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The pros and cons of being a professional chess player.

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 The pros and cons of being a professional chess player. I first filmed this as a video for my YouTube channel. To he honest I never really wanted to do YouTube, because I didn't like the idea of sharing my life with others. But financial issues forced this change of direction. That is the reality of being a chess professional now, the money is very bad. So in this post I wanted to talk a bit about the pros and cons of being a professional chess player. The pros: 1. You get to set your own time. You have total freedom, more or less. You can pick and choose whether or not to play tournaments. You can sit at home and create books or courses. You can coach people online. 2. You get to travel to places both in your own country (In my case England) and abroad, that you might not have got to see if you were stuck behind a desk for 40 weeks of the year, as you would be in a typical job. 3. If you play at a high enough level, you get to compete against some of the best players in the world...
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We Were All Wrong.

 We Were All Wrong. About piece values and how much each piece is worth. We were all taught these values when we were children, or when we first learned the game. Because it has now revealed to be a guess. According to Alpha Zero in a paper published in 2020, the pieces in classical chess are worth as follows: Pawn = 1 Knight = 3.05 Bishop = 3.33 Rook =5.63 Queen =9.5 So the whole Bishop worth 3, Knight worth 3, Rook worth 5 etc was guessing but it was good guessing and not far off, if the computer evaluation is anything to go by. Clearly a lot depends on the situation on the board. A bishop flourishes in an open position. They are mobile and can cover more territory than knights. Knights by contrast are fascinating pieces, for me they are the most interesting chess pieces of all. There is something mysterious about them, the way they can jump over other pieces. But the data is clear now. Whatever your preference, it is clear that bishops are just better, if admittedly not by a hug...
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Was Michael Corleone based partly on Adolf Hitler?

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 When we consider The Godfather films, it is important to understand the context. The writer Mario Puzo fought against the Germans in the second world war. In that sense Michael Corleone mirrors his own experience, as that character has come back from fighting for the allies, at the start of the film. He seems an innocent figure. But does his subsequent journey into darkness shadow that of Adolf Hitler, and does the writer leave subtle hints along the way to suggest as much? Not that Puzo himself or Coppola have ever implied or said that this is the case. This is entirely my theory, and based on shaky evidence I must admit:  In the first film, the main baddie is called Barzini. You can get Nazi from his name.  In the second film, the main baddie is called Hyman Roth, and he's Jewish, and just as Jew's are the main target of Hitler's ire and hatred, Roth becomes a focal figure of hate for Michael. Roth betrays Michael early in the film, and Michael eventually gives the ord...
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 Endgames from the FIDE Grand Swiss. Developments at the FIDE Grand Swiss currently taking place in Uzbekistan, show once again that knowledge of the endgame is so important if you want to make progress in chess. White thought for 16 minutes here, which at least shows that he realized the importance of the decision, but still went wrong with Bxf6?? When Bc1! which have enabled him to hold. Which just goes to show that however strong you are, calculating these endgames can be extremely difficult, especially when under the pressure of ticking clock and determined opponent. The mistake in Shankland-Firouzja was no less significant. Shankland went wrong here with bxa5?? which lost to ... bx5 Kd4 Kf3! when presumably what the American overlooked, that when black queens on h1, it will come with check.  Instead of taking on a5, then Ke2! holds. One of the main points if Ke2! ... Ke4 b5! ... d4 cxd4 ... Kxd4 Kf3! and if the black king goes to take the a-pawn, then the white king will ...
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Is it time to adjust my expectations as a professional chess player?

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The beautiful city of Edinburgh, one of the top tourist destinations in the world.  The Scottish chess championships are taking place and I really should be part of it. I agreed conditions with the organisers; admittedly they weren't great conditions, as the budget was limited, but I thought they were going to be enough to cover the accommodation at least. Imagine my shock and disdain when I tried to book a hotel last week and found out that the cheapest price for eight nights was north of £900. That's because the city of Dunfermline, where the tournament is taking place, is fairly close to Edinburgh and the whole area becomes extremely popular during the summer months. At least that was what I assumed was to blame for the very high prices. There were other options; I could have stayed for six nights, rather than eight. I could have stayed outside of Dunfermline and commuted in everyday. But none of them seemed particular enticing. I could have also stayed in an Airbnb, even th...
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                                                          Is there a danger we lose our top chess players?                                                                          Irina Krush- got her just reward. There was an interesting announcement made today when Irina Krush was declared winner of the Cairns Chess Queens award, which came with a cheque for $100,000. Rather eye-watering, don't you think? This is probably more prize money than I've won over my entire career. But what it reminds everyone of is that the United States of America (and specifically St Louis chess club, backed by the financial power of Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield) remain one of the he...
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Is two games a day good or bad?

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  The economic realities of the chess world now make two rounds a day tournaments commonplace. Magnus Carlsen is not happy with the level of preparation needed to take part in a world championship match, if you want to have a chance of winning it. He suggested that one possible solution would be to use a quicker time control and have two games a day. This would at least negate some of the advantages of excessive preparation, thus turning the battle against the workhorses. In the time I have spent as a chess professional (now over 25 years!) tournaments with multiple rounds in one day have become more and more commonplace. Weekend tournaments that began on friday would obviously have them, and that was accepted. But in FIDE rated international events it was rare, until Sean Hewitt decided to follow the American model of multiple rounds. Partly that was compelled by economic necessity as putting up titled players for nine rounds, as well as the cost of hiring the venue and other issu...
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