Post by Brian J Denman on Aug 17, 2013 at 11:02am
A.J. Mackenzie

Former Hastings chess columnist, Arthur John Mackenzie, won the championships of Scotland, Warwickshire and Sussex, but did not become Hastings champion. He was a very well-known British player, who lived most of his life in Birmingham before spending the 18 years of his retirement in Hastings.

He was born on 5.2.1871 at Birmingham and was of Scottish descent. His father, who was a member of the Birmingham St Georges CC, taught him the game when he was young and he made his first appearance for the club in 1889. By 1892 he had become the match secretary and in 1897 he played a part in the formation of the Midlands Chess Association and the Birmingham Chess League. He was also involved in the creation of the Warwickshire Chess Association in 1900 and the British Chess Federation in 1904. He was on the executive committee of the BCF for many years and eventually became a life member. He won the Birmingham Championship several times and the Warwickshire Championship in 1931 (N.B. records of the latter competition before the Great War have been lost and he may have won the championship on other occasions in this earlier period).

He was eligible to compete in the Scottish Championship and he won this on three occasions, in 1908, 1909 and 1913. He also represented Scotland at the 1933 Folkestone Olympiad.

In 1896 he became columnist for the Birmingham Post. World War 1 put a stop to his writings, but he later resumed the articles and continued until 1949 even though he was living in Hastings from 1931.

He also enjoyed correspondence chess, though playing ‘over-the-board’ was his main interest. From 1902-03 he took part in the second ‘Womanhood’ tourney, reaching the final section where he came a creditable third out of twelve competitors (N.B. Rhoda Bowles wrote the chess column in ‘Womanhood’). He was less successful in the 1908-12 BCM correspondence tournament. There were so many entrants that the contestants were divided into fourteen preliminary sections and Mackenzie did not make it into the final section.

He competed in the British Championship in 1904, 1905, 1907-09, 1911 and 1920. He struggled at this level and his best result was in the 1920 event at Edinburgh where he scored 6/11. Another prestigious event in which he took part was the City of London (National) tournament of 1904 where he obtained the score of 6.5/16. He was also invited to play in the Hastings Premier in 1921-22, 1924-25 and 1939-40. In the first of these events he achieved his best result, scoring 4/8. He also competed in the strong tournaments at Weston-super-Mare in 1922 and 1924 as well as the Bromley Congress of 1925.

In 1931 he retired from his job as headmaster of King Edward VI School in Birmingham and moved to St Leonards (N.B. while teaching at that school he had been the chess mentor of the well-known player C H O’D Alexander) This probably gave him more time to pursue other interests like his love of music, golf and bridge. He joined the thriving Hastings Chess Club and was soon representing the club on a high board as well as playing for the combined Hastings and St Leonards team in the Sexton Cup triangular competition. The opposing teams in this contest were Brighton and Hove and the Remainder of Sussex. In 1932 he won the Sussex Championship defeating the young and promising player Charles Stacey in the final.

After his successful first season in Sussex problems arose when he not only retained his links with Warwickshire, but in some cases put his original county first. It was normal for the winner of the Sussex Championship to play on the top board for the county in the English counties’ championship. When, however, Mackenzie chose to represent Warwickshire instead of Sussex in the same competition, H J Stephenson brought a motion at the AGM of the Sussex Chess Association that entry to the county championship should only be open to players willing to represent the county. The motion was defeated, but the problem was resolved when Mackenzie decided not to enter the championship in the next season. However, another problem arose with regard to Mackenzie’s interest in two counties. He felt that, as the English counties’ championship was usually played over 20 boards, he might be able to play for Sussex in the Amboyna Shield, which was decided over 50 boards. To do this he had to play on board 21 for the Sussex team and clearly he was too strong for this. In 1932 Surrey objected to his playing on such a low board and the SCCU took their side. Mackenzie appealed unsuccessfully against their decision. However, that was not the end of the matter for he did play a number of games on board 21 in the years that followed. It would appear that it was left up to the discretion of Sussex’s opponents whether he would be allowed to play on that board. The matter was again discussed by the SCCU in 1936, but again Mackenzie’s wish was rejected.

