The direct link to the live video streaming commentary is http://www.livestream.com/gibchess2012. Interaction via twitter and livestream is encouraged!

One of the most fun chess events to play in, is without a shadow of doubt, the four nations chess league.

This is often a great weekend, where friends can catch up to have a nice meal, some beer and maybe a little bit of chess.

I am lucky enough to play for one of the most social teams in the event, ‘The Jutes of Kent’, a great bunch of people with fantastic team spirit. Before I move onto my games from the weekend I thought that it would be a bit of fun to introduce the players in the team, to the readers of gingergm…

I will start by listing the players who played last Saturday and then we will move onto the brains behind the operation…

Board 1. Myself:

 I am sure that you get enough of me on this site anyway, so I wont bore you with my details!

Board 2: Luis ‘The Iceman’ Galego:

Grandmaster

Elo: 2481

Strengths: Natural flair, positional play, party locater,

and most importantly Luis is horizontally relaxed!

Weaknesses: Lack of theory or chessbase, lack of Sleep.

This is a picture of Luis Galego, it looks like his opponent has let off a bad smell at the board…

Probably the most chilled out person in the chess world and maybe even the whole world. If you looked up ‘relaxed’ in the Oxford dictionary there should be a picture of Luis.

Luis, is a Grandmaster from Porto in Portugal and has been their best player for quite some time now.

Luis is a very talented player who would be a lot stronger if he actually ever studied any chess.

Some say he has a strong resemblance to the character in the clip below…

Board 3: Bragi ‘The Viking’ Thorfinnsson:

International Master

Elo: 2426

Strengths: Determined fighter, rounded player, good opening knowledge.

Weaknesses: May need to learn some more flexible openings.

Bragi is a very strong International Master from Iceland. Bragi has a tendency for positional play, but can also be very dangerous in tactical situations.

Iceland has produced some very strong players and everyone in the Jutes hopes that both Bragi and his brother Bjorn, will soon become Grandmasters.

This has the added benefit of earning a wage of roughly £20 000 a year in Iceland. A generous hand-out, from what must be, one of the most chess friendly governments in the world.

If only England had such a policy…

One of the most entertaining things I ever saw at a chess event, was when Bragi pointed out to a certain obnoxious and rude famous grandmaster, the fact that he had a fly buzzing about his face. In true ‘Mr Miyagi’ style the fly had to be removed with a swift slap of the hand…

Board 4: Bjorn ‘Puffin Killer’ Thorfinnsson:

International Master

Elo: 2406

Strengths: Does not know the meaning of ‘fear’, excels in tactical positions, solid openings.

Weaknesses: Does not know the meaning of ‘danger’, endgames, solid openings, chilli’s, ghosts…

Bjorn is another talented International Master from Iceland. As well as being a renown coach and organiser,  Bjorn has a tendency to play completely crazy chess which pulls in the crowds.

I am sure that he should swap from 1 c4 to 1 e4 in order to gain the Grandmaster title, but even with 1 c4, Bjorn tends to get some of the most chaotic positions that I have ever seen.

This interesting style has lead to Bjorn beating some 2700+ players, no mean feat.

Bjorn and Bragi were involved in a interesting story at the last 4ncl…

After the Sunday game, Bjorn and Bragi were booked into a hotel, in my home town of Godalming.

Not knowing the story behind the hotel it was suggested to them that the hotel was the most haunted one of it’s kind in England, and one room that they must aim to avoid was room eight.

A lady had been savagely butchered to death in that room, roughly 100 years ago and still enjoys haunting it to this day.

This story was explained to them in some depth just before arriving at the hotel and then the owner of the establishment handed over the key to room eight. Priceless!

Hence a rather sleepless night for the two brothers!

They only found out at the last 4ncl, that the story was somewhat fabricated…

It is good to know that even big strong Icelandic Vikings can become a bit scared by a good old fashioned ghost story!

I have the exciting prospect of playing the Reykjavik open this March, (highly recommended) but what excites me even more is the local delicacy for that time of year.

