Editing Raymond Keene

{{Short description|English chess grandmaster, arbiter, organiser, journalist and author}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2012}}
{{Infobox chess player
 |name = Raymond Keene<br /><small>{{nobold|{{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OBE}}}}</small>
 |image = Raymond Keene 1985 (2).jpg
 |caption = Keene in 1985
 |birthname = Raymond Dennis Keene
 |country = England
 |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1948|1|29|df=y}}
 |birth_place =
 |title = [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmaster]] (1976)
 |peakrating = 2510 (January 1977)
 |peakranking = No. 66 (January 1982)
}}

'''Raymond Dennis Keene''' {{post nominals|GBR|OBE}} (born 29 January 1948) is an English [[chess]] [[Grandmaster (chess)|grandmaster]], a [[FIDE]] [[International Arbiter]], a chess organiser, and a journalist and author.<ref name="OxfordCompanion"/> He won the [[British Chess Championship]] in 1971 and was the first player from England to earn a [[Grandmaster norm]], in 1974. In 1976, he became the second Englishman (following [[Tony Miles]]) to be awarded the Grandmaster title, and he was the second British chess player to beat an incumbent World Chess Champion (following [[Jonathan Penrose]]'s defeat of [[Mikhail Tal]] in 1961). He represented [[England]] in eight [[Chess Olympiad]]s.

Keene retired from competitive play in 1986 at the age of thirty-eight and is now better known as a chess organiser, columnist and author. He was involved in organising the [[World Chess Championship 1986|1986]], [[World Chess Championship 1993|1993]] and [[Classical World Chess Championship 2000|2000]] [[World Chess Championships]]; and the 1997, 1998 and 1999 [[Mind Sports Organisation|Mind Sports Olympiads]];<ref name="mso">[[William Hartston]], "No rest from mental fight", ''[[The Independent]]'', 23 August 1997 [https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/no-rest-from-mental-fight-1246759.html] retrieved 13 October 2011</ref> all held in London. He was the chess correspondent of ''[[The Times]]'' from 1985 to November 2019, and is a prolific author, having written over 200 books on chess and mind games. He was appointed an [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]] (OBE) for services to chess in the [[1985 Birthday Honours]].<ref>United Kingdom list: {{London Gazette |date=14 June 1985 |supp=y |issue=50154 |pages=10  }}</ref>

==Chess career==
Keene won the London and British Under 18 Championships (shared with Brian Denman) in 1964,<ref>Raymond Keene, ''Becoming a Grandmaster'', Batsford, 1977, p. 11. {{ISBN|0-7134-0830-8}}.</ref> and represented England at the 1965 and 1967 [[World Junior Chess Championship]]s, held in [[Barcelona]] and [[Jerusalem]] respectively. At the latter event he took the silver medal, finishing behind [[Julio Kaplan]].<ref>B. M. Kažić, ''International Championship Chess: A Complete Record of FIDE Events'', Pitman Publishing, 1974, pp. 278–80. {{ISBN|0-273-07078-9}}.</ref> He was educated at [[Dulwich College]] and [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] (where he studied modern languages and graduated with an [[Master of Arts|MA]]). Keene wrote his first chess book whilst studying at Cambridge, and won the [[British Chess Championship]] at [[Blackpool]] 1971. As a result, he was awarded the [[International Master]] title in 1972, the first English player to achieve this since [[Jonathan Penrose]] in 1961. In 1974, Keene married Annette, the sister of International Master [[David S. Goodman]]. They have one son, Alexander, born in 1991.

Keene was the second British player to meet the necessary requirements to become a [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmaster]]. He was pipped to the post by a few months by [[Tony Miles]], the first British Grandmaster in 1976. Both he and Miles won financial prizes for this feat.

Miles and Keene were at the forefront of the English chess explosion of the next 20 years, and they were followed by other British grandmasters such as [[Michael Stean]], [[John Nunn]], [[Jon Speelman]] and [[Jonathan Mestel]].

