According to an English chess forum post in 2001, Israel, known as Harry, was described as a heavy smoker, lifelong member of London’s Hampstead Chess club. According to the poster who remembered him he was tall, but looked unhealthy, was well dressed.
Israel won the British Correspondence Championship after the World War II and he represented England on board 3 in the Olympiad. In the individual British Championship he tied for second in 1949/50, finished 5th in 1950/51 and 7th= in 1951/52.
The poster noted that Israel preferred to play in the evening and he was a London League regular weekend tournament player.
The poster noted that Israel possibly never reached his full potential because in the 1952 British Championship (otb) he tied for second place with five other players with a 7-4 score. He was called “a very strong player”, but not a Masterm who probably chose a business career over chess.
The following amazing game was Israel’s only win in the 1970 Middlesex County Championship, but what a game it was!
[Event "Middlesex County Championship"]
[Site "London ENG"]
[Date "1970.05.15"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Harold Israel"]
[Black "David J Mabbs"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B22"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 15"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "1970.03.10"]
[Source "John Saunders"]
{C02: French: Advance Variation} 1. e4 c5 {It's going to transpose.} 2. Nf3 Nc6
3. c3 f5 4. e5 d5 5. d4 e6 6. Bd3 Qb6 {The idea is to increase the pressure on
d4 and eventually undermine the white center. The Q also attacks b2 so white's
dark-square B cannot easily defend the d4-Pawn without losing the b2-pawn.} 7.
O-O Bd7 (7... cxd4 {and black cannot take the d-Pawn.} 8. cxd4 Nxd4 9. Nxd4
Qxd4 10. Bb5+) 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. Nbd2 (9. b4 {is a good alternative.} Be7 (9...
Bf8 10. Na3 a6 11. c4 Nxb4 12. cxd5 Nxd5 {White has enough play for his P.
Annaberdiev,M (2498)-Alper,M (1996) Mersin TUR}) 10. a4 Qc7 11. Re1 Nh6 12. Na3
Nf7 13. Bxf5 exf5 14. e6 Bxe6 15. Rxe6 {White is slightly better. Maggiolo,E
(2101)-Burijovich,L (2204) Villa Martelli 2006}) 9... Nh6 {His intention is to
put pressure on the e-Pawn.} 10. Nb3 {10.b4 was still an option.} Nf7 {
Preserving the B with 10...Be7 was a better option.} 11. Nxc5 (11. Bxf5 {
is sharper and leads to lively play, but it's not necessarily better.} Be7 {
This conservative move is black's best reply.} (11... exf5 12. Qxd5 {Black's
best continuation is} (12. e6 {favors black.} Bxe6 13. Nxc5 Qxc5 14. Re1) 12...
Bxf2+ 13. Rxf2 Ne7 14. Qd4 {White has a dixtinct, probably decisive, advantage.
}) 12. Bc2 O-O-O (12... Nfxe5 {is met by} 13. Nxe5 Nxe5 14. Be3 Qc7 15. f4 Ng6
16. f5 {with a strong attack..}) 13. Re1 {White is better.}) 11... Qxc5 12. Be3
Qe7 13. Bd4 g5 {Sharp. It's interesting to note that considering white's bad
dark-squared B and the aggressive looing appearance of black's position that
the engines are suggesting that white is very slightly better.} 14. Re1 Rg8 {
Black over preapres the ...g4 which he should have played at once.} (14... g4
15. Nd2 Nxd4 16. cxd4 Ng5 {with equal chances.}) 15. Nd2 {For the last couple
of moves white could have played b4 and Bc5} g4 16. Nb3 (16. b4 {was still
playable, but things could get very crazy.} Nxd4 17. cxd4 Qxb4 18. Rb1 Qxd4 19.
Nb3 Qf4 20. Nc5 Nxe5 21. Rxb7 Nf3+ 22. Kf1 Nxh2+ 23. Ke2 Qe5+ 24. Kd2 Qf4+ 25.
