English Chess Forum

I introduced the rule about norms achieved DURING a tournament, at the request of the Qualification Commission when it was meeting at the Olympiad in Moscow. I remember a Scottish player who had 3.5/7 in the Olympiad in Siberia. When I told him that his CM title was safe, he exclaimed, 'Thank goodne...

DEMIS HASSABIS shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. This has nothing directly to do with chess. But I knew him from chess as a very promising player when he was 9. He is now 48. He certainly kept up with chess at university when he played for Cambridge in the annual match against Oxford. Later he wo...

Magnus in that interview. 'But I don’t know if there are any very good players among the sports people I have faced.”

Has he perhaps forgotten the Norwegian chess gm, Simen Agdestein, who played football for Norway and also coached Magnus at chess?

I think I would find it easier to play blindfold than on a board which is the wrong way round. BUT. I don't know as I have never tried to play on a board set up incorrectly.

QUEEN'S GAMBIT

This series is being run again on Netflix.

There are those ho haven't seen it and it has been very popular and has led to greater interest in our game.

SUNDAY TIMES 15 Sep 2024 main new section Page 17. It takes up most of the page. ENDGAME Zelensky and Putin facing aach other over a chessboard (drawn, not a PHOTO). Article by Mark Urban who was diplomatic editor of BBC Newsnight for 29 years. BUT the cartoon showing the two men ffacing each other ...

The Laws are NOT rigid about medical emergencies. 12.2.6 states The arbiter shall take special measures in the interests of disabled players and those who need medical attention. There are so many variables it MUST be left to the arbiter's discretion. If possible, it is good to adjourn the game and ...

95 HAPPY RETURNS to LEONARD on his 95th. I look forward to his telegram from the King - if I survive that long!

We held the British just before the Fringe started in Edinburgh, in 1985. Many of the chessplayers stayed in the same accommodation in people's homes that was arranged for the Festival. We had a blitz tournament from London to Edinburgh on the train which Stuart Conquest won. That has never bee repe...

It was very sad to learn from the Saturday Daily Telegraph that Dietmar Kolbus had died in Biel. He became an IM in 2005 and frequently played in both Hastings and the British Championship. From 2021 Dietmar played for the IOM, which is where he lived. He gave very strong personal support to the int...

I just turned on BBC News by accident at about 9am. There was a nine year old girl (Ithink you know her name)playing 8 children simultaneously. She won all 8 of course, Malcolm Pein also featured. It was a little before 9am. NOTHING NEW THEN - But very heart-warming if you have been trying to raise ...

BLETCHLEY PARK CODE-BREAKING'S FORGOTTEN GENIUS I just saw this one-hour programme on BBC 4. It is being repeated 1.55-2.55 this evening. It concerns mathematician Gordon Welchman of whom I hadn't previously heard. It weaves in the story of code breaking in Blatchley Park and its effect on World War...

Very few things are absolutely necessary,

THE INSEPARABLES 2023 Sky Premier movies this week. It attracted my attention because, in my TV Choice this week, the description of this new cartoon showed a chess board, a stuffed toy, a big pawn and another piece. I didn't see this image in the actual film. but there was a very brief chess image ...

Did you notice she wrote I now prefer 2...c4.
A totally original chess opening!