When Mackenzie came to Sussex, the chess column in the Hastings and St Leonards Observer was largely written by John Keeble of Norwich. Keeble had been submitting chess problems to the newspaper on a regular basis since 1922 but, as time went on, he also contributed more general material to the column. There was also a more specific section of notes about the club and in his early years in Sussex Mackenzie often made contributions to this. When Keeble died in 1939, Mackenzie took over the running of the column and he continued to write the articles until 1949. Several chess columns fell by the wayside during World War II, but Mackenzie provided regular reading material for the Hastings chess players.

His widespread knowledge of the game was also useful to the Hastings CC in other ways. In 1931 he was elected on to the club committee and a particularly beneficial suggestion of his was made at the 1940 AGM that club trophies, apparatus and books should be moved to a safe part of the premises. Later in the war the club suffered bomb damage. In 1936 he had been the tournament controller for the masters’ event at the prestigious Nottingham international tournament. He was therefore a natural choice for the Hastings CC when it was seeking a controller for its first congress after the war in 1945.

Despite his extensive knowledge of the game Mackenzie was not infallible and he was responsible as arbiter for one of the most serious incidents ever involving top players. I am grateful to Bernard Cafferty for the information that he has provided about this. It was expected that the game between Alexander Alekhine and Jose Capablanca at the Nottingham Tournament (see above) would be a bitter contest and there was a need for Mackenzie to keep a careful watch on proceedings. Alas he had later to admit that at 18.00, the scheduled time for adjourning, he had busied himself with journalistic work. A result of this was that Alekhine did not seal a move at the right time as he continued to stare at his poor position. The details are involved and contentious, but when some order was restored at about 18.10, it was found that Alekhine had made a belated move on the board and suggested that the onus was now on his opponent to seal. Capablanca on the other hand maintained that this last move must be considered as an ‘open sealed move’. He was, however, persuaded by an informal committee of officials to make a sealed move, though the matter was not resolved until some days later at a special meeting of the BCF Executive Committee. They directed that the game should be continued the following day from the position after Capablanca’s sealed move. However, Alekhine resigned away from the board, perhaps in imitation of Capablanca’s resignation by messenger at the last game of their 1927 match at Buenos Aires.

Mackenzie continued to be of importance to the BCF while at Hastings and in 1935 he was appointed as British delegate to FIDE. In this capacity he was involved in the Olympiad at Warsaw in that year and the Stockholm Olympiad of 1937. He resigned from the post in 1939.

After the war he continued to maintain links with Warwickshire, but, as he was by this time in his seventies, he may not have felt like travelling long distances too often. Surprisingly in 1949 he played for Sussex on board 7 in a match rather than on board 21. This seems to suggest that by that time he had decided not to travel to county matches to play for his home county. His last article in the Hastings and St Leonards Observer was written at the end of April 1949 and he died on the 21st August of that year at the age of 78.

In his long chess career spanning 60 years he played many good games and I enclose a selection below:

Taylor,WR – Mackenzie,AJ [C22]

Competition at St George’s CC, Birmingham, 1893

1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4 Nc6 4.Qe3 d6 5.Be2 Nf6 6.Bd2 g6 7.Nc3 Bg7 8.Nd5 0–0 9.Qf3 Be6 10.0–0–0 Re8 11.Bc3 Nh5 12.g4 Bxc3 13.Qxc3 Bxd5 14.exd5 Nf4 15.Bb5 a6 16.Bxc6 bxc6 17.dxc6 Qg5 18.Qd2 Rab8 19.f3 Rb6 20.h4 ‘And Black either mates in five, or gains the White Queen.’ (N.B. 20…Nd3+ results in a oretty win) Source: Cheltenham Examiner of 12.4.1893. The Black player is listed as A J Mackenzie ‘jun.’ and this is likely to have been the A J Mackenzie, who later won the Sussex Championship. The competition at the St George’s CC in Birmingham is said to have been a ‘recent’ one. 0–1

Mackenzie,AJ – Muller,OC [D52]