A meal which Bjorn insists that I have to try, and lucky me, he is taking me to a restaurant where it is a speciality.

I have the honour of this taking place just before the first round.

What is that delicacy you may ask!?

Rotten sheep balls!!

Yummy!!

It might be a case of ‘I am a chessplayer get me out of here!’

It looks like Bjorn and Bragi may yet get their revenge for a disturbed nights sleep in Godalming…

Board 5: Neil ‘Give it to them’ Dickenson

Fidemaster

Elo: 2322

Strengths: Solid positional and tactical player, always plays for the win.

Weaknesses: Time trouble, lack of competition chess.

Neil is a regular player in the team and from an early stage of the game, he always aims to put as much pressure on his opponents as possible. His style is aggressive/solid, he has taken some very good scalps and been a important factor in the ‘Jutes’ promotion to division one.

Board 6: John ‘Skin n Bones’ Naylor

Elo: 2174

Strengths: Huge talent, tricky openings, hurricane force when attacking and in good form.

Weaknesses: Sundays, cigarette breaks, tendency to over evaluate his position.

John has been a very good friend of mine for a while now. We first meet when I was 15 and due to play him in a tournament in Newcastle. Unfortunately, I was rather tired and having a little sleep at the board when he arrived.

John very kindly brought me a cup of coffee and then smashed me in a brilliant game.

It is a pity that he has yet to reach International Master strength, it is clear he has the potential, yet he does blunder rather too much.

Me, John and Danny Gormally lived together for a bit and he would often smash up both me and Danny in blitz chess, proving his talent and entirely annoying both of his house mates.

He has a had a bad start to the 4ncl but I am sure that he will come fighting back. Even though it might be a wise idea to rest him for the Sunday games…

Board 7: Anthony ‘The Danger’ Stebbings

Elo: 2241

Strengths: Openings, A solid player who can produce results against anyone, even when greatly out graded.

Weakness: Lack of time to play.

Tony is one of the most valuable team players that the Jutes have. He has been an important factor in our promotion to division one.

Very capable of pulling off surprise results Tony is a danger to any opponent that he faces.

It would be nice to see Tony play more, as I am sure that he would quickly become a Fidemaster.

Board 8: Alexandra ‘Blondie’ Wilson

Women Fide Master (formally a WCM…)

Elo: 2042

Strengths: Very dangerous attacking player, sharp tactical ability, plays the French Defence and Dutch opening ; ) , easy on the eye!

Weaknesses: Some rather dodgy opening knowledge, lack of time to study the game and improve.

Aly has been another important team member. Capable of beating anyone on her day, she is certainly a player to fear in complicated positions.

With a fair bit of experience behind her, Aly should not have too much trouble reaching the rank of WIM. The only thing holding her up is full time employment with Blackthorne International transport.

Her boss is transport mogul and keen chess player Gary O’Grady. Gary is sponsoring the very popular Bunratty congress in Ireland, well worth checking out!

Other key member of the team include:

Chris ‘Blofeld’ Rice:

Elo: 2060

Strengths: Strategic manoeuvres, managing absent players, wake up calls, being stressed with absent players.

Weaknesses: Strategic manoeuvres.

One of the driving force behind the team.

Chris currently lives in Dubai and heads the Jutes of Kent operations from his underground Palace in the middle of the desert.

Some have called him the new bond villain, but to others he is the best captain any chess player could ask for, calculated, sociable, and highly intelligent; Chris makes a mockery of some of the other captains in the league.

Without Chris the team would not be around and everyone must thank him for this, he got the rock rolling, that rock has now turned into a boulder with attitude.

Can anyone stop the boulder!?

Andrew ‘The Stabilizer’ Mack:

Fidemaster

Elo: 2184

Strengths: Tendency to draw a lot of games, dangerous attacking player, strong in the endgame.

Weaknesses: Tendency to draw a lot of games, very solid openings.

Andy is another person who must be thanked for putting the Jutes of Kent team together, tirelessly working behind the scenes to make sure things run smoothly, Andy is also a very good player.

