Best Wishes GM Michael Stean (04-ix-1953)

The reporting of notable birthdays and anniversaries in the chess arena.
Nick Ivell
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Re: Best Wishes GM Michael Stean (04-ix-1953)

Post by Nick Ivell » Sun Sep 05, 2021 12:16 pm

My point exactly. Chess doesn't pay, unless you are of the very highest class.

I cannot imagine that Michael kidded himself he was going going to catch Karpov up.

I also cannot imagine that when Michael was a student, he dreamt of being a tax accountant. I may be wrong.

Myself? I don't dream about work at all. I dream of being 7 margaritas deep on a Caribbean island.

But my point is a serious one. It's easier to make a stand on principle if one's career is not a lucrative one. And few chess careers are lucrative!

Jonathan Bryant
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Re: Best Wishes GM Michael Stean (04-ix-1953)

Post by Jonathan Bryant » Mon Sep 06, 2021 6:54 pm

David Sedgwick wrote:
Sun Sep 05, 2021 12:08 pm

He wasn't entirely lost to chess after 1983; for instance, he was the captain of the England team at the Manila Olympiad 1992.

He was also invovled in the Short camp for the Kasparov match - although not as an analyst, I believe.

I saw him one day in the spectators area at one of the Saunton Memorials. I forget the year - 2012 or 2013 or thereabouts? - but Korchnoi was playing which is very probably why Stean was there.

Regarding his retirement, leaving aside any Campomanes issues, 1982 is a logical time for him to go. He'd been involved in two World Championship matches, Korchnoi was extremely unlikely to reach that level again. What was next in the game for Stean? Not much, I suspect.


Also worth mentioning he authored Simple Chess - which I seems to have been extremely influential amongst those English players who became GMs in the 1980s. And is still a very good read today.

David Sedgwick
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Re: Best Wishes GM Michael Stean (04-ix-1953)

Post by David Sedgwick » Mon Sep 06, 2021 7:32 pm

Jonathan Bryant wrote:
Mon Sep 06, 2021 6:54 pm
I saw [Stean] one day in the spectators area at one of the Staunton Memorials. I forget the year - 2012 or 2013 or thereabouts? - but Korchnoi was playing which is very probably why Stean was there.
That would have been in 2009.

I remember the event well, partly for the wrong reasons. I was the Chief Arbiter. During Round 1 my mobile phone rang after I had failed to silence it correctly. (I needed to keep it turned on.)

I thought that I had got away with it, but:

www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=935&start=30

Reverting to Stean, it's well known that he refused to speak to Ray Keene for years after the 1978 World Championship match in Baguio City. However, by 2009 things had thawed a little, as they had between Keene and Korchnoi.

Angus French
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Re: Best Wishes GM Michael Stean (04-ix-1953)

Post by Angus French » Mon Sep 06, 2021 8:46 pm

Jonathan Bryant wrote:
Mon Sep 06, 2021 6:54 pm
David Sedgwick wrote:
Sun Sep 05, 2021 12:08 pm

He wasn't entirely lost to chess after 1983; for instance, he was the captain of the England team at the Manila Olympiad 1992.
He was also invovled in the Short camp for the Kasparov match - although not as an analyst, I believe.
From Julian Barnes' piece on the (1993) match: "He was accompanied on the podium by his manager and accountant, grandmaster Michael Stean...".

[Edit]Oh! the link I provided includes a rude word which phpBB or the forum autocorrects - so now the link doesn't work... I suggest copy-and-pasting the link into a browser address bar and then manually correcting.[/Edit]

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John Upham
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Re: Best Wishes GM Michael Stean (04-ix-1953)

Post by John Upham » Mon Sep 06, 2021 11:14 pm

Nick Ivell wrote:
Sun Sep 05, 2021 12:16 pm
My point exactly. Chess doesn't pay, unless you are of the very highest class.
It would be interesting to know how many in England are able to earn a living from chess by means other than playing in tournaments.

Routes such as

Teaching
Coaching
Organising
Publishing
Journalism
Writing
IT work
Photography
Streaming
You Tubeing
Working for the ECF, CSC, etc.

Possibly more than the obvious examples of Michael Adams, Gawain Jones, David Howell etc.
British Chess News : britishchessnews.com
Twitter: @BritishChess
Facebook: facebook.com/groups/britishchess :D

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