Media comments on chess

[Geoff Chandler]

I for one would gladly sit and watch no moves being played whilst waiting for the opponent to arrive.
It would be better than 90% of the complete trash that is on TV these days.

The waiting player could show us how to cook his favourite dish,
get his house made over and then dance a few steps with a list D celeb.

Infact I think the majority of the audience would be enthralled and turn over
when the opposing player turned up.

The Master Game format is/was the best way to show chess on TV.
This time show it after the watershed so the players can us real sweary words.
Gosh, Yikes, and Lumey don't cut it with the kids these days.

"That bastard pawn is going to promote and he will have two f*****g Queens!!"

Pronounced with an Oxford educated twang. That will work.

[Chris Rice]

"That bastard pawn is going to promote and he will have two f*****g Queens!!"

Pronounced with an Oxford educated twang. That will work.

It would be interesting to have Gordon Ramsey doing the commentating I agree.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"I for one would gladly sit and watch no moves being played whilst waiting for the opponent to arrive.
It would be better than 90% of the complete trash that is on TV these days.

The waiting player could show us how to cook his favourite dish,
get his house made over and then dance a few steps with a list D celeb."

Don't forget the gardening and his collection of "microwave safe" antiques...

[Stewart Reuben]

Snooker 15 minutes
Boxing start to lose points for the round if late. Eventually forfeited.
Soccer very complex.
Tennis I don't know the rule. When Sharapova (not Williams) arrived late for Wimbeldon because she lost her way to an outside court, I believe there was no penalty.
Chess, nowadays usually 30 minutes. This enables the player to be re-paired if he otherwise has no opponent and wants one. The zero tolerance rule is not a good one and is withering away. Kirsan was gung ho for it because Karpov was insufferably rude to Samaranch, arrinving late for no good reason for the start in 1998. Ignatius Leong liked it because he believes forfeiting people is desirable, But he is out of FIDE matters now.
Scrabble. That is a real dog's dinner and they should change it. The reason is that the penalty for tardiness should be between the player who has arrived late and the arbiter. The opponent should never be put under moral pressure to agree to play. I don't see what the problem is. When I used to play scrabble for money in NY in the 1960s, each player had 15 minutes on their clock. For every minute they overstepped, they lost 10 points. Of course that was 1 on 1 matches and the spread defined the amount of money won or lost for each game.

All such sports should have the rule, as chess has, 'unless the arbiter rules otherwise'. The problem is that your opponent is over 30 minutes late. You are awarded a win. Then the opponent now turns up with an excellent reason. But your mindset is such that you have won the game. Indeed you may have left the venue. Keith Arkell was very late at the LCC in the first round, but he gave the reason in very good time, this was accepted and the game duly took place.

Did you notice at the tennis in O2 a player withdrew? So they put in a substitute who could still have won, despite not having played in round 1. Just like in British chess. There are people in FIDE who cannot grasp the idea of a filler. Then Federer withdrew from the final and Murray stpped in and played an exhibition match against Djokovic.

[NickFaulks]

Then Federer withdrew from the final and Murray stpped in and played an exhibition match against Djokovic.

I don't imagine the sponsors were very pleased about that, but tennis is well established so life and sponsorship go on. If it had happened to a sponsor's early venture in a new and untested area...

[Stewart Reuben]

In physical sports, it is quite common for a player to have to withdraw. It happens only very occasionally in chess. I thought the tennis organisers did well. They prepared for an eventuality by having player on stand-by. They provided a spectacle for the audience in the arena and on TV when there was a second withdrawal. I imagine the sponsors were satisfied.
That is not true sometimes in chess where two players agree a very quick draw.

[NickFaulks]

Speaking for myself, I was intending to watch the tennis final and didn't even consider watching the exhibition match.

[Stewart Reuben]

Now Disney has commissioned Matt Charman to write a feature film based on his play 'The Machine, a story of the chess GM Garry Kasparov's match against the computer Deep Blue. " It's about a genius of mind and a genius of machine coming opposite one another. (Sunday Times article 14,12.)

[Clive Blackburn]

Bruno Tonioli just now on the Strictly Come Dancing Final, describing Simon Webbe's performance:-

"You dominated that dance like a Grandmaster of the game"

[Chris Rice]

A very interesting and dare I say inspirational two minute video has appeared on the Harrow Chess Club site which Nevil Chan alerted me to.

"In early November, Anna and Grace, both final year students at the prestigious National Film and Television School, visited Victoria Hall to make a mini documentary on chess. This included filming as well as recorded interviews. The purpose was a competition hosted by Sony, which attracted over 1,000 entrants worldwide. Four hours plus of footage was eventually condensed into a professional two minute video, which nicely captures the club’s ambience. The film can now be viewed on the Harrow website, select full screen with volume up -

http://www.harrowchessclub.org.uk

Thanks to club members and opposing teams for their assistance and cooperation on the night.

Season’s greetings,
Nevil"

Definitely worth a look.

[Stewart Reuben]

Christmas Day there was a programme on BBC2 'Tim Rice: A Life in Song'. the concert was from the Royal Festival Hall. Three of the songs were from Chess: The Musical.

[Nick Grey]

The Sun page 72 headline "Bishop to N5"... on Arsenal looking set to pip Man U to £10m rated Teddy Bishop. An Ipswich teenage midfielder.

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Nick,

Now that is a good one.

Hi Stewart,

Often thought of writing my own chess musical based on the '72 Fischer-Spassky match.
It cannot be all that hard to do. It looks easy enough

One song for each of the 21 games.

Cannot read or write music, not an obstacle, I'll hum the tunes on the
and get someone with a sat-nav voice to read out the moves.

Game 2 I'd just have 5 minutes of a clock ticking.

I've got a spare weekend coming up February, I'll knock it together then.

[Nick Grey]

Geoff: The Musical

To have a top musical you will need to get your No.1 hit singles in early. Take a tip from Tim Rice & get the 2 Bs from ABBA on board.
Even Madonna has done so (the Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! a man after midnight riff) & even here she rips off the John Travolta/Bee Gee strut from Staying Alive (Saturday Night Fever)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDwb9jOVRtU

Time goes by so slowly. And I've Hung Up I'm tired of waiting on you. Great lines for this part of your musical...

[Clive Blackburn]

Game 2 I'd just have 5 minutes of a clock ticking.

For Game 10 (the Ruy Lopez where Spassky was black and gave up the exchange for a pawn in order to relieve the pressure)
you could perhaps use Elton John's "Sacrifice"

But, it's no sacrifice,
No sacrifice, at all