My visit to HMP Manchester on behalf of the English Chess Federation had been arranged for several months. Once again, this is a prison with a mix of old and new structures – the old entrance being particularly beautiful in its own way, regardless of the fact that it is a prison.
Construction of this prison (for Cat A and Cat B prisoners) was finished in 1869, and the prison walls are said to be 16 feet thick and impenetrable from inside or out. I can testify to the substantial nature of this prison with extra high walls, excellent security systems, and those thick buildings. Formerly known as ‘Strangeways’, it has a colourful history, not least the riots in 1990 where 147 staff and 47 prisoners were injured, with one fatality from heart failure. Much of the old prison was damaged, so it was rebuilt at a cost of more than £80 million and renamed HMP Manchester.
It was once a place of execution, the last one being John Robson Walby (alias Gwynne Owen Evans) on 13th August 1964. The quickest hanging was said to be that of James Inglis, which took seven seconds. Notable inmates include Ian Brady, Charles Bronson, Joey Barton, Dale Cregan and Christobel Pankhurst, who was held here for one week.
My Visit
I worked with Pascale Rootham to build the programme, which would cover the whole day, so I travelled up the night before (over three hours’ drive) ready for an 8 am start.
In the morning we had chess friendly games, and many questions and answers. After this there was a joint presentation from myself and Andy Mouncey, who is a record setting athlete in his own right, and a person who works with and motivates elite athletes. We covered goal-setting, physical aspects of sport, emotional management, and mental training, which we both gave examples of from his world and mine – in a chess setting. It was aimed at getting prisoners to think about goals and how they might achieve them, as well as many practical aspects of playing. This is the first time I have given a joint talk at a prison, and it worked very well, with no rehearsals. It is something I would definitely repeat. Most importantly the prisoners derived great value from it, and some made notes, promising to try to put some of what they had learned into practice. This must be a good thing, and I am going to follow this up with the prison.
After this we had a prize-giving session. The men had enjoyed a tournament lasting several weeks prior to my visit and I was honoured to hand out the prizes to the winners. We then had a raffle of chess prizes, we played more chess, and we solved several puzzles – which as usual I related to real life on the outside. One example was Reti’s favourite puzzle from 1921 - White to play and draw.
Of course many people believe it impossible to achieve a draw, as the white king cannot (it seems) catch the black pawn from running down quickly to h1 or protect his own pawn on c6, but as I tell inmates, you can make the seemingly impossible possible, both on a chessboard and in life. It is always wonderful to see their faces when the penny drops, and they realise that the e5-square is the key to saving the game.
Lunch was next up, and the prison had arranged a full English breakfast/lunch which was eagerly devoured by inmates, staff and myself. We needed the energy for the afternoon session, when I would be playing ten of their best selected players at once.
I knew this was going to be tough from the morning games. One of the inmates had beaten me in a simul before at another prison, and at least three were not far off my own playing strength. I joked with them that if I lost 10-0 I would never do another simul again, but the truth is that whatever the result I love doing them. They are the most popular event by far.
The scene was set, the men were ready and play began.
I must begin by saying that all ten games were big fights. I dropped a knight rather stupidly in one game right from the opening, and struggled hard to try to find some sort of equality as I was battling the others. I played steady openings, and we had several blocked and a couple of open positions. These men had done their homework. They intended to mix it up at the first opportunity, which is an excellent strategy for a simul. Keep positions confusing and I am liable to lose the thread – I am a sexagenarian now after all, folks!
The games went on for a good three hours, and I was 2-0 to the good when I was on the receiving end of a nasty bishop fork, winning one of my rooks. Despite my best efforts, my opponent unerringly brought his point home. I was very keen not to lose to the chap who beat me before - and our game was again blocked, but I did wangle an advantage, getting a piece for a pawn up and slowly getting my revenge despite stout resistance. We are now at 1-1 and I look forward to the next time. Another three draws followed and some wins for me, leaving three games. The prison tournament winner is a very good player, and after us both manoeuvring for many moves, we agreed to share the point.
I managed to beat the penultimate player despite his very good endgame play, and I had only lost one with one game to go so I was delighted. The final endgame saw me with three pawns and my opponent with the bishop. This was the position.
I was clear that I couldn’t lose this, and neither could he. A draw would be fine. This was the game where I had dropped the knight earlier. Lots of men were gathered around chatting to me, and I was still answering chess questions when I picked up my queen and plonked it on e3. The moment I let go I saw that it was en prise and I resigned. It was a shame, as I would like us both to have played this out. I would not take my move back – one of my big coaching points is that, as in life, when we make our move we do not get to take it back.
So I was disappointed to finish this way, but I won five, drew three and lost two, so I am OK with that considering the strength of the opposition. I had enough trouble taking them on one on one earlier in the day. I should also be fair and say that one of my wins came about because my opponent too lost sight of the fact that I could take his queen if he snaffled one of my major pieces, and he was playing superbly well up to that point.
No prisoners asked for passes or moves back. They all played to the endgame, and they could all easily play club chess and even county standard chess in my view. They had a fantastic day, and so did I. I cannot emphasise how hard the staff worked behind the scenes to make this happen. Governor Rob Knight attended the morning and afternoon sessions and is super-keen to continue with chess, so let’s hope this happens, because the players are too good to stop now.
They are very keen for me to return at some point, and I intend to return. I will be keeping an eye on their chess progress. My thanks for making the visit happen go to Governor Rob Knight, Andy Dearden, Pascale Rootham, Lana Dampier, Beth Walker, Dean Arnold, Andy Mouncey, and of course the prisoners themselves, without whom I would not be doing this rewarding work.