though). See Sean Marsh’s review later in these pages. www.chess.co.uk 7

Readers’ A little bird just told me Letters A round-up of what the top players and chess personalities have been saying on Twitter A Stalemate Trick The solution: 1 Íe4+ Ëd5 2 Îg6+ Îd6 3 Îxd6+ Êxd6 4 Ìd3+ Êc6 5 Ìe5 mate, Ê - @gmmds I liked your magazine, but found an error. the ending in question arising after 4... e6 Ì Ê Í Forget the European Championships. On page 33 (vol. 80, no.1, April 2015) the 5 f4+ e5 6 xd5, with the winning line Î Ê Í Í Î Blackpool Congress is where it’s game Mikhailov-Grigoriev ended as a draw. 6... h7 (6... xf4 7 d6+) 7 g8 h6+ Ê Ê Í Í happening! Mike Surtees entertaining with James Coleman’s analysis is incorrect as the 8 b5 (or any) 8... xf4 9 d2+ and 10 xh6. 1.d4 c6 2.e4 f6 3.Nc3 e5. #BC15 game should, indeed, have ended in a draw. John Roycroft, London Lawrence Trent - @LawrenceTrentIM Ed. – Those with interest in 6-piece endgames In Granada for the @AjedrezNazari @naza may enjoy John’s 2014 work ‘Stinking Bishops’. GM tourney. At least the 10th time I’ve come back since living here in 2007. Still The Gibbins-Weidenhagen Gambit feels like home.

The Gibbins in the name of the gambit was - @GMGawain Stanley Gibbins, former Warwickshire champion and Champions! @Skakhuginn Well done founder of the Leamington Chess League in 1949. everyone. Somehow however badly I’m The Leamington Chess League invited playing elsewhere can score here, must be Stanley to present prizes at their 1995 AGM, the fantastic team atmosphere. the same year in which The Best Games & History of the Leamington & District Chess - @stuthefox League by Colin Searle was published. That In London now, plenty to do, but trying to booklet contains a number of games of Î watch @worldwomenchess too: second Rather than his 88 d4+, White can Stanley Gibbins and much information about Î games of semi-finals. #chess improve with 88 c3+, when Black cannot him. As such, I enclose a game from the book favourably escape from the rook checks. where the gambit was played. Natalia Pogonina - @Pogonina , Congratulations to my friend and teammate Baillargues, France S.Gibbins-B.Harriott on becoming the XVth Women’s World Chess Champion. Well played! Correspondence 1965 Vachier-Lagrave vs Tomashevsky Gibbins-Weidenhagen Gambit Anish Giri - @anishgiri Looking forward to watching the US clash With regards to this pawnless 6-man 1 d4 Ìf6 2 g4 g6 3 g5 Ìd5 4 e4 Ìb6 5 between Hikaru and So today. ending (a rook facing two bishops and knight, Íg2 Íg7 6 Ìe2 c5 7 d5 d6 8 c4 Íd7 9 #NoMickeyMouseBusiness #SayNoToDraw cited by Steve Giddins on p.15 of CHESS, Ìbc3 Ìxc4 10 b3 Ìb6 11 0-0 Íb5 12 April 2015), readers might like to compare: Ìxb5 Íxa1 13 Ìbc3 Íxc3 14 Ìxc3 Tarjei J. Svensen - @TarjeiJS Ìa6 15 f4 c4 16 Íe3 Ìc5 17 Íd4 Îg8 Carlsen: “This will be a real test for Nakamura. He has won some Mickey John Roycroft Mouse tournaments recently, now he gets 4th prize Golden Fleece tourney to face the big guys. Fun!” (Georgia) 1986 Hikaru Nakamura - @GMHikaru Horrible. @TheDailyShow I’d prefer a piece which doesn’t make a mockery of the US, Russia and more importantly, chess.

Simon Williams - @ginger_gm Heard the @Ed_Milliband interview on absolute radio. They did the typical ‘geek’ test, ‘Did you go to chess club?’. Oh dear.

