Keverel Chess

Archive for February, 2010

A small piece of chess history was made on Sunday when Newton Abbot and Exmouth met in a match to determine Devon’s top team prize, the Bremridge Cup. At the outset, the 12 players were all aware that Exmouth had to win by 4–2 or better in order to retain the trophy they won last year – anything less and Newton Abbot would win it for the first time in the competition’s 109 year history.

It wasn’t long before two Exmouth players came under severe pressure and it quickly became clear which way the wind was blowing. Eventually it was Newton Abbot that won by 4-2 and so a new name will be engraved on the cup. The scores were (Exmouth names first); 1.B. W. R. Hewson 0–1 D. Mackle. 2.J. K. Stephens ½-½ T. F. Thynne. 3.I. M. Jamieson 0–1 S. W. Schofield. 4.M. V. Abbott ½-½ A. Kinder. 5.D. A. Toms ½-½ C. V. Howard. 6. B. G. Gosling ½-½ J. E. Allen.

Here is the first game to finish, which set the visitors on the winning path.

White: Stephen Schofield (162). Black: Ian Jamieson (175).

Irregular [A00]

1.d4 e6 2.Bf4 f5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Be7 5.h3 0–0 6.Nbd2 b6 7.c3 Bb7 8.Bd3 Be4 9.Qc2 d5 10.0–0 c5 11.Ne5 Bxd3 12.Qxd3 Qe8 13.Ndf3 Ne4 14.Nd2 Nxd2 15.Qxd2 Nc6 16.Rfe1 Rc8 17.Rac1 Na5 18.Qe2 c4 19.Kh1 Nb7 So far, everything has proceeded quietly, but White now decides to go for the throat. 20.g4 Nd6 21.Rg1 Nf7? (21…Qd8 might have been better played at this point, rather than later, while another option is to continue with development on the opposite wing with 21…a6). 22.gxf5 opening lines to the Black King. 22…exf5 23.Qf3 Qd8 24.Qh5 Nd6 which brings us to this week’s problem. What did White now play to bring the game to a swift end as mate could not be avoided?

The East Devon Congress started last night at the Corn Hall, Exeter, with two rounds to be played today and two more tomorrow.

The next big event in the area is the West of England Championship due to take place at the Royal Beacon Hotel, Exmouth over the Easter weekend, Friday 2^nd to Monday 5^th April. As there is a limit on accommodation at the hotel, it is best not to leave entries to the last minute. All enquiries should be directed to the Entry Secretary, Andrew Footner on 01935-873610 or e-mail: [email protected]

Went up to Exeter after tea to catch the opening of the East Devon Congress, and hoping to catch 3 particular people before the start of play - Keith Arkell, Andrew Footner (WECU Congress Secretary) and Ewart Smith (Chief Arbiter of same). On arrival, I found Ewart Smith was not, in fact, due to control this event, and neither Arkell nor Footner had entered, in spite of earlier assurances from them that they would.

This somewhat reduced the value of the effort made, but there were enough folk around to talk to.

For example, anyone doubting the existence of reincarnation may like to consider this picture.

It’s none other than Bill Fairbairn, here making his first appearance on the chess scene for about 20 years. He used to live in Dartington, near Totnes, and organised the annual Dartington Christmas Congress, and wrote an extensive chess column for the local Herald Express. He “vanished” for many years, but has now re-emerged living in Exeter, not far from his sister, Saxon Spence, the well-known East Devon politician.

Also playing were former Exmouth member, Dr. Adam Woodruff, whose only contact with the area since he moved to the London area is this event. He was devoted to the French Defence which he always managed to steer into choppy waters.

Dave Toms was present, but other members had taken the available half point bye and would appear on Saturday morning.

The unexplained non-appearance of Arkell left Dominic Mackle as favourite for the top section, with his grade of 200, but with a number of regular contenders on his tail - the Bristolians Dilleigh and Helbig among them - and keep an eye out for the local newcomer, Tim Paulden, whose recent results are well in excess of his estimated grade.

