| May 2000 | Newsletter of the British Chess Federation | Online Edition |
 Sir Jeremy Hanley, chairman of Brain Games Network flanked by Garry Kasparov at the 5 April press conference photo John Saunders, BCM |
The $2 million prize fund is held in escrow and thus seems assured. The meaning of the word may understandably have escaped Viswanathan Anand and that may have been the reason he turned down the opportunity to play the match. The FIDE World Championship prize fund used also to be held by a third party, usually a recognised bank. This practice has fallen into disuse of late, with the result that promises have been made and then not fulfilled, or paid very late. Thus Vishy was all set for a match against Garry last year and then it fell apart.
Once the Indian turned down the invitation, it was extended to the next player on the list, the young Russian Kramnik. Many feel Alexey Shirov has prior claim as he won a qualifying match against Vladimir a couple of years ago. We seem to have returned to a situation where the champion could choose his own challenger, as in the days prior to 1948. Garry agrees Alexey had the right in 1998. However he says he turned down the opportunity to play in California, hoping to raise more substantial funds in Catalonia. When this failed, the whole challenge was aborted. Naturally the young Shirov offers counter-arguments.
There is little doubt, based on their past results, Kramnik poses the most dangerous threat to Kasparov. Garry's score against Shirov is 9-3, Anand 13-3 in standard play games and only even against the pretender. Yet Vladimir has lost all three of his previous major matches. Garry ranks his chances at about 6/4 in the forthcoming match. He is likely to prove to be shorter odds than this with the bookmakers. If we accept a rating difference of 85 as an average of those on page 3, then the spread for a single game would be 62/38.
Garry vacated his totally official title in 1993 when he and Nigel Short decided to go it alone. Since then the World Chess Championship has been in disarray. It seems unlikely this will be resolved until Garry has been toppled from his position at the top of the chess world. There can really now be no doubt he is the strongest and greatest player of all time. It is difficult to give credence to Alexander Khalifman as the 15th World Champion. The FIDE system of short matches is extremely democratic and fair, but unlikely necessarily to result in the cream rising to the top.
Still, it will be extremely exciting to see another great match in London. Brain Games Network is another organisation seeking to make money from the net. We applaud the initiative. Ray Keene has found support yet again for a major chess event in this country. There is no doubt he has raised more outside money here for chess than everybody else put together. One word of warning. The match is scheduled for 7 October to 5 November with play on alternate days. Apparently this is to fit in with Garry's preferences. If so it will overlap with the FIDE Chess Olympiads in Istanbul which have been long-scheduled for 27 October to 13 November. To many it will look like a deliberate and unnecessary spoiling action.
Sir Jeremy is past Chairman of the Conservative Party and about BCF 100 playing strength. Some years ago Garry gave a simul against parliament. Jeremy blundered after a few moves and should have lost the exchange. I looked at Garry, he looked at me and encouraged Jeremy to take back his last move. The game has appeared elsewhere without that particular annotation!
At the press conference we were told anybody will be able to qualify for the Candidates tournament in 2001 from the Internet. One player will join the top 25 rated players in a final big tournament. The rules of this were not made clear. Being so far off, few journalists were concerned.
The amount of over the board chess seems to be declining among mature players. Yet more and more children play. The reason may be the competition from play on.the net. When the details of this match are finalised, the BCF must grasp every opportunity to popularise the game.
 John Poole |
John was born in Wallasey, Cheshire in September 1920. He lived there and in Greece until 1929. He was educated privately at home until 1930 and then attended Slough Secondary School from 1932-1936. 1937-1939 he took a City and Guilds Course in Plastics at Borough Polytechnic in London. This is the field he remained in throughout his working life and from 1980 to now has been Chairman and Managing Director of Poole & Davidson (Plastics) Ltd.