Ke2 g3 26. Qc1 Qxc1 27. Rxc1 Rc8 28. f3 e5) 16... Qh4 17. g3 {[%mdl 2048]} Qh5
18. h4 {He wants to prevent ...Ng5.} f4 {Black has a promising attack going,
but white's defensive resources are sufficient.} 19. Qe2 (19. gxf4 {would be
really bad.} Qxh4 20. Qd2 g3 21. f3 g2 22. Nc5 O-O-O {and white is fighting a
losing battle. Just one sample line...} 23. Ba6 bxa6 24. Qd3 Nb8 25. Nxa6 Qh1+
26. Kf2 Qh2 27. Rg1 Qxf4 28. Nxb8 Kxb8 29. Qa6 Qd2+ 30. Qe2 Qxe2+ 31. Kxe2 Bb5+
32. Ke3 {and black is clearly winning.}) 19... O-O-O {This move gets slapped
with a question mark. In the pevious variation castling Q-side was the right
devision, but here it's not because his K is too exposed on the Q-side.} (19...
Rc8 20. Rac1 h6 21. c4 Ng5 22. cxd5 (22. hxg5 {leads to disaster after} f3 23.
Qd2 hxg5 {with a decisive advantage.}) 22... Nf3+ 23. Kf1 Nh2+ {and white can
repeat moves or he can go for a really wild situation with} 24. Kg2 f3+ 25.
Kxh2 fxe2 26. dxc6 Bxc6 27. Bxa7 {White is just short of having enough
compensation for his Q, but the position is still very complicated.}) (19... h6
{This is best as black's K is safer in the center than on the Q-side.} 20. Nc5
Ng5 {Black has a strong initiative and ...Nf3+ will leave him with a strong
attack. White clearly cannot take the N because after} 21. hxg5 f3 22. Qf1 hxg5
{he has no hope of saving the game.}) 20. Nc5 {After this black's K comes
under attack.} Rg5 {[%mdl 8192] Unfortunately for black, in this position this
is a losing move.} (20... Rdf8 {This edges his K a little closer to safety.
The best line is now} 21. Nxd7 Kxd7 {Both sides will have to navigate through
enormous complications!} 22. Bb5 Nfd8 23. Bc5 Rf5 24. c4 d4 25. Bxd4 Kc8 26.
Rad1 fxg3 27. fxg3 Rf3 28. Kg2 Nxd4 29. Rxd4 Rgf8 30. Rd2 Qf7 {Both sides have
their chances.} 31. Red1) 21. Ba6 {[%mdl 544] Alertly played, this wins the
game.} Ncxe5 (21... bxa6 22. Qxa6+ {mates next move.}) 22. Bxb7+ {Pressing
home the attack.} (22. hxg5 {loses.} Nf3+ 23. Qxf3 gxf3 24. Nxb7 fxg3 25. fxg3
Qh3 26. Nxd8+ Kxd8 27. Bf6+ Kc7 28. Kf2 Qg2+ 29. Ke3 e5 {and white can only
wait for the end.}) 22... Kb8 23. Qa6 {Intending Rxe5 and mate.} ({Wrong is}
23. hxg5 $2 Nf3+ 24. Qxf3 gxf3 25. Nxd7+ Rxd7 $19) (23. Nxd7+ Rxd7 24. Ba6 (24.
hxg5 $2 Nf3+ 25. Qxf3 gxf3 $19) 24... Nf3+ 25. Kf1 Nh2+ 26. Kg1 Nf3+ 27. Kf1
Nh2+ 28. Kg1 Nf3+ $11) 23... Nf3+ 24. Kh1 Nxd4 25. cxd4 {Threatening mate with
Bxd5!} Rg6 {He defends against that threat.} 26. Re5 {[%mdl 512] Renewing the
threat.} (26. Bxd5 Qxd5+ 27. Kh2 Bc6 {and black wins.}) 26... Qh6 27. Bxd5 {
[%mdl 512] White mates in 7.} Bc8 28. Qb5+ Kc7 29. Qc6+ Kb8 30. Qa8+ Kc7 31.
Qxa7+ Kd6 32. Ne4# {A very pleasing game!} 1-0
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