Chess

[Oracle]

In Birmingham It was a hotspot. Place the original chess magazine originated. Helped out there for a while. A lot of strong clubs close. The proximity of the magazine is why a few well known players would surface at the local clubs occasionally eg I played Robert bellin a few times, an early British IM. Tony miles RIP first GM played for king Edwards. He was increasingly odd even then. His “ Birmingham defence” rattled Karpov, then world champion. Miles went off the rails completely when Nigel short eclipsed him. The inter county competitions and local congresses gave opportunities . I Burnt out by the time I was 15. Gave up completely by 18.

You only need a few games in a local league to get a grade: you probably should anyway, before Congress, to remind yourself about managing clock time.

I dropped out of it through lack of opportunity really. When I started secondary school, the league team I played for (which was ran by the deputy head at my Middle School) fell apart. Chess was definitely not on the agenda at my secondary school... they were more interested in deflecting criticism after being featured on a Channel 4 documentary about crap schools!

I did contact the local chess club in the past 18 months, as I fancied entering a local tournament and seeing what I could do... however the regular local tournament no longer exists, and it appears you have to be a registered and 'graded' player to enter any tournaments now.