Dominic Mackle

Devon League Matches. (In chronological order – most recent first).

	NEWMAN CUP				Date: 09.02.10
	Exmouth	Grd			Exeter	Grd
1	M. V. Abbott	174	0 ½	1 ½	T. Paulden	159e
2	J. S. Murray	145	½ ½	½ ½	S. Waters	170
3	R. H. Jones	148	1 0	0 1	C. Keen	141
4	F. R. Hodge	103	½ ½	½ ½	B. Aldwin	119
5
6
	Rapid (599 max)	570	3½	4½		589

Newman Cup: Exmouth v Exeter: Our team was unchanged from the away match in Exeter, though Exeter had made some changes. The 1^st round was drawn 2-2, after Jones managed to perpetrate the most outrageous swindle of the evening – if not the year so far, but Keen extracted revenge in the return game which gave the visitors the match by the same score as before.

	BREMRIDGE CUP				Date: 21.02.10
	Exmouth	Grd			Newton Abbot	Grd
1	B. W. R. Hewson	184	0	1	D. Mackle	200
2	J. K. F. Stephens	182	½	½	T. F. Thynne	173
3	I. M. Jamieson	175	0	1	S. W. Schofield	162
4	M. V. Abbott	174	½	½	A. Kinder	158
5	D. A. Toms	156	½	½	C. V. Howard	154
6	B. G. Gosling	159	½	½	J. E. Allen	143
	Div. 1 (Open)	1030	2	4		992

Bremridge Cup: Exmouth v Newton Abbot: This was the big one, for in spite of having only drawn our 2 matches so far, we could still retain this trophy provided we beat the visitors by 4-2 or better. However, it wasn’t long before Jamieson and Abbott were under severe pressure, and assuming Mackle was unlikely to actually lose his game, a 4 – 2 win was clearly a remote hope from early on. Jamieson succumbed to a sacrificial attack though Abbott found defensive resources. Stephens had early pressure but was unable to find a winning line. Hewson coped well with the middlegame but Mackle managed to win a pawn late on which was enough to win. Toms was the last to finish and although he felt he could have ground out a win, there seemed little point in keeping everyone waiting when the match was already lost, so a draw was agreed.

So a small pice of chess history was made this day with Newton Abbot getting their name on Devon’s premier team trophy for the first time in its 109 year history. We can’t deny them that – well done!

The Exmouth team, holders of the Bremridge Cup for a few more minutes:

Seated (l-r) John Stephens, Mark Abbott, Dr. David Toms.

Standing: Brian Hewson, Ian Jamieson, Brian Gosling.

The Newton Abbot team getting the feel of things before start of play.

Seated (l-r) Stephen Schofield; Trefor Thynne; John Allen.

Standing: Dominic Mackle; Andrew Kinder; Charlie Howard.

The match in progress.

Nearest camera: Bd. 1. Mackle v Hewson; Bd. 2. Thynne v Stephens; Bd. 3 Schofield v Jamieson.

Back row (l-r) Bd. 6. Allen v Gosling; Bd. 5. Howard v Toms; Bd. 4. Kinder v Abbott.

	NEWMAN CUP				Date: 09.02.10
	Exeter	Grd			Exmouth	Grd
1	S. Waters	170	0 1	1 0	M. V. Abbott	174
2	T. Paulden	159e	1 1	0 0	J. S. Murray	145
3	G. Body	115e	0 0	1 1	R. H. Jones	148
4	J. Waley	121	½ 1	½ 0	F. R. Hodge	103
5
6
	Rapid (599 max)	572	4½	3½		570

Newman Cup: Exeter v Exmouth: We edged the 1^st round thanks to a draw by Fred Hodge against a more highly rated opponent. As is his habit, Body played half his moves in the last 2 minutes on his clock, but with the help of being the exchange up, Jones managed to keep things together until flag-fall, though he had only 30 seconds left himself. His second game followed a very similar fashion, but 3 losses on the other boards gave the match to Exeter by the narrowest of margins. Waters, particularly, conducted a fine kingside attack to win his game.

