Jonathan Penrose
| Jonathan Penrose | |
|---|---|
 Penrose at the1960 Chess Olympiad | |
| Country | England |
| Born | 7 October 1933 Colchester,England |
| Died | 30 November 2021(aged 88) |
| Title |
|
| FIDErating | 2405(January 1980) |
| Peak rating | 2450 (July 1971) |
| ICCFrating | 2711(July 1995) |
| ICCFpeak rating | 2724 (July 1993) |
Jonathan Penrose,OBE(7 October 1933 – 30 November 2021) was an English chess player, who held the titlesGrandmaster(1993) andInternational Correspondence Chess Grandmaster(1983). He won theBritish Chess Championshipten times between 1958 and 1969.
Early years[edit]
Penrose was born inColchester.Learning the game at age four, he was a member ofHampsteadChess Club at twelve and British Boys (Under 18) Champion at just fourteen years of age. Chess was played by the entire Penrose family. His father was a composer of endgame studies and a strong player, as was his older brother Oliver.
By the age of seventeen, he was already acknowledged as a top prospect for British chess. PlayingHastingsfor the first time in 1950/51, he beat the French championNicolas Rossolimoand atSouthseain 1950, defeated bothEfim BogoljubovandSavielly Tartakower.In 1952/1953 he shared the first place at Hastings withHarry Golombek,Antonio Medina GarcíaandDaniel Yanofsky.
Playing career[edit]
Penrose earned theInternational Mastertitle in 1961 and was the leading British player for several years in the 1960s and early 1970s, surpassing the achievement ofHenry Ernest Atkinsby winning the British Championship a record number of times. He was widely considered to be ofgrandmasterstrength, but did not achieve the grandmaster title during his active playing career, despite some notable victories. This was mainly due to his choosing to remain amateur and placing his lecturing as a first priority. As a consequence, he played few international tournaments and frequently turned down invitations to prestigious tournaments such as Hastings. Nevertheless,FIDEmade him agrandmasterin 1993.[1][2]
He competed in eightChess Olympiadsbetween 1952 and 1962, then at the Olympiads of 1968 and 1970, frequently posting excellent scores, including +9−1=7 in 1962 (Varna), and +10−0=5 in 1968 (Lugano). On both of these occasions, he won an individual silver medal on first board; in 1968, his score was bettered only by theWorld Champion,Tigran Petrosian.
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At theLeipzig 1960 Olympiad,he defeated then-World ChampionMikhail Talwith the white pieces in aModern Benoni:
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Bd3 Bg7 8.Nge2 O-O 9.O-O a6 10.a4 Qc7 11.h3 Nbd7 12.f4 Re8 13.Ng3 c4 14.Bc2 Nc5 15.Qf3 Nfd7 16.Be3 b5 17.axb5 Rb8 18.Qf2 axb5 19.e5 dxe5 20.f5 Bb7 21.Rad1 Ba8 22.Nce4 Na4 23.Bxa4 bxa4 24.fxg6 fxg6 25.Qf7+ Kh8 26.Nc5 Qa7 27.Qxd7 Qxd7 28.Nxd7 Rxb2 29.Nb6 Rb3 30.Nxc4 Rd8 31.d6 Rc3 32.Rc1 Rxc1 33.Rxc1 Bd5 34.Nb6 Bb3 35.Ne4 h6 36.d7 Bf8 37.Rc8 Be7 38.Bc5 Bh4 39.g3 1–0.[3]
This victory made Penrose the first British player to beat a reigning world champion sinceJoseph Henry BlackburnedefeatedEmanuel Laskerin 1899.[4]
Correspondence chess[edit]
Penrose's over the board performance started to decline in the 1970s and he fainted at the1970 Olympiadin the midst of a tense game. Consequently, he moved on tocorrespondence chess,where he was successful, earning the International Master (IMC) title in 1980 and the grandmaster (GMC) title in 1983. He led his country to victory in the 9thCorrespondence Olympiad(1982–1987).[5]
Personal life[edit]
Penrose was the son of Margaret Leathes andLionel Penrose,a professor of genetics, the grandson of thephysiologistJohn Beresford Leathes,and brother ofRoger Penrose,Oliver Penrose,andShirley Hodgson.He was apsychologistand university lecturer by profession, with a PhD. He had two daughters from his marriage to Margaret Wood.[citation needed]
Penrose was awarded theOBEin 1971.
He died on 30 November 2021, at the age of 88.[6]
References[edit]
- ^"The Penrose Family: Scientists and Chess Players".Chess News.8 October 2020.Retrieved11 July2021.
- ^"Penrose, Jonathan".FIDE.Archived fromthe originalon 19 October 2021.
- ^"Jonathan Penrose vs Mikhail Tal".Chessgames.Chessgames Services LLC.
- ^Barden, Leonard (26 April 2013)."Michael Adams beats world champion Vishy Anand for second time".The Guardian.Retrieved12 September2018.
- ^"9th CC Olympiad Final".International Correspondence Chess Federation.Retrieved25 April2018.
- ^Barden, Leonard (2 December 2021)."Jonathan Penrose obituary".The Guardian.Retrieved2 December2021.
Bibliography[edit]
- Golombek, Harry,ed. (1981).The Penguin Encyclopedia of Chess.Penguin Books.ISBN978-0-14-046452-8.
- Sunnucks, Anne(1970).The Encyclopaedia of Chess.Hale.ISBN0-7091-1030-8.
- Gizycki, Jerzy (1977).A History Of Chess(revised ed.). Abbey Library. p. 60.ISBN0-7196-0086-3.
External links[edit]
- Jonathan Penroserating card atFIDE
- Jonathan Penroseplayer details atICCF
- Jonathan PenroseFIDE rating history at OlimpBase.org
- Jonathan PenroseChess Olympiad record at OlimpBase.org
- Jonathan Penroseplayer profile and games atChessgames
- Jonathan Penrosechess games at 365Chess