Famous amateurs and FIDE ratings

[Geoff Chandler]

Well spotted Mike.

I was waiting for Justin to nit pick this up butt you beat him to it.

(I'm going to do it on purpose now to see who gets bored first.)

[Alex McFarlane]

Dire Staits were invited to the prizegiving of this year's British. Not only did their father play chess but many of their songs relate to the area. The almost venue of the Spanish City (the white domed building in Whitley Bay) features prominently in one of their songs (just don't expect me to know which one despite it playing almost continuously on my journey to and from the venue this year.

I refuse to make a bad pun about the ECF Board and Geoff's misspelling.
I'm sure you can make up your own.

[Alistair Campbell]

The almost venue of the Spanish City (the white domed building in Whitley Bay) features prominently in one of their songs

Tunnel of Love?

I used to love the Spanish City when it had the amusements. As did Sting, I believe.

[damian mccarthy]

Heath Ledger was an avid chess player. (brokeback mountain and the joker from batman)

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Alex Mac.

" refuse to make a bad pun about the ECF Board and Geoff's misspelling."

Go for it.

I never misspselt 'Straights' Knopfler did when he named his stupid two hit wonder band.
(I was telling them at work about this, they cracked up. it's too good to Edit out.)

Actually by twisting the words just a tad it would be very easy
to turn the 'Sultans of Swing' into a parody about a visit to a chess club.

"You step inside but you don't see too many faces
coming in out of the rain just to see chess go down.
Competition from other places.....
But he lads keep castling their Kings.

Check out Queen Pawn George he knows all the moves
but he's strictly positional he don't mess around.
They say old MCO is all he can afford
but he say endgames is his thing.

And Mike don't mind if he losses a game or two
He's got a high grade, he's doing alright.
He can play the Lopez better than anyone
He takes a bye on Friday Nights

There's a crowd of young boys messing about about in the corner.
dressed in their t-shirts and playing a gambit or two.
They don't give a damn about an isolated pawn.
It aint what call playing chess.

It's a fairly easy song to play am,c, g,f,e.
I'm on it. The Sultans of Chess?' (need a better title.)

[kishanpattni]

I remember hearing that hip-hop/R&B singer Nelly was an amatuer player. I have no idea as to what standard. Of course Lennox Lewis is another personality who has a vague chess background. I don't think either is FIDE rated.

[Stewart Reuben]

I have been asked to mention:
Sir George Thomas IM British Champon: Wimbledon doubles quarter-finalist, many times English Badminton Champion when it was effectively the World Championship.
Sir Stuart Milner-Barry very strong amateur: distinguished civil servant
Charles Hugh O'Donnell Alexander IM: distinguished civil servant

Dan Harrington about 2350 US at his peak when he played: World Poker Champion and very distinguished author on poker
Howard Lederer I think a reasonable chessplayer: very strong poker player
Sting a player
Prince Williams allegedly joined the university chess club
CJ D Mooi
Sir Jeremy Morse a problemist: past chairman Lloyds Bank
Francis Rayner about 2100: concert pianist
Bonar Law serious player: then his career went downhill when he became PM
Lord Callaghan was something of a player
Sir Jeremy Hanley a weak player: Chairman of the Conservative Party for a bit
According to Harry Golombek Turing was a queen-odds player.
Vladimir Nabokov: I don't remmeber a report on how good he was as a player

I think the outstanding polymaths in chess are:
Emanuel Lasker
Sir George Thomas
Simen Agdestein
Professor Jonathan Mestel GM: Bridge GM and of course a leader in the field of Applied Maths
Ken Rogoff GM: major economicist

[Matt Mackenzie]

The late Michael Foot was cited in at least one of his obituaries as a chess enthusiast. He is also mentioned in The Complete Chess Addict, IIRC.

[Richard James]

Charles Hugh O'Donnell Alexander IM: distinguished civil servant

Conel Hugh O'Donel Alexander. Much more than a distinguished civil servant: cryptanalyst who worked closely with Alan Turing at Bletchley Park (along with Milner-Barry and Golombek).

