English Chess Forum

It is interesting... Some years ago, a teacher that had written various chess books got locked up for sexual abuse of children. BCM immediately took all of those books off the shelves and stopped advertising them as it might upset victims of the person involved. Chess and Bridge carried on stocking ...

I groaned as well. I suspect that having a long history of doing "brain games" might (maybe, possibly) be some use. A professional footballer breaks a leg and recovers more quickly than an ordinary person. Similarly, a life-long chess player, or cruciverbalist or sudokoist (OK I invented that one) m...

"Mr Bornecrantz said: 'I was found guilty by a kangaroo court in a case that is essentially about using the wrong stationery."

I guess an Australian should recognize a "kangaroo court"...

Simon Briggs in Sunday Telegraph about the legend Andy Murray. "According to one coach who used to attend British junior tournaments in the 1990s, the young Andy Murray was so obviously superior to his opponents that it was like watching a draughts player and a chess player operating on the same boa...

"Peter Swinnerton-Dyer gets the full obit here."

I like his deliberate illegal bid at Bridge which got the rules changed!

"I think his main premise - that if we invented chess today we would expect the game to last 30-40 minutes - is more or less spot on; I wouldn't expect it to be more than an hour." But surely serious and talented players or anyone who attempts to understand the game would prefer it to last longer th...

"You don't need to be able to swim - you just need to be able to sink!"

Fair comment - and I can think of at least one English arbiter who would gleefully default a player for drowning!

Here's another one - sorry don't think I can do pgn thing. Thurlow,Kevin J (2100) - Berry,S (2265) [C60] Surrey Championship, 2002 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.0–0 Bg7 5.c3 a6 6.Ba4 d6 7.h3 Nf6 8.d4 Bd7 9.Re1 Qe7 10.Nbd2 0–0 11.d5 Nb8 12.c4 a5 13.Nf1 Bxa4 14.Qxa4 Na6 15.Ng3 Nc5 16.Qc2 a4 17.Bg5 h6 1...

Are there 600 million people who can swim proficiently?

It's probably Hunt's speechwriter. JH was notorious as being the Health Secretary who believed in homoeopathy.

That is very sad news. Before Wimbledon, he was a stalwart for Mitcham (and I'm sure John Saunders will produce a much better tribute). I played him 7 times between 1978 (when he wiped me out) and 2002 when he sacrificed his queen to win. Happily for me the intervening games weren't all like that. H...

"There's a separate thread about the Rapidplay in the Congress Results section; now if you'd have commented there, and failed to mention that I had a won a prize, I would have been upset "

Absolutely!

"in 1950 by Leonard Barden (v. Weaver Adams, 1-0 quickly)" I seem to recall Leonard and Adams had a bit of a theoretical argument in that system, where the American was a bit full of himself, but Leonard rather proved his point! On the Petroff, I have seen a book advertised recently showcasing the a...

"In which case, given that Paul has now enlightened me on the various other league chess offerings in London, sensible people will migrate to the leagues that use increments leaving the London League to wither, won't they?" A fair point, but the London League is the strongest, which is probably an a...

Apart from the gardening clothes, (if they're as good as that) it's frequent rudeness to the unfortunate person doing the prizegiving. You manage to persuade the mayor to turn up then too many of those that actually attend the prizegiving, shamble up, grab the prize and disappear without a smile or ...