It's Only Me! : Remembering Tony Miles (23-iv-1955 12-xi-2001)

[John Upham]

It's Only Me! : Remembering Tony Miles (23-iv-1955 12-xi-2001)

https://britishchessnews.com/2020/11/12 ... 2-xi-2001/

The 1974 World Junior Chess Champion is Anthony John Miles (England), a 19-year old student at Sheffield University. Tony won the title in Manila with a round to spare. A full report, with games by Bernard Cafferty - who was Miles' second - will appear in our October issue.

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[Gerard Killoran]

From the archives of the Yorkshire Chess Association:



[Event "Hull Open"] [Site "Hull"] [Date "1980.09.26"] [Round "1"] [White "Robinson, S."] [Black "Miles, A. J."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E46"] [Opening "Nimzo-Indian: Simagin variation"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Ne2 d5 6. a3 Bd6 7. Ng3 c6 8. Bd3 e5 9. dxe5 Bxe5 10. Qc2 Be6 11. Nce2 Nbd7 12. f4 dxc4 13. Bxc4 Bxc4 14. Qxc4 Bc7 15. e4 Bb6 16. e5 Ng4 17. Ne4 Ndxe5 18. fxe5 Nxe5 19. Qb3 Nd3+ 20. Kf1 Re8 21. Bg5 Qd7 22. N4g3 Rxe2 {Yorkshire Chess Association Bulletin December 1980} 0-1

Error - colours reversed. Tony Miles played White of course.

[Event "Hull Open"] [Site "Hull"] [Date "1980.09.27"] [Round "2"] [White "Miles, A. J."] [Black "Slinger, A."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A80"] [Opening "Dutch: 2.Bg5 variation"] 1. d4 f5 2. Bg5 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. h4 h6 5. Bf4 Bg7 6. Nf3 Nf6 7. Ne5 Nh5 8. Nxg6 Nxf4 9. Nxf4 e6 10. e4 fxe4 11. Qh5+ {Yorkshire Chess Association Bulletin December 1980} 1-0

[Event "Hull Open"] [Site "Hull"] [Date "1980.09.27"] [Round "3"] [White "Longthorp, C."] [Black "Miles, A. J."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B40"] [Opening "Sicilian defence"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c3 d5 4. e5 d4 5. Bb5+ Bd7 6. Bxd7+ Qxd7 7. d3 Nc6 8. O-O Nge7 9. c4 Ng6 10. Re1 Be7 11. Nbd2 h5 12. a3 h4 13. b4 Rh5 14. bxc5 Rf5 15. Ne4 Ncxe5 16. Nxe5 Nxe5 17. Bg5 h3 18. Bxe7 Kxe7 19. Ng3 Rg5 20. Qd2 f6 21. f4 Rxg3 22. hxg3 h2+ 23. Kh1 Ng4 24. Rab1 Rh8 25. Qe2 f5 26. Qf3 Kf6 27. Re2 Ne3 28. Rxe3 dxe3 29. Qxe3 Rh6 30. Qe5+ Kg6 31. d4 Kh7 32. d5 Rg6 33. Re1 exd5 34. cxd5 Rxg3 35. Qe6 Qd8 36. Qxf5+ Kh6 37. Re6+ g6 38. Qf6 Qxf6 39. Rxf6 Rxa3 40. d6 Rd3 41. Rf7 b6 42. cxb6 axb6 43. d7 b5 44. Kxh2 b4 45. d8=Q Rxd8 46. Rb7 Rd4 47. Kg3 Rd3+ 48. Kf2 b3 49. g4 Rc3 50. Ke2 Rg3 51. g5+ Kh5 52. Kf2 Rc3 53. Rb6 Rh3 54. Kg2 Rd3 55. Kf2 Rc3 56. Ke2 Rh3 57. Kf2 Kg4 58. Rb4 Rf3+ 59. Kg2 Re3 60. Kf2 Rc3 61. Ke2 Rh3 62. Kf2 Rd3 63. Ke2 Rc3 64. Kf2 Rc2+ 65. Ke3 b2 66. Kd3 Rf2 67. Ke3 Rf3+ 68. Ke2 Rh3 69. Kf2 Rh1 {Yorkshire Chess Association Bulletin December 1980} 0-1