City of London (National) Tournament (4), 28.07.1904

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.e3 c6 6.Nf3 Qa5 7.Qb3 Ne4 8.Bf4 Bb4 9.Rc1 Ndf6 10.Ne5 0–0 11.Bd3 h6 12.f3 Nd6 13.c5 Nf5 14.g4 g5 15.gxf5 gxf4 16.Rg1+ Kh8 17.Qc2 Qc7 18.Qf2 exf5 19.Qh4 Ng8 20.Rc2 Kh7 21.Qg4 f6 22.Nd7 Qxd7 23.Bxf5+ Sources: The Field of 30.7.1904,Times Literary Supplement of 5.8.1904, Illustrated London News of 13.8.1904, Brighton & Hove Society of 27.8.1904, British Chess Magazine of September 1904, ‘Chess Tournaments and Matches 1904’ – A J Gillam – The Chess Player (1999), and the Big Database 2003. 1–0

Tattersall,CEC – Mackenzie,AJ [C65]

British Championship at Hastings (6), 29.08.1904

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 d6 5.c3 Bd7 6.Ba4 g6 7.Nbd2 Bg7 8.Nf1 0–0 9.h3 d5 10.Qe2 dxe4 11.dxe4 Nd4 12.cxd4 Bxa4 13.b3 exd4 14.Bg5 d3 15.Qe3 Re8 16.bxa4 Rxe4 17.Qxe4 Nxe4 18.Bxd8 Bxa1 19.Bxc7 Rc8 20.Bf4 Rc2 21.Ng3 Bc3+ 22.Kf1 Bd2 23.Bxd2 Nxd2+ 24.Ke1 Nc4 25.Kd1 Nb2+ 26.Ke1 Nc4 27.Kd1 Rxa2 28.Ne2 dxe2+ 29.Ke1 Ra1+ 30.Kxe2 Rxh1 Sources: Birmingham Daily Post of 30.8.1904, The Field of 3.9.1904, Hastings and St Leonards Observer of 3.9.1904, West Sussex County Times and Standard of 10.9.1904, British Chess Magazine of October 1904, A J Gillam ‘Chess Tournaments and Matches 1904’ – The Chess Player (1999), and BritBase. The West Sussex County Times and Standard makes the mistake of having Mackenzie as White. 0–1

Mackenzie,AJ – Atkins,HE [D55]

British Championship, Crystal Palace (1), 12.08.1907

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Bf4 e6 4.e3 Bd6 5.Bg5 Be7 6.c4 Ne4 7.Bxe7 Qxe7 8.Nc3 0–0 9.Bd3 Nxc3 10.bxc3 dxc4 11.Bxc4 Nd7 12.0–0 e5 13.Qe2 c5 14.e4 Kh8 15.d5 Qd6 16.Nd2 f6 17.a4 g5 18.g4 Rg8 19.Bb3 Nf8 20.Nc4 Qd7 21.Ne3 Ng6 22.a5 Nf4 23.Qc4 Qd6 24.Ba4 h5 25.f3 Rg7 26.Kh1 Rh7 27.Ra2 hxg4 28.fxg4 Rb8 29.Rf3 Rh4 30.Rg3 b5 31.Bxb5 a6 32.Ba4 Rb1+ 33.Rg1 Rxg1+ 34.Kxg1 Bxg4 35.Rb2 Nh3+ 36.Kg2 Nf4+ 37.Kg1 Nh3+ 38.Kg2 Nf4+ 39.Kg1 Nh3+ 40.Kf1 Bc8 41.Rb6 Rf4+ 42.Ke1 Qc7 43.d6 Qh7 44.Rb8 Qh4+ 45.Kd1 Sources: The Field of 17.8.1907, Illustrated London News of 14.9.1907, British Chess Magazine of November 1907, and ‘The Year-Book of Chess, 1908.’ – E A Michell – London (1908). All of these versions except The Field end the game after White’s 45th move. The Field leaves out the moves from White’s 38th move to Black’s 39th move and thus omits the repetition of moves. It ends the game after White’s 43rd move (two moves on each side having been cut out). It appears that neither side sought to claim a draw when the repetition occurred. 1–0

Blackburne,JH – Mackenzie,AJ [C45]

