Peter Clarke (chess player)

Peter Hugh Clarke (18 March 1933 – 11 December 2014) was an English chess player, who hold titles FIDE master (FM) and International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster (1980), FIDE International arbiter (1976), Chess Olympiad individual silver medal winner (1956).

Peter Hugh Clarke
Country	England
Born	18 March 1933 London, England
Died	11 December 2014 (aged 81) Cornwall, England
Title	International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster (1980)

Biography

Peter Hugh Clarke started playing chess at the age of six. He twice won the London Boys' Chess Championship (1950, 1951). He was British Chess Championship multiplier participant where five times won silver medal.[1][2]

Since 1959, Peter Hugh Clarke has been working as a chess journalist in the newspaper Sunday Times and magazine British Chess Magazine. He is known as the biographical book's author of Mikhail Tal (1961) and Tigran Petrosian (1964). Thanks to his good knowledge of Russian language, he translated the book about Vasily Smyslov in 1958. In 1963 he wrote a book 100 Soviet Chess Miniatures.[3]

Peter Hugh Clarke played for England in the Chess Olympiads:[4]

• In 1954, at second reserve board in the 11th Chess Olympiad in Amsterdam (+2, =2, -3),
• In 1956, at reserve board in the 12th Chess Olympiad in Moscow (+7, =5, -0) and won individual silver medal,
• In 1958, at fourth board in the 13th Chess Olympiad in Munich (+2, =10, -3),
• In 1960, at third board in the 14th Chess Olympiad in Leipzig (+4, =7, -3),
• In 1962, at second board in the 15th Chess Olympiad in Varna (+3, =10, -2),
• In 1964, at second board in the 16th Chess Olympiad in Tel Aviv (+2, =8, -2),
• In 1966, at first board in the 17th Chess Olympiad in Havana (+2, =10, -1),
• In 1968, at third board in the 18th Chess Olympiad in Lugano (+0, =7, -1).

Also he played for England in the World Student Team Chess Championship (1954, 1959)[5] and in the Clare Benedict Chess Cup (1960-1961, 1963, 1965, 1967-1968) where he won team silver medal (1960) and 4 bronze medals (1961, 1963, 1967, 1968).[6]

In later years, Peter Hugh Clarke active participated in correspondence chess tournaments. In 1977, he won British Correspondence Chess Championship. In 1976, Peter Hugh Clarke was awarded the International Correspondence Chess Master (IMC) title and received the International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster (GMC) title four years later.

Literature

• Peter Hugh Clarke "Mikhail Tal's Best Games of Chess", Bell, 1961, ISBN 9780713502046
• Peter Hugh Clarke "Petrosian's Best Games of Chess 1946-1963", G. Bell & Sons, 1971, ISBN 9780713502060

References

1. "BCF-ch 1962 - 365Chess.com Tournaments". www.365chess.com.
2. "BCF-ch 1966 - 365Chess.com Tournaments". www.365chess.com.
3. Pein, Malcolm (19 December 2014). "Remembering P.H. Clarke: a giant of English chess and biograper of Tal and Petrosian" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
4. "OlimpBase :: Men's Chess Olympiads :: Peter Hugh Clarke". www.olimpbase.org.
5. "OlimpBase :: World Student Team Chess Championship :: Peter Hugh Clarke". www.olimpbase.org.
6. "OlimpBase :: Clare Benedict Chess Cup :: Peter Hugh Clarke". www.olimpbase.org.

External links

• Peter Clarke player profile and games at Chessgames.com
• Peter Hugh Clarke chess games at 365chess.com