Michael Adams

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French Cup Fortress

Jul 31

Posted by Michael Adams in French League, Leagues | 4 Comments

I enjoyed reading Eric Hallsworth’s columns on chess engines’ failings in 2 recent editions of Chess magazine and found that a similar silicon bemusement had occurred in one of my games.  It took place in the final of the French Cup, which was not my finest hour, perhaps affected by “First Game Syndrome” in my opening appearance for a new team. The word lucky is completely insufficient to describe the amount of good fortune I needed to win the game but the fortress possibility at the end is fairly unusual.

After the game I got the happy news that the football had finished 4-1 to Germany!

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Florida Hideaway

Jul 20

Posted by Michael Adams in News | 1 Comment

I have to confess I had a slight ulterior motive in playing the Chicago Open:  it put us in the right country to have a bit of holiday time at our condo in the Florida Keys afterwards! We really like the relaxed ‘island vibe’ of the area. it is a wonderful place to chill out, eating great seafood and doing the odd bit of snorkeling or fishing (although on our most recent fishing trip, between us we caught a grand total of zero fish! – well technically I caught a scorpion fish – which is not really what you’re looking for, (although it is better to encounter one when fishing than when swimming!) and Tara caught a fish so small it had to be returned from whence it came).

Notice the absence of fish on the end of the line!

We are always a bit sad on our last night in the Keys, so it’s best to go and watch the sunset with cocktails.
When I am sadly occupied with pesky chess games, we rent the condo out and if anyone is interested the website is www.condofloridakeys.com. Mention this website and we will make sure you get a good deal ;-)

Wish we were there...

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Paignton Diamond Jubilee Congress

Jul 11

Posted by admin in News, Upcoming events | 1 Comment

Sunday 5th – Saturday 11th September 2010. Michael Adams will be giving a simul on Tuesday September 7th at 19.00. More details at the event website.

Upcoming Events

Jul 5

Posted by admin in Upcoming events | 7 Comments

Michael Adams will be appearing in the following events:
Turkish League – Konya, Turkey: Jun 29th – Jul 8th 2010
British Championship – Canterbury: Jul 26th – Aug 7th 2010
Gibraltar Masters – Caleta Hotel: Jan 25th – Feb 3rd 2011

Number Crunching

Jun 20

Posted by Michael Adams in European Championships, News, Tournaments | 1 Comment

Lets return as promised to Open Tournament number 2, the European Individual Championship in Rijeka.  Here things defaulted back to my traditional open routine, as despite starting with 3.5/4 I was out of the money even before the last round began. This was a ridiculously strong event in relation to the prize fund, perhaps as several federation’s cover all the player’s expenses. The ECF doesn’t prioritize the event in the same way, so it isn’t a greatly appealing event for English players and this was the first time I had played. The event is one way to qualify for the World Cup but perhaps given the continually ‘evolving’ status of that event most players didn’t seem too interested in this preferring to throw the dice hoping for a big payday instead. In general the organisers did a decent job, but the bus transfers between the hotels and playing hall left a lot to be desired especially given the transfer fees they had received from the participants. The unseasonably cold weather with snow on some days didn’t add much to this aspect of the tournament either.

I did achieve one curiosity, my second round game reminded me of a game from the dim and distant past. John Emms achieved an impressively spectacular drop in computer evaluation (despite retaining a winning position) in his game with Fressinet back in the Istanbul Olympiad when he erred on his 30th move.

I was intrigued by this and was always on the lookout for similar “achievements”, but was unaware my second round game had thrown up a similar curiosity until I saw Mig mention it in his Blog.

In the game after some cooperative play from my opponent, I had managed to remedy a fairly dodgy opening and put the boot in on the kingside, strangely again it is the 30th move that sends the numbers tumbling like BP’s share price. Read the rest of this entry »

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Chess in the US of A

Jun 7

Posted by Michael Adams in Chicago Open, News, Tournaments | 7 Comments

I’ll post something about the European individual in Rijeka in a bit but will try and get a little more current with the Chicago Open. This was my first open event in the US since the New York Open in 1996.  Not much had changed, as just as in that event Loek van Wely won the tournament with 7.5/9 and I ended up in a tie for second with 7.
In the US you supply your own playing apparatus, which seems to confuse a lot of people, despite it being fairly unsubtly covered on the entry form with the phrase ‘bring your own set and board’. Another oddity is the ‘time delay’ time control, instead of adding time per move, the clock is ‘frozen’, in this case by 5 seconds per move, and only after this pause does your time begin to tick down again. It seems to be a sop to those who cannot manage their time properly when increments are not possible due to the tight playing schedule. At least that is the theory I think. In practise I did not get to experience this at all as my opponents were either equipmentally challenged or tardy (being punctual seems to almost guarantee using your own gear – see photo) or both and my aged DGT did not support this ground breaking innovation.   Read the rest of this entry »

