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Michael Basman
British chess player

Michael John Basman (16 March 1946 – 26 October 2022) was an English chess player and author. He was awarded the title of International Master in 1980.

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Chess career

Once described by Murray Chandler as "the most bizarre player in the universe",1 Basman was well known for employing unorthodox openings.23 Among these were the following:

  • The Grob (for White), which begins with g4. Basman wrote The Killer Grob (1989) about this opening.
  • The Creepy Crawly (for White), which begins with h3, followed by a3 and c4.
  • The Borg Defence (for Black), which employs g5 as a response to e4. As the name suggests, this is essentially the mirror image of the Grob. ("Borg" is "Grob" spelt backwards.)
  • The St. George Defence (for Black), which employs a6 as a response to e4. Basman wrote Play the St. George (1983) and The New St. George (1993) about this opening.

Basman used the Grob to defeat John Nunn in 19784 and the Borg Defence to defeat Jon Speelman in 1980.56

Possibly his greatest tournament success was when he tied for first place in the British Chess Championship of 1973, although he lost the play-off match with William Hartston.7

During the 1974–75 Hastings tournament, Basman (playing Black) defeated the Swedish grandmaster Ulf Andersson in a match that became known as the "Immortal Waiting Game".89 After the twelfth move, Basman shuffled his bishop, king, and queen back and forth for twelve moves, not changing his position at all. Andersson overextended himself, and Basman won.10

In 1975, England contested a match over ten boards against France in Luton. Basman played board one, ahead of John Nunn and Jon Speelman.11

In 1996, Basman created the UK Chess Challenge, a tournament for juniors of all standards and ages progressing over four stages, now advertised as the biggest chess tournament in the world.1213 Raymond Keene once wrote, referring to Basman's promotion of youth chess, "Michael Basman is in many ways the most important person in British chess."14

Personal life

Basman was born in St Pancras, London, on 16 March 1946, the third of four children of John Onik Basman, an Armenian immigrant, and his English wife, Bridgette Bettina Basman, née Marks. John Basman had shortened the family name from Basmadjian after arriving in England. The family knew the singer Cleo Laine, who worked as a babysitter for the young Michael.151617

After graduating with a degree in history from the University of Leeds, Basman received a scholarship to study medicine in Yerevan in the Armenian SSR. However, an aversion to blood and operations caused him to abandon his studies. Whilst living in Yerevan, he learnt Armenian, won the local chess championship, and met a fellow student named Berdjouhi Kuiumdjian, whom he married. They had one child together (a son named Antranig Basman), but divorced in 1986.181920

After returning to England, Basman worked as a computer programmer at the Chessington Computer Centre.212223

His creation of the UK Chess Challenge in 1996 led to a dispute with the Inland Revenue, which claimed he ought to be collecting VAT on entry fees. In 2016, he was found to be personally liable for the back taxes due, and was ordered to pay £300,000. He was declared bankrupt the following year and lost control of the UK Chess Challenge.242526

He stood as an independent candidate in the constituency of Kingston and Surbiton in the 2017 general election. His manifesto was described by Raymond Keene as "a curious blend of selective support for Jeremy Corbyn-style intervention combined with extreme libertarianism". He finished last of seven candidates, with 100 votes (0.2%).2728

He died in Carshalton on 26 October 2022, at the age of 76, from pancreatic cancer.293031323334

Publications

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References

  1. Chandler, Murray (2 February 1980). "Try these for openers" (PDF). New Zealand Listener. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 February 2021. /wiki/Murray_Chandler ↩

  2. McClain, Dylan Loeb (6 November 2022). "Michael Basman, Chess Master Known for 'Bad' Openings, Dies at 76". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/06/world/europe/michael-basman-dead.html ↩

  3. McShane, Luke (5 November 2022). "Remembering Basman". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 14 August 2023. /wiki/Luke_McShane ↩

  4. "Michael Basman vs John Nunn". Chessgames.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2023. https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1102936 ↩

  5. McClain, Dylan Loeb (6 November 2022). "Michael Basman, Chess Master Known for 'Bad' Openings, Dies at 76". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/06/world/europe/michael-basman-dead.html ↩

  6. "Jonathan Speelman vs Michael Basman". Chessgames.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2022. http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1026276 ↩

  7. McClain, Dylan Loeb (6 November 2022). "Michael Basman, Chess Master Known for 'Bad' Openings, Dies at 76". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/06/world/europe/michael-basman-dead.html ↩

  8. McClain, Dylan Loeb (6 November 2022). "Michael Basman, Chess Master Known for 'Bad' Openings, Dies at 76". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/06/world/europe/michael-basman-dead.html ↩

  9. McShane, Luke (5 November 2022). "Remembering Basman". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 14 August 2023. /wiki/Luke_McShane ↩

