Chess Pages of Mike Donnelly

12. NEW AND SECOND- HAND CHESS BOOKS Tony Peterson. Specialist in rare and second-hand chess books and magazines. Very large stock. Contact details.

IM Sergey Bystrov. Specialist in a wide range of Russian books plus some non-Russian books. Now offering a greater range. Contact details.

13.WING TSUN

Wing Tsun Kung Fu (Coventry).

Wing Tsun in the Midlands

Hello!

I little bit about myself: I live in the historic town of Kenilworth (very close to the medieval castle) in Warwickshire, England. I have just retired (almost certainly!), after several years as a Scientific/Technical and Regulatory Advisor, from full time work as a Technical Manager at a biotechnology company that manufactures hydrogels for wound-care, monitoring electrodes, and cosmetic applications. Previously I was a research scientist working in a diverse number of scientific areas (science publications, committees, science journal refereeing etc). In my spare time I enjoy chess, the history and culture of the Ancient Greeks and their Modern counterparts, various types of music and until recently Wing Tsun Martial Art (achieving grade 11).

Over a decade ago I shifted from playing over-the-board (o.t.b) chess as well as correspondence chess to playing only correspondence chess (peak average rating 2492, final rating of 2454 (ICCF rating history 1993-2018). In 2016 I returned to some relatively regular o.t.b chess in local leagues currently playing at about 1950-2000 elo (a somewhat reduced level from that of a decade or more ago (approximately 2100 elo) and also from my highest many years ago of about 2275 (grading history ). After some 25 years of playing National and International level Correspondence Chess I completed my last few games at the end of 2018, annotated these games in detail for presentation in correspondence magazines in early to mid-2019, and now just play o.t.b chess.

I will attempt to offer a wide range of chess material on this site including game and opening based articles, games for downloading from famous players I have known or competed against, chess problems and some current and past results. This will include both o.t.b and correspondence play. A major part of the web site is the presentation of annotated games in the "Monthly Articles" section of the site. Often these include annotations by players other than myself.

In addition to more advanced articles, I will also occasionally provide articles for beginners to mid-club strength of player also on a very wide range of chess topics.

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MONTHLY ARTICLES SUMMARIES (section 1 of web site) *

This month we feature the eighth in the series showcasing interesting games from famous, and not so well-known tournaments, in the few years prior to the outbreak of World War 2.

From the Amsterdam 1936 Chess Congress two annotated games are provided. These both involve the interesting Dutch player Count van den Bosch playing against not one but two World Champions in Euwe and Alekhine. Bosch was a very decent player and made something of these two games against legendary players. Apart from tournament play he also took part in many matches and although a few were somewhat one-sided he did manage to draw matches against more famous players such as Spielmann and Landau. Impressively Bosch was, apart from being a noble, a lawyer and banker with family connection in the high echelons of Dutch Society.

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All material for downloading from this site is zipped. Use WinZip, or similar, to extract. Monthly articles are in .pgn format (from May 2000, previously in .txt format) whilst games for downloading are in .pgn format (or .cbv occasionally).

Contributions (preferably one or two annotated games), suggestions for articles and comments to improve this site are welcome: mail me!

	SCCA Magazine
	The SCCA magazine is published quarterly and consists of 24xA4 pages packed with correspondence chess news, articles, reviews and games.
	SCCA members receive the magazine as part of their annual subscription (£8). This entitles them to download pdf files (the e-mags) from a secure area of the SCCA website.
	If you prefer to receive a printed copy of the magazine, an extra £5 per annum covers print costs and UK postage and you get the four issues mailed directly to you.
	The SCCA magazine is unbeatable value! You can try a complimentary copy by contacting the membership secretary.

NEWS AND NOTICES *

Local Players (November 24):

Kenilworth Chess Club (KCC) Individuals and Teams.

After some turbulent games and matches its surprisingly the Kenilworth B team, and not the very much stronger Kenilworth A team, that heads up the Leamington League Division 1 by just one point. Although the latter do have a match in hand which needs a least a draw to overtake the B team via a much better game score difference.

In the Coventry League, former leaders Kenilworth drop to second place (to Warwick University A team). This was the result of a rather drastic defeat to Warwick University B which included strong players from very distant parts of the globe. The Kenilworth team also just qualified for the quarter final of the KO Cup with a narrow victory over Coventry Chess B team despite a heavy handicap.

