Junior squad/Kasparov simul in 1986

[Stewart Reuben]

Matt McKenzie >Anybody else remember his appearance on Terry Wogan's then BBC1 chatshow around this time??<

Certainly, I was part of the audience in 1983. Wogan, 'Is it important to be wealthy?' Gary, 'Oh yes, it's very important.' The convrsation was rpeated. Terry had misread the autocue, which actually said 'healthy'. After the show there was a cocktail party. The other chess people stood around talking to each other. Samantha Fox and I had a more revealing conversation.

Leonard Barden, Ray Keene, Eddie Penn and Peter Rundle were excellent at drumming up media attention. But it was easier. Take Hastings. The Times and Daily Telegraph would send stringers to take photos. 'What about having players playing on the beach?' 'What an excellent idea!' And once again it would appear.

[Nick Thomas]

Nick - is that you?? Northampton Nick? Waving at you from across the forum....

Sarah, here, Christopher, as was...

Hi Sarah, yep it's me. Well, a 40 something version of me anyway. I bet you will remember all this stuff far better than I do. I must have been living in a cloud of stupid in my teens because I haven't got a clue... Nice to hear from you again though.

[Sarah de Lisle]

Nick - we were teenagers. I can remember hairstyles, hence knowing it wasn't Gary, but simuls and important stuff are blurred in the mists of time. Shallow, moi??

Stewart - there was always the classic 'playing on the pier' pic. Plus I can recall a group of players in a tourney on an open top bus. I may have dreamed this.

[Martin Hazelton]

It's not Gary Lane - wrong hairstyle and facial hair.

It's not Andy Dunn.

Could it be Neil Crickmore (wild stab in the dark)?

Neil Crickmore? Not sure that the clothing or build are right, but I didn't see him often (he was a year or two older than me). I do recall him winning the British U18 title in 1984, spending the fortnight dressed as if he had been sleeping on the beach, but I guess he could have neatened up for a simul against Kasparov!

[Sarah de Lisle]

Actually Martin, I think you are right - the clothes are completely wrong.

[David Sedgwick]

Plus I can recall a group of players in a tourney on an open top bus. I may have dreamed this.

That was the famous "Women's Bus Tournament". It was the curtain raiser for the Lloyds Bank Masters one year. I think it was 1991, but I may be a year or so out.

[Sarah de Lisle]

Thanks David - that was it!

[Stewart Reuben]

As well as Lloyds Bank bus
1988 Blackpool tram tournament
2004 Scarborough bus tournament
1985 British Rail Championship.
Korchnoi gave a simul on a cross-channel ferry against 4 youngsters once.
Kasparov also gave a simul against 10 players, 5 in London and 5 in New York.

[Leonard Barden]

Dunn and Crickmore don't strike memory chords for the Kasparov simul, though Hazelton does slightly. I suggest that Martin quizzes the RGS Newcastle archivist on how the photo came into the school's possession and why it was identified as him. That might solve the puzzle.

I still think the player behind Kasparov's shoulder is Peter Wells. It couldn't be Philip Morris since Morris was around board 8 or 9 and therefore sitting on the same side of the room as the player in the picture. The player behind Kasparov's shoulder has to be one of the top boards (directly in front of the wallboards) and Peter would probably have been board 2 or 3, which is exactly right.

Judging from the dates provided, Nick Thomas's three game scores were all from the GM simuls which we held a day or two before Lloyds Bank, usually to the annoyance of Stewart who wanted to set up the room for the tournament proper. A standout result from these simuls occurred when John Hawksworth, at that time board 7 for Oxford University, lost to Korchnoi in the simul then defeated him in the main event.

[Stewart Reuben]

Hardly annoyed Leonard.
Korchnoi was annoyed at being paired with Hawksworth in a proper tournament. That may have led to his awful play, I thoutht he wouldn't notice. After round 8 John asked me what his chances were of getting an IM norm. I told him: he had to win in round 9; Korchnoi had to lose; he to be paired with Korchnoi in round 10; he to beat him with the black pieces. And lo, it all came to pass. Korchnoi could no longer win a prize, so I fiddled the pairings (no longer allowed) to give John his chance. Nobody else had high enough a rating.

[Jonathan Rogers]

I remember playing in a Ray Keene simul in about 1982 - wonder if it was the same one as you, Jonathan? I think we were the second string, there was a 'big name' (Spassky??) who was the main draw.

Hi Sarah, I played Keene sometime around 1985, and even now I am quite unsure of what the occasion was.

Keene was my strongest ever opponent in a simul, for whatever reason my name didn't seem to come up for Russian visitors. I suppose that is the reason for my emphatic language aimed at those who were given privilege after privilege and have barely the faintest recollection!

[Jonathan Rogers]

Hardly annoyed Leonard.
Korchnoi was annoyed at being paired with Hawksworth in a proper tournament. That may have led to his awful play, I thoutht he wouldn't notice. After round 8 John asked me what his chances were of getting an IM norm. I told him: he had to win in round 9; Korchnoi had to lose; he to be paired with Korchnoi in round 10; he to beat him with the black pieces. And lo, it all came to pass. Korchnoi could no longer win a prize, so I fiddled the pairings (no longer allowed) to give John his chance. Nobody else had high enough a rating.

All that just for an IM norm?!

[Nick Thomas]

It's not Gary Lane - wrong hairstyle and facial hair.

It's not Andy Dunn.

Could it be Neil Crickmore (wild stab in the dark)?

The boy in the white shirt in the corner (over Kasparov's shoulder) looks like Phil Morris....

Great picture Martin, thank you.

I thought white shirt boy might be Dave Norwood but not certain that the hair is exactly right. I think it is too high a board for Phil Morris who would have been about 200 grade at the time.

[Leonard Barden]

I thought white shirt boy might be Dave Norwood but not certain that the hair is exactly right. I think it is too high a board for Phil Morris who would have been about 200 grade at the time.

As stated above, Peter Wells.

[Nick Thomas]

I thought white shirt boy might be Dave Norwood but not certain that the hair is exactly right. I think it is too high a board for Phil Morris who would have been about 200 grade at the time.

As stated above, Peter Wells.

I agree, I was talking about the boy over Kasparov's left shoulder in the corner position.