Last week former Richmond & Twickenham Chess Club megastar Michael Franklin celebrated his 89th birthday.

Michael played regularly for Richmond for more than half a century, and was also an England international in the early 1960s, representing his country in the 1964 Olympiad. Although he gave up competitive chess ten years ago, he still keeps in touch: Martin Benjamin is in regular contact as is another former Richmond star, Ken Norman.

You can read more about Michael here.

I have a question for you taken from one of Michael’s games.

This is from the game Chris Beaumont-Michael Franklin (London 1994). White has a possible tactic here: Rxf5. Is it a trick or a treat? Would you play this move? If so, why? If not, why not? As I tell my pupils, it’s not a guessing game: I expect some concrete analysis to back up your decision.