Remembering Alberic O'Kelly de Galway (May 17, 1911 – October 3, 1980)

by André Schulz
10/3/2020 – Alberic O'Kelly de Galway was a Belgian Grandmaster of Irish descent. One of his trainers was Akiba Rubinstein, and after World War II O'Kelly belonged to the extended world class. He won the 3. World Championship of Correspondence Chess and supported chess as arbiter and author. O'Kelly died 40 years ago, on October 3, 1980. | Photos: Dutch National Archive

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A Passion for Chess

Opening connoisseurs might know O'Kelly as name-giver of the shrewd O'Kelly variation: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6!? After 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4, Black can play 4...e5 and White's knight cannot go to b5 and Black did not block his black-squared bishop with ...d6 as he does in the Najdorf. However, if White does not play 3.d4, the move a7-a6 might turn out to be a loss of a tempo. O'Kelly is also the name-giver of a gambit line in the Nimzo-Indian. 

The name Alberic O'Kelly de Galway (actually Albéric Joseph Rodolphe Marie Robert Ghislain O'Kelly de Galway) sounds Irish, but O'Kelly was Belgian, albeit of Irish and apparently noble descent. For many decades O'Kelly was the best Belgian chess player after World War II and part of the extended world class.

In 1720, O'Kelly's ancestor, John O'Kelly de Galway, an officer working for the English, came to Liège, which at that time was part of Austria-Netherlands. John O'Kelly was able to continue his noble family tradition in Belgium, where he was awarded the hereditary title "Ecuyer" (stable master).

Both parents of Alberic O'Kelly, his father Robert O'Kelly de Galway and his mother Louise le Clement de Saint Marcq, were born in 1880. The mother also came from an old noble family with roots in northern France and the Netherlands. Alberic O'Kelly de Galway was born on May 17, 1911 in Ruisbroek near Brussels. He was the eldest of five and had three sisters and one brother.

O'Kelly started playing chess when he was 12 years old. He became a member of the Brussels "Cercle L'Echiquire" where he had the chance to train regularly with Akiba Rubinstein. O'Kelly also played some friendly matches against Rubinstein, who had been one of the world's best players before World War I, and who had been considered as legitimate challenger to play for the world title against Dr. Emanuel Lasker. Rubinstein was born in Poland but later emigrated to Belgium where he survived the holocaust. Training and playing with Rubinstein helped O'Kelly to become the best chess player in Belgium. 

Between 1937 and 1959 O'Kelly won the Belgian National Championship no less than 13 times. He also successfully participated in many international tournaments. According to the historical calculations of Jeff Sonas, in the mid-1950s Alberic O'Kelly was one of the best 30 players in the world.

The list of his tournament successes in the decades after the war is remarkable. The following (not necessarily complete) list shows tournaments in which O'Kelly made it to the "podium".

Tournament victories at the Hoogoven Tournament Beverwijk 1946 and at the Hilversum Zonal Tournament 1947, shared first at the Hilversum A-Tournament 1947, Winner in Venice 1947, 3rd place in Buenos Aires 1948, Winner in Saarbrücken 1950, 3rd Place in Bled 1950, shared second Hastings 1950-51, second at Hoogoven Bewerwijk 1951, Winner in Dortmund 1951, second Beverwijk 1952 and Bewerwijk 1953, third in Hastings 1953-54, second in Stuttgart 1954, winner in Dublin 1954, winner in Ostend 1956, winner in Ghent 1956, shared third in Hastings 1956-57, shared second in Taragona 1960, shared second in Zevenaar 1961, winner in Utrecht 1961, winner in Paris 1961-62, shared first in Paris 1963, shared second in Malaga 1965, shared first in Palma de Mallorca 1965, shared second in Lanjaron 1966, third in Reykjavik 1966, shared first Malaga 1966, winner in Olot 1969, second in Solingen 1973. 

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Nxe5 dxe4 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.Bxc6+ Bd7 9.Qh5+ Ke7 10.Qe5+ Be6 11.d4 exd3 12.Bg5+ Nf6 13.0-0-0 Kf7 14.Rhe1 Bxa2 15.Qa5 Be6 16.Bxf6 Qxf6 17.Rxe6 Qxf2 18.Rxd3 Kxe6 19.Qd5+ Ke7 20.Qe5+ 1–0
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O'Kelly de Galway,A-Denker,A-1–01948C63Mar del Plata International-1115

 

