Clearly it is the case that a break from chess is long overdue, should such a thing indeed be possible?
With online chess banished, what do I do with OTB chess? OTB chess carries a sense of occasion which factors in social elements. Given that I am soon to relocate, and am keen to make new friends, is a break from OTB chess justifiable? Do I resign myself to being just a spectator, should I find a chess club where I am relocating too in the hope of gaining friends and acquaintances? Can’t I just limit the amount I play instead? What is more important? The social or competitive aspect of chess for me? Is a break a necessity or merely a preference? Is my judgment sound or poor? Why so many questions over something relativity insignificant?
Because it is contentment not improvement that is in play here; therefore, the social dimension of chess is significant, and to be factored in.
Whether anything will come about I don’t know. I’m more impulsive than I am rational. Not only am I far from your archetypal chess player, I’m also a lazy sod and a lazy git as well as being both shy and anti-social.
Of this there is no doubt: you will hear about it one way or another and quite soon.
Don’t ask me why but I went and did it last night. Played two 5 minute games on line. How did I allow this to happen? Is it because I am human filth? Probably.
An elation and some cider around 9pm last night put me in the mood for some chess. When it was done I punched myself in the face hard. I then ran onto the streets and tipped some bins over whilst screaming my head off. I returned and had a cold shower with my clothes on.
Today, to discourage myself further from more misadventure, I shall strip off in the street and throw one of my shoes in the sea. This evening, I shall sleep rough on the street. No blanket. No cider.
There can be no more of this online chess business. Remain banished it must. Should there be another incident like last night’s, I shall set fire to myself on the roof. And that’s that.
Comment from fan of site‘er, ‘as ‘ee gone off online chess then?’
Reply from owner of site(me)‘you ask anymore questions like that and I’ll smash your bloody face in!’
Comment from Webmaster‘What’s he got so fired up about this time?’
Reply from owner of site(me)‘Right! That’s it, you’re both dead.’
Comment from CEO of WordPress‘Hey, stop using our platform to post content about chess that lacks decorum.’
Reply from owner of site (me)‘You slag. You just wait. I’ll do you an ‘all.‘
Luton Chess Club appears to be going from strength to strength. Not only does it have a secure and modern premises to operate from, there are now more than enough members to resume competition in the Beds. league. There’s also now a website which keeps you up to date with what’s going on there. https://www.lutonchessclub.com/
“Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.” ― Epictetus
That atemporal stranger in a strange land -myself in Eastbourne- outright refused to go to the chess club tonight and vowed to never go down that empty lane again. Eastbourne? Yes Eastbourne, the quiet-city-by-the-sea, the city that is not only a noticeable improvement form Luton but is also kinda dead, kinda unable to respond to being Brighton’s smaller brother. I only played one game of chess last weekend -in London not Eastbourne- and that was enough to tell me that a break is long overdue.
So today I said to myself, ‘just say no’.…British people who, like moi‘, grew up watching Grange Hill in the 80s may have bells ringing here. They may say ‘but that song was about stopping doing drugs’ well chess is a drug, well kinda… .
I don’t watch live chess anymore. Isn’t it tiresome and depressing just? I stopped playing on-line altogether and for good, and there’s no more OTB chess planned anytime soon… .
“And those who were seen dancing were thought to beinsane by those who could not hear the music.” — F. Nietzsche
Who said triangulating passions was ever easy? You trundle into town on the train to see one, behind it lies another, and going live a third oh how to play it… .
“Knowledge subverts love: in proportion as we penetrate our secrets, we come to loathe our kind, precisely because they resemble us.” ― Emil Cioran
Early Morning
I awoke this Sunday morning unsure of what I would do with the day. For only yesterday I had spent the whole day in ‘the big smoke’ escorting students around. And in case you are not aware, London is always heaving with tourists in the summer. Did I want another day of being swamped by them? As I lay in bed, it did not take more than an hour to decide I wanted to enter the city to watch the annual ChessFest unfold. I wasn’t sore from yesterday’s walk and it beat lazing around all day in bed. So some hours later I readied thyself for the eleven am train, two tickets, and a loss of £22.50… .
Late Morning
“Human behaviour flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge. “ — Plato
Roll out of bed I did. Roll into town too. Ze Beacon to be precise. Marks & Spencer’s even more so for two cheese and onion sandwiches priced £2.30 each. Then I did, fortuitously, bump into colleagues having breakfast shortly before boarding the train. The train, the journey. I closed my eyes for much of it. The train was empty, the journey quiet, noticeably uneventful… .
