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.

--------------------------------------------------------------

MONTHLY ARTICLES SUMMARIES (section 1 of web site) *

Nowadays the German player Kurt Richter is perhaps best remembered for his association with two still very popular opening systems-the Richter-Rauzer Attack (6. Bg5 versus the Sicilian Defence) and the Richter-Veresov Opening (1.d4 Nf6 or d5 2.Nc3). Both lines involve straightforward development and are often the prelude to a sharp attacking game. Looking at some of Richter’s games from the 1930s and 1940s it was clear that he had a remarkable ability for very rapid ferocious attacks which often included explosive and spectacular sacrifices.

At the same time as playing over some of Richter’s games several TV documentaries on WW2 highlighted the fact the German military, utilizing the tactic of Blitzkrieg, had very rapidly overrun most of Europe and were on the verge but for the close-run Battle of Britain, in doing the same to England. It was clear there was a similarity in “style” between Richter’s games and the military tactic. An article was subsequently authored with the title “Kurt Richter: Chess Blitzkreig” in the magazine CHESS *.

For this month several more of Richters games are presented that demonstrate just how effective this mean of play can be,

(*CHESS p42-45, March 2022. Copies may be obtained from chess.co.uk in paper of pdf format.)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 (July 23).

1. KCC players performed well at the recent English Championships held in Kenilworth a few weeks ago. Much more detail on the players and their results, with an occasional good music clip, can be found at kenilworthchess.blogspot.com

2. Ben Graff latest article in the famous magazine CHESS, explores the world of the chess parent nowadays an essential and often one of the critical factors in the development of young players. It is no coincidence that several of the members of Kenilworth Chess Club teams, that secured a very large haul of trophies in the season just completed, are juniors. Similarly for the good results in the English Championships no doubt helped by the coaching and support of Paul Lam (cf section 7 of this web site).

Copies of Ben’s latest article, in paper or pdf format, may be obtained from chess.co.uk

English Counties Correspondence Championship (Ward-Higgs Division 1) 2023-24 and 2024-25 (July 23).

All games have now just been completed in 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 were 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.

Peter Gibbs Memorial Correspondence Events (July 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.

Results are still coming in rapidly in these two events and, contrary to the norm in correspondence chess in recent times, decisive games are common:

Section A- Leading positions have now changed again and currently CCE Wnuck leads with 5/8 , in second place are Billington and CCE Spanton on 4/7 and 4/8 respectively..

Section B- Leaders have also changed in this section too with Flude now heading up the score-table on 6/9 and second is Lopez on 5.5/8..

Next main update due early on or about August 23, 2024.

(minor updates may occur during each month)