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bxf6 Qxf6 6.Nc3 c6 7.Qb3 Nd7 8.e4 dxe4 9.Nxe4 Qf4 10.Bd3 Nf6 11.Nxf6+ Qxf6 12.0-0 Bd6 13.Rfe1 0-0 14.c5 Bc7 15.Be4 Rd8 16.Qc3 Bd7 17.Ne5 Be8 18.Rad1 Rac8 19.Bc2 Rd5 20.g3 Bxe5 21.dxe5 Qe7 22.b4 Rcd8 23.Bb3 Rxd1 24.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 25.Bxd1 Qd8 26.Bb3 Kf8 27.h4 Kg8 28.Kf1 Kf8 29.Ke2 Qd7 30.Qe3 Qd8 31.Qe4 Kg8 32.Ke3 g6 33.Ke2 Kg7 34.Qf4 h5 35.Ke3 Kg8 36.Qf6 Qd7 37.f3 b6 38.g4 bxc5 39.bxc5 a5 40.gxh5 gxh5 41.Qg5+ Kf8 42.Qxh5 a4 43.Qh8+ Ke7 44.Qf6+ Kf8 45.Bc4 Qa7 46.Bxe6 Qxc5+ 47.Kf4 Kg8 48.Bf5 Qc4+ 49.Kg5 Qxa2 50.Qe7 a3 51.Kf6 1–0
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O'Kelly de Galway,A-Bogoljubow,E-1–01952D43Belgrade9

 

 
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1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.d4 cxd5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 dxc4 7.d5 Ne5 8.Qd4 Nd3+ 9.Bxd3 cxd3 10.Nf3 Bf5 11.0-0 h6 12.Bxf6 gxf6 13.Qf4 Bd7 14.Rad1 Qb8 15.Qe3 f5 16.Rfe1 Qd6 17.Ne5 Bg7 18.Nc4 Qf6 19.d6 Be6 20.d7+ Kxd7 21.Qxd3+ Kc7 22.Nb5+ Kc8 23.Rc1 Kb8 24.Na5 b6 25.Nc7 Bc8 26.Qf3 1–0
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O'Kelly de Galway,A-Bobotsov,M-1–01961B13Zevenaar15

 

 
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.g3 Bf6 13.Re1 Ra7 14.d4 Re7 15.Rxe7 Qxe7 16.Bxd5 cxd5 17.Be3 Re8 18.Nd2 Bh3 19.Qf3 Qe6 20.Re1 Bg4 21.Qg2 Bh3 22.Qf3 Bg4 23.Qh1 h5 24.h4 Qf5 25.Qg2 Qd3 26.Nf1 Qc4 27.a3 Qa2 28.f3 Bf5 29.Qd2 Re6 30.Bf2 Rxe1 31.Bxe1 Qb1 32.Ne3 Be6 33.Ng2 Be7 34.Nf4 g6 35.Kg2 Bd6 36.Nxe6 fxe6 37.Bf2 Kf7 38.Be3 Ke8 39.Bh6 Kd7 40.Bg7 Qf5 41.Bh8 Qf8 42.Be5 Bxe5 43.dxe5 Qf5 44.Qe3 Kc6 45.b4 Kb7 46.Kh2 Ka8 47.Qe2 Kb7 48.Kg2 Kb8 49.g4 Qf4 50.Qf2 Kb7 51.Qd4 Qc1 52.Qd3 Qe1 53.gxh5 gxh5 54.f4 ½–½
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Fischer,R-O'Kelly de Galway,A-½–½1965C89Capablanca Memorial-044

Dublin, 1956 (sitting, from left to right): J. H. Donner and A. O'Kelly de Galway; (standing from left to right): H. Golombek, B. H. Wood, W. Heidenfeld, W. Dunphy, J. Keenan, W. Stanton, K. O'Riordan, J. P. Reid, D. O'Sullivan. | Photo: Joe Keenan, Irish Chess Union

In 1950 O'Kelly became an International Master, and in 1956 he became a Grandmaster.

O'Kelly at a simul  (from left to right): Mathieu Salden, Richard Leenen, André Vanlokeren, Louis Willems (secretary of Liga Limburg), Jacques Colemont (Head of LL), Jef Coolen (Organizer of LL), Tony Coolen, ?, O'Kelly. | Photo : Jean Jacobs Archive

Between 1937 and 1968 O'Kelly represented his country at eight Chess Olympiads, and apart from the Chess Olympiad 1937, he always played on first board and had an overall score of 69.0/118.

1946, Max Euwe, Alberic O'Kelly, Mikhail Botvinnik | Foto: Durch National Archive

In the 1960s and 1970s, Alberic O'Kelly also played for the SG Solingen, one of the top teams of the German Bundesliga. O'Kelly's last tournament the BBC Master Game tournament in 1979.

O'Kelly's second chess love was correspondence chess and he played his first correspondence chess tournaments before World War II. After the war he won the 3. Correspondence World Championship 1964-65 – his biggest success.

In 1962 O'Kelly became an International Arbiter and was the main arbiter at the World Championship matches in 1966 and in 1969 between Tigran Petrosian and Boris Spassky, and in 1974 he was the arbiter of candidates final between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Kortschnoi. 

O'Kelly was also an arbiter at the first Women's Chess Olympiad in Emmen in 1957. For many female players this olympiad was the first they played in an international team event or even the first time they played in an international women's event. Back then, Beth Cassidy wrote a lively report about this historic tournament, in which she also mentions O'Kelly.

