English Chess Forum

This short post outlines one successful approach to reducing losses in ECF standard games. I have applied it in my 22 ECF rated standard games from June to November 2025 scoring Won 5 Drawn 15 and Lost 2 against a median opponent grade of 1974. This approach merges, a selection of, ideas on chess bl...

Given the current voting figures above, it looks like Chris will finish second to Robert Stern, the lawyer,

However maybe Chris on the Governance Committee would be a "good thing" for the ECF ?!

MjMcCready,


There often are some nuanced (sometimes useful rules of thumb) explanations about what is understood about a specific position through calculations and theory : not just that the best moves work but also why others don't .

Regards

This is a genuinely great book. John Nunn “ I hope that this book of endgame exercises will encourage readers to put their brains in high gear to test themselves and to learn about the ending”. The exercises are graded 1 star (easiest ) to five stars (hardest) . As a c2000 player I didn’t get beyond...

NIck,

CU = Chess Union. You may find it hard to believe but Surrey and Middlesex are SCCU neighbours.

Thanks to all who made this possible. I enjoyed playing in spite of awful results but no disconnects. Whatever the situation with OTB chess in 20-21 season , I hope there will be online championships structured on European football lines in 20-21 rather than CU lines . Have there been any announceme...

"How much impact can a well-written book on a poor choice of opening have? " IMHO I am aware of very little chess literature on avoiding or mitigating a poor choice of opening: for those players with specific opponents which mean choices are practical/sensible. Simon Webb's comments in the "How to t...

Justin,

Thanks very much for the link to your criticisms and to the 4NCL Online posts on this topic. The Holowczak article in "Chess" was posted on the 4NCL website and provoked much interesting discussion there over recent weeks .

D'oh! seems an appropriate final word from me.

I have just read Alex Holowczak's "Anti-Cheating in Online Chess" . Broadly I think it is a good read and a praiseworthy contribution to an important issue. However my worldview is that of only a player not an arbiter or official in addition. Among many other matters of interest to others, It raises...

D'oh! July grades are out!

Given that grading is arguably the most valued ECF service to ordinary club members , the lack of ECF communication is very strange. Will there be a July list around the end of next week? What are the current plans for monthly 4 digit grades? I trust Brian Valentine and others are well even with fac...

I do wish this initiative well : online chess may well be a great opportunity for chess. Indeed I hoped to play for a Middlesex team. My recent internet chess experience of losing repeatedly and quickly in the opening (after 1. b3 which I have been playing for 40 years) is that the "live" use of eng...

I am slowly reading Danny King's excellent new NIC book On Sultan Khan. I understand from page 367 that Vishy Anand has a similar book project nearing completion. I gather Danny King has raised the question of a Fide posthumous GM title for Sultan Khan. Maybe the good and the great such as ECF offic...

Thanks David ( and Roger). On , Surrey born, Napier Wiki says "Napier called a game he lost to reigning World Champion Emanuel Lasker at Cambridge Springs 1904 the best of his career. The game showed great tactical skill by both players. Napier was particularly impressed by how Lasker kept his compo...

Capablanca v Yates, Barcelona 1929, is the only loss included the collection of Yates' best games. The much maligned Reinfeld described this, inclusion of a loss in a best games collection, as an unusual example. I guess such games are of exceptionally high quality. Hence are their other such exampl...