Garry Kasparov - @Kasparov63 18 e5 e6 19 Ìb5 Ìcd7 20 dxe6 fxe6 When I was young & studying chess I 21 Ëg4 Ëe7 22 exd6 Ëf7 23 Ìc7+ Êd8 couldn’t switch my book or my chessboard 24 Íxb7 Îb8 25 Ìxe6+ Êe8 26 Îe1 1-0 to Twitter, Snapchat, or Warcraft! Must Ed Goodwin, eliminate distractions. White to play and win Coventry

May 2015 36

Never Mind the Grandmasters...

Here come the amateurs - by Carl Portman ([email protected])

I shall indulge in another mixed bag this cleaned up the chap had replaced the clock on My thanks to Mr. Charles for his amusing month. I asked for any stories you may have the opposite side so that Mr. Charles had less and entertaining recollections. Chess clearly about rotten behaviour at the chess board time and his flag (remember them?) was brings out the best and the worst in us. and was delighted to receive a letter from hanging. An old trick perhaps? Gamesmanship? said that above all, chess Simon Charles, who related several stories Absent mindedness? You decide. teaches us how to lose. Well, clearly not with and also provided a game. I shall give just a The last one from Mr. Charles is a game he everyone it doesn’t. brief overview of some of the incidences that played against a junior in 1974 which is one have occurred to him over the years. We of his favourites. Who am I to deny him this Doping? Yes, in chess! should begin with Mr. Charles as a 119 grade moment to have it published all these years pitted against a 190. At some point the on? Bear in mind he was graded 119 and we Moving on, I recently found myself thinking higher-graded player said: “I am going to look didn’t have Fritz back then; we had to actually about drugs in chess. Friends laugh when I tell up your grading” and went to the grading work at the game. Our intrepid chess player is them there is doping in chess. “What, drugs book (this was in the seventies), read it and sitting opposite F.Best and the action begins. can affect chess in an unfair way?” they often “left the building screaming”. Most I shall just give the game without say. I always fail to provide a satisfactory disconcerting. annotations, but with a diagram in the answer because I genuinely don’t know. Let me We remain in the 1970’s and Mr. Charles position that Mr. Charles notes as key. caveat the next bit by declaring that I have no now sits opposite “a giant albino Hell’s Angel”. medical qualifications and am not an expert in This in itself could be most intimidating, but it doping substances, but I will have a go at trying transpired that he was a very bad loser and F.Best-S.Charles to explain things. My first port of call was the even his own team were terrified of him. Mr. FIDE website. Charles soon manufactured a winning Marcow 1974 position and went to the loo. He returned to King’s Indian Attack an atmosphere of terrible tension and everyone was looking at his board. A brief 1 e4 d6 2 d3 Ìf6 3 g3 g6 4 Íg2 Íg7 5 check of the board revealed that both of the Ìf3 c5 6 0-0 Ìc6 7 Ìbd2 0-0 8 h3 Ëc7 Hell’s Angel’s bishops had moved as one 9 Îe1 e5 10 Ìf1 b5 11 Ìh4 Íe6 12 g4 move. It transpired that both moves were a5 13 Ìg3 b4 14 f4 exf4 15 Íxf4 blunders and he did not want to argue, so Mr. Ìxg4 16 hxg4 Íxb2 17 Íh6 Íd4+ 18 Charles played on and won anyway, leaving Êh2 Ëe7 19 Êh3 Ìe5 20 Ìhf5 gxf5 21 very quickly at the end without a handshake. exf5 Ëf6 22 Íxf8 Îxf8 23 fxe6 Ëh6+ He says that he valued his fingers too much. 24 Ìh5 fxe6 25 Ëc1 Ëg6 26 Îe4 d5 27

