I’ve just come off a 4 week break from chess as I felt that I was just going through the motions rather than learning anything, but kept some correspondence games going to keep my eye in.

Since the weather has turned a bit warmer I’ve spent the last month doing some different circles - circles of the local countryside on my bike that is! It’s nice and flat around here as I live by the Severn Estuary (the strong winds compensate for the lack of hills however) and I’ve been putting in about 3 or 4 hours on the bike each week. The gain in fitness has been a great help to my chronic fatigue (at least physically - the mental side is still lacking) and I can now cycle up hills without getting out of breath, I have strength in the legs which I’ve not had since my teens. Cycling is like an anti-depressant, just it’s a bit more effort than popping a pill in your mouth!

There are some great views around here too which helps with the motivation, low traffic means I can concentrate on having fun - here is the view of the estuary at high tide from the M48 cycle path.

Now I’m back with renewed energy, a greater motivation and a hunger to make some more progress. I’ve got one month before the new season starts and I’m looking forward to it again.

If you feel it’s becoming an effort to get the chess board out, take a break!

Horfield Chess Club took the spoils in both the Bristol League Knockout Cup and the Minor Knockout Cup to round off a very successful season. The committee are busy looking back through the record books to see if two Division titles and two cup victories is the biggest single season haul of trophies in the club’s history.

Something of a Minor KO specialist, the narrow 3.5 - 2.5 win over Clevedon on 29th April gave Horfield their 3rd Minor KO trophy in 4 years!

> View the Minor Knockout Match Report

However, the big game was a week later when Horfield took on Clifton in the Knockout Final. Clifton had dropped only two points in the league all season and looked favourites for the cup, but Horfield held their nerve to win 4.5 - 3.5!

> View the Knockout Match Report
> Download PGN or CBV of the games

The Knockout Trophy has eluded Horfield since 2000 so it was great to get our hands on it again, but the one we really want is the Division 1 championship which we haven’t won since 2001 - maybe next season!

It’s the end of the 2007-08 season for me. There are still a couple of cup finals which Horfield Chess Club is involved in but my services won’t be required - not if we want to win!

It’s been a good season - 13 wins, 3 draws and 2 losses. I played up in Division 2 a few times when the B and C teams were short, but I spent most of my time playing for the D team in Division 5 on top board. Having joined the league as a late entry, I was required to organise all the D team fixtures (which was easier with some clubs than with others), and it was very satisfying to win Division 5 in the first season.

Even though the season is over, I’ve got a summer of study and practice planned - tactics, lots of games, strategy, looking over some master games, etc. It looks like my rating will head up towards mid-90s (ECF) when the new grades come out in August and I’m going to need to put some effort in if I want to hit triple figures next year as I only played a couple of games against players rated in the 100s this season and I lost both of them!

I started playing chess as a kid at about the age of 8 at the school lunch time club. It wasn’t serious, and we just played chess - no coaching or anything. I didn’t play much after the age of 11, and most of my time was spent playing cricket (I was good at that!). I was beating my Dad consistently and my only remaining opponent didn’t seem willing to play chess anymore (Dad was more of a Go player anyway!).

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Hi everyone!

This is the start of a long journey, from your average club patzer to wherever the world of chess takes me - hopefully onwards and upwards!

Along the way I’ll publish my thoughts, experiences, progress, some reviews and anything else I can think of.

I’ll start by updating you with the ’story so far’ in the near future…