Well, after only 5 games, I am begrudgingly playing on for my county, then it stops… .
Yes, I probably will visit the Bangkok Chess Club in a fortnight but I won’t play much… .
No, I won’t enter the Bangkok Open in April… .
However, semi-retired is the future… .
Then we die… .
MJM
Posted in Life beyond the chess board, My own endeavours | Leave a Comment »
What sort of engine splutters? 1 full of rust! 8 months of no chess at all has been vanquished but even already I am taking my foot off the pedal. I played five games on-line with a 30 minute time control and won them all and have agreed to represent my county online in 2 games with a 3-day a move time limit. Alas I am regretting it already! And why’s that? Because its the sense of occasion that I cherish most of all, the social aspect of the game if you like, and of course, that is noticeably lacking with online chess. Is if that wasn’t enough, here’s a position from the 3rd win, just look at the obvious tactic I went and missed due to rustiness! (the title of the post is the Thai word for rustiness: ความ [kwam] state of mind/being, เป็น [pen] be สนิม [sanim] rust}.
Game 3 faux pax. Thinking I was winning, here I played 28. Kh1? What should I have played?
The best move is 28. Nxc5! winning material. Quite obvious really! That’s rustiness for you! Or is it me just being rubbish anyway?
Only a fortnight away…
Bangkok chess awaits once more, this time I intend to visit with Grace, my daughter, and will make videos that focus on the social aspects of chess rather than the play itself. I shall be there. You shall see. Videos to follow.
Mark. J. McCready, 03:50am, Wednesday February 7th
Al Fursan, Dammam, KSA
Posted in My own endeavours, My Own Games | Leave a Comment »
In truth, my life is nothing more than an ensemble of addictions the longest, least pernicious, and most identity-conferring being chess! And so 7 months of no chess whatsoever is to come to an end and shall not become 8. I research chess, watch chess, chat about chess, and read chess, there is no escaping it all. Somehow, it seems somewhat unfitting to stop playing, so I will stop ‘stop playing’ and shall play on instead. It was the thought of playing 30 minute online games that did it. I’m up for that but not bullet, lightening or blitz -30 minutes no less. Then it followed that I do miss playing chess…then came the realization that I miss my chess playing friends…then the conviction that I should play in a tournament this year formed as well… .
The first game of the return to the fold: https://www.chess.com/game/live/100301551075
Some addictions are more insidious than others…R. I. P Layne Stayley -a sorely missed singer!
Mark. J. McCready
Posted in My Own Games, Personal Interest & Experience | Leave a Comment »
Leighton Buzzard – Nov 1988 Snow & Heavy Metal music (Iron Maiden)
Letchworth - Feb 1989 Set off in wrong direction & Nose bleeds
Islington - May 1989 Sunshine & Heavy Metal music (Acid Reign)
Hitchin - 1989 – 1991 6 times & no great games
St. Albans - April 1992 Unable to wake up & bad chess
Portsmouth - Feb 1993 Solid chess & fond memories
Nottingham – April 1995 No real interest in the tournament
Those are the places and dates I played tournaments in. Nothing to write home about.
MJM
Posted in My own endeavours, Personal Interest & Experience | Leave a Comment »
In the early to mid-90’s I achieved the following at my club:
So what is it I am not saying?
Oops!
Mark. J. McCready
Posted in My own endeavours | Leave a Comment »
Back in the 90s the word on the street across Bedfordshire was that Luton’s most handsome chess player was myself and that Luton’s best player was Andrew Perkins. This is probably true (though unconfirmed). However, I can confirm Mr. Perkins appears in the 1973 BCF rating list, which at the very least shows how strong he was in his youth:
This tells us there were 21 players rated 187 in 1973.
I believe this tells us his previous rating was 180.
