Media comments on chess

[Brian Towers]

"It's a chess match so far" BT Sport commentator after 25 minutes of Man City v Real Madrid.

Standard football code for "it's still 0-0"

But what would have to happen in a game of chess for us to say "it's like a game of football"?

Outdoor chess at Muenchner Freiheit is very much like a football match with a rowdy crowd swigging their Weissbier and shouting out suggestions both helpful and rude (if you move too slowly).

[John McKenna]

He (Vladimir Putin) went from triumph to triumph, playing hard-faced poker against Washington’s half-hearted attempt at chess. (Janet Daley, Daily Telegraph 24/4/2016)

Read it and weep...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04 ... t/?ref=yfp

[Stewart Reuben]

This may interest some. I may have met Marcel Duchamp when in NY in 1964, but had no idea then of his cultural significance

I am pleased to share information about an upcoming exhibit, Tom Hackney: Corresponding Squares: Painting the Chess Games of Marcel Duchamp, at the World Chess ​
Hall of Fame in Saint Louis. Please find the press release below; accompanying photos are attached.
The opening ​reception is​
Thursday, May 19 at 6 p.m. ​We will be scheduling phone and in-person interviews with the U.K.-based artist, who will be in town for the opening, on Thursday, May 19 and Friday, May 20. Please contact me to coordinate; t
hanks in advance for your interest.​
Cabanne Howard
(314) 518-7225 | @cabanne
Kaleidoscope Management Group
"Bringing complex ideas into focus."
www.kaleidoscopemg.com

British Artist Tom Hackney Debuts New Exhibit of Paintings ​
at the World Chess Hall of Fame
Exhibition opens Thursday, May 19 and runs through Sept. 11, 2016
SAINT LOUIS (May 5, 2016) — The World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF) will debut an exhibition of paintings, Tom Hackney: Corresponding Squares: Painting the Chess Games of Marcel Duchamp, on May 19.
The exhibit was recently on view at Francis M. Naumann Fine Art in New York and represents the British painter’s first solo show in the U.S. This is the second collaboration between the Saint Louis Chess Campus and the Naumann gallery. In 2009, to commemorate the U.S. Chess Championships, Marcel Duchamp: ​Chess Master
, traveled from the Saint Louis University Museum of Art to the Naumann gallery, with support from the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.
“We are thrilled to welcome Tom and his work to the World Chess Hall of Fame,” Shannon Bailey, WCHOF chief curator, said. “His paintings are not only visually compelling, but also skillful and graceful representations of Duchamp’s historic games.”
Hackney’s paintings, all on linen, are geometric abstractions based on the movement of chess pieces in games played by the celebrated French artist and chess player, Marcel Duchamp​ (1887-1968)​, from the early 1920s through the 1960s. Duchamp once said that playing a game of chess was like making a drawing: “The chess pieces are the block alphabet which shapes thoughts, and these thoughts, although making a visual design on the chessboard, express their beauty abstractly, like a poem.”
Hackney’s art represents this visual design in a single static image. It was Duchamp’s goal to elevate art from a purely visual experience to something more cerebral, an aspiration that Hackney accomplishes in these paintings, which are influenced by ideas that took place on the 64 squares of a chessboard.
The exhibition’s title is a subtle allusion to the book on endgame strategy, Opposition and Sister Squares are Reconciled, that Duchamp wrote in 1932 with Russian-born chess master Vitaly Halberstadt.
Hackney chose the word “corresponding” to suggest that, through his work, he has entered into a dialogue with Duchamp’s games. This exchange continues as viewers attempt to decipher the moves that generated the patterns Hackney has so skillfully and gracefully recorded.
Some paintings are in black and white, like opposing chess pieces in a traditional chess game, while others are
​derived from a color-coded chess set that Duchamp designed in 1920.
“I am so grateful for the opportunity to exhibit at the World Chess Hall of Fame and to be part of a wonderful program examining the intersection between art and chess,” Hackney said. “As well as being a beautiful game, chess impresses a metaphorical model and mode of thinking that has been ever-present in my life and art since I first learnt to play as a child.”

The exhibit opens on Thursday, May 19 (Opening reception at 6 p.m.) and will remain on view through Sept. 11, 2016.
Admission is free with a suggested donation of $5 per person.
World Chess Hall of Fame Hours: Mondays and Tuesdays (10 a.m.–5 p.m.), Wednesdays–Fridays (10 a.m.–9 p.m.), Saturdays (10 a.m.–5 p.m.) and
Sundays (12 noon–5 p.m.)
EDITOR’S NOTE: Tom Hackney will be in Saint Louis and available for media interviews on Thursday, May 19th and Friday, May 20th. Call (314) 518-7225 to schedule.

About the World Chess Hall of Fame
The World Chess Hall of Fame is a nonprofit organization committed to building awareness for the cultural and artistic significance of chess. It opened on Sept. 9, 2011, in the Central West End after moving from previous locations in New York, Washington D.C., and Miami, Florida. The World Chess Hall of Fame is located at 4652 Maryland Avenue, housed in an historic 15,900 square-foot residence-turned-business, and features the U.S. and World Chess Halls of Fame, displays of artifacts from the permanent collection and exhibitions highlighting the great players, historic games and rich cultural history of chess. The World Chess Hall of Fame partners with the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis to provide innovative programming and outreach to local, national and international audiences. For more information, please visit the World Chess Hall of Fame online at www.worldchesshof.org.

