I am acutely conscious, from vast experience in opens, that guys around, say 2100 or more can definitely play chess and that one often has to work very hard to beat them.

I cannot claim to thoroughly enjoy coaching, because it is very hard work if you are even moderately conscientious. Nevertheless it does provide a degree of satisfaction - not to mention a steady income, which is why I do it occasionally.

We have a large underclass in Britain, and a fairly low standard of education. Our best universities are extremely good, but a very significant proportion of the British population that comes out of compulsory schooling with very low standards of education.

If your opponent offers you a draw, try to work out why he thinks he's worse off

Unlike my esteemed colleague Garry Kasparov, I don't restrict the strength of opposition to Elo <2000, as fly-swatting makes poor spectator sport. (on simultaneous exhibitions)

Chess is, in essence, a game for children. Computers have exacerbated the trends towards youth because they now have an immensely powerful tool at their disposal and can absorb vast amounts of information extremely quickly.

Modern Chess is too much concerned with things like Pawn structure. Forget it, Checkmate ends the game