It’s seven and a half years since I last played competitive chess and my-oh-my do I miss it. So much so how wonderful was it to learn that slap-bang in the middle of next month’s break lies a chess tournament just up the road from where I will be based. Load on in I did – now 2650 Baht (£58) poorer as a result cheap at half the price!
Still with some seventeen days to go, what were those early considerations?
First, which pen to use? The two chosen are both orange inked -here they are.
Second was headwear. I have worn many hats playing chess over the years and bandanas too, inspired by Mike Muir the singer of Suicidal Tendencies, a band I went to see on October 14th, 1990 and March 6th. 1993.
I have three bandanas; one white and one black (these I always wore to metal concerts), and one multi-coloured (this I wore in Kyoto Japan a lot), and so I thought I would give them a wash and get them ready.
Third was, refresh and tidy up my opening repertoire. I looked into the Breyer against the Caro-Kann and am on board with that. The other change is to revert back to the Sicilian Kan from the Taimanov. I don’t like this early Nb5 stuff in that, which FM Gayson played against me recently, and I also don’t like it when white captures on c6. So the Kan, again, it is.
The remaining considerations are what food and drink to bring to the hotel, whether to arrive on the day or the day before, and what to do in the half-day we have (ATV Tour looks most likely).
I am reading Rowson’s T7DCS, and analyzing chess positions deeply, that’s enough for now.
Updates a day on…
One of the benefits chess gives us is it teaches us the importance of learning from our mistakes. Entering a tournament rusty is something I have done before quite a few times and do not wish to repeat. And so… .
Forth was putting a PGN viewer (Chess PGN Master) and Engine (Stockfish 15.1) on my Samsung Tablet, so that I have better access to analysis, where I may choose to store my games. Because the interface is customizable, after looking and playing around I settled on the aforementioned.
Fifth was entering a Rapid tournament the weekend before.
It is a necessity to bring chess back into my life and reacquaint with that presently not within my reach. The following question is what comes next?
As it stands: March 29th Bangkok Chess Club visit
March 31st FIDE Rated Rapid Tournament
April 5th-9th CAD Nakhon Nayok International Open
Sixth consideration is how much cider is consumed throughout? A tough question indeed.
Mark. J. McCready
McCreadyandChess 