Introduction to Blog

Hi all Knights of Chelmsford members, and people who have just stumbled upon this page while browsing the internet (you're very welcome either way). This is really just an introductory post to say a bit about the club, who we are and what we're going to do here on the blog.

The original 'Knights' were the Knights of Gidea Park (http://www.knightsofgideapark.co.uk/), and as they became so successful with a large turnout we have now decided to start another branch of the 'Knights' up here in Chelmsford.

As it says in our 'About Us' section (which should be somewhere to the right of your screen) we have Robin Slade as our head coach (ECF grade 199) who will be at the club every Tuesday to run the show and improve everybody's chess. To complement him we also have a rotating band of strong local adult players, mainly from Chelmsford and Writtle Chess Clubs.  And then we have England and Essex Junior, Daniel Gallagher (ECF grade 174) as a mix of assistant coach, captain and student. In other words, me.

Let me tell you a bit about myself. I am a regular in the Essex Grand Prix tournaments (in my first one I tried to beat everyone in just four moves. Luckily I have moved on a bit since then!). I was fortunate enough to win the 2013 Yately Manor U13 Open and the 2013 U14 Essex Grand Prix, I came joint first in the 2014 West Of England U14 Championship and came second in the 2013 British U14 Championship, just half a point off the winner. Another stroke of good fortune meant that I was selected to play for England in the European Schools Championships in Serbia last summer and will be playing in the same tournament in Greece this year. Chess has played a big role in my life, especially in the last few years, and I hope I can help others to improve their chess through this club.

"Hang on," I hear you say, "Are you telling me that this blog is going to be run by a teenager?" "No" is the short answer to that question. The slightly longer answer is that it is going to be run by two teenagers. Scott Shelley (ECF grade 113), the current leader of the U14 Essex Grand Prix and a regular player in the Essex U14 team will be joining me in posting about the club.

So if you live in Essex and you're interested in chess, feel free to pop down to the club for some coaching and a game or two. We're sure you'll enjoy it.

If, on the other hand, you're from Cornwall or the USA or Australia or somewhere, then don't go away just yet. We will be posting details about international tournaments, famous games, famous players and just general chess-oriented stuff as well as more local news. So, even if you don't come to the club, stick around, solve some puzzles, read the posts and become an honorary Knight of Chelmsford!

So, without further ado, I now declare, with a lot of gratitude to Robin Slade and Samantha Ali (Club President of the Knights of Gidea Park)  for setting it up, the Knights of Chelmsford blog officially... OPEN!