Early in his career, Andy destroyed Mikey Adams in the French Tarrasch. Sacrificing a number of pieces to give checkmate. What is now surprising, is that every time I look over at Andy’s position, it always seems that somehow he has managed to swap off most of the pieces. This could occur after 4 hours of play or 10 minutes.

It is rumoured that this happens due to an addiction to online poker, which has claimed many a member of the ‘Jutes’ team…

Nigel ‘The Rocker’ Donovan

Elo: 2033

Strengths: Good theoretical, aggressive repertoire, best when hacking away!

Weaknesses: Makes some positional errors.

Nigel is another important member of the team, making it along to every match, even when he is not playing.

Always smiling and with a beer within arms reach, the Jutes just would not be the same without Nigel.

I can remember bumping into Nigel when I was drinking with a friend in Brighton, he was with a lively crowd about to start a poker game.

This poker theme certainly runs through the team!

Mark ‘Let’s down some mead’ Rich

Candidate Master (yes, someone has actually paid for this title!)

Elo: 2107

Strengths: Dangerous opening knowledge, sharp tactical eye, smooth talker… (Mark always manages to get the team a free shot after the Indian on Saturday night!)

Weaknesses: Time trouble, needs to improve his ability to spot checkmate in one move, gets distracted easily…

I have not known Mark for long but we do get on like a house on fire.

Mark has a very quick sense of humour and is always fun to be around. A while back Mark, very famously, came within inches of winning the first Big Slick open, only failing when he missed a checkmate in one against Jonathan Rowson. To be fair to Mark, it was a blitz game.

One thing that it might be worth Mark avoiding is ‘Mead’. There was a famous day of drinking in Godalming, when Mark was challenged by Blair Connell to a mead drinking competition.

Let’s just say, it did not end well…

Alexis ‘The God’ Harakis

Elo: 2220

Strengths: Determined, aggressive, fighter.

Weaknesses: Tendency to sometimes move too quick, has an inbuilt dislike of chess clocks and always aims to destroy them during his games.

Alexis has been the hero of the Jutes on a number of occasions, most famously when he managed to win a long drawn endgame in the last match of the session. That result ensured the Jutes would get promoted.

A very good player who has the potential to win against anyone, he is often a regular at the 4ncl with his son.

Alexis can not always make it to the 4ncl but when he does the conversation is always that bit more interesting.

Other people who are registered include, Chino Atako, Chris Howell, Chris Cooley and Clair Summerscale. I would go into more detail about each member but my time is running out as a I have a chess match to get to!

In my next blog, I will show a win I had against Jonathan Parker, from the last 4ncl. If you are a fan of the Kings Gambit, stay tuned!

Anyway here are some photos of members of the team. All comments are welcome!

Grandmaster, Nick Pert is organising and running the 1st Wellington College rapidplay and training weekend. This will run on the weekend of Saturday and Sunday 4th and 5th of February 2012.

Both days are open to adults and juniors of all levels

The Rapidplay will take place on Saturday 4th February from 10.00 am to 6.30 pm

The Training Day on Sunday 5th February from 10 am to 5 pm. ESTIMATED PRIZE FUND: £900*

There will be a number of titled players teaching on the Sunday, Nick Pert will be one such GM and myself Simon Williams should also be in attendance. For more information read below.

The Training Day will be led by several titled players. There will be a beginners section and several openings sections. In the openings sections, an expert will teach an opening, explaining variations and key ideas. We intend on having several titled players teaching simultaneously, so participants can choose which group to join depending on which opening they would like to learn / improve. Titled players will teach one opening in the morning and one in the afternoon. There will be short breaks throughout the day.

Refreshments will be available for purchase in the morning.

Hot lunch and afternoon refreshments included in the price.

Extra lunches can be ordered at £3 a head.

