The Anand Files

Good chess podcasts are few and far between, for a while 'The Full English Breakfast' did a good job providing banter and discussion of top-level chess but the participants moved on to other things. Now we have The Perpetual Chess Podcast hosted by Ben Johnson; Ben has some good contacts in the US chess world and is producing a great show, so if you like podcasts (I'm assuming you like chess) I'd thoroughly recommend it.

The latest episode  has an interview with FM Michiel Abeln who has written a book called 'The Anand Files'  about Anand's world championship matches 2008-2012 against Kramnik, Topalov and Gelfand.  I have so many unread chess books (not to mention access to the club library - available to all members!) that I shouldn't buy more, but I am really tempted to buy this book as it sounds very approachable for a club player. I am trying to resist so first I should read through this sample on the quality chess web site.  As an added incentive in this time of goodwill, Michiel announced that all the royalties he receives from the book will go to charities .... so I'd be doing something good, right?

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Christmas and New Year opening

Apart from Thursday 26th December the club will be open as usual. On Saturday 28th there will be some mince pies and cake for those who haven't already over-indulged (the bar will not be open).
Anthony

Arriving late for MSCL match

A lesson from the 4th team's away match against East Grinstead a few weeks ago. Stuart, our 3rd board player, arrived late because of delayed trains. His opponent had, rightly, started his clock when the other matches started. Stuart arrived around 30 minutes late prepared to play but his opponent refused to play, claiming a default. However, the rules state that the game can be played if a player turns up up to 45 minutes after the start of the game.

We lost 2.5 - 1.5 on the night, but the default has been turned around, so in the end we have a draw!

Hastings Congress

A reminder that the Hastings International Chess Congress runs from 28^th December until 5^th January. A new sponsor (Caplin) was secured earlier this year and the prize fund is healthy.

Anthony

BHCC AGM and trouble in the League

BHCC AGM: Thursday 5th Sept. 8:00 pm
The agenda is the usual format with no extra items or changes anticipated. A golden opportunity to pay your subs. for 2019-20 and voice any ideas on the club. If you'd like to run a rapidplay or captain a team in the Mid-Sussex League now's the time to volunteer. New members who've been on summer freebies can finally join the club and current members can benefit from a whopping £10 discount if they renew smartly - this stops you being removed from the Membership List and helps us plan for the new season.

It's not what the club can do for you, it's what you can do for the club, etc........

Mid-Sussex Chess League
This is especially true in the Mid-Sussex League which is currently hanging by a thread. No minutes have emerged from the AGM in June following the resignation of the secretary and no updates on the website following the resignation of the webmaster.

See the following from an email from Peter Farr:

Finally a few points arising from this year’s AGM:

1)   Following the resignations of Matthew Britnell and of Barry Maufe, the roles of league Secretary and league Webmaster became vacant. There is also a vacancy for a Tournament Controller for the league.  Marc Bryant has agreed to cover the Webmaster role as an interim measure. I must stress that the league will fold without sufficient people prepared to run it.  if anybody is interested in a role, then please contact Doug Stevenson; we would also be grateful if you could canvas for possible candidates within you clubs.

2)   The AGM voted to adopt the ECF’s League Management System for fixtures and results this year. Marc Bryant is managing the implementation, and as some of are aware, has already begun to set up the system for us (the site currently contains dummy fixtures, which give a feel for what it will look like – the actual list should be available by late September on the site, and I will also send the usual copies in excel format).

3)   The AGM voted to adopt a non-negotiable single time control for the league from the 2019/20 season: 65 minutes for all moves with a 30-second increment from move one. Unless agreed in advance by the captains to be longer, the playing session shall be 3 hours and 10 minutes. Time will be called on the session at that point and, if a result is not agreed in incomplete games, those games shall be adjudicated.  While no change to the starting time rules were made, clubs are urged to try to ensure prompt 7.30 starts.  The revised rules will be posted on the website in due course.

Hi Brighton Chess Club Members,

**** Correction Date Change ****

Due to bad weather heavy rain this event will be held on Sunday and NOT Saturday.

I am pleased to tell you about an up coming exciting FREE event;

"Brighton Chess Club Promotional Day" on Sunday August 18th 2019 from 12 o'clock to 6pm

Located at the prestigious Brunswick Square, Hove. 

