Posted in My own endeavours on April 30, 2024| Leave a Comment »
For a reason which eludes me somewhat, I made some audio files during the tournament I played in most recently. I strongly suspect I wanted to be sure I didn’t forget how hard I found the whole thing, and I’m fairly sure it’s because I don’t want a repeat of that ever again.
Posted in Chess in Thailand, My own endeavours on March 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »
It’s seven and a half years since I last played competitive chess and my-oh-my do I miss it. So much so how wonderful was it to learn that slap-bang in the middle of next month’s break lies a chess tournament just up the road from where I will be based. Load on in I did – now 2650 Baht (£58) poorer as a result cheap at half the price!
Still with some seventeen days to go, what were those early considerations?
First, which pen to use? The two chosen are both orange inked -here they are.
Second was headwear. I have worn many hats playing chess over the years and bandanas too, inspired by Mike Muir the singer of Suicidal Tendencies, a band I went to see on October 14th, 1990 and March 6th. 1993.
I have three bandanas; one white and one black (these I always wore to metal concerts), and one multi-coloured (this I wore in Kyoto Japan a lot), and so I thought I would give them a wash and get them ready.
Third was, refresh and tidy up my opening repertoire. I looked into the Breyer against the Caro-Kann and am on board with that. The other change is to revert back to the Sicilian Kan from the Taimanov. I don’t like this early Nb5 stuff in that, which FM Gayson played against me recently, and I also don’t like it when white captures on c6. So the Kan, again, it is.
The remaining considerations are what food and drink to bring to the hotel, whether to arrive on the day or the day before, and what to do in the half-day we have (ATV Tour looks most likely).
I am reading Rowson’s T7DCS, and analyzing chess positions deeply, that’s enough for now.
Updates a day on…
One of the benefits chess gives us is it teaches us the importance of learning from our mistakes. Entering a tournament rusty is something I have done before quite a few times and do not wish to repeat. And so… .
Forth was putting a PGN viewer (Chess PGN Master) and Engine (Stockfish 15.1) on my Samsung Tablet, so that I have better access to analysis, where I may choose to store my games. Because the interface is customizable, after looking and playing around I settled on the aforementioned.
Fifth was entering a Rapid tournament the weekend before.
It is a necessity to bring chess back into my life and reacquaint with that presently not within my reach. The following question is what comes next?
As it stands: March 29th Bangkok Chess Club visit
March 31st FIDE Rated Rapid Tournament
April 5th-9th CAD Nakhon Nayok International Open
Sixth consideration is how much cider is consumed throughout? A tough question indeed.
Mark. J. McCready
Posted in My own endeavours on February 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »
If, like thyself, you’ve put your back into reading up on all that past, across days, weeks’, bank holiday week ends and months woven together, pat yourself on the back, sit yourself back down, and have a cup of tea, just ad milk and 1-2 sugars.
As a first year undergraduate writing away in leafy Hertfodshire, the two modules I took for history 15/16th century English history and the Industrial Revolution -both well worthy of study for this unbiased Brit with nothing better to do anyway.
My lecturer used to makes jokes about our industrial revolution, one was him going back in time asking people who it’s like to through the industrial revolution, with one answer being ‘oh are we, I thought we just sold more stuff’!
Back in the hallowed antiquities in the 1990s, where governance in the UK went into slow decline, everyone watched The Spice Girls and Mr.Blobby: unspeakable acts of crime were committed at my chess club in a manner that was as perfunctory as it was unforgiveable.
The 90s was not a digital era as such, clubs that had records kept them on paper. It was all paper back then. All our league tables, match cards, team lists, and rating lists were sent to the lockers in the football club’s changing room, then some months later lobbed out. Makes your spine chill doesn’t it?
In our modern age everything is digital and exists in the form of data. It doesn’t get lost.
It’s very saddening to think back to those evenings where match results were thrown out. No historian would do that. Instead they would classify them as primary source material, most likely they would remain covered. It was a great shame that our president Ken Liddle saw them as taking up space and to be slung out.
We value data and information much more now, which in turn means we are compelled to think of the 90s as depressing, from a historical perspective. Sadly the question of who a game scoresheet belong to in the modern game is a complex one, and to some degree, debatable.
Note to self: If you are interested in playing through the 496 competitive matches you wrote scoresheets for, erm, maybe not go up into loft and chuck the lot out -bloody hypocrite!
Posted in My own endeavours on February 19, 2024| Leave a Comment »
As the shy teenager I was, I so loved how after dusk fell I was driven to league matches along dark country roads. What a wonderful way to explore Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Northamptonshire in your youth. A supressed excitement in seeing small towns and cities such as Bedford, Leighton Buzzard, Cranfield, Milton Keynes, and Northampton kept me wide-eyed always. Those dark A-roads and narrow country lanes, that amber street lighting, the knowledgeable teammates who drove me to the venue, their respectful inquisitiveness and oh-so careful driving, the sensation of parking up. Entering the building and readying yourself for your game, the shake of the hand…game on… .
A brave new world where a long game of competitive chess was the light at the end of the tunnel. Then, a drive home where we could converse about our games and indulge in more general chess conversation. Once Ken Grogan picked myself and Marcus Dunne up for a match. On the way home I asked Ken ‘Is it difficult to concentrate on driving after your match?‘ Marcus interjected, ‘that’s a good question’, I was only 16. What should I know about driving, I wasn’t even old enough to get behind the wheel!
Through chess I learnt the importance of travel and how it broadened your horizons. It was -if you like- a perpetual night out. A ride away from the drudgery and monotony of daily life into the endless evening ahead. No one in my family took me anywhere ever, except to clinics, surgeries and hospitals. But where they stepped back, team mates stepped forwards.
