Category Archives: OPENINGS

OPENINGS, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

MOVE ORDERS IN THE LONDON SYSTEM

The London System (1.d4 followed by a quick Bc1-f4) is a firm favourite at club level because it seems that White can get a playable middle game without knowing any theory. There is certainly some truth to this, but there is a growing body of theory in the London plus some move order subtleties.

One of the main issues is whether White plays an immediate 1.d4 followed by 2.Bf4 or first develops his knight with 2.Nf3. Both these approaches have their advantages, but it depends what Black is doing meanwhile. Last year I experimented with 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 as I felt that 2...e6 took away some of Black's best responses. On the other hand there's a case for 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 because 2...g6 might be met by 3.Nc3.

I quite like both 2.Bf4 and 2.Nf3, other players have their own preferences. For example I've noticed that Mark Hebden is now playing 1.d4 and meeting 1...d5 with 2.Bf4 and 1...Nf6 with 2.Bg5. This is also quite appealing, the Trompowsky (2.Bg5) contains a great deal of poison, but you would not want to play 2.Bg5 after 1...d5, at least I wouldn't!

Vimeo Closing Its Video On Demand

Unfortunately Vimeo is closing its Video On Demand service in November, so I'll no longer be offering any titles through them. Those who have purchased one of my videos on this platform will be able get access to the materials at Tiger Chess by the time Vimeo closes this service. Please send me your receipts which are available here when you are logged onto your Vimeo account.

Sam's Youtube Chanel

My son Sam runs a Youtube channel in which he streams his live games on chess.com. This shows considerably more bravery than I'm able to muster, so please check it out and subscribe. I think he's doing a nice job.

Upcoming Events

This is how things look right now, with nothing in particular planned after November. If I'm invited I'll play in Nova Gorica (Slovenia) in January next year and then Maya (Portugal) in August:

October 23-25: Scarborough Congress
I've now entered this one and booked my hotel. Details can be found here.

November 2-13: European Youth Championships, Crete
I've been appointed as one of the coaches for this event, which basically rules out the English Senior Championships because the two events only have a day's break between them. 

Tiger Chess Themed Training Tournaments are organized on a weekly basis at Lichess, featuring selected opening variations. You can check out what's coming up here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

ITALIAN GAME, OPENINGS, PATTERN RECOGNITION, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

STUDYING HISTORICAL GAMES

I've often seen the recommendation to study historical games in order to understand how certain concepts have developed. Sometimes this can be a good idea, but only if the games concerned contain particular instructional value. Top tournaments in, say, the 19th century had a wide mix of playing strengths with many games being decided by quite elementary mistakes. There were some brilliant and instructive games but these were the exception rather than the rule.

Can historical games help us learn particular openings? The same guidance applies, that some historical games will be useful but certainly not all of them. How do you find the ones that are helpful? One of the jobs of books and video authors is to sort this out for us and the best authors will generally do a good job. Personally speaking I would not want a lot of games included that have purely historical interest, I'd much rather have games that clarified the ideas and concepts.

Are there some good examples of such books and videos? Yes, there certainly are, and I recently acquired The Modernized Italian Game for White by Alexander Kalinin and Nikolai Kalinichenko which is an excellent example. The authors include a large number of examples which illustrate the ideas and plans, many of which come from the strategically similar Ruy Lopez. I'm looking forward to reading it.

Vimeo Closing Its Video On Demand

Unfortunately Vimeo is closing its Video On Demand service in November, so I'll no longer be offering any titles through them. Those who have purchased one of my videos on this platform will be able get access to the materials at Tiger Chess by the time Vimeo closes this service. Please send me your receipts which are available here when you are logged onto your Vimeo account.

Sam's Youtube Chanel

My son Sam runs a Youtube channel in which he streams his live games on chess.com. This shows considerably more bravery than I'm able to muster, so please check it out and subscribe. I think he's doing a nice job.

Upcoming Events

This is how things look right now, with nothing in particular planned after November. If I'm invited I'll play in Nova Gorica (Slovenia) in January next year and then Maya (Portugal) in August:

October 23-25: Scarborough Congress
I've now entered this one and booked my hotel. Details can be found here.

November 2-13: European Youth Championships, Crete
I've been appointed as one of the coaches for this event, which basically rules out the English Senior Championships because the two events only have a day's break between them. 

