English Chess Forum

Matt > I did know about the woman WC getting the male GM title thing,

There is no such thing as the Male GM title. There is a GM title, which mainly requires 2600+ performances. It is in no way gender indicative.

My review of Ravens appears on its separate section. IIn today's Daily Telegraph, page 31, Sacred Mysteries, a weekly section By CRISTOPHER HOWSE the headline is Making our moves on God's own chessboard. It was a long article and I lost patience. Later in it he says: Now if he can do what he wants, ...

I saw Ravens last night. My rush was that I leave for the Caribbean on 3 December, I now know what 'Ravens' means, but still don't see the relevance. It as substantilly accurate, although no chess consultant is listed. In the programme they confused the terms match, tournament and game. Thus, it say...

Ravens: Spassky vs. Fischer at the Hampstead Theatre

I just booked my seat for the opening night of this new play.
Thank you Christopher.

It seems to me that the USA, FIDE and BCF all made progress in the number of players attracted to their activities when rating/grading was introduced.
I believe that, when the ECF goes for monthly figures, it will popularise competitive chess somewhat. Many ECF officers seem now to agree.

Nick Ivell >Which brings me to the issue of resigning. When is it plain bad etiquette to play on?< I don't know about that. It does get a bit boring when somebody plays on. For GMs where there are spectators, it is different. The late Bent Larsen said, 'You should never resign until everybody in the...

Nick Part of my chess lore is that the shortest game between masters went 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nd2 e5 3 de Ng4 4 h3?? Ne3 0-1 IM Al Howitz had this story. They were playing for money. Black had the right to pay Al to make a move, whih, of course, he could reject. Black paid for 4 h3 then Ne3. Al said he went ...

Thursday 14 November I played the following game in the London League. P Gibbons v S Reuben. 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 g6 5 c4 Bg7 6 Nc3?? Nxd4 7 resigns. Arguably my shortest win. He meant to play 6 Bd3, but picked up the knight to move it. I only thought afterwards, there could be a view ...

Much was made of the fact that she was awarded the Woman Candidate Master title.
I introduced that title and the regulations regarding it.
Jovanka Houska told me she had talked to the Ugandan.

I played in FIDE Rated tornament In Las Vegas sometime in the 1990s. My oppoent, an Austrian, persistently offered a draw, afer making his moev and pressing the clock. I usually just let that make ride. People make mistakes. After a time , I got annyed and callied for the arbiter. He sadi, 'Stop off...

FIDE has become besotted with cheating using computers. For several years they have simply put other forms of cheating to one side. One reason for that is it is difficult to prove absolutely. Completely faked tournaments could, and should, be discouraged by occasional spot checks. Betting on chess c...

David Gilbert >the ACO World Senior Amateur Chess Championships<

It mat be prejudice on my part, but I don't like to advertise events that 'masquerade' as official FIDE events, when they are not.
Are the games FIDE Rated?

OPPORTUNITIES FOR SENIORS TO PLAY CHESS INTERNATIONALLY IN 2020 World 50+, 65+ Chess Team Championships. 5-15 March 2020. Prague. 5th is the arrival day and 15th departure. http://www.wstcc2020.net/ SUMMARY A player must be at least 50 or 65 by 31 December 2020 in order to play. All players must be ...

Richard Bates The initial thought was England, but Russia, USA and Georgia were amongst the also rans in the Rugby. >I have thought of a new competition or - at least - a prize.< For the Best Scoring National Team in a cycle, amalgamating Chess, Football, Rugby, Cricket, Tennis. You can choose other...

Keith Arkell >I wish I'd had someone like Alex on standby when I was trying to work out during play where I stood in terms of tie-break in the last round of the World Senior 5 years ago. But I guess it would in any case have been against the rules for him to communicate the valuable info to me durin...