My son started at Oxford last September, reading Biochemistry.

I taught him chess, but he won't play with me. His group self-taught themselves Bridge at school and they tell me that he was the best of them, but he won't play with me. All too "un-cool" for him.

Nevertheless, he is a Grade 8 viola player and his recent Collections show him on trend to a first, so it's probably best that he didn't get as diverted by games and sport as I was! I was into almost everything: Rugby, Cricket, Soccer, Tennis, Athletics, as well as Chess and Bridge. I only made grade 7 on the piano.

I was once a chemist but have been on the marketing end of the oil business for 40+ years.

I enjoy your contributions to the debate - long may they continue.

Cheers,

Chessgames has just four games by me. The two vs. Steinmeyer were when I had just started serious playing again on joining CCNY. The one which I won was interesting, although I should have played Ba8 at once when I had the chance. I sent in a few which were ignored....

For years there were five frequent Manhattan Chess Club competitors, all with USCF or FIDE ratings 2350-2430 or so. These were Arnold Denker, Walter Shipman, George Kramer, Arthur Feuerstein, and me. Chessgames has many games by the first four. Each of us managed to win the title occasionally, but usually Benko or Bisguier and later Benjamin would come first.

Since you asked, here are four wins by me, naturally with the White pieces.

Neil McKelvie – Arnold Denker (this one deserves notes...) 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3. d4 cd 4.NXd4 a6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Be3 Nf6 8. Qe2(?) Bd6 9. g3??! This is a truly awful move – but played deliberately! Denker, as I knew from long experience, was prone to overconfidence, and this made him smile happily! (A real Patzer move!!) White’s white-square weakness will be very bad. Denker plays logically, to free his Bishop from c8. 9……NXd4 10.BXd4 e5 11.Be3 Bb4 12.O-O! B:c3 13 bc O-O? (13……d6! of course, and White has a miserable position. One poor move deserves another!) 14, Bg5 Qc6 15. f4 ef 16. e5 f3
After Denker’s f3, I should have taken on f3 with my Queen. Then …QXf3 (or after Q checks, Qe3) RXf3; if then …Ng4; Be7 Re8; Bd6 NXe5; Re3 f6; Bc4 Kh8; Bf7 wins the exchange, right? Other lines; White seems to have a winning game, with two B’s and a B position suffering from acute constipation. 17 RXf3 Ng4 Thinking that the White e-pawn will be lost….. 18.Be7 Re8 19.Bd6
Denker intended 19…N:e5 20 B:e5 d6, but then looked, and saw 21. BXh7+ IF 21…KXh7 22, Qd3+ Kg8? 23. BXg7! KXg7 24. RXf7+! KXf7 and White wins in all variations. This would not work without Black’s 4…...a6 and 14…..Qc6, because one variation is 24 Qh7+ Ke6 25.Re1+ Kd5 26. Qd3+ Kc5 27. Qd4+ Kb5 28. Qb4++ However; Black should play 22…….f5. 23. RXf5 can lead to a draw by perpetual check, but no more. I planned 23. Bd4. Denker thought this was bad for him, at least cosmetically, but his W. Bishop is equally frightening. Maybe both sides are losing! I haven’t had the nerve to give this position to a computer.

Denker played, after L O N G thought, 19……b5? (Why do so many long thinks lead to chessic mental paralysis and a blunder?) 20.Qe4! QXe4 21.BXe4 Ra7 22.Bd5 Nh6 23.Raf1 Re6 (threat was 24 R:f7!) 24.BXe6 de 25.c4 bc 26.Rc3 Bd7 27.Rb1 f5 28.Bb8 Ra8 29.RXc4 Nf7 30.Rb7 Nd8 31.RXd7 RXb8 32.Rcc7 Resigns

