Chess Pages of Mike Donnelly

12. NEW AND SECOND- HAND CHESS BOOKS Tony Peterson. Specialist in rare and second-hand chess books and magazines. Very large stock. Contact details.

IM Sergey Bystrov. Specialist in a wide range of Russian books plus some non-Russian books. Now offering a greater range. Contact details.

Hello!

I little bit about myself: I live in the historic town of Kenilworth (close to the medieval castle) in Warwickshire, England. I have just retired (this time certainly!), after several years as a Scientific/Technical and Regulatory Advisor, from full time work as a Technical Manager at a biotechnology company that manufactures hydrogels for wound-care, monitoring electrodes, and cosmetic applications. Previously I was a research scientist working in a diverse number of scientific areas (science publications, committees, science journal refereeing etc). In my spare time I enjoy chess, the history and culture of the Ancient Greeks and their Modern counterparts, various types of music, and until recently Wing Tsun Martial Art (achieving grade 11).

Over a decade ago I shifted from playing over-the-board (o.t.b) chess as well as correspondence chess to playing only correspondence chess (peak average rating 2492, final average rating of 2454 (ICCF rating history 1993-2018). In 2016 I returned to some relatively regular o.t.b chess in local leagues currently playing at about 1900-2000 elo (a somewhat reduced level from that of a decade or more ago (approximately 2100 elo) and also from my highest many years ago of about 2275 (grading history). After some 25 years of playing National and International level Correspondence Chess I completed my last few games at the end of 2018, annotated these games in detail for presentation in correspondence magazines in early to mid-2019, and now just play o.t.b chess.

I will attempt to offer a wide range of chess material on this site including game and opening based articles, games for downloading from famous players I have known or competed against, chess problems and some current and past results. This will include both o.t.b and correspondence play. A major part of the web site is the presentation of annotated games in the "Monthly Articles" section of the site. Often these include annotations by players other than myself.

In addition to more advanced articles, I will also occasionally provide articles for beginners to mid-club strength of player also on a very wide range of chess topics.

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MONTHLY ARTICLES SUMMARIES (section 1 of web site) *

This month is presented the ninth and penultimate in the series “Focus on Pre-WW2 Events”. This is on the undeservedly little known Noordwijk International Tournament of 1938. Storm Clouds were clearly gathering in that year prefacing the global tragedy that would soon follow. The entrant’s list was nevertheless extremely impressive and included former World Champion Euwe and the past two time challenger of Alekhine in Bogoljubov and future challenger Keres. There were also several legends of the game such as Tartakower and Spielmann. Despite this it was Erich Eliskases who won by a clear point above Keres and 2.5 points above Euwe, with Pirc in third.

Eliskases did not return to Europe when WW2 was declared whilst playing in the Buenos Aires Olympiad of 1939 but decided to stay in South America. After severe problems in Brazil, including potential internement and expulsion, he eventually settled in Argentina.

In fifth place equal with Bogoljubov was Salo Landau, the 1936 Dutch Champion. Salo, his wife and young daughter after fleeing and betrayal, tragically did not survive the concentration camps.

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All material for downloading from this site is zipped. Use WinZip, or similar, to extract. Monthly articles are in .pgn format (from May 2000, previously in .txt format) whilst games for downloading are in .pgn format (or .cbv occasionally).

Contributions (preferably one or two annotated games), suggestions for articles and comments to improve this site are welcome: mail me!

	SCCA Magazine
	The SCCA magazine is published quarterly and consists of 24xA4 pages packed with correspondence chess news, articles, reviews and games.
	SCCA members receive the magazine as part of their annual subscription (£8). This entitles them to download pdf files (the e-mags) from a secure area of the SCCA website.
	If you prefer to receive a printed copy of the magazine, an extra £5 per annum covers print costs and UK postage and you get the four issues mailed directly to you.
	The SCCA magazine is unbeatable value! You can try a complimentary copy by contacting the membership secretary.

NEWS AND NOTICES *

Kenilworth Chess Club (KCC) Individuals and Teams (October 25).

1. In the Leamington League (Division 1) Kenilworth A, so far unbeaten, currently lead the table with Kenilworth B just behind in second but having played more matches. Banbury A are in 3^rd..

