Britbase Updates

[Richard James]

There's a mention of STK Wilkinson in the junior event - I assume he is no longer with us?

Sydney Thomas Kevin Wilkinson: birth registered Croydon Q2 1927, died in Ipswich 7 May 2020.

[Kevin Thurlow]

Thanks - I saw him a lot when living and playing in the South-East. He was clearly a devout Christian. At an Easter Congress he was heard shouting in the street approaching the venue, "Rejoice, Christ is risen!" He always had a carrier bag with him, and we found an abandoned one at the tournament. A quick look revealed an old bible within it, so I guessed it was his. He was clearly delighted to be reunited with it.

[Richard James]

DR Lester is rather elusive.

I'm pretty certain he was Denis Raymond Lester, born in Burton on Trent in 1916. His family moved to the Slough area a few years later, which is where he played chess in the late 1930s. He had a sister, Nina Eunice, whose birth was registered in Windsor in 1922, and whose death was registered in Maidenhead in 1987. His mother's death was also registered in Maidenhead in the same year.

It seems he served in the armed forces during WW2, then moved to Croydon, where he played chess in the late 1940s. His death was registered there in 1987.

[John Saunders]

DR Lester is rather elusive.

I'm pretty certain he was Denis Raymond Lester, born in Burton on Trent in 1916. His family moved to the Slough area a few years later, which is where he played chess in the late 1930s. He had a sister, Nina Eunice, whose birth was registered in Windsor in 1922, and whose death was registered in Maidenhead in 1987. His mother's death was also registered in Maidenhead in the same year.

It seems he served in the armed forces during WW2, then moved to Croydon, where he played chess in the late 1940s. His death was registered there in 1987.

Many thanks for tracking down those forenames, Richard.

I had come across references to Denis Raymond Lester but not discovered the familial info which corroborate it. One thing that had put me off the scent was that DR Lester was listed as the Hon.Sec. of Buckinghamshire County Chess Association between 1935 and 1937 when he would have been unusually young for someone filling that role. He was Bucks County Champion in 1935/36. (Info gleaned from Alan Cox's History of Buckinghamshire Chess 1932-1982) However, your corroborative evidence seems convincing. Bucks was a very new chess county, being formally founded in 1932, so perhaps it wasn't so surprising for an enthusiastic young chesser to become involved in the organisation.

I well remember Kevin Wilkinson and his ever-present plastic bag, the rustling of which used to attract angry looks from neighbouring boards in the early stages of matches.

[Mike Gunn]

Around 2010 Kevin Wilkinson was a regular in (what was then) my under 125 Surrey county team. He lived in Sutton and (particularly when we were playing Kent or Essex) I would give him a lift to matches in my car. On one occasion the 2nd passenger was also a devout Christian and these two had a discussion about God that went on for about an hour. The 3rd passenger disconnected his hearing aid and said to me afterwards: "Warn me if you give those two a lift together again and I will make my own way to the match!"

[Gerard Killoran]

Meanwhile, back to Britbase updates.

Can anyone clear up why 34... Kt-Q1 has been given. If 24... Nc4 should have been 24... Nc6 - there's still no mate in four.

[Event "BCF-ch 2nd"] [Site "Southport"] [Date "1905.08.25"] [Round "11"] [White "Michell, Reginald Pryce"] [Black "Palmer, Wilfred Charles"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B30"] [Opening "Sicilian defence"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Be3 d6 7. Be2 Nf6 8. f3 O-O 9. Qd2 a6 10. O-O-O Qa5 11. Nb3 Qc7 12. Bh6 b5 13. Bxg7 Kxg7 14. h4 Be6 15. Kb1 Rfd8 16. h5 Nb4 17. hxg6 fxg6 18. Nd4 Bc4 19. a3 Nc6 20. Bxc4 Nxd4 21. Bd5 Nc6 22. Qh6+ Kh8 23. Be6 Ne5 24. f4 Nc4 25. Rd3 Rg8 26. Nd5 Qb7 27. Bxg8 Rxg8 28. Qh4 Rf8 29. f5 gxf5 30. exf5 Rf7 31. Nf4 Rg7 32. Rg3 Rxg3 33. Qxg3 {Both Shipley Times and Express - Friday 22 December 1905 p11 and Bradford Weekly Telegraph - Friday 22 December 1905 p10 give '34... Kt-Q1 and White mates in four.'} 1-0