Neil McKelvie - Walter Shipman
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cd 4.Nd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6
6.Be3 Be7 7.f4 Nc6 8.Bc4 O-O 9.Bb3 Bd7 10.Qf3 Nd411.Bd4 Bc6 12.g4 Qa5 13.O-O-O e5 14.fe de 15.Qf5 Bd7 16.Qe5 Qe5 17.Be5 Bg4 18.Rd3 Be6 19.Nd5 Bd5 20.ed Ne4 21.Rg1 Bg5 22.Kb1 f6 23. Bc7 Nd2 24.Rd2! Bd2 25.d6 Kh8 26.Bd5 Bf4 27.Bb7 Rad8 28.Rd1 Rd7 29.c4 Bd6 30.Bd6 Rfd8 31.c5 Rb7 32.c6 Rf7 33.b4 f5 34.Rd2 a6 35.a4 h6 36.b5 ab 37.ab f4 38.b6 Rf5 39.c7 Re8 40.b7 Rb5 41.Rb2 Re1 42.Ka2 resigns

Neil McKelvie - Arthur Feuerstein
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3. d4 cd 4. Nd4 a6 5.Nc3 b5 6.Bd3 Bb7 7.O-O d6 8. f4 Nf6 9.Kh1 b4 10. e5 bc 11. ef Qf6 12. bc Nd7 13.Rb1 Rb8 14. f5 e5 15. Nf3 Qd8 16. Be3 Qc7 17. Qe2 Be7 18.Ba6 O-O 19 Bb5 Nf6 20. c4 Ne4 21.Qe1 d5 22. cd Nc3 23. Bb6 Qc8 24. Bd7 Qd7 25.Qc3 e4 26. Ne5 Qd5 27. Rfd1 Bb4 28. Qd4 Qd4 29. Bd4 Ba6 30. Nc6 Be2 31. Nb8 Bd1 32.Rb4 Bc2 33.Kg1 Resigns

Given my games history, you will hardly be amazed that my knees are not fantastic, either.

I tore the cartilage in my right knee in a tennis tournament in 1997. A couple of years back I had some cleaning out work done and learned that I have no cruciate ligament that side. I injured it twice: rugby first and soccer in 1973. I played rugby until 1988 blissfully unaware that I was 1 ligament down, although the knee was prone to swelling.

Keep well for August - I will be in the Algarve for most of that month.

Cheers,

I guess that we know enough about each other for me to use your real name.

If we maintain our current plans (likely) then we should return on the ferry to Portsmouth on the evening of August 26th. We are currently planning another African adventure for mid-September. "Do it before my knees give out" is my mantra.

Sue and I would be delighted to meet you, if it could be arranged. She doesn't know of this plot yet, but she gets on like a house on fire with AuH2O and his family. He is a Federal Judge, based in Tampa.

We live in Pimlico, London SW1. Our cellar and cocktail cabinet contain various, diverse, lubricants.

Kind regards,

After returning to London on 26th, Adam is travelling on 27th, so we could make sure the house is ship-shape by 28th.

Cheers,

[Event "Manhattan Club Championship"]
[Site "Manhattan Chess Club"]
[Date "1984.05.12"]
[Round "-"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Neil McKelvie"]
[Black "Maxim Dlugy"]
[ECO "B62"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "46"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.Be2 Bd7 9.a4 Be7 10.O-O O-O 11.Nb3 Qc7 12.Rad1 Ne5(?) 13.f4 Ng6 14.e5 Qb6 (?) 15.Kh1 Ne8 16.a5 Qb4 17.Bxe7 Nxe7 18.f5 Qh4 19. fxe6 Bxe6 20.Rf4 Qh6 21.exd6 Nf5 22.d7 Nf6 23.Nc5 Rad8 24.Bd3 Qh5 25.Qe1 Ng4 26.h3 Nfe3 27.Nxe6 fxe6 28.Rxg4 Nxg4 29.Qxe6 Kh8 30.Qxg4 Qxg4 31.hxg4 Rxd7 32.Ne4 Rd5 33.b4 Rf4 34.Re1 Rg4 35. Nc5 Rd8 36.Re4 1-0

I pasted the game into Deluxe Chess Viewer and it did not complaint about the (?) annotations.

I know we haven't spoken much but believe it or not I was mentally running through a list of people I know (in real life or online) who might be willing to field a chemistry question and yours was the first name that occurred to me! Would you be game? My guess is you might have a general idea and that would be a help for me.

In my Spring Organic Chemistry large lecture, a girl sat in the middle of the front row, with very short shorts and long naked legs, and a see-through blouse>

Dear Sir,

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1975 - McKelvie
1979 - Jorge Massana, Neil McKelvie
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