Pseudocyst

The adventures and life of a Specialist Nurse in Upper GI and Bariatric surgery. If you then double and triple this by having a primary school age child AND being married to another Nurse then you have double the trouble….aehm I mean fun. Hobbies are playing chess, board games and being taxi for our son!!!

Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this blog are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

games

  • BOris SPasski (1937 – 2025)

    A Chess Legend Boris Spassky, born on January 30, 1937, in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Russia, was a Russian chess grandmaster renowned for his dynamic and adaptable playing style. He became the 10th World Chess Champion in 1969 by defeating Tigran Petrosian and held the title until 1972. Spassky’s chess talent emerged early; he became Read more

  • My First IM norm

    I got my first IM norm in a tournament in 2019. I played in the Champions League in Division B on board 3. Before the tournament you look at the opponents and trying to figure out which game you might be able to push for a win. Looking at the players in the table above Read more

  • 3 0 blitz against GM

    I am small light in the world of chess. But on the rare occasion I can produce some great games. In a lichess tournament (Bundesliga tournament which is twice weekly) I produced a brilliant game against GM Parligras from Romania. In all fairness my opponent – who is over 500 points “heavier” – did not Read more

  • Correspondence Chess

    I have – so far – written very little about my correspondence chess. I started playing correspondence chess (CC) when Somerset was looking for players for the national county championships. That was around 2010 and I thought it was a good idea to improve my opening knowledge whilst still playing regular over the board (otb) Read more

  • Ark Nova

    When you look at my games, I have played this year one of the most games played so far for me is Ark Nova. I love Ark Nova – I am not good at it but I am usually happy to play it if it makes it to the table. Ark Nova is a game Read more

  • Through the Ages – A new story of Civilization (TtA)

    As people know I play board games as one of my hobbies. Over the years board games have come and gone, some made o very good impression on me – other not so much. Playing chess got me into board games. When still living in Germany I was part of the YMCA and we had Read more

  • First tournament since 2018

    Last month I had the usual email from a guy call Tim Paulden who organises chess events in Devon. I am still in his address book as I used to play in Devon for Tiverton – just over the border from Somerset. I usually ignore the emails, but this one was about an individual blitz Read more

  • Setting the scene – hobbies

    I started playing chess when I was 6. I started playing it a bit more when I joined a chess club when I was in my mid teens. Strangely the local chess club has had several GM’s and IM’s and some FM’s who did some of the training. Considering that the local football club was Read more