manymercsmike
Mike Mitchell
Scotland, United Kingdom 
Member Since: Apr 3, 2009
Last Login: Nov 19, 2009
Profile Views: 1027
Points: 559
Status: Fresh from holiday in the Scottish Highlands! (38 days ago)
Birthday: Nov 23, 1973
Occupation: Drinks Industry Production Manager
About Me:
I'm a happily married Scottish guy with one beautiful 20 month old daughter.
I've played chess since I was 7 years old. All my early games were against an older pal next door and we used to open the game with the "Pawn Defence" - i.e.:
1. a4 a5
2. b3 b6
3. c4 c5
etc etc right across the board. Then we would develop the pieces. Needless to say in my first few real games for the school club I got slaughtered.
I lived and worked in England for nearly 10 years, where I played with some strong clubs in Warwickshire and really rediscovered my appetite for the game. The first book I read which really got me back into attacking chess was British GM Chris Ward's "Winning with the Dragon". Needless to say I enjoy the Open Sicilian, though I've been given some tough lessons in the Najdorf!
Chess is a small part of my life but an important one, and I've enjoyed meeting many people on this site and playing against them. I use Chessbase 10 extensively to store and analyse games, trying to improve on previous lines particularly in games where I lost. My favourite openings are the Sicilian (Dragon, Najdorf, Scheveningen), King's Gambit, and the Budapest Gambit. I will play various lines of the Ruy Lopez, but much prefer the KG in e4 e5 games.
I really enjoy learning about chess, and my motto is that every game teaches you something new, either about your opponent, the opening, the game, or a combination of them.
I look forward to a game against you!