Keith Charles Arkell (born 8 January 1961) is an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
chess Grandmaster
Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally it h ...
.
He won the English Chess Championship in 2008. In 2014 he was European Senior (50+) Champion, and, later in the year, tied for first in the World Senior (50+) Championship, but received the silver medal on tie-break.
Chess career
Arkell was born in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, and learned to play chess aged 13. His brother Nicholas was also a strong player.
FIDE
The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...
awarded Arkell the title of
International Master
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
in 1985, and he became a
Grandmaster ten years later, after gaining norms at Ostend 1990, Parthenay 1993 and at the final leg of the French League Championship in 1995. He was the 1998
British Rapidplay Chess Champion, having recorded his peak
Elo rating
The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in zero-sum games such as chess. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-American physics professor.
The Elo system was invented as an improved ch ...
of 2545 just two years earlier.
In the early part of the 2000s, before taking a break from serious chess, he showed that he could perform consistently at a high level; he tied for second place at the 2001
British Chess Championship
The British Chess Championships are organised by the English Chess Federation. The main tournament incorporates the British Championship, the English Chess Championships and the British Women's Chess Championship so it is possible, although it has ...
, tied for second at the strong
Hastings Premier of 2002/3, took first place at the
Wroxham
Wroxham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The civil parish of Wroxham has an area of 6.21 square kilometres, and in 2001, had a population of 1,532 in 666 households. A reduced population of 1,502 in 653 households ...
Masters (2002) and tied for second at
Montpellier
Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...
(2002). At
Gausdal
Gausdal is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Segalstad bru. Other villages in Gausdal include Follebu, Forse ...
(2002), he beat GMs Stelios Halkias,
Vasilios Kotronias
Vasilios Kotronias ( el, Βασίλειος Κοτρωνιάς; first name sometimes spelled ''Vassilios''; born 25 August 1964) is a Greek chess player and writer. He is a ten-time Greek champion (1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 2006, ...
and rising star
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. He is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Carlsen has h ...
, to finish joint fourth, only a half point off the shared first to third places. His achievements were recognised when he was voted third (2002) and second (2003) in the
British Chess Federation
The English Chess Federation (ECF) is the governing chess organisation in England. It is affiliated to FIDE. The ECF was formed in 2004 as one of the more localised successors to the British Chess Federation (BCF), an organisation founded in 1904. ...
's ''Player of the Year'' awards.
In subsequent years he focused his chess play on the weekend congress circuit, rather than competing in overseas tournaments. However, he then bucked the trend in 2007 and 2008 by touring the USA. His itinerary included the
Foxwoods
Foxwoods Resort Casino is a hotel and casino complex owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation on their reservation located in Ledyard, Connecticut. Including six casinos, the resort covers an area of . The casinos have more t ...
Open in Connecticut, where he finished on 6/9, a point behind winner
Alexander Shabalov
Alexander Anatolyevich Shabalov (russian: Алекса́ндр Анато́льевич Шаба́лов; lv, Aleksandrs Šabalovs; born September 12, 1967) is an American chess grandmaster and a four-time winner of the United States Chess Cha ...
. He also won tournaments, shared or outright, at the famous
Marshall Chess Club
The Marshall Chess Club, in Greenwich Village, New York City, is one of the oldest chess clubs in the United States. The club was formed in 1915 by a group of players led by Frank Marshall. It is a nonprofit organization and a gold affiliate of ...
in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, at
Saratoga Springs
Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over ...
, and at the
Blackstone Open, near
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. Another trip took him to Barbados, where he finished runner-up in the ''Heroes Day Cup'' with a score of 7½/9. The tournament was claimed by the organiser to be the strongest ever held in the English speaking nations of the Caribbean.
Also in 2008, he tied for first place at the
British Championship with GM
Stuart Conquest, but lost the overall title after a two-game
speed chess
Fast chess, also known as Speed chess, is a type of chess in which each player is given less time to consider their moves than normal tournament time controls allow. Fast chess is subdivided, by decreasing time controls, into rapid chess, blitz ...
play-off. His final standing did however qualify him for the title of 'English Champion'. Later that year, he won the
Wellington College Wellington College may refer to:
*Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England
** Wellington College International Shanghai
** Wellington College International Tianjin
* Wellington College, Wellington, Ne ...
International Open with 7½/9, ahead of GM
Nick Pert (7/9).
In 2012 ''Arkell’s Odyssey'', an autobiography, was published by Keverel Chess Books.
