Thanks a bunch for consenting to the interview. By the way, I used to work with Vania on the previous IECG newsletters. He was wonderfully quick in editing my annotation errors when he set up the

Yes - I have seen you there and also on the TCCMB.

I was born in Ipswich, England, in 1933 and it was there that I received my early education. (It seems just like yesterday!) The war years were lean, and being young and adventurous I started to look for that fabled land flowing with milk and honey. I moved to Australia in the 1950's, to start a life of travel that has taken me around the world so many times that I've lost count.

Electronic engineering and the food and agriculture industries sound at first like strange bedfellows. My role was in automating the processing of grains and pulses - coffee, rice, peas, beans, groundnuts, maize and suchlike. I would travel from a coffee-growing area in, say, Tanzania to a processing plant in, say, Germany, then back to say, South Africa and then on to Ireland, never quite knowing where I would be from one week to the next.

Most conveniently, I made my base in Nairobi, Kenya, where my New Zealand-born wife Marie and I (we were married in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and spent our honeymoon in Madagascar) raised our two sons. In the mid-1970's we moved as a family to New Zealand, where we have since remained.

I learned to play chess at school, many years ago now. It has not always been easy to find games during my travels, and for a period, raising a family and paying a mortgage had to take priority. Nevertheless, chess has given me a huge amount of pleasure over the years, and if what I am doing now will encourage or help others to experience that same pleasure, then I will be well content.

 How about your non-chess hobbies?

Of course my family is my main interest! As a youth, swimming and cycling were my strengths, then later I learned to fly and to ski. Nowadays my hobbies are more sedentary - music, and particularly opera, has been a lifelong passion. I also share with my wife an abiding interest in Linguistics and in language structure and language usage in general.

Quiet and unassuming without being introverted, willing to listen to rational argument but impatient with the irrational. Strong willed when occasion demands - almost to the point of obstinacy.

I have basically covered this. My favourite place of work (I have now retired from active business) is from home, in a country with a very, very small population and with a warm, Mediterranean-type climate, surrounded by sandy beaches, green fields, forests, lakes and mountains. Where else but in New Zealand?

Committee members - no. Opponents - many, particularly my opponents from New Zealand.

I had been playing correspondence chess for quite a number of years, and when I retired from business I found I had much more time available than previously. It was only natural that I should look to email chess. Through the New Zealand Correspondence Chess Association, I played a couple of team games against Australia, organised by our local ICCF Director of Overseas Play. But after over four years I am still awaiting a game report! It seems that I will have to wait forever now, for even that ICCF contact has stopped publishing and won't answer his emails.

About the same time, the IECG was being re-organised "under new management". So the choice was either to pay good dollars for an ever-decreasing level of ICCF service or to play for free with a young, dynamic organisation that - surprise! surprise! - actually welcomed new players and made it soooo easy for them to enter tournaments. It wasn't a very difficult choice to make!

After I had played for a year or so, I offered my services to the IECG as a Tournament Secretary. Several months later my IECG "boss", suffering from pressure of work, handed the job of Tournament Director (Quads) over to me, whilst simultaneously I became Tournament Secretary for several WC preliminary groups. Since then I have launched nearly 150 quad tournaments and acted as secretary to literally hundreds of players. Oh yes, as Chairman of the IECG New Events Commission I have had the responsibility of trailing and detailing the IECG Rapid tournaments and I have spent a considerable amount of time and effort helping revise and draft our various Rules.

But stepping back again, two years ago, several IECG councillors indicated that they would not stand for re-election and so I put my name into the hat. Yippee! I was elected! And IECG Council 2000 was perhaps the most talented, co-operative, friendly and successful team that I have ever met. I am proud indeed to have been a part of that team.