Website:

http://intranet.wellingtoncollege.org.uk/chess/wellington-college-rapidplay

VENUE:

Wellington College,

Crowthorne, Berkshire,

RG45 7PU

Six round Swiss tournament with three sections:

OPEN (to all)

MAJOR (under 170)

MINOR (under 110)

(suitable for beginners)

ENTRIES AND ENQUIRIES

Please post entries to:

Wellington College Rapidplay,

18 Kerry Close

Fleet

GU51 2UF

For enquiries please contact Nick Pert by e-mail at nickpert@hotmail.com and put Wellington College Rapid and Training Event in the title.

VENUE AND DIRECTIONS

Wellington College is located in Crowthorne, a short walk from Crowthorne train station.

Detailed instructions are available on the College’s website:www.wellingtoncollege.org.uk

ACCOMODATION

The Waterloo Hotel is located within walking distance of Wellington College. Rooms for Wellington College events can be booked at a special rate of £55 per room per night. Call 01344 467900

ENTRY FEES (In advance by 22 Jan please)

Rapidplay £20

Training Day £40

Both Days £50

Non ECF members will be subject to a £2 surcharge. Entries after the closing date will be subject to a £5 surcharge.

Please contact us before the event if you have to withdraw. You will then be credited for entry to a future event.

PRIZES:

Open: £150, £70, £40,

Major: £100, £50, £20.

Minor: £100, £50, £20,

Grading prizes in all sections for strong performances relative to your grade as determined by the organisers.

The organiser’s decision is final with respect to all prizes.

RATE OF PLAY

**Fischer time control** in Open

Open: 25 mins. plus 5 seconds a move.

Other sections: All moves in 30 mins. /player.

ROUND TIMES

Round 1 10.00 a.m.

Round 2 11.30 a.m.

Hot lunches served by the school at 12.30pm

Round 3 1.15 p.m.

Round 4 2.30 p.m.

Round 5 3.45 p.m.

Round 6 5.00 p.m.

Prize giving 6.15 p.m.

LATE ARRIVAL

Any Player arriving more than 15 minutes late for the 1st round (and 10 mins for subsequent rounds) will be defaulted and their opponent will be re-paired if possible.

DISPUTES

All disputes will be referred to the Chief Controller, whose decision shall be final.

GRADING

All results will be submitted to the ECF for grading.

It is a condition of entry that players agree to their grading information being published on the ECF website.

Rapidplay grades will be used where possible.

Standard play grades will be accepted as the playing strength if a player has no rapidplay grade.

BOOKSTALL: Ginger GM

REFRESHMENTS: Soft drinks and snacks will be available throughout the day

Probable future dates (Please check the ECF Calendar for confirmation):

17/18 Mar 2012

28/29 Apr 2012

19/20 May 2012

The Organisers accept no responsibility for any loss, theft or accident during the tournament.

Parents or guardians are responsible for their children during the tournament. The Organisers and helpers are not able to act “in loco parentis” and are not able to take

responsibility for any child’s actions, or for the actions of anyone who may affect a child.

I am currently running the Classical Games Shop in Godalming, which is a shop that stocks all types of games, obviously chess included. Just yesterday I got a visit from Simon Whitaker who is one half of the Whitaker brothers.

We closed the shop up, met with his brother Tym, took a trip down to the Rose and Crown and watched his latest music video on the large screen TV.

I have to say that I was so impressed, not just with the music but with the actual video, that I have decided to post it up. It’s not all about chess at gingergm!

They have just finished recording their album and hopefully it will be available to purchase soon. Let me know your views!

The other video they put on was

I must warn you that this video does contain some rather offensive language, you have been warned!!!!

Keep an eye out for Klaus, Mike the landlord of the Rose and Crown’s son…

Just the other day I was visiting my parents house and I noticed a rather interesting picture hanging up on the wall.

Apparently, it was a photo taken of a simultaneous display by J.R.Capablanca, at the opening of the new premises of the Imperial chess club.

The photo also stated that the simultaneous took place at the premises of  the Imperial chess club in Guildford and the photo was taken on October the 7th, 1922.

