Staunton Memorial are charging for live games!!

[John Hickman]

Do you get commentry?

[John Moore]

You could try phoning Ray Keene - see what he thinks!!

[John Moore]

Howell's game has started!

[John Upham]

You could try phoning Ray Keene - see what he thinks!!

What is his number : Whitehall 1212 ?

[John Moore]

More likely Whitebait 1212

[John Moore]

So, is Gawain the bunny in this tournament. What do you think, Ben.

[JustinHorton]

On a philosophoical note every position in chess already exists but every game does not.

I'm not at all sure that's right.

[Jonathan Bryant]

Howell's game has started!

Howell's arrived nearly an hour late - apparently he's been busy recently - and then the game was further delayed (another 10 mins approx) because Smeets wasn't around.

Sokolov was just late because he always is. 20 mins as per usual then heading straight for the coffee table before he sits down to chess.


BTW: a phone rang shortly after the tournament started. Not a spectator's but nobody got defaulted because ... it was the arbiter's! Gave Nosher a chuckle anyway.


Watched Viktor Korchnoi play chess today from the distance of a few feet. Viktor Bloody Korchnoi. Genuine legend.

[E Michael White]

On a philosophoical note every position in chess already exists but every game does not.

I'm not at all sure that's right.

Which bit do you dislike ?

[JustinHorton]

It's not clear to me why we're able to say that the positions - many of which, if they exist, surely do so only nominally - "exist" but the possible sequences which would create them - which seem to me to share the same nominal existence - do not. What am I missing?

[E Michael White]

It seems to me that if something is present as a real object or a concept can be defined in terms of real objects it exists.

Unless the rules are changed, there are a finite number of chess positions but an infinite number of games. So potentially with enough sets you could represent all the positions but you couldnt demonstrate all the games, not even if Jack Rudd was playing through them.

[Alex Holowczak]

It seems to me that if something is present as a real object or a concept can be defined or in terms of real objects it exists.

Unless the rules are changed, there are a finite number of chess positions but an infinite number of games. So potentially with enough sets you could represent all the positions but you couldnt demonstrate all the games, not even if Jack Rudd was playing through them.

Surely there are a finite number of chess games?

1. e4 e5 - only get to it 1 way, although 1. e3 e6 2. e4 e5 would get to it too. You could also get to it by 1. e3 e5 2. e4 but then it is black's move. However, they are all countable. So if it's possible to count the number of positions at that stage of the game, why not for all of the finite number of positions? Each individual position can surely only occur a finite number of ways? E.g. a position that looks like 1. e4 e5 can appear three ways.

[Rob Thompson]

i think that there will be a finite number of games particularly because of rules like threefold repetition and the 50 move rule, preventing game sfrom going on forever

[E Michael White]

Only if you change the rules. Neither side has to claim 3 fold repetition

[David Lettington]

According to Steve Giddins (who is assisting at the tournament), there should be internet broadcasts of all games, including the all-play-all games from tomorrow. The borrowed ECF DGT boards turned up late from the British and weren't available early enough to be set up for use today.