Keene represented England for nearly two decades in international team events, beginning with the [[17th Chess Olympiad|1966 Chess Olympiad]] in [[Havana]] at age 18. He followed with the next seven straight Olympiads: [[18th Chess Olympiad|Lugano 1968]], [[19th Chess Olympiad|Siegen 1970]], [[20th Chess Olympiad|Skopje 1972]], [[21st Chess Olympiad|Nice 1974]], [[22nd Chess Olympiad|Haifa 1976]], [[23rd Chess Olympiad|Buenos Aires 1978]], and [[24th Chess Olympiad|La Valletta 1980]]. His individual performances at Lugano and Haifa merited bronze medals (although individual medals were not, in fact, awarded at Haifa<ref>[http://www.olimpbase.org/1976/1976in.html#medals Individual Medals] Olimpbase: 22nd Chess Olympiad, Haifa 1976.</ref>) and he was undefeated in three Olympiads – these two and Siegen. His later performances, though, were less impressive, with just two draws from four games at Buenos Aires and losses in both his games at La Valletta.<ref>[http://www.olimpbase.org/1980/1980id01.html], consulted 9 September 2009</ref>

He represented England four times at the Students' Olympiad ([[Örebro]] 1966, [[Harrachov]] 1967, [[Ybbs]] 1968 and [[Dresden]] 1969) and four times at the [[European Team Chess Championship|European Team Championships]] ([[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] 1973, Moscow 1977, [[Skara]] 1980 and [[Plovdiv]] 1983). At Skara he won both a bronze medal with the team and the individual gold medal for the best score on his board.

Keene won the 1971 British championship and shared second place on three occasions, in 1968, 1970 and 1972. His tournament victories include [[Hastings International Chess Congress|Hastings Challengers 1966]], Slater Challenge [[Southend]] 1968, [[Johannesburg]] 1973, [[Woolacombe]] 1973, Capablanca Memorial (Master Group) 1974, [[Alicante]] 1977, [[Sydney]] 1979, [[Dortmund]] 1980, [[Barcelona]] 1980, Lloyds Bank Masters 1981, [[Adelaide]] 1983 and [[La Valletta]] 1985.

===Playing style===
Keene's playing style tended toward the strategically original and positional. Strongly influenced by [[Aron Nimzowitsch]] and [[Richard Réti]], he accordingly preferred hypermodern openings such as the [[Modern Defence]], [[Nimzo-Indian Defence]] and [[King's Indian Defence]].<ref>Keene, ''Becoming a Grandmaster'', pp. 73–76.</ref>

==Chess-related work==

===Organiser===
Keene worked as a chess event organiser. He was the originator and organiser of the annual [[Howard Staunton|Staunton]] memorial chess tournaments, one of the few regular events for masters held in London.<ref>[[Howard Staunton]] memorial tournament [http://howardstaunton.com/hsmt2009/Home.html]</ref> The ''Oxford Companion'' comments: "By a combination of ability and shrewdness, Keene has attracted considerable [[sponsorship]] and has proved himself capable of efficient and rapid organisation of chess events".<ref name="OxfordCompanion"/><sup>p196</sup>

Keene brought [[Victor Korchnoi]] and [[Garry Kasparov]] together for their 1983 [[Candidates Tournament|Candidates']] semi-final match in London as part of the [[World Chess Championship 1984|1984 World Championship cycle]]; the semi-final match between [[Vasily Smyslov]] and [[Zoltán Ribli]] was also played at the same site. He organised the 1984 [[Russia (USSR) vs Rest of the World]] match in London within two weeks, enabling the event to go ahead on time after the previous plans had fallen through, described by [[John Nunn]] as "a magnificent organisational achievement at such short notice."<ref name="OxfordCompanion"/>

Keene has also been involved in organising several World Championship finals matches. He arranged for the first half of the [[World Chess Championship 1986]] return match between Kasparov and [[Anatoly Karpov|Karpov]] in London. The match, however, made a loss for the [[English Chess Federation|British Chess Federation]] (BCF) and, for reasons never clarified, he resigned from his position in the BCF shortly afterwards. He organised the 1993 [[Professional Chess Association|PCA]] World Championship match between Kasparov and [[Nigel Short]] in London, for which he was one of the official commentators along with Grandmasters [[Jonathan Speelman]] and [[Daniel J. King|Daniel King]]. He was the instrumental force behind 'Brain Games', which organized the [[Classical World Chess Championship 2000|World Championship match in 2000]] between Kasparov and [[Vladimir Kramnik]]. Following the match, however, he retained the trophy in lieu of money he believed he was owed by the collapse of Brain Games: Kramnik did not receive it until 2008.<ref>New in Chess, 2008, number 8, Nic's Café, p. 6.</ref> Brain Games later collapsed in controversial circumstances.

