Off the Board Chess - Andrew Smith

Off the Board Chess by Andrew SmithThe Best Games & Chess Experiences of FM Andrew Smith ForewordI actually wrote this book almost 20 years ago, when I took a 'time-out' from my normal life to spend 6 months travelling around the world. In 2002, I resigned from my job, bought a 'round-the-world' airline ticket and set off just after the FIFA World Cup finished, on a trip that was to last for 6 months. My trip started in Myanmar (Burma), via Bangkok, moved south to various islands in the south Pacific Ocean via New Zealand (Vanuatu, Tonga, New Caledonia, Samoa) and then onto Central and South America (Guatemala, Mexico, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil). The idea to write a book only occured to me during my travels when I found myself lounging about on isolated beaches in the south Pacific, when I was sometimes the only 'western' traveller. My idea was to recall and recount the stories surrounding some of the games I had played and then find t