# # #

​
​Photo Captions:
​
Chess Painting No. 2 (Duchamp vs. Crepeaux, Nice, 1925), 2009.
Chess Painting No. 62 (Grimme, Luuring, Ree & Krabbe vs. Duchamp, correspondence game, 1961), 2016.

[Angus French]

This may interest some. I may have met Marcel Duchamp when in NY in 1964, but had no idea then of his cultural significance

Ah, but did he remember you?

Anyway, Martin Smith has written several pieces about Tom Hackney's chess art, most recently here (with links to the earlier pieces).

[Kevin Thurlow]

Thursday 12th May Radio 4, 1100 - 1130 repeated later on World Service, and following Monday. Programme about chess in St Louis, with mention of Rex Sinquefield (of course).

[Stewart Reuben]

NETTE ROBINSON'S MUSIC & CHESS
6 May at the Cafe Posk, King Street W6.
Nette's group consisted of her on vocals; Dominic Ashworth guitar; Anty Trim drumes, Tony Wood sax and GM Danny King bass. They played a number of jazz numbers. Alongside it there was a blitz tournament. During the interval of the music the semis and finals of the chess were played. Then the group continued playing until quite late.
Andrew Smith won the final, beating an Icelandic IM whose name I did not catch.
The group played pleasant swinging jazz. Nette has a fine voice and it is always good to see Danny playing, albeit music not chess.

[JustinHorton]

Is that a media comment?

[Christopher Kreuzer]

NETTE ROBINSON'S MUSIC & CHESS
6 May at the Cafe Posk, King Street W6.
Nette's group consisted of her on vocals; Dominic Ashworth guitar; Anty Trim drumes, Tony Wood sax and GM Danny King bass. They played a number of jazz numbers. Alongside it there was a blitz tournament. During the interval of the music the semis and finals of the chess were played. Then the group continued playing until quite late.
Andrew Smith won the final, beating an Icelandic IM whose name I did not catch.
The group played pleasant swinging jazz. Nette has a fine voice and it is always good to see Danny playing, albeit music not chess.

The final was between Andrew P. Smith (ECF 196, FIDE 2145) and Pall A. Thorarinsson (ECF 211, FIDE 2274), from Iceland but not an IM. The other semi-finalists were WIM Natasha Regan (who lost to Pall) and someone whose name I can't remember (I played them in the first round!). Paul McKeown controlled the event and did the pairings for the 5-round swiss from which 4 people qualified for the semi-finals. There are some pictures up in various places as well (I'll let others provide the links if they want to).

EDIT: The other semi-finalist was Jim Stevenson. Andy Smith is an FM.

[Matthew Turner]

Perhaps not particularly surprising or interesting

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05 ... pion-anat/

[Mick Norris]

I'm surprised Kirsan hasn't surfaced on the list

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Perhaps not particularly surprising or interesting

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05 ... pion-anat/

Complete with the obligatory(?) 'Five men mad about the game' feature at the bottom (which for some reason names Paul Morphy as a World Champion - that should really only be done with the caveat 'unofficial').

[NickFaulks]

Perhaps not particularly surprising or interesting

Indeed. The Telegraph is free with the word "scandal", but fails to explain what it is. Is GM Karpov believed to have paid less than his full whack of Russian taxes?

It does not trouble me that the Cameron's family money was parked offshore in order to roll up unmolested by any tax authorities. This has been the normal practice of the wealthy for years. What does offend me is that he described this behaviour, when practiced by others, as morally repugnant, even while he was secretly lobbying the EU not to close it down.

[Richard James]

NETTE ROBINSON'S MUSIC & CHESS
6 May at the Cafe Posk, King Street W6.
Nette's group consisted of her on vocals; Dominic Ashworth guitar; Anty Trim drumes, Tony Wood sax and GM Danny King bass. They played a number of jazz numbers. Alongside it there was a blitz tournament. During the interval of the music the semis and finals of the chess were played. Then the group continued playing until quite late.
Andrew Smith won the final, beating an Icelandic IM whose name I did not catch.
The group played pleasant swinging jazz. Nette has a fine voice and it is always good to see Danny playing, albeit music not chess.

The final was between Andrew P. Smith (ECF 196, FIDE 2145) and Pall A. Thorarinsson (ECF 211, FIDE 2274), from Iceland but not an IM. The other semi-finalists were WIM Natasha Regan (who lost to Pall) and someone whose name I can't remember (I played them in the first round!). Paul McKeown controlled the event and did the pairings for the 5-round swiss from which 4 people qualified for the semi-finals. There are some pictures up in various places as well (I'll let others provide the links if they want to).

EDIT: The other semi-finalist was Jim Stevenson. Andy Smith is an FM.

Other prominent participants included David Okike, Rick McMichael, John Foley and Phil Ehr. A great evening of wonderful music and exciting chess. I'm already looking forward to the next event.

You'll find some pictures here.

[Richard James]

Is that a media comment?

If you consider the EC Forum to be 'media' it is now! Perhaps it should be in a separate thread, though.

[JustinHorton]

Perhaps not particularly surprising or interesting

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05 ... pion-anat/

Complete with the obligatory(?) 'Five men mad about the game' feature at the bottom (which for some reason names Paul Morphy as a World Champion - that should really only be done with the caveat 'unofficial').

Leon Watson tells me on Twitter that he didn't write that bit!