	MAMHEAD CUP				Date: 30.01.10
	Exmouth	Grd			Tiverton	Grd
1	M. V. Abbott	174	1	0	S. Bartlett	168
2	B. G. E. Gosling	156	½	½	J. Morrison	155
3	D. A. Toms	156	1	0	K. Atkins	145
4	R. H. Jones	140	1	0	J. Knowles	121
5
6
	(639 max)	626	3½	½		589

Mamhead Cup: Exmouth v Tiverton: The final score in this match did not reflect the closeness of the games throughout. Abbott was materially down, but had advanced pawns by way of compensation and was able to utilise these to secure a winning position. Toms achieved something of a crushing position against his opponent’s exposed King. Jones went a pawn down and was in danger of losing more, but Knowles took one with the wrong piece and lost the exchange with no compensation. Gosling went to the last few seconds of his extra time and had a long series of checks with his 2^nd Queen. His opponent made an illegal move in trying to evade them and offered a draw as the best solution.

	BREMRIDGE CUP				Date: 16.01.10
	Teignmouth	Grd			Exmouth	Grd
1	A. W. Brusey	174	1	0	B. W. R. Hewson	184
2	H. W. Ingham	166	½	½	I. M. Jamieson	175
3	J. G. Gorodi	155	0	1	B. G. E. Gosling	156
4	P. E. Halmkin	141	1	0	Dr. D. A. Toms	156
5	Rev. C. Doidge	136	0	1	R. H. Jones	140
6	W. Sapiecha	123	½	½	F. R. Hodge	103
	Div 1 (Open)	895	3	3		914

Bremridge Cup: Teignmouth v Exmouth: With John Stephens suddenly unavailable, Fred Hodge was drafted in to replace him, and this moved most of the team up a board with resultingly tougher opponents. Toms came badly unstuck against the always aggressive Halmkin and Hewson mishandled an otherwise drawn ending. Hodge again did sterling work on bottom board. Eventually it came down to Doidge v Jones rapidly reaching the end of extra time, with us needing a win to draw the match. After being almost swamped, Jones just managed to get an edge in the final minutes and Doidge’s electronic clock finally ran down 10 – 9 – 8 – 7… down to 0 and the match was saved.

	BREMRIDGE CUP				Date: 09.01.10
	Exmouth	Grd			Exeter	Grd
1	B. W. R. Hewson	184	0	1	G. Bolt	189
2	J. K. F. Stephens	182	1	0	S. Waters	170
3	I. M. Jamieson	175	1	0	D. Regis	165
4	B. G. E. Gosling	156	0	1	J. Paulden	159
5	R. H. Jones	140	½	½	S. Pope	156
6	F. R. Hodge	103	½	½	G. Body	113
	Div. 1 (Open)	940	3	3		952

Bremridge Cup: Exmouth v Exeter: Stephens’ game came to a swift conclusion to get the side off to a good start, later off-set by Hewson’s loss to Bolt. Jones avoided all traps to hold the dangerous Pope, while the Bd. 6 game finished in a time scramble in which both players stopped notating. Hodge thought his opponent had not made the 40 moves before his flag fell, but couldn’t prove it with a reconstruction as both players had stopped notating, so agreed to a draw. Had he been able to do so, the match might have been won. Jamieson and Gosling’s games finished together with a win for Jamieson but Gosling, involved in another time scramble, didn’t have time to spot the correct continuation that would have forced a perpetual check

	NEWMAN CUP				Date: 02.12.09
	Exmouth	Grd			Tiverton	Grd
1	J. K. F. Stephens	182	0 1	1 0	I. S. Annetts	147
2	B. G. E. Gosling	159	1 1	1 1	J. V. Morrison	155
3	R. H. Jones	148	1 1	0 0	K. Atkins	145
4	F. R. Hodge	103	½ ½	½ ½	J. Knowles	142
5
6
	Rapid (599 max)	592	6	2		589

Newman Cup: Exmouth v Tiverton: A good come-back within a few days of an indifferent result. Fred Hodge did well to hold 2 positions against an opponent almost 40 points stronger. Stephens drifted into an inferior position from a winning one, and lost the 1^st game, but made no mistake given a 2^nd chance. Gosling was at his sharpest, and Jones continued a wining streak against Keith Atkins to complete a good score.