22 board simul at the Birmingham CC, 12.10.1909

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.Bd3 d5 7.Qe2 Be7 8.e5 Nd7 9.f4 Nc5 10.0–0 Nxd3 11.cxd3 g6 12.Nc3 Be6 13.d4 c5 14.Be3 cxd4 15.Bxd4 c5 16.Bf2 Qd7 17.h3 0–0 18.Rfd1 Qc6 19.Qf3 Rad8 20.b3 f6 21.exf6 Bxf6 22.Rac1 a5 23.Na4 c4 24.Rxc4 dxc4 25.Qxc6 Rxd1+ 26.Kh2 Bd5 27.Qb6 c3 28.Qc5 Rd2 29.h4 c2 30.Be3 Rxg2+ 31.Kh3 Rd8 32.Nb6 Bb7 33.Qc7 Bf3 34.Qc4+ Kh8 35.Bc1 Bb7 36.Qf7 ‘Mate in two’. Source: Birmingham Daily Post of 19.10.1909. 0–1

Westbury,EE – Mackenzie,AJ [C33]

Selly Oak v Brimingham YMCA board 1, 21.11.1910

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 d5 4.Bxd5 Qh4+ 5.Kf1 g5 6.d4 Bg7 7.Nf3 Qh5 8.h4 h6 9.Nc3 Ne7 10.Qd3 Nbc6 11.Nb5 0–0 12.Nxc7 Nb4 13.Qb3 Nbxd5 14.exd5 Nf5 15.Nxa8 Ng3+ 16.Kg1 Bxd4+ 17.Kh2 Bg4 18.Bxf4 gxf4 19.Rhe1 Bxf3 20.gxf3 Qxh4+ 21.Kg2 Nf1 22.Kxf1 Qf2# Taken from the Birmingham Daily Post of 22.11.1910. Also published in the Daily News (London) of 26.11.1910 and the Cheltenham Examiner of 8.12.1910, but in both of these versions the score ends after Black’s 21st move. The game was played in Division 1 of the Birmingham League and the venue was the Selly Oak Restaurant. 0–1

Griffith,RC – Mackenzie,AJ [C86]

Hampstead v Birmingham at Birmingham, 11.11.1911

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Qe2 d6 7.Bxc6+ bxc6 8.d4 exd4 9.Nxd4 Bd7 10.b3 0–0 11.Bb2 c5 12.Nf3 Ng4 13.h3 Bf6 14.c3 Ne5 15.Nxe5 Bxe5 16.f4 Bb5 17.c4 Bxb2 18.Qxb2 Bc6 19.Nd2 Qh4 20.Kh2 Rae8 21.g3 Qh5 22.Rae1 f5 23.e5 dxe5 24.Rxe5 Qe2+ 25.Rxe2 Rxe2+ 26.Rf2 Rxf2+ 27.Kg1 Rg2+ 28.Kf1 Rd8 29.Qe5 Ba8 30.Qe6+ Kh8 31.Qxf5 Rgxd2 32.Qxc5 Rxa2 33.Ke1 Bf3 Sources: Yorkshire Post, Cheltenham Examiner of 23.11.1911, ‘The Chess Amateur’ of December 1911 and February 1912, and Hastings and St Leonards Observer of 6.3.1965. Played on board 2. 0–1

Oskam,GCA – Mackenzie,AJ [C33}
]
Hastings Victory Congress Minor (2), 12.08.1919

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 d5 4.Bxd5 Qh4+ 5.Kf1 g5 6.d4 Bg7 7.Nf3 Qh5 8.h4 h6 9.Kg1 Qg6 10.hxg5 hxg5 11.Rxh8 Bxh8 12.g3 Ne7 13.Nc3 Nbc6 14.Nb5 Bg4 15.c3 0–0–0 16.Bc4 a6 17.Na3 Nxd4 18.cxd4 Bxd4+ 19.Qxd4 Rxd4 20.Nxd4 c5 21.Be2 Bxe2 22.Nxe2 Qxe4 23.Kf2 fxg3+ 24.Nxg3 Qd4+ 25.Kg2 Ng6 26.Nc2 Nh4+ 27.Kh3 Qd7+ 28.Kh2 f5 29.Ne1 f4 Taken from ‘Victory Tournament Hastings 1919’ – A J Gillam – The Chess Player (1995), and the Big Database 2003. Also published in the Essex Times of 13.9.1919, where White’s 29th move is given as Nh5. As in the game given, White resigned after 29…f4. 0–1

