- Jonathan Berry
Jonathan Berry (born
Vancouver ,British Columbia ,Canada ,September 11 ,1953 ) is a CanadianInternational Correspondence Chess Grandmaster , anInternational Arbiter , aFIDE Master (FM) over-the-board, and a chess journalist and author. He is the only Canadian to hold international titles for over-the-board chess, correspondence chess, and chess arbiting.Chess over the board
Berry represented the
University of British Columbia at thePan American Intercollegiate Team Championships,Montreal 1969, and graduated from that institution in 1973.Berry had a good result of tied fourth as a 16-year-old, with 6.5/10, at the 1970
Canadian Open Chess Championship , in St. John's; the event was won by Danish GrandmasterBent Larsen . He placed third in the 1970 Junior Canadian Chess Championship, held in Toronto, with 5.5/9. Berry played his first ClosedCanadian Chess Championship atToronto 1972, and finished in the middle of a good field, scoring 8.5/17; the winner wasPeter Biyiasas . He was of National Master strength by this time. He tied for third place at the 1972 Canadian Junior in London,Ontario , with 6/9.Berry won the 1974
Vancouver City Closed Championship with 7/8, and also won the 1974Mexican Open Championship at Guadalajara with 7.5/8. In 1975, Berry scored 9/15 at the Canadian Closed / Zonal in Calgary,Alberta , missing the standard forInternational Master by only one point; Biyiasas repeated as champion. [http://www.chessmetrics .com, the Jonathan Berry player file] Berry scored 7.5/10 in the 1976Canadian Open Chess Championship inToronto .Berry represented Canada at the 1977
Pan American Individual Championship at Santa Cruz,Bolivia , placing sixth. He had a below average result of 5.5/15 at the 1978 Canadian Closed / Zonal in Toronto.Filling in at the absolute last minute on the Canadian team for the 1982
Lucerne Chess Olympiad, because of a family emergency with one of the selected players, and with no other Master able to answer the call, he made the trans-atlantic trip, played two games on the second reserve board, and drew both of them (http://www.olimpbase.org).Berry was at around 50 per cent in each of his next four Canadian Championship Zonals: 7/15 at
Ottawa (1984); 8/15 at Hamilton, Ontario (1994); 4.5/9 at Brantford, Ontario (1999); and 5.5/11 at Richmond, British Columbia (2002) (http://www.chessmetrics .com, the Jonathan Berry player file). Since returning to Canada's west coast in the mid-1980s, he has been champion of British Columbia three times: in 1994, in 2000 (first equal), and in 2006 (first equal). He was awarded the FIDE Master title byFIDE , the World Chess Federation, in 1984.Berry scored 5.5/9 at the
London (England) International II in 1997.Berry also plays simultaneous
blindfold chess and in 2004 played 12 games, tying the world record for players over the age of 50 and scored +9=2-1.Correspondence chess
Berry was just into his teens when started playing correspondence chess in 1967. He qualified for his first Canadian Championship (K33) in 1976-78, placing third with 10/13. He won K34 (1977-78) with 7/8, and K36 (1979-81) with 7.5/9. In the 60th Anniversary International tournament of the Canadian Correspondence Chess Association (CCCA), from 1981-1985, he placed equal second, with 10/14. In the 3/4 finals for the 13th World Correspondence Chess Championship, running from 1984-89, he scored 9/13, and qualified for the finals, where he scored 6/16, for 13th place. Berry was awarded the title of
International Grandmaster ofCorrespondence Chess by theInternational Correspondence Chess Federation in 1985. Representing Canada on board two in the XI Correspondence Olympiad, he scored 7/9 in the preliminaries, helping Canada to qualify for the finals; there, again on board two, he scored 5/12.Chess arbiter
Berry began helping to run tournaments in his mid-teens. He was in
Mexico in 1973 on vacation when he was asked to direct the Mexican Zonal qualifier, which he did successfully. He successfully ran the firstPan-American Individual Championship atWinnipeg ,Manitoba , 1974, where his bilingual skills in English and Spanish proved very helpful. He directed the 1974 Canadian Junior Championship in Vancouver. Berry directed Vancouver 1975, an International tournament with 320 players, which was won byPaul Keres ; it was Keres' last victory before he died a few weeks later. Based upon those four major events, Berry was awarded the title ofInternational Arbiter by FIDE in 1975, at the age of only 22, the youngest ever (a record since broken).Berry directed the
Grand Manan International 1984. He also became involved at the Olympiad level later that same year, inThessaloniki . He has returned to the Olympiad in 1996Yerevan , 2000Istanbul , and 2004Calvia . The 1988 World Chess Festival, Saint John,New Brunswick , was by far the grandest chess event ever held in Canada; it had sevenCandidates ' matches, two strong International Opens, several Class tournaments, and the World Blitz Championship. Berry was an assistant arbiter for the Candidates' matches. Berry helped to run the 1988 World Rapid Championships inMazatlan . From 1994-99, Berry was the head Arbiter for the North Bay International Open series of six tournaments, which averaged over 250 players. Berry was the head arbiter for the 25th anniversary Paul Keres Memorial Tournament, Vancouver 2000. Berry was an assistant arbiter at theU.S. Chess Championship ,Seattle , in 2002 and 2003.He has been in charge of three
Canadian Open Chess Championship : atWinnipeg 1986; at Kapuskasing 2003 (where he introduced an innovative pairing system, the 'Kap' system); and atOttawa 2007, which saw a record 22 Grandmasters participate, and where he utilized the "Capelle la Grande" pairing system, its first use in Canada. Berry is Canada's most experienced arbiter, both in length of service and in variety of top events run. However, Berry has drawn some criticism in certain circles, for introducing incredibly complex pairing systems which are often difficult for participants to understand.Chess administrator, editor, columnist, and author
While still in university, Berry became the President of the British Columbia Chess Federation. He was hired as the Executive Director of the
Chess Federation of Canada in 1975, as well as the Editor of the Federation's magazine "CFC Bulletin" (later called "Chess Canada"). Moving from Vancouver to Ottawa, he soon proved to be a solid office administrator. The magazine "Chess Canada" became well respected among the international chess community. Berry served as Executive Director and Editor until 1983. Berry has continued to write occasionally for "Chess Canada" in the years since.Berry became the chess columnist for "
The Globe and Mail ", Canada's national newspaper, in 1981, and has held that post since, writing a Saturday column each week, which usually focuses on Canadian and world chess news, a well-annotated game from high-class play, and some insightful commentary. The column is written in a general-interest style, yet also appeals to serious players.Berry served as Technical Editor about 15 years for the respected magazine "Inside Chess", founded and edited out of
Seattle by GrandmasterYasser Seirawan . He wrote the book "Diamond Dust", the tournament book of the CCCA's 60th anniversary tournament, and "The Pocket Guide to Chess". He served as technical and layout editor for theDuncan Suttles chess project, "Chess on the Edge", published in three volumes in 2008. He was inducted into the Canadian Chess Hall of Fame in 2001.References
External links
* [http://members.shaw.ca/berry5868/chess.htm Jonathan Berry's home page]
* [http://web.ncf.ca/bw998/canchess.html#BERRY Canadian Chess Hall of Fame Inductee 2001]
* [http://www.fide.com/ratings/card.phtml?event=2600463 FIDE card]
* [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=22412 games at chessgames.com]
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