Arkell won the 2014
European Senior Chess Championship The European Senior Chess Championship is a chess tournament for senior chess players organised by the European Chess Union (ECU). Beginning in 2001, entry was open to men aged sixty or over (60+) by January 1 of the year the tournament starts. The ...
in
Porto
Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
. It was the first year the championship had been split into two separate age categories; 50 years plus and 65 years plus. He won the former and was later voted the
English Chess Federation
The English Chess Federation (ECF) is the governing chess organisation in England. It is affiliated to FIDE. The ECF was formed in 2004 as one of the more localised successors to the British Chess Federation (BCF), an organisation founded in 1904. ...
's ''Player of the Year'' for 2014.
Arkell shared first at the 2014 World Senior (50+) Championship, in Katerini, with 8.5/11 losing on tiebreak to
Zurab Sturua
Zurab Sturua (born 8 June 1959) is a Georgian chess player, who was awarded the title of grandmaster by FIDE in 1991.
He won the Georgian Chess Championship in 1975, 1977, 1981, 1984 and 1985 and played for Georgia in the Chess Olympiads of 19 ...
.
In 2015 Arkell finished equal first in the Vienna Open, scoring 7.5/9 in a field of 465 players, 138 of whom were titled. He received second prize on tie-break.
Arkell won the 2021 British online Championship with 7.5/9, a point ahead of runners up Michael Adams and Bogdan Lalic.
In 2022 England won the World Senior (50+) Team Championship, and such was its dominance that four of its five team members, Michael Adams, Nigel Short, Mark Hebden and Arkell himself won gold medals for the best performance on each of their respective boards. https://fide.com/news/1839
Later that year the team won the European title, with Arkell again collecting the gold medal for his board 2 performance. https://en.chessbase.com/post/european-senior-team-championships-2022-report
In 2020, he authored a second book, ''Arkell's Endings'' (published by GingerGM).
Playing style
As
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, Arkell prefers
Queen Pawn openings. As
Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
, he usually meets 1.d4 with the
Nimzo-Indian Defence
The Nimzo-Indian Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
:1. d4 Nf6
:2. c4 e6
:3. Nc3 Bb4
Other move orders, such as 1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.d4 Bb4, are also feasible. In the ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'', the Nimzo-Indian ...
and 1.e4 with the
Caro-Kann Defence or
French Defence
The French Defence is a chess opening characterised by the moves:
:1. e4 e6
This is most commonly followed by 2.d4 d5, with Black intending ...c5 soon after, attacking White's and gaining on the . The French has a reputation for solidity ...
. When playing the Caro-Kann, he is one of very few Grandmasters who regularly adopt the line 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5!?. The leading chess magazine ''
New in Chess'' christened this variation the "Arkell-Khenkin Line". He is widely considered to have exceptional skills in the
endgame
Endgame, Endgames, End Game, End Games, or similar variations may refer to:
Film
* ''The End of the Game'' (1919 film)
* ''The End of the Game'' (1975 film), short documentary U.S. film
* ''Endgame'' (1983 film), 1983 Italian post-apocalyptic f ...
.
In an interview in 2009 with Streatham and Brixton Chess Club,
The Streatham & Brixton Chess Blog - The Arkell Interview
/ref> Arkell suggests that the great precision required in long, exacting wins by players such as Ulf Andersson
Ulf Andersson (born 27 June 1951) is a leading Swedish chess player. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1970 and the Grandmaster title in 1972.
Career
At his peak, Andersson reached number four on the FIDE rating list. Tourname ...
and Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov ( rus, links=no, Анато́лий Евге́ньевич Ка́рпов, p=ɐnɐˈtolʲɪj jɪvˈɡʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈkarpəf; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet chess grandmaster, former World Ches ...
is the highest art form in chess and that for many years it never occurred to him that the majority of players would not share his enthusiasm. In the same interview, he laments that a reputation for keeping a tight rein on games and grinding out wins on the UK weekend circuit to support an existence as a professional chess player has negatively influenced coverage of his achievements by chess journalists and harmed his chances of selection for the England national team by overshadowing his record in international events.
Personal life
Keith Arkell was married to Woman Grandmaster
FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
and International Master Susan Lalic (née Walker), from 1986 to 1993.
Notes
External links
Keith Arkell
at ChessGames.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arkell, Keith
Chess grandmasters
English chess players
1961 births
Living people
People from Birmingham, West Midlands