English Chess Forum

Some of the differences are probably operating at the race genetic level -- if I remember correctly, South Asian IQs are averaging at 82 and roughly the same holds in the Middle East as well. If you don't have basic intelligence to begin, how are you going to be creative? I think you need to refere...

No truck with this. Actually, if it wasn't impossible on practical grounds, I'd think it would be good to make drinking mandatory during tournaments. As Humphey Bogart famously said "The problem with the world is that everyone else is three drinks behind".... The games would be more creative and the...

Playing devil's advocate just a touch here... how is it different having a chess computer help analyse a position to having your (very) strong chess friend/coach go through a game with you? The advantage of having a chess computer is that you can take this approach more often... Big difference. The...

Paul, I think there is a very base interpretation of what constitutes a sport (which is not necessarily wrong). It basically asserts that there were a number of things that we had to do to survive such as 1. Escape predators 2. Get food (meat) By and large we do not have to do these things in devel...

Lots of interesting answers here. When I asked this question I really wasn't looking at it in terms of having its status changed to get funding but I guess proclamations by the sports council are of relevance.... it seems that different bodies view it differently though. I was amused that the first ...

Apologies if this has been covered before. I'm sure I'm not the only person who has answered 'chess' to the question 'Do you play any sports?' and been told that 'chess is not a sport, it's a game/hobby'. Well..... why? Has anybody ever seen a (dictionary) definition of sport that would definitely p...

I do have concerns though that 16-21 is the age group where players can drift away from the game so it would be nice if the varsity match and the recent university team event keeps players involved. Well, unfortunately I no longer fall into that age range but I did play in the recent university tea...

Two surprises in round 1: Oxford 2 - 2 Durham (Oxford wthout its top two for this round) and UCL 1.5 - 2.5 Imperial 2 (FM Vas held by Alan Luo). UCL drawn to play Oxford in round 2. Top board Vas (2309) - German (2515) unfortunately ruined by Vas claiming a win by mobiles phone in spite of his clea...

On the playing front, there were some strong teams, although it seems clear that some strong universities did not take part and some universities did not have all their strongest players. This may change if the event becomes more established. Entry forms were sent out, and I mailed them frequently....

It seems a shame that the discussion of the tournament is now just focusing on the mobile phone issue .... I was (playing) in the tournament hall at the time, probably about 10 metres from the discussed game. I didn't hear the mobile phone but I certainly heard the resulting arguments. Rules are rul...