Tiger Chess Themed Training Tournaments are organized on a weekly basis at Lichess, featuring selected opening variations. You can check out what's coming up here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

BOOKS, OPENINGS, QUEEN'S GAMBIT DECLINED, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

RAKHMANOV’S SECRETS OF OPENING PREPARATION

There are a lot of chess books published and not all of them are very useful. Yet I've found a few of them to be interesting and one in particular that I keep dipping into. This is Aleksandr Rakhmanov's Secrets of Opening Preparation published by Thinker's Publishing in 2021.

Rakhmanov is a very strong GM, but one who gets by with relatively little theoretical knowledge. He tries a variety of things with White including 1.d4, and Flank Openings if there's something he prefers to avoid. With Black his front line defences are the Petroff (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6) and Janowsky Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 a6), both of which he knows very well. Against lower rated opponents he tries some less classical openings including the Nimzowitsch-Rubinstein Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6) and the Old Indian Defence (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 e5).

Rakhmanov explains his approach very clearly and honestly, and although his lines are slighly unusual he prepares them very deeply with strong engines. In many ways it seems quite risky to show so much and in such detail, but his methods could just as easily be applied to other lines. I'd say this book is of most value to players over 2200 who want to further develop their approach to openings, but most chess enthusiasts should find it interesting.
 

Vimeo Closing Its Video On Demand

Unfortunately Vimeo is closing its Video On Demand service in November, so I'll no longer be offering any titles through them. Those who have purchased one of my videos on this platform will be able get access to the materials at Tiger Chess by sending me their receipts, these are available here when you are logged onto your Vimeo account.

Sam's Youtube Chanel

My son Sam runs a Youtube channel in which he streams his live games on chess.com. This shows considerably more bravery than I'm able to muster, so please check it out and subscribe. I think he's doing a nice job.

Upcoming Events

This is how things look right now having withdrawn my availability for the European Senior Team Championships. I might get invited to the English Senior Championships in October, in which case I will probably play:

August 21-23: Manchester Summer Congress, Bolton UK
This is a long standing event which is now run in a nice venue and with good prizes. Details can be found here.

September 25-27: Hull 4NCL
The 4NCL Congresses are always well run, so I'll be playing in this one. Details can be found here.

October 23-25: Scarborough Congress
I've now entered this one and booked my hotel. Details can be found here.

November 2-13: European Youth Championships, Crete
I've been appointed as one of the coaches for this event, which basically rules out the English Senior Championships because the two events only have a day's break between them. 

Tiger Chess Themed Training Tournaments are organized on a weekly basis at Lichess, featuring selected opening variations. You can check out what's coming up here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

BUILDING AN OPENING REPERTOIRE, FRENCH DEFENCE, OPENINGS

ANOTHER IDEA IN THE LONDON

In this week's webinar I presented another new idea in the London, namely 1.d5 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 Nc6 and now 5.h3 rather than 5.Nbd2 or even the Heinzl Variation with 5.Be2. The London is like this, White develops sensibly and will always have some good choices. He may not get an advantages with 5.h3, but certainly it seems playable.

In this day and age it seems that even the most ambitious and principled openings fizzle out to equality, so there's certainly a case for playing something less critical in which both sides have to find good moves. With White this is relatively easy, playing Black is a tougher proposition because many venerable defences have come under tremendous pressure, especially after 1.e4.

The safest option is the French Defence because Black can angle for a closed position in which engine moves matter less than understanding. After 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 I give the Rubinstein (3...dxe4) in my Building an Opening Repertoire course and 3...Nf6 in my French Defence course. There are other options too, for example 3...Bb4 4.e5 and now 4...Qd7 or 4...b6. Some great masters of the past used to play these lines and would outplay opponents with lesser understanding.

Vimeo Closing Its Video On Demand

Unfortunately Vimeo is closing its Video On Demand service in November, so I'll no longer be offering any titles through them. Those who have purchased one of my videos on this platform will be able get access to the materials at Tiger Chess by sending me their receipts, these are available here when you are logged onto your Vimeo account.

Sam's Youtube Chanel

My son Sam runs a Youtube channel in which he streams his live games on chess.com. This shows considerably more bravery than I'm able to muster, so please check it out and subscribe. I think he's doing a nice job.

