Today I took Sam to the Birmingham and District Chess League Rapid Play. He had an OK tournament, which was more or less around his current grade, but he clearly was not at his best. I had kind of expected this as he had a tough week at his sixth form college. Such matters undermine your focus even if you are not consciously aware of it. This is why one of a chess player's primary goals should be to have a clear head and for this reason it is often better not to over prepare and clear away possible distractions.
This year's Birmingham Rapid Play also featured an 8 player all-play-all invitational tournament in which three Grandmasters (Keith Arkell, Mark Hebden and Matthew Turner), one International Master (Ameet Ghasi) and four aspiring youngsters took part. As the cross table shows, the youngsters had a tough learning experience though Louise Head finished well after beating Ghasi and two of the other aspirants.
As usual Sam and I enjoyed hanging out with the other players, Sam pictured here with an eminent group:
As always this tournament was well organized and there was a good turnout in terms of numbers. Probably we will be back next year and perhaps I might get to play.
Nigel Davies