Should you wish to take a closer look yourself, here’s the link: https://www.saund.co.uk/pdf.js/web/viewer.html?file=../../britbase/pdfs/1973gradinglist.pdf
MJM
Posted in History of Bedfordshire Chess from 1960-1980 | 1 Comment »
According to the 1979 BCF rating list, the 3 highest rated players in Bedfordshire were as follows:
Please click on the following for proof: https://www.saund.co.uk/pdf.js/web/viewer.html?file=../../britbase/pdfs/1979-bcf-grading-list.pdf
And who was topping the music charts with the best song that year?
Mark. J. McCready
Posted in History of Bedfordshire Chess from 1960-1980 | Leave a Comment »
It’s taken years to find this. Finally here it is. Viz at its finest. Enjoy.
Posted in Viz inspired material | Leave a Comment »
More than a few players who have emerged from the Bedfordshire Chess League have gone onto bigger and better things, GM James Plaskett being the most obvious example. That’s not exactly breaking news. But what about those who remained registered as a Bedfordshire based player and also achieved greatness in the modern era? Has anyone done anything of note against the very best? Oh yes indeedy.
So let’s take it from the top then. In terms of results, there is one that stands above all others. GM Michael Adams is considered to be the strongest player England has ever produced, usually because he’s won the British Championships more than anyone else (8 times), achieved a higher rating than anyone else (ELO 2761), was number 4 in the world for quite some time, and in 2004 reached the final of the FIDE World Championships, narrowly losing to Uzbek Rustam Kasimdhanov. What results do our players have against him? Has England’s very best ever lost to anyone in our league?
One GM Plaskett did beat him in a rapid in Leeds, 1986 but James wasn’t registered in our league then and had long since left it.
Two IM Andrew Ledger, whilst playing for Bedford, very nearly did in Hitchin 1990 round 2. I watched that game unfold closely. Andy was a piece up but fell into time trouble and looked visibly stressed from it to put it mildly. Sadly for us, he fell for a very clever back rank mate and lost the game.
Three FM Gary Kenworthy did beat him in a quick play in Spalding (location may be incorrect) 92. His comments on that game -courtesy of our online chat- are as follows: ‘…the won the world blitz title the month before -current BCM cover-I used the BCM to rest my scoresheet for recording the game -the title “mega bucks Mickey” he was 263 BCF, I was 213 BCF, so a rating more than 40 point difference – hence I only got +90 i. e. 303 BCF points not 313 BCF, next round – final round, I played GM J D M Nunn who was upfloated to me…he was in the world’s top 20’. Gary was participating in our league at the time for Milton Keynes, and so in terms of achievements for someone registered in our league, I don’t believe this can be beaten. I am sorry to inform you that at the time of writing Gary is unable to locate the game score. Should that change and it falls into my hands, I shall post it here.
MJM
Posted in History of Bedfordshire Chess from 1960-1980, History of Bedfordshire Chess from 1980-2000 | Leave a Comment »
Let’s go back to when chess exploded in Bedfordshire as it did across the rest of our beloved nation. Who were our top three players that decade? And just how good were they then?
In @ number 1 IM Sergio Mariotti (Vauxhall Luton)
According to Bedfordshire’s Paul Habershon, Sergio played in our Division 2 in the 1970-71 season. His brother Paolo also played in our league whilst he worked as an engineer in Dunstable. Sergio was a strong IM whilst he played in our league and became the first titled player to grace us with his presence. His tournament performances whilst in England can be found on Britbase here 1 showing he was rated ELO2520/240BCF that year. However, it should be pointed out that in the 1970/71 Grading List he is rated as 230, and ranked 3rd in the country.
In 1974 he went on to become Italy’s first GM, one year later in Milan he held world champion Karpov to a draw most impressively.2
I sent him an email some time back asking him what he remembered about his time in Bedfordshire. Sergio informed me that he was no longer able to remember anything about his life before his heart operation. None of his games in our league have survived.
