Essays

 Obviously, this blog exists first and foremost as somewhere for me to post my games. But from time to time, perhaps on a whim, perhaps because of a shortage of games, I've posted about other things. The indexing project was starting to fall into abeyance, so here they all are collected for ease of reference.

 Index created 24th December 2013. Last updated 22nd August 2018.

 Hello World! (October 2011) - My very first post - a few (out-of-date) words about me, and the envisaged format of what I was about to start writing.

When Idleness Strikes (July 2012) - The 2011-12 season in review. Numerophobics are advised to look away now.

Grim Grading (July 2012) - Gloomy reflections on the injustice of the grading system, after falling one point short of my 150 target.

Twelve of the Best (December 2012) - My pick of the top 12 master games of the year.

Stat Attack Part I (January 2013) - Reflections on the first half of the 2012-13 season, and what happens when an Excel lover is also a humanities student.

January Grades (January 2013) - Barely-concealed smugness at reaching the 160s, and highlighting another ECF blunder.

The Lighter Side of Chess (May 2013) - Celebrating the end of exams with a bit of comedy.

Stat Attack Part II (July 2013) - With even more spare time than I had in January, and a tougher half-season to think about, this is a yet longer effort.

July Grades (July 2013) - More whinging at the ECF's insistence on tinkering with things. This time, the grading database.

The King is Dead, Long Live the King (November 2013) - Thoughts on the Anand-Carlsen title match... the end of an era?

My Favourite Games of 2013 (December 2013) - The follow-up to Twelve of the Best, and proof that the Super-GMs are still club hackers at heart.

Tales From the Crypt (January 2014) - A rather shell-shocked try at understanding just what went wrong in the first half of 2013-14. A brief review in prose rather than numbers accompanied the final game of the half-season.

January Grades (January 2014) - I must confess that I wrote this post in 10 minutes before rushing out of the door for a seminar - the concision may be unsettling! Mentally I had already blocked out the previous 6 months and only wanted to look forwards.


Lessons from Easter 2014 (May 2014) - With another assault on the 170 citadel apparently crushed by a congress failure, I offer some ideas on why history repeats itself, before concluding that the best solution is usually the easiest one: don't play congresses.

Close But No Cigar (July 2014) - The second half of 2013-14 in some unusually positive numbers, and trying to explain how I could still be disappointed.

Future Directions (August 2014) - No numbers, no ridiculously specific maladies - just some lessons I drew from 2013-14 and how we can all make use of them.

Et tu, Bruté? (August 2014) - Casting my eagle eye over a close friend's first book, in my first book review. There are some positives but it's no holds barred...

Missed Shots from the British Championship (August 2014) - A small tactics exercise based on some accidents from the 2014 British Championship. It's amazing what strong players can miss!

My Favourite 2014 Master Games (December 2014) - It seems to have become a tradition. Apparently the GMs' play didn't get any more sophisticated in 2014... or maybe that was just my tastes?

Did You Know? (January 2015) - Excel's take on the first half of the 2014-15 season, hopefully in a more digestable format than normal!

Quiet Progress (January 2015) - The expanded 'second edition' of Future Directions, and a call to arms for any would-be bloggers out there.

How Do You Solve a Problem Like my Endings? (May 2015) - The start of my first 'improvement for all series', demonstrating that the first step to solving any problem involves Microsoft Excel.

Some Ideas on Time Management (June 2015) - Ten ways to avoid time trouble, or at least cope with it. If only it was so easy...

Learning and Unlearning (June 2015) - An explanation of the difference between knowing and understanding, masquerading as a review of Jonathan Hawkins's book Amateur to IM.

With a Little Help From Your Friends (June 2015) - You are not alone.

An End to Endings (July 2015) - The series ends with an introduction to rook and 4 vs. rook and 3, an ending of great practical importance which I haven't had once since writing this!

Edging Onwards (July 2015) - Looking back on a transitory grading period with cautious optimism despite the limited data.

British Championship 2015 (July-August 2015) - After writing a day-by-day review of the Championship, I concluded with some rather fiery thoughts on the format, which are interesting to look back on given how much has changed since.

2015's Best Master Games (December 2015) - Another year, another set of brutal attacks with a token positional game or two thrown in - you know the drill.

Not in Kansas Any More (March 2016) - The second half of 2015 in review (yes, in March...) It was taking me time to adapt to having a job, but it seems I wasn't too down about it and rightly so as things turned out.

British Championship 2016 (July-August 2016) - My second day-by-day review of the Championship was harder than the first, since I was also playing! But there was plenty of interesting chess as the king returned for the first time in five years and scraped home with 10/11.

Seeking Equilibrium (August 2016) - Reviewing the second half of 2015-16, as I started to get used to my new circumstances and returned to decent form.

Getting the Basics Right (November 2016) - The final e2e4 tournament was a breakthrough for me: an unprecedented 191 performance took my rating through the 1900 barrier. Here I try to explain why and outline my routine for major events.

My Favourite 2016 Games (December 2016) - You know how it works by now!

Liftoff (January 2017) - A rare burst of optimism as I looked back on the preceding half-year - but with good reason, as I started to get the results I felt I deserved.

What's Old is New (July 2017) - In the second half of the season I consolidated my breakthrough, but not much more than that. Excel highlights the return of some bad habits.

What Might Have Been (August 2017) - It will be hard to ever get over the triumph and tragedy of the 2017 Major Open, but I took heart from my play and drew some valuable psychological lessons.

The Masters at Play (December 2017) - Applying my essay crisis skills to the annual roundup of the top master games.

Whack-a-Mole (February 2018) - Whilst surveying the utter inconsistency of my statistical reviews, I start to wonder if six-month summaries are really that helpful.

Philosophers and Problem Solvers (June 2018) - My second 'improvement for all' series began with this post, setting out my way of categorising styles - and what you can do with it.

Pearls of Wisdom? (June 2018) - Thoughts on becoming a chess coach. It's about helping the student work independently, not showing off your own knowledge.

Who's Afraid of the Najdorf Sicilian? (July 2018) - Do you really need to know any theory to play 'the Rolls-Royce of chess openings'?

Highway to Hull (July 2018) - The second half of 2017-18 can only be described as a backwards step, but I prophetically argue that the reasons were of a short-term nature.

Analysing a Game (July 2018) - How I learn from my games - and why you should too.

Do Not Adjust Your Sets (August 2018) - Confronting the daunting task of explaining why I had a 2250 performance in the British Championship.