MATTHEW D. WEBB

Personal

Hobbies

What I get up to when I'm not working: chess, distance running, and the odd project that escapes the garage.

I Dreamed A Dream

Building a Chess Centre

Co-founded · 2020 to 2023Ilkley, UK · not-for-profit
An introduction to the centre.
The three co-founders of the Ilkley chess centre standing beneath its sign on opening day
Co-Founders, Ilkley.

In 2020 I co-founded a dedicated chess centre in Ilkley, UK. The club hosted coaching, tournaments, events and one of the region's most prestigious annual chess festivals.

I built the technology platform behind it: memberships, payments, tournament management and operational tooling. Operating as a not-for-profit, the centre reinvested its income into local chess initiatives before I stepped away following my relocation to the UAE.

  • Product Development
  • Community project
  • Open Source
Founded
2020
co-founded
Venue
Ilkley, UK
a real place, not a server
Programmes
Coaching & Events
adults and juniors
Festival
Annual
one of the region's largest

What I built

One progressive web app: the public site and the member portal behind it.

  • Membership and user sign-up
  • Event entry and results
  • Event payments and refunds
  • Game history
  • Rating tracking
  • Email confirmations

Listen, read, watch

Endurance Obsession

Running

Strava, synced 28 Jul 2026697 km · 63 runs in 2026Follow on Strava ↗Power of 10 profile ↗
Lifetime distance
3,827 km
since I started
This year
697 km
2026 to date
Total runs
358
and counting
Longest run
21.1 km
First and only half.

Personal Bests

DistanceTimeWhereWhen
5K17:44Lister Parkrun, Bradford25 Dec 2025
10K35:48Abbey Dash, Leeds30 Nov 2025
Half marathon1:24:15Burj 2 Burj, Dubai8 Feb 2026

Over the board

Chess

England · Inactive · Jun 2026The projectGames LibraryGames I've played: filter by colour, opening or opponent, with accuracy scores and an evaluation graph on each.Open chess.mdwebb.io ↗The other projectPrep DBMillions of over-the-board games behind a transposition-aware opening explorer, with on-device analysis and opponent prep.Open prepdb.io ↗
Federation
England
FED ENG
FIDE standard
2249
peak rating, now inactive
ECF rating
2537
Last known, now inactive
National rank
#232
England, all players
World rank
#13,639
of every rated player

Three Favourite Games

Theory King

Matthew Webb vs WGM Sopiko Guramishvili · London Classic Open · 2014 · 1-0

A deeply theoretical game where preparation translated directly into a winning position.

The year behind the boardTwelve months chasing masteryA year spent discovering that mastery is much less glamorous than it looks.
Powered by @mdwebb/react-chess

Jump to

35 articles