| January 2001 | Newsletter of the British Chess Federation | Online Edition |
 Stuart Conquest – joint winner at Hastings (photo by John Saunders) |
Matthew Turner drew quickly in the final round with Jonathan Speelman to score 5½/9, thereby achieving his second Grandmaster norm. Turner, now of Countdown fame (see page 3), lost a game in round 2 to Ftacnik, but responded excellently, winning his next three games against Beshukov, Klaus Bischoff and Lev Aronian, although he had to ride his luck a bit in his game with Beshukov.
Danny Gormally performed well to score 50% in his first visit to the Premier, but I imagine top seed Jon Speelman will be disappointed with this same score. Jim Plaskett, along with Beshukov, propped up the rest of the table, but he can take comfort from the fact that once again he played by far the most exciting chess, entertaining the spectators in the Commentary Room with his uncompromising style and time-trouble mêlées.
The invited Chinese player Zhang Zhong did not appear for the first round of the Premier. Stewart Reuben received a telephone call on Boxing Day from the Chinese Chess Federation, who told him that Zhang had been unable to obtain a British visa. His place was taken by Bischoff, who had been the highest rated player in the Challengers section.
This year's event was staged at the brand-new and prestigious Horntye Park Leisure Centre, which was an excellent venue. The lighting was good and the generous space meant that for the first time in a long while, the Challengers Section could be held in the same place as the Premier. The final result in the Challengers produced a four-way tie for first place: Mark Hebden and Nicholas Pert of England, Alexei Barsov of Uzbekistan and Petr Kiriakov of Russia all scored 7/9.
Terence Chapman gold award holder Pert, 19, who is from Ipswich and reads maths and statistics at Warwick University, scored his third and final GM norm. He now requires a 2500+ rating to receive the title.
Other junior successes: Craig Hanley, 16, from RGS Lancaster School, achieved his first IM norm with 6/9. Ameet Ghasi, 13, from King Edward's School, Edgbaston, scored a 6/9 2400+ result in his first international tournament. Jonathan Lappage, 13, from Magdalen College School, Oxford, scored 5½/9, drawing with two IMs, for a 2360 result. One notable performance by a non-junior: Mike Waddington, 34, from Wimborne, unrated but with a BCF grade of 174 (equivalent to 1992) scored a remarkable 6/9 for a rating performance of 2353. He scored 2/3 versus the Ledger brothers and beat IMs Marusenko and Ganbold.
With the help of Leonard Barden and Stewart Reuben
 Countdown Champion Matthew Turner |
Since Jim Plaskett's well-documented November 1999 appearance on ITV's hugely popular Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, it seems that more and more chess players have caught this quiz bug.
Plaskett's first appearance on the show was shrouded in controversy after he claimed that one of his buttons wasn't working when he attempted to answer the question. Earlier this year he qualified for his second showing, which was also unsuccessful after he failed to answer questions on football World Cups and weddings in Coronation Street.
Undeterred, Plaskett then teamed up with fellow Grandmaster Luke McShane to appear in Channel 4's late night offering Trust Me, a quiz show hosted by "nasty" Nick Bateman, of Big Brother fame. Plaskett and McShane were paired up against another team of two (unbeknown to them, they were professional poker players) in a money-orientated strategy game. Without knowing the consequences both teams were given two choices; to "take" or to "split". Two splits would have meant the teams sharing the money, while one take and one split would have meant all the money going to the takers. Unfortunately both teams chose to take, which left both with nothing!
Club and tournament player C J De Mooi has appeared in quite a few quiz shows, such as BBC's Pass the Buck. He has certainly been more successful, winning over £1000 in BBC2's The Weakest Link, hosted by tough quizmistress Anne Robinson. A further victory in Channel 5's late night quiz 100% Sex netted him a DVD Player (sorry, I can't divulge my sources - ed).
However, Chess's most successful quiz player last year must be International Master Matthew Turner, who won numerous shows on Channel 4's immensely popular Countdown. While being the reigning champion, Turner scored enough points to qualify for the final stages of the series. He then won both the quarter-final and the semi-final (against the top seed) before losing narrowly in an extra-long final, which was televised on Christmas Day.