Upcoming Events

This is how things look right now having withdrawn my availability for the European Senior Team Championships. I might get invited to the English Senior Championships in October, in which case I will probably play:

August 21-23: Manchester Summer Congress, Bolton UK
This is a long standing event which is now run in a nice venue and with good prizes. Details can be found here.

September 25-27: Hull 4NCL
The 4NCL Congresses are always well run, so I'll be playing in this one. Details can be found here.

October 23-25: Scarborough Congress
I'm intending to play in this one if I can. Details are here.

October 26-31: English Senior Championships, Peterborough
This is also up in the air unless and until I get invited. Details can be found here. 

Tiger Chess Themed Training Tournaments are organized on a weekly basis at Lichess, featuring selected opening variations. You can check out what's coming up here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

HOW TO, OPENINGS, PSYCHOLOGY, TRAINING

HANDLING A DIFFICULT OPPONENT

Sometimes we have opponents of a similar strength to us but who we struggle to play against. There can be a number of reasons for this, for example they can play very quickly and this puts us off. There can also be personality issues, for example it might be that we get intimidated by someone with a confident demeanour.

The issue that can be handled systematically is an opponent's style being awkward, for example we might like to create complications but then meet a good calculator who is not intimidated. One of the most famous examples of this was Mikhail Tal's difficulties against Viktor Korchnoi, the Tal magic just didn't work like it did against other opponents. Another case was that Paul Keres struggled against Mikhail Botvinnik, who didn't allow Keres the free flowing play in which he revelled.

In my own career the best example was how Mark Berkovic learned to play against me, after losing the first one he made subsequent encounters very dry and technical. I've featured two of our games in this week's Chess Questions Answered video and this was very good work by him. It's also something we can all learn from.

Vimeo Closing Its Video On Demand

Unfortunately Vimeo is closing its Video On Demand service in November, so I'll no longer be offering any titles through them. Those who have purchased one of my videos on this platform will be able get access to the materials at Tiger Chess by sending me their receipts, these are available here when you are logged onto your Vimeo account.

Sam's Youtube Chanel

My son Sam runs a Youtube channel in which he streams his live games on chess.com. This shows considerably more bravery than I'm able to muster, so please check it out and subscribe. I think he's doing a nice job.

Upcoming Events

This is how things look right now having withdrawn my availability for the European Senior Team Championships. I might get invited to the English Senior Championships in October, in which case I will probably play:

August 1-9: British Championships, Coventry, UK
I've accepted an invitation to this one (the Championship itself) and look forward to playing.

August 21-23: Manchester Summer Congress, Bolton UK
This is a long standing event which is now run in a nice venue and with good prizes. Details can be found here.

September 25-27: Hull 4NCL
The 4NCL Congresses are always well run, so I'll be playing in this one. Details can be found here.

October 23-25: Scarborough Congress
I'm intending to play in this one if I can. Details are here.

October 26-31: English Senior Championships, Peterborough
This is also up in the air unless and until I get invited. Details can be found here. 

Tiger Chess Themed Training Tournaments are organized on a weekly basis at Lichess, featuring selected opening variations. You can check out what's coming up here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

OPENINGS, PSYCHOLOGY, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

SLEEP ISSUES DURING TOURNAMENTS

Something that I've often sruggled with during tournaments is sleep, especially if I've just had a tough game. This is a very big deal because none of us will think as clearly when deprived of sleep. There are a few things that can be tried and hopefully some combination of these will work.

The first is medication, for example Nytol offer a variety of sleep aids which will hopefully bring results. There are a number of similar drugs sold by Tesco and Boots, but your options are quite limited in the UK. Unfortunately we can only get melatonin on prescription, unlike the US where it is sold over the counter.

A second major area is that of sleep routines, for example you might avoid looking at an electronic screen a few hours before going to bed. Avoiding any caffeinated drinks after 2 or 3pm is also a good idea, leaving at least 8-10 hours before going to bed. Keeping your bedroom cool is also supposed to be effective as is having a wind-down routine which might include dimming lights and reading.

Finally there are methods such as those used by the US marines which were developed because of the importance of getting a good night's sleep. Here's a good description of the kind of thing that is involved, and no doubt variations on this are also good. Sweet dreams!

