Chess is my main hobby. I used to play it as a kid but stopped playing when I moved to Hamilton in my last year of school and found the club there was tiny (about 5 players from memory).

In 2008 a workmate talked me into going along to the Auckland Chess Centre and I was inspired to take up the game again.  I play there every Monday and enter most of the New Zealand tournaments (about 1 per month).

I am currently ranked about 200th in New Zealand and 20th in my club which means I playing in the bottom of the “A” grade or top of the “B” grade in tournaments. My goals over the next year or so are to improve my ability and rating and get to around a 2000 rating which would put in the the Top 50 New Zealand players.

Besides playing at the club and in tournaments I see a coach every week (to go over my games) and train online. My online training is mainly tactical problems on the Chess Tactics Server and on Chess Tempo. I spend around 10 hours a week on those two sites. I also study books, review expert’s games and review my opening lines for several hours per week. I don’t play many actual games online however.