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.

Hello!

I little bit about myself: I live in the historic town of Kenilworth (close to the medieval castle) in Warwickshire, England. I have just retired (this time 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 average 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, the third in the series “Lessons from very short games is presented, which has so far proven to be a popular set of articles. These feature games of 15 moves or less and in the three main games annotated there are several other short games in the notes.

The games were played mainly in 2023, and by some reasonably strong player. Interestingly, though, they exhibit the same or similar types of error that are present in the sometimes older games in previous “Short Game” Articles as well also in “Brevities Articles “(less than 25 moves) presented on this web site.

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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 *

Kenilworth Chess Club (KCC) Individuals and Teams (September 23).

1. Some comets are only observed by human beings perhaps once a century. A similar event has just occurred in an early game of Division 1 of the Leamington Chess League. Kenilworth B team, heavily outrated, beat Kenilworth A team by 3.5:0.5. The B team also beat Stratford A team recently and now lead the Division with a 100% score. Full details of these and other Kenilworth matches, plus some well-chosen music clips, can be found at the Kenilworth Chess Club Web Site: kenilworthchess.blogspot.com

2. Ben Graff returns with another high-class article in the famous magazine CHESS. This time entitled “The Nearly Men” it features games and details about the lives of the legendary players Carl Schlechter, David Bronstein and Viktor Korchnoi. Copies of Ben’s latest article, in paper or pdf format, or any of his previous ones, may be obtained from chess.co.uk

3. Paul Lam has won the 2024 English Chess Federation Award for Contribution to Junior Chess. Contact details for Paul are in section 7 of this website under Chess Coaching.

Local Players (September 23).

1.Marek Soszynski now extends his excellent range of opening books with one on “Bird’s Defence Against the Ruy Lopez”. This is available is an impressive range of Ebook formats. Reviews of some of Marek’s earlier books are available in several parts of section 6 of this web site (Book and Software Reviews 1998-present).

2. A Memorial Congress with £3000 in prizes has now been organised for Keith Escott. Details may be found at https://congress.org.uk/congress/469/home

Keith was a very fine player, former editor of the magazine CHESS, and an outstanding organiser for the game, in particular for the club Sutton Coldfield and the Warwickshire County Correspondence Team which under his guidance won the coveted Ward-Higgs Trophy several times. Two of his games, annotated in detail, may be found in the Recent Archive section of this web site for May-June 2024.

Peter Gibbs Memorial Correspondence Events (September 23).

Some details of Peter’s enormous impact on both over-the-board and Correspondence Chess are detailed in the Recent Archive section of this web site (Section 2-article for August-September 2023 inclusive of two annotated games).

The English Federation for Correspondence Chess (EFCC) has under the auspices of the International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) organised two 15 player events in memory of Peter. These started on May 1^st, 2024, and features players from a wide range of countries and includes 9 Correspondence Chess Experts.

Both events are preceding swiftly with a higher than normal occurrence of decisive results which is contrary to many recent correspondence chess events. This type of play would have I’m sure pleased Peter.:

Section A- CCE T. Spanton continues to lead with 8/13 which includes 5 wins and who has 2 games remaining to be finished. On the same score, also with 2 games remaining, but with only 4 wins apiece are CCE M. von Wunch and H. Baxter. Next is M. Billington who also has 8 points but only has 1 game remaining. A very close finish looks set to occur in this event.

Section B- With just one game to complete D. Flude retains the leading position on 7.5/13. However, J. Hall on 7/10 and H. Lopez on 6.5/10 are right behind and each has 4 games left to complete.

The British Chess Problem Society (September 23).

The web site of the BCPS has continued to evolve and is now a fine example of what can be achieved for Chess on the Internet. Numerous editions of their world-renowned magazine “The Problemist” can now be view and downloaded as well as collections of the chess problems of several World-class composers. A range of quality chess problem books are also available for sale at reasonable prices. It can be noted that several of the strongest English GMs such as J. Nunn and A. J. Mestel are involved in the chess problem world and regularly represent England in chess problem solving competitions. The BCPS web site is at https://www.theproblemist.org

Changes in the World of Correspondence Chess (August 24)

Recently there was a seismic change in the world of Correspondence Chess with the amalgamation of the British Correspondence Chess Association (BCCA), which has been in existence since 1906, with the EFCC (English Federation for Correspondence Chess).

Now the ICCF (International Correspondence Chess Federation) has just announced the 1^st Annual Hall of Shame. In an astonishingly frank set of slides several people and organisation are “shamed” in a similar was as the cheaters in the Ancient Olympic games. The bases of the Zanes (statues of Zeus inscribed with the cheaters names) are still in situ at the entrance to the stadium at Olympia in Greece.

English Counties Correspondence Championship (Ward-Higgs Division 1) 2023-24 and 2024-25 (August 24).

All games were completed in Spring 2024 for the 2023-24 event and in a very tight finish its Lancashire that wins this prestigious event on 9/16. West Wales finish in second on 8.5/16 with more wins scored than East Wales in third on the same score.

Team lists for the next competition was expected to be announced over recent months. However, tectonic moves have occurred in the correspondence chess world in that the British Correspondence Chess Association, which has been in existence since 1906, has now been amalgamated with the English Federation for Correspondence Chess (EFCC). It is now hoped the Ward-Higgs competition, which has existed since 1922 will now resume, perhaps later this year or early next year, now the amalgamation has been finally completed.

Next main update due early on or about October 24, 2024.

(minor updates may occur during each month)