Britbase Updates

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Yes, I got the Hornby and Barlow reference.

Some nice memories in the comments here:

https://downatthirdman.wordpress.com/20 ... -or-wrong/

Apparently Francis Thompson (who died from TB aged 47) never made it to Lords. He was given tickets but decided not to go as it would make him too emotional, so wrote the poem instead. (This is from the page J T Melsom linked to.)

[Matt Mackenzie]

I am very similar and the Cardus quote did not escape me (I think he was talking about Maclaren, maybe Spooner).

Sometimes I think my chess education took place in a different world. Of course it was pre-engine, so there was no easy way to spot my mistakes. Does anyone read Nimzowitsch these days? I doubt it. I suspect any knowledge of Nimzo is limited to the Salwe game, maybe Johner and of course the immortal zugzwang game.

Alekhine duffing him up in 19 moves (I think it was) as well.

[Gerard Killoran]

Yes, I got the Hornby and Barlow reference.

Some nice memories in the comments here:

https://downatthirdman.wordpress.com/20 ... -or-wrong/

Apparently Francis Thompson (who died from TB aged 47) never made it to Lords. He was given tickets but decided not to go as it would make him too emotional, so wrote the poem instead. (This is from the page J T Melsom linked to.)

Hornby can be seen in action in this 1901 film from the Mitchell and Kenyon collection

https://youtu.be/3d3T6fYSv2o?si=TmIa1mGZbpMTPfeM

[Mike Gunn]

...
Does anyone read Nimzowitsch these days?
...

I realise that (in general) books are out of fashion these days, but surely "My System" would still be the main recommendation to any new player who wanted to learn the principles of positional chess?

[MSoszynski]

On the comment that books are out of fashion...

According to BookScan UK, physical book sales (of all genres) peaked at about 226M units in 2010. They now stand at roughly 195M, which is still higher than 1998, 2000, 2014, 2016, and 2019. While the usual warnings about definitions, data-gathering, roundings, and estimates apply, this should give you some idea of the state of the industry.

[IM Jack Rudd]

...
Does anyone read Nimzowitsch these days?
...

I realise that (in general) books are out of fashion these days, but surely "My System" would still be the main recommendation to any new player who wanted to learn the principles of positional chess?

Possibly. But not only have I never read it, I don't recall having ever seen it. Which is unusual for something so supposedly ubiquitous in this regard.

[John Saunders]

To get us back on track here, I thought I would plug the BritBase Chess Library...

https://www.saund.org.uk/britbase/britb ... ments.html

... which has grown considerably in the past few weeks.

As well as the 1969 Marlow Congress souvenir programme linked to in this thread, there are now a few more such programmes from the same event...

Marlow Congress programmes: 1968 1970 1971 1972 1974 and after it morphed into the Berks & Bucks Congress (Amersham), 1978 1979

Of more general interest are programmes from British Championships: 1969 (Rhyl) 1971 (Blackpool)

I've added some SCCU Grading Lists: (the 1970 one has been in the library for a long time): 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984

There are also some additional tournament bulletins which you can browse, plus a few collections of London League results of the 1980s.

The reason the library has grown is that I'm trying to digitise the accumulated paper mountain of half a century, after which I can hopefully throw out all the physical paper. I find it hard not to be a hoarder but with any luck the judicious use of a scanner will downsize my problem into the non-pathological affliction of digital hoarding.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Amazing resource curated by John and lovely to see them scanned.

Small plea. While it can be difficult to work out what is needed and not, there may be an archive willing to store the physical copies (which may not take up that much space). It is possible if you email the Archives at De Montfort University that they will say whether this sort of material is outside their scope (which may only include books and personal papers).

https://library.dmu.ac.uk/archivesblog/ ... ss-Arrival

They moved from Twitter to Bluesky and are still posting every Tuesday by the looks of it:

https://bsky.app/profile/dmuspecialcoll ... yoozw2yh2d

[Paul Cooksey]

...
Does anyone read Nimzowitsch these days?
...

I realise that (in general) books are out of fashion these days, but surely "My System" would still be the main recommendation to any new player who wanted to learn the principles of positional chess?

Possibly. But not only have I never read it, I don't recall having ever seen it. Which is unusual for something so supposedly ubiquitous in this regard.

I would recommend it to someone interested in the history of chess theory but not to someone trying to learn chess. Mastering Chess Strategy by Johan Hellsten is well regarded.

This is a thread about an online database. These are more popular now than they were in the 1920s.

