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A successful two weeks
On Saturday 9th April I headed back to Munich. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to play much for Munich 1836 this year but at least could drop in en-route to Dubai for the last round. We were in second place, ahead of the other Munich team (Tarrasch) by just one and a half board points, and…
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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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Reykjavik Open 2016
I’ve now been to Iceland so often that I know how to spell the capital city Reykjavik. It’s one of my most favourite places in the world to visit and it’s such a cool place to be a chess player. Obviously the city is rich in chess history with the “Match of the Century” taking…
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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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Gibraltar Masters – A good start to 2016
After our wonderful time in New Zealand we had a week to recover before I was off again. In the three weeks we were away new tenants had moved in and I spent a lot of the week tidying up after the mice and making the house habitable. Hopefully we’re starting to win the fight!…
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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…
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Gawain is the New Zealand Chess Champion
I didn’t want to write any posts before he actually finished his game so here is a delayed post a few days later. Gawain drew his final round against Brazilian GM Alexandr Fier and since all other results were already played it meant that he won the NZ Chess Championship with a score of 7.5/9.…
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Gawain leading the Tournament
Gawain is currently 5.5/6 and is playing White today against FM Alexei Kulashko. Alexei was on the Olympiad team in 2002 (as was I) but after that dropped off from the chess scene so it’s nice to see former players back in action. I can’t note much about the games as I haven’t been in…
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Happy New Year and the New Zealand Chess Open
Today is Round 2 of the New Zealand Chess Open. The tournament is being held at the New Zealand National Chess Center in Devonport (weddings can be held in the church venue) – the brainchild of NZ’s only GM Murray Chandler. You can read more about the chess center here. There are 6 Grandmasters in…
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Abu Dhabi Masters
I’m writing this from the lobby of the Sofitel Hotel in Abu Dhabi. The tournament has just finished and at least I remembered how to play a little. Scored 6.5/9 and came 8th. Results. A big congratulations to my friend, Nils Grandelius, who had a great time and won the tournament. A cool $12,000 to…
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Better late than never. Big Announcement!
I’m writing this from Lund, in Sweden, where this evening I’ll be playing in the first Cellavision Chess Cup. The schedule is slightly strange, four rapid games this evening, followed by four standard games over the weekend. Apparently this is quite popular in Sweden and I’m looking forward to trying it. The list of players…
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Politiken Cup
It’s summertime and probably the peak time of year if you are a chess professional. There are many tournaments all over Europe that can be so fun to play in. Last year we went to Ikaros and spent a lovely week there. Like last year, Gawain is now playing in the Politiken Cup held in…
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4NCL Final Weekend
The final weekend of the Four Nations Chess League (otherwise known as the 4ncl) always falls on the first May bank holiday. This time the venue was Hinckley Island Hotel in Leicestershire. The last two weekends have moved to the Holiday Inn Birmingham Airport where all Division 1 &2 will be played next season. I…
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