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British Chess Magazine
August 2008 Book Reviews
Fritz 11
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Kasparov vs Karpov 1975-1985 by Garry Kasparov
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Play 1 b3! The Nimzo-Larsen Attack by Ilya Odessky 222 Opening Traps after 1 d4 by Karsten Müller & Rainer Knaak
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Modern Chess Openings 15th Edition by Nick de Firmian The Flexible French by Viktor Moskalenko
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Streetfighting Chess by Andrew Burnett Chess Instructor 2009
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The Best of the Best 1000 BCM, August 2008
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ChessBase Corr Database 2009 Fighting the Anti-King's Indians by Yelena Dembo
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Starting Out: The Modern by Nigel Davies Power Play 7 - Improve Your Pieces by Daniel King
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Last Edited: Wednesday 20 August, 2008 11:21 AM • Contact BCM

CHESS NEWS • News Archive: 200320042005200620072008

BCM Blog Latest: "Conquest of Britain" (9 August): http://bcmchess.blogspot.com/ editor John Saunders


Jessie Gilbert Celebration International, 16-25 Aug [20/08/08]

Jessie GilbertThe 1st Jessie Gilbert Celebration International takes place from 16-25 August at the Coulsdon Chess Fellowship (CCF) in Surrey. This ten-round FIDE-rated Swiss tournament is being run by Howard Curtis and Scott Freeman of the CCF to commemorate their much-missed club-mate, the women's international Jessie Gilbert who died so tragically just two years ago. Jessie's mother and sisters were at the opening ceremony and Jessie's mother Angela gave a moving speech. A strong field has assembled at Jessie's beloved club to play a tournament and it was heartening to see so many of her chessfriends, such as GM Gawain Jones and IM Thomas Rendle and many others, from all over the world, come to remember her and play chess in her honour. Official websiteJessie Gilbert memorial site • remember Jessie by contributing to her favourite charity, the NSPCC. Latest: Colin McNab, David Eggleston and Aleksandar Berelovich lead on 3½/4. Rounds 1-4 games (viewer/download) are available here (my thanks to Keith Selby).






World Youth Under 16 Olympiad, Mersin (TUR), 16-25 August [18/08/08]

The World Youth Under 16 Olympiad takes place in Mersin, Turkey, from 16-25 August. You can watch the progress of the English squad and read reports by their coach IM Adam Hunt here: http://www.chessuk.com/olympiad3.html. Play can be followed live at the official website. The English squad, seeded 10th of 27 teams, is Yang Fan-Zhou (2259, aged 13), Callum Kilpatrick (2203, aged 16), Felix Jose Ynojosa (2101, aged 12), Subin Sen (2050, aged 15), Elliott Auckland (1990, aged 15). Latest: England are in a creditable 11th position after four rounds. In round four Yang-Fan Zhou (2259) drew with Eltaj Safarli (AZE 2527g), who finished in the bronze medal position in the recent World Junior Championship.


6th Staunton Memorial Tournament, Simpsons-in-the-Strand, 7-18 Aug [18/08/08]

The prestigious 12-player grandmaster tournament is stronger than ever this year (category 13), with England's top two grandmasters, Michael Adams and Nigel Short playing together in a UK all-play-all for the first time. Full line-up: Michael Adams (ENG 2735g), Ivan Sokolov (NED 2658g), Nigel Short (ENG 2655g), Loek Van Wely (NED 2644g), Erwin L'Ami (NED 2610g), Jan Smeets (NED 2593g), Jan Werle (NED 2591g), Jan Timman (NED 2561g), Peter Wells (ENG 2526g), Jon Speelman (ENG 2524g), Alexander Cherniaev (RUS 2431g) and - trying for a GM norm at the age of 87(!) - IM Bob Wade (ENG 2167m). Against opposition averaging 2593, Bob Wade's expected score based on rating is a tad over ½/11 • Official website: http://www.howardstaunton.com/hsmt2008/index.shtml View/download all games. Final Scores: 1 M Adams 8/11, 2 L Van Wely 7½, 3 J Smeets 7, 4 J Timman 6½, 5-6 E L'Ami, I Sokolov 6, 7-9 J Werle, J Speelman, N Short 5½, 10 P Wells 5, 11 A Cherniaev 3½, 12 R Wade 0.


