No, we are not talking about the eagerly awaited Taylor v Kasparov match (pictured above and below) which immediately followed but the Short v Kasparov World Championship match!

Billed as perhaps being the most exciting and important time in UK chess, the World Chess Championship in 1993 in its final pre-match stages suddenly became one of the most controversial matches in chess history, with the incumbent World Chess Champion, Garry Kasparov, and official challenger, Nigel Short, splitting from FIDE, the official world governing body of chess, to play their title match under the auspices of the Professional Chess Association.

Today, in Part 1, we cover how two local chess players, but one in particular, had the privilege of attending and reporting on the event, and in Part 2, we will attempt to show you, by analysing six of these Championship games, how the scoreline of 12.5 – 7.5 in favour of Kasparov could have easily been so much closer!

How Did Dorset Become Involved?

Dorset was lucky to have, not one but two local players, Phil Taylor-Bowd and Martin Simons, who, under the guise of being the Bournemouth Echo and Dorset Echo Chess Reporters, managed to gain free entry into the Savoy Theatre, London, for the entire duration of this World Championship match!

Phil also explains that he had ‘the additional experience of rubbing shoulders with the great and the good and others in the press areas, as well as the privilege of being invited into the commentary booth, which was especially memorable’.

Phil, with his clever, informative, incisive reporting, managed to command regular slots in the Bournemouth Echo. This was therefore an exciting time, not only for national chess, but also for Dorset chess as all our local players managed to receive timely inside information on the chess events as they unravelled in the big city. An example of one of Phil’s entertaining reports was reproduced for Newsknight in only its second ever edition, and is given in full below.

By being able to attend on each day of the match, Phil also participated in and managed to win the ‘Predict the Move’ competition by correctly finding the highest number of moves played by both players throughout the Championship, which was no easy task. His reward (or should that be punishment!) for this great achievement was to have the massive honour of playing two 7 versus 3 minute guillotine games against the winner – we say guillotine as there were no time increments 27 years ago!

For his moment of fame in playing Kasparov, Phil hit the front page headlines in the Bournemouth Echo! Just think what the headline would have said had Phil won this mini two match series – Would he have been crowned World Chess Champion? Perhaps by the Bournemouth Echo!

Fortunately, we have the recorded moves of both of Phil’s games against Garry Kasparov including the close 40 move first encounter as mentioned in the Echo cutting above. We are sure Phil will not mind us publishing these games as it was such an honour and privilege for him to say he had met and played against the then World Chess Champion, who was and probably still is, indisputably one of the best players to have ever played chess on this planet!

Phil Taylor Bowd v Garry Kasparov – Game 1 of 2 – Savoy Theatre, London – 1993

In the first game Phil was definitely in the battle!

Garry Kasparov v Phil Taylor-Bowd – Game 2 of 2 – Savoy Theatre, London – 1993

Whereas the first game was close and Phil had his chances, the second game shows Kasparov at his very clinical best …

Here is Phil pictured in deep concentration a year after his battles against Kasparov.

As we know, Phil later became Dorset’s first Chess Webmaster in 2004, and kept us all informed of everything going on locally with his clever use of technology for 10 years until 2014. He was also the B&DCL Chairman from 2010 to 2014 before his move to Germany.

Well done to Phil for a great contribution made towards Bournemouth and Dorset chess and who can proudly say that he almost beat Kasparov!