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Take me out to the Ballgame

Jun 7

Posted by Michael Adams in Florida, News | No Comments

Our first live baseball game, the Florida Marlins vs Milwaukee Brewers on 3rd June (played at the Miami Dolphins stadium – I think they are building a new baseball stadium), was very enjoyable and not just for the hot dogs and beer. One thing that was striking was the extreme ease with which the catches were taken. Steepling hits that would have challenged the fielders in cricket were repeatedly pouched with casual nonchalance – the gloves make a big difference. Clearing the fences wasn’t easy, several good looking connections just resulted in catches in the deep, although I think another game between the same teams a few days earlier finished 13-5. The stadium was pretty quiet throughout but suddenly erupted a few balls before the end of the game as the home team closed in on victory.  Oh and  I think it would be a good idea for Somerset to employ some cheerleaders!

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A Good Start to the Year

Jun 7

Posted by Michael Adams in Tournaments | No Comments


My blog seems to have been suffering from lethargy writer’s block but it is now up and running. I am recapping a few events going back to the start of the year, when by happy coincidence I managed to win a tournament. For a long time open tournaments were a rare feature in my schedule, but this year I have already taken part in three and have at least one more to go. In my infrequent appearances I seem to recall a history of good starts tailing away to insipid finishes often leaving me just short of the major prizes.Missed opportunities in rounds 6 and 7 of Gibraltar seemed part of a worryingly familiar dismal pattern, so it was a very pleasant surprise to stagger over the finish line in front. Gibraltar is by the way an excellent event with friendly organisation and very decent weather for the time of year and of course a chance to get up close and personal with the Barbary Macaques. I look forward to defending my title (sadly not something I can say often) next year.

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4NCL 2010 Final Standings

May 5

Posted by admin in 4NCL, Leagues, Results | No Comments

Team Placed Points
Wood Green Hilsmark Kingfisher 1 1 13
Pride & Prejudice 2 11
Barbican 4ncl 1 3 10

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4NCL 2010 Final Weekend

May 2

Posted by admin in 4NCL, Leagues, Results | No Comments

Round 11
White Rose 1 2317 Pride & Prejudice 2521
(W) Richard Palliser 2435 0-1 Michael Adams 2704
(B) Colin McNab 2468 0 – 1 David Howell 2612
(W) Peter Wells 2492 1/2 – 1/2 John Emms 2484
(B) Simon Buckley 2348 0 – 1 Glenn Flear 2517
(W) Paul Townsend 2222 0- 1 Mark Hebden 2548
(B) Peter Gayson 2205 1/2 – 1/2 Harriet Hunt 2452
(W) David Adams 2217 0 – 1 Chris Ward 2431
(B) Lucia Fidalgo 2150 0 – 1 Florian Grafl 2421
1 – 7

Round 10
Pride & Prejudice 2521 Barbican 4NCL 1 2398
(W) Michael Adams 2704 1/2 – 1/2 Lorin D’Costa 2466
(B) David Howell 2612 0 – 1 Jonathan Parker 2523
(W) Mark Hebden 2548 1/2 – 1/2 Matthew Turner 2515
(B) Glenn Flear 2517 0 – 1 Mark Ferguson 2393
(W) John Emms 2484 0 – 1 Sam Collins 2401
(B) Harriet Hunt 2452 0 – 1 John cox 2389
(W) Chris Ward 2431 1/2 – 1/2 Simon Knott 2342
(B) Florian Grafl 2421 1/2 – 1/2 Ingrid Lauterbach 2158
2 – 6

Round 9
Wood Green Hilsmark 2 2416 Pride & Prejudice 2521
(W) Andrew Greet 2429 ½ – ½ Michael Adams 2704
(B) David Berczes 2510 ½ – ½ David Howell 2612
(W) Richard Pert 2457 0 – 1 Glenn Flear 2517
(B) Andrew Martin 2411 0 – 1 Mark Hebden 2548
(W) Neil McDonald 2421 ½ – ½ John Emms 2484
(B) Peter Sowray 2334 0 – 1 Chris Ward 2431
(W) Jovanka Houska 2392 ½ – ½ Florian Grafl 2421
(B) Bjorn Tiller 2378 ½ – ½ Harriet Hunt 2452
2½ – 5½

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