Frederick Yates
Encyclopedia
Frederick Dewhurst Yates (16 January 1884, Birstall
– 11 November 1932, London) was an English chess master
who won the British Chess Championship
on six occasions. He started a career in accountancy, but in 1909, abandoned it in favour of becoming a professional chess player and journalist.
, but lost the play-off. He went on to secure the title in 1913, 1914, 1921, 1926, 1928 and 1931.
Despite considerable domestic success, his record in international tournaments did not do him justice. Often the winner against his strongest opponents, he would then lose to those at the bottom of the table. This was particularly apparent at the Budapest
tourney of 1926.
His lack of consistency was attributed to poor health and loss of stamina. A constant hacking cough went unchecked, as his funds did not stretch to a holiday in warmer climes; the advice given by his doctor. He was also subjected to journalistic pressures, frequently reporting on the tournaments in which he was playing. Yet, dedicating himself to the playing side of chess would have earned him insufficient sums to make a living. A number of his contemporaries believed that his talent could have placed him among the world championship contenders, had his circumstances been different. Nevertheless, in his time, he defeated most of his illustrious adversaries, the most notable exceptions being Emanuel Lasker
and José Raúl Capablanca
. His victory against Alexander Alekhine
at Karlsbad
in 1923 won the brilliancy prize, while his win against Milan Vidmar
at San Remo
in 1930 was described by Alekhine as the finest game played since the war.
As a journalist he was the chess columnist of the Manchester Guardian and with William Winter
, the co-author of Modern Master Play (1929). He wrote accounts of two world championship encounters; those between Alekhine and Capablanca, and Alekhine and Bogoljubow
.
In team competition, he played at the first
, third
and fourth
Olympiad
s, representing the 'British Empire' team. On each occasion, he made a plus score and at London 1927, earned a team bronze medal.
His life ended prematurely, when a leaking gas pipe caused him to asphyxiate during his sleep.
1911, Cheltenham
1913, Chester
1914, Malvern
1921, Edinburgh
1926 and Tunbridge Wells 1927. There were second place finishes at Oxford
1910, Richmond 1912, Southport
1924, Hastings
1924/25 and Stratford-upon-Avon
1925.
Abroad, his best results included first equal with Savielly Tartakower
at Kecskemét
(B Final, 1927) and fifth at San Remo (the strongest tournament of 1930), when he finished ahead of Spielmann
, Vidmar and Tartakower. He was second at Ghent
in 1926, after Tartakower, but ahead of Colle
and Janowski
.
He was also noted for extreme doggedness, fighting until the last vestige of hope was gone before conceding defeat.
Birstall, West Yorkshire
Birstall is a large village in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England and situated roughly 6 miles south-west of Leeds. It features a quaint triangular Victorian marketplace, which replaced an earlier market on High Street in the Georgian area of the village further up the hill...
– 11 November 1932, London) was an English chess master
Chess master
A chess master is a chess player of such skill that he/she can usually beat chess experts, who themselves typically prevail against most amateurs. Among chess players, the term is often abbreviated to master, the meaning being clear from context....
who won the British Chess Championship
British 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...
on six occasions. He started a career in accountancy, but in 1909, abandoned it in favour of becoming a professional chess player and journalist.
Chess career
Yates almost won the British Championship in 1911, when he tied for first place with Henry AtkinsHenry Ernest Atkins
Henry Ernest Atkins was a British chess master who is best known for his unparalleled record of winning the British Chess Championship nine times in eleven attempts. He won every year from 1905 to 1911, and again in 1924 and 1925...
, but lost the play-off. He went on to secure the title in 1913, 1914, 1921, 1926, 1928 and 1931.
Despite considerable domestic success, his record in international tournaments did not do him justice. Often the winner against his strongest opponents, he would then lose to those at the bottom of the table. This was particularly apparent at the Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
tourney of 1926.
