A more typical win with the Dutch defence.

March 16, 2026 by mccreadyandchess

I’ve always said I can play chess well once every twenty or thirty years or so, as those from my beloved Bedfordshire can testify and those in my local boozer too.. Here’s not an example however, or is it…perhaps the interpretation of games is as multifarious as history is? Well I think I played well in this game because I didn’t get thrashed as per usual. If you play without a plan and leave your pieces uncoordinated, the Dutch defence can finish you off in no time at all. Falsehood?Watch the video if you don’t believe me. It would be more instructive to show games with those who play against that defence and really know their stuff, so I asked chess.com if they could make that possible for me but the answer I got was ‘p*ss off English pig dog’. But if it does happen, whatever decade that may be, I will post the games(providing my play is not rubbish as usual). I should point out that chess players who are not handsome usually lose to ones that are except me usually but this game isn’t about that. It’s about me playing well above my FIDE rating, which is only 2 at the moment!

NB If you liked the game you are welcome to comment that I am a very good and handsome chess player, as that’s what I am most used to hearing and naturally warm towards. 🙂

Old-timer Marcus, considered one of the funniest woodpushers in chess, signing off here…

M J M

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Making a name for myself

March 16, 2026 by mccreadyandchess

Like all club players, if I want to make a name for myself in the chess world my back is against the wall. I have, in fact, two hopes -Bob Hope and no hope. But how about this ‘Duff old-timer wins with a queenside attack with the Dutch defence! That might raise an eyebrow or pull in a quizzicle look. As is stated in the video, I do not recall the last time that happened as it as not the norm. But if I were to guess then ‘er…maybe once in 1992 I dunno init! I just go for kingside attacks ususally to counter white’s spacial push on the queenside -as happens in the game posted. Somehow I got round the back of him and took him out…I must be better than what I thought! It’s just a great shame that joy was so short lived. As soon as I posted this I went to the shop to buy some bread and got robbed and beaten up on the way!

NB: Comments commending me for my play may leave me quite sure the poster was drunk when posting. And like I said, I am still sore from getting beaten up after I posted it. 🙂

Note to self: don’t run this game through the engines for fuck’s sake in case it’s shit.

M J M

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Persistence pays off

March 16, 2026 by mccreadyandchess

Whoever said all my games of chess or entertaining and educational -what a load of old tosh! This game, however, is and shows if you stick at it, that alone can bring victory -even in a technically lost endgame! A good show for you to watch methinks.

NB: if you post any comments saying I am rubbish, you will in fact be the 102nd person to do so on this site, so I won’t listen. 🙂

M J M

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It is consciousness that denies us our instincts

March 16, 2026 by mccreadyandchess

‘Live by your passions’, Nietzsche said so many times throughout his life. But how do we do that when we play chess? When I read Kasparov’s ‘How Chess Imitates Life’, I took note of his assertation that ‘Evaluation triumps over calculation’ and believed in it. Over time my play became more impulsive and calculation began to play second-fiddle. Impulses and instincts took over eventually, which works well enough in blitz and quickplay but with regards to classical chess, I am less sure. Evaluation is based on a feel for a position rather than congnition. Consciousness, then, more or less gets the boot and feeling and passions, such as which looks good and doesn’t need much thinking about, or moves I just want to play because I like them, or somehow it feels right get the nod. I can only really say this because I don’t play classical chess anymore and I only play for pleasure and not improvement, the underlying motive being bad conscience.

M J M

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I guess he didn’t know how to play against the Dutch.

March 15, 2026 by mccreadyandchess

You really do need to know what pawn moves should be made in most openings.

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It came when it wanted to not I

March 14, 2026 by mccreadyandchess

One of Freud’s favourite quotes of Nietzsche comes from his publication Beyond Good and Evil and is ‘A thought comes when it wants not when I want’. Some minutes earlier it occurred to me that it is not, primarily, the function of historians to make predictions but with that said, and the frequency I play chess, most likely I will remain forever rusty -as has been the case for some years already! What a wonderous and inspiring proposition popping out there. I have only played one tournament in the last decade. Schedule doesn’t allow to play more. What to do about that? That thought hasn’t dampened my evening though as it’s always better to write about chess than play it.