Putting grumbles aside and moving swiftly onto the chess, round 3 saw many battles between the top guns and the unfancied teams, and in general it has to be said that the "rabbit bashing" continued, with no major surprises to speak of. Title favourites IndexIT dropped a mere half-point against the South Wales Dragons, whose only score came from Peter Richmond's perpetual check against Michael Hennigan. Slough and Guildford-ADC were almost as ruthless against Barbican II and IndexIT II respectively, while Barbican hammered poor Poisoned Pawns, whose only scrap of comfort came when Monica Vann scored an unlikely draw against an international player several hundred rating points higher than her. On paper Wood Green against Midland Monarchs was always going to be a closer encounter, especially as the London team were missing their top two boards Jonathan Speelman and Alex Baburin. Nevertheless, Wood Green maintained their "solid" reputation with a performance of five draws and three wins. The newly-named Thistle Birmingham White Rose beefed up their team with the arrival of Keith Arkell and Harriet Hunt, who both won in a 5½-2½ victory over Richmond. One of Richmond's wins in this match came from 12-year-old Murugan Thiruchelvam, who went on to experience a successful 2/2 debut weekend.
Onto round 4, and with this some far more even contests. Undoubtedly the tie of the round was an unofficial title-decider between Slough and IndexIT. A hard fought and fluctuating contest produced only three decisive results, but plenty of dramatic moments. Neil McDonald scored an important victory for IndexIT when he calmly diffused a sacrificial attack from Peter Wells. Results on the top three boards, however, could have so easily have been totally different. On top board IndexIT's John Nunn offered a draw in mutual time-trouble to Slough's import Igor Khenkin, who accepted. Later it was found that despite being a piece down in the final position, the English Grandmaster probably had a winning position. Index's narrow victory in the match could have been increased had Ian Rogers followed up a delightful rook offer, which should have led to a win rather than a draw. In the end these two missed opportunities didn't affect the overall result, but they would have come back to haunt IndexIT were it not for their lucky escape on board three, where Michael Hennigan somehow fluked a win from a lost position against Slough's Tony Kosten.
The other clash of the heavyweights in the fourth round produced another tight match between Guildford-ADC and Barbican I. It seems that tension was the ruler here, with five of the six draws being agreed in twenty-five moves and under. Finally both sides had to be content with a 4-4 draw, one win apiece from well played games by Guildford's Jim Plaskett and Barbican's Simon Knott.
Wood Green kept it "tight at the back" again, repeating their three wins, five draws performance from the previous round; on this occasion White Rose were their victims. The rest of the matches could easily be described as relegation dogfights. Midland Monarchs and IndexIT II scored important 4½-3½ victories over Richmond and South Wales Dragons respectively, pushing themselves into the relative comfort of mid-table and their opponents into deeper trouble. Round 4 also saw the first match points scored by a promoted team; it had to happen - two of them were playing against each other! On this occasion Barbican II got off the ground at the expense of Poisoned Pawns.
Hennigan-Kosten in Java Window
Ftacnik-I.Rogers in Java Window
It is with the greatest sadness that ChessMoves reports the death of Peter Nathan Hughes at the age of just 24. Peter was a hugely talented chess player who was British U-16 Champion in 1991. His chess reflected his life with wild games resulting in crushing victories and equally devastating defeats. At one stage he was graded over 200. He could have easily developed into one of Britain's leading players, but he pursued other interests and was a very accomplished pianist and violinist. Towards the end of his life he focused on writing. Throughout his life, he drew great solace from his chess which allowed him to demonstrate his creativity and alleviate some of the internal conflict in his life.
Friends of Peter will be shocked if not entirely surprised by his untimely death. It is only to be hoped that he finds the peace in death that he strove for in life.
On the day after Peter's death his first book was published. It is full of wry and pithy observations on life and is available at www.authorsonline.co.uk
Matthew Turner
The Olympiad took place in a prestigious conference centre in the New Town area of Istanbul with delegations accommodated in hotels nearby. Ours was the Savoy Hotel, which was good although not quite as elegant as its name implies. Its meals were of variable quality and vegetarianism proved a tricky concept, chicken being described as "not meat". I shall not forget the main course of mashed potato…and nothing else!
 Jon Speelman, England's highest rated vegetarian, was reduced to eating a main course of mashed potato (photo by Christine Higgins) |
Unfortunately, the hotel was situated on the very noisy main square and players at the front of the hotel suffered from lack of sleep. It was also next to a red light district and close to Galatasaray's football ground. A little common sense was necessary. Safety was clearly on someone's mind, as a large police presence in the square and near the playing venue was evident on several days.
I enjoyed getting to know the England players better. Some I had not met before and they were kind and welcoming. Conversations at mealtimes were interesting, covering a huge range of subjects. Naturally, chess dominated everyone's thoughts, both the Olympiad and the World Championship in London. Much of my time was spent with the women's team, where I discovered that I could fulfil a useful supporting role. This is an intense and exhausting event for players and captains alike, and everyone worked hard towards creating a good team spirit. The women's team was perhaps more successful, but it was also smaller and its need for coaching gave it a different ethos.
