John A. Jackson

Born 27 January 1932, Glasgow

John Alexander Jackson joined Glasgow Chess Club when he was fourteen years of age. He participated in many club events, several Scottish Boys' championships, the British Boys' championship, and he was Scotland's representative in the first World Junior championship in 1951. He emigrated in October 1954 to Canada, where he continued to play chess until family constraints restricted these activities. He now lives in a state of semi-retirement in Toronto as an architectural/engineering Specification Writer.

John has provided some recollections of his earlier chess days, as well as some interesting photographs.

My chess beginnings
My father taught me how to play at age 12 or thereabouts. I still have the chess set we started off with. He also upgraded this set by getting me a fine, old Staunton set and a very heavy board with bird's eye maple squares.

I went looking for a chess club on my own at age 14. I remember going into the telephone booth and seeking "Chess" in the phone book. Sure enough, there was Glasgow Chess Club - 12 Renfield Street. So, off I went. There it was - number 12 was shown inside a large saucer. Since then, I think, the exterior on Renfield Street has been changed and the "12 saucer" is gone.

Upstairs I went - up one flight. No signs on the doors were to be seen. No indication of where the club was. I stopped at the first landing, I put my ear to the door and heard what sounded like furniture being pushed around - a lot of banging and clattering. Of course, it turned out to be the wood pushers at work!

When my ear was at the door, a gentleman approached me. I told him I was looking for the Glasgow Chess Club. He ushered me inside.

That was the start. I met Mr Greig, the secretary, first, and from then on the club took me under its wing. Mr Greig kindly gave me a chess score book with some of Blackburne's games in it, written in ink. At 14, I was the first youth the club had, and was treated very kindly by everyone (including Fairhurst). It was a first for the club to have a member so young.

Receipt for membership of Glasgow CC,
dated 9th February, 1946.

I played many people in the club. I have fond memories of old Mr Towers' predictable Benoni and his equally predictable Kieseritzky Gambit. Memories of soft-spoken Mr Strachan, who came from Inverness. I was in awe of Fairhurst, but he was always considerate and kind to me. Of course, I never had to oppose him in anything other than chess! I remember him once accusing an opponent of touching a piece and insisting that he move it. What a scene!

I have fond memories of many other players, too numerous to mention. P.B. Anderson befriended me and we had a few games at his house. He was a gregarious, hail-fellow-well-met man; a jolly fellow. I came within a hair of winning the Glasgow CC championship, but Tom Russell beat me to deny me that honour. All I needed was a draw.

Scottish Boys' Championships in which John A. Jackson played:

1946 - Glasgow
First place was taken by Uriah Jackson (no relation), after he won a play-off match 2½-1½ against Ian Middleton. The other entrants were John A. Jackson and Allan Sinclair. The event was played at the Christian Institute, Glasgow.

This photo from the Scottish Boys' Championship of 1946 shows John Jackson, in kilt, playing U. Jackson. On the neighbouring board, Ian Middleton, on right with scarf, is playing Allan Sinclair.

1947 - Dundee
Eight entrants. The winner was Ian Middleton (Aberdeen) with 6½ from seven games. 2nd. John A. Jackson 6; 3rd. Ian C. Kirkwood (Edinburgh) 5½. The title was decided in the last round when Ian Middleton defeated John Jackson.

Ian Middleton would later represent Scotland at the Moscow Olympiad in 1956.

Ian Candlish Kirkwood represented Scotland at the 1st World Student Team Chess Championship in Oslo, 1954. He would go on to become the Rt. Hon. Lord Kirkwood.

1948 - Edinburgh
Played in two sections, the winners being John A. Jackson and Ian C. Kirkwood. The tie match of three games resulted in one win each and one draw, and the players were declared joint champions.

Scottish Boys' 1948 - joint champion.

British Boys' Championships:

British Boys' Championship 1948
The event was held in Hastings , with a record number of entries. There were six preliminary sections, with John Jackson being in 'D'. [Incidentally, Ian Middleton from Aberdeen also competed, playing in 'B'.]

He did not qualify for the final group, but he participated in one of five Consolation Sections, sharing 2nd and 3rd places in Section B with I. Homer.

Interesting, the BCM singled out several players for special mention, Jackson being one of them. It stated that"...he has the right temperament, sound positional judgement with a fine gift for attack."

Photo from the BCM 1948, page 149.

J.A. Jackson - R.S. Rainbow
British Boys' Championship 1948 - Preliminary Section 'D'
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Bc4 Nc6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5 Ne4? 9.Nxe4 d5 10.Bb3 dxe4 11.Bxf7+ 1-0

The significance of this miniature is that it echoed the very first game John played against W.A. Fairhurst in a 'simul' at Glasgow CC.

