TONY MILES (born Apr-23-1955, died Nov-12-2001, 46 years old) United Kingdom [what is this?] Anthony "Tony" Miles was born in Birmingham, England. At the age of five, Miles was taught chess by his father.(1) He was educated at King Edward's school in Birmingham, and went on to study Mathematics at Sheffield University, declining an offered place at Oxford.(1) He never finished his university education, opting to become a professional chess player instead.(1) Early Chess Career In 1968, Miles won the British U-14 Championship,(2) and the British U-21 Championship in 1971.(3) He debuted in the British Championships (1972), scoring 50%.(3) The next year, Miles went on to share 4th at Lone Pine (1973), won the Silver medal at the Junior World Championship in Teesside (1973) and beat the tournament winner Alexander Beliavsky in their individual encounter, Beliavsky vs Miles, 1973. (2) He also won the Birmingham (1973) International tournament ahead of Andras Adorjan and Arthur Bisguier and lost not a single game in 11 rounds.(1)(3) Miles won the Gold medal at the World Junior Championship in Manila (1974) with a 1.5 point margin, securing the IM title with this win A Kochyev vs Miles, 1974. (3) He shared second place at British Championship (1975). Britain's First Chess Grandmaster Miles achieved his first GM norm by winning London (1975), (3) and later became Britain's first home-grown over-the-board Chess Grandmaster,(4) after finishing third with 9.0/15 at Dubna (1976) in February.(3) Miles received a £5,000 award from James Slater for this feat.(1),(2),(3) One of the World's Best Chessplayers His first great tournament win was Amsterdam (1976), where he shared first place with Viktor Korchnoi. (2),(3) He shared 2nd place at Lone Pine (1976), and won Amsterdam (1977) and Biel (1977).(3) Miles came in 2nd at Tilburg Interpolis (1977), shared 4th at Buenos Aires (Konex) (1979), shared 2nd at Buenos Aires (Clarin) (1979) and 2nd at Lone Pine (1980). In 1980, the European Team Championship in Skara, Sweden saw England paired against the USSR.(2) Most crucial for England's 4.0-4.0 draw in the match, was Miles' spectacular win over the World Champion, Karpov vs Miles, 1980, replying to 1.e4 with 1...a6.(2) Miles also had good results at Las Palmas (1980), sharing 1st with Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian and Efim Geller, and scored +4 -1 =6 at Vrbas (1980), ahead of Petrosian.(3) He finished Baden-Baden (1981) unbeaten and equal 1st together with Zoltan Ribli, ahead of Korchnoi.(3) Miles won his first and only British Championship title in Torquay, in 1982.(3). He shared 1st with John Nunn at Biel (1983),(3). In 1984, he finshied 2nd behind Karpov at Oslo (1984),(3) before winning Tilburg (1984) by 1.5 points, which was called his "best result" by Barden.(2). In addition, he scored +1 -0 =3 at USSR vs. Rest of the World (1984). A remarkable event was his 22-board Blindfold Simul in Roetgen, Germany on 20 May 1984.(5) Miles scored +10 -2 =10 during the 11.5 hours lasting Simul, while in a sound proofed booth and without access to score sheets.(5) At Tilburg (1985), Miles shared 1st with Robert Huebner and Korchnoi, beating the latter in both games, Korchnoi vs Miles, 1985 and Miles vs Korchnoi, 1985. (3) After a bad start, Miles injured his back and started a winning streak when playing on a hospital massage table.(2) In 1986, Miles came in shared 2nd at Dortmund (1986),(3) but lost a match in Basel against Garry Kasparov by the score of +0 -5 =1, remarking afterwards: "I thought that he was 'only' the World Champion. When I came to Basel, I met some kind of monster with one hundred eyes, which do not miss anything at all."(6) Despite his many excellent results, Miles never became a World Champion candidate, although he participated in four Inter-zonals.(3) Leonard William Barden explained: "The problem was that he globetrotted too much, travelling from one tournament to another with hardly a break, leaving insufficient time for preparation and rest."(2) Later Chess Career A new generation of British chessplayers, among them Nigel Short began to overtake him.(2) Short had already reached a higher rating than Miles, yet only played on board 3 at the Dubai Olympiad (1986), where England won the Silver medal.