Vimeo Closing Its Video On Demand

Unfortunately Vimeo is closing its Video On Demand service in November, so I'll no longer be offering any titles through them. Those who have purchased one of my videos on this platform will be able get access to the materials at Tiger Chess by sending me their receipts, these are available here when you are logged onto your Vimeo account.

Sam's Youtube Chanel

My son Sam runs a Youtube channel in which he streams his live games on chess.com. This shows considerably more bravery than I'm able to muster, so please check it out and subscribe. I think he's doing a nice job.

Upcoming Events

This is how things look right now having withdrawn my availability for the European Senior Team Championships. I might get invited to the English Senior Championships in October, in which case I will probably play:

August 1-9: British Championships, Coventry, UK
I've accepted an invitation to this one (the Championship itself) and look forward to playing.

August 21-23: Manchester Summer Congress, Bolton UK
This is a long standing event which is now run in a nice venue and with good prizes. Details can be found here.

September 25-27: Hull 4NCL
The 4NCL Congresses are always well run, so I'll be playing in this one. Details can be found here.

October 23-25: Scarborough Congress
I'm intending to play in this one if I can. Details are here.

October 26-31: English Senior Championships, Peterborough
This is also up in the air unless and until I get invited. Details can be found here. 

Tiger Chess Themed Training Tournaments are organized on a weekly basis at Lichess, featuring selected opening variations. You can check out what's coming up here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

FRENCH DEFENCE, HOW TO, OPENINGS, TRAINING

HOW TO COPY AN EXPERT

One of the best ways to accelerate the development of an opening repertoire is to copy someone else's; just find a player whose games you like and play what they play. Clearly you won't have their deep knowledge, but the choices themselves can be very instructive and would otherwise require a lot of work. Once you're on board you should be able to fill in any knowledge gaps over time.

Who are the best players to emulate? I would suggest choosing players with a relatively narrow repertoire who clearly do their homework. A good example would be Matthius Bluebaum in the French Defence (1.e4 e6), he's clearly an outstanding specialist who works deeply on the variations he chooses. As he also plays online a lot you will be able to find a lot of his games in the French in the databases.

What if your model plays several different openings and several different lines within their most common choice? In this case you should play what they play most often, as long as there are also recent games. A major issue for specialists is that a lack of mobility can make them easier to prepare for. Accordingly they have to vary a bit, but this won't be the case at amateur level.

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off my French Defence course using the code 'july3to11'. It features over 11 hours of video which explain key games and ideas plus a pgn (portable game notation) file of recommended variations that can be built upon, extended and important into software such as Chess Position Trainer. The 88 games presented are also included in pgn format, but without annotations.

Last week's discount was 40% off buying my Endgame Mastery series using the code 'june26july4', and this is still valid until tomorrow. The endgame is one of the most important aspects of chess, though it tends to be neglected at club level. In this series of videos Nigel shows how you can improve your endgame play and use this stage of the game to notch up valuable points.

Sam's Youtube Chanel

My son Sam runs a Youtube channel in which he streams his live games on chess.com. This shows considerably more bravery than I'm able to muster, so please check it out and subscribe, I think he's doing a nice job.

Upcoming Events

This is how things look right now having withdrawn my availability for the European Senior Team Championships. I might get invited to the English Senior Championships in October, in which case I will probably play:

July 7-12: South Wales International, Bridgend, Wales
I've accepted an invitation to this event and look forward to playing! 

August 1-9: British Championships, Coventry, UK
I've accepted an invitation to this one (the Championship itself) and look forward to playing.

August 21-23: Manchester Summer Congress, Bolton UK
This is a long standing event which is now run in a nice venue and with good prizes. Details can be found here.

September 25-27: Hull 4NCL
The 4NCL Congresses are always well run, so I'll be playing in this one. Details can be found here.

October 23-25: Scarborough Congress
I'm intending to play in this one if I can. Details are here.

October 26-31: English Senior Championships, Peterborough
This is also up in the air unless and until I get invited. Details can be found here. 

Tiger Chess Themed Training Tournaments are organized on a weekly basis at Lichess, featuring selected opening variations. You can check out what's coming up here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

CHESS SOFTWARE, OPENINGS, PSYCHOLOGY, TOURNAMENTS

POSITIONS FOR ENGINES ONLY

There's a growing awareness that it's not at all simple for humans to follow computer recommendations, both in the openings and elsewhere. The massive calculating power of engines means that they can find brilliant moves that make little sense to humans, and then follow them up with more brilliant but strange moves. Eventually it becomes clear that the concept has worked but only an engine can make it work.

