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| {{Infobox chess player | | {{Infobox chess player |
| |name = Keith Arkell | | |name = Andrew McCumiskey |
| |image = Arkell rd6 4thEUIO.JPG | | |image = [[File:McCumiskey]] |
| |caption = | | |caption = |
| |birthname = Keith Charles Arkell | | |birthname = Andrew Peter McCumiskey |
| |country = {{ENG}} | | |country = {{ENG}} |
| |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1961|1|8|df=y}} | | |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1965|8|31|df=y}} |
| |birth_place = [[Birmingham]], [[England]], [[United Kingdom|UK]] | | |birth_place = [[Dudley]], [[England]], [[United Kingdom|UK]] |
| |death_date = | | |death_date = |
| |death_place = | | |death_place = |
| |title = [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmaster]] | | |title = None |
| |worldchampion = | | |worldchampion = |
| |womensworldchampion = | | |womensworldchampion = |
| |peakrating = 2545 (July 1996) | | |peakrating = 197 (July 2007) |
| |FideID = 400270 | | |FideID = 470783 |
| }} | | }} |
| '''Keith Charles Arkell''' (born 8 January 1961 in [[Birmingham]]) is an [[England|English]] [[Grandmaster (chess)|chess Grandmaster]]. | | '''Andrew Peter McCumiskey''' (born 31 August 1965 in [[Dudley]]). |
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| He won the English Chess Championship in 2008. In 2014 he was European Senior (50+) Champion, and, later in the year, tied for first in the World Senior (50+) Championship, but received the silver medal on tie-break.
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| {{algebraic notation|pos=artright}}
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| ==Chess career== | | ==Chess career== |
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| Arkell learned to play chess aged 13. His brother Nicholas was also a strong player.
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| [[FIDE]] awarded Arkell the title of [[International Master]] in 1985, and became [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmaster]] ten years later. He was the 1998 [[British Rapidplay Chess Championships|British Rapidplay Chess Champion]], having recorded his peak [[Elo rating]] of 2545 just two years earlier.
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| In the early part of the 2000s, before taking a break from serious chess, he showed that he could perform consistently at a high level; he tied for second place at the 2001 [[British Chess Championship]], tied for second at the strong [[Hastings International Chess Congress|Hastings Premier]] of 2002/3, took first place at the [[Wroxham]] Masters (2002)<ref>[http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic384.html#11 TWIC 384 by Mark Crowther for the London Chess Centre]</ref> and tied for second at [[Montpellier]] (2002). At [[Gausdal]] (2002), he beat GMs Stelios Halkias, [[Vasilios Kotronias]] and rising star [[Magnus Carlsen]], to finish a half a point off first place.<ref>[http://www.bergensjakk.no/gausdal/gausdal2002/ Gausdal Classic 2002 results]</ref> His achievements were recognised when he was voted third (2002) and second (2003) in the [[British Chess Federation]]'s ''Player of the Year'' awards.
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| In subsequent years he focused his chess play on the weekend congress circuit, rather than competing in overseas tournaments. However, he then bucked the trend in 2007 and 2008 by touring the USA. His itinerary included the [[Foxwoods]] Open in Connecticut, where he finished on 6/9, a point behind winner [[Alexander Shabalov]].<ref>[http://www.foxwoodsopen.com/open.htm Foxwoods Open Tournament - final crosstable]</ref> He also won tournaments, shared or outright, at the famous [[Marshall Chess Club]] in [[Manhattan]], at [[Saratoga Springs]], and at the [[Blackstone, Massachusetts|Blackstone]] Open, near [[Boston]]. Another trip took him to Barbados, where he finished runner-up in the ''Heroes Day Cup'' with a score of 7½/9. The tournament was claimed by the organiser to be the strongest ever held in the English speaking nations of the Caribbean.<ref>[[British Chess Magazine]], June 2008, p. 304.</ref>
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| Also in 2008, he tied for first place at the [[British Chess Championship|British Championship]] with GM [[Stuart Conquest]], but lost the overall title after a two-game [[speed chess]] play-off. His final standing did however qualify him for the title of 'English Champion'. Later that year, he won the [[Wellington College, Berkshire|Wellington College]] International Open with 7½/9, ahead of GM [[Nick Pert]] (7/9).
