English Chess Forum

John Upham wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 11, 2021 10:32 am

Kevin Thurlow wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 10, 2021 11:14 pm

My parents selected Kevin mainly on the basis that nobody else in the family had the name!

Presumably the most famous Kevin

I object!............ Surely Kevin from Home Alone is more famous

John McKenna wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 31, 2021 2:36 am

PS A lot of players are going to have to get used to writing the moves down, again, when they go 'offline' and return to over-the-board chess.

We're also going to have to get out of the habit of saying our analysis out loud...... or is that just me?

Does each match have its own link that you can click on to start? Mark, the pairings should be on the 4ncl website from 6:30. You'll need to log into Lichess and if white issue the challenge (instructions can be found by following the link in the email we got from our stand-in skipper). If you are ...

John Moore wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 31, 2020 6:43 am

The Southend Congress for 2021 due to be held at Easter has been cancelled.

Thanks John. I'd optimistically thought I might be able to return to OTB chess at Southend but under the circumstances a good call by the organisers. Hopefully it'll return in 2022.

When people say somebody needs to "redouble" their efforts, what does that mean? Is it quadruple or just double, and why not just say that instead?

I think Kevin T will enjoy the Chemistry World December cryptic crossword. Other than taking up a whole page it looks like a regular crossword. Full of enthusiasm after tackling some of the cryptic clues on this forum I decided to give it a go. But then I read the instructions: "Each crossword squar...

Been having great fun at blitz with 2...e5. Isn't 2...Bg4 an improvement? Even more winning against someone who is premoving 3 e3, and much less lost against people who are not. Heh, might give that a pop to relieve the monotony Surprisingly 1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 Bg4 is the line recommended by Wisnewski in...

From today's Times - "One piece by queen in drag, failing to finish lines (5)" The 'one piece by queen' is IK (could have been IB), so when another word gave me H as the starting letter I got HAIKU (= lines). Then you realise the HA..U is haul (= drag) failing to finish. Thank you, Paul. So not 'IP...

From today's Times - "One piece by queen in drag, failing to finish lines (5)" I rarely attempt cryptic crosswords so am unsure of the conventions, but my thinking is that 'One' could be 'I' and 'piece by queen' one of B, P or K (but K being the popular choice) . Then those two letters are inside a...

Kevin Thurlow wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 11, 2020 10:42 am

Good luck using some of those (like Zr in a word).

How about Arzrunite (Ar, Zr, U, Ni, Te). It's a mineral which seems appropriate for a chemistry-based word game, although, sadly, not containing any of those elements.

Fm could be challenging.

Peeler and mistaken Spanish principal are champion (5,7) I'm pretty sure of the intended answer, but can't quite get the clue to fit. Peeler is another term for a Bobby which drew me to the obvious answer. Then working backwards, Spanish Principal could be "Senor Chief" or Sr. Chief, which is an an...

John Clarke wrote: ↑

Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:36 pm

Try this on for size, folks: "Nice keyboardist is worried - sort him out, grandmaster." (5)

KEENE

Keith Emerson is the keyboardist in the band Nice.
Remove the letters in 'sort him' leaving K, E, E, N, E

If I remember correctly Kevin, about ten years prior to this, this was a competition you were desperate not to win because you wife would take exception to the trophy cluttering up your house. My last experience of it was the 2003 match being called off the day before because Bucks couldn't raise a...

This is sad news. Unlike the other contributors, I didn't know Andrew as a player, but rather as a captain. We were opposing captains in the Fleming Trophy matches (Beds v Bucks) when they started up again in 2012 at Andrew's initiative. He was extremely well organised, usually starting the arrangem...

Kevin Thurlow wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 04, 2020 6:33 pm

"....TLA (three letter acronym)"

Aha! NMR and GPC are not acronyms...

Yes, true. But 'Three letter abbreviation' also works for TLA