Hall Of Fame - Chess Profile... Dr M J Donnelly
Q When did you first pick up the chess pieces and become interested in the game of Chess? How old were you. Q Which club did you first attend and where was it? I learned what the pieces were and the basic moves of the game from my father at an uncertain date around the age of 13 or 14. Although I did not play the game until I got persuaded to attend Bede Hall GS classroom gatherings at lunch times by some friends which I did mostly to escape the NE winter cold in late 1965 (age 15). Mr Slee the math teacher later occasionally attended and revealed to me and my friends the wonders of castling and en passant and some tactics. He persuaded us to form a team and represent the school in the local league over the next 12 months or so although the level of play was remarkably low. Curiously though my best chess “teacher” was Mr Peacock, the Art teacher, who liberally littered the art room with hundreds of copies of The Sunday Times and London Illustrated News and other magazines. These had columns by C.H.O’D Alexander and B.H.Wood and I used to spend almost all of the art lessons playing over the games on a little board or solving chess problems. I still have the scrap book I made up of these cuttings. I was very impressed by some guy called Botvinnik and persuaded my Mum to buy a copy of his 100 best games for my 16th birthday and I studied this avidly over the next month or so when I learned from Mr Slee that Botvinnik was to visit Middlesbrough to give a simultaneous display. Rather naively I wrote to Ged Walsh, the organiser, asking if I could play in the simul. He said no initially but welcomed me along to St.Peters Chess Club (South Bank, Middlesbrough) and we played a practice game. After winning a few pawns I lost my queen to a double knight sacrifice. However I think Father Gilgallon dropped out of the players list (quite possibly deliberately) so I got to play Botvinnik and although I lost that too I did well enough to be asked to join the club and play in the club championship which I duly won with 5/5 despite the presence of a few county level players! Q Who encouraged you to take up the game and play at competitive level. Did you have any coaching? As the above indicates a large number of people helped my early chess days but I never had any formal coaching. My chess learning came, often the very hardest way, from playing quite often 2 or 3 times a week in the Teesside and Durham Leagues at both Junior and Adult level over the period 1965-1971 and between the ages of 15 and 21. Over this period I also played about 3 or 4 games per year by correspondence which later in life became my forte. In 1971 I left Teesside to go to University to study Chemistry only returning for a handful of games in 1972 and to play in the Teesside International Chess Festival at Thornaby in 1973. After that I lived in Cheshire and did not really play otb seriously or frequently again after leaving the Cleveland area although I did play some games in the late 70s and won the Cheshire and North Wales Championship in 1977 and in an occasional county match defeated Jeff Horner on top board. My otb chess has been limited to fairly infrequent club games over the last 30 years or so. Q Can you remember the very first competitive game you played? Where was it and who was your opponent; did you win. Yes indeed my first proper game was an away match against a Mr Melton of St. Marys (Middlesbrough) where I represented St.Peters on bottom board in March 1967. Around the same date my first correspondence game ended also with a win against G.Kidd in a BCF inter-county game I believe. Q What is the highest rating you have had in your chess career and when was that. Rating where always a bit iffy when I played otb a lot with games often not reported fully to the BCF but I can find several grades in the 190s in the years around 1971 in Chess, and at University an estimated one of 204 (due to lack of any games being included in 1972/73 lists). At the end of the 70s I had a NCCU grade of 210 and thereafter in club chess around 175-185 for many years. In correspondence chess earlier this year (2009) my rating peaked at 2492 and is currently 2489. Q How many times have you won the Cleveland Individual Championship-which years? I won the Teesside closed championship in 1969 at the age of 18 at the time the youngest ever winner-beating Tom Wise and Norman Stephenson in the first two rounds. In 1970 I won the open championship of Teesside. Less importantly, but also including the Teesside area were wins of the Durham County U-18 championship in both 1968 and 1969 and the Teesside School lightening championship with a silly score of something like 25/25. Q In chess what do you consider your best achievement. This is a difficult question to answer as I have played several forms competitively. For otb chess probably scoring 6.5/7 in winning the 1969 Teesside championship, runner up to John Littlewood in the 1971 NCCU Individual ch, and 15th equal with the then current British Champion (and just behind a large group of IMs) in the 1973 Thornaby International, plus 8th in the 1971 British U21 behind Miles, Nunn and Speelman I would consider, for different reasons, my best achievements. In chess problem composition, having a problem published in the Sunday Times at the age of 16, and being runner up in an International problem composition tournament of 1979. In correspondence chess, winning the NCCU championship with a clean score in 1981, and 3rd in the BFCC-40 International which included a field of 14 IMs or GMs. This was the first part of the qualification for the ICCF Senior International Master title which I latter obtained with two tournament performances of over 2550. Details on all past and current events can be found on my web site at http://chesspagesofmikedonnelly.co.uk . I have used several games by Cleveland players in the monthly article section and would welcome further contributions. Q Whom do you consider the strongest local players you have played, the one that gave you the most trouble. Again this is a difficult question. Looking at my score books I have a slight plus score against David and Tom Wise (+2, =3,-0 and +2, =3, -1 respectively) and against Richard Hall (+1, =1, -0; and latter in correspondence chess +2, =0,-0). Even scores against Norman Stephenson and Ron Thomas, over 10 and 4 games respectively. I lost each of one game I played against David and Brian Smith but my feat of never losing to Paul Bielby is still unfathomable. Overall I would consider Norman to have given my some very hard defeats and Ron’s games were always very deep and profound especially in the post-mortems. I believe both Norman and Ron could have become titled otb players with better opportunities. Q Have you played in the British Championship, which years and what was your best placing. In otb chess I have not played in the British-out of two attempts I reached the NE zonal stage and finished 5th after 3 former British Champions in 1971. In correspondence chess I have played in the finals once (1991) finishing 6th above some IMs and English Internationals which in turn earned me the right to play for England which I have done for about 20 years now and in team events have lost just one game over this period. Q If you had more time to pursue chess at a semi-professional level do you believe you could have achieved more. Most certainly but I think this applies to a lot of Cleveland players too. I always felt I never really had time for chess once going to University with a career in science, marriage, and children and so on. Q Of the world champions which is the one that had the biggest influence on your chess over the years. Most definitely Botvinnik as I liked his scientific approach to the game. Later I liked Capablanca and Alehkine. Initially I only had these best game books plus 3 opening books by Barden, Keene and Hartston but these were very good guides to get me to about 190 BCF! Still later I did have to get more books, being especially impressed by Petrosian, which would have been helpful when for instance Norman sprung the KIA on me and I didn’t have much idea what was going on and lost badly. Q Who do you think is the greatest player of all time in the world. This has to be Kasparov closely followed by Karpov but in the pre-computer era it should be Capablanca and Botvinnik. Q Do you believe Classical Chess has seen its best days and what do you think of chess the way it is played today at the top level. Has chess moved on from the 20th Century. Classical chess is clearly played at a much higher level these days helped I believe by better training method and use of computers in both training and in opening research. So yes chess has moved on from the 20th Century in deeper and more profound games being played more often. Computers have in recent years made correspondence chess much more difficult though and have I believe made defunct the triple checking system I developed to obtain the IM title. It is probable that I will not continue playing this form of chess for this reason as I’m only prepared to use a computer for database purposes and opening study. Q What was/is your main profession I have always been a scientist and have carried out research in a very wide range of areas. In recent years I have shifted more to management moving from being a principal scientist at Courtaulds Central Research (polymers/enzymes) and serving on The Royal Society of Chemistry Biotechnology Committee to being a Technical Manager at a Biotechnology company (woundcare, electrode and monitoring hydrogels). Q Do you have any other hobbies/sports Since the early 70s I have had an interest in all aspects Ancient Greek history and culture. Around the time I played a lot of otb I also did a great deal of rock climbing and pot-holing all over the UK. In recent years I have practiced the ancient Chinese martial art of Wing Tsun and am currently grade 9 and have just commenced training for a black belt equivalent. MJD 1-12-09
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