World Junior Championship, Turkey, 3-15 Aug [15/08/08]

The World Junior Championship takes place in Gaziantep, Turkey, starting on 3 August and ending on 15 August. It is a 13-round swiss event. David Howell (ENG 2561g) is 14th seed while Peter Constantinou (ENG 2225) is also taking part. The field also includes Filipino prodigy Wesley So and the Chinese girl player Hou Yifan. Karl McPhillips (IRL 2221) represents Ireland. Sarah Hegarty (ENG 1966) represents England in the girls' championship. Latest: Round 13 (of 13): Sadly, David Howell lost his final game to Abhijeet Gupta so he is out of the hunt for the gold medal. The last game was a nervous affair which went wrong for Howell almost from the outset. But he has had a magnificent tournament which, together with his previous tournament victory in Andorra, shows that he has made a major step forward in standard. He is still young enough to compete in this championship in future years. Last round games now in progress - click here to follow play. Final Scores: 1 Abhijeet Gupta (IND 2551g) 10/13, 2 Parimarjan Negi (IND 2529g) 9½, 3rd= Arik Braun (GER 2533g) - I think he takes the bronze medal - and probably 4th on tie-break David Howell (ENG 2561g) 9, etc. One curious fact was that all three leaders after the penultimate round were former British junior title-holders at some point in the past few years (in fact, each has won more than one British title). Official websiteEnglish team coach IM Lawrence Cooper's coverage.


British Championships, Liverpool, 27 Jul - 9 Aug [08/08/08]

The countdown has now started to the 95th British Chess Championships, being held in St George's Hall Liverpool from 27 July.
   Official website: www.britishchess08.comView/Download games all championship games
  Latest: Stuart Conquest beat Keith Arkell 1½-½ in a rapidplay play-off to become British Champion for the first time. Well done, Stuart! He is the first English-born, English-registered British champion for ten years (though Stuart lives in Spain). He drew his round 11 game with Simon Williams which allowed Keith Arkell to catch him up by beating Gawain Jones. Both players who tied first are relative veterans: Stuart 41 and Keith 47. Scores: 1-2 S Conquest, K Arkell 8/11, 2-6 N Davies, S Gordon, B Lalic, S Williams 7½, etc.
    In the women's championship, Jovanka Houska took the title for the first time after winning her final three games to finish on 6½, a point clear of Susan Lalic on 5½ and Meri Grigoryan-Lyell 5 (who was the only one of the three women players to gain rating points - she did very well). Norms achieved: IM for Jonathan Hawkins and Jack Rudd (his final norm).
    The most notable story of the first week was 12-year-old Felix Jose Ynojosa's score of 4/6, inviting parallels with Nigel Short's performance at the same age in 1977. He faded in the second week and finished on 5/11 but still made a TPR of around 2320. Read the BCMBlog.
Here's my updated historical list of British Champions in all categories. I originally drafted this for the BCF website some years ago but the federation has not kept it up-to-date. Also, I have since made some amendments as the list published in the ECF Yearbook has a number of inaccuracies and misspellings. I've no doubt that my list is still not 100% accurate and I would appreciate any feedback if anybody spots anything wrong.
Other coverage: Prof. David Robertson's blog (he is the principal mover and shaker behind all the big-time events we've seen in Liverpool in recent years, and currently playing in the Major Open).
   The list of entrants shows that the English are determined to wrest back the championship which they once considered their personal property. Stewart Reuben has been running a British Championship quiz on the official website but here's an additional poser for you - when was the last time a born-in-England, English-registered player won the British Championship title? The answer is ... [continued]

 


BritBase: Latest Downloads [15/07/08]

Three additions made to BritBase today - games downloads for the recent Irish Open Championship, Scottish Championship and the South Wales International. View/Download Irish Open Championships 2008View/Download Scottish Championships 2008View/Download 5th South Wales International 2008. My thanks to Jack Rudd for the South Wales International games.