Towards the end of 2000, Vania Mascioni, our Chairman, indicated that due to his increased teaching and research commitments, he would willingly stand aside for somebody else. In turn, I indicated that I would infinitely prefer Vania to remain in the chair during 2001, and that indication was endorsed by all my colleagues. But Vania was insistent - here are his actual words to me:

I am reminded of Anthony's lines in "Julius Caesar":

Well, who could turn down an offer like that? And in the event, we didn't hold an election for the chair, just a friendly, totally supportive discussion leading to a unanimous decision. Now I have to say, that's as good as it gets!

Vania is still a fully active Council member. His leadership style has given rise to a truly great team, and his work is reflected in our rapidly increasing membership figures. Under Vania, we have expanded our tournament repertoire quite considerably, rationalised our procedures, successfully installed new systems to cater for our growth and laid solid plans to take us into the future. In a word, Vania has given us stability.

There were 53 voters who cast 359 votes.

The results is as follows –

(52 votes) - Jean-Luc Duriez (51 votes) - Ortwin Paetzold

(50 votes) - Gert Schoen buchner (49 votes) - Lionel Frost

(48 votes) - Vania Mascioni (48 votes) - Robert Dournes

(42 votes) - Albrecht Fester

---------------------------------------------

*(19 votes) - Anders Lind

 *Anders Lind was the only unsuccessful candidate and the only one not already a Council member – L B Frost

 Council 2000 was re-elected as a whole as Council 2001, and the major surprise is that those voting figures were not even closer! Only one candidate stood for election apart from the seven previous Councilors and he gained a very respectable proportion of the votes considering the relatively minor exposure he has had to the voting staff.

Any one of us would be equally acceptable as Chair. Perhaps I can spend more time on IECG affairs than my still-working colleagues? As I said earlier, it wasn't a question of voting, rather it was done by mutual agreement as so much of our work is accomplished.

My first reaction was one of gratitude and happiness that my colleagues trust me to this extent. It was only later that I began to realise the responsibility the extra work involved.

During 2000 we laid many plans and now we need to take them to fruition. We will be further increasing our tournament repertoire, upgrading our reporting and other administrative systems, continually refining our rules - in every way we can, improving the service that we provide to the international chess community. Our commitment to the chess community is that membership of the IECG will remain absolutely free, and our culture is that nationality, ethnic origins, gender, age, dietary preferences and suchlike have nothing to do with chessplaying ability.

Alan and I have exchanged pleasantries. I see no reason why the relationship between the IECG and the ICCF - or between Alan and I - should be anything less than cordial.

As far as I am aware, only one player has objected to this project and I balance this against the many players who have expressed their approval.

As a large and still growing email chess organisation, we need to attract the whole gamut of players from beginner to grandmaster. Nobody has a lien on the issue of titles, so the question should not be "why?" but "why not?"

Very favourably! And that influx is growing apace with even stronger and more well-known players joining us. It says a great deal about our reputation, about our success and about our stability. Quite possibly we will be organising events specifically for such players as well as eventsfor players intent on gaining title norms as quickly as they can. Council will certainly be reviewing these and many other options in the coming months. At the moment though, they are c that - options.

Enthusiasm tempered by excellent organisation and responsiveness has given us the lion’s share of the market.

Of course. Many players, including me, prefer the shorter time controls.

Before the Rapids were implemented, they were trialled in private in order to iron out any bugs and finalise the playing rules. There are Rapid events in progress now at all levels of expertise, using a form of the Fischer clock - 10 days for the entire game plus one extra day per move.

I am pleased, and I hope that next year we make it into the top five!

I am certainly not the world's greatest chess player. Perhaps my greatest triumph was last year, as runner-up (and the only unbeaten player) in the 66th New Zealand Correspondence Championships. This was one event where I actually knew my opponents, having played several of them previously either in CC or OTB. Another triumph was in 1997 when I won the New Zealand Best Game award with a deeply researched Max Lange attack.

Murray Chandler is our first and only GM, and he graced us by playing in the NZL Rapid Championships earlier this year. Alexei Kulashko, Russell Dive, Ben Martin, Bob Smith ...are all well known on the international circuit. Puchen Wang recently played a simul against all comers, including several strong club players, winning 16, drawing 2 and losing only 1. Puchen has just reached his 10th birthday.