	MAMHEAD CUP				Date: 28.11.09
	Newton Abbot	Grd			Exmouth	Grd
1	W. R. P. Taylor	148	½	½	B. W. R. Hewson	184
2	J. Yau	120	½	½	B. G. Gosling	156
3	A. Billings	122	0	1	Dr. D. A. Toms	156
4	O. J. Demerger	124	1	0	R. H. Jones	140
5
6
	(639 max)	514	2	2		639

Mamhead – Newton Abbot v Exmouth: Not a good start to the season for us, as Wilf Taylor and 3 schoolboys came close to deposing a maximum strength side, keen to defend their title in this division. Hewson got his opening move order mixed up and was happy to settle for a quick draw. Toms got a crushing attack and Jones was left at the end trying to save the half point that would win the match. After defending a strong attack, Jones developed an attack of his own, and swapped his queen for 2 rooks, but it was not enough and he had to concede defeat to his young opponent.

Exeter League Matches.

	Division 2				Date: 20.01.10
	Exmouth	Grd			Exeter Pawns	Grd
1
2
3
4
5
6
	(639 max)

Devon overcame Somerset on Saturday by the comfortable-looking margin of 11–5, but they could still only scrape together 1½ points from the top 6 boards; from Boards 7 – 16 they dropped only a half point of the 10 available. Devon’s winners were Ken Derrick, Steve Homer, Ian Jamieson, Dave Twine. Trefor Thynne, Robert Thompson, Simon Waters, Dave Regis, Stephen Schofield and Paul Brooks. Dominic Mackle and Bill Ingham got draws.

The East Devon Congress starts on Friday evening. At the time of going to press there were 112 entries, so there is still plenty of space for late entries to be accepted.

The overwhelming favourite for the main prize is Grandmaster Keith Arkell, who now lives locally. Next month he is hoping to enter the 11^th World Individual Championships, due to be held in Rijeka, Croatia from the 5^th – 19^th March. However, the finances of a UK chess professional are risky at best, and Keith is looking for a way to off-set part or all of the £800 expenses involved. The English Chess Federation themselves are unable to sponsor any entries and it is likely that Keith may be the only English entry. Anyone thinking of making a contribution to his “fighting fund”, however small or large, should contact Keith by phone (07757-342-477) or e-mail ([email protected]) to discuss the details with him. A business sponsor might get some publicity out of it.

His best performance to date was coming 2^nd in the 2002 Hastings Premier when he was undefeated. This was one of his wins.

White: V. Tseshkovsky (2545). Black: K. Arkell (2521)

Caro-Kann Defence [B17]

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Ng5 White is wasting time with unproductive moves. 5…Ngf6 6.Bd3 e6 7.N1f3 Be7 8.Qe2 h6 9.Ne4 c5 10.Nxf6+ Nxf6 11.dxc5 Bxc5 12.Bd2 Qd5 13.b4 Be7 14.c4 Qd8 15.0–0 0–0 16.Rfd1 Bd7 17.Bc3 Qc7 18.a4 a5 19.b5 Rfd8 20.Rac1 b6 21.Be5 Qa7 22.Nd4 Rac8 23.Bb1 Be8 24.Rd3 Nd7 allowing 25.Nc6 forking queen and rook it doesn’t look good for Black. 25…Rxc6 26.Qe4 Nxe5 27.Rxd8 Bxd8 28.bxc6 Bf6 that skirmish left Black with knight & bishop for a rook. 29.Rd1 Qc7 30.f4 Ng6 31.Qe3 Be7 now the bishops start to flex their muscles with a threat of a “skewer”. 32.Kf1 Bc5 33.Qd2 Qxc6 34.Re1?? Bb4 winning the rook, so White resigned. 0–1

The mundane meanderings and daily doings of a chess rabbit.

