Hard to spot if you ask me.
Archive for the ‘Chess’ Category
What Tchigorin missed, I missed
Posted in Chess on February 13, 2024| Leave a Comment »
A defeated McCready wails to himself
Posted in Chess on February 12, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Alas! Once again stumped I be by a puzzle exemplifying my very own lack of tactical ability -and now I’m apoplectic! What am I to do I ask myself? Just what am I to do? Are ye able to find thy answer? Me nearly, but when several good moves are there, I just cannae find that killer blow.
MJM – – Al Fursan الفرسان
Sensing our limits
Posted in Chess on February 11, 2024| Leave a Comment »
My biggest weakness as a chess player is a lack of tactical nous. Here’s an example. I couldn’t do this puzzle, there are many good moves for white but I couldn’t find the killer blow, can you?
MJM – – Al Fursan
Can you? I couldn’t!
Posted in Chess on November 11, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Do we have a worse title than this?
Posted in Chess on October 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Is it a bird, is it a plane, no it’s Sven!
Posted in Chess on October 4, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen, more commonly known is Magnus Carlsen, and sometimes mistakenly thought of as the current world champion, plays with more daring in the opening than anyone else. In the past I have seen him win with Alekhine’s Defence and play 1.f4 against both GM Kramnik and GM Michael Adams -beating them both with it! Look at this from two days ago at the European Club Championships, Round 3.
His opponent is no pushover, so how can he justify this? I think his rationale is something like ‘I don’t need to gain an advantage in the opening, I can outplay you in the middle game or the endgame.’ Or perhaps it was ‘I am rated over 300 points above you, I can play whatever I like.’
Whatever it was, he won the game and here it is.
https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/european-club-cup-2023/3/2/1
And regarding why Sven insists on being called Magnus…well you tell me.
Gets a mention but its all too complimentary
Posted in Chess on September 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Bedford’s Neil Hickmann -who when we last met over the board was quick to point out that he always lost when we played was quickly reminded that in the opening game of the 93/94 season he did actually defeat me with the From gambit -has brought out a publication entitled ‘Memorable games of British Chess’, reviewed here:
Memorable Games of British Chess
As I read, I stumbled across the following passage.
I am very happy to announce that someday very soon, I shall veer away from the content I have posted more recently -often to shock and challenge the conservatism rampant in chess – and focus more on research, which I like doing.
Mark. J. McCready, 03:01 am, Friday September 22nd 2023
Al-Fursan (Fursan means knight in English), Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Soviet Chess Crossword
Posted in Chess on September 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »
This took about 45 minutes to make.
Angry chair
Posted in Chess on September 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Just throw money
Posted in Chess on August 3, 2023| Leave a Comment »
In England, the government has agreed to invest £500,000 in promoting chess for children. What this is likely to achieve I don’t know. Most likely not very much as throwing money at things doesn’t usually accomplish anything. Promoting chess-playing members of society who could work as a source of inspiration appears to be off the agenda.
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/rishi-sunak-chess-revival_uk_64ca7387e4b044bf98f8f0c9
Mark. J. McCready, 11.52 am August 3rd,
Nonington, Kent, England.
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Luton & The University of Bedfordshire Chess Club
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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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- 2010
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- 2017
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- 2014?
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- 2010
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