Mackenzie,AJ – Yates,FD [D61}
]
Hastings Premier Hastings (6), 30.12.1921

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 a6 6.Nf3 0–0 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.0–0 c6 10.Qc2 Re8 11.Rfe1 g6 12.Re2 Ne4 13.Bh6 f5 14.Ne5 Bg5 15.Bxg5 Qxg5 16.f4 Qe7 17.Kh1 Ndf6 18.g3 Be6 19.Rg1 c5 20.Reg2 c4 21.Be2 b5 22.Nxe4 dxe4 23.g4 Rec8 24.Qc1 Ra7 25.Qe1 Rac7 26.Qh4 Ne8 27.Qh3 Ng7 28.gxf5 Bxf5 29.Bg4 Qf6 30.Qh6 Rf8 31.Rg3 Bxg4 32.Rxg4 Nf5 33.Qh3 Rg7 34.Rg5 Qe6 35.Ng4 Kh8 36.Ne5 Kg8 37.Ng4 Kh8 38.Ne5 Rf6 39.Ng4 Rf8 40.Ne5 Nxd4? 41.R1g4! Kg8 42.exd4 Rxf4 43.Qe3 Rf1+ 44.Kg2 Rb1 45.Qxe4 Rxb2+ 46.Kg3 Qe8 47.Qd5+ Kh8 48.Re4 Qf8 49.Rf4 Qe8 50.Qd6 Kg8 51.Qd5+ Kh8 52.Qc5 Kg8 53.Nf3 h6 54.Re5 Qd8 55.Qc6 Kh7 56.Re8 Qc7 57.Qa8 g5 58.Qe4+ Rg6 59.Re7+ Kh8 60.Rxc7 Sources: Hastings and St Leonards Observer of 7.1.1922, ‘English Tournaments 1920–22 Bromley 1920 Hastings 1920–21 Broadstairs 1921 Hastings 1921–22 Weston-super-Mare 1922 North of England Championship 1921’ – A J Gillam – The Chess Player (1997), and BritBase. 1–0

Mackenzie,AJ – Kostic,B [D58]

Weston-super-Mare Congress Major Open (8), 20.04.1922

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.Bg5 Bb7 5.e3 h6 6.Bh4 Be7 7.Nc3 0–0 8.Bd3 d5 9.cxd5 exd5 10.0–0 Nbd7 11.Qe2 a6 12.Rac1 Ne4 13.Bg3 c5 14.Rfd1 Nxc3 15.bxc3 c4 16.Bb1 Ba3 17.Qc2 Nf6 18.Bh4 g5 19.Nxg5 hxg5 20.Bxg5 Re8 21.Qf5 Re6 22.Qh3 Qd6 23.Bf5 Bxc1 24.Qh6 Qf8 25.Qh3 Qg7 26.Bh6 Rxe3 27.fxe3 Bxe3+ 28.Bxe3 Ne4 29.Bh6 Qf6 30.Rf1 Sources: The Field of 20.5.1922, Cheltenham Chronicle of 22.7.1922, The Morning Post, ‘British Chess Masters Past and Present’ – Reinfeld – G Bell and Sons Ltd, London (1947), ‘English Tournaments 1920–22 Bromley 1920 Hastings 1920–21 Broadstairs 1921 Hastings 1921–22 Weston-super-Mare 1922 North of England Championship 1921’ – A J Gillam – The Chess Player (1997), and the Big Database 2003. 1–0

Colle,E – Mackenzie,AJ [D12]

