Category: Sue
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Ikaros Ίκαρος” Open
It’s been a busy summer time. Firstly we headed of to Ikaros where I played chess and Gawain went on holiday, then for me I headed back to London for work and Gawain went to the Politiken Cup. I have also made my debut for England at the 2014 Chess Olympiad (that will be my…
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Zalakaros Open – Round up
Our time in Zalakaros came and went so quickly! It feels like we’ve been here forever (just over a week) but we haven’t been able to do so much. It’s weird when I’m explaining to our non chess playing friends what your schedule is like when you are playing a tournament. They really can’t believe…
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Zalakaros Open – Quick update
My plane from London was delayed so it meant I got to Budapest about 1am. Gawain caught an earlier flight in and I caught a shuttle bus to our hotel which is about a 10 minute walk from the bus station. Trying to prounounce Zalakaros isn’t as easy as it seems and at our hotel…
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Zalakaros Chess Festival
Today we are off to Hungary and before you go thinking I’m not playing a First Saturday! I found the Zalakaros Chess Festival on the FIDE Other tournaments, it has a good prize fund and is very strong! The A Group is meant for 2400+ but I’ve asked the organizer if I could play in it…
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Cork – Amateur Point of View.
So I had to book a 10pm flight (which meant a half point bye in the first round) from Heathrow to Cork as I left it quite late to book and the prices for earlier flights had shot up! It’s really easy for me to get to Heathrow and my bosses invited me to stay for…
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Wellywood, Otaki & Raumati.
I hadn’t explained before but our trip was divided up into 3: time with family, then with friends and a mini moon! After spending the first week in Auckland with my family we then headed down to Wellington, the capital, which we both love. We lived here while I studied and we made great friends there…
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Citizen of the World
I think I wrote previously about my change in federation from representing New Zealand to England. Why did I do it? Well, for several reasons. Last year I had some goals about my chess, I wanted to play more, get better and learn! I have played more and I think I’m now a better player…
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World Cup Exit and another Zero Tolerance Controversy.
After drawing the Rapid playoff Gawain succumbed to his Russian opponent in the Blitz playoff. Gawain played against Alexander Shimanov a young Russian GM who I’ve never heard of but then again I don’t follow chess that often. His opponent to me seemed well prepared and I think that helped him get through the first…
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World Cup 2013
Gawain is now in Tromsø,Norway competing in the World Cup. Now what kind of tournament is it? A 128 player knock out with a schedule of 2 long play games then a rapid tie break. before commencing to Round 2 e.t.c – Why play in such a tournament? Well it qualifies you for the Candidates…
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A Scottish Break… Glasgow, Edinburgh and Helensburgh.
Wow. It’s been forever since we’ve written an update. Life gets busy doesn’t it? Well I for one haven’t forgotten about our readers there’s been lots of ideas but no real sit down time to write something but since Gawain’s played in the Scottish Championship and we had a holiday in Scotland I feel it’s…
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I’m a bit of a loser.. and more so after not learning from my (same) mistakes!
I started my new job last week and I’m loving it! I’m having so much fun but I’m now working a 50 hour week which means that my updates will be even more sporadic. I’ve paused my Mandarin studies for now as I don’t have enough time to study which I think I need to…
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Malaysia.
Thursday 22nd of March at 10pm was my flight time from Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur. I had booked my ticket in December with air miles (thanks to me flying from here to NZ), I got my flight for £350 (which are just the taxes). It was a bit touch and go whether I’d actually make…
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Newham Chess Project Lauch Sponsored by East Village
The joint operation from Chess in Schools and Communities, East Village London, Newham Council launched a programme which aims to introduce chess into every school in the borough. On Wednesday 13th of March, we woke up at 4am to be driven to East London where Gawain, Malcolm and Sabrina were going to be live on BBC Breakfast at Ravescroft Primary…
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Work work and then “play”?
For the first time in a while I worked a full day and then played a game of evening league chess. I do have a very great lifestyle (Thanks hubby) which allows me to work part time and occasionally full time but it’s been a while since I’ve done a 7am bootcamp, an 8.5hour day…
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The Stronger Opposition
You’ve just arrived at your board and look up at who you hope to be your next victim only to find that it’s a Grandmaster. Do you A) freak out with fear and start to sweat or do you B) feel no pressure and think you have nothing to lose? Many chess players, whether they are…