My last round game at Haarlem against the Dutch GM Erik van den Doel was far and away my best effort of the tournament. It was played on board 1 when Erik, IM Quinten Ducarmon and I were tied in 1st place with 4,5/5.   Van den Doel,Erik – Sadler,Matthew D Haarlem Nova College 03.07.2016 …

One of my favourite themes is that of the side with too few pieces to cover its (too large) territory. I first came across it in a book I’ve mentioned many times already in this blog: “Best Play: A New Method for Discovering the Strongest Move” by Alexander Shashin. Shashin turns the conventional wisdom of …

As a very young chess player, my ECF grade (or BCF grade as it was then) was a matter of enormous pride. I still remember the thrill of receiving a grading list through the post and the enormous disappointment of a grade lower than I had expected! (it happened twice) Bizarrely enough I still remember …

My second tournament outing of 2016 was the ROC Nova College Open in Haarlem. It was the first weekend tournament I competed in after returning to chess in 2010 and has become a permanent fixture in my calendar due to the beautiful town, the lovely venue (the best conditions I’ve played in) and last but …

On my way back from a family visit in France, I spent a couple of days in Paris. Mainly for museums, but also for my yearly visit to the “Jardin de Luxembourg”. The “Jardin de Luxembourg” is one of Paris’ many beautiful parks in which a variety of activities take place:   There’s tennis…   …