(7) Short explained in his obituary for Miles: "I obtained a measure of revenge not only by eclipsing Tony in terms of chess performance but also by sleeping with his girlfriend, which was definitely satisfying but perhaps not entirely gentlemanly."(8) Later, Short explained: "Tony was insanely jealous of my success, and his inability to accept that he was no longer Britain’s number one was an indication of, if not a trigger for, his descent into madness. His first psychiatric internment came in 1987, and he was in and (usually) out of institutions for the remainder of his days. Thankfully, there was much more to him than that."(9) The year 1987 became most crucial for Miles' career and life, when he made public what had happened 2 years before, at the Inter-zonal in Tunisia (1985). Back then, Raymond Keene had approached Miles and wanted to become his second. It was known that Miles didn't want a second and he declined again, so Keene offered him the opportunity to make money. English chess supporters had established a fund to finance the expenses and fees of seconds for those English chessplayers, who had reached the Inter-zonals. All Miles had to do, was to claim that Keene had been his second, and then Keene would split the profits with him. Miles said that he should go ahead, and if he was asked about it, wouldn't contradict Keene, but answer that seconds were underpaid. Since Keene didn't act as his second, Miles forgot about the issue. At the British Championship in Edinburgh, three months later, Keene handed Miles a cheque for £589. Miles photo-copied the cheque and two years later, after failed private investigations, he confronted David W Anderton who said that Keene had acted as Miles' second and had been paid as such. Miles explained to him what had happened and handed him a cheque for £589 in favour of Keene, in case Keene returned the whole money to the British Chess Federation (BCF). After a preliminary inquiry by David Jarrett and Mohammed Amin, the BCF decided to hold a formal inquiry into the accusations in October 1987. Obsessed with bringing Keene to justice, Miles became more and more irrational and when the inquiry was postponed due to the death of Keene's wife's grandmother, Miles believed that he had caused her death. Miles was arrested in Downing Street when trying to talk to the Prime-Minister,(10) later writing: "Perhaps I should mention that I spent several months in hospital from the end of September 87 – a result of banging my head against a bureaucratic brick wall – and am especially ill-informed for that period."(11) Keene let the BCF know that he wouldn't attend the inquiry at the new or any future date and that he resigned from the BCF. In The Times, Keene said that his resignation had nothing to do with the accusations, but to establish the English Chess Association. While Miles underwent treatment in a mental hospital in Birmingham, the BCF dropped the inquiry. Keene said that he had been Miles' second, spending much time with him at Tunis. He also said that he expected to be Short's second, which was turned down. When Miles declined, Keene believed that offering him money would change his mind. According to Keene, Miles agreed by telephone. Larry Mark Christiansen, also present at Tunis: “I don’t believe Ray was Tony’s second,” he says. “Tony spent most of his time with me and another American grandmaster. Ray seemed to spend his time politicking and sitting by the hotel pool with his wife.”(10) In 1987, Miles also transferred allegiance to the USA, when he was no longer top board of the English Olympiad team and also settled in Germany.(2) Miles' chess suffered after the scandal, but when he moved back to Birmingham, his results improved again.(2) He scored 50% at Wijk aan Zee (1989) and 8.5/15 at the US Championships (1989).(3) He shared 3rd behind Karpov and Ulf Andersson at Biel (1990) and 3rd in Biel (1992) and played for England again.(3) Miles won the Capablanca Memorial four times, in 1994, 1995, 1996 and 1999.(3) He had another great momemt at the PCA Intel Rapid Chess Grand Prix (1995) in London, where he knocked out Vladimir Kramnik in round 1, and was only stopped by Michael Adams in the semi-final.(3) Miles went on to participate in tournaments, but around 2001, his interest in chess waned: "I am playing more bridge than chess these days (bit bored!)