I have only heard of the Imperial chess club in London, so I was wondering if anyone could enlighten me on the facts behind the photo.

Did the simultaneous take place in London or Guildford? Another note on the picture stated that Capablanca scored 41 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss. Intriguing!

A quick search on Google showed that Capablanca was in London at the time. As Wikipedia states, ‘Capablanca won the London tournament of 1922 with 13 points from 15 games with no losses, ahead of Alexander Alekhine on 11½, Milan Vidmar (11), and Akiba Rubinstein (10½).^’

Here is the photo enlarged, does anyone recognise the building?

Or, another scanned photo of the simultaneous…

So, can anyone enlighten me on the facts about this simultaneous. I will have to dig further to find out how my dad came across the photo!

Last Tuesday the Drunken Knights, Surrey branch, was due to play against it’s main rivals, Sandhurst.

Sandhurst had dominated the Border league for a couple of years now, but this year they had some serious competition.

Gary O’Grady, captain and chief commander of the Drunken Knights, Surrey branch, had quite possibly, pulled together the strongest team to ever grace the border league.

The Drunken Knights team of 5 was due to be the following:

1: Nigel Short     

2: Simon Williams

3: Mark Hebden

4: Luis Galego

5: Keith Arkell

We knew before the match that the opposing team would have at least Nick Pert and Peter Wells in it’s line up, but the rest of the formation remained a mystery…

Unfortunately the day before that game was due to be played, Sandhurst withdrew from the match. I am not sure of the details, but it was a massive disappointment for all our players.

I guess the fear of being beaten may have had something  to do with Sandhurst’s decision…

It was a real pity though. Nick Pert from Sandhurst still made it along to the pub where the match was due to take place, and he seemed to enjoy himself somewhat….

Rumour had it, that Sandhurst had planned to have had Mickey Adams and Bogdan Lalic in their team, but unfortunately Mickey and Bogdan apparently withdrew from the match. I am not sure how true that was though, as I spoke to Bogdan a few days later and he informed me that he was ready and willing to play.

Anyway, Gary decided to honour his team and everyone except Nigel made it down to the, ‘Rose and Crown’ pub in Godalming.

A great little pub that is a 2 minute stroll from where I live and Godalming train station. The landlord, Mike, (seen in the background of the top photo) got into the swing of things and even arranged a poker hold ‘em tournament at the end of night.

A lot of blitz was played and everyone had a great night. I have included below a selection of photo’s from the night. I have left some out for obvious reasons…

Comments are welcome!

Mark Hebden, Nick Pert and Gary O’Grady enjoying a quiet beer…

Luis Galego and Mark Hebden having a quiet conversation.

Nick Pert, Luis Galego, Mark Hebden and some ginger moron…

Enjoying a game of poker…

Gary starts to feel the pace…

Mike the landlord, Nick Pert and Luis Galego.

It seemed like most players enjoyed the night anyway…

You may ask who won the poker tournament? Aly, took 1st prize home!

In the next couple of weeks gingergm will have a new range of chess DVD’s ready for purchase.

All of these DVDs are ready for pre-order in our shop and we are even offering some special promotions up to Christmas! http://www.gingergm.com/shop/offers/

I will give a quick break down of those DVDs in this post.

Play like Tal

Presenter: Simon Williams

Release Date: Soon  (sorry about the delay, unfortunately the replicators have let us down here )

The two part DVD that I am most excited about.

‘Play like Tal’. http://www.gingergm.com/shop/dvds/play-like-tal-with-gm-simon-williams/

This is a first of its kind in the chess world. This DVD, is an interactive chess DVD!

I have chosen seven games played by Tal and at critical moments during those games, you the viewer, will be given a choice of three moves to pick from. One of the choices is the move that Tal played and it is your decision to try and pick the right move.

If you pick the wrong move, I will give you a reason why and then you will get another chance to pick the correct move. There are also some interactive puzzles and a introduction to Tal as a player and a person.

As you may have guessed. Tal was my favourite player, his unique approach to the game gained a large number of supporters and the aim of this DVD is to try and make the viewer play more like Tal!

