Writer G. H. Diggle, during his stint in my hometown Luton was the bank manager Lloyds bank in the late 30s. It’s still in the same place and is the bank I use. One of his playing partners was also one of mine, a Mr. Nigel Staddon, and columnist Tom Sweby knew him very well indeed as they were good friends for decades.
I do know that he used to shop at the Sainsburys in the town cetnre, which was only about 50m from Lloyds Bank. I came across a picture of it the other day and thought I would post it here. It’s to the right, the darker building. Next to it is the Carnegie Library, one can only assume he went there also.
Fellow chess players from Bedfordshire, you may have wondered when Bedford Modern School’s James Plaskett first represented England? I now know, however, the finding of the answer was somewhat incidental! In casually looking at an S.C.C.U Bulletin from 1970, I saw the Clare Benedict cup being mentioned, as it was due to be played in Paignton later that year. Admittedly, I confess I couldn’t recall exactly what it was, and so took a look online to refresh the memory. I quickly found all details on Olimpbase and delved further, noting that the final tournament was held in Cleveland 1979, and that GM Plaskett participated. He had not long left school, so I thought I would check whether he had made his debut there or not.
The debuts of those who have played competitive chess in Bedfordshire and represented England.
2ndDennis Victor Mardle. Debut 1959 England – Dutch friendly Match 2
3rd GM James Plaskett. Debut 1979 Clare Benedict Cup3
Match details can be found here (do scroll down to 1900). William has been recorded playing for Luton several times and performed numerous simuls also, before establishing himself in London, as he had family just outside Luton in King’s Langley and spent some of his life there. Ward is well documented on this site and can be found here. You may find more information about Ward here and may note that my post previously linked can also be accessed on that site. ↩︎
Info about this can be found here (scroll down to 1959) and here. Once again, there is a wealth of information about Dennis on this site, who was born and went to school in Luton, and was the subject of old Tom’s column many times (please use the search bar) ↩︎
Once again Facebook has brought back memories but some of them are false!
2020 was a tough year indeed. That blasted Covid came and wreaked havoc. I got stuck in Bangkok and was indoors for so much of it with nowhgere to go, little to do and travel restricted heavily, so I stayed at home and got into online chess big style, as so many did. From April to December, I played about 1500 games online, won numerous tournaments and even started playing for my country.
The one tournament I remember in particular happened on this very day, October 31st. It was the first time I played for England. Having competed so much that year, I was much sharper than usual, and on form for once, even though I wasn’t paying much attention to the games played. England versus Finland it was, and the match, a series of blitz games, lasted a couple of hours. Because I was competing so much then, I wasn’t too fussed about it all and didn’t take it very seriously. My concentration wavered all the time as I listened to the band A Flock of Seagulls (my favourite pop band) all match long and kept delving into my media player to play songs during the match, as the screenshots below can testify.
First, the preparation (not very professional!)
More Facebook content (also not very professional)
Content from Lichess which confirms that I did do well but my performance rating was only 2022, which is lower than what I remember but still about as good as it gets for me. If you look at the ratings of the players in the top 20, you will see that they are all way above me though. Aside, I perhaps should explain that my username is still the same for Lichess. Olc is Gaelic for evil!
Lasltly, if you look at the ratings on those in the top 20, it is clear I performed well with 7 wins out of 10 but what I misremember is that most of my wins were against opponents rated lower than me rather than higher! So this is nothing to be too proud of but it is me at my best for online stuff pretty much. The surprising thing is that for OTB chess, it’s Finland again! As whilst studying there in 1996, I beat an FM, and that, sadly, is about as good as it gets for me!
Courtesy of friend Mark Ruston, Londoner and IM slayer, I have been alerted to a miniture played by GM Dubov, one of my favourite players. As I am sure you know, GM Dubov’s main coach was GM Morozevich, another favourite of mine, and he is known for his sacrificial chess. My favourite all time move in chess was played by him and can be found here. In the game below, the move 9. a4 is played.
White plays 9. a4 here. This move is rather deep.
Firstly, I am not a 1. d4 player so I don’t know how to play against the Queen’s Gambit Accepted. Secondly, I am not strong enough to play a move like that. Black can choose to push on b4 or gobble up pawns in the centre and capture on a6 with his bishop if necessary, can’t he? I am not strong enough to see that the rook can be deployed to d4, at which point it looks to me like black is suddenly in a world of trouble and required to play very precisely, especially if he castles kingside. With the rook on h4 black looks soon lost to me without accurate play, which in a rapid game is, of course, impossible.
