Author: Sue Maroroa
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Tata Steel Challengers Winner
I’m so happy that Gawain won the Tata Steel Challengers (on tiebreak) with 9/13 along with Markus Ragger. The tie break in use was individual result which favoured Ga as he beat Markus in Round 6. Like most of you I was watching the last game and couldn’t bear to watch the proceedings (especially not in real…
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Impressions of Wijk aan Zee
It’s been cold, windy and sunny. Soon I’ll have to go out for a run to keep up with my fitness. That’s one of the difficult things of travelling so much keeping a routine especially when you are “stuck” in one place. I was told there was a gym in the nearby town of Beverwijk…
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Happy New Year & Tata Steel Challengers
We have arrived in Wijk aan zee and today will be the first round of the Tata Steel Masters and Challengers Chess Tournament. There are also many amateur events happening and everyone gets to play in the same hall. The round for Gawain’s game will start at 13.30 local time and is played in the…
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British KO
We are back in London and it’s been quite strange. After being away for 3 months and with the last month spent in Sheffield my pace of life has definitely slowed down, so coming back into the manic rush that is London meant that I wasn’t quite hip to it. I got myself squashed in…
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Munich 1836 and the British Knockout
I made my debut for Gawain’s Munich 2nd team on Sunday. We flew over Saturday morning and spent a lovely but frosty evening in Munich. We went to Feuerzangenbowle to drink mulled wine (I had the little kids version) from the largest cauldron and then to the famous Augustiner-Bräu for dinner. Last year we were lucky…
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Kilkenny
So the “main event” didn’t quite go to plan for us. We came a day early because trying to catch the early morning flight on Friday didn’t seem like a good idea for me. We were lucky that our time in Ireland coincided with our friends Chris and Amanda (Aussies but we forgive them!) and…
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We have internet! And a Successful 4NCL Weekend
You would have seen after my big announcement things have been quiet on the update front. It’s not really been my fault as we have now moved to Sheffield and we only got internet today! It was a real hassle setting up with Virgin as it didn’t work and we switched to SSE- today I was waiting…
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Back in the UK
After 2 months in the United States, I’ve finally made it back to the UK. I panicked when I was in the taxi on the way to JFK as I realized I was travelling without my Biometrics Card which is needed every time I enter and exit the UK. Luckily for me they weren’t too…
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Millionaire Open, Atlantic City
We are now both in Atlantic City, New Jersey where Gawain is currently competing in the Millionaire Open. Unfortunately I don’t think you can become a millionaire this year as prizes as well as the entry fee was reduced from the previous editions. After we split up last time I headed to Texas (more on…
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Announcement and exploring the United States
Hello readers (again), I hope some of you are still reading our blog and yet again I’m so very sorry for not updating more often. Things have been manic job wise for the last few months and now I’m officially unemployed. From now on things will be very different in our household. We are leaving…
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Dubai Blitz Winner & Dubai Open
Gawain is in the final stages of the 18th Dubai Open, tomorrow will be round 8 (so only 2 more rounds left) and currently he”s leading with GM Vladmir Akopian, Boris Savchenko & Ivan Sokolov ( who I think is the national UAE coach). He’ll be on Board 1 facing the Armenian GM Akopian. You…
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Bunratty Masters
If you haven’t heard of Bunratty, you have been missing out. This fun Irish weekender takes place in a small town (I’m not sure you could even call it that) alongside the N18 the main road between Limerick & Galway. There’s the Bunratty Castle, a couple of souvenir stores and Durty Nelly’s the local pub.…
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Gib & A Giveaway
Last weekend I managed to pop over to Gib to visit Ga (Nils & Erik too). It was roughly a smooth 3 hour flight from Heathrow and lands on the peninsula itself. It was forecast to be a beautiful day and seeing the Atlas Mountains and the Rock itself from my seat on the plane…
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Quantum Chess
Have you seen this video featuring Stephen Hawking and Paul Rudd? If not, you should watch it. I don’t know anything about quantum physics but the chess wasn’t ridiculous. Quantum Chess was originally created by Alice Wismath from Queens Univesity, Belfast but the version they play in the video is different. According to the Nerdist, a kickstarter…
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Tradewise Gibraltar 2016
Today is the first round of the Tradewise Gibraltar Masters. This is such a strong event and it seems to get stronger every year! Gawain is 28th seed and is sharing an apartment with GM Nils Grandelius & GM Erik Blomqvist from Sweden. This is such a fun tournament to visit as a spectator and…
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4NCL This weekend Rd 3 & 4
We are currently at the Holiday Inn Birmingham Airport waiting for our pairings for the 3rd & 4th round of the Four Nations Chess League. My team White Rose will be facing the Sambuca Sharks today and Gawain playing for Guildford will be facing Blackthorne. In the first weekend held in November Guildford 1 (who…