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…

Adam, who is full-time chess teacher at Woodbridge School in Suffolk, is currently playing a series of open tournaments in Greece. I (the webmaster) thought it was only fair to fly out to Kavala myself to force him to answer his first set of questions, which he’s been sitting on for far too long!

1. If you were invisible for a day what would you do?
Fly to the Maldives for free and build a hideout.

2. What is the best game of chess that you have ever played and if you dare tell us, what is the worse game of chess that you have ever played?
To be honest, I haven’t played too many games I’m really proud of. Hunt – Gormally in the 4NCL 2006 was a good attacking effort. Any win against Harriet is always special! Pick a game from the British championships 2001 and its likely to be a disaster (I dropped 30+ rating points!).

3. Who is the stronger chess player, you or your sister?
At the moment, probably Harriet. A 12 game match, sponsored by www.gingergm.com may provide a more accurate answer!

4. Suppose you have a sandwich, then you cut it in half. How many sandwiches do you now have?
I would have 2 sandwiches??!!

5. What is the wisest thing anyone has ever said to you?
“Keep playing your chess boy”- my friend Steven Dodd in my school leavers yearbook. I wasn’t playing much at the time and I wouldn’t have been lucky enough to have the job I do now if I hadn’t. Very wise and profound eh?

6. Who is your favourite chess player of all time and why?
Favourite player- unoriginally Kasparov – he plays with more energy than anybody I’ve ever seen (plus I tried to copy his openings).

7. If you could be someone for a day who would you be?
Rafael Benitez would be fun (I’m a Liverpool fan).

8. Imagine the following scenario: You are half a point ahead of the field going into the last round of the British. On your way to the tournament hall you are held at gunpoint and told to take all your clothes off. You are now naked and the game starts in 1 minute, what do you do?
Finally an easy one – it wouldn’t happen! For the sake of the spectators I would try to find some!

Adam has agreed to frankly answer questions on any subject! You can send in your questions to adam@gingergm.com or use the comments facility here.