More details on the above evens as well as updates on KCC matters, can be found at http://kenilworthchess.blogspot.com

2. Ben Graff will return soon to writing for the well-known magazine CHESS-his article last month describing a meeting with the legendary American (originally Syrian) GM Yasser Seirawan entitled “A Life in Chess”. This GM, previously a World Junior Champion and 4-times winner of the USA Championship, is now an important and well-known commentator at Saint Louis (and other) chess events.

(My article “Don’t Like Licking Stamps” which featured two annotated games showing two strong recent over-the-board British Champions being bested when facing Correspondence Chess specialists appeared the previous month in CHESS).

This article, and Ben Graff’s numerous and very readable articles on a wide range of topics, may be obtained in paper or pdf format via http://chess.co.uk

The move of the London Chess Centre, the publisher of CHESS, from their long-time residence at Baker Street to Great Portland Street has now been completed (and visited!).

CHESS magazine, which has been published in paper format since 1935, in now also offered via the Forward Chess App.

Local Players (September 24/October 25).

(a) Bruce Baer (KCC) finished 3-4^th in the Leamington Open; David Cebella Ruiz (Warwick University) finished 2-3^rd in the Milton Keynes Rapid; Mark Page (KCC) finished in a share of 2-8^th place in the English Seniors, and David Ireland (KCC and Coventry) won the U-2000 PM event at the English Championships.

(b) Keith Escott Memorial Correspondence Event.(now concluded)

The event has just been completed. CCM K. E. Jones wins with 9.5 points and second is CCM S. Hooker on 9 points both players securing an SIM (Senior International Master) norm-in the latter case another norm and hence SIM title has been obtained and confirmed by the ICCF. Untitled M. Bowley, CCM M. Schirmer, CCM J. Smith, CCE R.C. Rosales, and CCM R. Rozanski, in equal third all scored 8.5 points and an IM norm.

The one remaining game mentioned last month has now been completed to conclude this event. With an impressive win in a long game LGM Williamson defeats CCM Graham to share 7^th place.

Keith Escott was the Captain of the Warwickshire Correspondence chess team which won the prestigious Ward-Higgs event several times, editor of the famous magazine CHESS and did much for both otb and correspondence chess locally and nationally. It is pleasing that this Memorial, contrary to many other recent events, had a number of decisive games and that several players have achieved title norms.

Some details of Peter’s enormous impact on both over-the-board and Correspondence Chess are detailed in the Recent Archive section of this web site (Section 2-article for August-September 2023 inclusive of two annotated games). All games have now been completed in both sections with the following results

Section A- CCM P. Campani wins with the excellent score of 10/14 including many wins and no losses. CCE T. Spanton finishes second on 9.5. The section was suddenly ended and slightly marred by Fajardo and Swindells exceeding the time limit in many games.

Section B- H. Lopez is confirmed as winner with a score of 9.5/14 and J. Hall as runner-up on 9 points. M. Quirk (who won the last game to finish) and J. M. Verneulen finish in third equal on 8.5 points.

English Federation for Correspondence Chess (October 25).

The EFCC, and the England Correspondence team as well as some Individual players have produced some excellent results recently and furthered the promotion of this form of the game

(a) The William Mason 2026 Championship event has returned to one of significant strength with entrants including no less than 8 International Master or Senior International Masters.

(b) 3 players, John Pugh, Ian Pheby and Richard Hall, all earlier opponents of mine have reached the Candidates section of the World Correspondence Championship.

(d) EFCC has organised 3 Computer Free Events.

IM Chris Shepherd. As well as being a strong Correspondence player with ratings above 2500 for about 20 years from 1990, Chris was also a good otb player taking part in local Brimingham and Warwickshire individual and team events with some notable successes.

Entrant to this remarkably strong event include one Grandmaster, six Senior International Masters, seven International Master. and a single highly rated CCM. .

Current positions in the Chris Shepherd Memorial are SIM Horodyski on 5.5, next are SIM Backes, IM Lockwood and IM Rizzo on 3.5 points. One noteworthy early result was SIM Horodyskyi drawing with IM Lockwood-Gavin was 3 pawns down for much of the game!

Next main update due on or about November 25 2026.

(minor updates may occur during each month)