There was Madame Chaudé de Silans of France, and for a few minutes of her game against Ireland, she really was worried. Her team mate sitting along side her pressed Madame de Silans clock by mistake. Miss Chater presumed a move had been made and with delightful disregard for the French Attack moved again without even looking to see what her opponent had played. Nor was she a whit disconcerted when controller O'Kelly de Galway came down and put the offending Knight back on its original square.

On arrival at her hotel in Emmen, Miss Chater, who incidently is 82, was informed that she would have to change hotels for one night owing to a previous booking. This upset the old lady quite a bit, and she kept worrying about it. The matter was actually under control, but Miss Chater didn't realize that you just can't rush the Dutch. There was still no news by the middle of the week, then as Miss Chater was sitting alone early one morning, along came a suave, elegantly-dressed gentleman, who enquired courteously how she was and if she was comfortable in the hotel. Miss Chater beamed. Authority at last. And she launched forth on the subject of having to change hotels. She told him how uncomfortable her room was and recounted all the intimate little details that made it so. She explained that she was in Emmen to play chess and that this sort of thing was so upsetting. Finally, she finished up by asking him politely if he played chess. "Madame," came the mild reply, "I don't know whom you believe me to be, but I am O'Kelly de Galway."

O'Kelly was also a prolific author and published a number of chess books in different languages. Like many chess players, O'Kelly had a great talent for languages. He spoke French, Dutch, German, English, Spanish and Russian fluently, and he was quite good in Italian. He was a great connoisseur of wine and in his time as an arbiter he liked to invite the players for a good glass. O'Kelly also loved Cuban cigars and after the Chess Olympiad in Havana he asked a number of players to bring Cuban cigars through customs for him.

In 1958 the Belgian King awarded O'Kelly with the Belgian "Order of the Crown with Golden Palms" for his services to chess. 

In his later years O'Kelly suffered from leukemia. During a training session in Mexico City with the Mexican national team, O'Kelly was hospitalized after a feeling of faintness. From there he was flown to Belgium where he died in a hospital in Brussels on October 3, 1980.

Translation from German: Arthur Paul


André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.

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KIva78 KIva78 10/7/2020 03:52
It's nice to see O'Kelly remembered. He also wrote a short book about Petrosian called "Tigran Petrosian World Champion", which is now out of print.
Álvaro Pereira Álvaro Pereira 10/6/2020 02:31
I met O'Kelly at an open tournament played in Mallorca Island, many years ago. I would begin my correspondence chess career at an international level on a matter of weeks and I asked to the former World Champion if I should put all my money on the same openings on all the games or to diversify my choices? He answered: "It depends on your confidence on your opening lines. But, if you wish a piece of advice, here it is: trust on your intuition." And he explained me what he meant by that. Later on, this advice tourned out to be very useful. In several games, all this before the computer's age, when I felt I should have a winning sequence, I looked hard until I found it, no matter the time necessary for it. And I achieved that way not only some of my best games, but also some of my best results and the GM title.
Tim Bogan Tim Bogan 10/5/2020 04:34
We shouldn't leave a reminiscence of O'Kelly without mentioning 34 Mal Schachlogik, his superb collection of some of his correspondence games, deeply annotated. This is a book deserving of translation and a new edition. It's a lovely piece of chess writing, one of my favorite chess books ever.
Daniel Quigley Daniel Quigley 10/3/2020 11:09
If anyone is curious, the Nimzo-Indian line referred to in the article is 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 c5 6.e3 b6.

I had this line played against me once in a World Open G/30 side event in the early 1990s when I was playing up 400 points or so against a 2400 Ron Burnett. Anyway, the beatdown I took as White in this game turned me off the Saemisch (4.a3) forever. Black's Knight went to a5, the Bishop to a6. I'm still traumatized. Today the O'Kelley Variation initiated by 6...b6 is still NOT Black's #1 defense. I have no idea why that is. I sure couldn't find a good line against it, and from what I've seen no one else can either.

White: Beni, Alfred
Black: O'Kelly de Galway, Alberic
Event: Amsterdam ol (Men) fin-B
Site: Amsterdam
Round: 4
Date: 09/15/1954
ECO: E26
Score: 0-1
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.d4 Bb4 4.e3 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 b6 7.Bd3 Bb7 8.f3 Nc6 9.Ne2 Rc8 10.e4 Na5 11.e5 Ng8 12.O-O f5 13.d5 Ne7 14.d6 Ng6 15.f4 O-O 16.g4 fxg4 17.Ng3 Qh4 18.Qc2 Bf3 19.Bxg6 hxg6 20.Ra2 Nxc4 21.Qa4 Bd5 22.Raf2 Rf7 23.Qc2 Rcf8 24.Qe2 Na5 25.Qc2 Nc6 26.Qe2 Bf3 27.Qe3 Rxf4 28.Qe1 g5 29.Qe3 g6 30.Qe1 R8f7 31.Bxf4 gxf4 32.Rxf3 gxf3 33.Qe4 Qg5 34.Qxf3 Rf5 0-1
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