 The Auckland Chess Centre is extremely active as always with Alexei Kulashko the Club Champion. My involvement here is as Vice President for the umpteenth time and also Treasurer. I am also Secretary of the NZL Chess Federation - there's nothing like variety!

Scott Wastney (who finished 2^nd to Australian FM Chris Despaquale) has been on the improvement ladder for some time now. At the 34th Olympiad, Istanbul, he fell asleep with a winning position at move 39 in his first game and so lost on time. He recovered from this disastrous start to score a respectable 6 / 9 and a 2284 performance. You will be hearing more from this talented player, I'm quite sure.

Australian Chris Depasquale considers his game against Graeme Spain one of his best, as do I.

A favourite of Swiss IM Georg Danner, GM Cvitan and GM Tu Hoang Thong5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Be2 Nh6 7.0-0 [7.c4 Qd8 (7...Qd6) 8.dxc5 Qxd1+ 9.Bxd1 Be6?! (9...Na6) 10.Ba4+ Bd7 11.Bc2 Na6 12.Nc3 Nf5 13.Bd2 Nxc5 14.0-0-0 Bc6 15.Nd5 Rc8 16.Kb1 Bxd5 17.cxd5 0-0 18.Rhe1 Bf6 19.g4 Nh4 20.Nxh4 Bxh4 21.Re2 Rfd8 22.b4 Na6 23.Bb3 Nc7 24.g5 Nxd5 25.Rg1 h6 26.f4 h5 27.Rf1 Nc3+ 28.Bxc3 Rxc3 29.Rxe7 Rd2 30.Rxb7 Bf2 31.f5 Kf8 32.Rxf7+ Ke8 33.fxg6 Bd4 34.g7 Bxg7 35.Rxg7 Rxh2 36.Ba4+ 1-0 Yukhtman,J-Kotkov,Y/Tbilisi 1956/EXT 99 (36)] 7...0-0 [7...Nf5 8.Na3 0-0 9.Bc4 (9.Nb5 Na6 10.Bf4 cxd4 11.cxd4 Bd7 12.Nc3 Qa5 13.Be5 Rad8 14.Bxg7 Nxg7 15.Qb3 Bc6 16.d5 Bxd5 17.Nxd5 Qxd5 18.Bc4 Qc6 19.Ne5 Qf6 20.Rae1 Nc5 21.Qe3 Qb6 22.Nxf7 Rxf7 23.b4 Nce6 24.Qxb6 axb6 25.Bxe6 Nxe6 26.Rxe6 Rd2 27.Rxb6 Rxa2 28.Rxb7 Rb2 29.f4 e6 30.Rb8+ Rf8 ½-½ Filipovic,B-Sokolov,A/Basle SUI 2001/The Week in Chess 324 (30)) 9...Qc6 10.Qb3 Nd7 11.Bf4 cxd4 12.cxd4 Nxd4 13.Nxd4 Bxd4 14.Bh6 Nc5 15.Qb4 Rd8 16.Rac1 b6 17.Bb5 Qe4 18.Kh1 Bb7 19.f3 Qh4 20.Rcd1 a5 21.Qd2 Ne6 22.g3 Qh5 0-1 San Marco,J-Sokolov,A/Paris FRA 1999 (22)] 8.c4 Qd6 9.dxc5 Qxc5 10.Nc3 Nc6 11.Ne4?! [11.Be3!?] 11...Qb6 12.Ng3 Nf5³ 13.Nxf5 Bxf5

Black is fully mobilized14.Nh4 Rfd8 15.Qa4 Nd4-+ 16.Bd1 Bd3 17.Re1 Rac8 18.Qa3 Bxc4 19.Qxe7 Bf6 20.Qe4 Bd5! 21.Qg4

21...Bxh4 [21...Rc4!] 22.Qxh4 Qb4?! [22...Re8!] 23.Qe7 Qb5 24.Qa3 Qc6! 25.f3 Nf5!