This is the problem with many engine driven openings books and courses, engines find improvements everywhere but with moves that make no sense to humans. Let's say that you remember a brilliant new move out of the hundreds of brilliant new moves suggested. Will you then remember the follow-up, potentially consisting of another ten brilliant moves that you couldn't possibly work out on your own. My contention is that this will be difficult if not impossible.

What is the solution? We certainly shouldn't abandon engines because we can't keep up with them, but we can manage how we use them. I suggest investing heavily in understanding the logic behind the moves but then have the engine run in the background. If the engine improvements make sense then great, if they don't make sense then either study the position until they do or go with the option that makes sense to you. Sometimes you may find that an entire line depends on brilliant engine moves and in this case I personally would be likely to look elsewhere.

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off Surviving Computerized Opening Preparation using the code 'june19to27'. With the advent of databases and high powered engines, computerized chess opening preparation has become a menace to players at every level of competition. Drawing on his extensive experience as a player and coach, Nigel shows different ways in which the effects can be mitigated so that players can just sit down and play a chess game.

Last week's discount was 40% off buying the Building an Opening Repertoire course with the code 'june12to20' on checkout, and this is still available until close of play tomorrow. The lines presented here (French and Queen's Gambit Declined as Black, 1.d4 followed by 2.Nf3 and 3.e3 as White) are easy to learn and remember. There are no elaborate computer generated variations, just plans and ideas.

Sam's Youtube Chanel

My son Sam has started a Youtube channel in which he streams his live games on chess.com. This shows considerably more bravery than I'm able to muster, so please check it out and give him a like, I think he's doing a nice job.

Upcoming Events

This is how things look right now having withdrawn my availability for the European Senior Team Championships. I might get invited to the English Senior Championships in October, in which case I will probably play:

July 7-12: South Wales International, Bridgend, Wales
I've accepted an invitation to this event and look forward to playing! 

August 1-9: British Championships, Coventry, UK
I've accepted an invitation to this one (the Championship itself) and look forward to playing.

September 25-27: Hull 4NCL
The 4NCL Congresses are always well run, so I'll be playing in this one. Details can be found here.

October 23-25: Scarborough Congress
I'm intending to play in this one if I can. Details are here.

October 26-31: English Senior Championships, Peterborough
This is also up in the air unless and until I get invited. Details can be found here. 

Tiger Chess Themed Training Tournaments are organized on a weekly basis at Lichess, featuring selected opening variations. You can check out what's coming up here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

OPENINGS, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

SHOULD YOU PLAY THE MAIN LINES?

Quality Chess, one of the leading chess publishing companies, started putting this question and answer on the front of their books: "Tired of bad positions? Try the main lines!" There's certainly a case for playing logical and well motivated moves rather than obscure and dubious ones, and in general these moves will be the main lines. Yet this is not always the case and in these days of high powered engines some lines that were formerly considered good have been brought into question. At the same time many players have sought fresh pastures with less critical developing moves, a prime example being the Jobava London with 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bf4.

The opening recommendations I make are based on slightly different criteria. I think there should a basic level of soundness, clear plans and not be reliant on a knowledge of computer generated analysis. Good examples can be found in my flagship Building an Opening Repertoire course, which gives the French and Queen's Gambit Declined as Black and the Colle System (1.d4 followed by 2.Nf3 and 3.e3) with White. From this basis players can build a more elaborate repertoire but with a solid foundation in certain typical plans and ideas.

Is there any place for gambits? Yes or course! Yet I see gambits as being more in the chess for fun category, in which players are not really trying to improve but rather have exhilarating games. I wrote my Gambiteer books for Everyman with this in mind and it's a perfectly valid approach. At the same time I don't believe this is a great way for someone to build up their chess, especially if any repairs use up the time which would be better spent on the endgame.

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off buying the Building an Opening Repertoire course, just use the code 'june12to20' on checkout. The lines presented here (French and Queen's Gambit Declined as Black, 1.d4 followed by 2.Nf3 and 3.e3 as White) are easy to learn and remember. There are no elaborate computer generated variations, just plans and ideas.

