English-resident strong chess players

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Christopher Kreuzer
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English-resident strong chess players

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Wed Apr 13, 2011 3:11 am

I found a little snippet in a book I was reading recently about an English-resident strong chess player (i.e. those not born in the UK, but who were among the strongest in the country at various times), and was wondering if anyone has more information on him (the player in question here was Ernst Klein) or other players of similar background? Ideally, I'd like to end up with a list of strong players that emigrated here from other countries, along with an idea of their birth/death years, when they arrived here, when they were active, and their playing strength, and participation in British teams (if any) and other aspects of British chess (by which I mean England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland).

Not sure whether to include emigration or permanent or temporary residency from other Commonwealth countries, but have included those here as students and those born in non-Anglophone countries (e.g. Yanofsky was born in Poland, though his family moved to Canada when he was 8 months old). Would like to focus on ones from non-English-speaking countries, and the earlier ones rather than the more recent ones (which gets to be rather a large list once you drop below IM level, particularly after 1990, though including students may also threaten to make any such list unmanageable).

So far, I have:

Jacques Mieses (link)
Stefan Fazekas (link)
Cenek Kottnauer (link)
Imre Koenig (link)
Daniel Yanofsky (link)
Jana Malypetrova (link)
Raphael Persitz (link)
Ernst Klein (link)

The inclusion of Ernst Klein is because (as mentioned earlier) I read about him in a book I've been reading, where Tim Harding annotated his 1972 Oxfordshire-Essex county match loss to Jonathan Penrose in Why You Lose At Chess (1982), and stated:

"It was therefore somewhat surprising to encounter Penrose on board two in a county match. However, the Vienna-born Ernst Klein, British Champion in 1951, had briefly emerged from retirement and Penrose modestly conceded him top board."

I think Klein and Penrose were playing for Essex. I found a bit about Ernst Klein in this post (and the rest of that thread):

http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php ... 7688#p7688

But presumably there were a lot of other strong county-level chess players around who had emigrated here from Europe, or were resident here. If you go back far enough, you get to Wilhelm Steinitz, born in Austria but resident in London (from 1862 to 1883, I think), though the year when he was considered to be 'world champion' (and hence where he was resident) is still not settled, apparently. Are there any other famous (or not-so-famous) names of strong chess players from non-Anglophone countries who became resident in Britain?

EDIT: Some other possible names. First three from the 19th century (could be a lot of these): Adolf Zytogorski, Leopold Hoffer, Bernhard Horwitz. I think Johannes Zukertort and Johann Löwenthal were also resident in London for many years. Then five from the first half of the 20th century: Georg Schories, Victor Buerger, Adrián García Conde, Olga Menchik, Vera Menchik. Possibly Mir Sultan Khan and Miss Fatima should also be mentioned here. One name from more recent times is John Rety. Slightly earlier is Aaron Alexandre. Much earlier is Philipp Stamma.

Roger de Coverly
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Re: English-resident strong chess players

Post by Roger de Coverly » Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:32 am

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: Ideally, I'd like to end up with a list of strong players that emigrated here from other countries, along with an idea of their birth/death years, when they arrived here, when they were active, and their playing strength, and participation in British teams (if any) and other aspects of British chess (by which I mean England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland).
I suspect you will find loads. German and Austrian from the 1930's, Polish, Ukrainian from the 1940s, Hungarian from the 1950s.

The name is sometimes a clue, but many anglicised their names. More often than not, the back story only comes out in orbituaries.

www.olimpbase.org has material on England teams and the games databases would list everyone playing at Hastings or the British Championships

Nick Burrows
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Re: English-resident strong chess players

Post by Nick Burrows » Wed Apr 13, 2011 10:39 am

Mihai Suba:
In August 1988, he sought political asylum in Britain, and he played for England at the 1989 European Team Championship
3 times Romanian champion, with a peak rating of 30th in the world.

