Michael Basman

Michael John Basman (16 March 1946 – 26 October 2022) was a British chess player and author.

Basman was born in St Pancras, London, on 16 March 1946, the third of four children of John Onik Basman, an Armenian immigrant, and his English wife, Bridgette Bettina Basman, née Marks.

John Basman had shortened the family name from Basmadjian after arriving in England.

The family knew the singer Cleo Laine, who worked as a babysitter for the young Michael.

After graduating with a degree in history from the University of Leeds, Basman received a scholarship to study medicine in Yerevan in the Armenian SSR.

However, an aversion to blood and operations caused him to abandon his studies.

Whilst living in Yerevan, he learnt Armenian, won the local chess championship, and met a fellow student named Berdjouhi Kuiumdjian, whom he married.

Possibly his greatest tournament success was when he tied for first place in the British Chess Championship of 1973, although he lost the play-off match with William Hartston.

During the 1974–75 Hastings tournament, Basman (playing Black) defeated the Swedish grandmaster Ulf Andersson in a match that became known as the "Immortal Waiting Game".

After the twelfth move, Basman shuffled his bishop, king, and queen back and forth for twelve moves, not changing his position at all.

Andersson overextended himself, and Basman won.

In 1975, England contested a match over ten boards against France in Luton.

Basman played board one, ahead of John Nunn and Jon Speelman.

Basman used the Grob to defeat John Nunn in 1978 and the Borg Defence to defeat Jon Speelman in 1980.

He was awarded the title of International Master in 1980.

Basman was well known for employing unorthodox openings.

Among these were the following:

They had one child together (a son named Antranig Basman), but divorced in 1986.

After returning to England, Basman worked as a computer programmer at the Chessington Computer Centre.

In 1996, Basman created the UK Chess Challenge, a tournament for juniors of all standards and ages progressing over four stages, now advertised as the biggest chess tournament in the world.

Raymond Keene once wrote, referring to Basman's promotion of youth chess, "Michael Basman is in many ways the most important person in British chess."

His creation of the UK Chess Challenge in 1996 led to a dispute with the Inland Revenue, which claimed he ought to be collecting VAT on entry fees.

In 2016, he was found to be personally liable for the back taxes due, and was ordered to pay GB£300,000.

He was declared bankrupt the following year and lost control of the UK Chess Challenge.

He stood as an independent candidate in the constituency of Kingston and Surbiton in the 2017 general election.

His manifesto was described by Raymond Keene as "a curious blend of selective support for Jeremy Corbyn-style intervention combined with extreme libertarianism".

He finished last of seven candidates, with 100 votes (0.2%).

He died in Carshalton on 26 October 2022, at the age of 76, from pancreatic cancer.