English Chess Forum

Bogolyubov's title was delayed a year due to political reasons. Not the only one. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fedir_Bohatyrchuk In 1954, FIDE granted Bohatyrchuk the title of International Master. His earlier achievements, particularly in USSR Championships, may have been sufficient for the ...

Not sure about Oliver Penrose (now 97). Was Oliver Penrose really a "proficient amateur player"? You can find him on britbase in the 1950s beating Leonard Barden in a BUCA event. https://www.saund.org.uk/britbase/pgn/195054universityannual-viewer.html Also on top board in the 1950 Varsity match aga...

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 31, 2026 7:03 pm

Anyone spot any good games from the live boards?

I wouldn't call it a good game, but I did see one game in the Over 65 where a player resigned thinking he had blundered. There was however a most satisfactory move available. It's possible that the DGT boards misreported the sequence of moves.

Serious question. I turn 50 next year (*sigh*) and just looked at the grades of those who played in this event this year. Would I have been eligible to play, or is it only from January 2027 I would be eligible You become eligible on January 1st in the year in which you attain the age of 50 or 65. A...

I didn't enter this year mainly because of point 2, don't mind the venue for 4NCL because that is just 1 or 2 nights but not for a whole week Agreed that the Peterborough hotel is a bit isolated. Other factors that may have been relevant to some players. Playing on the first Monday morning, meaning...

Richard Bates wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 30, 2026 7:32 pm

A comment on Leonard’s column today…

Guardian 30th Oct 26 wrote:Hastings had its giantkilling moment in 1970, when the little-known student Martyn Corden shocked the former world champion Vasily Smyslov.

Little known today perhaps but in that era for a couple of years promoted as the next big thing in British chess.

In the Rating-Budget Tournament (RBT) System, the tournament leaders will typically be paired against one another regardless, because they are the strongest players. I think too much is being expected of the rating system. It's not uncommon for ratings not to reflect current strength. A player with...

I am investigating possible venues for an international game (non-chess) tournament to be held next November. Expected attendance 100-120. Most attendees will be flying in. Ideally the accommodation should be at the venue or nearby. In the past, the marketing departments of hotel chains have been k...

I've seen some criticism of this player and scroll down to the bottom of the page and look at team 106), the objection being that they put their best player on bottom board and the accusation being that this was done to give him a good chance of scoring the required 5/7 to get an FM title. He got a...

Is it known who "we" are? I'm sorry if this question leads to someone else watching the thing. It appears to be a website by the name of king takes king https://kingtakesking.com They draw attention to the point that majority voting and thus decision making in FIDE is dominated by the smaller Feder...

Why not give all players 5 or even 10 extra minutes on their clock when they reach move 70 (assuming that this can be preset on the clocks)? Arbiters generally don't like adding time at an exact clock press count and have been influential in having timer designers not support this method on standar...

but whether there is a fair, practical and lawful way of dealing with genuine cases where a player cannot reasonably be expected to remain at the board because of disability, pregnancy, age-related need or another medical reason. The harsh verdict is that they do this whilst the opponent's clock is...

Something I noted from the election address http://www.englishchess.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/C45.9b-Yuri-Krylov-election-address.pdf If re-elected, my main project would be to explore an ECF graded chess pathway for younger players. Ratings and titles are readily understood within chess but...

Isn't it a bit early in the proceedings to pass such a judgement? Perhaps other players would like to have a say. The collective wisdom of arbiters has come up with any number of drawbacks. From a player viewpoint, one main objection is that it would offer unscrupulous players the opportunity to tr...

It's not quite the same thing, but in what's becoming the distant past it used to be commonplace for matches, county matches in particular to be paused for refreshments. I think the practice has totally died out, but maybe there are some survivors out there.