[Gerard Killoran]

Previously posted in the obituary section:

viewtopic.php?f=46&t=14968&start=45#p323500

[Event "18th Chess Festival"] [Site "Southport"] [Date "1970.07.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Bennett, Gerald H."] [Black "Bellin, Robert"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B31"] [Opening "Sicilian: Nimzovich-Rossolimo attack (with...g6, without...d6)"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. c3 Nf6 6. Re1 O-O 7. d4 cxd4 8. cxd4 d5 9. e5 Ne8 10. Nc3 Nc7 11. Be2 b6 12. Be3 Bb7 13. Qd2 Na5 14. b3 Rc8 15. Rac1 Qd7 16. Rc2 Na6 17. Bh6 Rc7 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. e6 fxe6 20. Ng5 Rc6 21. Bb5 Nc7 22. Qe3 Nxb5 23. Nxb5 Rxc2 24. Nxe6+ Kg8 25. Qh6 Rf7 26. Ng5 Rg7 27. Ne6 Rf7 28. Ng5 {Illustrated London News - Saturday 15 August 1970 p.36} 1/2-1/2

[John Saunders]

Previously posted in the obituary section:

viewtopic.php?f=46&t=14968&start=45#p323500

[Event "18th Chess Festival"] [Site "Southport"] [Date "1970.07.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Bennett, Gerald H."] [Black "Bellin, Robert"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B31"] [Opening "Sicilian: Nimzovich-Rossolimo attack (with...g6, without...d6)"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. c3 Nf6 6. Re1 O-O 7. d4 cxd4 8. cxd4 d5 9. e5 Ne8 10. Nc3 Nc7 11. Be2 b6 12. Be3 Bb7 13. Qd2 Na5 14. b3 Rc8 15. Rac1 Qd7 16. Rc2 Na6 17. Bh6 Rc7 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. e6 fxe6 20. Ng5 Rc6 21. Bb5 Nc7 22. Qe3 Nxb5 23. Nxb5 Rxc2 24. Nxe6+ Kg8 25. Qh6 Rf7 26. Ng5 Rg7 27. Ne6 Rf7 28. Ng5 {Illustrated London News - Saturday 15 August 1970 p.36} 1/2-1/2

Thanks for the game and the reminder, Gerard. I shall have to create a file for this tournament on BritBase in due course.

[Gerard Killoran]

Edinburgh 1920
[Event "GBR-ch 13th"] [Site "Edinburgh, McEwan Hall"] [Date "1920.08.10"] [Round "2"] [White "Sergeant, Edward Guthlac"] [Black "Thomas, George Alan"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C84/05"] [Opening "Ruy Lopez: closed (7...d6)"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 Na5 9. Bc2 c5 10. Re1 O-O 11. Nbd2 Nc6 12. Nf1 Ne8 13. Ne3 Bf6 14. Nd5 Ne7 15. Nxf6+ Nxf6 16. Bg5 Ng6 17. d4 Qe7 18. h3 h6 19. Be3 Bb7 20. d5 Nh7 21. Nh2 Qh4 22. Nf1 Ne7 23. Qg4 Qxg4 24. hxg4 Rfb8 25. Nd2 Bc8 26. f3 f6 27. b4 cxb4 28. cxb4 Bd7 29. Bd3 Rc8 30. Rec1 Rab8 31. Nb3 Kf8 32. Na5 Ng5 33. Ba7 Rxc1+ 34. Rxc1 Rc8 35. Rxc8+ Bxc8 36. Bb8 Nf7 37. Kf2 Ng6 38. g3 Ke7 39. Nc6+ Kd7 40. Ba7 Nd8 41. Na5 Kc7 42. Bc2 Bd7 43. Be3 Ne7 44. Nb3 Nc8 45. Nd2 Nb6 46. Bxb6+ {Hull Times - Saturday 21 August 1920 p.3} 1/2-1/2

[Event "GBR-ch13 First Class B"] [Site "Edinburgh, McEwan Hall"] [Date "1920.08.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Thomas, William Rowland"] [Black "Hardcastle, Guy Ralph"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C54"] [Opening "Giuoco Piano: Greco's attack"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 d5 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. O-O Nxc3 10. bxc3 Be7 11. Re1 O-O 12. Qc2 Re8 13. Bd3 g6 14. Bh6 Bg4 15. Nd2 Bf8 16. Bxf8 Kxf8 17. h3 Be6 18. Ne4 Bf5 19. f3 Qh4 20. Re2 Ne7 21. g3 Qh6 22. h4 Qg7 23. Rae1 Bxe4 24. fxe4 Ng8 25. Rf1 Re7 26. Ref2 Rae8 27. e5 Nh6 28. Bc4 Nf5 29. Qd3 h5 30. Bd5 c6 31. Be4 Nh6 32. Bxg6 Kg8 33. Bxh5 Kh8 34. Kh2 Rg8 35. Qf3 Nf5 36. Qxf5 Qxg3+ 37. Kh1 {Hull Times - Saturday 21 August 1920} 1-0
[Event "GBR-ch13 First Class A"] [Site "Edinburgh, McEwan Hall"] [Date "1920.08.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Burton, Harold Alvin"] [Black "Craig, William Alban Cunningham"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D05"] [Opening "Queen's pawn game"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 e6 4. Bd3 c5 5. O-O Nc6 6. b3 Bd6 7. Bb2 b6 8. Ne5 Bb7 9. f4 Qe7 10. Nd2 O-O 11. a3 Rac8 12. Rf3 Rfd8 13. Rh3 Bb8 14. Bxh7+ Kf8 15. Bd3 Kg8 16. Ndf3 Ne4 17. Bxe4 dxe4 18. Ng5 Nxe5 {'And White mates in four moves.' Hull Times - Saturday 04 September 1920 p.3} 1-0

