I was twenty-seven when I started to work on this page at a computer course called Datorteket. I was twenty-nine, and at another computer course, NTI-skolan in Malmö, when I finally got round to uploading it to the Net. In the Autumn of 1999 I learned the absolute basics of computer programming at NTI: Visual Basic, C++ and Java.
Before I turned to computers I spent a few years at the university of Lund, taking a bachelor degree in English, Philosophy, Modern Literature and Pedagogics. Admittedly, not exactly what a future employer may be searching for, but it was personally quite rewarding. At the time I wanted to become a writer/journalist/novelist - but my first novel is still unwritten, though I may write it one day just to find out how it ends...
What's happened since last update about six years ago?
I've written a total of three chessbooks, as can be seen on this site. In early 2006 I turned vegetarian (though I still eat fish occasionally) after visiting a local Chinese vegetarian restaurant (www.vegegarden.com) three days in a row. I noticed that I felt better in every way, so after a couple of weeks I went off meat "cold turkey" :) and I haven't missed it at all actually.
A year later, I finally got a nice job at a commercial agency in Copenhagen (Improved Karma?) It's a reasonably free job, with mostly nice co-workers. OK, the pay could be better, however since, at the time of writing, the Swedish currency has suddenly dropped considerably to the Danish dollar. But due to the current recession, it seems I'll become a chessplayer again in May! OK, losing a steady is a minus of course, but on the other hand the work was becoming less and less creative - so hopefully it's a case of Karma kicking me on to something better for me.
Another result of vegetarianism plus fulltime work is that I've cut down my chessplaying considerably. At the moment I'm not even a member of a Swedish club anymore- for the first time since I started playing in 1982. Though I still play a little for a small Danish club (Fredrikssund) in the 2nd/3rd Danish league. Mostly as a favour to a danish friend and neighbour of mine.
For those who wonder?! ...At the moment I'm thirtyeight years old since March 13th which means I'm a Pisces, 1,97m tall, blond, eyes green, and still single.
I'm not really sure what else there is to say about myself, so I'll be taking refuge to the traditional interview of likes and dislikes:
- favourite colours? - Black and Blue
- favourite food? - nothin' special - to me whom you eat with is more important than what you eat. But generally, asian food is my favourite - perhaps because they generally have many vegetarian alternatives.
- What record would I bring with me to a deserted island? - Currently, my mp3-player has a lot of old Rolling Stones songs, and of course timeless favourites like: Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Tanita Tikaram, Nanci Griffith, Townes van Zandt etc etc
- favourite film? - The Big Lebowski and O Brother Where Art Thou by the Coens are two movies I'll never get tired off.
- favourite book? - easy. The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart, an incredibly funny and interesting book but still with a serious undertone which one may not discover until later. I remember carrying with me a dice at all times even a year after I've read it. If there was something I wanted to do but was afraid of, I asked the dice and it usually said yes - even when I only gave it one chance out of six. (a bit like that famous Donald Duck episode... 'Ask the coin, and it will answer!' which perhaps inspired the book..). At the time I was very surprised that no one had filmed the book yet, since it would be such an obvious hit. The obvious explanation is probably that the producers are afraid of being held responsible for everything their audience may do, inspired by the movie...
- favourite comedy - Most British humour, especially Fawlty Towers, Monty Python, Dave Allen and Blackadder. And the Simpsons of course!
- favourite TV-series? - Star Trek The Next Generation, 2½ Men, Frasier, House
- what personal quality do I appreciate most? - Honesty.
- what qualities do I hate most? - Deceit and unfairness.
Despite the pic from Edinburgh, I still live in Malmö, Scania, Sweden.
Chesswise
Picture taken by Rickard Ek, Limhamns SK
I've played chess in a more or less organized form since I was about eleven or twelve when a local chess club started some activities at my school. But I learnt the basics of chess much earlier, at the age of four or five.
At the moment my ELO is 2200-ish - it peaked at 2250 9 years ago. In the Spring of 2000 I had a spell of incredible form and luck, which sent my Swedish rating sky-rocketing from 2190 to 2427, which is still my personal best and that is unlikely to change, as nowadays I enjoy online blitz and analyzing openings much more than sitting at table for 5-6 hours waiting for my opponent to decide what piece of wood to push.The opening analysis is mostly various lines of the King's Gambit of course - at times I consider updating The Fascinating King's Gambit, though just the sheer amount of lines to go through to do so, usually puts me off it again. But maybe if I find a good format, I might still write something more on the KG, though probably not another book.
My brother, Christer Johansson
Christer's homepage
