Category Archives: The Sicilian Defence

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

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: 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 Club Championship 2010-11: Stimpson – Mansson

It doesn’t now like I shall be able to complete all my club championship games, although I did manage to play another just after the Quickplay Knockout Final last night.

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

Horsham Club Quickplay Knockout 2010-11: Mansson – Forster

I played the final of the Horsham Chess Club quickplay knockout last night against Mike Forster, and I emerged victorious 1.5-0.5.

Posted in Club Quickplay Knockout, Games, Opening Analysis, Reports, The French Defence, The Sicilian Defence | Leave a comment

Horsham Club Championship 2010-11: Cannon – Mansson

My club championship game against John Cannon last Tuesday was a low key affair, ending in a draw after 23 moves. I had some early chances to put the pressure on White, but didn’t take them. In fact, when the … Continue reading

Posted in Club Championship, Games, Opening Analysis, Reports, The Sicilian Defence | 1 Comment

Horsham Club Quickplay Knockout 2010-11: Mansson – Higgs

Last night I played a double header against Anthony Higgs, combining our Quickplay Knockout match and Horsham Club Championship game.

Posted in Club Quickplay Knockout, Games, Opening Analysis, Philidor's Defence, Reports, The Sicilian Defence, The Vienna Game | 1 Comment

Mid-Sussex League Knockout 2010-11: Horsham 1 – St Francis & Haywards Heath

Horsham have won the Mid-Sussex League Knockout once again! The two teams turned out to be pretty evenly matched on grading, so 3.5 was the winning margin for both sides. After Horsham went 2-0 up, the match always looked to … Continue reading

Posted in Games, Mid-Sussex League, Opening Analysis, Reports, The Sicilian Defence | Leave a comment

4NCL Division 3 2010-11: e2e4.org.uk 2 – Spirit of Atticus

Round 11 saw the e2e4.org.uk second team fell agonisingly short of promotion, as we were only able to draw with Spirit of Atticus. There were only two decisive games in the match; James Jackson won for e2e4.org.uk, but I lost … Continue reading

Posted in 4NCL, Games, Opening Analysis, Reports, The Sicilian Defence | 1 Comment