We all felt for Tony Miles when he had to return home after the death of his mother. The men's team took a further blow when Julian Hodgson was laid low with food poisoning for several days. The progress of the two teams throughout the event had several exciting ups and downs and the final results were very respectable. Indeed the women's team finished above its seeding.
Two and a half weeks of glorious sunshine in Istanbul, with temperatures at least 15 degrees above normal were a bonus. A surreal experience was sitting in the café next to the Olympiad playing hall with people from all over the world rushing up to me to ask about the weather in England. Naturally, with reports of flooding, the entire English delegation had been phoning home in the best ET manner to check on friends and family. We managed to visit some of the tourist attractions, and the Grand Bazaar was very popular. Bartering was expected and the bazaar was especially good for jewellery, china and leather. My main memories of Istanbul are of the bright November sunshine, the sound of the Muslim call to prayer broadcast from towers five times a day, the chaos and danger of the traffic, and the hustle and bustle of people everywhere.
I learned a fair bit about women's chess elsewhere and was saddened and encouraged to find that we in England are envied for the quality of our female players of all ages. Given the numbers involved, this did not sound too good for women and girls outside Eastern Europe and China. However, it is noticeable that the strength of female players of all ages at world level is improving. During my stay, I was able to attend the meeting of the FIDE Committee on Women's Chess as an observer. While useful, it too left me with mixed feelings. The committee clearly felt that the importance of women and girls, their potential and their needs are underestimated. Watching the games in the playing hall showed me that cultural and religious differences in the treatment of men and women cannot be overlooked. It was necessary for some countries that all the women's teams were roped off in one section of the hall. Apparently in previous years, they have played in separate rooms. Three teams wore robes and veils, although not yashmaks, and it was hard to tell individual team members apart. The women from the United Arab Emirates were reluctant to speak to me when I was chatting with any of the men from England. If they were strong enough players, would they be allowed to play in their "men's" teams as Judit Polgar and Pia Cramling did?
The social highlight of the Olympiad was the Bermuda Party. The Bermudan delegation is famous for the parties it has thrown over the years and I can certainly vouch for this one. We danced the night away in the Hilton Hotel and were glad of the rest day afterwards to recover. The event was nearing its end. It had been well organised and the administration had been efficient and friendly. Istanbul had proved a good place for an Olympiad. Now, looking back, I see Jovanka and Heather giggling over computer games, Susan gleeful after finding a toy for her son, and Harriet very pleased with a plate bought in the Grand Bazaar. I also see Jon Speelman dancing, John Emms analysing a game, and Peter Wells and Nigel Short laughing and joking. It still seems slightly unbelievable that I was able to share this event with all of them.
Susan Richards
BCF Director of Women's Chess
FIDE's Anti Doping RegimeThe Olympic Movement Anti-Doping Code was incorporated into the FIDE Statutes effective as from 1 January 2001. The following decisions were made by FIDE in accordance with the Code:1 There will be no testing for alcohol or canninaboids as these do not improve performance (i.e. they are ergolytic). 2 There will be no blood samples taken. 3 There will be no out of competition testing. 4 Any drugs taken for medical reasons can be pre-declared (with Doctor's certification) and are then excluded from any breach of the Code. At the present time the code applies only to all FIDE organised events, i.e. World Championships, Olympiads etc. It binds Federations and they will have to produce their own policies inside their jurisdictions. FIDE have exempted under-16 events but under 16s playing in higher age group events are not exempt. Competitors in FIDE events will be obliged to sign a consent form before competing. The main reason for the anti-doping regime is IOC Recognition. Chess was included as a demonstration in the Olympic Village in Sydney 2000 and it has been accepted into the Asian Games. The President of FIDE is confident it will be accepted into the Olympic Winter Games. England International Dr Jana Bellin serves on the FIDE Medical Commission and made a major contribution to the policy decisions referred to above. She has agreed to act as the BCF Medical Adviser and to advise competitors on the difficult issue of over-the-counter medication. Gerry Walsh BCF FIDE Delegate |
