It was all so different in the 1970s Bobby Fischer boom years. Then England had a huge crop of talented juniors, many of whom became grandmasters and masters, but there was a desperate shortage of suitable older players to coach them.
This week, in contrast, England’s juniors have struggled to average 50% in the European Youth championships for under-18s to under-8s at Batumi, Georgia, whereas in the inaugural World Senior over-50 championship at Katenni, Greece, England has the two top seeds, John Nunn and Mark Hebden, with the European champion, Keith Arkell, also among the favourites.
Nunn, at his peak, was No9 in the world, an Olympiad gold medallist and a creative player who won some brilliant attacks. He later became a fine author on all aspects of chess – openings, endings and game collections – and won world titles at problem solving.
Hebden and Arkell were the kings of the weekend tournament circuit, whose pragmatic styles made them consistent winners. Hebden created the Grand Prix and Barry attacks, route one opening systems which dispatched weaker opponents efficiently. Arkell’s speciality is rook endgames, where his patient subtlety squeezes out points from dry positions.
Rounds eight and nine (of 11) of the World Senior can be viewed free and live online this weekend. Chessbomb.com has move-by-move computer commentaries. After five good rounds the sixth proved a disaster as Nunn and Arkell both lost. Leaders were Zurab Sturua (Georgia) 5; Nunn, Hebden and others 4.5; Arkell and others 4.
Next year could be a vintage period for England’s older GMs. Stewart Reuben, the energetic manager of senior chess, has declared that the 2015 world team event in February at Dresden is a major target while Nigel Short reaches 50 and will contend for the top prizes.
In a smooth game from an early World Senior round Nunn makes winning with a queen’s side pawn majority backed by the bishop pair look easy. Black resigns faced with Ra1 and the advance of White’s a pawn.
John Nunn v Vlad Stepovoj
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 e5 5 Nb5 a6 6 Nd6+ Bxd6 7 Qxd6 Qe7 8 Qd1 Nf6 9 Nc3 d6 10 Bg5 Be6 11 Nd5 Bxd5 12 exd5 Nb8 13 a4 h6 14 Be3 Nbd7 15 Be2 Rc8 16 a5 O-O 17 O-O Ne8 18 Ra3 f5 19 f4 Kh8 20 c4 e4 21 b4 Nef6 22 Rc3 Qf7 23 Qd2 Rc7 24 Rd1 Rfc8 25 h3 h5 26 c5 Qf8 27 c6 bxc6 28 dxc6 Rxc6 29 Rxc6 Rxc6 30 b5 axb5 31 Bxb5 Qc8 32 Bxc6 Qxc6 33 Qxd6 Qc3 34 Qd2 Qa3 35 Bd4 1-0
3382 1...g6+ 2 Kh6 Qh4+ 3 Kxg6 Rc6+ 4 Kf5 Rf6+ 5 Ke5 Qxd4 mate.
