I was playing on board 4 against Phil M in the Manchester League for Altrincham and Sale, having won my previous game for the team on board 5. Unfortunately the promotion to board 4 did not work out well for me on this occasion. My opponent su...
This was my return to league chess and I was playing someone else, who was playing their first competitive game of league chess. I was playing for Altrincham's B team on board 5 in a league game against DW of Macclesfield. Neither of us castled an...
A fairly straight forward game I think. Was my knight at risk of being trapped at some point? I will know when I do the analysis. My friend is the husband of a very important person, but I will not reveal who, so as to maintain their privacy.
Okay, So I played this game this evening, lost and then went on to analyze the game on my own, without the aid of a computer. Given that Stockfish's analysis always turns up things that were missed by me, there was a second leaning opportunity i...
This game was played last Monday by two primary school age children at the club that I coach. These players are quite well matched. It's a ten minute game, so they don't have a lot of time to think, so overall, for beginners their age, they ha...
This game was played against a very friendly opponent, Joachim. I arrived 5 minutes late, because I have a long way to travel from my place of work, and he was keen for me to take some time out to get a drink and calm down before playing. I decide...
After 28 moves, and in what looked to me like a drawish position, with plenty of potential for a weaker player (me) to mess up, my opponent kindly offered a draw. At move 9, I left my preparation, which would have had me play my knight to the ...
Where to start? I didn't feel like playing chess tonight, having lost the last game on Wednesday without really challenging my opponent in the U110 cup final in Crewe. Thankfully my team won anyway, just against a strong Crew side. In the end th...
Perhaps it was a little insensitive to title my previous blog 4-0 after whitewashing our favourite competitive club the week before. Might have rubbed Crewe up the wrong way. Although they turned up wearing ordinary clothes, there was something of...
Traditionally, I have mixed results when I visit my favourite competing club Crewe at their home above a bar in the Crewe Amalgamated Anglers club. Perhaps because I always have such a good time when I go there, I feel overly benevolent towards th...
I played a home game at Newcastle. My opponent "M" played the Martial defence, against my Queens gambit, which put me in a good place, as I have a strong prepared answer to that defence. After blundering a pawn in the opening, I went on the offenc...
As always a game at Crewe is a happy game. They have the best atmosphere out of any of the clubs. Having the club in a quiet but spacious room above a bar doesn't hurt any and the players are generally very friendly. Unless you get on their bad si...
I haven't blogged for a while, because it's hard work! However, this was a nice short game with a neat mate in 1 finish so it seemed like an ideal opportunity to get back into the habit. This was my first win on board 3, and so I feel that I have ...
This match was played in one of the final games of the South Cheshire shield, with 1st placed Newcastle facing off against second placed Crewe. A draw or a win for Newcastle would put Newcastle at the top while a win for Crewe would allow them...
On Wednesday was my first ever game in the South Cheshire Shield, playing on board four. My opponent and I were both ungraded, both of us having made a return to chess within the last year. Whereas my chess.com grade is around 1580 for corresponde...
Overall in this tournament, I went in feeling that I had a reasonable chance of winning, given the amount of preparation and development that I've done over the last six months. I won the first two games outright, but only thanks to blunders by my...
"At least you didn't lose" said my wife, echoing my sentiments too. However if I would have lost, I could not have lost to a nicer young girl, who smiled at me wryly as I squirmed uncomfortably through the worst of a kingside attack that very ne...
The primary purpose of this blog is to keep a record of my OTB games so as to be able to learn from them and discuss them easily with my fellow club players. However if anyone else has any useful comments, I would be happy to read them. This game...