His lack of consistency was attributed to poor health and loss of stamina. A constant hacking cough went unchecked, as his funds did not stretch to a holiday in warmer climes; the advice given by his doctor. He was also subjected to journalistic pressures, frequently reporting on the tournaments in which he was playing. Yet, dedicating himself to the playing side of chess would have earned him insufficient sums to make a living. A number of his contemporaries believed that his talent could have placed him among the world championship contenders, had his circumstances been different. Nevertheless, in his time, he defeated most of his illustrious adversaries, the most notable exceptions being Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years...
and José Raúl Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. One of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play...
. His victory against Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played...
at Karlsbad
Karlovy Vary
Karlovy Vary is a spa city situated in western Bohemia, Czech Republic, on the confluence of the rivers Ohře and Teplá, approximately west of Prague . It is named after King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, who founded the city in 1370...
in 1923 won the brilliancy prize, while his win against Milan Vidmar
Milan Vidmar
Milan Vidmar was a Slovene electrical engineer, chess player, chess theorist, philosopher, and writer. He was a specialist in power transformers and transmission of electric current.- Biography :...
at San Remo
Sanremo
Sanremo or San Remo is a city with about 57,000 inhabitants on the Mediterranean coast of western Liguria in north-western Italy. Founded in Roman times, the city is best known as a tourist destination on the Italian Riviera. It hosts numerous cultural events, such as the Sanremo Music Festival...
in 1930 was described by Alekhine as the finest game played since the war.
As a journalist he was the chess columnist of the Manchester Guardian and with William Winter
William Winter (chess player)
William Winter was a British chess player. He won the British Open Chess Championship in 1934 and the British Chess Championship in 1935 and 1936. An acolyte of Siegbert Tarrasch, his sound, strategic play enabled him to defeat a number of the world's top players, including David Bronstein, Aron...
, the co-author of Modern Master Play (1929). He wrote accounts of two world championship encounters; those between Alekhine and Capablanca, and Alekhine and Bogoljubow
Efim Bogoljubow
Efim Dmitriyevich Bogolyubov was a Russo-German chess grandmaster who won numerous events and played two matches with Alexander Alekhine for the world championship.-Early career:...
.
In team competition, he played at the first
1st Chess Olympiad
The 1st Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between July 18 and July 30, 1927, in London, United Kingdom...
, third
3rd Chess Olympiad
The 3rd Chess Olympiad, organized by the FIDE and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between July 13 and July 27, 1930, in Hamburg, Germany...
and fourth
4th Chess Olympiad
The 4th Chess Olympiad, organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between July 11 and July 26, 1931, in Prague, Czechoslovakia...
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, representing the 'British Empire' team. On each occasion, he made a plus score and at London 1927, earned a team bronze medal.
His life ended prematurely, when a leaking gas pipe caused him to asphyxiate during his sleep.
Tournament record
Competing within the British Isles, he was first at GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
1911, Cheltenham
Cheltenham
Cheltenham , also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a large spa town and borough in Gloucestershire, on the edge of the Cotswolds in the South-West region of England. It is the home of the flagship race of British steeplechase horse racing, the Gold Cup, the main event of the Cheltenham Festival held...
1913, Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
1914, Malvern
Malvern, Worcestershire
Malvern is a town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, governed by Malvern Town Council. As of the 2001 census it has a population of 28,749, and includes the historical settlement and commercial centre of Great Malvern on the steep eastern flank of the Malvern Hills, and the former...
1921, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
1926 and Tunbridge Wells 1927. There were second place finishes at Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
1910, Richmond 1912, Southport
Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. During the 2001 census Southport was recorded as having a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England...
1924, Hastings
Hastings International Chess Congress
The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin tournament. In 2004/05 the tournament was played in the...
1924/25 and Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
1925.
Abroad, his best results included first equal with Savielly Tartakower
Savielly Tartakower
Ksawery Tartakower was a leading Polish and French chess Grandmaster. He was also a leading chess journalist of the 1920s and 30s...
at Kecskemét
Kecskemét
Kecskemét is a city in the central part of Hungary. It is the 8th largest city of the country, and the county seat of Bács-Kiskun.Kecskemét lies halfway between the capital Budapest and the country's third-largest city, Szeged, 86 kilometres from both of them and almost equal distance from the two...