[John Saunders]

Many thanks for those scores, Gerard. I have added them to the BritBase collection...

(1) 1920 British Championship
(2) Games of Sir George Thomas

[Gerard Killoran]

Two more, and a puzzle.

[Event "BCF-ch 3rd First Class"] [Site "Shrewsbury"] [Date "1906.08.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Schories, Georg"] [Black "Chambers, John Dibbin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B15"] [Opening "Caro-Kann defence"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 e5 5. dxe5 Qa5+ 6. Bd2 Qxe5 7. Bd3 Qxb2 8. Nf3 Nf6 9. Rb1 Qxa2 10. Nxf6+ gxf6 11. O-O b5 12. Re1+ Be6 13. Qe2 Be7 14. Nd4 Qd5 15. Nf5 Rg8 16. Be4 Qd7 17. Bf4 a6 18. Rbd1 Qa7 19. Qf3 a5 20. Bxc6+ Nxc6 21. Qxc6+ Kf8 22. Bh6+ Rg7 23. Bxg7+ Kg8 24. Rxe6 {'...and wins.' Hull Times - Saturday 29 September 1906 p.3} 1-0

In this game, White leaves his a3 pawn en prise for no reason which leaves his Bishop en prise on move 57. Neither is taken. Then Black's 56...Kf5 would lose a piece. I suggest that move 33 is a4, not a3, which would make the analysis 51. b4 etc. nonsensical.

[Event "BCF-ch 6th Second Class C"] [Site "Scarborough"] [Date "1909.08.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Bolland, Charles Fenton"] [Black "Jackson, Samuel"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C60"] [Opening "Ruy Lopez: fianchetto (Smyslov-Barnes) defence"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. c3 Bg7 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Nce7 7. Nc3 c6 8. Bc4 d5 9. exd5 cxd5 10. Bb3 Nf6 11. Bg5 O-O 12. O-O Be6 13. Re1 Qb6 14. Ne2 Nf5 15. Be3 Ng4 16. Nf4 Rad8 17. Ng5 Ngxe3 18. fxe3 Nxe3 19. Qf3 Bxd4 20. Kh1 Ng4 21. Re2 Nf2+ 22. Rxf2 Bxf2 23. Nfxe6 fxe6 24. Qh3 h5 25. Nxe6 Rfe8 26. Nxd8 Rxd8 27. Qf3 Rd7 28. Bxd5+ Kg7 29. Rf1 Bc5 30. b3 Qa6 31. Qc3+ Kh7 32. Bc4 Qd6 33. a3 Qe7 34. h3 Qg5 35. Qf3 Qe5 36. Bb5 Bd6 37. g3 Rc7 38. Bd3 Qxg3 39. Qxg3 Bxg3 40. Rg1 h4 41. Rf1 Kg7 42. Bc4 g5 43. Rd1 Bf4 44. Kg2 Re7 45. Rd8 a5 46. Rd5 b6 47. Rb5 Re3 48. Bf1 Rg3+ 49. Kf2 Be3+ 50. Ke2 Bc5 51. Kd1 (51. b4 Rb3 52. Kd1 axb4 53. axb4 Rxb4 54. Rxb4 Bxb4 55. Be2 {'...and drawn.'}) 51... Rf3 52. Ke2 Rf2+ 53. Ke1 Rf6 54. Ke2 Kg6 55. Ke1 Re6+ 56. Kd1 Kf5 57. Be2 Kf4 58. Bg4 Rd6+ 59. Ke2 Kg3 60. Ke1 Rd4 61. Bf5 g4 62. Bxg4 Rxg4 63. hxg4 h3 {Hull Times - Saturday 04 September 1909 p.3} 0-1

Alternate version where ironically, 57. b4 should draw.

