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Chess Pages of Mike Donnelly

 SENIOR International Master (ICCF);

Regional Master (ECF).

(* denotes new content since the last update.)

1. MONTHLY ARTICLES *

Number 1 View now.*

Download now *

Number 2 View now *

Download now *

2.ARCHIVE OF MONTHLY ARTICLES (from Aug 2003)*

Old archive (Aug 1999-July 2003).

3. GAMES FOR DOWNLOADING .  

4.  PC GIBBS TROPHY 

5. COVENTRY CHESS CLUB (formerly Whoberley CC) The club has teams with a wide range of strengths in the various local leagues and has won every Cup and League competition at some point in the last few years. Contact details.

6. BOOK AND SOFTWARE REVIEWS (from 2007)

Archive of book and CD reviews 1998-2006.

7. DATABASE & TEACHING SERVICE  

8. MY STUFF  Games, results and chess problems. *

9. LINKS

Chess sites  *

Chess problem sites  

10. OPENINGS REVIEWS AND OTHER ARTICLES   

11. NEW AND SECOND- HAND CHESS BOOKS Tony Peterson. Specialist in rare and secondhand chess books and magazines. Very large stock . Contact details. 

  IM Sergey Bystrov.  Specialist in a wide range of Russian books plus some non-Russian books. Now offering a greater range. Contact details.

12. MY ARTICLES ON OTHER SITES/ON-LINE MAGAZINES.  

(a) Correspondence Chess News (CCN).

(b) BS-CHESS.

(c) Thomas Johansson's site

13. PERSONAL TRAINING BCF Regional Master Andy Baruch (formerly Whoberley board 1) is now available for face to face personal training in the Coventry, Warwickshire and surrounding areas. Players ranging from beginner to County level who wish to improve should contact Andy by clicking here

14.WING TSUN

 Wing Tsun Kung Fu (Coventry).

Wing Tsun in the Midlands

Visitors since May 2001.

Hello!

I little bit about myself: I live in the historic town of Kenilworth (very close to the medieval castle) in Warwickshire, England. I work as a Technical Manager at a biotechnology company that manufactures hydrogels for woundcare, monitoring electrode, and cosmetic applications. Previously I was a research scientist working in a diverse number of scientific areas (publication list). In my spare time I enjoy chess, the culture of the Ancient Greeks, Wing Tsun martial art (currently grade 11), and various types of music.

Over the last decade or so I shifted from playing over-the-board (otb) chess to playing both otb and correspondence chess. The last few years has seen an even greater concentration on correspondence chess (current rating of 2482  ICCF rating history * ). Until recently I occasionally still played some otb chess in the local league (at a somewhat reduced level  of approximately 2090 from my highest many years ago of about 2300, grading history ).

I will attempt to offer a wide range of chess material on this site including game and opening based articles, games for downloading from famous players I have known or competed against, chess problems and some current and past results. This will include both otb and correspondence play. In addition to more advanced articles I will also occasionally provide articles for beginners to mid-club strength of player.

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MONTHLY ARTICLES SUMMARIES *

This month I present some otb games with a game feature that I describe as "Aberrations on the chess board". This is where one or the other opponent in a game plays well above ,or more frequently well below, their rating. It most often occurs when players of very different strength face each other with a rating difference so large that the higher player must (or more precisely should) win almost by default 90 to 100% of the time at least according to the ratings. It is an intense psychological situation for both players as the lower rated player, sometimes fatalistically, expects "overwhelming" moves from their higher rated opponent. In contrast the higher rated players struggles to motivate themselves into playing well enough to win and somehow expects the point to come all by itself. As both players are under psychological stress the game can lead to obscure decisions, gross misjudgments of positions, and sometimes quite interesting but vey poor quality games. All this can be enhanced by the game or the team match itself being of more than usual importance such as in a race for a League title or in a KO competition.

Whilst I have been in the position of the lower rated player and have drawn or beaten some much higher rated players the two examples I give this month are from my experience as the much higher rated player. 

Monthly Article 1-is a game from division 1 of the Coventry and District League. In an overwhelming position in a standard kings-side attacking position I somehow forget a well know mode of defence was available. In a blocked position I then devise a dubious pawn sacrifice in an effort to generate winning chances that my opponent is drawn to in the wrong way. A sudden tactical flurry then results where both players miss their way.

Monthly Article 2-is another game from the same league against the late Roy Woodcock who put a great deal of effort into promoting and organising well local chess events. After a couple of previous games where he had suffered badly against me he played the opening very well in the selected game and also also rather solidly. In an effort to organise effective play I come up with bad move after bad move to result in a rather  easily won position for my opponent.  However Roy decided that the higher rated player had devised something and the game ended rather suddenly.

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All material for downloading from this site is zipped. Use WinZip or similar to extract. Monthly articles are in .pgn format (from May 2000, previously in .txt format) whilst games for downloading are in .pgn format (or .cbv occasionally ). 

Contributions, suggestions for articles and comments to improve this site are welcome: mail me!

	SCCA Magazine
	The SCCA magazine is published quarterly and consists of 24xA4 pages packed with correspondence chess news, articles, reviews and games.
	SCCA members receive the magazine as part of their annual subscription (£8). This entitles them to download pdf files (the e-mags) from a secure area of the SCCA website.
	If you prefer to receive a printed copy of the magazine, an extra £5 per annum covers print costs and UK postage and you get the four issues mailed directly to you.
	The SCCA magazine is unbeatable value! You can try a complimentary copy by contacting the membership secretary.

Personal Training (Feb 24): Players wishing to improve should now contact Regional Master Andy Baruch on his new e-mail address (see section 14 of this site).