Playing against Grandmaster John Nunn, Îxd4 cxd4 28 Ëd1 Îf2 29 Êg3 Îxc2 I am used to acronyms, so WADA didn’t our man lost in 23 moves. Apparently Nunn 30 Ìf6+ Êg7 31 Ëxc2 Ëxf6 32 Îf1 frighten me, but you need to know that it commented: “That wasn’t a very good game, Ëg6 33 Ëc7+ Ìf7 34 Îf3 h5 35 Ëxf7+ stands for ‘The World Anti-Doping Agency’. was it Simon?” to which Mr Charles replied: Ëxf7 36 Îxf7+ Êxf7 The 2013 WADA Prohibited List and “On the contrary, John, I thought you played Monitoring Program can be found at: very well”. Cheeky. list.wada-ama.org, and you might be One of Mr. Charles’s colleagues, Terry surprised to learn that the most relevant Morgan, was once playing someone called banned substances on the prohibited list for ‘Angel’ at a county tournament. This chess are: gentleman had hands that were so large that i. Amphetamines – e.g. Adderall, Ritalin; when a minor piece was in his hand it only ii. Ephedrine and Methyl Ephedrine – appeared the size of a little pawn. I am prohibited by WADA when its concentration informed that Mr. Morgan had to visit the in urine is greater than 10 micrograms per little boy’s room and upon his return was millilitre; stunned to see that somebody had crossed iii. Pseudoephedrine is prohibited when its the name ‘Angel’ out on his score sheet, and concentration in urine is greater than 150 replaced it with the word ‘Satan’. Mr. Morgan micrograms per millilitre. literally reeled back in horror, then crossed Substances not present on the Prohibited out Satan and put the Angel back. He then List, but represented in the Monitoring blundered immediately and lost. Some kind of Program include: divine intervention I have to wonder. 37 gxh5? (White looks busted, but should i. Caffeine – included in the WADA 2013 Wait, there’s more. One of Mr. Charles’s anyway have played his bishop to f3 to get it Monitoring Program and relevant for in- opponents knocked all of the pieces off the over to the queenside) 37...a4 38 Íf3 b3 competition testing only. Any test reading of board and also the clock. When it was all 39 axb3 a3 0-1 less than 400 milligrams poses no problem.

May 2015 44 ii. Codeine – a common ingredient in, for Adderall is primarily a mixture of four Back to Walsall example, preparations used to treat coughs amphetamine salts, whilst Ritalin is a and stomach upsets. Any dosage is highly psychostimulant with some structural and Now I must turn to the first (maybe unlikely to be significant when taken in normal pharmacological similarities to cocaine, but reintroduced?) Midland Counties Chess Union therapeutic quantities. you knew that, right? tournament held in Walsall in March. The Now I know what you are thinking: what If you are reading this and you happen to organiser was the inimitable Ray Dolan. On about Psychopharmacological Cognitive be Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik, Anish the Sunday morning on his usual address to Enhancement? Well, I am never one to let you Giri or any of the elite group, please do tell me the players before every round, he spoke of a down and as long as you are still awake, read on. if this concurs with your own understanding, junior player that had been taken ill at the The notion of ‘cognitive enhancing’ drugs especially when you have to submit to your tournament. He had suffered appendicitis, has gained periodic attention in the media and next doping test. but was okay. Ray said that as it was Sunday it is clear that such pharmacology has the Luckily, we don’t have such problems in morning he would like to pray. Off the top of potential to be of benefit in chess, an weekend tournaments. There are any number his head, but with the utmost sincerity, he essentially cognitive sport. Modafinil, Adderall of substances ingested, from lozenges, coffee, delivered a prayer for the young lad and asked and Ritalin are all potentially implicated. pills and dubious remedies for colds and flu. Let that God blessed all the chess players in the Modafinil is primarily prescribed for the us not forget some of the mind-expanding room. He asked that they might be able to treatment of shift work sleep disorder and ‘cigarettes’ being smoked outside the venue. play one of their most creative games and in excessive daytime sleepiness – its main Oh, yes, I have personally observed this in the any event to enjoy it. function is to improve wakefulness. However, past. I had a perfectly ‘normal’ opponent step In all my years in chess, I have never it has been seen to produce apparent outside for a smoke and return boggle-eyed at experienced this before. More than that cognitive enhancement effects in healthy the board. He was clearly in another, more though, I would normally have been offended non-sleep-deprived people, though it is lugubrious dimension as his resulting play at having religion ‘forced’ upon me in this way. unclear whether these effects are sufficient reflected. Yet at that moment, it just felt right thanks to or durable enough to consider it to be a Whilst the likes of Ivanchuk have to Ray’s sincerity. It was a remarkable and cognitive enhancer. carefully count cups of coffee, we in the uplifting start to the day, and I was happy to Whilst Modafinil has been shown to mortal world can play completely out of our have been part of it. Incidentally, please do try improve some aspects of working memory, faces as we settle down to face the Berlin to support this tournament next year. Ray and such as digit manipulation and pattern Wall – an opening that would surely only his colleagues have made a huge effort to give recognition memory, the results related to require pills for manic depression. I must not chess players another opportunity for battle. spatial memory, executive function and tar my fellow chess players with the same As ever then, chess has the power to attention are equivocal. Adderall and Ritalin brush; the great majority survive on fruit and change lives, to give hope in hopeless places are primarily prescribed for the treatment of a homemade sandwich, or the fine fare and to find the creative within us all. Let it Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. offered at the tournament. always be so. British Chess Championships 2015 Saturday 25th July - Saturday 8th August

