Michael Stean
Encyclopedia
Michael Francis Stean is an English chess grandmaster and author.
under-16 titles.
There was more progress in 1971, when he placed third at a junior event in Norwich
(behind Sax
and Tarjan
, two other young players with bright futures). By 1973, he was able to top a tournament in Canterbury
(ahead of Adorjan
) and speculation began to grow that England had another potential runner in the race to become the country's first grandmaster. Fellow contenders were Ray Keene, who Stean knew from Cambridge University and Tony Miles
, who ultimately took the accolade. 1973 was also the year that Stean entered the (Teesside
) World Junior Chess Championship
and finished third behind Miles and tournament victor Alexander Beliavsky
(ahead of Larry Christiansen). Curiously, both Stean and Miles defeated Beliavsky, but couldn't match his ruthlessness in dispatching inferior opposition.
in 1974, but lost the play-off to George Botterill
. In the first of his five Chess Olympiad
s at Nice
in 1974, he won the prize for best game of the Olympiad, for his effort against Walter Browne. His next Olympiad was even more of a success; individual gold and team bronze medals at Haifa
1976. His performances in these events never resulted in a score of less than 50%.
International Master and International Grandmaster
titles were awarded in 1975 and 1977 respectively. In international tournaments, he competed successfully at Montilla 1976 (2nd= with Kavalek and Calvo after Karpov
), Montilla 1977 (3rd after Gligorić
and Kavalek), London 1977 (2nd= with Mestel
and Quinteros
after Hort
), Vršac
1979 (1st), Smederevska Palanka
1980 (1st) and Beersheba
1982 (1st).
During this period, Stean frequently had to put aside his own playing ambitions, as he was engaged as one of Viktor Korchnoi
's team of seconds for world championship campaigns in 1977-78 and 1980-81. In many respects, the partnerships that developed were reasonably successful; Korchnoi brushed aside some powerful rival Candidates
like Boris Spassky
, Robert Hübner
and Lev Polugaevsky
en-route to his two finals with Karpov. Stean's role was mostly involved with opening
preparation and he and Korchnoi became good friends. There were however some well-documented divisions in the camp, with Keene standing accused of treating his book writing and journalistic duties as a first priority.
In 1982, at the age of 29 and more or less in his chess playing prime, Michael Stean retired from chess to become a tax accountant; a decision he does not appear to have regretted, as there has been no attempted return to chess in subsequent years.
While playing chess, he wrote two books - Sicilian Najdorf (Batsford, 1976) and Simple Chess (Faber, 1978). Both books were well received and the latter has become known as a chess classic, remaining in print many years later (reprinted algebraic
edition - Dover, 2003). Simple Chess concentrates on the simple positional ideas and strategies that present themselves in popular openings and shows how they might be developed with the aid of sample games. Most effectively, the reader is not overburdened with distracting analysis or lengthy continuations.
Junior career
He learned to play chess before the age of five, developing a promising talent that led to junior honours, including the London under-14 and BritishGreat Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
under-16 titles.
There was more progress in 1971, when he placed third at a junior event in Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
(behind Sax
Gyula Sax
Gyula Sax is a Hungarian chess player and International Arbiter , born in Budapest.He was awarded the IM title in 1972 and the GM title in 1974. He was the Hungarian Chess Champion in 1976 and 1977 . In 1971-72, he was the European Junior Champion, and he placed first at Rovinj-Zagreb 1975,...
and Tarjan
James Tarjan
James Edward Tarjan is an American Grandmaster of chess.Tarjan was just 17 when he was selected to the American team for the 1969 World Students' Olympiad, at Dresden. He was a member of the winning American side at Haifa 1970, and was selected again at Graz 1972...
, two other young players with bright futures). By 1973, he was able to top a tournament in Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
(ahead of Adorjan
Andras Adorjan
András Adorján is a Hungarian author and Grandmaster of chess , born in Budapest. He adopted his mother's surname Adorján in 1968....
) and speculation began to grow that England had another potential runner in the race to become the country's first grandmaster. Fellow contenders were Ray Keene, who Stean knew from Cambridge University and Tony Miles
Tony Miles
Anthony John Miles was an English chess Grandmaster.- Early achievements in chess :Miles was born in Edgbaston, a suburb of Birmingham...
, who ultimately took the accolade. 1973 was also the year that Stean entered the (Teesside
Teesside
Teesside is the name given to the conurbation in the north east of England made up of the towns of Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar, Billingham and surrounding settlements near the River Tees. It was also the name of a local government district between 1968 and 1974—the County Borough of...
) World Junior Chess Championship
World Junior Chess Championship
The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament organized by the World Chess Federation ....
and finished third behind Miles and tournament victor Alexander Beliavsky
Alexander Beliavsky
-External links:...
(ahead of Larry Christiansen). Curiously, both Stean and Miles defeated Beliavsky, but couldn't match his ruthlessness in dispatching inferior opposition.
