Favoured Country Status

 Sometimes we have a favourite opponent (or 'customer') who we invariably do well against. Or an opponent we just enjoy playing. 

Once I started playing in chess olympiads, I also found that against certain countries I did well against. On the other hand I suspect there were players who found Papua New Guinea an enjoyable pairing, and not just from recent history.

As mentioned previously I played a tournament in Appletreewick (on the Yorkshire Moors). I was beaten in the qualifying stage by Colm Barry, and again in the final.  He mentioned that he had represented Ireland at chess olympiads in the 1980's and a little research turned up the fact that I wasn't the only PNG player he enjoyed beating! Here is a game from the the 1982 Chess Olympiad, where PNG meat Ireland in the second round

Markov,Joseph - Barry,Colm (2220) [B07]
Luzern ol (Men) Luzern (2), 31.10.1982

I have books (for sale)

 I am always on the look out for new chess experience, and selling chess books is a new one I am looking into. I recently acquired some chess books (quite a lot actually) and am now selling them off. While I am still in the process of setting up the entire catalogue, you can get a sneak peek at https://street-chess-canberra.square.site/s/shop Everything is at a fixed price of $20 per book, although I do offer discounts if 3 or more books are purchased. 

One slight obstacle is getting the website set up, as books keep appearing and disappearing from the catalogue. Nonetheless I should have everything updated by the end of the week! 

Losing a pawn?

 The Ponziani can be a tricky opening for Black to face, as there are a number of lines where White wins a pawn in the opening. However, if Black treats it like a gambit, then maybe the loss of the pawn isn't as bad as it looks.

Sidney,Will (1879) - Arnott,Jonathan W (2082) [C44]
39th European Chess Club Cup Hotel Zepter, Vrnjacka Banja (6.5), 25.10.2024

Chess in da hood

 Grassroots chess in Papua New Guinea is really taking off at the moment. The visit by GM Nigel Short last year was the impetus for the formation of a number of clubs in Port Moresby, and the involvement of new administrators and organisers has seen a real boom in the number of events and players.

Here is a short news story covering recent developments