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) *

When first taking an interest in Chess many years ago, and knowing only the moves of the pieces, I had attempted (as a diversion!) to solve chess problems in glossy magazines available for “inspiration” to students in school Art classes. A year later, at the age of 16, I started to play over-the-board for the school chess team. As well as over-the-board play, an interest in problem solving was gradually expanded into some basic efforts at chess composition. Slow progress led eventually to some publications in National Newspapers, for example, the London Evening News edited by the famous player Hugh Alexander. Eventually a 2-move problem was even published in the world-famous magazine “The Problemist” published by the British Chess Problem Society. Eventually too the difficult aim of a 4 mover was attempted, and one was submitted to The Problemist. Nothing was heard for some time until I received a remarkably improved version from the editor of the “More Mover” section named Norman Macleod. This, now classified as a joint composition, was pleasingly published in the Problemist.

Years later an interest in chess problem solving was resumed and amongst several chess problem books purchased was one entitled “Chessboard Adventures of Norman Macleod”. Only then did I realise who I had been communicating with. Norman was a player of great potential and played for Scotland in the Olympiad as well as achieving high places in the championship of that country on several occasions. The book also revealed he was an outstanding chess problem composer, even from a young age, and achieved both the International Master and Grandmaster of Composition titles. The range and number of types of problem composed and their great artistry is very impressive. The book, which is reviewed in more detail in section 6 of this web site, also disclosed Norman worked with the Hugh Alexander at GCHQ. In addition, Norman was also involved in the development of computer technology and its early application to Chess and Chess Problems as well as the concept of Chess on the Internet. A recent visit to Bletchley (Station X) showed Alexander was one of the players involved in the breaking of the Enigma codes and there is a link too between Bletchley and GCHQ. Hence several apparently disparate threads have come together over a very long period of time.

The book of Norman’s Chess Compositions is highly recommended to over-the-board and problem composers and to commemorate Norman’s fine and instructive over-the-board play two annotated games are presented this month.

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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 (November 22).

1. After a flying start at the beginning of the season Kenilworth B, rather that the highly rated A team, led the way for a long time in Division 1 of the Leamington League. However, the B team, after an unnecessary match loss due to a board order infringement, drop down to third place amongst significant changes in the leading teams. Currently Banbury A lead on 9 points (6 matches played), Kenilworth A resume a more normal position with 7 points (5 matches played) with the B team on 6 points (6 matches played) in third place. In the second Division Kenilworth C may be threatening to enter Division 1. Current scores are Shirley A on 8 points (6 matches played) , Kenilworth C on 7 points (4 matches played) and Kenilworth D on 6 points from 7 matches. 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. Billy Fellows, a rising star of Kenilworth with a great potential, has won the U12 section of the Terafinal (UK Schools Chess Challenge). Jude Shearsby, already a CM was fourth in the U-14 section above several very highly rated players.

3. Ben Graff’s latest article in the magazine CHESS investigates the complex matters of chess talent. Copies, in paper or pdf format, of this and Ben’s earlier articles in this magazine may be obtained from chess.co.uk ).

Local Players (November 22).

1.Last month readers of this web site were notified Marek Soszynski has extended his excellent range of opening books with one on “Bird’s Defence Against the Ruy Lopez”. Now two further interesting books have been published:

REVIEWS OF THESE BOOKS WILL APPEAR IN A FEW WEEKS ON THIS WEB SITE.

(a) Soszynski, Marek. 2024. Black Knight Repertoire 1.e4 Nc6 (MarekMedia)

ISBN: 9798224966516 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CTTRQ75Q/

(b) Soszynski, Marek. 2024. Hate the English? Play the Anglo-Scandinavian

Defence (MarekMedia) ISBN: 9798227493019 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DJRN79W7/

All these are 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 (November 22).

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 much 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- Some exceeding time limit defaults have occurred for the players Fajardo and CCE Swindells hence the leading position are now tightly bunched with CCM Campani on 9 points (1 game remaining), CCE Wnuck is also on 9 points but has finished all games. However, Baxter on 8.5 with 1 game left, CCE Spanton on 8 points (2 games left), and Billington on 8 points (1 game to complete) could equal or better the current leaders.

Section B- Again there is potentially a close finish in prospect with Lopez on 9 points (1 game left), Hall on 8 points (2 games left), Flude is also on 8 points (but all games completed). However players such as Ward on 6 points could impact these positions with 6 points but no less than 4 games left to complete

The British Chess Problem Society (November update of October post).

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

A very recent further developments is to update the navigation of The Problemist archive to be in line with the Problemist Supplement and the Fairy Chess Review.

English Counties Correspondence Championship (Ward-Higgs Division 1) 2023-24 and 2024-25 (November update of October post).

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 December 20, 2024.

(minor updates may occur during each month)