John learnt to play chess at 11 and developed as a player at Slough. His highest grade was BCF 190 and is currently 131. No doubt his playing career suffered due to devoting so much time to chess administration and to his professional responsibilities. Even so, he has found time to be a member of Harrow, Erdington, Watford, Bourne End and Eastbourne Clubs at various times. He has played in the Middlesex, Warwickshire and Bucks County Championships. His best performance was probably at Southsea in 1952 when he scored 5½/10 to come equal 14th behind Tartakower, Rossolimo, O'Kelly etc. He won the Harrow Championship three times.
| Olympic Games Negotiations are currently taking place between the IOC, FIDE and Australian Chess Federation on chess to have some sort of presence at the Sydney Olympic Games. Chess has recently been recognised as a sport in France. |
I first met him when I was a teenager in 1955 and he captained Middlesex. I remember thinking of him as a young, genial man at a time when I believed everybody else over 25 was past it. 45 years on I see little reason to change that assessment of him. I think I played board 64 for the county that day. Matches against the other home counties were over 100 boards at that time. 'There was nothing to it really", John says, "you just sent out the invitations and people accepted and turned up." This quality of quiet competence is his outstanding characteristic according to people I have consulted such as Eric Croker, Bryan Fewell and Bob Wade.
By then John was deeply steeped in chess administration. He was involved with Middlesex, the SCCU and the BCF from the late 1940s. He has been President of all three of these organisations and thus been associated with the BCF almost continuously for over 50 years.
He was the person primarily responsible for restructuring the BCF in 1976/77. Prior to that it had consisted of endless committees. Ideas were bounced from one to the other until all momentum had been dispelled. The introduction of the Management Board and Directors left to pursue their field, changed all that. Now John is the fiercest critic of the very structure he introduced. I agree with him the Board is too large and first voiced that criticism in 1977. However, I don't think it much matters what structure is used. It is the individuals running it who count.
Nobody has undertaken as many different tasks for the Federation as John. He was a founder member of the Board representing the London League. He has since been Publicity Director, SCCU Representative, Home Chess Director and President. Home Chess was probably his spiritual home.
He has been editor of the BCF Year Book for the past six years and has finally announced his retirement from that post. Meanwhile he is still Chairman of the Policy Unit until September and they put in a great deal of work on proposals in 1999 for changing the membership system.
John's other interests include fell walking, gardening, cricket and tennis. He is a keen soccer fan, supporting Chelsea (well nobody is perfect). Of recent years he has become very interested in Bridge and plays four times a week. His ranking is that of Advanced Master.
It is hard to visualise our chess scene without John Poole's presence.
1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 Be7 5 e5 Nfd7 6 Bxe7 Qxe7 7 Bd3 a6 8 Nce2 c5 9 c3 Nc6 10 f4 (10 Nf3 looks sounder) 10...cxd4 11 cxd4 Nb4 (11...Nxd4 favours Black) 12 Bb1 Nb6 13 b3 Bd7 14 a3 Nc6 15 Nf3 0-0 16 Qd3 g6 (16...f5 may be more solid) 17 h4 Rac8 18 h5 Be8 19 hxg6 (This releases the tension, but no constructive plan is immediately obvious. Black will be playing f6 shortly anyway) 19...fxg6 20 Ng5 h5 21 g4 (One of White's most natural thrusts. Bc2, Qh3, Rh3 can all be considered) 21...Rxf4! (Not yet equalising, but Black's pieces now act harmoniously) 22 Nxf4 Qxg5
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23 Rxh5? (Elaine loses her way in a complex thicket. Barry Wood in the Illustrated London News recommended 23 Ne2 covering c1, but 23...Nxd4 is difficult; 23 Qe3 Nxd4 24 Bxg6 is best according to Fritz) 23...Qxf4 24 Ra2 Nxd4 25 Bc2 Nxc2+ 26 Rxc2 Rxc2 27 Qxc2 gxh5 28 gxh5 Qe4+ 0-1
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FIDE Rating and Professional Chess Ranking Lists - April 2000FIDE publish their full list on 1 January and 1 July, based on results to 30 November and 31 May. These stand as the official ratings for six months. However, they publish leading players' ratings updated each month. Ken Thompson has devised programs for the PCR which appears monthly. This was originally started when FIDE foolishly and unconstitutionally stripped Kasparov and Short of their ratings in 1993. The two systems are not identical. E.g. The PCR distinguishes between a game played with White as opposed to Black. FIDE simply assume each player will have 50% of each colour. Neither necessarily utilise all games played. FIDE because they may not have received them and PCR because I think they rely on games submitted for Chessbase.