Here are some short biographies of chessplayers who have made above-average contributions to chess at some level, whether in Devon or further afield.

The 1^st editions of some of these articles got their first airing on the chessdevon website, and the author is grateful to its webmaster for that opportunity. These early ones have now all been reviewed and updated where new information has come to light before posting here.

Copyright remains with the author who will be pleased to receive further information for inclusion, or make corrections where necessary. Family history researchers should contact the author in the first instance with a view to a possible useful exchange of information.

The Western Morning News is based in Plymouth and mostly covers Devon and Cornwall. Its chess column, one of the oldest in any provincial newspaper, was started in 1891 when Carslake Winter-Wood wrote it under the pen-name Queen’s Knight. About the same time a similar column was started in an Exeter paper, the unknown writer using the pen-name King’s Knight.

At that time there were only a handful of chess clubs in the area’s main towns, while in rural areas people were forced to play en famille or concentrate on problems, but these regular columns were instrumental in pulling together the smaller pockets of interest, until in 1901 the Devon County Chess Association was formed and new clubs were founded in many places. Cornwall followed suit shortly after.

The 2-times British Champion (1948 & 1950) Reginald Broadbent did a Saturday column from 1955 until shortly before his death in 1988 at the age of 82, but it consisted only of a problem, mostly with little local connection. When J. E. Jones moved from Lichfield to Totnes in 1953, he persuaded the Editor to include a midweek column that would consist of local news. Thus there were two weekly columns until 1987. Jones wrote every week until he moved to Manchester in 1963.

Ken Bloodworth then took it over and continued with it for 36 years, until at the age of 85 he felt the time had come to pass the baton to someone else, and R. H. Jones has done it ever since.

The column currently comes out every Saturday in their Weekend supplement. Copyright rests with them, of course, but they have kindly allowed publication on this site, after the weekend it appears in the paper.

R. H. Jones.

Michael Adams won the Gibtelcom Masters tournament last weekend after a dramatic play-off, following a four-way tie. He teetered on the brink of defeat in the play-off semi-final but fought back to win through to a 2 game final against Francisco Vallejo Pons of Spain.

For these games the players had 10 minutes each on the clock plus an added 10 seconds each time a move was made. Adams had the advantage of being White in the first game, which enabled him to set the agenda. In these circumstances it is often best to be the one who makes the threats, forcing the opponent to use valuable time to work out the best defence. Note how Adams does that in their 1^st game.

White: M. Adams (2694). Black: F. Vallejo Pons (2705).

French Defence – Tarrasch Variation [C05].

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 Nf6 5.e5 Nfd7 6.c3 Nc6 7.Bd3 Qb6 8.0–0 a5 9.a4 Be7 10.dxc5 Qc7 11.Nb3 Ndxe5 12.Nxe5 Qxe5 (If 12…Nxe5 then 13.Bf4 pins the knight). 13.f4 Qc7 14.Be3 g6 15.Qe1 Bd7 16.Kh1 a safety measure, to avoid possible checks on the diagonal. 16…h5 17.Nd4 Nxd4 18.Bxd4 0–0 19.f5! Bxc5 (Neither pawn can take on f5 - the e-pawn is pinned and if 19…gxf5 20.Be5 Qd8 21.Qg3+ Bg5 22.Bc7 Qf6 (if 22…Qe7 23.Bd6) 23.Bf4 and Black is in terrible trouble). 20.Bxc5 Qxc5 21.fxg6 Qe7 (Not 21…fxg6 as it allows 22.Qg3 with a strong attack). 22.Qe5 threatening h5 22…f5 not good enough as the defending pawn is pinned. 23.Bxf5 Qf6 24.Qc7 Qg7 25.Bd3 Bc6 White is not quite ready yet to start making exchanges. 26.Qd6 Rae8 27.h3 e5 28.Bb5 Qe7 29.Rxf8+ Qxf8 30.Qc7 threatening mate on h7 and the pawn on a5 30…Qg7 31.Qxa5 Now the time is ripe. 31…Qxg6 32.Bxc6 Qxc6 33.Rd1 Kh8 34.Rxd5 Rg8 35.Qb5 Qh6 36.Qe2 Qc1+ 37.Rd1 Qg5 38.a5 h4 39.Qe4 Rf8 40.Qxb7 Qf4 41.Qd5 e4 42.Re1 e3 43.Qd4+ finally the Queens must come off and White’s 3 passed pawns are unstoppable. 1–0. After drawing the 2^nd game Adams’ 1^st prize was £15,000.

