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William John Donaldson

Number of games in database: 449
Years covered: 1975 to 2012
Last FIDE rating: 2416 (2390 rapid, 2405 blitz)
Highest rating achieved in database: 2460
Overall record: +223 -89 =129 (65.2%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games in the database. 8 exhibition games, blitz/rapid, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Reti System (36) 
    A04 A06 A05
 English (29) 
    A15 A10 A14 A13 A16
 King's Indian (21) 
    E97 E60 E62 E67 E63
 Sicilian (20) 
    B52 B27 B40 B45 B30
 English, 1 c4 c5 (17) 
    A34 A30 A37 A38 A33
 Queen's Pawn Game (13) 
    D02 A41 A46 A45 E00
With the Black pieces:
 Sicilian (74) 
    B32 B27 B22 B23 B52
 Slav (30) 
    D10 D19 D15 D14 D11
 English, 1 c4 c5 (14) 
    A30 A36 A37 A31
 Queen's Pawn Game (11) 
    D02 A46 A45 A40
 King's Indian Attack (10) 
    A07
 Nimzo Indian (9) 
    E44 E43 E32 E48 E24
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   A Wojtkiewicz vs W J Donaldson, 2001 1/2-1/2
   S Galant vs W J Donaldson, 2003 0-1
   W J Donaldson vs R A Rodriguez, 2004 1-0
   R Costigan vs W J Donaldson, 2005 0-1
   P Fricano vs W J Donaldson, 2001 0-1
   T Nielsen vs W J Donaldson, 1997 0-1
   W J Donaldson vs S Kamberi, 2003 1-0
   J Sammour-Hasbun vs W J Donaldson, 1997 0-1
   W J Donaldson vs G Megibow, 1999 1-0
   T Patton vs W J Donaldson, 2003 0-1

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   Philadelphia (1988)
   Bermuda IM (1997)
   Koltanowski Memorial Open (2000)
   104th US Open (2003)
   American Open (1989)
   National Open (2005)
   99th US Open (1998)
   Isle of Man Open (1997)
   100th US Open (1999)
   USA Masters (1990)
   15th World Open (1987)
   New York Open (1991)
   United States Championship (2003)
   Midwest Masters (1988)
   102nd US Open (2001)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   0ZeR0's collected games volume 181 by 0ZeR0
   2003 NAO - Oklahoma by gauer

GAMES ANNOTATED BY DONALDSON: [what is this?]
   Fischer vs G Jobin, 1964

RECENT GAMES:
   🏆 Bunratty Masters
   W J Donaldson vs M Hebden (Feb-18-12) 0-1
   H de Jonge vs W J Donaldson (Feb-17-12) 0-1

Search Sacrifice Explorer for William John Donaldson
Search Google for William John Donaldson
FIDE player card for William John Donaldson

WILLIAM JOHN DONALDSON
(born Sep-24-1958, 66 years old) United States of America

[what is this?]

International Master. William John Donaldson was born in Los Angeles, California and was awarded the IM title in 1983. He was captain of the USA 2010 Olympiad team.

He is well-known for several books like the two volumes on Akiba Rubinstein "The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein" together with IM Nikolay Minev, and his two books on Robert James Fischer ("The Unknown Bobby Fischer" & "Legend on the Road").

He is also a FIDE Arbiter and a FIDE Senior Trainer.

Wikipedia article: William John Donaldson

Last updated: 2025-01-07 19:08:03

Try our new games table.