at the University of Warwick, Coventry For more information - visit: www.britishchesschampionships.co.uk or contact Kevin Staveley: [email protected]

www.chess.co.uk 45 Home News

AMBLESIDE – As part of Peter Cloudsdale’s Hyper-aggressive. This bold gamble 1-3 Steve Christmas (Bridgend), Gareth Yeo Rothay Manor Chess Holiday (15-29 March), quickly pays off, but there was nothing wrong (Llanelli), Ernest Gibiec (Newport) 5½. a rapidplay tournament was held. with the standard 8 0-0 Ìc6 9 Îe1 0-0 10 John Bishop Memorial Championship: 1 Leading Scores: 1 Rupert Guinness (King’s Lynn) Íf4 when Black may later regret having gone Mohamed Binesmael (Cardiff) 6½, 2 Richard 5½/7, 2 Bill Egan (Scunthorpe) 5, 3-4 Gordon ...h6 if he intends the standard ...f6 break. Livermore (Malpas) 5½, 3-5 Timothy Allen Pearce (Alwoodley), John Webb (Fareham) 4½. 8...0-0 9 Îh3!? (Battersea), Mark Emblem (Malpas), Anlan White had clearly skipped lunch before this Qiu (Cardiff) 5. BATTLE – The ECF have released the pairings Good Friday afternoon round. Fernandez for the knock-out stages of the County counters thematically and forcefully. EXMOUTH – Keith Arkell triumphed in the Championships. In the top section, both 9...f6! 10 Îg3 West of England Championship (3-6 April), defending champions Yorkshire and 2014/15 while rising star Theo Slade qualified for the SCCU Champions Kent have a bye in the British Championship. quarter-finals (16th May), leaving Lancashire Open: 1 Keith Arkell (Paignton) 6½/7, 2 Jack playing Middlesex and Staffordshire taking on Rudd (Barnstaple) 5½, 3-4 Richard McMichael Surrey. The concept of two byes may appear (Kings Head), Theo Slade (Barnstaple) 4½. surprising, but a number of the leading Major: 1-2 Colin Sellwood (Redruth), Oliver Eastern, Midland and Western counties have Wensley (Exmouth) 5½, 3-8 Raymond opted to play instead in the Minor Counties Gamble (Derby), Mark Potter (Salisbury), Championship. That competitive event sees Tony Packham (London), Matthew Wilson Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Cornwall and (Wigston), Max French (Frome), Jamie Leicestershire having to do battle in a Morgan (Penwith) 4½. preliminary round for the right to join Essex, Minor: 1 Chris Snook-Lumb (Swindon) 6½, Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire, Somerset, Suffolk 2 Nigel Dicker (Glastonbury) 6, 3-4 Barry and Worcestershire in the quarter-finals. Sandercock (Gerrards Cross), Duncan Cooper (Bath) 5. BOLTON – 101 players competed in the Bolton Arkell is renowed for his endgame and Easter Congress (3-5 April), with 81 taking part 10...Êh8?? grinding abilities, but one should never assume in the Busy Persons 10-minute tournament. Black thinks he is dodging the threat to h6, that they are the only strings to his bow. Of Youth did well in the shape of local 3Cs juniors but has only made that hit all the more late he has even experimented with the likes of Daniel Abbas and Andrew Horton in the Open, powerful. He had to capture the centre pawn: 1 d4 d6 2 e4 g6 3 c4 e5 4 d5 f5, which led to which was won by a visitor from Spain. 