Media comments on chess

[NickFaulks]

This appeared in yesterday's Evening Standard. Anything more known about it?

[Roger de Coverly]

This appeared in yesterday's Evening Standard. Anything more known about it?

This is what comes up under Google.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Foolish-King-M ... 1910200395

The author was at John Lewis for ten years. He's now become a life peer and part of the Government.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

I noticed that bit about Mark Price and that chess book in the Evening Standard as well. There are two people named Mark Price in the grading database (both currently ungraded), but neither are in Sturminster Newton (Dorset) where this Mark Price lives.

FWIW, the book blurb is:

LONG, LONG AGO, when kings ruled the land, dragons filled the sky and magic still existed, two small children stumbled upon the game of chess. This is your chancee to discover it with them ...Join PIP and HOLLY on a magical fairy-tale adventure and become a CHESS MASTER. Packed with INTERACTIVE PUZZLES and GAMES, and clear instructions and tips on how to improve your technique, this book is a must have.

Wikipedia article is here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Price,_Baron_Price

Ah, the name does ring a bell. He was Managing Director of Waitrose for 10 years, and I read an article about his very refreshing approach to business. Can't find it, but here are a couple (no chess mentions):

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mark ... Price.html
http://www.retail-week.com/waitroses-ma ... ullarticle

Here we go:

http://failover-www.thesundaytimes.co.u ... 82154.html

"He now leads what sounds a bucolic life in Dorset, where he has an orchard of 90 perry pear trees. He has written seven children’s books: the first, The Foolish King, based on a story Price made up to teach his elder daughter chess, is due to be published in October. "

(The elder daughter would be over 20 now, though she has the same name, Holly, as one of the characters in this book).

An online link to the Evening Standard clip that Nick posted:

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/londoner ... 10916.html

And the official site for Mark Price:

http://www.markprice.info/

Which includes this:

"The Apple App for 'The Foolish King" is launched on iOS for ipads".

[Gary Kenworthy]

Hi Kevin,
Thanks.
True, you normally knew nothing about the next hut. Often your own hut. Cairncross would, but he was translating the Hut 6 and 8 material, and he was a fellow Soviet spy with Kim Philby, who ran the security - looking for the "real" spy. IX looked after the security of X.
Churchill said BP was my golden goose that never cackled. However, a fox was placed in charge of the hen house. You could finger who you wanted. It did not finish with WW II. There was the Korean war. When Alexander was blocked, (very naturally that would happen- obvious), he called for Turing, who was brilliantly exceptional. The Soviets needed to take Turing out of the game, ensure the loss of security clearance was a minimum. (look also at the odd suicide of Philby's wife).

See about my posts about substitute x for y, throughout the recent film. Like:-
Turing gave the letter to Churchill via Menzies.
No, we well know
Milner-Barry took the letter to Churchill, written by the "four wicked uncles" - the collective code name for Welchman, Milner-Barry, Turing and Alexander.
An old russian proverb, turn the chess combination on its heels. Try move a then move b, try move b then move a.

Regards (FM) Gary Kenworthy, Bletchley.

[Stewart Reuben]

Olympic Games today. Fencing.
'It's like a physical game of chess'.

[Mike Truran]

Track Cycling
Men's sprint
Posted at
21:07
So the sprint. How does this work?

Head to head, man to man. Three laps of the track. First two usually chess on bikes, the third hell for leather.

Best of three.

"Chess on bikes". Gosh. Sounds tricky. Better not displace any pieces.

[Matthew Turner]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008jf2y#play

An interesting blend of chess 'knowledge' on display

[Stewart Reuben]

Matthew. Thank you for that one. Some research must have gone into it. Fairhurst was the 1937 and Alexander the 1938 British Champion. But their games in 1938 are not given on chessbase.
But an adjudicator. Should the BBC be sued for blasphemy?

[Stewart Reuben]

John Saunders has told me

Fairhurst played and won in 1937, but Alexander did not compete.
Alexander played and won in 1938 but Fairhurst did not compete.
No wonder the French Defence game referred to on the radio cannot be found on Chessbase.

