I was born in 1946 in Ruislip, Middlesex, UK. In 1959 my family moved to Guildford, Surrey where I remained until my marriage in 1987. Sally (my wife) and I live and work in London. Our flat is situated near Selhurst Park, home of Crystal Palace Football Club. We have no kids of our own but we are respite carers for handicapped children. My older sister taught me to play chess when I was 12 but I only played occasionally until my last year at school when I joined their chess club. Soon after that I joined Guildford Chess Club where I was a team captain and assistant secretary for over 20 years. At this time I also played for Surrey for a few years. In the sixties (or was it the seventies - my memory is going!), I managed to draw against the British Champion, Raymond Keene in a simultaneous display he was giving. One interesting experience I had was officiating at a telephone match. Circumstances then dictated that I had to give up otb play and I started playing by post (very slow and expensive!) but I later changed to email chess. Whilst at school I played hockey and football for my house, but on leaving changed my activities to table-tennis, (playing in 2 leagues), badminton and squash. I also played darts in a league until a broken wrist spoilt my throwing action, but fortunately it did not affect my table-tennis. Other past pursuits have included ten-pin bowling, snooker and pool. These days I do not have as much leisure time to spare and I am also a lot less energetic. Currently my main hobbies are now chess(!) and photography. I am the proud owner of a book autographed by Julian Hodgson, who is one of my favourite players. Sally and I enjoy most types of music, ranging from rock to light classical, but with the emphasis being on oldies and easy listening. As I am a shift worker, you are likely to find me making my chess moves at any time of the day or night.