Printer is out and unlikely to be resurrected. Not a huge problem as the quality of the images is improving but it is much harder than expected.
Archive for November, 2016
Bedfordshire 1982
Posted in History of Bedfordshire Chess on November 10, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Unbeliever?
Posted in Personal Interest & Experience on November 10, 2016| Leave a Comment »
‘Had enough of reinventing memories.’ Unbeliever -Therapy?
Admittedly, the path to recovery is somewhat precipitous…
‘Don’t belong in this world or the next one.’ Unbeliever -Therapy?
Not that its perilous…
‘Wasting every day to my own end.’ Unbeliever -Therapy?
It’s just that…
‘Feeling awkward feeling clumsy hating.’ Unbeliever -Therapy?
To avoid further seizures and hemorrhaging, which are likely to be fatal…
‘Everything I’ve ever done before.’ Unbeliever -Therapy?
There are many things I must do…
‘Then you leave me like the others.’ Unbeliever -Therapy?
Great news point number 1: so swiftly I recover so all doctors say…
‘Leave me too much time on my own.’ Unbeliever -Therapy?
Great news point number 2: understand what they say well I do, although one or two small points I am an unbeliever of there are…
‘All I want is a trace of recognition.’ Unbeliever -Therapy?
A finishing off: the blog continues and will continue on but should it ever cease, which based on the evidence presented is unlikely, well as stated in ‘Do you differ from the dead?’ you know why… .
‘Your silence is as heavy as my eyes.’ Unbeliever -Therapy?
Bedfordshire 1981
Posted in History of Bedfordshire Chess on November 9, 2016| Leave a Comment »
The printer does not work so I must use my phone, I hope that the quality is better today.
Bedfordshire 1980
Posted in History of Bedfordshire Chess on November 9, 2016| Leave a Comment »
I regret to say that the printer is not working at the moment, which has impaired the quality of some columns below. Generally they get better the further down they go. 1981 already complete and in much better quality, soon to be uploaded.
Richard Rapport -lest we not forget his originality
Posted in Life beyond the chess board on November 9, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Rapport shows the world once more what an original and inventive player he is by dismantling the current world number 6 with an attack and a 27th move that only he could find. Instantly across the net, especially on Twitter, GMs were in total disbelief. He is indeed so admirable, still my favourite player of today’s crop of GMs.
https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/european-club-cup-2016/3/1/2
Life must be almost perfect for him right now, having got recently married.
Who is funnier Bob or Bobby?
Posted in Life beyond the chess board on November 9, 2016| Leave a Comment »
You decide. I think its Bobby but they are both funny! Very well scripted.
Watch this space
Posted in Bedfordshire Chess on November 8, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Irrespective of my health, remaining inactive simply isn’t possible. My fellow county players, you have much to look forward to as the past is accessible once more. I work 3 hours a day with microfiche and will begin publishing that found within days.
A victory so far greater than any other, it can never be surpassed…
Posted in Personal Interest & Experience on November 5, 2016| Leave a Comment »
The greatest chess-related victory in my life was bringing a child into the world who was born out of her father’s love of chess, as he met her mother at a tournament. Even her initials suggest that at one point, she was the world’s youngest GM -but by name not prowess (which is why I requested she had no middle name)! And also, the chess community we were central to at the time was truly overjoyed that we brought a child into the world because I took more interest in her mother than the demise of my defeated opponents at their tournament that year. Still today it is spoken about and of course they all love my daughter, being the happy child she is!
Here is a video that shows her entry into the world and her development there after. There are many references to and pictures of chess…oh, I should also add that when I lived in the UAE I was a professional photographer for a short while, so you will be able to establish which photos were shot be me with consulate ease. There’s some video too, you might find her reaction to her first introduction to chess amusing, I know I certainly do.
The one picture that indicates the location where the causal chain formed and resulted in her birth 541 days later is at the 7.35 mark, as the table in the background is where I first met her mother in the 5-star hotel where the tournament took place. I also want to say that I only use SLRs on a shoot, so putting together a video took quite some time but it does stand out far above all others. The pictures offer a chronology of her first 9 months and some great piano music lies within also. Enjoy!
Thankfully, my daughter did not lose her father last month. Let us hope she will have a loving father for now and forever more… .
Which do you prefer Chess or Xbox?
Posted in Personal Interest & Experience, tagged young mark mccready on November 4, 2016| Leave a Comment »
How can I be sure I’m here?
