Educating The Rookie

Guardian journalist Stephen Moss has written a book about his personal chess quest, called 'The Rookie' (Bloomsbury, 2016). Stephen learnt chess when he was at school but put it aside after university. Like so many other ex-players, he still had a hankering for the game and wondered whether he 'could have been a contender'. The book tells the tale of his re-entry to the world of chess, including his own chessboard triumphs and disasters, and his meetings with the game's great names.

Stephen Moss goes head-to-head with world chess champion Magnus Carlsen in 2009

Link to a Guardian review of the book: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/oct/27/the-rookie-stephen-moss-review-an-odyssey-through-chess-and-life

Link to a place where you can buy the book: http://www.chess.co.uk/rookie-odyssey-chess-life-stephen-moss/

I played a part in Stephen's quest as his chess coach. He and I only lived a few streets away from each other, so over the years I became his 'local GP' who attended to his chess ailments, while he also consulted a few 'Harley Street specialists' in the form of grandmasters such as Nigel Short, Stuart Conquest, Vladislav Tkachiev, etc. Hence I was referred to in the book as 'Doc Saunders'.

I've written about my part in Stephen's quest in the September 2016 copy of CHESS Magazine. The article may be found here online: http://www.chess.co.uk/downloads/chess-magazine-september-2016-sample.pdf