Forever rusty Marcus signs off here.

M J M

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Digital revolutions and all that…

March 14, 2026 by mccreadyandchess

Have you noticed how difficult it has become to say who the most famous chess player in the world is. It isn’t and can no longer be the world champion -that’s yesteryear. It’s one of the streamers as they have milions and millions of followers and are much more popular. What does that tell you? We are experiencing a 4th revolution -that’s what. Society is always subject to change.

M J M

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Appearance and reality

March 14, 2026 by mccreadyandchess

If I said I have never been good at chess because in every club I have played in, everyone said I was the handsomest member of the club and that was a burden to me as I always drew a lot of attention and was treated as like a celebrity figure sort of which put me under pressure as I hated having my photo taken and all those wolf-whistles!

Do I have much chance of convincing anyone of this? Comments above please. A score of 1-10 in terms of humour rating will be gratefully received. Thank you.

M J M

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A most unwelcome visitor

March 14, 2026 by mccreadyandchess

Last night I cut across Bangkok on the skytrain with a black bandanna on and went to Bangkok Chess Club. Many old friends were there and a blitz tournament went down. The section of the English pub we play in had been refurbished and look much better also, so it should have been a good night all round but it wasn’t.

I had travelled solidly for two days and was massively jetlagged. And that is a most unwelcome visitor. To say my play was poor is an understatement. I was simply too tired to play. In truth it wasn’t so bad at first but got really bad bt the end of the 9-round Swiss. I just wasn’t with it and was losing too easily.I ordered a diet coke to help counterbalance this, placed it on a table then the bar maid went and took it away before I could get half way through it -jolly bad luck.

Pleasure of my play was still there but it was fleeting. Thankfully I was too tired to care whether I won or lost. A very ordinary visit with nothing to write home about evening except it was nice to see old friends, and be reminded once more that the welcoming ex-pats and thais who make up Bangkok chess club really do enjoy their time there and make you enjoy yours….if you like being liked and welcomed that is.

M J M

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Hermeneutics of suspicion provides instant answer

March 14, 2026 by mccreadyandchess

If I dare ask myself why I would want to write a book on chess, the answer is obvious. It isn’t anything to do with a lack of chess ability, failing to improve and wanting something out of chess or some kind of name made for myself. The motive comes from a highly developed understanding of metahistory and a passion for my home county -that’s all. If I am being honest I tend to write for myself only and bucking that tend, which started a few years back, has been challenging. Having a book which may inform and entertain the general public…it’s of no real importance. neither is if no one buys it but decades or centuries later my work will be invaluable and that does matter. I am an academic afterall…just one cut adrift. I am not a historian by background but I am one in practice. Also, books last websites don’t. Will we still have wordpress in 200 years time? I have my doubts.

If truth be told, in my death I would like to have a tournament named after me and a designed chess set too. Are these born from having never achieved in chess, being no good and wanting something to make it look like I was good at it? No. The definition of chess offered up here is far too narrow and I posted a long time ago that the greatest victories in chess are always achieved away from the board. My love of chess bought a child into the world as I met her mother at a tournament and Grace was soon born. Believe it or not I requested she has no middle name so that she would become the worlds youngest GM (her name is Grace McCready) but by name only of course. So no deeper need in play her just me being frivolous or something. Lets just call it a hangover for being known as Lutons handsomest chess player for decades before now forever (Bedfordshire too) catching up with me and catching me off guard sometimes.

NB: in case you don’t know what the prententiously titled hermeneutics of susicion is, its a predominently French movement which idetified that Marx, Nietzsche and Freud identified that most of our motivations are unconscious and should be questioned in those we read. The main protagonist is Paul Racour, sadly, his writing skills leave a lot to be desired and the same is true of some of his contempories.

M J M

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