The computer analysis shows black isn’t doing too badly until 17. Nd5, as is shown above, but who would want to be on the wrong side of that sort of attack anyway? One false step and its curtains, as proved to be the case.
On this day in 2011, I can be seen playing chess in a top I brought in Japan whilst on holiday, and some cap bought somewhere in Bangkok, probably MBK, in the quality facebook video below: I wasn’t even a father then -my how the time has flown!
Regarding the game per se, I have no recollection of it whatsoever but I can tell you that my opponent is Thotsaporn Thanatipanonda, who I have been friends with for many years. He’s usually rated between 2100-2200, and I have seen him beat strong titled players before including a strong Israeli IM once with his pet line in the French Winawer (Boguljubow variation). Thotsaporn, or Aek, now Lecturer in Mathematics at Mahidol University where he does research, would normally win our games. Chess enthusiasts may note that the very talkative Irish FM Colm Daly appears playing in the video also.
If you can make it as far as the 1.50 mark, you shall see that I don’t look too happy with my position as it is rather lost! I do have to say though that I like this video very much, as this is the most expressive I have ever seen myself over the board!
In not being a professional player, deep prep is not a path I ever go down. Unsurprisingly, then, the move shown below, that being 13. …Rxc3, is not one I could play. Yes of course I know that such exchange sacrifices do occur in that defence to the extent where they are considered thematic, especially with the Dragon variation but the move below is not part of a position which has a bishop on g7 beaming down on the queenside, and black’s minor pieces are not set up for immediate counter-play either, so there’s no quick attack coming. The level of expertise required to pull that off against someone rated 2660 at the time was very high indeed, and obviously way above my level, along with everyone else on the planet!
Kasparov plays 13. …Rxc3
This is a truly great game by Kasparov. It’s a shame he had to ruin things by shooting his mouth off after it (not exactly the first time he’s done that, please do you own research on that if you must). I would imagine his Armenian mother would not have been too pleased. You can find the game below.
Last month I had the great pleasure of meeting GM Wesley So at the most recent olympiad in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
I was quite touched by how polite he was to me, even asking where I am from -a true gentleman. Since then I have thought I should make more effort to look at his games and quickly remembered which one stood out the most. It was televised in 2016, when Kasparov made something of a comeback in blitz and took on the world’s best. I watched how this went horrendously wrong against GM So, and so GM Kasparov did not last long in the game. In looking at it again, GM Kasparov plays 17. …h6 in the diagram below. I could not play that move -it looks too suicidal to me! I think he wants to play f5 and stop Ng5 or something but his pieces are poorly placed and he’s now moved all his kingside pawns! Unsurprisingly, he doesn’t last very long here.
Here GM Kasparov plays 17. …h6
I have to admit, I did like how GM So played the moves towards the end of the game, they were clearly well calculated winning moves but played as if they were tactical ripostes almost.
…on what this site initially became…on what this site is now becoming…on what this site cannot become…
On what this site initially became…
…once upon a time, the chess-related musings of an adrift academic were bound playfully and electronically in this online journal of sorts. They grew and grew as the decade did too. I kept on because I love to write whether I had much to say or not; therefore, being read by others was usually of little or no importance, comparatively speaking. Content was based on personal thoughts and experience on various topics with no intended audience borne in mind. With topics broadening, my own take on things always shaped the narrative I constructed: I often thought I was insightful but never that I was right. Sometimes imagination gave rise to originality: and of that I have always remained proud. I often introduced humour, believing that I am funnier than I really am. Sometimes, I found my own style antithetical to the conservatism I believe chess is plagued by -oftentimes that has put a gracious smile on my face… .
On what this site is now becoming…
…this site is now becoming a collaboration of chess in Bedfordshire: much more so of the past than the present -that has become the dominant trend. I document the history of chess in Bedfordshire as much as I can, and as time has passed I have become more thorough and resourceful. However, I am not a trained historian as my background lies principally in philosophy but yes it is true I did study some modules on history as both an undergraduate and a post-graduate too; furthermore, I have trained myself up, particularly in terms of postmodern history. Since 2015, I have only read history and historiography as well as those philosophers who have been so influential on postmodern history, such as Nietzsche (whom I once wrote a 19,000 word dissertation on, entitled: Can the Will to Power be Found in The Birth of Tragedy?), also Richard Rorty and Foucault and I suppose certain structualists such as Claude Levi-Strauss too. Regarding postmodernism, mostly I keep to Hayden White, Keith Jenkins and Alan Muslow.