10...Ìxe5, and after 11 Íxh6 Ìxd3+ King’s Indian-like play in the following game. Open: 1 Alberto Portela (Pontevedra) 4½/5, (11...Îf7 12 Ìxe5 fxe5 13 Ëh5!? certainly 2-4 Andrew Horton, Daniel Abbas (both looks scary, although 13...Íxf2+ 14 Êe2 3Cs), Glenn House (Morecambe) 4. Íxg3 15 Íg5 Îf2+ 16 Êd1 Ëb6 17 Ëh7+ J.Menadue-K.Arkell Ê Ë Ê Ë Major: 1-4 Robert Clegg (Huddersfield), f8 18 h8+ f7 19 h5+ only gives WECU Open, Exmouth 2015 Nugith Jaywarna (Heywood), Nathan Gittins White enough for a draw) 12 Ëxd3 Îf7 13 (3Cs), Stephen Lloyd (Chester) 4. h5 Ìc6 a highly unbalanced position would Knights: 1 Noel Boustred (Gosforth) 4½, 2- have arisen. White does have some pressure, 3 Jonathan Mahoney (Leeds), Richard but Black can redeploy his dark-squared Wiltshire (Rushall) 4. bishop to d6 or f8, and may even be slightly Busy Persons Blitz: 1-2 Joseph McPhillips for choice on account of his strong centre. (Bolton), Andrew Horton (3Cs) 7/8. 11 Íxh6! gxh6 Losing immediately, but it’s hard to view either A second round miniature from the winner of 11...Îf7 12 Ìg5! fxg5 13 Íxg5 or 11...Îg8 the Open: 12 Ìd4! as particularly large improvements. 12 Ëd2 1-0 There’s nothing to be done about mate on A.Portela-A.Fernandez the h-file. Bolton 2015 CARDIFF – James Cobb secured his fourth outright victory in the Welsh Championship after a last-round win over David Jameson. This 1 e4 e6 2 Ìc3 d5 3 Ìf3 Ìf6 4 e5 Ìfd7 successful event took place over the Easter White has broken through on the 5 d4 c5 6 dxc5 Íxc5 7 Íd3 h6 weekend (3-6 April), with Cobb conceding just queenside and achieved ideal control of the Unusual and potentially weakening. Black one draw, to Jonathan Blackburn. e4-square, but at some cost on the kingside. was clearly keen to avoid 7...0-0? 8 Íxh7+! Championship: 1 James Cobb (Bristol) 33...Íe3! Êxh7 9 Ìg5+, and if 9...Êg6 10 Ëg4 Ìxe5 6½/7, 2 Tom Brown (Reading) 6, 3 Jonathan Clearly the bishop is immune due to mate, and 11 Ëg3, but he would usually develop with Blackburn (Holmes Chapel) 5, Ladies 33...Îe3! would also have done the business. 7...Ìc6. Champion: Lynda Roberts (Thornbury) 3½. 34 Îb3 Íd4 8 h4!? Tom Weston Open/Major Championship: Black threatens 35...Îxb3 36 axb3 a2!

May 2015 52 of 11th April, in which Alexander Cherniaev recovered well from a first-round defeat at the hands of 14-year-old Callum Brewer. Open: 1 Alexander Cherniaev (Hackney) 5/6, 2-3 Peter Sowray (Wood Green), David Okike (Kings Head) 4½. Major: 1 Raghu Kamath (West London) 5½, 2 Adrian Somerfield (Battersea) 5. Minor: 1 Neil Cannon (Beckenham) 5, 2 Jacques Tivillier (Mushrooms) 4½. Amateur: 1 Lorenzo Rocco (Hendon) 6, 2 Patrick Sartain (Hanham) 5.