 page 1 of 18; games 1-25 of 449  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. P Brown vs W J Donaldson  0-1591975Vancouver Open-AA07 King's Indian Attack
2. C Kelleher vs W J Donaldson  0-1521975Vancouver Open-AC18 French, Winawer
3. W J Donaldson vs J L Watson 0-1401976Paul Keres MemorialB08 Pirc, Classical
4. W J Donaldson vs C Carlson  ½-½191976Keres MemorialA45 Queen's Pawn Game
5. E Meyer vs W J Donaldson  1-0271977US Open-78A05 Reti Opening
6. Seirawan vs W J Donaldson  0-1331978Northwest Chess July opA36 English
7. W J Donaldson vs A Bisguier  0-1441978Lone PineC77 Ruy Lopez
8. S Taulbut vs W J Donaldson  ½-½241978Lone PineC05 French, Tarrasch
9. W J Donaldson vs G Ligterink  0-1461978Lone PineB45 Sicilian, Taimanov
10. D Verduga vs W J Donaldson  0-1451978Lone PineA15 English
11. H van Riemsdijk vs W J Donaldson  ½-½601978Lone PineC00 French Defense
12. W J Donaldson vs M Rohde  ½-½281978Lone PineB08 Pirc, Classical
13. Westerinen vs W J Donaldson  ½-½581978Lone PineC05 French, Tarrasch
14. L Christiansen vs W J Donaldson  1-0341978Lone PineC00 French Defense
15. W J Donaldson vs C Coudari  ½-½241978Lone PineC72 Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz Defense, 5.O-O
16. P Sontag vs W J Donaldson  1-0361979Northwest Chess July opE44 Nimzo-Indian, Fischer Variation, 5.Ne2
17. W J Donaldson vs Y Farges  0-1301979Northwest Chess August opB32 Sicilian
18. P van der Weide vs W J Donaldson  1-08219793rd Lloyds Bank Masters OpenA07 King's Indian Attack
19. R Britton vs W J Donaldson  1-02419793rd Lloyds Bank Masters OpenC19 French, Winawer, Advance
20. W J Donaldson vs M Pein 0-14119793rd Lloyds Bank Masters OpenB09 Pirc, Austrian Attack
21. C Haessler vs W J Donaldson  0-1281980Northwest Chess March opA00 Uncommon Opening
22. H Rothen vs W J Donaldson  ½-½731980EksjoA89 Dutch, Leningrad, Main Variation with Nc6
23. W J Donaldson vs B Tiller  1-0401980Gausdal IntB00 Uncommon King's Pawn Opening
24. W J Donaldson vs B Rind  1-0351980NWC June opB30 Sicilian
25. W J Donaldson vs Miles  0-1351980Gausdal IntB40 Sicilian
 page 1 of 18; games 1-25 of 449  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Donaldson wins | Donaldson loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 3 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Sep-04-13  Karpova: <JimNorCal>

This is also answered here: http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/...

Cathy Forbes (page 19 of the June 14, 1993 'Inside Chess'): <In writing my report on Hastings 1990-91, I made extensive use of Ray Keene’s notes from the Hastings Bulletin. I did have permission to use this material, but I neglected to acknowledge the source in the article, which was an error of omission on my part.>

Donaldson in a letter to RK: <The two situations are hardly the same. You gave Cathy Forbes permission to use the material in question in her story and she, in turn, gave us permission to use it and we paid her for it. Case closed.>

For sure, Donaldson was right. Winter closes with <The amount of the final settlement was not the $200 which Donaldson had originally sought. It was $3,000.>

Sep-05-13  Everett: <For sure, Donaldson was right. Winter closes with <The amount of the final settlement was not the $200 which Donaldson had originally sought. It was $3,000.>>

This reminds me of a parenting technique, in reverse. Offering a child juice or milk, they ask for soda. This goes on for a bit, until the parent says "okay, milk or water," to which the child, very upset, starts asking for juice.

"Juice is no longer an option."

I'm all for punishing those who do not come clean immediately, and for those who attempt to negotiate and haggle unreasonably.

Sep-05-13
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: <Everett>: Most interesting-I have never read anything else by Steinbeck so far as I can remember.
Sep-05-13  JimNorCal: <karpova> Sure, no disagreement. Nonetheless, I recommend reading Keene's response for its erudition irrespective of the plagiarism charge. This is not an assertion of "you're wrong, I'm right", it is an explanation of how he could identify the Cathy Forbes material as his (Keene's) writing. No, it was not from performing a "diff" on 2 blocks of text. :)

I would copy/paste but I don't think it is online anywhere. It's disappointing that Winter did not see fit to include it in his post.

Sep-15-13  Karpova: Edward Winter on 'Alekhine in the Americas' by Donaldson, Minev and Seirawan: <‘The authors of this work are not chess historians’, declares the introduction (page 1), yet within the book’s self-imposed limits they demonstrate more scholarship than do many pretenders to that title.>

Source: Edward Winter, Alekhine Renaissance, 1992, http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/...