The pills that I’ve been taking confuse me,
I need to know that someone sees that,
There’s nothing left, I simply am not here.Porcupine Tree – Fear of a Blank Planet
Imagine you are a child, would a preference to play chess instead of play with an xbox remain simpatico after being offered both? For me yes. Some evidence, perhaps anachronistic perhaps not, is corroborated below.
Yep that’s me, very early 1980s at Xmas party against a drunken family friend. I say that because I remember the photo being taken.
Another Xmas party. That’s not my father, I never had one. I come from a broken Scots/Irish immigrant family on the roughest street of my whole town. Again I remember the photo taken, the gentleman in it was called Brian, I liked him very much.
Don’t try engaging me,
The vaguest of shrugs,
The prescription drugs,
You’ll never find a person inside.Porcupine Tree – Fear of a Blank Planet
But if you watch the video below, shot about 15 miles south of where I am as I type, you may see that the youth of modern day England, if well-represented here, have an altogther different preference to mine -and just look at what it does to them! Deranged they are and a very sorry sight indeed! Those poor souls grow up in my same country as me but one that is rather foreign it must me said.
‘The past is a foreign country, they do things differently there.’ L. P. Hartley
Pity them you must and enjoy the guitaring you shall should you click on the video below.
Whilst the undefeated chess champion of my school, one of the very first things chess taught me about life is that society is hierarchical and that to ascend from circles predominately working class, to the acquiescent middle & upper-classes is essential because therein a communal interest can be embraced by those more distinguished, more able to broaden your horizon beyond what is intrinsic & extrinsic to our beautiful game as well as the community which flourishes within it and whatever remains extraneous to that…before I left school, unlike the kids in the video above, I learnt that life is contingent but subjugated by my own relentless and solitudinous study of chess and only chess.
A champion enraptured by a solitudinuous study of chess with a fantastic taste in music already, don’t you think Metallica fans? I was already tactically astute at this stage: 9 months before this photo was taken, when Luton A played Leighton Buzzard C on March 24th 1988, I was playing on Board 3 wearing a green jumper and tore Lynn Rose apart over the board, he was rated 130. He couldn’t even make it to the time control!
“No one can construct for you the bridge upon which precisely you must cross the stream of life, no one but you yourself alone.”
Nietzsche
To die unsung…
Posted in Life beyond the chess board, tagged McCready goes into overdrive whilst brain damaged. on November 3, 2016| Leave a Comment »
…to die unsung would really bring you down
although wet eyes would never suit you
walk through no archetypal suicide to
die young is far too boring these daysHelmet -Unsung
Jeepers creepers! What the hell is going on here? Still brain damaged am I yet thy my brain bursts into overdrive all the time, crushing all opposition OTB effortlessly and frolicking with finesse. I put in a 2400 Elo performance last week even though it was only one day after my memory finally returned when some Faith No More was blaring out, animating me far too much to remain focused on my position as life was breathed back into me. Welcomed with open arms by the chess community at Heathrow upon my return home, instantly I played for my home town away to Northampton and the same thing happened again! But here is the so-very-strange-thing: in the opening and middle game my thought processes were under control but then they burst into a crescendo and blew my opponent away in the endgame AND I did not have to calculate anything or even look at the board!!!! HOW???? BAFFLING HUH????
your will to speak clearly
exposed too much
unsung once too often
could not rub offHelmet -Unsung
I have not played OTB in 18 months so HOW ON EARTH IS THIS POSSIBLE? HOW CAN IT BE? It’s because so much endgame theory is hardwired into my brain, that’s why; being the custodian of a network myriad of causal connections that, impervious to dissonance, embody the quaint literature stacked upon my shelves so queenlike for so long, for now, and forever more. It’s the second game within a week and obeisant Fritz showed my endgame play to be perfect once more, although calculate anything at all I needed not! 🙂
I am white. Under the kosh, black plays 29. Qd8 in hope of a queen exchange, and perhaps aware should I play 30. Qxf7, he will draw by perpetual check. However, I played 30. Qxd8 instantaneously without even looking at the board. I didn’t need to because my King position is so advantageous and his kingside pawns are isolated. Play was as follows 30. …Qxd8 31. Kf4 Rg8? From this point on I focused more upon the non-verbal communication my team mates expressed than my own position -in fact I never looked at the board from this point on.