It is the sense of occasion that chess offers which appeals the most. Chess is a game of calculation. We cannot follow our game thoughts so easily afterwards but mood we may remember still, especially mood both before and after the game. Those sentiments are not so easily lost and may stay with us five decades on, as mine have. The drive to the game. Those dark roads. The game play. The journey home. The companionship en route. The occasion and all it has to offer.
Mark John McCready, 0700, February 19th 2024, Al-Fursan, Dammam, KSA
Posted in Life beyond the chess board, My own endeavours on February 8, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Well, after only 5 games, I am begrudgingly playing on for my county, then it stops… .
Yes, I probably will visit the Bangkok Chess Club in a fortnight but I won’t play much… .
No, I won’t enter the Bangkok Open in April… .
However, semi-retired is the future… .
Then we die… .
MJM
Posted in My own endeavours, My Own Games on February 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »
What sort of engine splutters? 1 full of rust! 8 months of no chess at all has been vanquished but even already I am taking my foot off the pedal. I played five games on-line with a 30 minute time control and won them all and have agreed to represent my county online in 2 games with a 3-day a move time limit. Alas I am regretting it already! And why’s that? Because its the sense of occasion that I cherish most of all, the social aspect of the game if you like, and of course, that is noticeably lacking with online chess. Is if that wasn’t enough, here’s a position from the 3rd win, just look at the obvious tactic I went and missed due to rustiness! (the title of the post is the Thai word for rustiness: ความ [kwam] state of mind/being, เป็น [pen] be สนิม [sanim] rust}.
Game 3 faux pax. Thinking I was winning, here I played 28. Kh1? What should I have played?
The best move is 28. Nxc5! winning material. Quite obvious really! That’s rustiness for you! Or is it me just being rubbish anyway?
Only a fortnight away…
Bangkok chess awaits once more, this time I intend to visit with Grace, my daughter, and will make videos that focus on the social aspects of chess rather than the play itself. I shall be there. You shall see. Videos to follow.
Mark. J. McCready, 03:50am, Wednesday February 7th
Al Fursan, Dammam, KSA
Posted in My own endeavours, Personal Interest & Experience on January 29, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Leighton Buzzard – Nov 1988 Snow & Heavy Metal music (Iron Maiden)
Letchworth - Feb 1989 Set off in wrong direction & Nose bleeds
Islington - May 1989 Sunshine & Heavy Metal music (Acid Reign)
Hitchin - 1989 – 1991 6 times & no great games
St. Albans - April 1992 Unable to wake up & bad chess
Portsmouth - Feb 1993 Solid chess & fond memories
Nottingham – April 1995 No real interest in the tournament
Those are the places and dates I played tournaments in. Nothing to write home about.
MJM
Posted in My own endeavours on January 28, 2024| Leave a Comment »
In the early to mid-90’s I achieved the following at my club:
So what is it I am not saying?
Oops!
Mark. J. McCready
Posted in My daughter, My own endeavours on December 17, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“Education is teaching our children to desire the right things.” Plato
One platitude I ascribe to is ‘Home is where the heart is’, and although I am so very proud of where I am from, unintentionally or otherwise, it stopped being home a long time ago; partly because year twenty-four of not living there is rapidly approaching, and partly because priorities change as we age whether we like it or not.
Chesswise I am most certain more years as an active member of Bangkok Chess Club (10-20 on & off) than Luton Chess Club (around 10) have now amassed. With many more friends based in Bangkok than its predecessor, I do see its chess club as my home club, and have done so for quite some time…you could say ‘somehow it just went that way’. Being housed in a pub is always an improvement as you can’t beat a cold pint of cider or six whilst you play OTB.
It’s been 6 months since I last played chess -no I don’t miss it. Online chess has been outlawed then got slapped with a lifetime ban. Yes I have even thought about stopping completely and giving the game up again, just like I did back in the 90s. But it is my every intention to take my daughter to Bangkok Chess Club on the fifth day of the next month. I want to see friends and socialize with them, and the more exposure my daughter has to chess the better. Most probably I will play her to see how much she remembers, as she has lost interest and become inactive. It might be the case that I just hang out, drink some cider, chat with friends and play no more than the odd game or two. However, I may elect to play in a blitz tournament though, and most probably will.
So I shall not go 7 months of no chess but its the overall experience of being amongst old friends that is important, and as mentioned, reacquainting my daughter with the game too: it has got nothing to do with wanting to play chess, which is not in play this time around. The arbiter, and old friend, who runs the club and organizes the Bangkok Open is the same person who employed my ex-wife -that’s how we met. He was instrumental in us hooking up, our child was soon to follow – and visit her in hospital when she was born he did. Had he not given me her mother’s details when I asked who she was at the chess club, there would be no Grace McCready. And that very place we played in then, is the same place we play in now. My heart is with my daughter and home is where the heart is -so I shall break my 6-month duck @Bangkok Chess Club, and my daughter gets to go to the very place where her father asked about her mother for the first time, and was given her contact details as a result -the rest is just history. Pics, videos and report to follow.
Posted in My own endeavours on October 1, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Deep in the darkest winter, when Covid came and ravaged the country, I was stuck indoors, unable to go out, unwilling to because it was so cold.
Under candlelight I played chess online for the team MK Phoenix, who participated in the London League, the 4NCL as it’s known.
But I grew up in little Bedfordshire, and there I played most of my chess. I knew of the London league back then because some of our league players played in it also, but only our very best. And so, I grew up weary of them, the prestige that league had, and never thought myself good enough to gain an invite for a team there.
But everything changed during lockdown and play in it online I did. I only played 5 games or so and scored 50%. Here is the final position from one of my games, the best of them I think.
McCreadyandChess 