."(12) Chess Author Miles wrote a chess column for the Sunday Telegraph, before he was fired by Dominic Lawson. (5) Miles wrote chess book reviews for Kingpin.(13) He also had a famous chess column, The Miles Report at Chess Café, after Edward Winter had suggested that to him in agreement with Hanon W Russell. (5) The column, which ran from July 1999 to October 2001, is still available online.(14) Private Life Miles was divorced twice. One of his wives was Jana Malypetrova Hartston Miles Bellin. He had no children.(2) Suffering from diabetes, Miles died of a heart failure in his sleep, in Harborne, Birmingham.(2),(3) Theoretical Contributions A line of the Queen's Indian Defence (E12, http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches..., 1.d4 ♘f6 2.c4 e6 3.♘f3 b6 4.♗f4) is called the Miles Variation. Sources (1) The Telegraph, 14 November 2001, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obi... (2) Leonard William Barden, The Guardian, 14 November 2001, http://www.theguardian.com/news/200... (3) Mark Crowther, The Week in Chess 367, 19 November 2001, http://www.theweekinchess.com/html/... (4) Jacques Mieses (GM title in 1950) was a naturalized Brit originally from Germany. Keith Bevan Richardson held the Correspondence GM title. (5) Edward Winter, Tony Miles (1955-2001), http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/... (6) Interview with Heinz Weber, Basler Zeitung, 23 May 1986, p. 3. Reprinted in Edward Winter, Kasparov v Miles, Basle, 1986, http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/.... Translated by User: Karpova, original: "Ich glaubte, er sei 'bloss' der Weltmeister. Als ich dann nach Basel kam, traf ich eine Art Monster mit hundert Augen, denen auch nicht das Geringste entgeht." (7) Wojciech Bartelski, OlimpBase :: the online encyclopaedia of international team chess events, http://www.olimpbase.org/1986/1986i... and http://www.olimpbase.org/1986/1986e... (8) Nigel Short, Sunday Telegraph, 18 November 2001. Reproduced in Justin Horton, Ten years ago this week, 16 November 2011, http://streathambrixtonchess.blogsp... (9) Nigel Short, The Sunday chess column, The Telegraph, 30 November 2003, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/... (10) Nick Pitt, Sunday Times Colour Supplement, Keene's Gambit, 13 January 1991, pp. 16-26. Reproduced in http://streathambrixtonchess.blogsp.... Anthony Miles, Generous to a Fault, Kingpin, issue 15, Summer 1989. Published online on 10 November 2011, http://www.kingpinchess.net/2011/11... (11) Anthony Miles in a letter to Edward Winter, 24 July 1989. Reprinted in Edward Winter, Tony Miles (1955-2001), http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/... (12) Anthony Miles in an e-mail to Edward Winter, 10 January 2001. Reproduced in Edward Winter, Tony Miles (1955-2001), http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/... (13) Review of Eric Schiller 's Unorthodox Chess Openings: http://www.kingpinchess.net/2009/02.... Review of Keene's and Michael Gelb's Samurai Chess: Mastering the Martial Art of the Mind: http://www.kingpinchess.net/2009/02.... (14) Zip-file for download, http://www.chesscafe.com/archives/p... Wikipedia article: Tony Miles Last updated: 2019-07-26 13:21:38

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page 1 of 114; games 1-25 of 2,828  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Miles vs Bissicks   1-0 26 1967 Schools Competition B72 Sicilian, Dragon 2. I McNab vs Miles 0-1 22 1967 BCF-ch U14 A00 Uncommon Opening 3. P S Farelly vs Miles 0-1 33 1967 BCF-ch U14 C34 King's Gambit Accepted 4. Miles vs A J Butcher   0-1 29 1969 Staffordshire op B81 Sicilian, Scheveningen, Keres Attack 5. Miles vs Nunn 1-0 20 1969 BCF-ch U18 C55 Two Knights Defense 6. Miles vs J R Dennis 1-0 23 1969 BCF-ch U18 C55 Two Knights Defense 7. R W Howley vs Miles   ½-½ 30 1969 BCF-ch U18 A00 Uncommon Opening 8. Miles vs F O'Donohoe   1-0 42 1970 Glorney Cup C44 King's Pawn Game 9. D J Findlay vs Miles 0-1 56 1970 Glorney Cup C63 Ruy Lopez, Schliemann Defense 10. D Bray vs Miles 0-1 35 1970 Glorney Cup A04 Reti Opening 11. Miles vs J Hanau   1-0 32 1970 Glorney Cup C45 Scotch Game 12. Miles vs A Whiteley   ½-½ 45 1970 Islington Open B78 Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack, 10.castle long 13. A Milnes vs Miles   0-1 30 1970 Islington Open C44 King's Pawn Game 14. Miles vs Speelman 0-1 39 1970 Islington Open B32 Sicilian 15. Miles vs R R Smith 1-0 26 1970 Islington Junior A B13 Caro-Kann, Exchange 16. R Bellin vs Miles   1-0 55 1970 Islington Junior A C42 Petrov Defense 17. Miles vs M Stean 1-0 53 1970 Islington Junior A B90 Sicilian, Najdorf 18. R O'Kelly vs Miles   ½-½ 40 1970 Islington Junior A D32 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch 19. Miles vs Nunn 0-1 49 1970 Islington Junior A C44 King's Pawn Game 20. R Moberly vs Miles 1-0 34 1970 Islington Junior A C25 Vienna 21. Miles vs S Mariotti   0-1 36 1970 Islington Junior A B87 Sicilian, Fischer-Sozin with ...a6 and ...b5 22. R Farley vs Miles 0-1 51 1971 Staffordshire op B02 Alekhine's Defense 23. Miles vs J J Carleton   1-0 33 1971 Staffordshire op C02 French, Advance 24. Miles vs D Anderton   0-1 42 1971 Staffordshire op A07 King's Indian Attack 25. E H Goodwin vs Miles 0-1 26 1971 Staffordshire op A56 Benoni Defense  page 1 of 114; games 1-25 of 2,828

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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 13 OF 13 ·  Later Kibitzing> Apr-03-21    Dionysius1: :-). It makes a good story, Kasparov being the punisher of those guilty of arrogance before the gods. I doubt if Miles was any more arrogant than Kaspy though. Apr-23-22    et1: Great player. Dec-23-22    GrahamClayton: Miles' biography is called "It's Only Me", which is an anagram of his name. Dec-06-23    Granny O Doul: I read this on Facebook, from some Beatles group. It might just as well have been Miles and Keene, or Miles and Short. "We were once having a right slagging session and I remember how he took off his granny glasses. I can still see him. He put them down and said, 'It's only me, Paul.' Then he put them back on again, and we continued slagging...That phrase keeps coming back to me all the time. 'It's only me.' It's become a mantra in my mind." Jan-11-25    Fusilli: Importing this from Buenos Aires Olympiad (1978) <moronovich: ... But the highlight was spending a lot of time with the late Tony Miles...> As a speaker of English as a second language, I often wonder when the "late" window closes to refer to a deceased person. Miles died in 2001. Shouldn't we drop his lateness by now? What is the rule, if any? Do people use <the late> to refer to deceased people who are their own contemporaries, for example? Or when a significant proportion of folks from the same generation are still around? No one would refer to Alekhine as "the late Alexander Alekhine," but no Alekhine contemporary is around. As a lover of language, I note these things, and I am willing to bet that people routinely apply <the late> to Tony Miles on this website (which counts as its users folks who are Miles' contemporaries and actually met them, like <moro> here) while more recent deceased players do not get the "lateness" label. I'm curious about this because there is no Spanish (my native language) equivalent for <the late> (at least not in the way it's used in English) so it'd be nice to develop some instinct on when to use it or expect it. Jan-11-25    stone free or die: <<Fusilli> What is the rule, if any?> I don't think there is such a rule. It's a synonym for deceased who lived "comparatively recently". That's fairly subjective. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dic... (see meaning 2a) Seems you pointed that out with some of your examples. Jan-11-25    Fusilli: <stone free or die> <I don't think there is such a rule. It's a synonym for deceased who lived "comparatively recently".> I see, but there must be something about expectations, don't you think? I doubt anyone would be referring to Jimmy Carter as the late Jimmy Carter five years from now. I doubt anyone refers to Henry Kissinger as the late Henry Kissinger, who also died at 100 as recently as 14 months ago. Jan-11-25    jnpope: <z> and <Fusilli>, the only window I could find is: https://formsofaddress.info/names/#... <Some style guides say a person can only be ‘the late’ if they have been dead less than a decade.