===Columnist===
Keene became the chess columnist of ''[[The Spectator]]'' in March 1977. His column was terminated in September 2019, when he was replaced by [[Luke McShane]].<ref>''[[The Spectator]]''{{'}}s decision to dismiss Keene for plagiarism was reported in ''Private Eye'', 18–31 October 2019, p. 9 (https://keenipedia.com/press)</ref> Following the retirement of [[Harry Golombek]], Keene was appointed the chess correspondent of ''[[The Times]]'' in 1985. In November 2019 he was replaced by [[David Howell (chess player)|David Howell]]. In December 1996 he became the chess columnist of the ''[[Sunday Times]]''. In August 2017 he was replaced by [[David Howell (chess player)|David Howell]].

===Television personality===
Keene has appeared on television. He covered the world championships of 1981, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1993, and 1995 for BBC 2, CHANNEL 4, and Thames TV. In the ''Duels of the Mind'' series which aired on the UK [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] network, Keene, along with South African author and civil rights campaigner [[Donald Woods]], discussed and analysed what Keene regarded as the twelve best chess games ever played.

===Magazine editor===
From 1978 to 1982, Keene was the editor of ''Modern Chess Theory'', a magazine on openings which included contributions from the Soviet world champions [[Mikhail Botvinnik]], [[Vasily Smyslov]], and [[Mikhail Tal]].

===Author===
Keene has written over 200 books on chess and mind games. He was for many years the Chess Advisor to [[Batsford]]. His early books such as ''Howard Staunton'' (1975, with R. N. Coles) often dealt with players with styles similar to his own.<ref name="OxfordCompanion"/> ''Aron Nimzowitsch: a Reappraisal'' (1974) is much admired and was revised and translated into Russian in 1986,<ref name="OxfordCompanion">{{Cite book |last1=Hooper |first1=David |author1-link=David Vincent Hooper |last2=Whyld |first2=Kenneth |author2-link=Kenneth Whyld |title=[[The Oxford Companion to Chess]] |year=1992 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=196 |isbn=0-19-280049-3 }}</ref> with an algebraic edition published in English in 1999.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/jwatson19.html|title=Book Reviews by IM John L Watson #19|author=John L. Watson|author-link=John L. Watson|year=1999|publisher=London Chess Center|access-date=2009-09-05|archive-date=24 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090624015107/http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/jwatson19.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1989, he and [[Nathan Divinsky]] wrote ''[[Comparison of top chess players throughout history#Warriors of the Mind|Warriors of the Mind]]'', an attempt to determine the 64 [[Comparison of top chess players throughout history|best chess players of all time]]. The statistical methods used have not met with wide approval, but the player biographies and games were regarded by one book as providing a good overview.<ref name="OxfordCompanion"/>

===Working for Korchnoi===
In 1978, along with [[Michael Stean]] and [[Jacob Murey]], Keene helped [[Viktor Korchnoi]] during the [[1978 World Chess Championship]] Karpov–Korchnoi match.<ref name=teamKorchnoi>{{cite web|url=https://www.business-gazeta.ru/article/313610|title=Матч Корчной – Карпов: как йоги, КГБ и экстрасенсы воевали за шахматную корону|date=12 June 2016 |publisher=business-gazeta.ru}} {{in lang|ru}}</ref>

===Working for Karpov===
In 1981, Keene came to the [[USSR]] and helped [[Anatoly Karpov]] prepare for the [[1981 World Chess Championship]] Karpov–Korchnoi match.<ref name=teamKorchnoi/>

==Controversies==

===Allegations of plagiarism===
Keene has on several occasions been accused of plagiarism. In 1993 [[William John Donaldson|John Donaldson]] accused Keene of committing [[plagiarism]] in ''The Complete Book of Gambits'' (Batsford, 1992).<ref>Inside Chess, 3 May 1993, pp. 24–5.</ref> Donaldson wrote "Just how blatant was the plagiarism? Virtually every word and variation in the four and a half pages devoted to Lisitsin's Gambit in Keene's book was stolen."