In February 1940 Alexander arrived at Bletchley Park, the British codebreaking centre during World War II. He joined Hut 6, the section tasked with breaking German Army and Air Force Enigma messages. In 1941, he transferred to Hut 8, the corresponding hut working on Naval Enigma. He became deputy head of Hut 8 under Alan Turing. Alexander was more involved with the day-to-day operations of the hut than Turing, and, while Turing was visiting the United States, Alexander formally became the head of Hut 8 around November 1942. Other senior colleagues included Stuart Milner-Barry, Gordon Welchman, and Harry Golombek. In October 1944, Alexander was transferred to work on the Japanese JN-25 code.

[Stewart Reuben]

How could I have forgotten one polymath

Howard Staunton the best player in the world of his time: Shakespearian scholar. And another one
William Fairhurst CBE IM: engineer
Should I count GM Ljubomir Ljubojevic who speaks at least 12 languages?

Of the 8 I've named, 4 are or were British. I suppose that is just my memory working better with them

[RayRyan]

For information, from Tunnel of Love

To rockaway, rockaway... rockaway, rockaway
From Cullercoats and Whitley Bay out to rockaway

And girl it looks so pretty to me just like it always did
Like the Spanish City to me when we where kids.

[John Clarke]

Sergei Prokofiev and Stanley Kubrick were both reputed to be near-master strength. Anyone got supporting evidence?

[Ben Purton]

Karmen Cass is like the president of the Estonian chess federation and is one of the best paid supermodels of all time.

[Richard James]

Sergei Prokofiev and Stanley Kubrick were both reputed to be near-master strength. Anyone got supporting evidence?

Coincidentally, I was discussing Prokofiev and chess with a colleague on Facebook yesterday.

See, for instance, http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/prokofiev.html

[Event "St Petersburg casual"] [Site "St Petersburg"] [Date "1914.05.20"] [Round "?"] [White "Capablanca, Jose Raul"] [Black "Prokofiev, Sergey"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D02"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "1914.01.??"] [EventType "game"] [EventRounds "1"] [EventCountry "RUS"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2002.11.25"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 Bf5 4. Qb3 Nc6 5. Qxb7 Na5 6. Qa6 Nxc4 7. Nc3 e6 8. e4 dxe4 9. Bxc4 exf3 10. Qc6+ Nd7 11. g4 Bg6 12. Bg5 Be7 13. Bxe7 Kxe7 14. O-O-O Re8 15. h4 h5 16. gxh5 Bxh5 17. Nb5 Kf8 18. d5 Qf6 19. dxe6 Ne5 20. Qc5+ Kg8 21. exf7+ Bxf7 22. Bxf7+ Qxf7 23. Kb1 Rab8 24. Nxc7 Rbc8 25. Rc1 Re7 26. Qd6 Rexc7 27. Rxc7 Qxc7 28. Qe6+ Kh8 29. a3 Qc2+ 30. Ka1 Nd3 31. Rb1 Nxf2 32. h5 Qc6 33. Qf5 Ne4 34. Qxf3 Nd2 35. Qxc6 Rxc6 36. Rd1 Rc2 37. Rg1 Rc5 38. Rg6 Rxh5 39. Ra6 Nb3+ 40. Ka2 Ra5 41. Rxa5 Nxa5 42. b4 g5 43. Kb2 g4 0-1

This was from a simul (described in the Winter article). Some of Prok's other published games, for instance one claimed to be against Ravel, are, I believe, hoaxes.

There's something on Kubrick here but as it gives an incorrect dob and the source is not the most reliable on the Internet, I'm not sure how much I'd believe.

I know of no evidence to suggest that he was any more than an enthusiastic social player. Prok, however, was indeed close to master strength.

[Richard James]

Just found this on another forum:

I remember Kubrick as a regular at the Manhattan Chess Club back in the fifities. As far as I can remember he just played offhand games, and never in tournaments, so my guess was that he had no rating. I never played with him myself, so I'm not sure what his strength was, but I think he was somewhere around a USCF Class A player..

http://www.chesscircle.net/forums/showt ... rick-s-Elo