J. Penrose: A 10-Time Champion: PREVIEW

Chapter 1 

1958

By the time of the 1958 British Championship the name Jonathan Penrose was well known. He first came to national attention when he won the British Boys Championship aged 14 and became London’s Chess Champion two years later. He then came to international attention when he represented England at the 1952 Helsinki Olympiad at the age of 19, he would go on to participate in nine more Olympiads until 1974, winning two individual silver medals. Penrose’s Olympiad career coincided with the Soviet era of dominance; the USSR won 12 Olympiads in a row, a record which no other nation has ever been able to challenge.

 His stock continued to rise when he scored an impressive 5½ out of 9 at the Hastings International tournament, winning him first place alongside Canadian Dan Yanofsky, fellow Englishman Harry Golombek (more on him later), and Spanish International Master Antonio Medina García.

Penrose began his search for the British Championship in 1949. He, alongside his older brother lost their opening games but both recovered to finish with respectable scores. 1950 would see Jonathan finish in 3rd place, a point off 1st place Reginald Broadbent. Oliver, on the other hand, would end the tournament in 27th place, three points behind his younger brother. Jonathan would play in 1952 before both brothers would take a break from the Championship until Jonathan returned in 1955 and 1957.

David Brine Pritchard – Jonathan Penrose

1958 British Championship Round 1

Our protagonist is now playing in his sixth British Championship, he is now 24 years old and is one of the nation’s leading players. His opponent on the other hand is a bit less known. David Pritchard published his first book in 1950 titled ‘The Right Way to Play Chess’, he then went on to serve in the RAF in East Asia. Upon arrival back in England, Pritchard went on to become a chess writer but also had a fond liking for other board games including Go and Shogi. Pritchard also holds the unusual achievement of participating in the national chess championship of three nations. He played in, and won, the national chess championships of Singapore and Malaysia.

1.e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 3. g3 b5 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. d3 e6 6. Nf3

At the time of this match, the Closed Sicilian was somewhat of a rarity as many e4 players preferred the complications of the Open variations. The position from the diagram has featured in many top grandmaster games, most notably, Nigel Short has played this position from the white side twice, against Garry Kasparov and Lev Polugaevsky, respectively.

6…d6 7. Be3 Nf6 8. O-O Nbd7 9. Nh4 b4 10. Na4 Qa5 11. b3 d5 12. exd5 Nxd5

‘A knight on rim is dim’, is perhaps one of the most common sayings in chess. Pritchard’s knight on a4 has only the b2 square to enter the game, from which it will arrive on c4 and potentially e5. The knight on h4 has a much more aggressive purpose, by loitering outside the Black castle, it can support a pawn arriving on f5 and participate in at attack against the Black King.

13. Qe2 Be7 14. Rae1 O-O

14…Bxh4 was another possibility, doubling the white pawns and creating future weaknesses on the h-file.

15. Bd2 Bf6 16. Be4 Rfe8 17. f4 Bd4+ 18. Kh1 N7f6 19. Bg2 e5 20. fxe5 Bxe5

Pritchard has a position with many pieces left on the board and winning chances for both sides. The recapture of 20…Bxe5 is deemed inaccurate by the engine but Penrose still has a slight edge.

21. Rxf6 gxf6

The rook sacrifices itself in an attempt to use brute force to open the black king. Pritchard believed that after 21…gxf6 he would have a winning attack, he was correct in his evaluation but missed a key defensive resource. The move 21...Nxf6 was dismissed by Penrose, most likely because of the pin on his Bishop, however the bishop isn’t really capturable. 22. Bxb7 would lead to 22. Bxg3 hitting both the queen and rook.

We would enter a position where white would have three pieces for a queen but black has an extra pawn. The white knight on a4 would be sidelined, this would be made more apparent after black forces a rook trade or takes the e-file.

22. Qh5

22.Be4 was the right follow up giving a winning advantage for white. Black’s best move would be 22…Qc7 which would lead to a line ending in Prichard winning back the lost material. 23.Qg4+ Kf8 24. Bh6+ Ke7 25. Qf3 and whichever way Black defends his knight, 26. Nf5+ would force black to either relinquish defence of the knight or allow a fork on g7.

22...Qc7 23. Nf5 Ne7 24. Nh6+ Kg7 25. Qxf7+ Kh8 26. Bxb7 Qxb7+ 27. Re4 Qd5

Pritchard is gifted yet another winning advantage. 27…Qd5 walks right into Knight to b6.