Mick Norris
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Re: English-resident strong chess players

Post by Mick Norris » Wed Apr 13, 2011 11:04 am

Suba is currently leading in the European Seniors back playing under a Rumanian flag

http://chess-results.com/tnr47481.aspx? ... 30&wi=1000
Any postings on here represent my personal views

Richard James
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Re: English-resident strong chess players

Post by Richard James » Wed Apr 13, 2011 11:09 am

Mick Norris wrote:Suba is currently leading in the European Seniors back playing under a Rumanian flag

http://chess-results.com/tnr47481.aspx? ... 30&wi=1000
...but he was held to a draw by Ken Norman, an occasional poster here, in Round 2.

Chris: you could always research this in the Chess Palace! :P

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: English-resident strong chess players

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Wed Apr 13, 2011 12:12 pm

Paul List is another, Chris (played in the post-war GB v USSR match)
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

Alex McFarlane
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Re: English-resident strong chess players

Post by Alex McFarlane » Wed Apr 13, 2011 12:20 pm

Though not English resident (though living in Edinburgh to a Glaswegian that's almost the same thing) Keti Arakhami Grant is a current example being Georgian by birth.

Jacob Aagaard may be another example.

William Metcalfe
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Re: English-resident strong chess players

Post by William Metcalfe » Wed Apr 13, 2011 2:15 pm

There was a American IM based in Scotland but i have forgoton his name for the moment
I am speaking here for myself and not the NCCU which i am now president of

Alex McFarlane
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Re: English-resident strong chess players

Post by Alex McFarlane » Wed Apr 13, 2011 2:22 pm

Danny Kopec

Roger de Coverly
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Re: English-resident strong chess players

Post by Roger de Coverly » Wed Apr 13, 2011 2:31 pm

William Metcalfe wrote:There was a American IM based in Scotland but i have forgoton his name for the moment
If we're talking current players (American IMs), James Sherwin now of Bath, also in game 1 of 60 Memorable Games.

LozCooper

Re: English-resident strong chess players

Post by LozCooper » Wed Apr 13, 2011 2:41 pm

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: Ideally, I'd like to end up with a list of strong players that emigrated here from other countries, along with an idea of their birth/death years, when they arrived here, when they were active, and their playing strength, and participation in British teams (if any) and other aspects of British chess (by which I mean England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland).
Recent ones that spring to mind include: GMs Bogdan Lalic & Alexander Cherniaev, IMs Roland Berzinsh, Bjorn Tiller, James Sherwin. Murray Chandler switched from New Zealand to England then back again. Alex Baburin emigrated to Ireland which now seems like a long time ago.

William Metcalfe
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Re: English-resident strong chess players

Post by William Metcalfe » Wed Apr 13, 2011 2:44 pm

Thanks Alex
I am speaking here for myself and not the NCCU which i am now president of

William Metcalfe
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Re: English-resident strong chess players

Post by William Metcalfe » Wed Apr 13, 2011 2:45 pm

Wasnt Bob wade originally from New Zealand
I am speaking here for myself and not the NCCU which i am now president of

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: English-resident strong chess players

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Wed Apr 13, 2011 4:09 pm

Mick Norris wrote:Suba is currently leading in the European Seniors back playing under a Rumanian flag

http://chess-results.com/tnr47481.aspx? ... 30&wi=1000
He defected whilst playing at a London tournament IIRC - it made the front pages of some newspapers.

Following the fall of Ceaucescu and Romania beginning its transition to democracy, he went back there sometime in the early 1990s.

It is fair to say that he attracted some controversy during his residence here, though one is hazy over the actual details :wink:
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

Alex McFarlane
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Re: English-resident strong chess players

Post by Alex McFarlane » Wed Apr 13, 2011 5:18 pm

A sort of Suba story ...

I was on the team controlling the British Championship at Eastbourne just after the MP Ian Gow had been murdered by an IRA car bomb. There were a considerable number of Special Branch in attendance due to the impending funeral coupled with the number of Irish players taking part.

Anyway someone rushed into the room being used for the Championship about an hour before play and told me that Suba had been arrested. The story was that a plain clothes policeman had arrested him for stealing something from the canteen. The arrest was genuine but the identity was not. Turns out that it was someone in off the street with a passing resemblance to the GM who had been arrested.

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