Jul-06-14  BIDMONFA: John William Donaldson

DONALDSON, John W.
http://www.bidmonfa.com/donaldson_j...
_

Sep-24-18  Boomie: Back in the hippie times, I put on a tournament modestly call the Northwest Open. It had a generous prize fund and attracted the best players from the Pacific Northwest. Peter Biyiasas slept on my couch and Robert D Zuk was on the floor. (I had spaced out accommodations.) There were also some youngsters who showed great promise. Among them was Yasser, of course, and John Donaldson. A friend who was a master told me that after playing Neil V Salmon, he realized that the kid knew more about the French than he did. That was a heck of a crop of players.
Sep-24-18  Ironmanth: Happy birthday to you, John. Many more to you, sir!
Sep-24-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  Check It Out: <Boomie> "hippy times" makes me think 60s, but you are talking 70s and early 80s perhaps? In which case, I was probably bumping around the tables in between games. Those were my years and I played the NW tournament in Tacoma.
Sep-24-18  Howard: He's just come out with an expanded edition of that first volume on Rubinstein, I understand.
Sep-24-18  Boomie: <Check It Out: <Boomie> "hippy times" makes me think 60s, but you are talking 70s and early 80s perhaps?>

It was in the early 70's. The average rating of the tournament was an astonishing 1850. I structured the prizes so it would be easier for the lower and more populous classes to win something. But the lower rated players did not turn out for some reason.

Sep-25-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  Check It Out: <Boomie: the lower rated players did not turn out for some reason.>

Too bad that was before my time, I could have pulled that 1850 average down quite a bit.

Sep-25-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: <CIO>, same here: started my career with the first published rating at ~1100 in early 1973.
Nov-21-20
Premium Chessgames Member
  wwall: Is his name John William Donaldson or William John Donaldson? I have seen his initials, written by Donaldson, as WJD, implying that his first name is William, Not John which he goes by,
Jan-01-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  DrNyet: I have Kindle *samples* of Donaldson & Tangborn's excellent and amazingly researched books, "Bobby Fischer: The Early Years 1943-1962" and ..."Later Years 1963-2008", but the full books don't appear to be available from Kindle, Amazon, or other places I've searched. Does anyone know why?
Jan-01-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: Why not ask Donaldson? His email address isn't hard to find. I suppose they've been withdrawn upon the release of the pair's new Fischer book, which, no doubt, incorporates much of the same material, albeit, one hopes, in a more polished form.
Jan-01-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  Joshka: <DrNyet> I've been waiting for the new Donaldson book on Bobby for a while now, Amazon says it's in transit.....guess it's coming from a slow boat in China.
Jan-04-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  Joshka: <wwall> Have you received his new book on Bobby? Ordered mine on the 16th thru Amazon.
Jan-05-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  Joshka: <bumpmobile> So how well did you fare in the simul? I know it's a long time ago, you still have the game score?
Jan-05-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: <Have you received his new book on Bobby?>

First!

Jan-12-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  Joshka: The book from Donaldson finally arrive today. I'm in Ohio, and believe it was shipped from Michigan. Real thick book with easy to turn pages, numerous new photos....always interested in new info on Bobby that I have not read about, plenty of game scores, every Fischer devotee will approve!. thanks John!!
Jan-12-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  Joshka: Oh, forgot to mention, if anyone is familiar with Jeremy Silman's books, you'll notice the similarity. The binding even allows for very easy flipping of the pages. While the front and back covers are not hardback, they are a different kind of paper almost plastic like, very professional.
Jul-08-21  Zugzwangovich: Seems John is trying to put a bit of pressure on the Manhattan Chess Club to make public the Fischer games from the Targ donation its sitting on for whatever reason. Hope he succeeds!
Jul-08-21
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: Why would the club keep the game scores under wraps unless they were seeking to profit from them in future? Maybe they buy into Bobby's own assessment of the value of his memorabilia, which, in the wake of the Bekins' heist, he somewhat improbably claimed was worth tens, maybe hundreds of millions of dollars.
Jul-08-21  Petrosianic: <MissScarlett> I heard it was a plot against you personally.
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