Wanted by the Police

    Today’s game features the ancient Kings Gambit. Most of us regard it as a tactical opening, but it also contains a strategic idea...white offers a Pawn to divert black’s e-Pawn. If black accepts the Pawn then white can play d4 and Bxf4, regaining the Pawn and, at the same time, dominating the center. White also has the possibility of an attack on f7. The downside is that it weakens white's K-side.

    White fails in this game, but what’s more interesting than the game is white’s shenanigans off the board! The winner is the Dutch IM and Correspondence GM Hans Bouwmeester (born 1929) who has also authored a number of chess books.

    White was played by Brian Eley[2] (1946 – 2022) a former British champion. He was wanted by the British police on suspicion of sexual offenses against underage boys, and had been a fugitive from since 1991. Eley was among a group of talented British player who appeared in the 1970s after the dominance of Jonathan Penrose. He ran his own chess business selling books, chess sets, scorebooks, etc. 

    In 1979, James Plaskett, a future GM and British champion, reported to the president of the British Chess Federation about incidents of "misconduct" by Eley. The following year, Eley was fired from hus position as the England Team Manager after an unrelated incident. Howeverm as a BCF registered coach, he continued teaching juniors into the late 1980s. 

    In July 1991, Eley was arrested at home on suspicion of sexually abusing an underage boy he had once coached. He was released on bail which he then jumped and disappeared. He was subsequently charged with more than 30 similar offenses. He remained a fugitive, wanted by the British police and Interpol. 

    Over the years there were numerous unconfirmed sightings of Eley in various places, mostly in Amsterdam. According to reports his time as a fugitive was not good...he ran out of money he made from the sale of his house in England and he had to hustle small bets in cafes and doing computer work for a religious organization. 

    In 1992, he was identified in Amsterdam by English GM Stuart Conquest and a Dutch player who notified the police, but Eley was not apprehended. Supposedly he had friends in the city who believed his story that it was all a result of a disagreement with the BCF. Eley died in Amsterdam in April of 2022 from a respiratory infection.

 

ChessBase

Brian Eley–Hans Bouwmeester0–1C36Match: England vs. HollandVlissingen NED1972Srockfish 17

C36: King's Gambit Accepted 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.f3 This most natural continuation preventing ...Qh4+. In case of the immediate thematic 3.d4 after 3...Qh4+ 4.Ke2 white's K is insecure which offer black sufficient compensation for the loss of time with the Q which will hane to be moved again after Nf3. After the alternative 3.Bc4 it's a different story because after 3...Qh4+ 4. Kf1 black's Q is more vulnerable than white's K. 3.d4 h4+ 4.e2 d5 5.exd5 g4+ 6.f3 h6 Black is better; white will have difficulty recovering the P. 3.c4 h4+ 4.f1 Black has twi possibilities: the solid 4...d6 or the enterprising 4...g4 3...d5 This is the Modern Defense; it's not necessarily the strongest but pt's the must solid continuation. In the old days 3...g5 prevailed because it protects the P and, if need be, after Nf3 the N can be driven away with ...g4 plus black can still play ...Qh4+ 3...g5 4.h4 This prevents ...Qh4+ 4.c4 g4 5.0-0 gxf3 6.xf3 is the Muzio Gambit which few players today have the guts to play. 4...g4 5.e5 5.c4 Trying to ply the Muzio here is throughly bad. gxf3 6.xf3 c6 7.d3 e5 Whie is completely thwarted. 5...d6 6.xg4 e7 Black is ever so slightly better. 4.exd5 f6 The idea behind 3...d6, the P on d5 is attacked. 5.b5+ Not white's only option. He can defend the P with 5.c4, 5.Nc3 or 5.Bc4. Instead, with the text move he hopes to exchange it. c6 Black must play energetically or he will drift into a [assive position which is why he avoids 5...Nbd7 6.dxc6 xc6 7.d4 d6 Black's aggressive play has given him just a sliver of an advantage. 7...a5+ 8.c3 b4 9.a4 0-0 10.0-0 White has full equality/ 8.e2+ It was better to castle at once. e6 Excellent! Black is going to end up with two isolated Ps, but his active pieces are sufficient compensation. 9.g5 0-0 10.xe6 fxe6 11.xc6 bxc6 12.0-0 12.xe6+ at once is less effectibe because after h8 13.0-0 c5 14.dxc5 d4+ 15.h1 e4 followed by ...Rae8 and white is facing a lot of pressure. 12...c7 13.xe6+ Not really bad, but it's risky. 13.d2 ae8 14.c4 g5 15.d2 e5 16.dxe5 xe5 17.xe5 xe5 18.xe5 xe5 And Sulskis,S (2559) -Melkumyan,H (2530) Benasque 2009 was eventually drawn. 13...h8 Black has given back the P plus sacrificed one himself with the result of getting a lead in development White's only tleveloped piece is his Q which is now badly exposed. Even so, white is hardly lost! In reality, black has no more than a very slight advantage because he has no immediate crushing threats. 14.d2 ae8 15.c4 The surprising retreat 15.Qh3 was better because it keeps c4 clear for the N. g5 Normally such a move is risky, but in this position black's pieces are so active that a P-stom decides matters quickly 15...f3 This equally good move was played many years later in Reprintsev,A (2310)-Chudinovskih,A (2360) Belgorod 1989 whicj continuted 16.xf3 g4 17.h3 xf3 18.hxg4 xf1+ 19.xf1 Here black missed the win with 19...Qe7 although he did eventually win. Winning was h2+ 20.h1 g3 White has no satisfactory was of meeting ...Re1 21.g5 h6 22.d2 e7 Intending ...Qh4+ 23.g5 e4 There is no answer to ...Qh4+ 16.f3 e4 17.e1 This loses quickly. The best, but still inadequate, try was 17.h6 g4 Decisive. 18.e5 xe5 19.xe4 d6 20.xe8 xe8 21.f1 f3 After this black coasts to a win. 22.gxf3 gxf3 23.xf3 g7+ 24.g2 e1+ White resigned. 0–1

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