Before chess became the obsession that took centre stage back in 1987, I loved board games of all kinds. But there was one I liked especially because its similarity to chess. This held true particularly in the early teen years, and here it is.
For the first time last night I represented England. A match against Finland was held. Of the 81 participants, around 30 were titled, of course there were Grandmasters playing. The time frame was 1h 20m, games were set at 3m, 2s increment. I won almost every game I played, held firm in joint 11th for the most part then slipped up in my final game to someone rated 2227. I finished 16th out of 81 even though those finishing both above and below me were on average 300-500 points above me. I punched well above my weight and feel proud of myself for stepping up to the mark against very strong opposition. England gave Finland a sound beating and I did my country proud by sticking in earbuds and bopping away with my favourite 80’s band (A Flock of Seagulls) as I blitzed my way up the leaderboard. All music video images in the screenshots below are of A Flock of Seagulls, the first one being from the song ‘The More you Live The More you Love’. I don’t know about you but the more I live the more I love playing chess.
The match was commentated upon. Rather amusingly it begins with comments of mine where I boast about drinking beer when I studied The Philosophy of Science in Finland as an undergrad back in Autumn 96; when I once beat a Finnish FM with 1.f4 down the pub named The Three Beers in Turun Yliopisto.
There’s two videos from me and now two videos I will bop away to quite happily if given the chance.
Olcmarcus
Posted in Chess, My own endeavours, On-line journal, Personal Interest & Experience, Selected on-line games, Tournament Chess | Leave a Comment »
‘Love is the drug and I need my score’ dah-da-dah, dah-da-dah, dah-dah-dah
With chess board put to one side, does the twangy title ‘Love is the drug’ conjure anything? Grace Jones and a cheesy music video or perhaps if we go back a decade more Roxy music? Mental scrimmage aside, allow yourself to stick with the latter for future reference, and trust me on that. Although I grew up in the 80s, I am aware that pop music is, for the most part, ingratiating and the product of an industry that is, primarily, profit based…I mean who would have thought even old Frankie Sinatra was being somewhat disingenuous when he sang ‘My Way’? Well he did sing it his way but that song wasn’t his, was it? Only after the yanks plundered the French for it, was it popularized in America by him.
I had hoped for the weekend off from chess and began branching out into draughts and othello.
But then I was asked to represent England for the first time and that changed things (more on that to come). And so here I sit on the first November Sunday, pondering over the following position in a tough game of Round 1 in The British Open.
And so I sit, musing, listening, and pondering… .
Posted in On-line journal | Leave a Comment »
As if that wasn’t bad enough, a Grandmaster who played and beat the very best in the world at his peak has gone and beaten me for a second time in a week. And just because he not only beat but completely took apart the greatest English chess player in history with the black pieces in a Petroff, that’s not much of a consolation. I feel forced to belt it on the bike to the chess club and start looking at my games more closely now…
Posted in On-line journal | Leave a Comment »
All too often, I appear to be playing people that lose as soon as I start concentrating and it’s becoming a bit annoying…
I do love the St. George’s defence and know it inside out now, having played it hundreds of times. Here’s two typical October wins: my opponent’s play is uncoordinated, whilst mine is harmonious, and what happens in the middle game is I win instantly as per usual…and this with the most passive of all defences. Given that I play the English Opening, The grand Prix Attack, and The St.George’s Defence I do indeed play Very English Chess.
Posted in Selected on-line games | Leave a Comment »
October has always been a favourite month of mine for many reasons, all of which point to my very Englishness, the 24th most probably the favoured day in retrospect, what with Rachel setting foot in England that day and six years previously I was off watching Metallica at Wembley. But since when was playing around 100 games a week? Not ever that’s for sure but Covid-19 has put me out of work and left me with more than enough time on my hands. Selected games are commented upon below, I post them because they represent a change in style, triggered by something I shall not speak of… . Active play it is, actively I post, you may call me an activist if you so wish. But before you do that, here’s a nice Octobery pic of the only two McCready’s in the FIDE database.
Posted in My Own Games | Leave a Comment »
Posted in My own endeavours, On-line journal | Leave a Comment »
I can’t say I ever was an admirer of Steiniz tbh. In fact with Morphy no longer on the scene, it wasn’t until Alekhine imperially rose to the throne, that chess became worth looking at in close detail.
I always thought his wandering king was just dubious conceptually, and likely to be his downfall eventually. So what am I doing playing the opening theory in fashion during his reign, and drawing inspiration from his antics? Having fun, that’s what, as the video shows. An amusing victory both antiquated in its approach but highly effective nonetheless.
Olcmarcus
Posted in Life beyond the chess board, Selected on-line games | Leave a Comment »
Olcmarcus
Posted in On-line journal | Leave a Comment »
-
Recent Posts
May 2026 M T W T F S S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Archives
…on what this site initially became…on what this site is now becoming…on what this site cannot become…
Categories
- Academia
- Bedfordshire Chess
- Chess
- Chess in Thailand
- Dear Ken
- Documentaries
- FIDE
- History of Bedfordshire Chess from 1900-1920
- History of Bedfordshire Chess from 1920-1940
- History of Bedfordshire Chess from 1940-1960
- History of Bedfordshire Chess from 1960-1980
- History of Bedfordshire Chess from 1980-2000
- History of Bedfordshire Chess in the 19th century
- History of Bedfordshire Chess in the 21st century
- Humour
- Kasparyan
- Life beyond the chess board
- Luton Chess Club
- Meme
- Moves I could never play
- My daughter
- My own endeavours
- My Own Games
- My own warped humour
- On-line journal
- Personal Interest & Experience
- Postmodern History
- Quaint Chess History
- Reflections
- Reviews
- Selected on-line games
- Sources of inspiration
- Tournament Chess
- Trivia
- Viz inspired material
- Who wants to be a millionaire chess special
- World Championships Analytics
Posts which McCready is mighty pleased with
Luton & The University of Bedfordshire Chess Club
Tuesdays from 7.30 pm, The Library, Ground Floor
Please go to:
https://www.lutonchessclub.com/Blog Stats
- 32,440 hits
-
Join 39 other subscribers
-
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 