Carl is retired from the Civil Service and now coaches and writes about chess, walks his border collie dogs and generally enjoys life with his wife Susan. He is an amateur arachnologist and has written two books about his rainforest experiences. He volunteers to work with chess in prisons and wrote Chess Behind Bars on that subject. He is also the author of Chess Crusader, confessions of an amateur chess player and he is a chess columnist for Chess Magazine of London and Inside Time prison newspaper. Whilst confessing not to be a particularly strong player he has been school, club and county champion and also represented his country (twice as Captain) in the NATO chess Championships. In April 2024 he became the UK Armed Forces Chess Association veteran Champion. The highlight of his chess ‘career’ was a simultaneous game against his hero Anatoly Karpov in Chartres, France in 2019. Whilst he lost, he was the last to finish in a creditable fight. His life motto is ‘Don’t complain about the darkness, light a few candles.’
4/25/2024 – Have all playable alternatives in the early opening been discovered? Despite the huge number of possibilities, there seem to be no surprises in the first moves of a chess game, right? Well, I think I might just have blown that theory out of the water. Yes, I believe that I have discovered a new opening! Let me present you with the Wirral-Squirrel Variation, which introduces an entirely new idea as early as on move 4.
12/7/2020 – A few weeks ago ChessBase 16 appeared and chess fans all over the world are enthusiastic about it. One of them is Carl Portman. He had a look at the program and concluded: "ChessBase serves not only as a source of enjoyment in trying times but it is a fantastic information management tool to improve your chess."
6/16/2019 – AlphaZero changed the chess world and the way chess players think. But how does the program think and what makes its chess so special? In their book "Game Changer" Matthew Sadler and Natasha Regan give answers and present a lot of games by AlphaZero. Carl Portman liked the book so much that he invited Sadler and Regan for a simul and a lecture about AlphaZero. Which was instructive and fun. | Carl Portman
12/13/2018 – "I usually review mainly books but I want to say a few words about CB 15", writes CARL PORTMAN, author of the book Chess Behind Bars, as he begins his collection of thoughts on our flagship database program. Importantly, he tackles the perennial question: Should I upgrade it and why? Portman thinks "you’ll be intellectually naked without it"!
3/26/2018 – When is chess the most enjoyable? When you win! Carl Portman, author of the book Chess Behind Bars, reviews Fritz 16. "Playing against an engine is now once again the very definition of fun! A host of features, including "Assisted Analysis", which gives you discreet visual hints as you move, and emoticons, which show Fritz’s mood, are there to help you. Even with little knowledge of chess, you can enjoy many an exciting game, and more importantly, victory, against Fritz.
11/17/2017 – Simultaneous events, the battle of one player against many, are fun, fascinating and exciting. Sometimes they are even charming. Carl Portman reports about such a simul, given by Tania Sachdev in the village of Shutford near Banbury in Oxfordshire. | Photo: André Schulz
9/6/2016 – The NATO Chess Championship is the greatest military chess tournament in the World. It is hosted by a different NATO country every year and for 2016 it was the turn of the United Kingdom. A challenging task, and the chess was played out at the Defence Academy in Shrivenham from the 22-26 August. Poland won the team event, FM Finn Pedersen was Individual Winner. Carl Portman reports.
In almost every chess game there comes a moment when you just can’t go on without tactics. You must strike to not giving away the advantage you have worked for the whole game.
In this video course, kings will play a role of strong and active pieces. We will explore how Kings can be helpful in defence and prophylaxis, or even in attack!
The Triceratops system is an ancient and dependable strategy, requiring White to prepare for only three potential reactions from Black—significantly less work compared to preparing for the Grünfeld and King's Indian defences.
Unlock the excitement of the Beefeater Variation (1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 Bxc3 5.bxc3 f5?!) in this 60-minute video course! Dive into an aggressive and daring strategy where Black gives up the dark-squared bishop early.
2024 Candidates Tournament with analyses by Gukesh, Pragg, Vidit, Firouzja and Giri. Kasimdzhanov, Engel and Marin show opening trends from Toronto in the video. 10 repertoire articles from English to Queen's Indian and much more!
In this video course, experts including Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Karsten Müller and Oliver Reeh, examine the games of Boris Spassky. Let them show you which openings Spassky chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were and much more.
In almost every chess game there comes a moment when you just can’t go on without tactics. You must strike to not giving away the advantage you have worked for the whole game.
In this video course, kings will play a role of strong and active pieces. We will explore how Kings can be helpful in defence and prophylaxis, or even in attack!
The Triceratops system is an ancient and dependable strategy, requiring White to prepare for only three potential reactions from Black—significantly less work compared to preparing for the Grünfeld and King's Indian defences.
Unlock the excitement of the Beefeater Variation (1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 Bxc3 5.bxc3 f5?!) in this 60-minute video course! Dive into an aggressive and daring strategy where Black gives up the dark-squared bishop early.
2024 Candidates Tournament with analyses by Gukesh, Pragg, Vidit, Firouzja and Giri. Kasimdzhanov, Engel and Marin show opening trends from Toronto in the video. 10 repertoire articles from English to Queen's Indian and much more!
In this video course, experts including Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Karsten Müller and Oliver Reeh, examine the games of Boris Spassky. Let them show you which openings Spassky chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were and much more.
€34.90
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