I have been playing on instantchess.com which is a really weird site! but was doing ok so thought I would try this one as it seems so much better and am I glad that I did! I really enjoy playing on here.

I have been playing chess on and off for years (since I was eight) but never studied it properly or anything like that. For example I studied opening theory but never got into memorising lots of openings and still use some I learned at school and played at Uni. However now I am getting really interested in becoming a good player so just starting to study a bit more and even buying chess books to help me, especially in the middle game. Look at Miss Geeky! When I get chance I want to have a go at the videos on here and the other coaching stuff. I just love playing and want to see how far I can go!

Right now I live in Kilburn in London but am an Irish girl from beautiful Connemara. I just love going back there but London is an exciting place to live so I have the best of two worlds - I have parents and sister and my old friends back home whenever I go and new friends over here. So many things to see and do in London. I did Tourism Management at Uni and am trainee manager at a big travel agents as a stepping stone to taking over the world!

Oh and now I understand this site don't be offended but I only take friend requests from people I have talked to or played against, not out of the blue!

Update: 25/03/11 I have decided to do a bit of editing of my profile and today is a good day to do it! I am going to do a separate section for my games and also to do a section about the next exciting developments in my work and future ambitions with Thomas Cook. I need to do it today because tomorrow they are sending me to Dubai (with a group of others in the development programme) to look at some hotels, then to Osaka in Japan (600 miles from Tokyo) then back to Dubai. I will be back on April 16th and am really excited! So if you see my games on vacation for a while you will know why!

Maria_Hendricks