Hastings Premier 1924-25 Section 2 (2), 29.12.1924

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 Bf5 4.c4 c6 5.Bd3 Bxd3 6.Qxd3 e6 7.Nc3 Nbd7 8.0–0 Bd6 9.e4 dxe4 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.Qxe4 Nf6 12.Qc2 h6 13.Bd2 0–0 14.Rad1 Qc7 15.Bc3 Rad8 16.h3 Rfe8 17.Rfe1 Nd7 18.Qe4 Be7 19.Nd2 Bf6 20.Qf3 c5 21.dxc5 Bxc3 22.Qxc3 Nxc5 23.Nf3 Qf4 24.Qc2 Rxd1 25.Rxd1 e5 26.b4 Ne6 27.Re1 Nd4 28.Nxd4 Qxd4 29.Rd1 Qb6 30.Qd2 Re7 31.c5 Qc7 32.Qd5 Kf8 33.b5 Ke8 34.a4 Rd7 35.Qxd7+ Qxd7 36.Rxd7 Kxd7 37.a5 Kc7 38.Kf1 a6 39.c6 axb5 Sources: ‘Hastings 1924/5 Bromley 1925 Scarborough 1925 London Triangular 1925’ – A J Gillam – The Chess Player (1995), and BritBase. 0–1

Mackenzie,AJ – Blake,JH [E16]

Birmingham v Metropolitan board 3, 24.03.1928

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Qe7 7.a3 Bxd2+ 8.Nbxd2 d6 9.Qc2 Nbd7 10.0–0 c5 11.e4 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Rc8 13.Nb5 a6 14.e5 Bxg2 15.Nxd6+ Qxd6 16.exd6 Bxf1 17.Rxf1 0–0 18.Ne4 Rfd8 19.Nxf6+ Nxf6 20.Rd1 a5 21.b4 axb4 22.axb4 Nd7 23.f4 Rc6 24.Rd4 e5 25.Qe4 exd4 26.Qxc6 d3 27.Kf2 Nf6 28.Ke3 d2 29.Ke2 g6 30.Qxb6 Sources: ‘The Chess Amateur’ of May 1928 and the Chatham Standard of 14.9.1949. Played in London. Both articles wrongly list the Black player as P F Blake. 1–0

Stacey,CH – Mackenzie,AJ [D94]

Sussex Championship final, 03.09.1932

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Nf3 0–0 5.e3 d5 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 a6 8.a3 b5 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.0–0 Nbd7 11.b4 Nh5 12.Be4 c6 13.Bb2 f5 14.Qb3+ Kh8 15.Bd3 e5 16.dxe5 c5 17.Be2 c4 18.Qc2 Nxe5 19.Nxe5 Bxe5 20.Nxb5! axb5 21.Bxe5+ Kg8 22.Qc3 Qg5 23.g3 f4 24.Bxh5 Qxh5 25.exf4 Rad8 26.g4 Qxg4+ 27.Qg3 Qh5 28.Rae1 Rd3 29.Re3 Rfd8 30.Qg5 Qxg5+ 31.fxg5 Rxe3 32.fxe3 Rd3 33.Bd4 Rxa3 34.Ra1 Rxa1+ 35.Bxa1 Kf7 36.Kf2 Ke6 37.Kg3 Kf5 38.Bf6 Ke4 39.Kf2 Kd3 40.Ke1 Bf3 41.e4 c3 42.Be5 Kc2 43.Bf6 Bxe4 44.Ke2 Kb3 45.Be7 Ka2 46.Kd1 Kb1 Source: Hastings and St Leonards Observer of 17.9.1932. 0–1

Mackenzie,AJ – Winser,WA [B08]

Hastings CC Keeble Cup, 1934

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bf4 Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 Nc6 8.Bb5 0–0 9.0–0–0 Nd7 10.Be3 e5 11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.g4 Qb8 13.d5 c5 14.h4 Qb4 15.h5 Rab8 16.g5 Qxb2+ 17.Kd2 Rfd8 18.hxg6 fxg6 19.Rxh7! Nf8 20.Rxg7+ Kxg7 21.Qf6+ Kg8 22.Rh1 Source: Hastings and St Leonards Observer of 10.7.1976. 1–0

I should like to thank Ray Collett, Julie Johnson and Bernard Cafferty for their help with this article. I am also grateful to Tim Harding for the information provided about correspondence chess in his excellent book ‘Correspondence Chess in Britain and Ireland, 1824-1987’ – McFarland and Co. (2011).

Brian Denman 17.8.2013