"Fairhurst had White and could have massacred me. However, he played such as to give me a draw. He knew what that would mean to a 14 year old."

The following position is from one of John's games from his Consolation Section.

G. Fuchs - J.A. Jackson
British Boys' Championship 1948 - Consolation Section 'B'
The BCM featured this position, stating 'Black is a piece up, but White has two pawns, one an advanced pawn. Here again the solution is sound and imaginative':

1...Rxd4 2.cxd4 c3 3.h6 c2 4.Kh4 c1Q 5.Rxc1+ Nxc1 6.Kg5 Bg6 7.Kf6 Ne2 8.b5+ Kxb5 9.d5 Kc5 10.Ke5 Nd4 0-1

British Boys' Championship 1949

This group photo from the event, held in Hastings, shows the winner, Malcolm Barker in the centre, holding the shield. John Jackson can be seen among the crouched boys, left of centre. He is fourth from the right, slightly set back.

At the rear, on the left of the figures framed by the doorway, is Sir George Thomas.

Here is an interesting game of John's against the eventual winner of the tournament, Malcolm Barker. Barker would go on to win this event in 1950 and 1951, and participate in the first World Junior championship of 1951, where he took second place behind Ivkov. He was considered to be a great prospect for British chess, but he later gave up chess completely.

M.N. Barker - J.A. Jackson
British Boys' 1949
Brief comments by JAJ.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.d3 Nd6 5.Nxe5 Nxc4 6.Nxc4 d5 7.Ne5 Bd6 8.d4 c5 9.Be3 Bxe5 10.dxe5 d4 11.Bf4 Nc6 12.Nd2 0-0 13.0-0 Qd5 The attack on the KP is illusory. Simple development by 13...Bf5 is better.
14.Qf3 Qxf3 15.Nxf3 Bf5 16.Rac1 Rfd8 17.Rfe1 h6 18.a3 c4 19.Nd2 b5 20.Ne4 Bxe4 21.Rxe4 d3 22.h3 dxc2 Unnecessary simplification, which necessitates White's defence. 22...Nd4! with the continuation 23.cxd3 Nb3 24.Rd1 Nc5 25.Re2 Nxd3 26.Bc1 Re8 27.f4 Rad8.
23.Rxc2 Rd1+ 24.Kh2 Rad8 25.Be3 Nd4 26.Bxd4 R8xd4 27.Rxd4 Rxd4 28.Re2 a5 29.Kg3 b4 30.axb4 axb4 31.Kf3 Kf8 32.Rc2 Rd3+ ½-½

J.A. Jackson - C. Pollitt,C
British Boys' 1949

1.e4 c5 2.f4 d6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d3 Bg4 5.c3 Qb6 6.Nbd2 0-0-0 7.a4 d5 8.exd5 Rxd5 9.Nc4 Qd8 10.Be3 e5 11.Qc2 Bxf3 12.gxf3 Qh4+ 13.Qf2 Qxf2+ 14.Kxf2 Nf6 15.Bh3+ Kd8 16.Rad1 Nd7 17.Bxd7 Kxd7 18.fxe5 Nxe5 19.Nxe5+ Rxe5 20.d4 Rf5 21.dxc5+ Kc6 22.b4 a6 23.Rd8 Rd5 24.Rxd5 [24.b5+ is even better.] 24...Kxd5 25.Rd1+ Ke6 26.Rd8 g6 27.Bd4 f6 28.Rb8 1-0

World Junior Championship 1951

The first ever World Junior Championship was organised in Birmingham in 1951. It was held alongside the Staunton Centenary International Tournament, which was played in Cheltenham, Leamington and Birmingham. There were sixteen competitors in that event, which was won by Gligoric, ahead of Pirc, Stahlberg Trifunovic and C.H.O'.D. Alexander. Other players included Tartakower, Bogolyubov, Donner and Unzicker.

"It was a great honour to represent Scotland in the first World Junior Championship in 1951 in Birmingham. (I was the only one they had!) Too bad I didn't give a better account of myself. [John scored 3/11 - AMcG]
In retrospect, it was wonderful to be in the same playing hall as all the great luminaries. I even played Bogoljubov in a 5-second "lightning" tournament. The 5-second timing was done by someone up on the stage with a stop-watch and a bell, which he punched to signal 'Move!' I got a clearly winning position, but was so excited at the prospect of beating this man, that I blew it.

My, how things have changed! Gligoric, Mieses, Tartakower, Bogolyubov, Ivkov, Penrose, Sir George Thomas, et al. Happy days. At that age, one never appreciates what history is being made. Wade, Fairhurst, Mansfield, Combe, Aitken etc." ...Ivkov, winner of the first World Junior event (photo).