NB: This booklist is still a work in progress at the moment and will be added to regularly until complete. Recently sold titles may be shown in “strikethrough”. Please check the page for terms & conditions and definition of terms used.

To enquire about the current availability of any book listed here

please e-mail me on [email protected]

Probably easiest to cut & paste book details from list into your email.

BUSINESS TERMS

UK customers: Payment can be made by cheque (payable to R. H. Jones) on receipt of books and invoice, or PayPal. Pre-payment on an invoice may be required for new customers or large amounts of items.

Non-UK customers: Pre-payment may be by bank transfer, Paypal, or cash for small amounts.

Postage costs: Postage is charged at cost. Books are sent by 1^st class post (unless 2^nd class requested) or standard parcel post if over 1.25kg.

All books can be returned for a refund if found to be not as described.

ABBREVIATIONS USED

All books are hardback, bound in publisher’s original cloth, published in London, with English descriptive notation, unless otherwise stated.

F		Fine condition, almost as new.
VG		Very good condition, just showing small signs of wear or use.
G		Good or average condition, showing general signs of wear or use.
P		Poor – Text complete, but having serious defects.
+ / -		Indicates whether book falls into the upper or lower end of category. Though subjective, every effort has been made to come to a reasonable assessment
d/w		dust-wrapper (dust-jacket). This is always mentioned if present.
p/b		paperback or modern flexi-cover binding.
Insc		Inscription.
o/w		otherwise.
n.d.		no publication date, but if known it is given in brackets.
Ed.		Edition.
Repr.		Reprint.
Impr.		impression.
pp.		number of pages.
an		algebraic notation. (Non-English language books assumed
		to be in the notation of the country of publication).
LN		Ref. no. in Bibliotheca van der Linde-Niemeijeriana, 1955 catalogue.

1. Encyclopaedias, History & other Reference works.

Brace, E: An Illustrated Dictionary of Chess McKay 1977 320pp DW VG £9.00

Eales, R: Chess – The History of a Game Batsford 1^st ed. 1985 240pp DW F £17.50

Fox & James: The Even More Complete Chess Addict Faber 1993 369pp PB AN VG+ £12.00

Fox & James: The Even More Complete Chess Addict Faber 1993 369pp PB AN worn cover o/w G- £8.00

Gaige, J: Chess Personalia – A Bibliliography McFarland 1^st ed. 1987 505pp This is an indispensable resource for all interested in chess history in resplendent red cloth F+ £65.00

Gizycki, J. (Wood, B. H. ed.) A History of Chess Abbey 1972 375pp DW VG £9.00

Golombek, H: Chess – A History Puttnams 1976 256pp bookplate VG £8.00

Hartston, W: The Kings of Chess Pavilion 1985 192pp DW VG+ £11.50

Hooper & Whyld: Oxford Companion To Chess OUP 1^st ed. 1984 407pp DW F £20.00

Hooper & Whyld: Oxford Companion To Chess OUP 1^st ed. 1984 407pp DW Exlib o/w VG £10.00