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| In 2012 “Arkell’s Odyssey”, an autobiography, was published by Keverel Chess Books.
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| Arkell won the 2014 [[European Senior Chess Championship]] in [[Porto]]. It was the first year the championship had been split into two separate age categories; 50 years plus and 65 years plus. He won the former and was later voted the [[English Chess Federation]]'s ''Player of the Year'' for 2014.
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| Arkell shared first at the World Senior (50+)Championship with 8.5/11 losing on tiebreak to Zurab Sturua <ref>[http://worldseniors2014.fide.com/en/component/turnuva/?task=fileview&kid=67 ]FIDE.com</ref>
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| ==Playing style== | | ==Playing style== |
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| As [[White and Black in chess|White]], Arkell prefers [[Queen's Pawn Game|Queen Pawn openings]]. As [[White and Black in chess|Black]], he usually meets 1.d4 with the [[Nimzo-Indian Defence]] and 1.e4 with the [[Caro-Kann Defence]] or [[French Defence]]. When playing the Caro-Kann, he is one of very few Grandmasters who regularly adopt the line 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5!?. The leading chess magazine ''[[New in Chess]]'' christened this variation the "Arkell-Khenkin Line".<ref>''New in Chess Yearbook'', Vol. 42, Interchess BV, 1997, p. 59. ISBN 90-5691-010-8.</ref> He is widely considered to have exceptional skills in the [[chess endgame|endgame]].
| | ==Personal life== |
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| In an interview in 2009 with Streatham and Brixton Chess Club,<ref>[http://streathambrixtonchess.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/arkell-interview-i.html The Streatham & Brixton Chess Blog - The Arkell Interview]</ref> Arkell suggests that the great precision required in long, exacting wins by players such as [[Ulf Andersson]] and [[Anatoly Karpov]] is the highest art form in chess and that for many years it never occurred to him that the majority of players would not share his enthusiasm. In the same interview, he laments that a reputation for keeping a tight rein on games and grinding out wins on the UK weekend circuit to support an existence as a professional chess player has negatively influenced coverage of his achievements by chess journalists and harmed his chances of selection for the England national team by overshadowing his record in international events.
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| ==Personal life==
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| Keith Arkell was once married to [[Woman Grandmaster]] and International Master [[Susan Lalic]] (née Walker).
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| ==Notes== | | ==Notes== |
| {{reflist}}
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| == External links == | | == External links == |
| * [http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=13774 Keith Arkell] at ChessGames.com
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| {{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> | | {{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> |
| | NAME =Arkell, Keith | | | NAME =McCumiskey, Andrew |
| | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | | | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = |
| | SHORT DESCRIPTION =Chess [[Grandmaster (chess)|Grandmaster]] | | | SHORT DESCRIPTION =Chess |
| | DATE OF BIRTH =8 January 1961 | | | DATE OF BIRTH =31 August 1965 |
| | PLACE OF BIRTH =[[Birmingham]], [[England]], [[United Kingdom|UK]] | | | PLACE OF BIRTH =[[Dudley]], [[England]], [[United Kingdom|UK]] |
| | DATE OF DEATH = | | | DATE OF DEATH = |
| | PLACE OF DEATH = | | | PLACE OF DEATH = |
| }} | | }} |
| {{DEFAULTSORT:Arkell, Keith}} | | {{DEFAULTSORT:McCumiskey Andrew}} |
| [[Category:Chess grandmasters]]
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| [[Category:English chess players]] | | [[Category:English chess players]] |
| [[Category:1961 births]] | | [[Category:1965 births]] |
| [[Category:Living people]] | | [[Category:Living people]] |
| [[Category:People from Birmingham, West Midlands]] | | [[Category:People from Dudley, West Midlands]] |