SOUTHEND – The South Easter Congress (3-6 April) once again attracted a very strong entry, including 7 Grandmasters and 5 IMs, with two overseas raiders coming out on top. Open: 1 Ferenc Berkes (HUN) 6/7, 2 Jahongir Vakhidov (UZB) 5½, 3-8 (Sandhurst), (Leicester), Tamas Fodor (London), Alexander Cherniaev (Hackney), Ameet Ghasi (Birmingham), James Cobb (right) secured his fourth outright victory in the Welsh Championship and is Simon Williams (Godalming) 5. pictured receiving the championship board from WCU president Bill Harle (left). Major: 1 Toby Stock (Broadstairs) 4½/5, 2 Alan Barton (Hastings) 4, 3-4 Peter Laundy (Basildon), Taran Jira 3½. Intermediate: 1 Nasarullah Sheikh (Ilford) 4½, 2-4 Egor Latypov, Elliot Cocks (both Chelmsford), Alex Sheerin (Ipswich) 3½. Minor: 1 Kiran Shiatis (Kent) 4½, 2-3 James Wadsworth (Maidenhead), Simon Denney (Bristol) 4.

ST ALBANS – The St Albans Congress featured an impressive five sections, with the organisers delighted to receive 30 more entrants than in 2014, making for 193 players overall. A rising Hertfordshire star impressed in securing outright second in the Open. Open: 1 Alexander Cherniaev (Hackney) 4½/5, 2 Svetlana Sucikova (Hertford) 4, 3-7 Christian Stevens (Canada), Philip Orgler (Hendon), Gautam Jain (London), Simon Roe (St Albans), Peter Davies (Cardiff) 3. Challengers: 1 Paul Kelly (Hastings) 4½, 2-7 Julien Shepley (Guildford), Finlo Rohrer (BBC A busy scene at the Bolton Congress, one of several events held over the Easter weekend. – yes, they do have a chess club and talking Ë Ë Ë Î of the Beeb, do look out for a new series of 37 xa2 f3 38 c2 f4, decisively Sydney Jacob (Charlton), Gary Smith Across the Board on Radio 4 this month), undermining the defence of f2. (Streatham) 5/7. Daniel Ellis (Hendon), Richard Bryant Î 35 xf3 (Oswestry), Andrew Price (Leamington), LONDON – The 2014-15 Hamilton Russell Now the open g- and b-files spell the end, Hugh Fenwick (Mushrooms) 3½. Cup has been won by the MCC, who secured but Menadue was toast in any case. Major: 1-3 John Cawston (Selby), William Ë Ë 35...gxf3 36 f1 h7 0-1 victory with a 4-2 triumph over the RAC in the Phillips (Hatch End), Leo Sanitt (Barnet) 4. penultimate round. The MCC regularly field on Intermediate: 1 Rob Parsons 5, 2-3 Rob Hewitt JERSEY – Adam Raoof helped to ensure that the top boards the dangerous 2300-rated (both Hatch End), Steven Dale (Barnet) 4. the Polar Capital Jersey International (15-20 Tom Eckersley-Waites and ECF President Minor: 1 Marek Piedel 5, 2 Jacob Yoon (Enfield) March) was a major success. Jahongir Vakhidov Dominic Lawson. In this relaxed clubs league, 4½, 3-8 Peter Brander (Chelmsford), Victor continued his run of good form to claim the players receive an hour each for the game Jamroz (Kent), Timothy Allen (Battersea), Jeff £1,500 first prize in the Open, in which before the home side supplies dinner. Tomy (Watford), Brian Foster (Hayes), Terence Scottish FM Iain Gourlay also impressed, In the London League proper, Wood Green Greenaway (Torquay) 4. impressively outplaying Rozentalis and coming once again continue to set a blistering pace, extremely close to making his first IM norm. having won all eight matches at the time of TEIGNMOUTH – The Devon seaside town’s Open: 1 Jahongir Vakhidov (UZB) 7/9, 2 writing and all by wide margins. 