Hooper & Whyld: Oxford Companion To Chess OUP 2^nd ed. 1992 483pp DW F £25.00

Levy & O’Connell: Oxford Encyclopaedia of Chess Games Vol. 1 (1485 – 1866) (4,000 gms) OUP 527pp DW AN F £25.00

Linde, A. van der: Bibliotheca van der Linde-Niemeijeriana – A Catalogue of the Chess Collection in the Royal Library The Hague. 1988 facsimile of 1955 work limited to 750 copies 342pp F £30.00

Linde, A. van der: Das Erste Jartausend der Schachlitteratur (850-1880). Caissa, USA,1979. Facsimile Reprint No. 125 of 500 US Limited edition. 116pp. F+. Includes most of the known chess publications until its publication in 1880, arranged alphabetically by author. Blue cloth covers. F+ £30.00

Murray, H. J. R: A Short History Of Chess Oxford 1963 138pp with additons by Goulding Brown and Golombek VG £22.00

Pritchard, D. B: Encyclopaedia of Chess Variants 1^st ed. 1994 Luxury ed. Numbered 14 / 150 and signed by author. F+ £30.00

Pritchard, D. B: Encyclopaedia of Chess Variants 1^st ed. 1994 Luxury ed. Numbered 107 / 150 and signed by author. F+ £30.00

Saidy & Lessing: The World of Chess Random House 1974 250pp DW VG+ £15.00

Sergeant, P. W: A Century of British Chess Hutchinson 1^st ed. 1934 384pp Publisher’s review copy sent to E. Nelson Davis. An invaluable resource. Insc. VG+ £50.00

Whyld, K: Chess - The Records Guinness 176pp PB VG £8.00

Wood, B. H. (ed.) History of Chess Abbey Revised 1977 375pp DW VG+ £9.00

2. Yearbooks & Magazines.

“British Chess Magazine” Chess Annual 1915 (Ed. I. M. Brown) 213pp NL 5909 blue cloth boards a little faded in spots o/w VG £25.00

“British Chess Magazine” Chess Annual 1916 (Ed. I. M. Brown) 222pp NL 5909 red cloth boards VG+ £25.00

British Chess Magazine 1926 764pp rebound in maroon boards VG+ £50.00

British Chess Magazine 1929 500pp rebound in maroon boards. VG+ £50.00

British Chess Magazine 1931 556pp rebound in red boards VG+ £50.00

British Chess Magazine 1969 380pp maroon cloth VG+ £20.00

British Chess Magazine 1976 380pp maroon cloth F £35.00

British Chess Magazine 1977 380pp maroon cloth F £35.00

Chess (Ed. B. H. Wood) Vol. 39 (‘73-’74) brown cloth VG £15.00

Chess (Ed. B. H. Wood) Vol. 49 (‘84-’85) brown cloth VG+ £15.00

Chess (Ed. B. H. Wood) Vol. 50 (‘85-’86) brown cloth VG £15.00

B. C. F. Yearbooks: The pre-war years are small (c. 36pp) and contain lists of official and results of BCF events.

Not often seen. 1921 1923 1925 1928 1929 1931 1934 1937 all VG £10 each or £50 the lot

In the early 1930s an ECCU Combined Year Book was published which had the characteristics adopted by the BCF Yearbooks from 1938 onwards i.e. c. 300pp PB containing much information on county officials, BCF events etc.

ECCU Yearbooks 1934-35; 1935 – 36; £12 each

BCF Yearbooks:

1946 – 47; 1947 – 48; 1948 – 49; 1950 – 51; 1953 – 54; 1954 – 55; 1955 – 56; 1956 – 57; 1957 – 58; 1958 – 59; 1959 – 60 All G+ £10.00 each.

1960 – 61; 1961 – 62; 1962 – 63; 1963 – 64; 1964 – 65; 1965 – 66; 1967 – 68; 1968 – 69; 1969 -70 All VG £8.00 each.

