Chess Scotland
Juniors
designed by kids,
for kids!
Interview with “sneaky” Steve Mannion
To start things off, I got some questions from kids at Hillside Primary School
in Dundee.
If you have any questions you would like to add (and I’m sure you do!)
e-mail me. Of course adults can join in as well. Geoff Chandler – who is responsible for Chandler Cornered –
sent me this question…
Who cuts your hair?
I usually go to 'GETYOURDOMEDONE' which is cheap and cheerful. Fortunately most Guys don't worry about how they look.
Anyway, back to
the sensible questions…
1. How
old were you when you played your first tournament? -- Andrew, P5.
My first tournament
was when I was 9.
2.
What was your quickest loss? and win? -- Rebecca,
P4.
I
am sure like everyone when I was a Junior I won and lost to the 3 or 4 move checkmates
but my 1st memory was winning in 5 moves.
Looking at my collection of proper
games I beat a 1760 player in 12 moves(year 1996)
and a 2280 player in 15 moves(year 1988).
In a quickplay(Allegro) game I beat a 1995 player(year 1988) in
10 moves.
Reference
losses I do not tend to lose quickly no matter how much material I have lost
to my opponent.
It is always important to play on and hope for a miricle.
Quickest loss could be against a 2595 GM(year 2003) where
I was lost in 19 moves but played on until 31 moves.
3.
Has anyone ever cheated against you? -- Sam, P7.
Although
no one thankfully cheats at chess I once had an opponent getting help from
another player.
The Arbiter stepped in and stopped this. I
went onto win the game.
4.
Have you ever cheated against somebody else? -- Sam, P7.
I
have never cheated at chess as even if I did and I won the game then the
guilt would remain in my mind and not go away. A
good lesson in chess is to play with a clear
mind e.g have nothing bothering you. I
can reveal however that I did win a game on time where my opponent made his
move and forgot to press his clock. I
pretended that I had not noticed and won the game on time. I
had never beaten him before and this was the only way I thought I could beat
the jinx of being never able to beat him.
5.
How did you get the nickname "sneaky" Steve? -- yours
truly!!
The nickname came from playing for Scotland in the World Olympiad. While all the players were going over the games they would stop
at a certain point and say who was winning. Being the crafty person I am
I always found 'sneaky' moves to continue the discussion. Although I was not the best player present, the stronger
players always wondered how they had missed some excellent suggestions.
6. How
old were you when you started playing chess? - Hannah
I
started playing when I was between 7 and 8 years old.
7.
When did you become an international master? - Arron
F
I
became an IM in 1992. The tournament that clinched it was playing for Scotland in the World Olympiad in Manila (Philippines).
8. How do you train? - Stephen
Styles
I
have various methods but I try to play through games and pick up ideas and hopefully
use them in my own games. The more you try and work out why the players
played certain moves the more you will improve.
9. Who
taught you how to play chess? - Stephen Styles
My
father taught me how to play.
10.
How many times have you won championships? - C. McDonald
I
have won between 140-150.
11. What
is your favourite chess piece (apart from the queen)? - Daniel Coleman
My
favourite piece is my opponent's King as it's great
fun trying to checkmate it.
12. What other sport do you play (if any)? -
Daniel Coleman
I
like to play Pool. I only play for fun as if I took it too serious I
would need to practise more which would leave me less time for studying
chess.
13. If
you could play anyone in the world, who would it be? - Kieran Cartmill
It
would have been good to play Garry Kasparov who I believe was the best player
in the world. It almost happened a few years back when the Scotsman
Newspaper had arranged for Kasparov to give a simul
against Scotland's
Top 6 players but unfortunately the paper backed out at the last minute.
14. Why
did you start playing chess? - Kieran Cartmill
I
used to travel to tournaments with my father and one day I caught the bug and
wanted to play myself. It's a great game and stops you getting bored.
15. How
long did you play before you became an international master? - Kieran Cartmill
I
played for about 20 years before I became an IM, this was about 3 years after
I became an FM (Fide Master). Fide Master is the best title I thought I
could ever achieve and it was a great honour to do that. It was
wonderful to get the IM title.
16.
How many tournaments have you been to? - Daniel Carr
I
have been to about 400 tournaments.
17. When
did you start training for tournaments? - Daniel Carr
I
started training for tournaments almost when I started playing chess. I
studied endgames(final stages of a game e.g King,Rook and Pawn versus
King and Rook etc) which proved invaluable as even if you were in
trouble by the time you got to the endgame you could still win or draw as
your opponent proved to be weaker due to him only studying the opening(first
part of game) or not studying at all.
18. Do
you know any chess songs? - Kane Campbell
'One
Night in Bangkok' which reach number 12 in the
UK
charts and featured in the 'Chess' Musical.
19. What
is your grade? - Alana Stewart
Current
Scottish Grade is 2352 and Fide Grade is 2340. I am trying to get back
to 2400 and it is proving a good challenge.
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