A trailer of the DVD should be available to view by the end of the day.

The Killer c3 Sicilian

Presenter: Sam Collins

Release Date: 7th October

The next DVD that has already helped me out greatly, is ‘The Killer c3 Sicilian’. http://www.gingergm.com/shop/dvds/killer-c3-sicilian-with-im-sam-collins/

A number of people have already mentioned to me that this is an oxymoron, how can the c3 Sicilian be a Killer opening? Well check out the following two games that I have had with it, thanks to the DVD.

Williams vs Griffiths.

British Championships, 2011.

1 e4 c5 2 c3 d5 3 exd5 Qxd5 4 d4 Nc6 5 Nf3 Bg4 6 Be2 cxd4 7 cxd4 Nf6!?

My opponent played this move very quickly and it was clear to me that he was trying to avoid the pawn sacrifice given below. On the downside I noticed that Black has still got a number of moves to make in order to get his king castled, so two plans sprang to mind.

1) A quick d4-d5.

2) Aim to open up as many lines as possible, in order to start an attack against Black’s position.

8 Nc3 Qa5! 9 h3 Bh5 10 b4!?

This looked obvious to me as it gained time and opened up the b-file. Maybe I had been watching too much of ‘The Play like Tal’ DVD!

10…Qxb4 11 Bd2 Qd6? 12 Rb1 Qd7 13 d5! Nxd5 14 Nxd5 Qxd5 15 Rxb7 e5 16 Qa4 Rc8 17 Rb5! Qd8 18 Rxe5+ 1-0

A convincing 18 move win. Not bad for the c3 Sicilian!

And in my next tournament I got another chance to put a nasty pawn sacrifice into action.

Williams vs White.

Sunningdale, 2011.

1 e4 c5 2 c3 d5 3 exd5 Qxd5 4 d4 Nc6 5 Nf3 Bg4 6 Be2 cxd4 7 cxd4 e6 8 Nc3 Qa5 9 h3 Bh5 10 d5!

Sam mentions in the DVD that this was a very dangerous idea and luckily for me I remembered sitting in and watching Sam film this part of the DVD!

10…exd5 11 Nd4 Bxe2 12 Qxe2+ Be7 13 Nxc6 bxc6 14 0-0 Kf8

In return for the pawn, White has a lead in development, pressure against the c-pawn and Black has displaced his king.

Or as Sam puts it, ‘I find Black’s position disgusting!

15 Re1 Re8 16 Bd2 Qd8 17 Na4 Nf6 18 Rac1 Qd7 19 Qa6 Ne4 20 Be3 d4?! 21 Qd3 c5 22 b3 Nf6 23 Bg5 Qd5 24 Bxf6 gxf6 25 Nxc5! Rg8 26 g3 f5? 27 Re5!

1-0.

Another quick win for the ‘Killer c3 Sicilian’!

A trailer for this DVD should be available by the end of the day.

The Killer Dragon: Part 1 + Part 2

Presenter: Simon Williams

Release date: Soon  (sorry about the delay, unfortunately the replicators have let us down here )

DVD 1 covers systems where White castles queenside.

DVD 2 covers Classical variations and the very interesting Dragadorf variation.

http://www.gingergm.com/shop/dvds/killer-dragon-with-gm-simon-williams/

This double DVD was a real challenge for me. Where do you start when filming a DVD on one of the worlds most complicated openings?

Do you skim over it or try to cover it as deeply as possible?

Well, I have attempted to do a bit of both. I have aimed to cover the most complicated lines as deeply as possible but I have also given Black a second, less theoretical, option.

Now, as it says on the case. This DVD is not for the faint hearted! Especially part 1, which is very intense, but I am hoping that if fully covers everyone, even up to Grandmaster Standard! I certainly learnt a lot from the DVD.