In Division 4 of the Leamington League the Kenilworth E team are leading with a 100% match score and the remarkable game score to date of 11 wins and just one draw.

Much more detail on the matches and leagues can be found at: http://kenilworthchess.blogspot.com

Regional Master Andy Baruch-apart from being an expert Chess and Bridge player-showcases his musical talents by playing the cello at one of the Warwickshire Chamber Ensemble events. This features Schumann’s Piano Quartet (opus 47) and Elgar’s Sonata for Violin and Piano (opus 82) at The Abbey Hill United Reform Church, Kenilworth on December 2 commencing at 1600hrs.

.Ben Graff resumes his fine series of articles in the December issue of the famous magazine CHESS. This article, and earlier ones, can be obtained in pdf or paper format from chess.co.uk.

English Counties Correspondence Championship (Ward-Higgs Division1) 2023 (November 24).

This year there is again an impressive line-up of titled players representing the nine County Teams each playing 8 boards apiece. This included 3 GMs, 5 SIMs, 4 IMs, and a plethora of CCM and CCE titled players such that there are only a handful playing that are not titled in some way or other. It’s also nice to see many former opponents and international teammates return to the fray in this top correspondence event such as Jonathan Tait, Bill Lumley, Chris Williams, Peter Catt, Clive Frostick, Harvey Williams and John Vivante-Sowter, as well as a sprinkling of well-known and strong otb players such as Susan Lalic and Jon Manley in addition to Fred Clough a noted opening expert.

Current leaders change once again with Lancashire achieving wins on boards 2 and 8 so score 9/16 with all games completed. However, former leader West Wales Una are on 8.5/15 with one game left to complete. In addition, three other Counties, namely East Wales Dua, Essex A and Surrey A have 7/14 but each has two games remaining so could equal the current leader’s score. Nottinghamshire, currently at the bottom of the table, should not be ignored and have 6/13 but with three games left to complete.

(Unfortunately, Warwickshire a several times winner of this elite event, have not entered a team this season. As far as I can recall this is for the first time in many decades. Nor are there any Warwickshire teams in the Division 2 (Sinclair) or the Division 3 (Butler-Thomas) events. Possibly this is due to the resignation a few seasons ago of team captain Keith Escott, the irreplaceable and invaluable driving force for correspondence chess in Warwickshire and in the UK).

Ian Pheby Celebration Events (November 24).

In view of activities such as detailed below in the Trevor Thomas Memorial event, Ian an SIM and an IA has been honoured by the ICCF with no less than 4 Celebration Events.

In section D, untitled Taylor wins with the impressive score of 10/14; in second place was SIM Vivante-Sowter.

In section C, CCM Staak wins with 8.5/14.

In section B there was a surprising four-way tie for first involving SIM Gromotka, CCM Buchan, CCM Grayland and SIM Kitson.

Section A is on-going and is currently led by SIM Rhodes, a frequent opponent of mine in the past, together with CCM Richardt on 7.5/14. Close behind are SIM Pheby, IM Maguire and SIM Williams with 6.5 points but each have one game remaining to be competed..

Trevor Thomas Memorial Correspondence Tournament (October 29).

Trevor was a Senior International Master and an England Correspondence Team selector at the time I commenced international play. Several of his annotated games have appeared on this web site over the last few years and these may be found in the archive and old archive sections (section 2).

His memorial event comprises 4 Senior International Masters, 8 International Masters and 3 CC Masters with all but one of the 15 players rating being in the range 2403-2459.

After a prolonged intense struggle, the event has now been completed. The long-term leaders were not in fact overtaken by the several, mostly IM titled, players who could achieve this feat despite attempting to do so in some very long and complex games.

Thus IM Brewer (2442) and CCM Wharam (2403) are joint first just half a point above a host of other players. Wharam, only 17 years old, has secured an IM norm in this event.

A photograph of Trevor, who won the very famous and expensive Zollner Trophy for the otb Championship of Northumberland can now be found on the games for downloading section of this web site (section 3). Also, to be found there is a photo of Trevor's daughter (Ruth Conway) together with SIM Ian Pheby holding an example of the silver salvers that are prizes for the winner and runner-up. Ian is President of the EFCC, the organisation for all matters dealing with Correspondence Chess in England, and who are organising the Memorial event.

Next main update due early on or about December 20, 2023.

(minor updates may occur during each month)