Author Archives: James Mansson

Go Slow at the Champion’s Simul

We had a new person doing the honours at the “Champion’s Simul”, a recent addition to the Horsham Chess Club calendar. Held the week following the AGM, it sees the previous season’s club champion take on all comers from the … Continue reading

Posted in Champion's Simul, Games, Opening Analysis, Reports, The Sicilian Defence | 2 Comments

Blast from the Past: Portsmouth 1992

One of my favourite events for many years was the tournament played at Portsmouth Grammar School every February. I first entered the event in 1992 in my last year at school, but I really made a habit of it from … Continue reading

Posted in Blast from the Past, Games, Miscellaneous Queen's Gambit, Opening Analysis, The French Defence, The Gruenfeld Defence, The King's Indian Defence, The Ruy Lopez, The Symmetrical English | Leave a comment

Blast from the Past: University Team Games

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 … 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

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 … 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

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 … 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

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 … 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

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 … Continue reading

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

1 Nf3 repertoire: Other Black Defences

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. Visit the Bibliography for recommended reading relating … Continue reading

Posted in 1 Nf3 Repertoire, Opening Analysis, The Dutch Defence, The Modern Defence | 2 Comments

1 Nf3 repertoire: The Maroczy Bind

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 … Continue reading

Posted in 1 Nf3 Repertoire, Opening Analysis, The Sicilian Defence, The Symmetrical English | 1 Comment

Horsham Chess Club Winners 2010-11 Season

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): … Continue reading

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