Part two is also very interesting as well as having a look at the Classical variation, I delve deeply into the Accelerated Dragadorf! An opening that I specialise in, after writing, ‘The New Sicilian Dragon.’ http://www.chessville.com/reviews/TheNewSicilianDragon.htm

This opening is fascinating and rather easy to learn. If you are looking for a new weapon against 1 e4 then this could be the DVD for you!

A trailer should be available by the end of the day.

I was rather surprised to see that a new book with the ‘Killer’ title is due for release in December 2011.

Someone in the gingergm team had kept very quiet about that.

Hold up a minute, it is due for release by a company called ‘Everyman’!

A company that I have written a number of books for.

Well, I suppose it is a good name but also a rather cheeky decision by the company.

We are planning the following DVD’s:

Attacking Chess: The King’s Gambit

Attacking Chess: The King’s Indian, Volume 1

Attacking Chess: The King’s Indian, Volume 2

Attacking with 1d4

Actually on second thought, I would rather stick with the ‘Killer’ range! Anyway in my next post I will tell you about our new exciting titles that will be available soon.

As you may have heard from reading the ECF forum thread http://www.ecforum.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=3494. The tournament that myself and Adam Hunt were due to play in was cancelled http://www.ajedrezcalamillor.com/en/open.php.

Unfortunately, we only found out about 4 days before we were due to play and obviously by that stage we had paid for our flight and accommodation (there were no conditions).

We also found out about the tournament cancellation  in a rather annoying manner. Adam asked the organiser for a list of participants that had entered the open and the organisers response was something along the lines of, ‘We have had to cancel the tournament due to lack of entries.’

When asked why he had not informed us earlier, Adam got a further response, which was something similar to, ‘If we do not get enough entries then what do you want us to do?’

Yeah great, cheers mate!

Anyway, in the end we made the decision to go, catch some sun and drink some Sangria’s.

The only thing is, I am not used to going away on a holiday, without playing any chess games! As sad as it is to say, it is a rather weird experience.

For the first 4 days I arose from my sleep and moved towards my computer. With the plan of firing it up to start some preparation for my opponent of the day.

Hang on a minute, what I am I doing? I should not be thinking in this manner during a holiday!

So time to join the mass of people enjoying the sun.

Being of ginger completion, the sun tends to rather fry me then make me a pleasant shade of brown…

The first thing we noticed was that the average age of most people in the area must be about 80 and that everywhere had been taken over by English people.

Last like a hot day in Eastbourne…

Anyway the beach is pleasant enough but it is just weird being away and not having any chess to play.

Myself and Adam have already had some marathon blitz, backgammon and pool sessions. I guess that competitive spirit is still alive and kicking…

The organisers of the chess tournament have apparently organised a poker tournament this Thursday night. With first prize being a package to Vegas. But I expect, that there is about as much change of that happening (and them paying out) as there is of Colonel Gaddafi winning the next World Chess Cup.

Anyway, it is time to drink some Sangria and fry myself in the sun. Maybe with a chess board and clock…

Another crazy idea from the twisted mind of Gary (let’s ship it to Russia) O’Grady!

It all started as it often does, down the pub on a quiet Sunday afternoon. As usual we were pretending to  take part in a very civilised gingergm ‘meeting’.

Before I realised what I had agreed to, Gary had arranged a American tour and two world record attempts!

Well, I say arranged. These ideas rarely lead to anything. The problem is that when Gary’s is involved, these things often do lead to the real deal!

Anyway some more details of  the crazy ‘Armageddon Tour’ are given below…

(the picture is a draft and was designed/copyrighted by David Trumble)

This is the plan…

4-5 weeks on the road, driving around America in a mobile home.

The tour starts in New York with a world record attempt. Playing the most games of blitz chess in a row, without a break!

I believe that the current record is 665 games and around 53 hours of straight chess playing!

Quite a record to beat…

Then a tour around America, stopping at various places to do some simultaneous displays etc. (after some sleep!)

To finish the tour off we are planning to do a large simultaneous game on a beach somewhere.

All we need now is some serious sponsorship…

We have until next summer, so if anyone out there works for red bull then let’s start planning something crazy!