Carlsen to become a father

[MJMcCready]

https://www.chess.com/news/view/magnus- ... -pregnancy

You do have to wonder how good their child will become at chess. Probably pretty strong I would say -probably 2200+.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Well firstly, congratulations to him and hope it all goes well.

But secondly, he might not want his offspring to play chess seriously at all? Certainly some past greats have been that way.

[MJMcCready]

Well firstly, congratulations to him and hope it all goes well.

But secondly, he might not want his offspring to play chess seriously at all? Certainly some past greats have been that way.

Yes that's right, Spassky's son has almost no interest in chess from what I recall. Yes congrats to him.

[Kevin Thurlow]

Or his child might decide there would be too much pressure on doing the same activity. Imagine if a mate in three is missed in an under-8 tournament, giant headlines scream that "Daddy wouldn't have missed that!"

In cricket, sons of batting experts tended to become bowlers, if they played at top level at all. Ian Botham's son got to county standard, then concentrated on rugby. The main exception seems to be Johnny Bairstow, who has ended up more successful than his father.

[Matt Mackenzie]

The world's top rated player is now the proud dad of a baby boy

[John Clarke]

It's pretty unusual for offspring of strong players to approach or surpass their parent's standard. The only British example that readily occurs to me is the Littlewoods, John and Paul. I believe Smyslov's dad was pretty useful too in his time.

Oh, and congrats to Ella and Magnus, of course!

[Jonathan Rogers]

Hans Peter Hansen is strong by most standards, if not by the Littlewood standard, and he must be very proud of William. I understand that Simon Williams' father was also around 200. If you are looking at fathers who are IM plus, then you can see that Richard Pert seems recently to have improved in his forties - and he might need to do so to keep ahead of Max!

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Hans Peter Hansen is strong by most standards, if not by the Littlewood standard, and he must be very proud of William. I understand that Simon Williams' father was also around 200. If you are looking at fathers who are IM plus, then you can see that Richard Pert seems recently to have improved in his forties - and he might need to do so to keep ahead of Max!

Interesting. I hadn't realised that Hans-Peter Hansen (currently 2167 but appears to have had a peak rating of 2270) was the father of William Claridge-Hansen (2389). I do have that right, yes? You can see them together in the same 4NCL team here in the 2012-13 season (along with Wadsworth senior and junior!). Would you also have Simon Williams' dad's first name by any chance, in case there are grading records and other traces in event histories?

[Roger de Coverly]

Hans Peter Hansen is strong by most standards, if not by the Littlewood standard,

I don't know about Peter Parr, but David Parr, son of Frank Parr was over 200 for a while in the 1970s. Frank was a British Championship regular and I believe came close to winning it one year.

[Ian Thompson]

I understand that Simon Williams' father was also around 200.

I don't know if you're right about that or not. Assuming you are, it's not so straight forward though. Simon Williams is the younger brother of Tony WIlliams (of Karpov simul fame) so you have consider what effect having a strong older brother had on him as well as his father's influence.

[Roger de Coverly]

I don't know if you're right about that or not. Assuming you are, it's not so straight forward though. Simon Williams is the younger brother of Tony WIlliams (of Karpov simul fame) so you have consider what effect having a strong older brother had on him as well as his father's influence.

From the man himself arounnd 15 years ago

https://streathambrixtonchess.blogspot. ... iew-i.html

Simon Williams:
My Dad used to play for Wimbledon and Guildford. He was a strong player - his highest BCF grade was over 200. I believe that at one stage he used to play above Gallagher, Hodgson and King in the Wimbledon team but that was when they were youngsters!

I am sure it helped having a Dad who played a lot, he was happy to take me along to chess clubs and tournaments. Basically my mum and dad must be thanked for their 'taxi' driving roles. In my experience of coaching one of the major factors can be the parents’ influence. I was very lucky in that my Dad and Mum were always very encouraging, when I had a painful loss they always told me it did not matter and that my time will come.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Surname Williams. Played in same Wimbledon teams as Gallagher, Hodgson and King. Surely that is enough to find our man?

Tony Williams mentioned here:

https://streathambrixtonchess.blogspot. ... s-xvi.html

I don't suppose there is a grading history there if he continued playing chess?

[Roger de Coverly]

It's pretty unusual for offspring of strong players to approach or surpass their parent's standard. The only British example that readily occurs to me is the Littlewoods, John and Paul.

Another couple of examples.

The Bellins
https://rating.englishchess.org.uk/play ... rch=bellin

and the Finns
https://rating.englishchess.org.uk/play ... de=285268J
https://rating.englishchess.org.uk/play ... de=101644B

[Roger de Coverly]

I don't suppose there is a grading history there if he continued playing chess?

The name Doug Williams springs to mind. He was playing thirty years ago
https://rating.englishchess.org.uk/play ... de=151522G
https://ratings.fide.com/profile/404497

[Jonathan Rogers]

But the father remained the strongest player in the case of the Bellins. It's true, that it is rare for strong players to be overtaken by their sons, though of course we are looking at a limited pool of people in the first place.