Blast from the Past: University Team Games

Posted on August 29, 2011 by James Mansson

When I started attending Durham University in 1992, I joined the Chess Club straight away, and played for the First Team for all of my three years there. The university entered a couple of teams in the local league, where the opposition I faced was of a much higher standard to that in school chess. Overall I played 39 games and scored +21=8-10 (64%). Continue reading →

Posted in Blast from the Past, Games, Opening Analysis, The Gruenfeld Defence, The King's Indian Defence, The Queen's Indian Defence, The Sicilian Defence, The Torre Attack | Leave a comment

Blast from the Past: Islington Tournaments

Posted on August 22, 2011 by James Mansson

The first non-junior individual tournament I entered was the annual event at Islington in 1990. I returned there a couple more times, in 1992 and 1995. Playing in such adult events was an important part of my development as a chess player, as it was there that I first encountered consistently strong opposition. Continue reading →

Posted in Blast from the Past, Games, Opening Analysis, The Gruenfeld Defence, The King's Indian Defence, The Pirc Defence, The Semi-Slav Defence, The Sicilian Defence | Leave a comment

Blast from the Past: Junior Tournaments

Posted on August 18, 2011 by James Mansson

As mentioned in my previous post (and the first in this series) most of the opponents I faced when playing for my school were weak players. As a result, I didn’t learn a great deal from these games, as not only did my opponents often gift me the win, but I was also able to get away with various mistakes, even some crude blunders. Where I really started to learn how to play chess properly was in Junior Tournaments, where the opposition was generally of a much higher standard. I have the master in charge of chess, Mr. Thorne, to thank for giving me and other pupils who attended the Royal Grammar School, Guildford the opportunity to play in proper events, since he not only encouraged us to enter, but also helped organise transport to and from them. In addition, he and others organised an annual junior tournament at the school, which was of equal strength to the Surrey Junior Championship, and equally prestigious. Continue reading →

Posted in Blast from the Past, Games, Opening Analysis, The Blumenfeld Gambit, The Gruenfeld Defence, The Modern Defence, The Queen’s Gambit Declined, The Sicilian Defence | Leave a comment

Blast from the Past: School Team Games

Posted on August 16, 2011 by James Mansson

This post is the first in a series where I look back over some of the 1000+ games I have played in competitive tournaments and matches over the years. I am going to start with a look at some of the games I played for the school team during the period 1988-92, while I was at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford. Continue reading →

Posted in Blast from the Past, Games, Opening Analysis, The King's Indian Defence, The Queen’s Gambit Declined | 2 Comments

Why 2 Nf3 and 3 d4 is White’s Main Line against the Sicilian

Posted on August 9, 2011 by James Mansson

When I started playing chess seriously and studying the opening, the books I consulted were generally good at showing what were (or had been) the main lines of play. However, in a number of instances, they didn’t give any explanation as to why certain obvious approaches were not employed. One opening where this was especially evident was the Sicilian, which I took up for Black early on and have played pretty consistently since then. Continue reading →

Posted in Opening Analysis, The Sicilian Defence | Leave a comment

1 Nf3 repertoire: Other Black Defences

Posted on July 16, 2011 by James Mansson

In this post I intended to wrap up my series on constructing a repertoire based on 1 Nf3 by looking at the Black systems based on moves other than 1…d5, 1…Nf6 and 1…c5. Continue reading →

Visit the Bibliography for recommended reading relating to the 1 Nf3 Repertoire.
Posted in 1 Nf3 Repertoire, Opening Analysis, The Dutch Defence, The Modern Defence | 2 Comments

1 Nf3 repertoire: The Maroczy Bind

Posted on July 16, 2011 by James Mansson

The basic position of the Maroczy Bind arises after 1 Nf3 c5 2 c4 g6 3 e4 Nc6 4 d4 cxd4 5 Nxd4, although there are other move orders that reach both this and later positions within the system. In most opening books it is classified as a line of the Sicilian Defence, arising after 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 g6 5 c4, although it is perhaps just as likely to arise after 1 c4 or 1 Nf3. Continue reading →

Visit the Bibliography for recommended reading relating to the 1 Nf3 Repertoire.
Posted in 1 Nf3 Repertoire, Opening Analysis, The Sicilian Defence, The Symmetrical English | 1 Comment

Horsham Chess Club Winners 2010-11 Season

Posted on July 15, 2011 by James Mansson

Having just received the official list from Ian Comley, our club secretary, I would like to record the various winners at Horsham this year. They are:

  • The Rook (Club Championship 1st Division): Phil Stimpson
  • The Bishop (Club Championship 2nd Division): Chris Heath
  • The Knight (Club Championship 3rd Division): Roger Waddingham
  • The Lightning Tournament: Anthony Higgs
  • The Quickplay King: James Mansson
  • The Quickplay Plate: Brian Donnelly
  • The Knockout: Phil Stimpson
  • The Knockout Plate: Paul Taylor
  • The Knight (Best Match Score): Iain Climie (4.5/5 = 90%)
  • The Peter Alford Cup (Juniors): Matthew Forster

Congratulations to everyone who won something, and commiserations to those who didn’t (and better luck next year).

Posted in Reports | Leave a comment

Horsham Club Championship 2010-11: Mansson – Harbott

Posted on July 13, 2011 by James Mansson

The season ended on a disappointing note for me on Tuesday, as I lost my last game in the club championship from a winning position. Peter played the opening rather rashly, but I didn’t analyse the position carefully enough, and ended up sacrificing several pieces for an insufficient attack. Continue reading →

Posted in Club Championship, Games, Opening Analysis, Reports, The Petroff Defence | Leave a comment

1 Nf3 repertoire: The Double Fianchetto System

Posted on July 9, 2011 by James Mansson

The Double Fianchetto System is similar to the Hedgehog System in its basic philosophy of establishing a solid set-up, with the potential to counter-attack should White over-extend. The basic position arises after 1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 b6 3 g3 Bb7 4 Bg2 c5 5 0-0 g6, although as with the Hedgehog, there are various different routes to that position. Although, as noted, this line has similarities to the Hedgehog, there are a couple of crucial differences, based on Black choosing to develop his king’s bishop with …g6 and …Bg7, rather than …e6 and …Be7. These can be summarised as:

  • The bishop is more active on g7 as opposed to e7.
  • The d5 square is weaker, and White can offer safely move a knight there, as …e6 is then less attractive both because Black has played ….g6, and also because as the bishop is on g7, it is less well placed to defend the d6 pawn.

These differences give the line its distinctive character. Continue reading →

Visit the Bibliography for recommended reading relating to the 1 Nf3 Repertoire.
Posted in 1 Nf3 Repertoire, Opening Analysis, The Symmetrical English | 1 Comment