What you have todo? Just come down and play Chess with each other and the general public, Its a great day out. There is also a beer tent, food stands, live music, stalls and much more... 

*Also please see attached pictures taken by Anthony Giles from last years event.

Brunswick Festival Address ;

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF-8&q=brunswick+square+hove&fb=1≷=uk&hq=brunswick+square&hnear=0x48758553f34181db:0x68fbeacf34e3172b,Hove,+The+City+of+Brighton+and+Hove&cid=0,0,13337148989503665702&ei=mwcCUqq-MomyOezAgdgE&ved=0CKcBEPwSMA4

  

We have been allocated a space in Brunswick Square as part of the popular Brunswick Square Festival. 

Additionally the event organiser has kindly donated 6 large tables and chairs. 

Thanks for reading this and will be great to see you between 12 o'clock and 6pm on Sunday the 18th August 2019 at Brunswick Square, Hove.

Thanks

Michael

John C Henshaw R.I.P.

Some sad news. John Henshaw, a first team player for many years, passed away a few weeks ago. The funeral is to be held at the Woodvale South Chapel on Friday 26th July at 4.30 p.m. I am afraid that I do not have any more information at present, though I understand that his death was sudden.

Main points from the MSCL AGM

Paul Batchelor, Rob Counsell and I attended the MSCL AGM in Lewes on Tuesday for BHCC.

On regularising the assortment of match timing options we have had this year it was decided to follow the Hastings proposal, see Response by Hastings Chess Club on the Forum page, i.e. making all moves in 65 minutes plus 30 seconds per move the only option. Other alternatives were dismissed as all clubs now have digital clocks. The home team at least should be ready to start at 7:30 for a playing time of 3 hours 10 minutes minimum. There was discussion about bringing the start time to 7:30 prompt for both teams but this was dismissed for those finding it too difficult in view of work and travel, however there should be a firmer intent by both teams to honour the start time rather than assuming the 15 minutes grace is the norm.

The other main change was the agreement to go over to the ECF League Management System (LMS) for recording results. This cuts out an administrative layer with team captains uploading match results direct to a website which automatically copes with grade changes and eligibility and means results will appear as soon as they are entered. Again, for more details see the Hastings entry on the Forum page as this was also their submission (below the timing proposals). I think this is quite a refreshing step forward which will also link into the planned overhaul of the ECF grading system when it appears.

These simplifications are timely as the MSCL committee continues to shrink with Chair and Treasurer already doubled up and now, without Matthew Britnell, no Secretary. Volunteer/s from Hastings offered to set up and run the LMS - I think Mark Bryant and Gary Willson. Hopefully minutes will magically appear, even without a volunteer....

Brighton & Hove retain McArthur cup 2019.

Brighton & Hove were successful in the McArthur cup final, held Saturday 25th May 2019.

In the final Brighton & Hove were to beat Hastings & St Leonards by 3.5-2.5. Below are individual game scores for the match.

 1. Luke Rutherford 1 John Sugden 0

2. Geoffrey James 0 Alan Barton 1

3. Paul Batchelor 1 Stephen Blewitt 0

4. Joe Everett 1 James Wheeler 0

5. Michael Hamilton 0 Chris Hann 1

6. Chris Lake 0.5 Mason Woodhams 0.5

Finally, three players who stayed to the bitter end, are figured in a photo, very shortly after the match ended. A great performance against a side i thought were likely to be the strong favourites.

B&H 4 draw with Args.

The fourth team managed to keep their second division hopes alive last night by holding the Args. to a dramatic draw in spite of an overwhelming grading difference. Anthony (135) drew with Peter Farr (179) on top board and Kevin (117) beat Jim Graham (156) on board three. Joe and Arthur on boards two and four were also out-graded by nearly 40 points. We're now in a three-way fight to avoid relegation with two home matches still to go.

[Event "MSL Argumentatives v BHCC 4th"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.03.27"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Gee, Kevin"]
[Black "Graham, Jim"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B13"]
[EventDate "2019.03.27"]

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bd3 Bg4 6.c3 Qc7 7.h3 ( { Hiarc's opening book suggests } 7.Nbd2 ) 7...Bh5 8.O-O e6 9.Bg5 Be7 10.Bxe7 Ngxe7 11.Nbd2 Bg6 12.Bb5 O-O 13.Nh4 a6 14.Ba4 b5 15.Nxg6 hxg6 16.Bc2 Rfc8 17.Nb3 b4 18.Nc5 bxc3 19.bxc3 Na5 20.Qe2 Nb7 21.Na4 Nc6 22.Rab1 Ra7 23.Bd3 Qa5 24.Nb6 { At first glance this dangerous for the Knight, but it also looked interesting and gives my opponent something to think about. Besides I was a getting low on clock time and I couldn't see myself fighting to defend c3 for ages.