(B Final, 1927) and fifth at San Remo (the strongest tournament of 1930), when he finished ahead of Spielmann
Rudolf Spielmann
Rudolf Spielmann was an Austrian-Jewish chess player of the romantic school, and chess writer.-Career:He was a lawyer but never worked as one....
, Vidmar and Tartakower. He was second at Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
in 1926, after Tartakower, but ahead of Colle
Edgard Colle
Edgard Colle was a Belgian chess master. He scored excellent results in major international tournaments, including first at Amsterdam 1926, ahead of Savielly Tartakower and future world champion Max Euwe; first at Meran 1926, ahead of Esteban Canal; and first at Scarborough 1930, ahead of Maróczy...
and Janowski
Dawid Janowski
Dawid Markelowicz Janowski was a leading Polish chess master and subsequent French citizen....
.
Notable games
- Capablanca vs Yates, English Opening, Barcelona 1929 - Yates was a very sporting person and even published this loss to Capablanca in his own collection of best games:
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. b3 Bg7 4. Bb2 O-O 5. g3 d6 6. Bg2 Nc6 7. O-O e5 8. d4 Nd7 9. dxe5 Ndxe5 10. Nc3 Re8 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12. Qd2 a5 13. Rac1 Rb8 14. h3 Bd7 15. Nd5 b6 16. f4 Nc6 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Qb2+ f6 19. g4 Nb4 20. g5 Nxd5 21. cxd5 Rc8 22. e4 c6 23. dxc6 Rxc6 24. gxf6+ Kf7 25. e5 Rxc1 26. Rxc1 dxe5 27. fxe5 Qb8 28. Qd4 Bf5 29. Bd5+ Kf8 30. Qf4 Rxe5 31. Qh6+ Ke8 32. f7+ 1-0.
He was also noted for extreme doggedness, fighting until the last vestige of hope was gone before conceding defeat.
- Alekhine vs Yates, King's Indian Defence, Karlsbad 1923 - His game against Alekhine involved a combinationCombination (chess)In chess, a combination is a sequence of moves, often initiated by a sacrifice, which leaves the opponent few options and results in tangible gain. At most points in a chess game, each player has several reasonable options from which to choose, which makes it difficult to plan ahead except in...
some eighteen moves deep:
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nc3 d6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. d5 Nb8 8. e4 Nbd7 9. O-O a5 10. Be3 Ng4 11. Bd4 Nge5 12. Nxe5 Nxe5 13. c5 dxc5 14. Bxc5 b6 15. Bd4 Ba6 16. Re1 Qd6 17. Bf1 Bxf1 18. Rxf1 c5 19. Bxe5 Qxe5 20. Qb3 Rab8 21. Qb5 f5 22. Rae1 f4 23. Qd7 Rbd8 24. gxf4 Qxf4 25. Qe6+ Kh8 26. f3 Qg5+ 27. Kh1 Rd6 28. Qh3 Be5 29. Re2 Rdf6 30. Nd1 Rf4 31. Ne3 Rh4 32. Qe6 Qh5 33. Ng4 Rxg4 34. fxg4 Rxf1+ 35. Kg2 Qxh2+ 36. Kxf1 Qh1+ 37. Kf2 Bd4+ 38. Kg3 Qg1+ 39. Kh3 Qf1+ 40. Rg2 Qh1+ 41. Kg3 Qe1+ 42. Kh3 g5 43. Rc2 Qf1+ 44. Kh2 Qg1+ 45. Kh3 Qh1+ 46. Kg3 Qd1 47. Rc3 Qg1+ 48. Kh3 Qf1+ 49. Kg3 Bf2+ 50. Kf3 Bg1+ 0-1.
- Vidmar vs Yates, Queen's Gambit Declined, San Remo 1930 - Black parries White's resourceful kingside attack and develops sharp counterplay on the opposite wing.