The present writer was one of a number of Sheffield & District juniors playing in the British Under-16 or Under-18 Championship of 1969. Each day, a printed Bulletin of the previous day's activity was produced and made available at a modest charge. Many games were included, not only from the main British Championship and the Major Open but from more-lowly sections, including the junior championships.

It seems that somebody on the editorial staff cottoned on the fact that a certain S. J. Mann from Sheffield, after opening with 1. d4, was playing an early f3 as White against all of Black’s defences based on 1. … Nf6, not just playing the Saemisch against the King’s Indian. Three of these games found their way into the Bulletin. In another such game, for a brief moment, Black could have won White’s queen in the centre of the board. Luckily, Black (Adrian Millward, who later went to Sheffield University and settled in Sheffield) did not spot the error in White’s play, and White went on to win. However, perhaps because of the queen-loss oversight, the Bulletin editor did not publish that game.

The first such published game saw the opening 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb5 4. f3 (1-0 in 34 moves). The opponent is John Saunders who now runs the Britbase website where details of all sections can be found. The game can be played through, on screen, by clicking on the follow link:

S J Mann 1-0 J C Saunders

The second game started 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. f3 (1-0 in 29 moves). The opponent was Devonian James Dentith then of Brixham, later of Totnes. The game can be played through, on screen, by clicking on the follow link:

S J Mann 1-0 J M Dentith

At this point it might be mentioned that when English players first started acquiring FIDE Grandmaster titles in the 1970s, it was normally necessary first to have beaten S J Mann of Sheffield. When King Edward VII Grammar School played King Edwards, Birmingham, in the Sunday Times school team competition, the game on board 1, with S J Mann as White, started 1. d4 f5 2. g4. Black consumed huge quantities of keratin (what fingernails are made of) but nevertheless Black triumphed in the end. Black was Anthony John Miles, who went on to become England’s first Grandmaster in 1974. Ray Keene managed to gain the GM title in 1976, without first beating S J Mann. Even before Miles and Keene got their GM titles, Michael Stean was hotly tipped for possibly becoming England first GM. Winning the following game meant the road to the GM title was then open to him, and he became a GM in 1977.

The third game started 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. f3 (0-1 in 30 moves). The game can be played through, on screen, by clicking on the follow link:

S J Mann 0-1 M F Stean