1970 – 71; 1971 – 72; 1972 – 73; 1973 – 74; 1974 – 75; All VG £6.00 each.

From 1976 the Yearbook went to an A4 format, mostly with glossy covers and increasingly high production standards as years progress.

1977-78; 1997; 1998; 2000; 2001; 2002; 2003; 2005; 2006; 2007; All VG+ £5 each.

Year-Book of Chess 1909 (Ed. E. A. Mitchell) 314pp LN 5906 spine renewed retaining original maroon cloth o/w VG

Insc “W. R. Thomas”, father of A. R. B. Thomas. £20.00.

Year-Book of Chess 1912 (Ed. E. A. Mitchell) 321pp LN 5906 maroon cloth spotted and dulled o/w VG

Insc “W. R. Thomas”, father of A. R. B. Thomas. £20.00.

Year-Book of Chess 1913 (Ed. E. A. Mitchell) Hollings 1914 290pp LN 5906 VG

Insc. “AT” from the library of A. R. B. Thomas £15.00.

Year-Book of Chess 1914 (Ed. M. W. Stevens) Hollings 1915 314pp LN 5906 VG-

Insc “W. R. Thomas”, father of A. R. B. Thomas. £20.00.

Year-Book of Chess 1914 (Ed. M. W. Stevens) Hollings 1915 324pp LN 5906 VG £15.00.

Year-Book of Chess 1915 & 16 (Ed. Watts & Foster) Hollings 1917 315pp LN 5906 maroon cloth

a little spotted and spine dulled o/w VG Insc “A/T”, from the library of A. R. B. Thomas. £15.00.

Year-Book of Chess 1915 & 16 (Ed. Watts & Foster) Hollings 1917 315pp LN 5906

Insc “JEJ”, from the library of J. E. Jones £15.00.

Chess: (Ed. B. H. Wood)

All bound volumes in the usual brown cloth, VG with index

Vol. 39 (1973/4) £12.00. Vol. 49 (1984/5) £10.00 Vol. 50 (1985/6) £10

This year’s Paignton Congress in September will be the 60^th in an unbroken series going back to 1951. There will be a number of special activities to commemorate this Silver Jubilee and the Congress Committee met last week to firm up on progress.

World Championship finalist Michael Adams has agreed to put on a simultaneous display and there will be a reception put on for players and specially invited guests. Local organiser, Vic Cross is preparing an international junior tournament. A book on the history of the event is also being written, which will include key games from down the years. Here is one from Year 1 between two maths lecturers – Euwe the Dutch former World Champion and Thomas from Blundell’s School, Tiverton. Notes based on those by Golombek.

White: M. Euwe. Black: A. R. B. Thomas. Queen’s Gambit [D07]

A good example of Euwe’s masterly strategy in which the sudden switch of attack from side to side is noteworthy. The opening is not without interest. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.cxd5 Nxd4 5.e3 Nf5 6.Nf3 An improvement on his own 6.e4 Nd6 as he played against Tartakower at Nottingham 1936. 6…Bd6 7.e4 Nfe7 8.Bb5+ Kf8 Black has to forgo castling, since 8…Bd7 9.Qb3 Rb8 10.Be3 leaves White in control of most of the board. Thereafter he finds himself with weaknesses on both bishops’ files, but his position is tenable until his 21st move. 9.0–0 h6 10.Ne1 g5 11.Ne2 Ng6 12.Ng3 Nf6 13.Nc2 Nh4 14.Ne3 Kg7 15.Nh5+ Nxh5 16.Qxh5 Qf6 17.Be2 Qg6 18.g3 Qxh5 19.Bxh5 Ng6 20.Bd2 Bd7 21.Rac1 Ne7? (He should have played 21…Rac8) 22.f4 gxf4 23.gxf4 Bb5 Loses at once and more resistance could have been put up by 23…f6 24.fxe5 Black resigned, as he loses 2 pieces for a rook with a hopeless game after 24…Bxf1 25.exd6 cxd6 26.Rxf1 1–0