In these wee hours, I rediscovered a game I have not looked at in 15 years or more, and so remembered little of. It surivived in the memory banks as little more than ‘GM Miles playing a strange game with the Dutch Defence in it against someone but who?‘ In reading -possibly re-reading- his autobiography ‘It’s only me’, it has been rediscovered -and yes it is highly unusual!
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1266657
M J M
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Ever wondered how GM Kasparov plays these days and how strong he still is? Watch this and decide for yourself.
Can we agree he’s still got it?
M J M
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It is undeniably true that my love of chess has shaped both my experience and understanding of England more so than anything else. A corollory of that pertains to how it crossed over into other passions which took me further afield too. Some of those at my local club (Luton) have become life-long friends. Unsurprisingly, then, we did things together other than play chess. We also went to football matches to watch Luton play, with A-Team player Damon D Cruz behind the wheel as always. This happened at matches away from home four times, the second of which I would like to focus upon.
In Reflections 6, I chronicled for how Matthew Payne, Damon D’ Cruz and I went to watch the FIDE candidates semi-finals at the Saddler’s Wells Theatre in Islington, London in Autumn 1989. Same old season but fast forward 15 years, and all three of us went down to Southend-on-Sea to watch The Hatters play in the F. A. Cup first round. United by a love of chess and football, we cheered on our home team, the day being one not forgotten.
That Autumn I was commuting to Cambridge daily and can only assume I must have dropped a day’s pay and requested that Friday off. It was a televised, evening match, Damon and I left Luton not long after midday, the drive itself not worth mentioning. I recall we arrived easily enough and went for mid-afternoon drinks at some unglamorous boozer on the sea front. I always remember sitting outdoors with a black leather jacket on and eating bags of roasted peanuts which I washed down with whichever lager I was drinking. The sky was as grey and deadening as Southend itself…nothing more than a cheap seaside town with little to offer I thought. Conversation was mostly chitter-chatter about nothing in general, most probably something was said about my upcoming trip to Thailand at some point, how often chess cropped up I cannot recall. Darkness fell with drizzle around five, the evening sky soon miserable. Off we trundled to collect Matt at the train station…say sixish? In being early, that did not stop us having a few more jars at that small pub just inside the station -accompanied by even more bags of dry roasted peanuts of course. In finding chess fan numero tres, a short stroll in dismal weather to Roots Hall was had, the fever and noise ricocheting through the streets we walked as one.
I liked it how we hung out as chess friends, but chess was not on the agenda -we were there for the footy. The game was great as Luton won convincingly (see below for highlights). There is, however, one memory that stands out so much more than any other, even as I type these words, it’s hard not to smile or laugh. As anyone can tell you, when football fans go to away matches in their hundreds or thousands, a lot of drinking gets done, especially when it involves a well-supported club from a rough, working-class town like mine -that match was no exception. I must have had at least 5 pints myself before the game, probably more, but enter the guy in the navy fisherman’s jacket in the row in front of us -it’s hard not to laugh even after all these years! With his head of unkempt grey hair, he looked late 50s, early 60s maybe. He had a flushed red face, that of an alcoholic and an enormously buldging stomach to put it mildly. How many pints he had before the game I didn’t know but would find out in the break. He was one row down and off to my left slightly. To his right were two office type looking guys, both went off to get coffees during half-time. The old guy, who I shall never forget, then couldn’t control himself anymore and started spraying out vomit left, right and centre. Not little amounts but high powered sprays, short bursts lasting a second or two. He couldn’t stop himself, how many times it happened I could not count. When the office type looking guys returned to their seats, chatting away looking all happy holding their paper cups of coffee -the sudden look of sheer horror on their faces was absolutely priceless! Their seats were by now caked in puke, and I do mean caked -that is not an exaggeration. Not just their seats but the floor around them and other seats too. There were stunned and looked for a culprit instantly, perhaps in fear of perpetual puke! Straight away they clapped eyes on the the guy sitting next to them, who had stopped spraying it about by then, and who couldn’t have looked more like an alcy if he had tried. But the instance they clapped eyes on him, he looked away all innocent and up to the sky too -it was hard not to take amusement in it. They had no choice but to stand for the whole of the second half, glancing around suspiciously for other potential culprits, visibly less happy than they were before the half-time whistle. The old bloke next to them continued to spray vomit but far less often and was much more discreet about it. At one point Matt and I looked at each other, smiling away -you couldn’t not! Talk about taking the biscuit!
The atmosphere was jubilant, the weather awful but bearable, Luton were victorious, we didn’t get puked on! Round two it was, we were all singing away together, most of us pissed up. I liked how our working class roots combined with our more middle-class lives and interests, and how a great night was had, full of friendship and action on the pitch – it was a great combination that we played.
This account of that day, Friday November 12th 2004, is written because it exemplifies how chess not only broadened by understanding and experience of my culture in chess events but also non-chess events with chess players I knew well, had stayed friends with for decades by then and would for decades more. Chess brought us together and from that we enjoyed our football in each other’s company.
M J M
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“Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.”
― Voltaire
Should you, perchance, put W. Ward plays for Luton and also Our clash of future champions in the search bar, you will find documented evidence that William Ward competed in the Bedfordshire chess scene for Luton before moving to London and becoming champion of that city amongst many other achieved accolades.