34th rapidplay took place on March 28th. Igors Rausis (CZE) 6½, 3-4 Michal Elsewhere in the capital, the latest Open: 1 Patryk Krzyzanowski (Yeovil) 5/6, Krasenkow (POL), Mark Hebden (Leicester) Hampstead U2200 Congress (21-22 March) 2-3 Stephen Homer (Exeter), Jonathan 6, 5-8 Eduardas Rozentalis (LTU), Tamas was won by Chino Atako (Coulsdon) with Underwood (Exmouth) 4½. Fodor (HUN), Jovanka Houska (Bergen), Iain 4½/5, ahead of Valentin Gaudeau (Richmond) Graded Section: 1-3 Paul Brackner Gourlay (London) 5½. and Gayan Peiris (Hendon) on 4. Adam Raoof (Bridport), Duncan Macarthur (Keynsham), Holiday: 1-3 Robert Clegg (Huddersfield), also organised the Golders Green Rapidplay Chris McKinley (Sedgemoor) 5. www.chess.co.uk 53 RRP £29.99 SUBSCRIBERS £26.99 3...Ìf6 against the Tarrasch. Once again, his Solid and Safe Against the Wild Indians: This is the fifth edition of one of the most coverage is very detailed, but also highly Play the Fianchetto famous of all tactics books. It contains 3,001 readable. A hardback version of this work is Nicholas Pert; PC-DVD, running time: 5 positions, covering such topics as blockade, also available for an extra £4.00. hours, 44 minutes interference and clearance. Not everyone RRP £22.99 SUBSCRIBERS £20.69 these days likes to solve their puzzles via the Master Class – José Raul Capablanca The ‘Wild Indians’ are actually the Grünfeld and printed page, though, so Sahovski have Niklas Huschenbeth, Mihail Marin, Karsten Müller King’s Indian, which seem very mainstream these released the book along with a CD and & Oliver Reeh; PC-DVD, running time: 6 hours days, but can, indeed, lead to quite wild and download option, thereby giving the customer RRP £22.99 SUBSCRIBERS £20.69 certainly sharp positions. The English GM has long a choice of media to suit their needs. ChessBase continue their look at the greats liked to counter both openings with a kingside with this latest DVD. Once again Müller tackles fianchetto and has impressively apparently never Capablanca’s legendary endgame play, while lost with it. On this ChessBase DVD, Pert Marin’s focus is the middlegame, an area of preaches what he practices, presenting a Capablanca’s game from which Bobby Fischer generally risk-free way to press as White. learnt plenty. Meanwhile Reeh looks at some “petite combinaisons” and Huschenbeth Tactic Toolbox Semi-Slav with 5.Íg5 examines the myth that Capablanca’s openings Robert Ris; PC-DVD, 5 hours, 41 minutes were somewhat primitive. RRP £21.95 SUBSCRIBERS £19.76 Having covered the Meran variation (1 d4 d5 Modernized: The Open Sicilian 2 c4 c6 3 Ìf3 Ìf6 4 Ìc3 e6 5 e3) on an Zhanibek Amanov & Kostya Kavutskiy, earlier DVD, the Dutch IM switches focus to 562 pages, paperback Botvinnik’s 5 Íg5, with a definite slant on Opening Repertoire: The Caro-Kann RRP £24.95 SUBSCRIBERS £22.45 helping the white player. Indeed, viewers will Jovanka Houska, 480 pages, paperback Metropolitan Chess Publishing are still a learn how to handle both the Cambridge Springs RRP £19.99 SUBSCRIBERS £17.99 fairly new name in the field of chess books (5...Ìbd7) and 5...h6, the Moscow variation, as It is now some seven years since Houska’s and they could hardly have chosen a tougher well as all those fabulously complex positions Play the Caro-Kann was released to critical project than this. The IM and FM analyst team which arise after 5...dxc4 6 e4 b5 7 e5 h6 8 acclaim. This new work updates the tackle 1 e4 c5 and recommend meeting it Íh4 g5 9 Ìxg5 hxg5 10 Íxg5 Ìbd7. repertoire, which remains broadly unchanged, with the Open Sicilian. As such, there is plenty while taking into account the numerous of theory, although the very main lines are theoretical developments which have The English Attack against avoided, with, for example, the Najdorf met the Taimanov Sicilian occurred in the interim. Houska continues to with 6 h3 and the Taimanov by an early