A blog post??

Whats this? An updated blog post? Its true. I have just returned from the Bulgarian/Macedonian/Greek leg of the world chess tour, having taken in Plovdiv, Skopje and Leros. European Championships, Plovdiv. The strongest event so far on the tour, with a bucketload of GM's. Bit of an experimental tournament for me, wheeling out the french defence for the first time in round one against Viktor Bologan (rated 2687)- managed to draw!! Some good wins, including one against a russian 2600 and a 155 move game against GM Kempinski from Poland. This was offset by a couple of bad games, and I finished with a mighty rating gain of 3 points! Congratulations to GM Gawain Jones of England, who qualified for the World Cup to be held in Tromso in the summer. Skopje was the 3rd Karpos Open which was a really strong event won by GM Kiril Georgiev from Bulgaria. I played pretty well for a rating gain of 6 points, including draws with GM's Delchev and Kozul. Hoping to get some photos up soon. IM Lorin D'Costa also went from England and he finished on the same score as me (5/9) And then back to Leros for the Aegean Cup and Championships. I was playing board 1 for Leros, and we won the rapidplay event on the first day. Second place in the cup was followed by victory in the championships, meaning qualification for the Greek 1st National League in the summer. We are still deciding whether to go. My own play started with 5/5 in the rapid but a loss to Michael Singleton (elo 2169) in the championships. I drew one other game to finish with 6.5/8 in the cup/league and a rating point loss. After a whole month away, I am packing my bags as we speak for the World Schools championships in Romania, which I am going as a coach to. The link is here.... http://www.wscc2012.ro/

Welcome to paradise part 3....Leros Greece

Gibral-tastic!

I have just got back from the superb Tradewise Gibraltar chess tournament, sharing with my friend and Ginger GM Simon Williams who was doing the commentary. The Caleta Hotel where we were staying was also the venue for the chess, on the eastern side of Gibraltar with a beautiful view overlooking the sea. The event itself prides itself as one of the strongest open tournaments in the world(in fact this year probably THE strongest) with 11 players over the 2700 mark.

My own tournament was a bit of a yo-yo affair, playing 7 players 2300 or below, and 3 super strong GM's (Svidler, Vachier-Lagrave and Yifan Hou). I managed to score 6.5/10, losing to the big 3 and picking up a few rating points on the way. I would highly recommend the event to chess professsionals and amateurs alike, with many sections in the mornings for players Under 2250. In the evenings there were masterclasses from the likes of Judit Polgar, Michael Adams and Emil Sutovsky, along with pairs and team blitz.

I now have a break of a month or so before the next tournament, so plenty of hard work to do on my chess :)

Chess is rubbish

Bad news to report, I'm afraid. Two bad tournaments and my rating is back down again. It started really well in Fremont, with 2.5/3, including a draw against eventual winner GM Sam Shankland. That was where the good times stopped however, as I finished on 4.5/9, including a very poor blunder in the last round against a young FM. Thanks to Ted Castro and Arun Sharma however, for organising a really good event :)

A few days off, catching up in Davis CA with Steve Hamilton and then off to Concord Ca for the Golden State Open. I was completely outplayed in Round 1 by a lower rated player, before scraping a draw. I worked my way back to 4/5 before succumbing in a complicated game to IM (and I presume) eventual winner Justin Sarkar. I withdrew from the tournament after that game, simply being too tired and frustrated with my own play. If there are any of my students reading this, DO NOT WITHDRAW when things aren't going so well(bad etiquette). So I'm back to the UK tomorrow, with my chess playing tail between my legs, realising that if I have any hope of becoming a GM then a massive amount of work is needed. Next up is Gibraltar in a week or so.

Leaving Las Vegas......

It's new years day and sadly we are leaving las vegas today for a flight to Oakland, CA for the Northern Californian International starting tomorrow. Vegas has been a brilliant experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone. We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel from Christmas eve until 30 December, and then the Trump International until today. Both great hotels in their own right with the Hard Rock having a younger crowd and the Trump being more business designed (with no gaming).

The chess event here was the North American Open link here. It went quite well for me, as I managed to reach 5/7, losing to GM's Vallejo and Akobian but beating everyone else, for a rating gain of +7. GM Vallejo won the event outright with 6/7 for the jackpot prize of over $9000. I was told after the event by the organisers that I won $2633, which came as a pleasant surprise but since then they have amended my prize downwards to $625 :(

I will update again when in Fremont, CA.