[Event "BCF-ch 2nd First Class B"] [Site "Southport"] [Date "1905.08.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Woollard, Joseph Alonzo"] [Black "Kelly, Thomas J."] [Result "1-0"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "6r1/3knr1q/4pB1p/1p1pP2Q/2pPp3/2P1P3/1P4RP/6RK w - - 0 1"] 1. Ra1 Rxg2 2. Ra7+ Kc6 3. Kxg2 Kb6 4. Rd7 b4 5. Rd6+ Kb5 6. Rxe6 bxc3 7. bxc3 Nc6 8. Rd6 Qg8+ 9. Kf2 Ra7 10. Qe2 Ra3 11. e6 Rxc3 12. Rxd5+ Kb4 13. Rd6 Qf8 14. e7 Nxe7 15. Ra6 Nd5 16. Qa2 Rxe3 {'White mates in 5 moves.' Bradford Weekly Telegraph - Friday 29 September 1905 p.10} 1-0

[Ian Thompson]

Meanwhile, back to Britbase updates.

Can anyone clear up why 34... Kt-Q1 has been given. If 24... Nc4 should have been 24... Nc6 - there's still no mate in four.

Maybe 34... Kt-Q1 should have been 34... Kt-K1.

If Black plays something irrelevant on his 33rd move, then 34. Ne6 Ne8 would be mate in 4. 34.... Ne8 is the only defence to 35.Qg7 mate other than giving up pieces, or giving checks, to delay things.

[Gerard Killoran]

Meanwhile, back to Britbase updates.

Can anyone clear up why 34... Kt-Q1 has been given. If 24... Nc4 should have been 24... Nc6 - there's still no mate in four.

Maybe 34... Kt-Q1 should have been 34... Kt-K1.

If Black plays something irrelevant on his 33rd move, then 34. Ne6 Ne8 would be mate in 4. 34.... Ne8 is the only defence to 35.Qg7 mate other than giving up pieces, or giving checks, to delay things.

34... Kt-K1 was what I considered, but it's mate in six at best.

[Ian Thompson]

34... Kt-K1 was what I considered, but it's mate in six at best.

34.Ne6 Ne8 allows 35.Qg6 Nd2+ 36.Ka1 Nb3+ 37.cxb3 followed by 38.Qxh7# (unless 37... Nf6 38.Qg7#)

[Matt Mackenzie]

Looks like you have deciphered it, except its 34....Ne8 not Ne1

[Ian Thompson]

Looks like you have deciphered it, except its 34....Ne8 not Ne1

Now corrected.

[Gerard Killoran]

My guess is that Black played 33...Qe4, an active move which threatens the pawn on f5, and 34. Ne6 forces ...Ne8.

[John Saunders]

Thanks for these two games, Gerard, which I have now added to the file at BritBase: https://www.saund.org.uk/britbase/pgn/1 ... iewer.html

The final move in both the newspapers was 33...Kt-Q1 (not 34). The fact that the same score error appears in both papers is not significant as it was probably syndicated (as happened with various other regional papers, e.g. chess columns in the Falkirk Herald usually turned up again unaltered two days later in the Linlithgow Gazette). There were a couple of other ambiguities in the score (which Gerard has resolved). I was wondering if Kt-Q1 was a misprint for Kt-Q4 as it means only one character was wrongly typeset and leaves White with a genuine mate in 4 starting with 34 Ne6.

The other part-game between Woollard and Kelly provided some chess interest. After 10 Qe2, in this position...

6q1/r7/2nR1B1p/1k1pP3/2pPp3/2P1P3/4QK1P/8 b - - 0 10

... Black missed a chance to turn the tables. It's far from obvious.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

The other part-game between Woollard and Kelly provided some chess interest. After 10 Qe2, in this position...

6q1/r7/2nR1B1p/1k1pP3/2pPp3/2P1P3/4QK1P/8 b - - 0 10

... Black missed a chance to turn the tables. It's far from obvious.

That is really nice. You wonder how they found combinations like that without computer assistance! Maybe I have got it wrong... I will check.

[John Saunders]

That is really nice. You wonder how they found combinations like that without computer assistance! Maybe I have got it wrong... I will check.

"They" didn't find it. If you look up-thread you can see that Kelly played Ra3 and lost. I didn't find it either - the engine flagged it up when I was checking the score. Took me a few minutes to appreciate why it was so good. I doubt whether many players of any era, ancient or modern, would find it in a real game with the clock ticking.

I won't bother giving the solution since I assume everyone here has access to silicon if they are stumped.