British Universities Chess TournamentGirton College, Cambridge November 11th 2000. Eight teams played from five Universities - others were expected (Birmingham, Bristol, Southampton) but encountered problems with transport and clashes with other events. The University of the Middle East (in Turkey) expressed their desire to play but sadly this was quenched by the high costs involved! The tournament itself was an all-play all and was won convincingly by the hosts, despite the absence of Harriet Hunt who was playing in the Olympiad. Cambridge II were denied second place only in the last round, when Oxford recorded a large win to take the runners-up spot. 'Countdown' star Matthew Turner guested on top board for Cambridge III and amid a strong field won all his games and the individual board one prize. There were also 100% scores for Jack Rudd and Rohan Churm on boards three and five respectively. Team Scores: 1 Cambridge I, 36/42 (Dearing, Mah, Rudd, Vigus, Churm, Jackson); 2. Oxford I, 25½ (Savage, Rosten, Buckley, Smallbone, Small, Hickman); 3-4 Imperial College London (Menon, Taylor, Wing, Gunlyke, Strausser, Smith), Cambridge II (Conlon, Hodge, Garner, Walkingshaw, Sharp, Bosworth) 24½; 5 Warwick 21; 6-7 Durham, Cambridge III 13; 8. Oxford II 10½. Board Prizes: 1: Turner (Cam III) 7/7; Bates (Warwick) 5½. 2: Taylor (Imperial) and Hodge (Cam II) 6/7. 3: Rudd (Cam I) 7/7; Garner (Cam II) 5. 4: Vigus (Cam I) 6/7; Smallbone (Oxf I) 5. 5: Churm (Cam I) 7/7; Small (Oxf I) and Strausser (Imperial) 5. 6: Hickman (Oxf I) 6/7; Jackson (Cam I) 5. Nathan Alfred President, |
|
BCF Advice to Players1. The FIDE Anti-Doping Regime is due to come into force in 2001. In the initial period this will be restricted to events run by FIDE. 2. All prescription medication you take has to be declared BEFORE the start of the tournament with a written certificate from your doctor. This concerns in particular beta-blockers and anti-asthma medication i.e. salbutamol and steroids. Anything so declared will not be a problem if revealed by a positive test. 3. Use only medicines that you purchased yourself. In case of serious infection needing antibiotics, consult the tournament doctor. 4. Do not buy any proprietary medicines over the counter, other than mentioned below, (especially avoid proprietary cough mixtures, most of which contain ephedrine-type substances) and do not accept any medicines from friends or "well-wishers". 5. Caffeine: Up to 4 normal size cups of whatever type of coffee irrespective of your body size is definitely OK over a 6 hour period. Caution! If you mix coffee with cola-type drinks (which include caffeine) reduce coffee to 2 cups over the same period. 6. Specific over-the-counter medications (best purchased in UK before departure) recommended for minor ailments, subject to personal compatibility i.e. allergies etc: Painkillers (anti-inflammatory, antipyretics): Aspirin, Paracetamol or Neurofen For cough: Co-codamol (which is a mixture of Paracetamol and Codeine) tablets ( 2 tablets maximum, up to 4 times daily). These must not however be taken at the same time as Painkillers in view of the danger of Paracetamol poisoning. If this is not available take lemon and honey drinks. (warning: see paragraph 4 above as to proprietary cough mixtures) For diarrhoea: Loperamide 2mg tablets (maximum 6 per day) together with plenty of clear fluids (i.e. non-milky) and water biscuits. N.B. Alcohol should be limited to a minimum with all medication. Jana Bellin MD; FRCA |
The 4th Whitstable Rapidplay2 December 2000
For this special year, it was decided that the Fourth Whitstable Rapidplay should be the centrepiece of a one-day festival of chess. Thus, the Oyster Rapidplay for Women and Girls, incorporating the Kent Ladies' Championships, was run alongside it. A joint venture between the Kent Junior Chess Association and the British Women's Chess Association, with support from the BCF towards coaching for the competitors and from three other donors towards the prizes, this all-female tournament was an experiment for one year. It proved enjoyable for the twenty or so competitors who have asked for it to be run again. In the evening after the prizegiving, GM Neil McDonald, who had coached all day, gave a simultaneous display against 11 opponents, winning 10 and drawing with eighteen-year-old Andrew Bigg. The four sections of the Whitstable Rapidplay were hard fought in the friendly and comfortable atmosphere of the Learning Resources Centre of the Community College-Whitstable. No less than two grandmasters and five international masters contested the Open, won by Danny Gormally and in which juniors Heather Richards and David Howell were equal fifth. There were 75 players in total from several southern counties, including Somerset. Once again, the prizes were presented by the sponsor, Mark Watts, MEP for UK South East, who has supported this event since its inception. Thanks should also go to the Whitstable Improvement Trust and to Mind Sports Limited (who also provided the bookstall) for their support. The day ran remarkably smoothly, thanks to the efforts of a stalwart team, not least Bob Wade, who was a thoughtful and efficient arbiter, and Lilian Gosden who ran the refreshments. Plans are already afoot for next year so I hope to see you there. Susan Richards, |
 |