26.Qxa7 b6 27.Qa3 Qf6! 28.Kh1 Qh4 29.Bd2 Bxf3! 30.Bxf3 Rxd2 31.Bb7 Rcd8 32.Be4 Re8 [32...R2d3 33.Bxd3 (33.Qb4 R3d4) 33...Ng3+ 34.Kg1 Qd4+ 35.Re3 Qxe3#] 33.Qc3 Ng3+ 34.Qxg3 Rxe4 35.Qxh4 Rxh4 36.Re8+ Kg7 37.Rb1 Rg4 38.g3 Rc4 39.Rb8 Rcc2 40.Rxb6 Rxh2+ 41.Kg1 Rcg2+ 42.Kf1 Rxg3 43.Rb8 Rg5

Perhaps the most expensive correspondence game ever played. My opponent delivered each move personally, by taxi. All went well until one day the snails in his letterbox ate the scoresheet ...

I am currently playing in IECG World Championship and Cup preliminaries, quarter finals and semi finals, and because of this game load I am not playing in the NZL Championships this year. Maybe next year again? I surely can't rest content as the runner-up.

Otherwise my ambition is to enjoy to the fullest every game I play and savour those I merely observe.

I have Richard Sutton’s annotations to my best Game award

I have chosen this game because of Black's boldness in trying something everyone had thought unplayable for over a hundred years. There may be a refutation (though I couldn't see it!) and certainly in some of the variations White could have held on more tenaciously (I think!). But there are some wonderful variations to get lost in, and White made a pretty good fight of it all the same

We are currently following a main line of the Max Lange Attack, found in all the usual books. (Black's reference - "Winning with the Guioco Piano and the Max Lange Attack", Andrew Soltis, Chess Digest Inc., 1996). 7.exf6 dxc4 8.Re1+ Be6 9.Ng5 Qd5 10.Nc3 Qf5 11.Nce4 0-0-0 12.g4

This was all played in a game in the 1880's when Black meekly moved the Queen to e5. For a long time after, people were quite worried as Black. Taking the g-pawn was simply out of the question. But Black thought differently in this game. 12...Qxg4+ 13.Qxg4 Bxg4 14.Nxf7 gxf6