[Ian Kingston]

The Guardian, talking about Pep Guardiola:

...at times he can resemble a chess grand master chucked into the middle of a full-contact game of It’s a Knockout.

Not the usual chess comparison.

[JustinHorton]

The extremely over-rated Barney Ronay

[Gary Kenworthy]

Since 1978 how many television series/ programmes, like the BBC2 Master Game have there been on television?
GK

[Stewart Reuben]

The BBC2 Master Game Series did not conclude until 1983. The 1983 series was never shown on British TV, only German.
There were no further series of exactly the same format as the Master Game. But there were about 100 chess programmes on Thames Television from 1986.
After 1978 there were also BBC programmes of various types.
There was extremely extensive coverage of the Short Kasparov match of 1993. Following 1993 chess virtually concluded on British TV.

[Nick Grey]

Stephen Fry was excellent in covering the Olympiad.

There was one BBC show chess against the nation but as I was at Wood Green with the moves in case the lines failed I have no Idea how the live show went - nor anyone taping it on VHS for me..

Thames TV so not sure how much nationally. BBC had usual Bill Hartston.

[Gary Kenworthy]

Good replies. Yes Thames, Yes BBC with Bill Hartston. Yes 1998 (silver medals) with Stephen Fry, etc Yes, there was especially a dedicated C4 for Kasparov v Short in 1993. Because it was in London.

There was also Lubomir Kavalek (chess organiser and top chess coach) working with Bessel Kok on the World Cup

[[(BTW My favourite: How Good is your Chess in CHESS magazine is ....Gufeld–Kavalek, Student Olympiad, Mariánské Lázně 1962]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. c3 f5 5. d4 fxe4 6. Ng5 Bb6 7. d5 e3 8. Ne4 Qh4 9. Qf3 Nf6 10. Nxf6+ gxf6 11. dxc6 exf2+ 12. Kd1 dxc6 13. Be2 Be6 14. Qh5+ Qxh5 15. Bxh5+ Ke7 16. b3 Bd5 17. Ba3+ Ke6 18. Bg4+ f5 19. Bh3 Rhg8 20. Nd2 Bxg2 21. Bxg2 Rxg2 22. Rf1 Rd8 23. Ke2 Rxd2+ 24. Kxd2 e4 25. Bf8 f4 26. b4 Rg5 27. Bc5 Rxc5! 28. bxc5 Bxc5 Now White has two rooks for a bishop, but cannot stop the march of Black's pawns. 29. Rab1 f3 30. Rb4 Kf5 31. Rd4 Bxd4 32. cxd4 Kf4 0–1 An extraordinary final position. Black, a rook down, still has all eight of his pawns, and White is helpless against them.]]]

There were prior to 1978 various training games series/ interludes for educational purposes for children (designed for those of a young age)(on Black and White TV). i.e. It was not just Noggin the Nod for children (ref Isle of Lewes chess set motif).

The Big Year was 1978. Show on about very channel was off course Kasparov v Korchnoi at Baguio City. The point of 1978 was that the results and boards were on the schedule Main news programmes.
When was that last time chess was part of main stream news? (not just one offs on the television, like Bobby Fischer has died? (BTW reference Golombek's obituary game -- I remember hearing on the BBC GM Eddie Gufeld's death -a FSB Colonel -- also elsewhere, nice pictures with him and F.Castro).

So compare to Nov 1981 at Buenos Aires game 2 in Russia (when Fischer lost in a Gruenfeld). ... We interrupt this broadcast, you were given time for a get a pen and pencil, then ... here are the moves.
Obviously a mega massive gulf, it was their National Sport, plus Fischer had 20 games unbeaten. (An extreme example).

So, compare, how much television coverage are we getting at the moment?
BTW: Is the Olympiad on? How do we know? (our link - the ECForum is a limited audience).

Most important point: What is geared for the leverage of this current situation with children, especially of school age? Chess for children on TV??? CBBC?

Rgds (FM) Gary Kenworthy