Laos will play Lesotho in round 4 of the 2022 Olympiad in Chennai (formerly known as Madras).
Regarding Lesotho, formerly their weapon of choice was most likely the spear. Whether that is still the case or what are they doing up there on that mountain in South Africa, apart from hide from lions, I also don’t know. Some chess is being played somewhere somehow yes, but that’s about all I can tell you.
If Laos can do well, it could overtake The Seychelles in the table -another great chess nation!
Of lesser importance, England will play Serbia and are favourites due to a slight rating advantage from top to bottom.
You can tune into to Peter Leko and Peter Svidler on youtube easily enough, both of whom are remarkably gifted at showing you how far off from being a Grand Master you actually are -inadvertently of course.
Admittedly, I have been to quite a few countries -36 in total. It’s not something I am ever proud of or boastful about but when the Olympiads come round, it’s always nice to look out for the countries you are personally fond of.
Laos is one of my favourite ‘countries’ in the world, to use the term broadly. On my last visit there (late March 2016), I cycled just over 140 kms on my Trek in north-eastern Thailand in two mornings before getting my bike over the Mekong river -also the border- and heading inland towards the nearest consulate in a small city, opulent with restored, colonial architecture and casinos -going by the name of Savannakhet. (or sleepy Savannakhet as I dubbed it).
Taken en route to Savannakhet. What the picture doesn’t tell you that on the first morning the train arrived late and so too I left late. When this picture was taken I was already feeling the heat. Trek is 7.2fx hybrid.
Having disembarked from the overnight train at Ubon Ratchathani, its destination, Amnat Chareon was the stop over point I reached exhausted from the morning and early afternoon heat, and having pushed it far too hard early on, I was lifeless under the air con for hours on end once hoteled up that sunny afternoon. Mukdahan (meaning Pearl) is the city on the Thai side of the Thai/Laos border. Savvanakhet was another 25kms or so on. Almost all of the journey between Amnat Chareon and Mukdhan was completed before dawn -and believe me the roads in that part of the world are dark before dawn, as there is little or no road lighting, the sound of the insects in the fields passing by almost deafening in many places. How could I be so sure? There was no traffic at that time. Just me peddling away in total darkness, struggling just to see the road and where it went..If you look carefully at the central window, you can see my Trek below it, this is the hotel I stayed in in Savannakhet for a night or two. Admittedly, I was in need of rest but would not rest up from using my bike around the city, which in itself was very sleepy and remained very sleepy despite the amount of circles I made going round and round the city, the riverside, and all that between them.
But as lovely as the country and the people may be, or seem to be, their chess team at the Olympiad isn’t the strongest, with the top board being the only rated player, and only in the 1200 region. Still, it’s refreshingly pleasant to see them there as in itself that does constitute progress and it’s good for the country as a whole in terms of building cultural identity and defining progress more readily and explorationally. Should you ever go to Laos, you may notice it is still communist and will always border China. You may also notice that to define it as a nation is stretching the term a quite a bit since it is tribal across the nation and many areas are unchanged in the last 10,000 years, with what we take for granted in modernity, such as electricity and money, having not reached all parts of the country yet, with bartering systems well in place during daylight hours still. Their national language is official but is almost unheard of outside what towns and cities there are, thus almost certainly unlearnt and never used.
For the correct pronunciation of the country you have to drop the ‘s’. The ‘ao’ are pronounced ‘ow’ It’s pronounced Lao as in ‘allow’ minus the ‘a’ at the front.
On a much more solemn note, the country I am currently a resident of has also entered a team, but having had a good look at it I was sad to see I could beat the entire team if I played any of them, and so returning to work in a land where there doesn’t appear to be anyone better than you isn’t a very pleasant feeling I can assure you. There’s a sense of something not being quite right, provided your level of self-understanding is sufficient enough to realise such things(that’s another way of admitting to not being particularly good at something)…perhaps I will have something to become boastful of when I finally get round going back to work. Some sort of national challenge may be in order then most likely declined, ignored, overlooked, and eventually buried under ceaseless online traffic somewhere… .
Does it add up to you? If you think how much he earns for defending his title, and that most likely he will do so successfully several times over, that is well into the millions. It doesn’t add up to me but then I don’t know how rich he really is.
Of all the women in the world who play chess, the one that can’t be beaten in looks is, in my opinion, Andrea Botez. You can see her here playing in this video.
Admittedly, if there is a criticism it is she does throw like a girl.
There’s being funny and there’s taking the piss. When you book hotel rooms online, there’s usually a customer service section where you can ask questions. So here’s mine.
Help us out here, I am stuck on this one. First and foremost, what you are about to read is not an example of me bragging nor is it an attempt to attract attention, it’s more a case of general enquiry but I don’t quite know how to phrase it. Advice sought.
What I want to do is subtly slip into a conversation the line ‘you’ve probably noticed that I’m by far the most handsome chess player on the planet right?’ without making my interlocutor puke, burst out laughing, or think there’s something seriously wrong with me. So how do I slip a line like that into a conversation and move on from it casually? What sort of body language should I use? The tone of the sentence should be mild self-assurance overflowing with hope of confirmation. How many people around the world actually think I am I don’t know although I suspect it’s not very many (if any).
The reason I am asking this is I like to delude myself into thinking I am so funny and can make people laugh with such ease, so it’s just a gag I want to make a mental note of for female chess players, which I can drop into any conversation that starts drying up if I run out of things to say. Or alternately I might use it as a chat up line or maybe to get my fees waived at a tournament as it could actually be true, making me quite a coup.
Yes that’s me with former women’s world champion Hou Yifan. I was the photographer for that particular event, hence the ID badge.
How does he do it? How Does Magnus Carlsen cope with the fame and pressure of being the world champion? He always seems pretty relaxed about it to me but whatever goes on off camera…well we don’t really know do we?
He is under the spotlight here, signing autographs, dealing with fans and admirers, and again not looking too flustered by it. Gotta respect the guy for that, perhaps he is well used to it by now.
Back in blighty I believe the temperature has soared to 40 C, and we only just had the annual ChessFest in Trafalgar Square.
Playing chess in that heat phroar, well how do you do it? The trick is get yourself a few GM norms and become a Grandmaster as quickly as possible, that way when you play you’ll have lots of fans by the board!
(Now you have to admit, even by my standards, that is a cracking joke is it not?)
Trafalgar Square ChessFest
Fans for hot weather GM chess. King and Queen are on the wrong squares but nevermind. Unsuspecting GM’s might not notice.
…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. 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
To add comments, please see the bell at the top of the page.
McCreadyandChess 