 28. Qh5 Bc7 29. Qxd5 Nxd5 30. Nxc5 Rxe4 31. dxe4 Nc3 32. a4 Kg7

The final blunder. The King absent-mindedly strolls into the line of fire costing Penrose the bishop and the game.

 33. Ne6+ Kg6 34. Nxc7 Rd8 35. Bxc3 bxc3 36. Nf5 Rd2 37. Ne3 Re2 38. Ncd5 h5 39. b4

The remainder of this game is a formality as Pritchard picks up the remnants of Penrose’s army and marches his b pawn down the board. I am aware that white has just missed 39. Nf4+ winning a rook, but I’m going to put this down to time trouble

Kf7 40. b5 axb5 41. axb5 Kg7 42. b6 Re1+ 43. Kg2 Rb1 44. Nf5+ Kf7

This endgame is a great example of two knights combining together to dominate a rook.

45. b7 Rb2 46. Nxc3 Rxc2+ 47. Kh3 Rb2 48. Nb5

1-0

Black is unable to capture the b5 knight due to yet another knight fork with Nd6. After a messy encounter Penrose resigns and is left to rue his missed chances.

Leonard Barden and Peter Hugh Clarke, two of the tournament’s top players, scored grinding victories in the first round putting Penrose on the back foot early on. His next round opponent was the experienced Thomas Wise, a player without much of a reputation but with solid tournament experience. Penrose played the Two Knights system against his Caro-Kann and found a stylish tactic to win the game in 24 moves. After a draw in round 3, Penrose scored big victories in his fourth and fifth games to leave him with 3.5/5 and within a fighting chance of challenging for the title.

 A draw against Peter Hugh Clarke in round 6 was followed up with another draw against tournament leader Leonard Barden. This left Penrose a single point off first alongside with Clarke and James Howson who sat on 4.5/7. The eighth round saw all of the leaders win barring Howson who lost to Clarke in heartbreaking fashion. Barden scored a quick win in round nine but Penrose would match his result after navigating a tricky game with the black pieces against Howson who had now lost two in a row. Clarke could only manage a draw virtually ending his chances of catching Barden.

The penultimate round 10 saw Penrose win and Barden draw cutting the gap down to half a point, Clarke was also a point off first place giving him a fighting chance of making a playoff going into the final round. Barden played black against Leonard Cafferty whilst Penrose faced David Edward Lloyd, a win would for Barden would seal the title whilst a loss could potentially lose it. He played the Sicilian against Cafferty’s e4 but was unable to create any real problems and a draw was agreed after 23 moves. Penrose now knew he had to win to force a tie-breaking playoff for first place, he ended up with an endgame where he was playing from a position of strength and he slowly pressed his opponent, forcing a resignation just before the 50-move mark.

Jonathan Penrose - Leonard William Barden

1958 British Championship Playoff Game 1/6

This is the first playoff for a British Championship since 1954 when Barden was on the winning side of a match against Alan Phillips. Going into the match there was no apparent favourite, Penrose had caught fire towards the end of the tournament with four straight wins but the playoff was being held four months after the final round. Barden, as mentioned before, had previously won a British Championship playoff and the experience could prove decisive.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 d6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 g5 7. Bg3 Nh5 8. e3 c6

Penrose played the King’s Indian regularly with the black pieces but chooses to avoid the main lines in exchange for the calmer Bg5 line. Barden still tries to create early imbalances by chasing the bishop by pushing pawns in front of his king’s future home.

9. Bd3 Nd7 10. Qc2

We have now reached a completely new position with the move 10.Qc2. Penrose is now prepared castle on the queenside whilst Barden seems to be keeping his position a bit more flexible.

10…Nb6 11. O-O-O Bg4 12. Ne2 Qd7 13. e4 Nxg3 14. hxg3 c5 15. e5 O-O-O 16. exd6 Qxd6 17. Bf5+ Bxf5 18. Qxf5+ Qe6?

A queen trade is offered by Barden. The position after 18. Qxf5+ is better for black if the move 18…e6 is played. This allows the queen a choice of capturing on c5 or f7 with all alternatives giving black a significant advantage. Taking on c5 would force a queen trade, after which White would recover his lost pawn by taking on c4 and have an appealing position with the g7 bishop seeing the entirety of the board. Taking on f7 would be met with 19…Rd7 giving the white queen one safe square on g6, in that position Barden would continue by taking on c4 and utilising the superior activity of pieces.