Young Grandmaster
Domestically, he was a joint winner of the British Chess ChampionshipBritish Chess Championship
The British Chess Championship is organised by the English Chess Federation. There are separate championships for men and women. Since 1923 there have been sections for juniors, and since 1982 there has been an over-sixty championship. The championship venue usually changes every year and has been...
in 1974, but lost the play-off to George Botterill
George Botterill
George Steven Botterill is a British chess player, writer and philosopher.Botterill was born in Bradford and learned chess at the age of seven....
. In the first of his five Chess Olympiad
Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...
s at Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
in 1974, he won the prize for best game of the Olympiad, for his effort against Walter Browne. His next Olympiad was even more of a success; individual gold and team bronze medals at Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
1976. His performances in these events never resulted in a score of less than 50%.
International Master and International Grandmaster
International Grandmaster
The title Grandmaster is awarded to strong chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain....
titles were awarded in 1975 and 1977 respectively. In international tournaments, he competed successfully at Montilla 1976 (2nd= with Kavalek and Calvo after Karpov
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once...
), Montilla 1977 (3rd after Gligorić
Svetozar Gligoric
Svetozar Gligorić is a Serbian chess grandmaster. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record twelve times, and is considered the best player ever from Serbia...
and Kavalek), London 1977 (2nd= with Mestel
Jonathan Mestel
Andrew Jonathan Mestel is Professor of applied mathematics at Imperial College London who works on magnetohydrodynamics and biological fluid dynamics...
and Quinteros
Miguel Quinteros
Miguel Quinteros is an Argentine chess grandmaster.He won the Argentine Chess Championship at the age of 18 and in 1969 took eighth place at the Mar del Plata Zonal tournament...
after Hort
Vlastimil Hort
Vlastimil Hort is a chess Grandmaster of Czech nationality. During the 1960s and 1970s he was one of the world's strongest players and reached the Candidates stage of competition for the world chess championship, but was never able to compete for the actual title.Hort was born in Kladno,...
), Vršac
Vršac
Vršac is a town and municipality located in Serbia. In 2002 the town's total population was 36,623, while Vršac municipality had 54,369 inhabitants. Vršac is located in the Banat region, in the Vojvodina province of Serbia. It is part of the South Banat District.-Name:The name Vršac is of Serbian...
1979 (1st), Smederevska Palanka
Smederevska Palanka
Smederevska Palanka is a town and municipality located in Central Serbia. According to the preliminary results of the 2011 census, the municipality had a total population of 50,078, while the town proper has 23,152 inhabitants.-Geography:Smederevska Palanka lies in Pan-European Corridor X , just...
1980 (1st) and Beersheba
Beersheba
Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300....
1982 (1st).
During this period, Stean frequently had to put aside his own playing ambitions, as he was engaged as one of Viktor Korchnoi
Viktor Korchnoi
Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ; pronounced in the original Russian as "karch NOY"; Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, born March 23, 1931 is a professional chess player, author and currently the oldest active grandmaster on the tournament circuit...
's team of seconds for world championship campaigns in 1977-78 and 1980-81. In many respects, the partnerships that developed were reasonably successful; Korchnoi brushed aside some powerful rival Candidates
Candidates Tournament
The Candidates Tournament is a chess tournament organized by the world chess federation FIDE since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship...
like Boris Spassky
Boris Spassky
Boris Vasilievich Spassky is a Soviet-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from late 1969 to 1972...
, Robert Hübner
Robert Hübner
Robert Hübner is a respected German chess Grandmaster, chess writer, and papyrologist . At eighteen, he was joint winner of the West German Chess Championship...
and Lev Polugaevsky
Lev Polugaevsky
Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky was an International Grandmaster of chess and frequent contender for the world chess championship, although he never achieved that title...
en-route to his two finals with Karpov. Stean's role was mostly involved with opening
Chess opening
A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...
preparation and he and Korchnoi became good friends. There were however some well-documented divisions in the camp, with Keene standing accused of treating his book writing and journalistic duties as a first priority.
In 1982, at the age of 29 and more or less in his chess playing prime, Michael Stean retired from chess to become a tax accountant; a decision he does not appear to have regretted, as there has been no attempted return to chess in subsequent years.
While playing chess, he wrote two books - Sicilian Najdorf (Batsford, 1976) and Simple Chess (Faber, 1978). Both books were well received and the latter has become known as a chess classic, remaining in print many years later (reprinted algebraic
Algebraic chess notation
Algebraic notation is a method for recording and describing the moves in a game of chess. It is now standard among all chess organizations and most books, magazines, and newspapers...
edition - Dover, 2003). Simple Chess concentrates on the simple positional ideas and strategies that present themselves in popular openings and shows how they might be developed with the aid of sample games. Most effectively, the reader is not overburdened with distracting analysis or lengthy continuations.
Notable game
- Stean-Browne, 1-0, Nice Olympiad 1974, Sicilian Najdorf - The game that won Stean the TuroverIsador Samuel TuroverIsador Samuel Turover was a Belgian-American chess master.Born in Belgium, he moved to the United States. He was a champion of Baltimore from 1918 to 1921, won the Washington D.C. championship in 1918 ahead of F.B. Walker and took 2nd, behind Vladimir Sournin, in the D.C...
Prize for 'best game' of the 1974 Olympiad.