Michael Basman is in many ways the most important person in British chess. As a player, he is an International Master, who tied for the British Championship in 1973, losing out in the tie-break. Since then he has turned his hand to organising a mass annual schools championship, attended by 70,000 entrants every year. Sponsored by Delancey, this is the prime breeding ground in British chess for future champions who have gone on to win the British championship, or compete in last month’s London Grand Prix at Simpson’s in the Strand, or will compete in the London Classic at Olympia this December.
Not everyone can become a champion, so Basman is also creating an invaluable social legacy by introducing large numbers of schoolchildren to an activity which will entertain them while exercising their brains.
At his best, Basman was a devastating tactician, as this week’s extracts demonstrate. This win comes from England’s historic victory against the Soviet Union.
Basman (England)–Savon (USSR): Student Olympiad, Harrachov 1967; Torre attack
1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 Bg5 Bg7 4 Nbd2 c5 5 e3 b6 6 c3 Bb7 7 Bd3 0-0 8 0-0 White chooses a quiet opening system known as the Torre attack. 8 … d5 9 Qb1 Nbd7 10 Re1 Re8 White’s advance on the queenside by 11 b4 looks attractive here, for example, 11 … cxb4 12 cxb4 Rc8 13 Qb3 with an unclear position. 11 e4 dxe4 12 Nxe4 Qc7 13 Bh4 I was taking some time over my moves here as I did not have great confidence in the position, particularly the offside queen on b1. In my notes to the game from 1967 I remark that ‘by move 17 I had consumed three quarters of my time’.
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