With chess players placed in categories to denote ability only across Victorian England, establishing exactly how strong Ward was whilst playing in Bedfordshire is challenging because none of his scoresheets have survived. We do have help however. Regarding timelines: the two posts above show a few of his results for Luton in 1896 & 1897 respectively; the following year, at the 1898 Southern Counties Congress in Salisbury, his first success beyond Bedfordshire was achieved. Invaluable archivist John Saunders has once again offered us the details on that superb site of his, which can be accessed here: https://www.saund.co.uk/britbase/pgn/189809sccu-viewer.html
W. Ward came joint first as you can see, about half of his games are available for you to play through also. This should enable you to develop your own opinions about how good he was when he left us. May I suggest you look at his game against George Bellingham and see how he plays the endgame?
Should you wish to refer to the edo website for its own estimation also, you may do so here: http://www.edochess.ca/years/y1898.html and learn that he was estimated at 2352 ELO in 1898, putting him 91st in the world. Above more esteemed gentlemen such as Jacques Mieses, Frank Marshall, Henry Bird, and John McCutcheon, as well as future world champion José Capablanca.
He was the first Englishman to play chess competitively in Bedfordshire and then go on to represent merry England (Anglo-American cable matches), the second being Dennis Victor Mardle (also of Luton), the third GM James Plaskett (of BMS/Bedford).
“The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?” Edgar Allan Poe – the Premature Burial.
M J M
Posted in History of Bedfordshire Chess | Leave a Comment »
Early one morning in May I set out,
And nobody I knew was about.
I’m bound away for ever,
Away somewhere, away for ever.Edward Thomas, Early One Morning
October 14th 1989 was a sunless Saturday. An overcast Autumn day where lifelong chess friends Damon D’ Cruz and sidekick Matt Payne, went with I to the Saddler’s Wells Theatre down in deepest, darkest Islington, London to watch the FIDE Candidates Semi-finals: with the winners of Timman v Speelman and Karpov v Yusupov competing for the chance to dethrone Kasparov the then FIDE world champion.
We drove down. Damon was at the wheel. And with the journey instantly forgettable, we soon found ourselves paid up in the theatre foyet with tickets in hand and ready. Once in, we plonked ourselves down to soak up the chess pronto. I found the venue more elegant and magnificent than the chess itself, which I attempted in vain to follow on a small, cheap, green magnetic set I had bought earlier that year, months before one of the pawns went walkabout! We sat at the front with the theatre only half full at best, and because Matt was relatively inexperienced at chess, a cocksure teenage me kept offering up unwonted commentary. Just a move or two before the Karpov game ended, I announced ‘Draw!’ to Matt a bit too loudly -to which Karpov gave me a stone-faced glare full of Soviet seriousness.
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1068725
The other game, however, aroused much more interest with local boy GM Speelman turning on the style and snatching victory, levelling up the match with one game to play. I distinctly remember the finale, but must have gone for a wander prior to it because when the game ended there was I standing by the entrance to the auditorium with GM Speelman walking up the passageway towards me. As he drew near, his blue jumper becoming increasingly more visible, you could hear spectators congratulating him ‘Well done Jon’ I kept hearing and ‘Good on ya Jon‘ also, then he looked at me as if in anticipation of further congratulations, but being so shy, teenage me couldn’t offer any up and froze instead as he exited. I still remember that moment very clearly and how GM Speelman was very happy with his win, the light applause he received, and the patriotism that filled the air.
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1130235
After play had ended, Damon, Matt and I scampered off to a little cafe nearby for some scran. Cocksure me couldn’t shut up at the table, so much so that an accompanied and rather well-dressed woman on a nearby table began looking at me with some amusement, as if to say ‘who is this jumped up teen that thinks he’s an expert on chess’. What fading memories found thereafter flicker only between a return to Damon’s motor parked across the road, how the weather had become inclement, that I had no idea of which part of a giantesque London I was in, and how happy I was to be heading home with the action over.
The past is the only dead thing that smells sweet,
The only sweet thing that is not also fleet.
I’m bound away for ever,
Away somehwere, away for ever.
Edward Thomas, Early One Morning
M J M
Posted in Reflections | Leave a Comment »
The content below has been gleaned from the S.C.C.U Bulletins only.
Posted in History of Bedfordshire Chess | Leave a Comment »
The post created last year, Tom’s old friend plays for England (please use search bar), details Dennis Victor Mardle (of Luton, Bedfordshire) and his debut for England. Further information regarding that match has been found here on page 7: https://sccu-chess.com/bulletins/SCCUBulletin_1959_8.pdf.
M J M
Posted in History of Bedfordshire Chess | Leave a Comment »
The ECF have once again alerted me towards something highly amusing. The Brentford footballer who just signed for Manchester United can be quoted as such: “Even if it’s not physical, there is a lot of thought in chess,” said Mbeumo.
Just look at the insight there -astonishing!
M J M
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I personally met Glynne many times in Hitchin in the late 80’s and early 90’s and spoke with him on the phone on numerous occasions. He was always happy to hear there would be a team of players from Luton joining his tournaments when we spoke and found him to be affiable whilst running the show at Hitchin Boys Grammar School for his 5-round Swiss events which attracted many of the best players in the country. An account of his life can be found here.
M J M
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These results are all that can be lifted from the S. C. C. U news bulletins, that is the primary source and only that.
M J M
Posted in History of Bedfordshire Chess | Leave a Comment »
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | |||
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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