> Jan-11-25    jnpope: Although I prefer this answer from sociolinguist Joe Devney: <As to how long to use it: as long as it is necessary. Adding the word 'late' when referring to someone is a clear but unobtrusive way to tell your audience that the person referred to is dead. Use it when the person might conceivably be still with us, but it might be best if the listener knows that the person is gone.> Jan-11-25    stone free or die: I'll add this nuance- there's a tinge of regret when referring to a person as "the late". It's usually someone who lived within the most recent generation and with regard and respect. So, consider "the late Tony Miles" as a subtle form of tribute. . Jan-11-25    stone free or die: (So, often found in a phrase like "late lamented") Jan-11-25    stone free or die: Changing the subject a little (but still on-topic as concerns Miles): <Incidentally, I believe the first photo shows the Miles/Spassky opening moves of game 45 in Tony Miles: It’s Only Me (Batsford Books, 2003, p.103) with Spassky just deciding on the reply Nf6 to Tony’s 1. d4, heading for a Queen’s Indian Defence. Note that Miles has his wristwatch placed coyly over his score sheet, a quirk of the Englishman, as he famously recorded all his moves in Cyrillic!> https://www.thechessschach.com/2022... Somehow I find this a bit hard to believe. Does anybody know if this could be true? . Jan-11-25    jnpope: https://chesscollectorshop.com/prod... Looks like long algebraic to me: https://chesscollectorshop.com/cdn/... Miles vs J Roos, 1981 Jan-11-25    stone free or die: Yes, <jn>, lan it is. Here's his famous 1...a6?! scoresheet vs. Karpov (1980): https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EDE3A1_... Lars Gahn has (or had) it. Jan-11-25    stone free or die: (Looks like Miles used the wristwatch to time the moves more precisely - in the days before digital clocks!) Jan-11-25    Retireborn: <stone free> It's news to me. The poster <Nosnibor> might know. It's the sort of thing that would have amused Miles though. I believe that nowadays you are not allowed to write the move down until after you've made it. Not sure when that rule changed. Jan-11-25    perfidious: <Retireborn>, in FIDE events that is now correct; I knew a strong player who was in the habit of writing their move before playing so as to elicit a reaction and was not above erasing their scoresheet and playing another. Jan-11-25    Sally Simpson: <Stone Free> Tony Miles and 'Cyrillic' perhaps it was a phase he went through. In 'It's Only Me' the Forward by Leonard Barden mention is made of Tony using Cyrillic to record his moves v Kuzmin G Kuzmin vs Miles, 1973 I saw Tony play in 1973 but never noticed or knew anything about how he kept a score. However, Leonard is a 100% source. The rule about having to keep a score in a recognised hand was possibly in place in 1979/80. I recall getting a very minor ticking off for writing 'ZOOM' or ZOOOM when castling. Jan-11-25    stone free or die: <<Sally> I recall getting a very minor ticking off for writing 'ZOOM' or ZOOOM when castling.> Deservedly so - ha! < Leonard Barden mention is made of Tony using Cyrillic> Wow. A bit bizarre, but a heads up to Winter - some of these chess legends do come true. Jan-11-25    perfidious: On the topic of writing on one's scoresheet, many will recall the notorious gamelet So vs V Akobian, 2015. Jan-11-25    stone free or die: I remember well - was that really almost ten years ago?!? Related, but not exactly the same as writing in Cyrillic. I wonder what the backstory was? Maybe it was a phase, or maybe a one-off? Jan-12-25    perfidious: I have vague memories of observing a player keeping score using figurine algebraic, a la Informator. Jan-12-25    stone free or die: <<perf> I have vague memories of observing a player keeping score using figurine algebraic, a la Informator.> That's a bit bizarre, gotta say. Jan-12-25    perfidious: One would imagine that quirk was cast aside whenever time trouble reared its ugly head. (TTRIUH, as an old friend used to scrawl on his scoresheet) Jan-12-25    Fusilli: <stone> <jnpope> Thanks for your input on <the late> question. I think I understand it much better now. Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 13) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 13 OF 13 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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