J. Walsh (Eire) - J.A. Jackson
World Junior Championship 1951

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.Bxc6+ bxc6 6.d4 exd4 7.Qxd4 c5 8.Qd3 g6 9.c4 Bg7 10.Nc3 Ne7 11.Bg5 0-0 12.Rd1 Be6 13.0-0 h6 14.Bf4 g5 15.Bg3 f5 16.exf5 Bxf5 17.Qd2 Bg4 18.Rfe1 Qd7 19.Nd5 Rae8 20.Nxe7+ Rxe7 21.Rxe7 Qxe7 22.b3 Bxf3 23.gxf3 Rxf3 24.Qd5+ Qf7 25.Qa8+ Kh7 26.Qxa6 h5 27.h4 gxh4 28.Bxh4 Qg6+ 29.Kf1 Qg4 30.Qb7 Rh3 31.Qd5 Rxh4 [31...c6] 32.a4 Qxd1+ [32...c6] 33.Qxd1 Rh1+ 34.Ke2 Rxd1 35.Kxd1 Bc3 0-1

 

And now for a few more of John's games.

The first one is taken from John's notebook of the day. The comments are all his, and are particularly interesting, I think, as they reflect youthful enthusiasm and confidence. He defeats a strong player who would go on to win the scottish championship the following year, and who would also represent Scotland in three Olympiads.

J.A. Jackson - A.A. Thomson
Glasgow CC Championship, 14.04.1950

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.e4 Bb4 A Weak move which achieves nothing, and gives Black a cramped game, to say the least. 3...d5 should have been played.
4.e5 Bxc3 5.bxc3 Ng8 6.Qg4 Forces a serious weakening of Black's Kingside pawns, or surrender of castling.
6...g6 7.d4 d6 8.Bg5 Ne7 9.Bf6 h5 10.Qg5 Rh7 11.Nf3 Nd7 12.Bd3 Threatening Nh4 and Nxg6.
12...Nxf6 Though rid of the strong bishop, the pawn on f6 becomes a nasty thorn in Black's flesh.
13.exf6 Nf5 14.Bxf5 The white bishop is useless, so is exchanged off to create open files for White.
14...exf5 15.Nh4 Exerting pressure on the g6 pawn.
15...d5 16.0-0 Be6 17.Rfe1 Command of the K file proves decisive. If now 17...Kf8 18.Nxg6. Or 17...Qd7 18.Nxf5. Black is quite lost.
17...Kd7 18.cxd5 Bxd5 19.Re7+ Kc6 If 19...Kc8 20.Nxf5 or 20.Nxg6 (best). Or 19...Kd6 20.Qf4+ with similar continutions as in text.
20.Nxg6 Murderous.
20...Be6 21.Ne5+ Kb6 22.Qc1 Black succumbs to a fast, swinging attack, which is the most delightful I have yet produced. All is carried out with utmost vigour.
22...a6 23.Qb2+ Ka7 24.Rb1 Rb8 25.Qxb7+!! A bolt from the blue, and an exquisite coup de grâce. This wins by force and completes what I deem my best game of chess.
25...Rxb7 26.Nc6+ Ka8 27.Rxb7 Kxb7 28.Nxd8+ Kb6 29.Nxe6 Black resigns.
This is the first time Mr Thomson and myself have met to do battle.

The final game was played after John emigrated to Canada. In this game from the Toronto CC Championship, he is faced by International Master Frank Anderson.

F. Anderson - J.A. Jackson
Toronto CC Championship (7), 16.12.1955

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Bd6 7.0-0 Bg4 8.h3 Bh5 9.Re1 f5 10.c4 0-0 11.cxd5 Bb4 12.Re3 Qxd5 13.g4 Bg6 14.Ne5 Nd6 15.a3 Ba5 16.Nxg6 hxg6 17.Re5 Qxd4 18.Rxa5 Nc6 19.Ra4 Qf6 20.Nc3 Qh4 21.Qf1 Ne5 22.g5 f4 23.Bc2 Nf3+ 24.Kg2 Nxg5 25.Qh1 Rae8 26.Bd2 Re5 27.Qh2 Nxh3! 28.Qxh3 Rg5+ 29.Kh2 Qxf2+ 30.Kh1 Rh5 31.Qxh5 gxh5 32.Bb3+ Kh8 33.Be1 Qf1+ 34.Kh2 f3 35.Kg3 Qg2+ 36.Kh4 Qh2+ 37.Kg5 Rf5+ 38.Kg6 Qg2+ 0-1

Alan McGowan
Historian, Chess Scotland