19. Qxe6+ fxe6 20.b3 g4 21. Ne5 Bxe5 22. dxe5 Rdf8 23. Nf4 Rf5 24. Rh4 h5

We can now fully see the effect the queen trade had on the black position. The e-pawns are sitting ducks whilst the queenside pawns will surely fall under the pressure from the white pieces. Penrose is now firmly in the driver’s seat.

25. Rdh1 Nd7 26. Rxg4 Nxe5 27. Rgh4 Kd7 28. Kd2 Kd6 29. Rxh5 Rhxh5 30. Rxh5 Ng4 31. f3 Nf6 32. Rh8 e5

33. Rd8+ Kc6 34. Nd5 Nxd5 35. Rxd5 e6 36. Rd8 Rg5 37. g4 e4 38. Ke3 exf3 39. gxf3 Re5+ 40. Kf2 b5 41. Rd2 bxc4 42. bxc4 Rg5 43. Kg3 Rg7 44. Kf4 Rf7+ 45. Ke4 e5 46. g5

1-0

Penrose takes the lead in the playoff match; the next game sees Barden play with the white pieces

Leonard Barden – Jonathan Penrose

1958  British Championship Playoff Game 2/6

1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4

Barden gambits his central pawn in an attempt to open lines and create winning chances early on.  This is now known as the Boden-Kieseritzy Gambit, it scores quite well for black at master level but it’s most definitely a usable weapon for club level players. Unfortunately, The excitement is to be short lived.

4. Nc3 Nc6 5. Nxe4 d5 6. Bd3 dxe4 7. Bxe4 Bd6 8.d4 Nxd4 9. Nxd4 exd4 10. Qxd4 O-O 11. Be3 Re8 12. O-O-O Qe7 13. Rhe1

The only moment from the game worth any real consideration. Should black capture on e4, Barden would detonate a spectacular match equalising tactic.

Utilising the weakness of the back rank and the rook being undefended white would play 14. Bh6 threatening mate on g7 and the Black queen. Should the queen move, Qxg7 and Rxe8 would both be mate.

13…Qe5

Penrose doesn’t fall for it so in this position both players had decided that no more was to be done and they agreed to a draw.

½ - ½ Draw by agreement

The next game would see Barden play a King’s Indian Defence and obtain a much better position by the middle game. Penrose would lose a pawn and have his pieces forced backwards until a slight error on move 36 allowed white to regain a pawn and escape with an equal position. A draw would be agreed on move 40.

The fourth game would be a lot less eventful as the computer evaluation hovered around the zero mark until both players traded into an endgame of opposite coloured bishop and a rook per side. Neither white nor black could come up with anything to break the deadlock leaving Penrose a win away from his first British Championship.

1958 British Championship Playoff Game 5/6

Jonathan Penrose – Leonard Barden

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 e5   7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. O-O Be7 9. f4 O-O 10. Kh1 Nd7

We leave the opening with a position unrecognisable to most 21st-century Sicilian players. The line with 7. Nxc6 has been played by many titled players but is far from popular at the top level with many opting for either Nb3 or Nf3. The 10...Nd7 has only been featured in one other game according to the Lichess database.

11. Bc4 Nb6 12. Bb3 Be6 13. f5 Bxb3 14. axb3 d5 15. Qg4 Kh8 16. Rf3 d4 17. Ne2 Nd7

Black begins taking the principled option of trading pieces and playing in the centre when faced with an attack. Unfortunately for Mr Barden he would have stumbled into a significantly worse position if Penrose found 17. Rh3!! Sacrificing the knight on c3 for a winning attack against the Black king. 

18. Rh3 g6 19. fxg6 fxg6 20. Qxg6

Chaos ensues.

20…Rf1+ 21. Ng1 Qg8 22. Qxc6 Nf6 23. Rg3 Qc8 24. Qb5 Re1 

25. Bh6

A brilliancy. Adding another piece to the attack against the Black king. The queen will also swing around to join the final phase of the game.

25... Rxa1 26. Qxe5 Bd8

White now has a forced checkmate

27. Bg7+ Kg8 28. Bxf6+ Kf7 29. Rg7+ Kf8 30. Qd6+ Ke8 31. Re7+ 

1-0

This tournament saw Jonathan Penrose fulfil the potential he showed as a child he also solidified his growing reputation as one of the strongest players in the nation. The Times wrote, “Now- he has clearly established himself as the best, and though this is the first occasion on which he has gained the title, his results in the international team tournament at Munich alone are sufficient to show he will win the championship many more times.”

It's safe to say they predicted correctly.