Update: I'm pleased to say the a quick look with the computer seems to agree with me, givng this variation +0.17 compared with about -0.7 for Bc2. } 24...Rc7 { I was surprised when Black played Ra7 earlier, and now vacating the back rank with the other rook seemed a mistake. I had noticed earlier that if my opponents KIng was forced to h7 the Bishops pin of g3 woud allow Qh5, but that couldn't happen ... could it? } 25.Rfc1 Nd6 26.f3 Rcb7 { Things are getting a bit desparare for white, but I hatched a possibly crazy plan that might save the day with a fork on c5 } 27.c4 Nxd4 28.Qe5 Qc5 { threatening a very nasty double-check } 29.Kh1 { low on time, this seemed prudent, what else? } ( 29.cxd5 Nxf3+ 30.Kf1 Qxc1+ 31.Qe1 Qxe1+ 32.Rxe1 Nxe1 33.Kxe1 Rxb6 ) 29...Rxb6 30.Rxb6 Qxb6 31.c5 Qb2 { low on time, just in time I saw Rb1 give me chances } 32.Rb1 Qc3 { I can't believe my luck :-) } ( { Black should have played } 32...Qd2 { allowing the queen to block on h6 , e.g. } 33.Rb8+ Kh7 34.Qh5+ Qh6 ) 33.Rb8+ Kh7 34.Qh5# 1-0

(This works if you paste the whole thing into an engine.)

Some notes on Ches’s photographs

The players are taking part in the Dupree Chess Tournament, which was the under 21 championship for juniors in Brighton and Hove. In 1933 Colonel Sir William Thomas Dupree, Bt., left a large sum of money in his will for the encouragement of young chess players. The new tournament had a first prize of £100, which was a very large sum of money in those days. As the years passed, the value of the prize money was not fully updated to allow for inflation. In the 1990s the number of entries went down and the Council, which partly administered the competition, brought it to an end and used the prize money for other purposes. This was controversial, but no legal challenge was issued.  

The photographs on the website were taken at the 1954-55 tournament. This was won by Neil Tasker after he had obtained the same points score as Gordon Anderson, a former Varndean GS pupil. The Sonneborn-Berger system was used to split the tie and Neil was awarded the first prize.

In the first photograph, seated (left to right) are Michael Partis, Ches Clifton, John Styles (onlooker), Neil Tasker and Michall.

The second photograph has more onlookers. The juniors facing the camera are Ches Clifton, Neil Tasker and Michall and the two young players with their backs to the cameras are Thomsett and Michael Warner. The onlookers (left to right) are Paul Ormowe, The mayor of Hove, A.H. Dilley (the person behind him has not been identified), Richard Durell, William Goord and John Styles.

Ches and Neil are known to club members, but I enclose notes about others in the photographs:

Thomsett and Michall are unknown to me, but Michael T Partis (born 1937) has enjoyed a successful chess career. He won the 1956-57 Dupree competition and followed this by winning the West Sussex Queen and London University Championships in 1957. Later he went on to Leicester University and then became a lecturer at Glasgow University. In Scotland he won the West of Scotland Championship and participated in the 1976 Scottish Championship at Dundee. After this he emigrated to Australia and competed in the 1977-78 Australian Championship at Perth and the 2001-02 Australian Seniors at Melbourne. He may still be alive.

Michael J Warner (1941 – 1981) was a very talented young player, who won the 1958-59 and 1959-60 Dupree Tournaments. However, after that he only played a limited amount of chess. He enjoyed a successful career as an RAF pilot, but sadly a terrible illness brought his life to a premature end.

Paul I Ormowe (c. 1917 – 1955) , the secretary of Brighton CC, also died at a relatively young age. Only a few months after this photograph was taken he passed away in Hove Hospital.

