Junior squad/Kasparov simul in 1986

[Stewart Reuben]

Peter Barton became a Headmaster (or possibly deputy) elsewhere in the country and no longer had time for chess administration.
To give people an idea of his influence. One British U15 had 30 boys and 15 girls while he was active. You would expect something similar the following year for the U16s. But he dropped out and only about 3 girls played in the U16s the next year.

[Sarah de Lisle]

Thanks Stewart - he really was an amazing influence. We did a tour of Denmark with Westergate school, and went to Germany for the European Girls.

I recall the brilliant ARC tournaments were held at Westergate, as was the World Girls Under 16 in 1981, won by a 12 year old Zsuzsa Polgar (who wanted to talk to us in Esperanto, which wasn't terribly successful).

[David Watts]

There I was, idly googling myself, when I stumbled on this thread. How very excellent to see so many names from so very long ago:)

I don't have any new suggestions on who the mystery man might be. I did keep a programme, and it was definitely in my loft 5 years ago. I'll try to dig it out from the mountains of accumulated crap.

I do remember a little from the day, so hopefully Jonathan won't be shouting at me too;(

Exactly as Leonard remembers, I was on board 7 or 8, and Philip Morris was on the next board. Coming out of the opening slightly worse, I set a cheap trap, and on his next round Kasparov realised he'd blundered away a rook against Phil. Disconcerted, he fell for my trap, lost a vital pawn, and then it was pretty much Goodnight Vienna. A glorious victory for both of us, except he did a less worse TV interview than me.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

There I was, idly googling myself, when I stumbled on this thread. How very excellent to see so many names from so very long ago:)

I don't have any new suggestions on who the mystery man might be. I did keep a programme, and it was definitely in my loft 5 years ago. I'll try to dig it out from the mountains of accumulated crap.

I do remember a little from the day, so hopefully Jonathan won't be shouting at me too;(

Exactly as Leonard remembers, I was on board 7 or 8, and Philip Morris was on the next board. Coming out of the opening slightly worse, I set a cheap trap, and on his next round Kasparov realised he'd blundered away a rook against Phil. Disconcerted, he fell for my trap, lost a vital pawn, and then it was pretty much Goodnight Vienna. A glorious victory for both of us, except he did a less worse TV interview than me.

Bumping this in case anyone missed it. It is excellent to see people finding threads like this and reminiscing!

[Paul Dargan]

Jut to close this off, Andrew Dunn has confirmed that it is him in the photo. It made the cover of TES and the school rights to use and used it for the old-boys magazine. It was just after he had left the school (which makes the timing right too). The position on the board also looks like something Andrew would play.

Paul Dargan

[Nick Thomas]

I realise this thread is years old but I found this:

https://www.alamy.com/james-howell-as-j ... 36410.html

[Phil Pinto]

Its great that Leonard Barden has recounted the Anatoly Karpov v England Junior simul of 1986 for posterity.
(Karpov was at the peak of his play - same year as his World Championship rematch with Garry Kasparov.)
I was there at the simul, it was an epic event.
I recall it being the top 25 rather than 30 but only a small detail.
My younger brother Laurence Pinto drew.
Karpov only just came out ahead in the over all simul score.

[Leonard Barden]

Its great that Leonard Barden has recounted the Anatoly Karpov v England Junior simul of 1986 for posterity.
(Karpov was at the peak of his play - same year as his World Championship rematch with Garry Kasparov.)
I was there at the simul, it was an epic event.
I recall it being the top 25 rather than 30 but only a small detail.
My younger brother Laurence Pinto drew.
Karpov only just came out ahead in the over all simul score.

Some confusion above between the 1986 Kasparov simul and the earlier ones by Karpov.

[Phil Pinto]

Yes, Leonard my memory was a bit hazy on the year - this was the 1983 simul England Juniors v Karpov
I found my chess scrap book and notes:-
Best 25 Under 21s in the country (First 4 boards were IM such as Daniel King).
Karpov was in form with 9 wins 12 draws 4 losses
Laurence Pinto drew a pawn up , Karpov having active piece play to secure a draw
Picture of Laurence on URL below:-
https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/ ... e=5CDF1781

[Leonard Barden]

I don't recognise that photo or the occasion with the large seated audience, and am not sure who is the simul giver. Is it Portisch?

[David Sedgwick]

I don't recognise that photo or the occasion with the large seated audience, and am not sure who is the simul giver. Is it Portisch?

I think that the simul giver is Karpov. There are USSR flags, not Hungarian ones, on his side.

[Roger de Coverly]

I think that the simul giver is Karpov.

I might just be the angle of the photograph, but the receding hairline doesn't look right for Karpov. I would have suggested Mikhail Tal, but 1982 photos show him bald at the top.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I think the strong light coming from the lefthand side of the photo makes Karpov's hairline look different. You can see the same 'shining effect' on the hair of the other people in the foreground of the photo.

[Leonard Barden]

After looking again I think it really is from Westergate 1982, with Karpov the simul giver despite the apparent receding hairline. If you look carefully there are board numbers 18 and 20 on either side of Laurence Pinto, and I think Board 18 is James Howell who was then just short of his 15th birthday.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Is that one of the ARC Young Masters tournaments? The sponsor name 'ARC' is visible on the board numbers.