Last week's discount was 40% off buying Mastering Key Pawn Structures: Blocked Positions using the code 'june5to13', and this is still valid until tomorrow. Mastering key pawn structures is the most effective way to learn positional play. This video series will consider positions in which the centre is blocked and play is generally conducted on the flanks.

Sam's Youtube Chanel

My son Sam has started a Youtube channel in which he streams his live games on chess.com. This shows considerably more bravery than I'm able to muster, so please check it out and give him a like, I think he's doing a nice job.

Upcoming Events

This is how things look right now having withdrawn my availability for the European Senior Team Championships. I might get invited to the English Senior Championships in October, in which case I will probably play:

July 7-12: South Wales International, Bridgend, Wales
I've accepted an invitation to this event and look forward to playing! 

August 1-9: British Championships, Coventry, UK
I've accepted an invitation to this one (the Championship itself) and look forward to playing.

September 25-27: Hull 4NCL
The 4NCL Congresses are always well run, so I'll be playing in this one. Details can be found here.

October 23-25: Scarborough Congress
I'm intending to play in this one if I can. Details are here.

October 26-31: English Senior Championships, Peterborough
This is also up in the air unless and until I get invited. Details can be found here. 

Tiger Chess Themed Training Tournaments are organized on a weekly basis at Lichess, featuring selected opening variations. You can check out what's coming up here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

OPENINGS, PATTERN RECOGNITION, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

A SEPARATE REPERTOIRE FOR BLITZ?

This week's Chess Questions Answered I looked at whether or not someone should have a separate repertoire for blitz and rapidplay games. I think it depends on whether you use blitz for training purposes, as I do, or enter online events in the hope of winning money. If you're playing for training purposes then you should use the same openings you intend to play in standard games, and by doing so get some invaluable experience. If you're trying to win money the dynamics are quite different, and in this case it can make sense to have a separate repertoire.

A few years back I spoke to the young Italian GM Luca Moroni who told me that he reserved the Modern Defence (1...g6 against anything) for his online games. I checked them out and found that he had some interesting and noteworthy ideas, coming close to beating Magnus Carlsen with Black in one Titled Tuesday encounter. The Modern Defence is just one example of a blitz repertoire for Black, in fact you can play all sorts of stuff that has a slightly shady reputation.

What's the problem with playing your standard time limit repertoire in blitz? Essentially you are giving your opponents valuable information which they might be able to capitalize on with sufficient time to prepare. This is not a problem if you play under a pseudonym, but many titled players do not have this opportunity if they want to enter events such as the Titled Tuesday tournaments. In this case it makes perfect sense to have a separate repertoire, though even here there's a case for using such tournaments as additional training and reinforcement.

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off buying Mastering Key Pawn Structures: Blocked Positions using the code 'june5to13'. Mastering key pawn structures is the most effective way to learn positional play. This video series will consider positions in which the centre is blocked and play is generally conducted on the flanks.

Last week's discount was 40% off my series on Crafting Your Own Opening Repertoire using the code 'may29june6', and this is still valid until tomorrow. Developing an opening repertoire is a key aspect of any player's development, and the most effective way to do this is to craft your own. This video series demonstrates how to go about this, covering opening selection, choosing sources and assembling your lines.

Sam's Youtube Chanel

My son Sam has started a Youtube channel in which he streams his live games on chess.com. This shows considerably more bravery than I'm able to muster, so please check it out and give him a like, I think he's doing a nice job.

Upcoming Events

This is how things look right now having withdrawn my availability for the European Senior Team Championships. I might get invited to the English Senior Championships in October, in which case I will probably play:

July 7-12: South Wales International, Bridgend, Wales
I've accepted an invitation to this event and look forward to playing! 

August 1-9: British Championships, Coventry, UK
I've accepted an invitation to this one (the Championship itself) and look forward to playing.

September 25-27: Hull 4NCL
The 4NCL Congresses are always well run, so I'll be playing in this one. Details can be found here.

October 23-25: Scarborough Congress
I'm intending to play in this one if I can. Details are here.

October 26-31: English Senior Championships, Peterborough
This is also up in the air unless and until I get invited. Details can be found here. 

Tiger Chess Themed Training Tournaments are organized on a weekly basis at Lichess, featuring selected opening variations. You can check out what's coming up here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel