Hello, my name is Matt and I am from a small island called Guernsey in the Channel Islands. I first learnt chess moves as a an 8 year old at school; around 1994, I never played regularly however and did not take the game seriously until I turned 15 and noticed a chess position on a computer at college which pretty much inspired me to play I guess. I joined the Guernsey Chess Club in 2003 aged 17 and now aged 25 I came fourth in the island championship and I am currently joint island blitz champion. Chess is a sport, an art and ultimate way of understanding and improving ourselves.
I would consider myself to be a balanced player, I have been told that I am quite aggressive. I love tactical blasts but love to positionally squeeze too! My endgames and openings are solid. I am a nervous person however, fidgeting and chain smoking along with nervous shaking. A friend of mine quoted; "It is easy to tell you are doing well when playing Matt because it looks as if he is about to have a seizure." I adore my knights, they are my favourite weapons. I am not FIDE rated yet but my 'club' rating is 1718.
I prefer online games rather than live but I do enjoy blitz occasionally but sometimes I drink when I play blitz and my blitz rating goes up and down! (More games=more beer.) I am not very good at bullet, my hand is not fast enough! I enjoy playing much stronger players as I am always striving to improve. I am a little bonkers so don't be too surprised if I say something out of this world. I hope to keep getting better at chess and also meet some interesting people on this site that share my passion for the game I love.
Other than chess I play poker, pool and very bad golf. My interests range from playing piano to astronomy. I go to my local pub on weekends with some club members and discuss chess positions, after a few beers I take up the gauntlet of competition; club members and locals in the pub. Often, I win. ;-)
The pawns are used by others to get what they want, the knights are sometimes mistreated because they are different, the bishop hates things getting in the way, the rook wants a clear path, the queen has too many options and the king is anxious about the future. I think its fair to say my life is a game of chess.
Matt Kirk 4th February 2012.