The extra decimal places are presumably there simply to distinguish the ratings from the official six-month figures. It would be fatuous to suppose they have any statistical validity. England is the only country that uses only three figures. Statistically this is more valid, but I have long believed we should fall into step with the rest of the world. |
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Nick HawkinsOne of my last acts for the BCF was coaxing Nick into applying for the Marketing Directorship. He is in his 40s and graduated in Economics, taking his MA in Marketing. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at Liverpool Business School. He has written one marketing/business book and several research papers. He has been a consultant to a number of major organisations on marketing. He has just commenced a PhD concerned with marketing and chess. Nick is currently graded 157, but is probably more likely 170 strength, with a prospective FIDE Rating of 2100 this July. The BCF has long been aware it lacks expertise in marketing. Nick looks forward to developing all aspects, such as sponsorship; broadening the appeal of the game; further encouraging those already involved including members; charities; developing the Internet. |
Luke McShane's Second GM NormThis was secured in the Open Tournament in Iceland 5-13 April, organised as part of Reykjavik's celebrations as European City of Culture. Leading scores from 76 players demonstrate how immensely strong this tournament was. 1 Hannes Stefansson 7½/9, 2-8 Tony Miles, Nigel Short, Bu Yiangzhi (still waiting to be confirmed as the World's youngest ever GM), Korchnoi, Grischuk, Ehlvest, Wojtkiewicz 6½. 9-13 Stuart Conquest, Timman, I.Sokolov, Markowski 6. 16 year old Luke was among those on 5½. He started off extremely well in the tournament and 8 of his 9 opponents were GMs. He made his first norm in 1998, but has chosen to concentrate on schoolwork rather than chess. He still needs a third GM result to secure the title. Such results would almost certainly automatically propel his rating over the 2500 minimum required. |
Antiques RoadshowThey visited the home of Gerry Walsh to inspect the Cleveland Chess Association 'A' Division Trophy. Gerry is not only Chairman of the BCF, but also of that organisation. The trophy is a Staunton Ivory Chess Set in Red and White with a 4.25 inch (106mm) King. It was purchased in 1886 for £14/2/- (£14.10 in modern money). It should be a star of the show sometime in September or October. Within an hour of the inspection it was in the bank, having been valued at £18-20,000. Note by Gerry WalshI know Stewart Reuben agrees with the MB that more resources need to be put into the editorial content of ChessMoves and our web site. It makes a great deal of sense to combine these two functions. Thus the MB believes the new arrangements will improve our services to the Direct Members and be more attractive to sponsors and advertisers. Members will receive 5% off the published catalogue price of boards, sets and clocks from the BCM. |
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FIDE Policy BoardThis will meet in London 12-14 May at Simpson's in the Strand. |
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| Editorial by Stewart Reuben |
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I started editing ChessMoves in August 1999 with an editorial. Thus it seems appropriate to conclude in a similar fashion. Editing a magazine was a new and enjoyable experience for me. As I expected, one of the main problems was squeezing contributions out of other people. Disappointingly, few letters to the editor arrived. Even so, I cannot understand why Julian Hodgson told he had difficulty in finding enough material to fill the magazine. I asked whether you would like to receive the magazine by e-mail. There was a resounding virtually total silence. Some seemed to think O was postulating discontinuing the paper production. Nobody to whom I did send an issue of the magazine by e-mail asked me to continue to do so. As already reported British Chess Magazine has been awarded the contract to produce ChessMoves and to edit the BCF web site on behalf of the Federation. John Saunders will be editor-in-chief while continuing as editor of BCM. GM John Emms is to be editor of the magazine and webmaster. Syringa Turvey will become the assistant editor for both. She will be primarily responsible for county and club news. The new team took over 1 May 2000. The BCM have assembled an extremely strong team. John Saunders is one of the few people who has demonstrated he can maintain a web site indefinitely. He has already stamped his quiet authority on the BCM. John Emms is a highly respected writer on chess. A strong international player brings an irreplaceable perspective to our game. I, as immediate past Chairman of the BCF, cannot be perceived as being as independent of thought as either of the Johns or Syringa. Her background is that she has been an extremely efficient manager of County and 4NCL teams. I have mentioned before that coverage of our club and county chess is sadly lacking. I wish them well in their new venture. Three of the five most recent editors of the magazine have something in common. Paul Buswell, John Emms and I all share the same birthday, 14 March. Perhaps there is something in astrology after all. |
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