Richard C Durell (1897-1996) was a treasurer of the Sussex Chess Association and also ran the Dupree Tournament with George D Self (1898-1985) for several years. George is not in the photograph, but he was secretary and match captain for Sussex from 1925-65. He was headmaster at a school in Ringmer.

William A Goord (1905 – 1967) was a match captain at the Brighton CC and took over the captaincy of the county team after George Self’s illness in 1965.

John F G Styles (1882 – 1977) was a treasurer and vice-president at the Brighton CC. He had been a bank manager.

Ches and Neil

Ches Clifton has found these old photos of himself and Neil Tasker playing in the Dupree Tournament in 1954/5.

This week at the club:

Thursday 21st Feb. 7:30 - 9:00pm:
Luke Rutherford will be giving another analysis session. 

Open to all but £3.50 a head, member or not. Please try and bring the right change if poss. and any scoresheets you would like Luke to go through. It will be held in the back of the main room with any tournament games in the poker room please. It’s half term so no league matches.


Thanks to Luke for a very successful event. Photo by Anthony Giles.

Saturday 23rd Feb. 2:15pm: McArthur Cup semi-final v Horsham

The McArthur Cup is a Sussex County Chess team knock-out played between a small number of Sussex clubs over the course of the year. Matches are played over six boards. This Brighton v Horsham semi-final will be held in the main room together with any tournament games. The poker room will be available for analysis and friendlies.

Cairns Cup

A few people at the club mentioned having played in a simul against Marie Sebag in Dieppe. Marie is currently participating in the 'Cairns Cup' , an invitational tournament for strong female players organised and hosted by the St. Louis Chess and Scholastic Club.

I happened to pick on round 5 of this tournament to watch over the course of a few days, unfortunately Ms. Sebag may go into history for the wrong reasons as she was on the receiving end of a brilliant game by Gunina, and the whole round was full of excitement. I'd heartily recommend looking at this tournament, they games are on the whole much more entertaining than 'SuperGM' matches, and the plans are relatively understandable.

If you don't have time for the full 3-plus hours on YouTube, I see plenty of people have already reviewed the Gunina - Sebag game including the ever-popular 'friend-of-the-club' Simon Williams.

Link to the GingerGM review (I'm not actually seen it)

Neil R Tasker R.I.P. 1938 - 2019

Brian Denman has sent the following information on Neil who passed away on 14th January. His funeral is to be held on Monday Feb. 4th at 1pm at The Downs Crematorium, Bear Rd., BN2 3PL. Chess Club members who knew Neil are invited to attend.

The article is readable if you click on the image.

I thought that some of the members might like to see this photograph/article taken from the Brighton and Hove Herald of 28.12.1957. The trouble is that parts of it are rather faint and need enhancing. 

Neil's birth was registered in the NE district of Surrey in the June quarter of 1938. I do not know when the family moved to Brighton, though the first mention of his name that I can find in Sussex chess records dates from the end of 1952. From that time up to about 1956 he was a promising junior at the Brighton CC. He went to Varndean Grammar School and his best achievement in chess was probably his winning the Brighton Dupree U-21 Tournament of 1954-55 (the competition usually ran from the end of December to early January). It could be argued that he would have done even better at chess, had it not been for his prowess in swimming in which sport he represented England. After he went to London University to study chemistry, his involvement in chess seems to have tailed off. In fact it does not seem to have revived until over 40 years later. 

I do not know much about his personal life, but he married Janice K Sutton in 1970 in Wandsworth. His daughter, Zia, was born in the March quarter of 1972. You probably know more about this than I, but I believe that he later either re-married or had a new partner. His name cropped up in some old Brighton CC records of about 1985. The club was still in Pavilion Buildings, but was considering moving to new premises. Neil offered new premises for the club, so I presume that he was back in Brighton by this time. As it happened, the club accepted an offer from Lord Oram instead.

I was not actually a member of the club, when Neil rejoined, though I imagine that it was about 2000. You may have a record of his joining or perhaps you remember when this happened. Also you probably know more than I about the recent years.

Brian Denman

Neil was a very active member of the club from when he rejoined up until his tragic accident in 2009. He served on the committee and as Tournament Controller until 2008. He continued as a member of the club until quite recently when it was becoming increasingly difficult for him to play. He was made an honorary member of the club and the Tasker Tankard is of course dedicated to what now will be his memory.