There could have been some variations to discuss before we got to this position, but it seems to me to be the critical starting place for analysis. Black is two pawns up, but looks as if he is about to lose something major. White now plays 15.Nxd8 But let's go back a move to see how it all works. [A) Suppose instead that White just takes everything, thus 15.Nxc5 Rhg8 16.Nxd8 (if White tries to block the g-file with, say, 16.Bf4 Bh5+ wins back the knight and keep the two extra pawns) 16...Be2+ 17.Kh1 Bf3#; B) Well, we've got a double threat which won't go away, so why not postpone its execution until we've made arrangements on the g-file: 15.Bf4 But this gives Black time to confine the loss to an exchange, when the two extra pawns (especially the passed d-pawn) may come into their own, e.g. 15...Rhg8 16.Nxd8 Bf3+ 17.Ng3 (17.Bg3 Bxe4 18.Rxe4 Rxd8) 17...Rxd8 and in either case White has to take great care of his d1 square (17...Kxd8 18.Kf1 h5 19.Re6 h4 20.Nf5 Kd7 21.Rxf6 Bg2+ 22.Ke2 Re8+) ; C) Of course, changing the objectives in mid-stream is disastrous, e.g. 15.Nxf6 Rdf8 16.Nxh8 Rxf6 17.Re8+ Kd7 18.Ra8 d3 19.Be3 Bxe3 20.fxe3 d2; D) There's one more thing we can try - biffing the bishop with a sacrificial pawn move, giving a little more air to the King to stop the dreadful B-e2-f3 mate idea. For example, (D.1) 15.f3 Bh3 16.Nxd8 Rg8+ 17.Kh1 Bg2+ 18.Kg1 Bxf3+ 19.Kf2 Bxe4 20.Rxe4 d3+ 21.Kf3 Rxd8 22.Be3 Bxe3 23.Kxe3 dxc2 24.Rc1 Nb4 25.a3 Rd1; or, (D.2) 15.h3 A) (D.2.B) 15...Bf3 16.Nxc5 (16.Nxd8 Re8 17.Nxc6 bxc6 18.Bd2 Rxe4 with compensation for the material)) 16...Rhg8+ 17.Kf1 Rg2 18.Ne4 Re8 19.Ng3 Rg1+ 20.Kxg1 Rxe1+ 21.Kh2 d3; B) (D.2.A) Also possible is 15...Bxh3 16.Nxc5 Ne5 (16...Rhg8+ 17.Kh2 Rd5 18.Nh6 Rg6 19.Ne4 Rh5 20.Ng3 Rhxh6 21.Bxh6 Rxh6 22.Rh1 Bf5+ 23.Kg2 Rxh1 24.Rxh1 Bxc2) (D.2.A.1) Better is 17.Kh2 ((D.2.A.2) 17.Nxh8 Nf3+ 18.Kh1 Rg8) 17...Nxf7 18.Kxh3 Rd5 19.Ne4 Rg8 (19...Rh5+ 20.Kg2 Rg8+ 21.Ng3) 20.Ng3] So let's go back to 15.Nd8, which has the idea of getting n a spoiling exchange in the middle of all this. But Black finds a brilliant response. 15...Ne5! The White knight isn't going to go away, and Black now has a fork all of his own, which White unwisely allows with his next move. 16.Nf7 Was there anything better? Try [16.Nxc5 Nf3+ 17.Kf1 Nxe1 18.Kxe1 Rxd8 19.Bf4 (19.f3 Bxf3 20.Bf4 Bg4 21.Kf2 Bf5 22.c3 d3 23.Re1 b6 24.Na6 c5 25.Re7 Rd7 26.Rxd7 Bxd7 27.Ke1 Kb7 28.Nc7 Kc6) 19...Re8+ 20.Kf1 Bh3+ 21.Kg1 b6 22.Na4 Rg8+ 23.Kh1 Bg2+ 24.Kg1 Bc6+; Or protecting the rook by 16.Bf4 Nf3+ 17.Kg2 Nxe1+ 18.Rxe1 Bb4 19.c3 f5 A) 20.Ng3 (B) 20.cxb4 fxe4 21.Nf7 Bf3+ 22.Kf1 Rf8) 20...dxc3 21.bxc3 Bxc3 22.Rc1 Bf6 23.Nf7 Rf8 24.Nh6 looks more promising for White. e.g. , 24... 24...b5 25.h3 (25.Nhxf5? Bxf5 26.Nxf5 Bb2) ] 16...Nf3+ 17.Kf1 d3!!

with the strong threat of Bh3#! Now White has to come quietly. 18.cxd3 cxd3 19.Kg2 Nxe1+ 20.Kg3 Bf3 21.Nxc5

Extraordinary! The same old option of Rook or Bishop! 21...Rg8+ 22.Kf4 Bd5 23.Nh6 Rg1 24.b3 Ng2+ 25.Kg3 Bc6

Trying to extract the most juice from the position. But White's next simply loses. 26.Ng8 [26.Nxd3 Ne1+ 27.Kh3 Nxd3 28.Bb2 Rg6] 26...Ne1+ 27.Kf4 Rxg8 28.Bd2 Ng2+ 29.Kf5 Nh4+

30.Kf4 [30.Kxf6 Rg6+ and if he moves forward, it's a mating net; if backward, 31.Ke5 Nf3+] 30...Rg5 31.Ne4 Ng2+ 32.Kf3 Rg6 33.Rc1 f5 34.Rxc6 fxe4+ 35.Kxe4 Rxc6 36.Kxd3 Rf6 0-1