A closer look at the people who shape our club.
1. How did you get into chess?
I learned how to play aged about ten, largely self-taught from books. After a few years I
stopped playing entirely as adolescence hit. Between life, medical school and work, I then
had a twenty-year hiatus. I rediscovered chess when my (now) wife bought me a new set
from Lincoln Christmas Market in 2019, and a well-timed pandemic gave me the space to fall
in love with the game all over again.
2. How would you describe your playing style?
I tend to play fairly straightforward, active, principled chess. I like dynamic and unbalanced
positions and try to engineer imbalances wherever I can. I’m also a sucker for an opening
with a cool-sounding name. Apocalypse Attack, anyone?
3. Which chess piece is your favourite, and why?
Endgame king. He spends 40-odd moves hiding in the corner, then wakes up and goes full
John Wick. What a guy.
4. What’s something you’d like to achieve in chess, big or small?
Honestly, a lifetime of gradual improvement and enjoyment will do me just fine. I’d also like
to get my daughter into chess—she’s nearly two, so it can’t be too far away. I’d also like to
get around to reading all of the chess books I’ve bought.
5. What’s your biggest pet-hate at the board or in the club?
Children who are already better than me. It’s deeply sobering.
6. What’s something non-chess about you that might surprise the club?
I’ve taken a pretty winding route to living in Stonehaven, via Staffordshire, Birmingham, New
York, Shropshire, Canterbury in New Zealand and Derbyshire. I’m currently learning to speak
Welsh, I obsessively collect notebooks and pens, and I’m a busy dad to an even-busier
toddler!