When I arrived at Victoria Station I enquired whether trains departed from there to Canterbury and if so how often. Then I walked to Trafalgar Square, it wasn’t far. I only had to cut across SW1, backstreets -the most famous of which being Buckingham Place- then onto the parks by the palace until the square came into site… .
Early Afternoon
“The problems are solved, not by giving new information, but by arranging what we have known long since.” – Wittgenstein.
The Chessfest at Trafalgar Square was in full swing when I arrived. But something seemed so wrong from the get go. How could it be so busy so early in the day? Were who I saw playing chess really chess players or just tourists in the vicinity at the current time? But much more importantly, how was I to be? Why exactly was I there? Yes I had concerns that the event would not live up to its billing but it wasn’t only about the chess. I also had Ze National Gallery within reach, and there was Ze Men’s Wimbledon Final to watch on my tablet too. Thought was required on how to triangulate those and squeeze them all in side-by-side so that they didn’t overlap… .
Before I had a look round I challenged some Chinese guy to a quick game. But he was rubbish and got himself mated early in the middle game. After a quick walk round with some pics taken, it became obvious that discovering a schedule for events was not possible and I also wasn’t sure exactly when the tennis started. I knew the programme for it started at two but thought the tennis itself started at three. I was wrong and tuned in early in the first set. Chess quickly took a backseat as I watched that first set play out on the steps to Ze National Gallery, in and amongst all those playing chess. With the first set over, I walked around some more, chatted occasionally and took more pics. Watching the tennis began on the steps in the square where I could keep an eye on the chess too but this proved to be far from ideal. Too much glare from the sun made viewing difficult so I crept into Ze National Gallery, planted myself down in from of some Turner masterpieces and watched the third set there. But that wasn’t enough. I had a walk round and saw Carvaggio as well as several others such as Monet, Friedrich and Pissaro. Tennis took over and only when sets were won would I leave the gallery and go and watch some chess… .
After the third set in the tennis, live chess was played in the square. I took an interest as seeing it was a first but I didn’t really like how it was done, so my interest didn’t last long. In the first game the play was paused as a quiz question was asked; namely, what is the name of the opening being played. It was I who answered correctly and enabled play to continue (The Sicilian Defence)… .
The tone of the afternoon was set: tennis, gallery, chess. Time passed fast, so fast. Soon it was close to a fifth set and the chess had barely an hour left. I decided to walk back to Victoria station so that I could watch the end of the match on the train, which I did -well done Alcaraz!
“Without music, life would be a mistake.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols
What to do with chess exploits this weekend then? Just how much chess do I want in my life? We do have the opportunity to frequent a new chess club tomorrow and also to visit the chessfest in London. https://www.chess-fest.com/
For that a quiet train ride on a Sunday afternoon is required, yes with the Wimbledon Men’s Final that afternoon to juggle too, but a first chessfest it is and win through is has done.
One outing per weekend for chess is quite enough thank you. I asked work to ensure I would be free Sunday, and so a Sunday afternoon of chess in London it be. I shan’t be dedicating myself entirely to it since The National Gallery just behind where the action kicks off in Trafalgar Square is quite something too. Last time there, mightily impressed with Canaletto I was.
So I might just play in a simul, well maybe, supposing it’s an option even. All in all it shall be quite enough methinks, and if its all too much, then more priority to in The National Gallery and the Wimbledon Men’s Final will be granted before I stroll off to Victoria Station where I shall catch a south-bound train to the coastline. Do I think an outing of chess this weekend is better off alone? Yes. Sometimes one is enough.
Mark. J. McCready, 8.23pm, Thursday, July 13th Room 6, 114 Pevensey Road, Eastbourne.
You know how it is. You work late. You fall behind schedule. New location, new chess club. Not as easily found as I thought. Eventually I got there. And although I was told it started at seven, it was closer to nine when I arrived. When I arrived there was only four people present and they were packing up. Some woman suggested that someone unpack and give me a quick game but I got out of that fast with excessive politeness. I wasn’t in need of a game and didn’t want to play anyone. I was the youngest there: I wanted to get out fast. Dead atmosphere despite the attention of me being new. Very politely I declined the off the cuff suggestion of ‘a quick game’ as quickly as I could. And that was that.
Should I return to Eastbourne Chess Club? I don’t know. I have phased out chess from my life more and more and more this year and I would like it to continue that way. Yes less has become more but. Maybe I will bother, maybe I won’t. Who knows… .
…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
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