In @ number 2 James Plaskett (B.M.S)
James Plaskett was a pupil at Bedford Modern School and showed very serious talent there. So much so that when he entered the British Championship in Ayr 78 he went and finished 2nd! He drew with the winner Jonathan Speelman and even beat former British champion Jonathan Mestel along the way 3. This is the first instance of a player based in Bedfordshire at the time defeating a former British champion. By the end of the 70s James was still untitled but winning tournaments often and ranked 14th in the country. Here 4 he is rated at ELO 2410 and retained a presence in Bedfordshire still, entering local tournaments and performing simuls according to Tom Sweby.
James left our county around the end of the decade and went onto bigger and better things. In 1981 he became an IM, then in 1985 a GM. James went on to become British Champion in 1990, becoming the only player ever to emerge from our county to do so. He played amongst the very best in the world throughout the 80s and informed me that he has plus scores against the following GMs: Plus 6 Vs Wells, Plus 2 Vs Short, Plus 2 Vs Anand, Plus 1 Vs Vaganian, Plus 1 Vs Larsen, Plus 1 Vs Kamsky, Plus 1 Vs Ivkov, Plus 1 vs Sax. A most impressive win against Anand can be found here 5
In @ number 3 Michael MacDonald-Ross (Bletchley/Milton Keynes)
I asked GM Plaskett who was the strongest player he came up against in the Beds league and he informed me it was Michael MacDonald-Ross, who for the most part played for Milton Keynes (as I remember). Obtaining information on Michael has been more difficult than I anticipated, however, he can be found participating in tournaments such as the Lloyds Bank Masters in the late 70s, which show him as rated ELO 2265 6. In his youth he encountered Luton’s hotshot from the 50’s Dennis Victor Mardle at the 1965 British Championship, the result being a draw 7. Some eleven years later Michael defeated Rising star Murray Chandler at the British 8. Formidable yes and agreed upon as one of the very strongest in our league that decade by many who faced him.
So there you have it, comparative strengths in the 70s discussed. I put quite a bit more into that than it may appear and had to consult several prominent figures within our county to get answers, so I think I got it spot on. Many thanks to Paul Habershon and GM James Plaskett for their assistance.
MJM
Posted in History of Bedfordshire Chess from 1960-1980, History of Bedfordshire Chess from 1980-2000 | Leave a Comment »
A side note on how to read old Tom Sweby's columns
Not perhaps, but quintessentially, Old Tom Sweby is best thought of as a passionate devotee to the newspapers he wrote for. He was well read and knowledgeable of the Bedfordshire chess scene and well beyond, given that he was the president of the S.C.C.U. once upon a time. He was generally well-respected and rubbed shoulders with many, if not all, of those eminent within British chess circles. It would, however, be a critical mistake to see his column is primary source material entirely. That it is not. You will also find secondary source material quoted too, and the reliability of that is not quite as Tom hoped. Given that he wrote for decades, this is to some degree inevitable, and after all we are all prone to error whether we realize it or not. Thankfully, with regards to old Tom Sweby, they are infrequent and for the most part old Tom continued to document events and developments in the Bedfordshire league from the get go as best he could but, of course, everything lies open to interpretation. Despite this, and generally speaking. this does indeed make him informative and thus worth reading. Dare I say his columns constitute a narrative describing the latest developments, match reports and changing nature of the Beds league...he knew his audience and wrote according. This manifested itself over decades but brevity was always in play courtesy of the restictions imposed by writing a column. Should you wish to read a in instrumental figure of the Beds' league post WW2, you are quite welcome to peruse what has been posted here... . :-) I should, however, point out that as the decades wore on he gradually moved on away from narratives concerning the Bedfordshire league towards affairs both historical and international. The reasons for this are multifarous, old age was a predominante factor presumably, however, the bottom line is with regards to how the Bedfordshire chess scene developed post WW2: old Tom Sweby is your go to guy. He wrote more about chess in Bedforshire than anyone else did but given he was a Lutonian and writing for a Luton newspaper there is both bias and greater coverage of his hometown than the rest of the county.
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