BCM anniversary article

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O.G. Urcan
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BCM anniversary article

Post by O.G. Urcan » Sat Sep 06, 2014 2:48 pm

In 1955 the British Chess Magazine marked its 75th anniversary by publishing an article by G.H. Diggle. It was a great piece of writing, but see how poorly it is presented on the BCM's website:

http://www.britishchessmagazine.co.uk/a ... gh-diggle/

Olimpiu G. Urcan

Gordon Cadden
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Re: BCM anniversary article

Post by Gordon Cadden » Sun Sep 07, 2014 1:41 pm

This article was far too concise for the average reader. I have the original 1955 article on my desk, and the BCM have faithfully copied verbatim.
Presentation could have been improved on the 1955 article.

Stewart Reuben
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Re: BCM anniversary article

Post by Stewart Reuben » Mon Sep 08, 2014 1:40 am

I am relying on my ever-fallible memory. But:
The BCF Magazine Newsflash used to carry a series of articles by 'Badmaster'. That was G H Diggle. I met him once at a blitz tournament I organised outside the National Film Theatre in the 1980s. In his article, he described how he met and beat a 10 year old. The child lamented, 'That's the worse game I've ever played'.

O.G. Urcan
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Re: BCM anniversary article

Post by O.G. Urcan » Mon Sep 08, 2014 6:38 am

The article by G.H. Diggle to which Stewart Reuben refers is available on-line:

http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/wint ... loo_Bridge

O.G. Urcan
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Re: BCM anniversary article

Post by O.G. Urcan » Mon Oct 20, 2014 11:14 am

The British Chess Magazine has still not corrected the online version of G.H. Diggle's article.

Apart from the glaring errors in general layout (line-spacing), there are many textual mistakes, such as these:

The second paragraph has 'Were' in the middle of a sentence, and at the end of the same paragraph, Diggle appears to boast:

--- 'How "H.G." would have dealt with such a work we would have had the wit to reproduce.'

But Diggle was not a boaster, and what he wrote in the 1955 British Chess Magazine was self-deprecation:

--- 'How "H.G." would have dealt with such a work we would we had the wit to reproduce.'

In the next sentence, miscopying in the online version gives the meaningless 'lumpy coronets chess clocks'. In the same paragraph there is a pound sterling sign instead of quotation marks. A couple of lines later: 'the gentlemen ... was'. Diggle, of course, wrote 'gentleman'.

These are only examples.

Regards,

Olimpiu G. Urcan

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John Upham
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Re: BCM anniversary article

Post by John Upham » Mon Oct 20, 2014 7:43 pm

Yes, I agree. It is an appalling attempt to reproduce the 1955 version of the article.

Faithfully yours,

U. A. V. Bin-Conned
British Chess News : britishchessnews.com
Twitter: @BritishChess
Facebook: facebook.com/groups/britishchess :D

Andrew Martin
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Re: BCM anniversary article

Post by Andrew Martin » Tue Oct 21, 2014 1:32 pm

I wondered where Avebincond had gone to after he left London Central YMCA. What a terrible record he had though, ceding every match he played in by default. Perhaps a story for the BCM in this special year?

Stewart Reuben
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Re: BCM anniversary article

Post by Stewart Reuben » Tue Oct 21, 2014 2:02 pm

According to my spellcheck Avebincond is not related to U. A. V. Bin-Conned. Indeed Kirsan Ilyumzhinov has shown considerable interest as he is yellow in colour.

Nairb Navilluso played in some tournaments many, many years ago. The BCF Congress grader HG Felce was not fooled, he wasn't backward.
Nowadays, of course, Roger would be delighted. He would have to pay two memberships fees.

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