my latest books
"Re-Engineering the Chess Classics"
Nominated for the 2023 Chess.com Book of the Year
"The Silicon Road to Chess Improvement"
"Game Changer" won the ECF Book of the Year 2019 and the FIDE Book of the Year 2019
Chess for Life on Tour! Swale Chess Club
Swale Chess Club on Thursday 7th July was the latest stop in our “Chess for Life” tour. While the German and French football teams battled for a place in the finals of the European Championship, more than 20 keen chess players gathered at the UKP Leisure Centre in Sittingbourne to discover the mysteries of Alekhine’s read more…
King, Rook and Pawn vs King and Rook – Part I
One of the eternal questions that practical players face is how to remember more than a couple of theoretical endings. Taking rook and pawn endings as an example, knowledge of the simplest positions such as Philidor’s defence in rook and pawn against rook… Philidor’s position 1…Rb6 2.d6 Rb1 3.Ke6 Re1+ …or read more…
World Championship Match 1929 – Games 9-25
The book that got me into Alekhine – Bogolyubow was a book of the match by Yates and Winter that appeared in 1930. If truth be told, I have a few doubts about the scale of Yates’ contribution to the book. Winter wrote a short biography of Bogolyubow and also the theoretical review of the read more…
A small world! IM Willy de Winter from Mexico
A few days ago, I went round to a neighbour to pick up a parcel that had been left there for me. I happened to mention that it was probably some chess books and was surprised when my neighbour said “Chess? Oh the father of a friend of mine was a good chess player. I read more…
"The secret of my success: with every move I force the opponent to think for themselves!"
- Alexander Alekhine
about
I am a Chess Grandmaster and writer, and one of England's top players. When I am not doing my job as an IT Consultant, I fill my free time with as much chess as possible
my work
Writing and discussing chess has always been one of my passions. I review chess books in a regular column for New in Chess magazine and have written 8 books myself. I also contribute to chess videos regularly.
contact me
I hope that you enjoy the site. I will enrich its content over time and would love to hear what you think. Let me know whether there are any topics you would like me to cover in my blog.
"How many moves do I consider when analysing? Only one, but it's always the best one!"
- Emanuel Lasker