Monday, February 27, 2017

A Brilliancy by Owen Hindle

(Left) recent photo of Hindle.  (Right) Parr
     The following game has been on my list of games to look at for a while now. English readers will be familiar with the names of Hindle and Parr, but others probably won't. 
     In the 1960s FIDE Master Owen Hindle (born March 14, 1940, 76 years old) was one of the strongest English players. He  finished second in the British Championship in1964, played in the Chess Olympiads 1964 and 1966, was British lightning champion of 1965 and represented England in the Zonal tournament 1967. He is also a distinguished chess author, having written books on the Piatigorsky Cup 1963, Further Steps in Chess, J.H. Blackburne: The Final Years, The Life and Games of Cecil de Vere and The Mystery of Edward Pindar
     A dangerous tactician, Hindle wrote, "Never believe a player who justifies his brilliant sacrifice with reams of analysis supposedly calculated at the time. Usually the sacrifice just seems the right thing to do; the analysis comes later." 
     Frank Parr (December 17, 1918 – December 28, 2003) was British Boys (Under 18) champion in 1935. The British Federation for Correspondence Chess introduced a Frank Parr Memorial Tournament in 2005. Held alongside it was the David Parr Memorial, dedicated to Frank's eldest son, another fine player who also died in 2003. 
     Frank Parr enjoyed a long chess career and was well known for his aggressive style and alertness to tactical possibilities. Parr won the Hastings Premier in 1939/1940 with a score of +6 -0 =2. At the time he was in the military service, having been drafted in 1939. That was his only Hastings Premier appearance, although he played in many Challengers' sections up to 2002. 
     Parr tied with Gabriel Wood for the correspondence championship in 1948 and with H. Israel in 1949 and won in 1950 and 1956. Parr made his first appearance in the championship in 1936, finishing fifth, and played in a total of 25 British Championships. His best result was in 1956 when after managing only a draw in the first two rounds, he won eight consecutive games before drawing with Leonard Barden in the last round to finish with 9-2. Although this score would have secured first place in most years, he finished second a half point behind C.H. O'D. Alexander despite winning their individual game. Parr never held any FIDE or British Chess Federation titles. 
     Before retirement he worked as a messenger at the London Stock Exchange. He had three sons and one daughter. Aside from chess, his main hobby was gardening, but he was also a supporter of Fulham Football Club and a regular patron of Surrey County Cricket Club. After a long illness Parr died in Epsom on 28 December 2003, the opening day of the Hastings International Chess Congress. 
     The following game is from the 1962 British Championship at Whitby. Hindle finished 8th, scoring +5 -3 =3 while Parr finished 11th, scoring +5 -4 =2. The tournament was won by Jonathan Penrose. 
 

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