English Chess Forum

I don't like criticising presenters, and I am sure he does not do it intentionally, but I find one commentator's habit of prefacing many of his contributions with an excited "Wow!" (rarely warranted by the move made or the analysis) irritating to the extent where I have to mute the sound.

Justin, I think this discussion has moved away from the original point (and indeed subsequent points) and continuing it is not serving any useful purpose, so I shall try to step back.

Thanks to those like Paul and Adam who are floating initiatives of this kind. My views are similar to Richard Bates's, except that as time goes on, I think there will be considerably more interest. I don't want to spark more discussion about the rights and wrongs of particular strategies, but the mu...

Are we the only country who is actively not interested in testing anyone who does not apparently need hospitalisation? I am interested in knowing how that one can be defended, it seems to baffle experts and non-experts alike This is discussed in the first question here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av...

the government strategy to date has been cogent and logical It may have been logical: it has not been particularly cogent. So for instance : The UK only realised "in the last few days" that attempts to "mitigate" the impact of the coronavirus pandemic would not work, and that it needed to shift to ...

ooks like Boris has finally pressed the red button It's impossble to overstate how utterly shambolic has been the Government's performance here. Prof Chris Whiity, in whom hitherto I would have had the highest imaginable confidence, has gone from telling us (Thursday) that the single focus of polic...

I think suspending chess competitions has become inevitable, whatever we each think of the objective worth of so doing in terms of effective action against Covid-19, so we might as well get on with it straight away. Suspending social media might (arguably) be a more useful action. Some of the tone a...

Instinctively, I probably side with David that now is the time to call a temporary halt to chess competitions That may be wrong. Most of us go into voluntary isolation while the virus rumbles along, but eventually we have to come out of hiding and then we all get it. Epidemiology is complicated and...

There are armchair experts all over social media declaring that we must act yesterday to take various measures to prevent the spread of the virus. But the point about the more extreme measures is that they all come with their own negative consequences for people’s lives and livelihoods, and as such...

Fatigue (long tournament, long game) probably strikes on board 9 (65....Bd6???) Mental stamina counts for so much in chess. That's what impresses me most about the quality of play by my peers in Over 50 events.

In Lane - Brewer, why did Gary Lane offer a draw? Looks overwhelmingly good for White to my eyes after the simple to find 35 Ng6+ Kf8 36 Ne5. Mark you, it looked awful for White a few moves earlier, so maybe he was so relieved to have escaped that he offered a draw without taking a fresh look at th...

In Lane - Brewer, why did Gary Lane offer a draw? Looks overwhelmingly good for White to my eyes after the simple to find 35 Ng6+ Kf8 36 Ne5. Mark you, it looked awful for White a few moves earlier, so maybe he was so relieved to have escaped that he offered a draw without taking a fresh look at the...

Richard Palliser has just blundered (I think) into a draw from a technically won rook ending. He probably thought the win was straightforward with the king cut off, but with the pawn still on the third rank, some care was needed. It is hard not to rush when the win is in sight, especially after a lo...

Mental fatigue strikes in Nicholas Pert v Graham Moore with 69.....Kh5 ??? on the verge of a draw. I have to feel sorry for the latter - we've all been there, particularly after defending for ages against a GM. Great result for Tom Villiers - Tom has an uncanny ability to induce blunders from strong...

The Central London League has operated successfully for several years now on (previously) 80 mins plus 10 second increment per move or (now) 75 minutes plus 15 second increment per move. We start at 6-30pm, and I can't remember witnessing any game going beyond 10-00pm, and on most nights, everyone h...