[Event "Yorkshire Open Congress"] [Site "Harrogate"] [Date "1981.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Howell, James"] [Black "Miles, A. J."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B22"] [Opening "Sicilian: Alapin (...d5 exd5...Qxd5)"] 1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. d4 e6 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O cxd4 8. cxd4 Qd6 9. Nc3 Be7 10. Be3 O-O 11. Rc1 b6 12. Nb5 Qd7 13. Ne5 Nxe5 14. dxe5 Nd5 15. Qe2 Bb7 16. Rfd1 Rfc8 17. Rxc8+ Qxc8 18. Be4 Qb8 19. Bc1 g6 20. Bf3 a6 21. Nd4 Qc7 22. Bh6 Rc8 23. Bxd5 Bxd5 24. Qxa6 Bc4 25. Qa4 Qxe5 26. Nc6 Qc5 27. Nxe7+ Qxe7 28. Rc1 Qh4 29. Be3 b5 30. Qb4 Rd8 31. h3 Qh5 32. b3 Be2 {Yorkshire Chess Association Bulletin June 1981} 1/2-1/2


[Event "Bridlington Open"] [Site "Bridlington"] [Date "1982.06.20"] [Round "?"] [White "Jones, B. A."] [Black "Miles, A. J."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A46"] [Opening "Queen's pawn (plus KID, Old Indian, Philidor, KP Nimzovich)"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bf4 g6 4. h3 Bg7 5. Nbd2 O-O 6. e4 Nc6 7. Bh2 Nd7 8. c3 e5 9. dxe5 Ndxe5 10. Nxe5 Bxe5 11. Bxe5 Nxe5 12. Qc2 Re8 13. O-O-O Qf6 14. f3 Be6 15. Kb1 Rad8 16. Be2 Qg5 17. g4 Qf4 18. Ka1 d5 19. Rdf1 d4 20. cxd4 Nc6 21. d5 Bxd5 22. exd5 Nd4 23. Qc4 b5 24. Qc5 Rxe2 25. Ne4 Nc2+ 26. Kb1 Ne3 27. Qe7 Rf8 28. Nf6+ Kg7 29. Ne8+ Rxe8 30. Qxe8 Rxb2+ 31. Kxb2 Qb4+ 32. Kc1 Qc3+ 33. Kb1 Nc4 {Yorkshire Chess Association Bulletin September 1982} 0-1

[Joseph Conlon]

Are the colours the right way round in game 2? Otherwise it's three blacks in a row and 'interesting' play from someone who beat Karpov.

[Thomas Rendle]

I've lost my fair share of bad Dutch games, but ouch!

Tony would definitely have been White there.

[Roger de Coverly]

Are the colours the right way round in game 2? Otherwise it's three blacks in a row and 'interesting' play from someone who beat Karpov.

Searching the database of recorded games fails to find a single example of 1. d4 f5 with Tony as Black. He would use the 1. d4 f5 2. Bg5 idea from time to time.

[Jonathan Rogers]

The first game is nice. I wonder whether White might have played 23 Kxe2 rather than just resigning, had he played a lesser mortal. Sure Black is winning but I cannot do better than 23...Re8+ 24 Kf1 Qd4 25 Qc2 Nf2 and I think that many would have played it out.

[Eric Gardiner]

Are the colours the right way round in game 2? Otherwise it's three blacks in a row and 'interesting' play from someone who beat Karpov.

I was also surprised to see this result. I've known Tony (Slinger) for some years and I'm sure he would have told everyone if he'd once beaten Tony Miles in 11 moves! The Longthorp game is notable locally however for a draw offer from Miles being declined. Both games can be found here with annotations for the second (btw the webpage is old but I hope the link is still safe):

https://www.angelfire.com/hi/hdcachess/17cong.html

[Kevin Thurlow]

"Are the colours the right way round in game 2? Otherwise it's three blacks in a row and 'interesting' play from someone who beat Karpov."

John Lawson did odd pairings sometimes... But I agree that Tony must be white!

[Nick Ivell]

Impossible to imagine Tony playing as badly as that.

[Gerard Killoran]

Next time I'll add, 'Spot the deliberate mistake!'

[Event "Hull Open"] [Site "Hull"] [Date "1980.09.27"] [Round "2"] [White "Miles, A. J."] [Black "Slinger, A."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A80"] [Opening "Dutch: 2.Bg5 variation"] 1. d4 f5 2. Bg5 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. h4 h6 5. Bf4 Bg7 6. Nf3 Nf6 7. Ne5 Nh5 8. Nxg6 Nxf4 9. Nxf4 e6 10. e4 fxe4 11. Qh5+ {Yorkshire Chess Association Bulletin December 1980} 1-0

[Geoff Chandler]

Is it the 'other' Tony Miles who our Tony played in Yorkshire?