Irish Open Championships, 5-13 Jul [15/07/08]

Alex Baburin is the new Irish champion, winning it at his first attempt (despite being resident in Ireland for 15 years). He finished first equal with Alon Greenfeld at the open championship event, both scoring an impressive 8/9 and receiving 2,000 euros each. Third was Mark Hebden with 6½, followed by Stephen Jessel on 6. Two more GMs, Algimantas Butnorius and Stuart Conquest, finished further down the field. A games download/viewer is available (see above). The tournament was held at the Academy Plaza Hotel in Dublin and sponsored by Island Oil and Gas. Official website: http://www.icu.ie/articles/display.php?id=188


115th Scottish Championships, Glasgow, 5-13 Jul [15/07/08]

The Scottish Championship is being held as a nine-round open at Glasgow Academy, with the highest scoring Scot being eligible for the championship title. The first prize is £2,000. Official website: http://www.bcfservices.org.uk/livechess/scottish/2008/. Final: GM Jan Markos (SVK) and Tautvydas Vedrickas (LTU) shared first place in the open tournament with 7½/9. Alan Tate (SCO), of the Wandering Dragons club, took the Scottish title on tie-break (based on FIDE performance) from 2007 champion Andrew Muir. Both scored 6½, as did Ravshan Khamroev (UZB).


5th South Wales International Open, 5-10 Jul [11/07/08]

The South Wales International is a nine-round swiss event with GMs including Stewart Haslinger, Peter Wells and Normands Miezis plus a number of IMs. Official website: http://www.southwaleschess.co.uk/SWI/home.html. Final: GMs Normunds Miezis (LAT) and Stewart Haslinger (ENG) shared first place with 7½/9. David Eggleston (ENG) and James Cobb (WLS) shared 3rd place with 6½, both achieving IM norms.


Yeovil Congress, 13-15 Jun [17/06/08]

Matthew Turner and Chris Beaumont shared first place at the Yeovil Summer Congress over the weekend. 61 players took part in the congress in all. Open: 1-2 M Turner (Millfield), C Beaumont (Clifton) 4½/5, 3 C Purry (Frome) 3. Intermediate: 1-2 Tim Chapman (Guildford/Yeovil), Harry Streeter (Millfield) 4/5, 3-6 Andrew Farthing (Worcester), Megan Owens (Downend), Chris Webb (Dorchester), James Hall (East Grinstead) 3½. Minor: 1-3 Barry Davies (Keynsham), Simon Gray (Yeovil), Raymond (ISCA) 4/5. My thanks to Jack Rudd for the results and for supplying all the games from each section (quick work!) • View/Download games


Pesonen Memorial Match, Middlesex vs Sussex 2007-8 [08/06/08]

John Dodgson reports on a six-board correspondence match between Middlesex and Sussex which was played as part of Middlesex's centenary celebrations in 2007 and also to remember the Finnish-born Sussex player Erkki Pesonen who died in 2006. All six games are available in viewer or for download. Click on the above link.


Chess Skill Questionnaire [05/06/08]

Dr. Robert Howard of the University of New South Wales in Australia is carrying out a study of the chess skills of internationally-rated players. It involves a short online survey. Anyone with a FIDE rating can take part. For further details, click here.


BCMBlog [28/05/08]

Two further items on the BCMBlog in the last day or so: Boris Spassky's interview at Hay-on-Wye (which I attended) and a short obituary of Patrick Taylor, sponsor of the Monarch Assurance Isle of Man tournament for 18 years, who sadly died at the weekend.


BCMBlog: Mike Truran Open Letter, 8 May [09/05/08]

Click on the BCMBlog (http://bcmchess.blogspot.com/) for the text of an open letter sent to BCM by an outgoing non-executive director of the English Chess Federation, Mike Truran. English chess is currently in crisis following the resignation last week of four directors of the national federation - Martin Regan, Peter Sowray, Claire Summerscale and Mike Truran. As we understand it, the reason for the directors' resignations is the ECF Council's unwillingness to engage in a meaningful debate about the future of the organisation and the state of chess in the country. For further background, consult the following: the SCCU website report on the ECF Council meeting of 26 Aprildebate on the ECF Forumdebate on the Atticus CC forumStreatham & Brixton CC BlogNorth East Chess Forum.

 


News Archive: 200320042005200620072008

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