Following on from last week's topic on travel tips, this time I'll address the issue of tournament venues. Chess events are often held in places where there are cheap hotels, for example out of season holiday resorts. Whilst I always recommend that players make chess their focal point, it can often seem as if there's nothing to do if you want a break.
A good way to handle this is to find things of interest, even if it seems to be a hopeless task at first. Every town has some history, famous people that were born there, interesting walks and a good restaurant or two. The odds are that you will only be there for just over a week, so with two decent restaurants you can try at least 4-5 dishes in each.
Asking local players for advice can be a good idea, what should you see and where should you go. You'll almost certainly get some useful tips and possibly even a guided tour. When I played a lot in Eastern Europe, during the 1980s and early 1990s, I got to know a lot of people who were as curious about life in the West as I was about theirs, it can make chess travelling into a great learning and social experience. On the other hand it was noticeable that Westerners who adopted a siege mentality, and stayed in their rooms or only mixed with their compatriots, tended to do badly.
It goes without saying that you should be mindful of local customs and laws, especially if you find yourself somewhere that's very different to where you live. There might well be some forbearance shown towards tourists, but it's better to be clear on what you can and should not do.
Happy travels!
Training Tournaments
This week's training tournaments are in the French Defence, which is my main recommendation for Black and covered in several of my video courses (The French Defence, Building an Opening Repertoire and The Fort Knox French):
Sunday April 13th at 5pm UK Time: French Defence with 3.Bd3
Sunday April 13th at 6.15pm UK Time: French Rubinstein
My Upcoming Events
The European Senior Team Championship will be over in a couple of days after which I have no foreign trips planned. I'm still hoping to invited to Maia in August but I've yet to hear back.
This is my current schedule:
May 10 - 11 2025: Nottingham Congress
I've entered this one because they offer free entry for GMs, plus if I take a bye in the first round I can get away with one night in a hotel. You can find details here.
June 21-22 2025: Ilkley Congress
As with Nottingham this is just two days, I was given a free entry and I can take a first round bye. So I'll manage to keep my costs down to one night in a hotel and petrol for getting there, this stuff is important. You can find details here.
July 31 - August 10 2025: British Championships
As mentioned above I've entered without an invite. I've also gone for the Championship itself rather than one of the old folks sections. Obviously this will be full of underrated juniors, I'll just have to play better against them this time! You can find details here.
August 21 - 30 2025: Maia Chess Festival (?)
I've played in the last couple of events and I'm hopeful that I'll be asked back. The dates are now out.
September 5-7: Hull 4NCL Congress
I'm a big fan of 4NCL Congresses because they are played in nice venues, they're invariably well organized and they offer free entry and accommodation to GMs. You can find details here:
I'll be looking for things after September, not sure when or where!
Twitch Channel
My new Twitch channel will have new shows every Monday ('Chess Questions Answered), the Webinar on training tournaments and games is up on Fridays. Please follow it if you'd like to get updates etc, all the shows will be available to Premium members in the Tiger Chess members area, even when they are no longer available on Twitch.
Have a good weekend.
Nigel
