English Chess Forum

Another photograph of Sultan Khan, but who was his female opponent?

And counterblast

A blast from the past

John Townsend wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 09, 2026 4:11 pm

https://www.chesshistory.com/winter/ext ... inder.html shows, under "Hastings, 1895 (rare group photograph)", that the picture has been discussed in seven Chess Notes items.

Odd that it was thought to be rare having been published in The Sketch.

This was new to me, was it in the tournament book too?

Who would have guessed...

... Alexander Alekhine

Spassky was a high jumper in his youth, I have a less athletic individual in mind and a most unusual venue.

I admit my guess (Spassky) wasn't based on much. I have seen a photo of him playing football, but I don't recall the occasion. From memory, the ball was placed on Spassky's bottom while someone else took the kick. Perhaps it was rugby. Perhaps you were thinking of this game, where Jan Timman broke ...

Which reigning World Chess Champion once performed the ceremonial kick-off at a football (soccer) game. Is this a trick question? Am sure Magnus Carlsen has done this at a Real Madrid match. While he was World Champion. PS. Is it only La Liga that bothers with ceremonial kick-offs? OK you're correc...

Deleted

John Townsend wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 08, 2026 6:52 pm

Boris Spassky?

Not to my knowledge.

Which reigning World Chess Champion once performed the ceremonial kick-off at a football (soccer) game.

Whether any AI models can convert descriptive to algebraic I don't know. Would be interested to know (maybe it has already been done) This is indeed an interesting one - not least because everyone who has ever been through old chess books/magazines will know that descriptive was sometimes ambiguous...

The latest (September) edition of the BCM is promoting a rival to this wonderful site - and it's called the British Chess Forum. You can find it here https://www.britishchessforum.com/ I'd advise you to steer clear of the Politics and Philosophy section, as it contains one of the most eyebrow-raisin...

And here's a better copy of a photo of the same scene above, previously available on Mr. Winter's site.