my latest books
"Game Changer" won the ECF Book of the Year 2019 prize
"Chess for Life" won the ECF Book of the Year 2016 prize
Padevsky’s almost brilliant Scotch!
Another Steve Giddins book I’ve been getting into is the Best Games collection of Russian Grandmaster Ratmir Kholmov (1925-2006). Best known in the West for convincingly beating Bobby Fischer at Havana 1965 on the Black side of a Ruy Lopez, Kholmov is one of many extremely strong Russian players who – for whatever reason – read more…
Istvan Bilek’s missed brilliancy against Tal
A few months ago, my friend and former coach Steve Giddins decided to sell the greater part of his fantastic chess book collection. My tiny flat is already creaking under the weight of the review copies I receive every month from New in Chess, but I purchased the maximum I could fit in! One excellent 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 my passions. I review chess books in a regular column for New in Chess magazine and have written 7 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