In 2013, [[Edward Winter (chess historian)|Edward Winter]] reflected on plagiarism in chess:<ref>[http://www.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4010233/edward-winters-chess-explorations-99-210613.aspx Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (99)] Chessbase, 21 June 2013</ref> "a particularly sordid corner of the chess world which will never be eradicated without maximum public exposure". He went on: "The latest instance is the discovery<ref>[http://streathambrixtonchess.blogspot.com/2013/06/predecessors.html Predecessors] Streatham and Brixton Chess Blog, 19 June 2013.</ref> by Justin Horton that material from the first volume of Kasparov’s ''My Great Predecessors'' series has been misappropriated by Raymond Keene in ''The Spectator''."

''[[Private Eye (magazine)|Private Eye]]'' describes the plagiarism as involving "substantial amounts of text lifted from chess books, mainly Kasparov's but also other authors".<ref>Chequered Mate.</ref> One case involves Keene's notes to a game between Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov, which he annotated for ''The Times'' on 8 December 2011 and ''The Spectator'' on 5 January 2013.<ref>Special Ks, ''The Spectator'', 5 January 2013</ref>

These alleged plagiarisms, which Winter calls "eye-popping"<ref>[http://www.chessbase.com/Home/TabId/211/PostId/4010996/edward-winters-chess-explorations-100-040913.aspx Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (100)] Chessbase, 2 September 2013.</ref> are catalogued at "a convenient 'plagiarism index'<ref>[http://streathambrixtonchess.blogspot.com/2006/10/ray-keene-plagiarism-index.html Ray Keene Plagiarism Index] Streatham and Brixton Chess Blog.</ref> which is being kept updated".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.chessbase.com/post/edward-winters-che-explorations-100-040913|title=Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (100)|date=2 September 2013|website=Chess News}}</ref>

===Tony Miles===
In 1985, Keene received £1,178 from the BCF for being Tony Miles' second at the Interzonal in Tunis; however, he had not actually been Miles' second but accepted the money and shared it with Miles. Miles never banked the cheque and told the BCF about the scam in 1987. Two months later, Keene resigned his posts as BCF Publicity Director and FIDE delegate. Keene said that his resignation was for different reasons, and that he was "furious" at his treatment after organising numerous events from 1983 to 1987.<ref>''Generous to a Fault'', Kingpin 15, Summer 1989, pp. 10–11, letter from Tony Miles. Also see [http://www.chesscenter.com/kingpin/Kingpin/raylevy.htm Raymundo contra Mundum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120052609/http://www.chesscenter.com/kingpin/Kingpin/raylevy.htm |date=20 November 2008 }}</ref>

===Brain Games Network===
In 2000, Keene's former brother-in-law [[David Levy (chess player)|David Levy]] accused<ref>[http://www.anusha.com/levyletr.htm  How could you do this Raymond?] Open letter from David Levy to Raymond Keene.</ref> him of deceiving the directors of their company Mind Sports Olympiad Ltd (MSO) by setting up a rival company, Brain Games Network plc (BGN), without their knowledge and using £50,000 of MSO Ltd money to do so. Levy further alleged that Keene changed his story several times as to the purpose of the payment and the reasons why the new company had been set up. He complained that shares in the new company were held by Keene and an associate (Don Morris) but not by the company for which they had been supposed to be working, nor any of its directors other than themselves.<ref>[http://www.chesscafe.com/text/skittles161.pdf Chess Café] 14 August 2001, The Skittles Room, ''Brain Games: The Full Truth'' by David Levy. Also see [http://www.chesscenter.com/kingpin/Kingpin/raylevy.htm Raymundo contra Mundum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120052609/http://www.chesscenter.com/kingpin/Kingpin/raylevy.htm |date=20 November 2008 }}</ref> Levy wrote:<blockquote>As one would expect, our original investors were equally astounded at the news and extremely angry at Keene. They had by now invested £1.5 million (approximately $2.25 million at that time) partly or largely on the basis of their faith in Keene and myself. Now they had learned that one of their two key consultants, the one with money-raising skills, had been working to set up a rival company.</blockquote>Nothing, however, was proven against Keene (who had swiftly paid an identical sum, i.e. £50,000 to MSO, making the subsequent explanation that this constituted a personal loan from himself) and his new company went on to organise the world championship match later that same year. (It was at this time that ''[[Private Eye]]'' started referring to him as "[[The Penguin]]", a nickname he had first acquired in 1966.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://chesscafe.com/account/login/?action=mepr_unauthorized&redirect_to=%2Ftext%2Fkibitz50.txt|title=Log in or Subscribe – ChessCafe.com|website=chesscafe.com}}</ref>)