g3. play her own repertoire, so readers can be Zaven Andriasyan, 176 pages, paperback confident that it is battle hardened. RRP £18.95 SUBSCRIBERS £17.05 New in Chess Yearbook 114 Meeting 1 e4 c5 2 Ìf3 e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Peter Boel & René Olthof (eds.), Ìxd4 Ìc6 5 Ìc3 Ëc7 with 6 Íe3 a6 7 256 pages, paperback Ëd2 Ìf6 8 0-0-0 still feels very modern, RRP £24.95 SUBSCRIBERS £22.45 but is a system which has been around for a The latest collection of theoretical while now. The Armenian Grandmaster material from the acclaimed Dutch stable presents the key ideas behind it in his second contains four surveys on both the Sicilian and work for New in Chess, while presenting a the King’s Indian, while all the opening trends repertoire for White. and developments from Wijk aan Zee come in for particular attention. The Ragozin Defence Alejandro Ramirez; PC-DVD, Power Strategy 2 running time: 5 hours, 26 minutes Mihail Marin; PC-DVD, 4 hours, 37 minutes Tartakower: My Best Games of Chess RRP £22.99 SUBSCRIBERS £20.69 RRP £22.99 SUBSCRIBERS £20.69 1905-1954 ChessBase’s production department has Marin has opted for quite an old-fashioned Savielly Tartakower, 440 pages, paperback certainly been busy of late, but viewers cannot but also very sensible approach to this series RRP £24.99 SUBSCRIBERS £22.49 complain. The 2600+ American Grandmaster This work won’t be new to older readers, of DVDs, recommending that the viewer takes good, old principles into account before has recently added the Ragozin to his but an algebraic edition has long been repertoire after a “search for an opening that overdue and is now available thanks to Russell deciding on a certain move or plan. Here the focus is very much on middlegame positions, would allow [him] to play interesting chess Enterprises. Tartakower was certainly an without an insurmountable amount of risk.” erudite commentator and is always well not least those where static factors, such as a Ramirez presents the key ideas, plenty of worth a read, not least when presenting 201 fixed structure, play a major role. theory and, in short, all one needs to know to of his own games. As play 1 d4 Ìf6 2 c4 e6 3 Ìf3 d5 4 Ìc3 Íb4. commented, “Dr. Tartakower is far and away Rossolimo and Friends the most cultured and the wittiest of all the Alexei Kornev, 348 pages, paperback chess masters I have ever met.” RRP £19.99 SUBSCRIBERS £17.99 World Champion Perspective: Volume 1 The Russian Grandmaster presents a ; PC-DVD, running time: GM Repertoire: French Defence Vol. 3 repertoire for White against the Sicilian. 2 hours, 28 minutes Emanuel Berg, 472 pages, paperback Following in the footsteps of Gawain Jones’ RRP £21.95 SUBSCRIBERS £19.75 RRP £19.99 SUBSCRIBERS £17.99 How to Beat the Sicilian Defence, the focus is In both 2012 and 2013 Anand travelled to The Swedish Grandmaster completes his on 2 Ìf3 Ìc6 3 Íb5 and 2...d6 3 Íb5+, Los Angeles to teach at the Metropolitan Chess trilogy with this volume which focusses on but Black’s other second moves are most Summer Camp. Here we get to see some of his White’s alternatives to 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Ìc3. certainly not neglected: 2...g6 is to be met lectures, with this first DVD focussing on the Against the Advance variation, Berg opts for the with 3 d4, while the trendy line 2...e6 3 g3 Sicilian Defence, as well as a discussion of how main line with 5...Ëb6, while he advocates receives a fair amount of attention. to build an opening repertoire. www.chess.co.uk 57 THE BARGAIN BOOK BONANZA

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