Search found 550 matches

by Paul Habershon
Thu Mar 14, 2024 10:16 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: David Glueck (Oxfordshire team 1991-2)
Replies: 61
Views: 4021

Re: David Glueck (Oxfordshire team 1991-2)

Should the "PP Hare" be "PD Hare"? I played the latter in the Civil Service League twice in 1995. They could obviously be different people. Unfortunately I think he might be the Paul David Hare who was born in Grantham in 1951 and who died in Bedford on the 20th March, 2019. The speculation is quit...
by Paul Habershon
Sat Mar 09, 2024 2:08 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: David Glueck (Oxfordshire team 1991-2)
Replies: 61
Views: 4021

Re: David Glueck (Oxfordshire team 1991-2)

My memory is hazy too. I can't even be sure who captained Bedfordshire, but I can say that the Hares were not related and I can provide my game. I remember the glow of winning it because it was the last one to finish with the score 7.5-7.5 and Bedfordshire would lose heavily on board count at 8-8. O...
by Paul Habershon
Thu Mar 07, 2024 9:21 am
Forum: ECF Matters
Topic: ECF Membership Reform
Replies: 150
Views: 13739

Re: ECF Membership Reform

£18 a year works out as £1.50 a month. I'll repeat that - £1.50 a month! If you just play one game, it's £18 a month. There are players in league teams who only play once, admittedly often as reserves to avoid a default. I am fairly sure you can play three rated standard play games or six rated rap...
by Paul Habershon
Wed Mar 06, 2024 7:26 am
Forum: ECF Matters
Topic: ECF Membership Reform
Replies: 150
Views: 13739

Re: ECF Membership Reform

I can sympathise with John because it must be difficult following arguments when one really doesn't have a clue. As to "If all that league players get for their £18 is grading" , I've already mentioned 'Chess Moves' and https://www.englishchess.org.uk/ecf-membership-partners-and-benefits/ shows a l...
by Paul Habershon
Thu Feb 29, 2024 4:45 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Best Game by an English Player (the vote)
Replies: 80
Views: 3866

Re: Best Game by an English Player (the vote)

If I'm allowed to vote for something from my own book, while I'm a fan of Alekhine-Yates I vote for No 37, Parr-Wheatcroft. I first saw this game as a young boy in another 100-game book, which my father had bought: 'One Hundred Chess Gems' by P Wenman. The author describes it as 'One of the most be...
by Paul Habershon
Sun Feb 25, 2024 1:19 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: The Best Game of Chess played by an English Player
Replies: 39
Views: 4418

Re: The Best Game of Chess played by an English Player

Neil Hickman's wonderfully presented book ' Memorable Games of British Chess' that I thoroughly recommend. I did not know about this book, but the author must be the same NH with whom I was at school at KES Birmingham, an academic institution which features a great deal in these pages. I am trying ...
by Paul Habershon
Tue Feb 20, 2024 10:48 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Queens Gambit and Netflix
Replies: 172
Views: 26752

Re: Queens Gambit and Netflix

I think you missed The Rack Pack https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03bv0t5 Affectionate feature-length comedy drama about the glory days of professional snooker in the 1980s and the legendary rivalry between Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins and Steve Davis, featuring many of the key personalities of the ti...
by Paul Habershon
Mon Feb 19, 2024 12:49 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Queens Gambit and Netflix
Replies: 172
Views: 26752

Re: Queens Gambit and Netflix

I enjoyed Neville's Queen's Gambit review, a considered antidote to the generally warm reception from chess players. The problem with chess films is that to outsiders the game is incomprehensible, slow and BORING! Thus chess is difficult for a script writer to portray entertainingly. I wondered whet...
by Paul Habershon
Wed Feb 14, 2024 2:13 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Opponents who "helpfully" write their name on your scoresheet
Replies: 32
Views: 2109

Re: Opponents who "helpfully" write their name on your scoresheet

I am surprised that this is such a sensitive issue. I have very rarely had an opponent commandeer my score sheet without asking and it doesn't annoy me if they do. If I haven't memorised someone's name from a glimpse at the match sheet I could well ask them to write it for me, especially if it's Pol...
by Paul Habershon
Mon Feb 05, 2024 9:56 am
Forum: Chess History
Topic: Chess history trivia
Replies: 1321
Views: 122756

Re: Chess history trivia

John Upham wrote:
Sun Feb 04, 2024 6:10 pm
Which variation could, if punished, result in the wearing of a scold's bridle?

Who was (allegedly) it named after?
My guess:
the Gossip variation of the Torre attack, named after George Gossip, active in the second half of the nineteenth century and quite a character.
by Paul Habershon
Mon Feb 05, 2024 9:43 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Cheating in chess
Replies: 3034
Views: 344294

Re: Cheating in chess

I have been predicting implanted micro-chips for years. I presume then that shielding the whole playing hall from the internet would not help. The other problem, at the highest levels, is that the players are just too strong. A draw is too likely an outcome. Surely this is one of Magnus's concerns?...
by Paul Habershon
Fri Feb 02, 2024 9:43 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Spectator chess column glitch
Replies: 1
Views: 444

Spectator chess column glitch

The latest edition of the Spectator (Feb. 3rd) has the chess column and puzzle both credited to Alec Linley not Luke McShane. Linley is apparently a graphic designer who works for the magazine. Presumably a byline error, though initial reaction that McShane might be leaving was reinforced by the hea...
by Paul Habershon
Wed Jan 24, 2024 7:10 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Times cryptic chess clue
Replies: 314
Views: 44542

Re: Times cryptic chess clue

Pretty tricky Times today, including this; "Moulding, very old, mostly seen in castles (5)" I've seen OVOLO before, but good to see O-O for castles being expected knowledge. The word is a good 'vowel dump' in Scrabble. Another one is EUOI, which I have never seen in a crossword. I started going to ...
by Paul Habershon
Mon Jan 22, 2024 1:24 pm
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Times cryptic chess clue
Replies: 314
Views: 44542

Re: Times cryptic chess clue

Yesterday's Guardian prize crossword had a chess theme: https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/prize/29284 As well as a few chess references in the clues, the full theme is only revealed, rather cleverly, when you look at the completed grid as a whole. Finding it rather difficult at the moment. I a...
by Paul Habershon
Mon Jan 22, 2024 7:24 am
Forum: General Chat
Topic: Times cryptic chess clue
Replies: 314
Views: 44542

Re: Times cryptic chess clue

Yesterday's Guardian prize crossword had a chess theme: https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/prize/29284 As well as a few chess references in the clues, the full theme is only revealed, rather cleverly, when you look at the completed grid as a whole. Finding it rather difficult at the moment. Fil...