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 1940-2000 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) *

The monthly articles on this web site for September 2025 was the third in the series “Whom the Gods Love…” and featured some interesting games by Henri Weenink. He was a strong Dutch player who gave the likes of the emerging and future World Champion Max Euwe some tough competition. Weenink was also a world-class chess problem composer with many competition first prizes to his name.

Weenink’s games often show an appealing and measured attacking style with a good eye for combinations in addition to displaying good end-game technique.

This month 5 brevities are presented featuring wins against some very strong players in under 25 moves (thus forming Brevities Number 19 in this series). Other Brevity games can be found in the various web site archives.

(Please note as has become customary for this web site, more than normal material is presented in the month around Christmas hence the site will not show a major update until February 20 2026).

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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 (December 20).

1. Kenilworth teams are currently leading both local leagues. In the Leamington and District Division 1 Kenilworth A lead with 13/14 followed by Warwick University on 11/16 and Kenilworth B on 10/14 and Banbury A on 8/16. After an emphatic win against Leamington A by the A team, Kenilworth C are now 1 point above the former team and have some good wins against other A teams.

In the Coventry and District League (Division 1) Kenilworth lead on 8/8 points followed by Warwick University A on 6/8, the same score as Coventry A but who have played an additional match.

More details on the above events and updates of league results can be found at kenilworthchess.blogspot.com

2. Ben Graff continues his well-chosen and interesting series of articles for the famous magazine CHESS. The latest features the enigmatic and highly controversial writer and player Aron Nimzowitsch and explores his impact on some modern-day top players.

This article, and Ben’s earlier articles, in paper or pdf format, can be obtained from chess.co.uk.

Local Players (December 20).

(a) Marek Soszynski has extended his high-quality opening books range with the publication earlier this year of one entitled “Smashing the Spanish Stunning the Scotch”.

He has also just published a book entitled “Carlsen goes Ape-A World Champin plays 1. b4”. An on-line database check today shows a bevy of top players dabbling in this opening. The book was sorely missed in nearly being subjected to a multi-sacrifice brilliancy in my most recent match game.

(b) Keith Escott Memorial Correspondence Event.

After a long delay the ICCF has completed organisation of a Correspondence Chess Event in Keith’s Memory and play, after proceeding briskly is close to finishing. This event has comprised no less than 17 titled players (LGM, IM or CCM).

With a small number of games left to complete the final positions and qualification for titles is becoming crystallised.

CCM Jones (with one game left), untitled Bowley, CCM Schirmer and CCM Rozanski, with these 3 players having completed all games, lead the table and have scored the 8.5 points necessary for an IM norm. A win for Jones in his last game would attain an SIM norm.

Currently lower in the table CCE Rosales has secured a CCM norm and with a win in the last game would achieve an IM norm, Similarly for CCM Hooker who required a final game win to achieve an IM norm.

Ladies GM Williamson has 5.5 points but no less than 4 games left so may well improve her position currently near the foot of the table, but IM Groot has only 5.5 points , with no games left to complete, so has not recovered from an early clerical error loss.

Knowing Keith for many years I’m certain he would have been pleased at the relatively high number of decisive games in this event and the fact a number of players have, or may achieved, title norms.

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.

Section A- CCM Campani wins with the excellent score of 10/14 including many wins and no losses. CCE Spanton finishes second on 9.5. There is one game left to complete in this event, but it does not affect the leading scores

Section B- Lopez is confirmed as winner with a score of 9.5/14 and Hall as runner-up. Verneulen has moved rapidly to third place on 8.5 points also having completed all games. Heidtmann is in fourth with 8 points having just defeated Quirk who if he had won both his last games could have finished second. However, Quirk on 7.5 points still has one game left to complete (against Illingworth on 6 points) hence could achieve 3^rd equal place with a win.

ICCF/EFCC (December/Novemeber 20)

(a) Professor M.Glickman has just had a peer reviewed paper published in the Journal of Data Science on the development of the ICCF Rating System. It is not known of the ECF will follow suit for their rating system.

(b) I was saddened to hear to news of the death of Andrew Dearnley at the age of only 61. Whilst I never played Andrew, he was always “about” in the world of correspondence chess both as a player and organiser and achieved his IM and SIM titles, as well as becoming an IA, over all the years I was active in this form of the game. A Memorial Event is scheduled to start in 2026.

Next main update due earlier than usual on or about February 20 2026.

(minor updates may occur during each month)