J. M. Craddock was British Boys (U-18) champion 1929-1931. I take particular interest in his games because for a while in the 50’s he lived in Dunstable and played for Bedfordshire. Here he dismantles British champion Mir Sultan Khan, who brought it on all himself in my opinion. The move below played by him is either extremely brave or downright foolhardy, one of the two -not a move I would dare play. Castling long, looks natural on one level as black has king safety issues, but that said, Khan is subject to an attack which he has no answer for, making castling long look premature perhaps?
Given white has prised open black’s king almost, it seems like a good move in principle but is either premature or just unprepared I think. Why? White never gets an attack going himself and struggles to hold on before capitulating in a horrendous position.
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1956229
It’s often been said that amateur players have a tendency to castle mechanically but Mir Sultan Khan was hardly that, having beaten Capablanca in fine style a few years previously. Perhaps he took Craddock all too easily, switched off for a moment then paid the price for doing so? Understandable if so but not quite what you would expect from the reigning British champion.
MJM
McCreadyandChess 
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