Some friends and former playing partners back home describe me as the ‘go to guy’ for the history of chess in Bedfordshire. This compliment says more about the lack of interest in the subject than my own endeavour. As mentioned, I am too adrift from academia to feel chuffed by it. Rather, I tend to lament that my historical research, like my chess, just isn’t what it should be. Even though I may well have a broad understanding of Bedfordshire chess history courtesy of the volume of research put into it, all of which began in 2014, this is not something I am particularly proud of. Nonetheless, out of courtesy compliments are graciously received. If the truth be told, I just see it as my job and only that – after all someone’s got to do it and no one else is that interested!
Amongst the many others, I have created three categories: ‘Bedfordshire Chess’ and ‘History of Bedfordshire Chess’ and ‘Luton Chess Club’. This website is slowly moving towards a consolidation of those (all of which can be found in one of the toolbars to the right).
On what this site cannot become…
…I like to be both creative and amusing when I can be, factor in that playfulness has been an ever-present factor, the content of this site should be thought of as multifarious. It could be said I continue to enjoy undermining the conservatism I believe chess is underpinned by even after all these years, and often try to use humour to do it still, believing I have got better at it. Consequently, despite the general direction its going in, this site cannot only be about Chess in Bedfordshire and nor will it be. It may become noted for that yes -in fact that’s been the case for years already even by established historians, archivists, and whoever else. External factors aside, this site is titled McCreadyandChess. I cannot, nor will I not, remove my own personal thoughts and experiences of chess from the posts of this site -especially if I think they are funny or original for they constitute my writing at its very, very best. In addition, the number of categories alone tells you that breadth of content is important to me. I am proud of my site, it is identity conferring and that is how it shall stay -end of story. All you really have are: ‘Some thoughts on the beautiful game’, which, incidentally, just happen to be my very own; nothing more, nothing less, take of it whatever you please… .
A side note on how to read old Tom Sweby's columns
Not perhaps, but quintessentially, Old Tom Sweby is best thought of as a passionate devotee to the newspapers he wrote for. He was well read and knowledgeable of the Bedfordshire chess scene and well beyond, given that he was the president of the S.C.C.U. once upon a time. He was generally well-respected and rubbed shoulders with many, if not all, of those eminent within British chess circles. It would, however, be a critical mistake to see his column is primary source material entirely. That it is not. You will also find secondary source material quoted too, and the reliability of that is not quite as Tom hoped. Given that he wrote for decades, this is to some degree inevitable, and after all we are all prone to error whether we realize it or not. Thankfully, with regards to old Tom Sweby, they are infrequent and for the most part old Tom continued to document events and developments in the Bedfordshire league from the get go as best he could but, of course, everything lies open to interpretation. Despite this, and generally speaking. this does indeed make him informative and thus worth reading. Dare I say his columns constitute a narrative describing the latest developments, match reports and changing nature of the Beds league...he knew his audience and wrote according. This manifested itself over decades but brevity was always in play courtesy of the restictions imposed by writing a column. Should you wish to read a in instrumental figure of the Beds' league post WW2, you are quite welcome to peruse what has been posted here... . :-) I should, however, point out that as the decades wore on he gradually moved on away from narratives concerning the Bedfordshire league towards affairs both historical and international. The reasons for this are multifarous, old age was a predominante factor presumably, however, the bottom line is with regards to how the Bedfordshire chess scene developed post WW2: old Tom Sweby is your go to guy. He wrote more about chess in Bedforshire than anyone else did but given he was a Lutonian and writing for a Luton newspaper there is both bias and greater coverage of his hometown than the rest of the county.
Gallery
I’m either 10 or 11 here
1982, myself versus Brian from Sunderland.
At the Thai Junior chess championships. My daughter of course.
Pattaya 2011
2011
Thai Junior Championships
2008
2011
Around 2011
2011
Pattaya 2009
2011
Kuwait 2008
2012
2012
2011 BKK Chess club
2011
2011 Thai Open
2011 Thai Open
2013 approx
Around 2014
2010
2012
Around 2011
2011
2011
2013
Around 2011
Around 2011
2020
2011
2008
2011
2013 or thereabouts
2010
2017
2014?
2010
2024
2024
2024
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