  10. "Ulf Andersson vs Michael Basman". Chessgames.com. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1328830 ↩

  11. McClain, Dylan Loeb (6 November 2022). "Michael Basman, Chess Master Known for 'Bad' Openings, Dies at 76". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/06/world/europe/michael-basman-dead.html ↩

  12. McClain, Dylan Loeb (6 November 2022). "Michael Basman, Chess Master Known for 'Bad' Openings, Dies at 76". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/06/world/europe/michael-basman-dead.html ↩

  13. "The UK Chess Challenge". Archived from the original on 14 November 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161114093753/http://www.ukchesschallenge.com/ ↩

  14. Keene, Raymond (3 November 2012). "Basman forever". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 4 August 2023. /wiki/Raymond_Keene ↩

  15. McClain, Dylan Loeb (6 November 2022). "Michael Basman, Chess Master Known for 'Bad' Openings, Dies at 76". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/06/world/europe/michael-basman-dead.html ↩

  16. "Michael Basman obituary". The Times. 7 November 2022. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/michael-basman-obituary-w09gn90lt ↩

  17. "Michael Basman, chess champion known as a quirky tactician and a keen promoter of the game – obituary". The Telegraph. 30 October 2022. Archived from the original on 30 October 2022. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/10/30/michael-basman-chess-champion-known-quirky-tactician-keen-promoter/ ↩

  18. McClain, Dylan Loeb (6 November 2022). "Michael Basman, Chess Master Known for 'Bad' Openings, Dies at 76". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/06/world/europe/michael-basman-dead.html ↩

  19. "Michael Basman obituary". The Times. 7 November 2022. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/michael-basman-obituary-w09gn90lt ↩

  20. "Michael Basman, chess champion known as a quirky tactician and a keen promoter of the game – obituary". The Telegraph. 30 October 2022. Archived from the original on 30 October 2022. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/10/30/michael-basman-chess-champion-known-quirky-tactician-keen-promoter/ ↩

  21. McClain, Dylan Loeb (6 November 2022). "Michael Basman, Chess Master Known for 'Bad' Openings, Dies at 76". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/06/world/europe/michael-basman-dead.html ↩

  22. "Michael Basman obituary". The Times. 7 November 2022. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/michael-basman-obituary-w09gn90lt ↩

  23. "Michael Basman, chess champion known as a quirky tactician and a keen promoter of the game – obituary". The Telegraph. 30 October 2022. Archived from the original on 30 October 2022. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/10/30/michael-basman-chess-champion-known-quirky-tactician-keen-promoter/ ↩

  24. McClain, Dylan Loeb (6 November 2022). "Michael Basman, Chess Master Known for 'Bad' Openings, Dies at 76". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/06/world/europe/michael-basman-dead.html ↩

  25. "Michael Basman obituary". The Times. 7 November 2022. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/michael-basman-obituary-w09gn90lt ↩

  26. "Michael Basman, chess champion known as a quirky tactician and a keen promoter of the game – obituary". The Telegraph. 30 October 2022. Archived from the original on 30 October 2022. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/10/30/michael-basman-chess-champion-known-quirky-tactician-keen-promoter/ ↩

  27. Keene, Raymond (3 June 2017). "Vote Basman". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 5 August 2023. /wiki/Raymond_Keene ↩

  28. "Election 2017: Kingston & Surbiton". BBC News. Archived from the original on 14 June 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170614072709/http://www.bbc.com/news/politics/constituencies/E14000770 ↩

  29. McClain, Dylan Loeb (6 November 2022). "Michael Basman, Chess Master Known for 'Bad' Openings, Dies at 76". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/06/world/europe/michael-basman-dead.html ↩

  30. "Michael Basman obituary". The Times. 7 November 2022. Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/michael-basman-obituary-w09gn90lt ↩

  31. "Michael Basman, chess champion known as a quirky tactician and a keen promoter of the game – obituary". The Telegraph. 30 October 2022. Archived from the original on 30 October 2022. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/10/30/michael-basman-chess-champion-known-quirky-tactician-keen-promoter/ ↩

  32. Thomas, David (27 October 2022). "International Master Michael Basman RIP". English Chess Federation. Archived from the original on 5 August 2023. https://www.englishchess.org.uk/international-master-michael-basman-rip/ ↩

  33. Mihajlova, Diana (31 October 2022). "Michael Basman (1946–2022)". ChessBase. Archived from the original on 4 August 2023. https://en.chessbase.com/post/michael-basman-obituary ↩

  34. Doggers, Peter (31 October 2022). "Michael Basman, 1946–2022". Chess.com. Archived from the original on 5 August 2023. https://www.chess.com/news/view/michael-basman-1946-2022 ↩