Levy further criticised Keene for selling three of his own companies to BGN for £220,000 despite their being "virtually worthless". The three companies had between them "a total capital and reserves of only £2,300". At much the same time, according to Levy, BGN purchased a web site and two domain names from Chess and Bridge Limited. However, they made the purchase in two stages. The first of these stages was its sale to Giloberg Finance Limited, owned by Keene's associate Alan Lubin: the second was the immediate sale of the same items, by Giloberg, to BGN. The first sale was for approximately £60,000 (in fact $100,000) and the second was for £290,000, hence making Giloberg "an instant profit of approximately £230,000" and raising the question of why BGN should have paid a sum much greater than the original vendors considered the items were worth.<ref>[http://ajedrez_democratico.tripod.com/Levy-Is-Fraud-a-Braingame.htm Is Fraud a Brain Game?] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717101650/http://ajedrez_democratico.tripod.com/Levy-Is-Fraud-a-Braingame.htm |date=17 July 2011}} by David Levy, 6 January 2002.</ref>

BGN collapsed in controversial circumstances. Shareholders were unhappy that sums amounting to at least £675,000 had been paid to directors in "fees and payments" despite the company swiftly becoming insolvent.<ref>''Private Eye'', 1084, 11 July 2003.</ref> Investors were also unhappy that Keene and Lubin had acquired 88% of the company "for a song" even though the remaining 12% had been sold for around £3 million.<ref>''Private Eye'', 1093, 14 November 2003.</ref>

During the course of the 2000 Braingames World Championship Keene was accused of heavy-handed behaviour in having journalist John Henderson removed from the press room with the assistance of bouncers.<ref>"Pandora", ''The Independent'', 23 October 2000, comment p. 4; Lubomir Kavalek, "Chess", ''The Washington Post'', 23 October 2000, p. C11.</ref>

===Korchnoi===
[[Viktor Korchnoi]] alleged that when acting as his second in the [[World Chess Championship 1978|1978 World Championship match]], Keene broke his contract by writing a book about the match (which appeared three days after the match finished) having specifically signed an agreement "not to write, compile or help to write or compile any book during the course of the match". Korchnoi commented: "Mr Keene betrayed me. He violated the contract. It was clear that while Mr Keene was writing one book and then another, Mr Stean was doing his work for him."<ref>"Keene's Gambit" by Nick Pitt, ''The Sunday Times'' magazine, 13 January 1991, p. 20.</ref>

Attempts to defend Keene were rebutted by Michael Stean's mother, who stated that she was in a position to know what was in Keene's contract since she herself had typed it. Keene, she claimed, had signed this despite having already negotiated a contract with Batsford to write a book about the match. She described "a premeditated and deliberate plan to deceive" and noted that Keene's conduct had come under suspicion during the match.<ref>"When Keene was taxed by Petra Leeuwerik and Viktor Korchnoi as to whether he was writing a book during the match, as he was spending so much of his time in the Press Office sending telex messages, Keene emphatically denied it." ''Chess'', February 1980, pp. 84–85, letter from Mrs Jean Stean.</ref><ref>[http://streathambrixtonchess.blogspot.com/2013/04/what-jean-stean-had-seen.html What Jean Stean had seen] Streatham and Brixton Chess Blog, 19 April 2013.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*{{Fide}}
*{{chessgames player|id=15438}}
*[http://www.spectator.co.uk/author/raymond-keene/ Chess columns] in ''[[The Spectator]]''.

{{English GMs}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Keene, Raymond}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:English chess players]]
[[Category:Chess Grandmasters]]
[[Category:Chess Olympiad competitors]]
[[Category:English biographers]]
[[Category:English chess writers]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:People educated at Dulwich College]]
[[Category:The Spectator people]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Chess arbiters]]