[Event "BCF-ch 6th Second Class C"] [Site "Scarborough"] [Date "1909.08.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Bolland, Charles Fenton"] [Black "Jackson, Samuel"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C60"] [Opening "Ruy Lopez: fianchetto (Smyslov-Barnes) defence"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. c3 Bg7 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Nce7 7. Nc3 c6 8. Bc4 d5 9. exd5 cxd5 10. Bb3 Nf6 11. Bg5 O-O 12. O-O Be6 13. Re1 Qb6 14. Ne2 Nf5 15. Be3 Ng4 16. Nf4 Rad8 17. Ng5 Ngxe3 18. fxe3 Nxe3 19. Qf3 Bxd4 20. Kh1 Ng4 21. Re2 Nf2+ 22. Rxf2 Bxf2 23. Nfxe6 fxe6 24. Qh3 h5 25. Nxe6 Rfe8 26. Nxd8 Rxd8 27. Qf3 Rd7 28. Bxd5+ Kg7 29. Rf1 Bc5 30. b3 Qa6 31. Qc3+ Kh7 32. Bc4 Qd6 33. a4 {Source gives P-QR3 which would lose a piece on move 56...Kf5 57. b4 } 33... Qe7 34. h3 Qg5 35. Qf3 Qe5 36. Bb5 Bd6 37. g3 Rc7 38. Bd3 Qxg3 39. Qxg3 Bxg3 40. Rg1 h4 41. Rf1 Kg7 42. Bc4 g5 43. Rd1 Bf4 44. Kg2 Re7 45. Rd8 a5 46. Rd5 b6 47. Rb5 Re3 48. Bf1 Rg3+ 49. Kf2 Be3+ 50. Ke2 Bc5 51. Kd1 Rf3 52. Ke2 Rf2+ 53. Ke1 Rf6 54. Ke2 Kg6 55. Ke1 Re6+ 56. Kd1 Kf5 57. Be2 Kf4 58. Bg4 Rd6+ 59. Ke2 Kg3 60. Ke1 Rd4 61. Bf5 g4 62. Bxg4 Rxg4 63. hxg4 h3 {Hull Times - Saturday 04 September 1909 p.3} 0-1


The Hull Times - Saturday 12 September 1908 p.3 gives S. Jackson as residing at 22 Suffolk Street and Trade Directories identify him as Samuel Jackson, clerk.

[Gerard Killoran]

Two more from Scarborough

[Event "BCF-ch 6th First Class A"] [Site "Scarborough"] [Date "1909.08.13"] [Round "5"] [White "Atkinson, Walter"] [Black "McGuire, Louis Felix"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C60"] [Opening "Ruy Lopez: fianchetto (Smyslov-Barnes) defence"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. c3 Qe7 5. O-O d6 6. d4 Bd7 7. Be3 Bg7 8. d5 Nb8 9. Bd3 f5 10. exf5 gxf5 11. Ng5 Nf6 12. Qb3 b6 13. f4 e4 14. Be2 h6 15. Nh3 c6 16. c4 Na6 17. Nc3 c5 18. Rae1 Rg8 19. Kh1 h5 20. Ng5 Ng4 21. Nd1 Bf6 22. Bd2 Kd8 23. h3 Rh8 24. a3 Kc7 25. Qc2 Rae8 26. h4 Bxg5 27. fxg5 e3 28. Bc3 Rhg8 29. g3 Qe4+ 30. Qxe4 Rxe4 31. Bd3 Re7 32. Re2 Ba4 33. Bxf5 Rf8 34. Kg1 Bxd1 35. Bxg4 Rxf1+ 36. Kxf1 Bxe2+ 37. Bxe2 Rf7+ 38. Bf6 Nb8 39. Bxh5 Rf8 40. Bg4 Nd7 41. Bxd7 Kxd7 42. Ke2 Ke8 43. h5 Kf7 44. Kxe3 Re8+ 45. Kf3 Re1 46. Bc3 {Hull Times - Saturday 11 September 1909 p,3} 1-0

[Event "BCF-ch 6th Second Class C"] [Site "Scarborough"] [Date "1909.08.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Jackson, Samuel"] [Black "Forrest, Frederick William"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C55"] [Opening "Two knights: Max Lange attack"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O Bc5 6. e5 d5 7. Bb5 Ne4 8. Nxd4 Bd7 9. Bxc6 Bxc6 10. c3 O-O 11. Qg4 Bd7 12. Qf4 Be7 13. Qf3 f6 14. e6 c5 15. exd7 cxd4 16. Qf5 Nd6 17. Qxd5+ Kh8 18. Qe6 a5 19. Re1 Rf7 20. Bf4 Qf8 21. cxd4 Ra6 22. Nd2 g6 23. Rac1 Nf5 24. Qd5 Kg7 25. Rc8 Bd8 26. Qxb7 Re7 27. Rxe7+ Qxe7 28. Qxa6 {Hull Times - Saturday 18 September 1909 p.3} 1-0