The British Chess Magazine
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What other interests do you have besides chess?
I used to play rugby when I was growing up and like to watch the games and follow other
sports. I enjoy cycling and love playing virtually any board game.
Do you have any phobias?
No, I don’t think so, except possibly ants! I had a bad experience when playing in Greece
where I woke up with ants in my bed.
What is your pet hate?
Loud, obnoxious people.
What is your all-time favourite quote (not chess)?
I love Terry Pratchett’s books and so I’ll give a couple of his. First a chess-related one: ‘Most
gods throw dice, but Fate plays chess, and you don’t find out until too late that he’s been
playing with two queens all along.’
‘I’ll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there’s evidence of any thinking going on inside it.’
Do you have a favourite song or band?
It depends on my mood. I listen to a lot of comic stuff but my favourite at the moment is
probably Newton Faulkner. I watched him live and was really impressed.
And your favourite film?
I tend to watch more series than films but there are a few good ones. I don’t like watching
the same film over and over again but John Cleese’s ‘Clockwise’ comes to mind as something I’d like to watch at the moment.
What country would you most like to visit and why?
I want to visit the Cook Islands, in particular the island of Manihiki. It’s a tiny place with a
population of a couple hundred but it’s where my father-in-law’s from and I think it would
be fascinating.
Who in the world would you most like to meet and why?
Lots of interesting people in the world but I’m sure a chat with Stephen Fry would be quite
illuminating.
If you had a spare half a million which charity would you donate it to and why?
Sadly, I’m a long way from that and so haven’t really investigated. At the moment we like to
get ‘The Big Issue’ (magazine) so possibly something to do with that.
Share with us one of the happiest memories of your life.
I loved my time living in New Zealand but maybe it has to be the couple of weeks spent in
South Africa last summer, when we got married.
Can you give us an amazing statistic?
At any given moment 0.7% of the world’s population is drunk.
Finally, what question should I have asked you but didn’t?
Can’t think of anything!