Black plays 34. … Rxe4 and can no longer stop freddy the f-pawn from queening…unless he sacrifices his rook! All of which I foresaw at move 30. Too easy. I played 35. Kxf6 but was more engrossed by ex-world champion Bobby Fischer’s assertion ‘I don’t believe in psychology, I believe in good moves!’, wondering why he contrasts them given that non-verbal communication embodies thought yet lacks intentionality. Rather dilettantish don’t you think psychologists?
41. Kg8 and black resigns. The crescendo continued on for hours more…my re-emergence always brings victory to the team. Even the league champions succumb to defeat when I am on the team sheet, as was the case last year. The drive home was as dark as we were jovial, happy to be reunited and victorious once more! And boy, were they happy to see me still alive!
By the way, my opponent was so polite and respectful after defeat, even though I turned down his offer of a draw when he saw I had gone into overdrive albeit unintentionally, perhaps certain his own servitude would soon be enforced.
And whose victory was it that brought Luton Chess Team victory? MINE!!!! And what colour were you wearing? ORANGE of course -after all I am from LUTON!!!!! And what did it feel like when you blundered about an hour into the game by looking directly above at the ceiling, causing that brain damaged head of yours to lose all balance? It felt a bit choppy, like I was on a small ship crossing a stormy sea, as if I was going to be thown overboard into the car park outside, I was panicking, moving from side to side WITHOUT PAUSE!!!! And how long did that last? Erm, about 20 seconds, maybe more, I had to fasten myself to my chair to steady MYSELF!!!! Well seafarer, as my folks used to say WHAT IN TARNATION?!?!?!?!
I also wore a football shirt. COYH!
You must follow the music in the video below in which the surge in power the music undergoes as the song progresses is analogous to my state of mind during play and its own crescendo. You will soon learn how feeling indomitable is applauded by those whose propinquity to the grim reaper who got his ass kicked only two weeks ago was both untimely and, presumably, unforgettable.
Your contribution left unnoticed some
association with an image
just credit time for showing up again
attention wandered I’m left with itHelmet -Unsung
Marvel at those energy mounds building within the music by clicking below. The drumming @ the 3.06 mark is entirely in sync with my pulse just as I burst into overdrive.
That’s Helmet, en route to a county match in Peterborough back in 93 I spoke about them at length in the car. The driver -that being Steve Yates- frowned and thought at length over the steering wheel before telling me he knew ‘I like to listen to obscure bands’. Unsure of what his point was, I did not reply.
gone by sin too slowly
can’t pass it up
then i thought nothing is right
i turned it offHelmet -Unsung
My endgame play has the same impetus as the music @ the 3.01 stage, which is the endgame of the track, but like chess itself, it is better to play through it from from start to finish -if you want to be blown off your feet that is! And when I say ‘blown off your feet’ I do mean ‘blown off your feet’ (that’s why I wrote it!) -enjoy.
The brain damaged endgame expert McCready on the mend 2 Awestruck opponents almost lost for words 0 !
“A critique does not consist in saying that things aren’t good the way they are. It consists in seeing on just what type of assumptions, of familiar notions, of established and unexamined ways of thinking the accepted practices are based… To do criticism is to make harder those acts which are now too easy.”
Michael Foucault
Okay, if you thought things had got strange on this website lately, now they get even stranger. What is, even by my standards, right out there due to the very whacky American in it, in character. He gets so very strange towards the end, what on earth is he talking about???? Just look at how he loses it!!!! He offers us what must surely be the most deranged critique of 1990s America ever expressed! As I learnt in 92 whilst slumped in my chair and bored, that’s the sort of guy you don’t try to mimic, especially at the 2.52 mark -man that guy is right out there!!!!
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A side note on how to read old Tom Sweby's columns
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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
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- I’m either 10 or 11 here
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- 1982, myself versus Brian from Sunderland.
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- At the Thai Junior chess championships. My daughter of course.
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- Pattaya 2011
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- 2011
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- Thai Junior Championships
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- 2008
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- 2011
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- Around 2011
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- 2011
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- Pattaya 2009
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- 2011
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- Kuwait 2008
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- 2012
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- 2012
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- 2011 BKK Chess club
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- 2011
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- 2011 Thai Open
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- 2011 Thai Open
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- 2013 approx
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- Around 2014
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- 2010
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- 2012
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- Around 2011
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- 2011
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- 2011
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- 2013
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- Around 2011
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- Around 2011
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- 2020
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- 2011
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- 2008
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- 2011
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- 2013 or thereabouts
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