English Chess Forum

Mark Ozanne has written a great piece in Chess this month on his new book, Chess Fever . In the interests of full transparency, we share a publisher. That said, I loved this novel anyway. I wanted to post a short review in a personal capacity. Nobody asked me to do this. I just think Mark Ozanne is ...

I very much enjoyed reading through this fascinating archive. Wonderful. I did smile at A.E.Hopkins editorial in the second bulletin - November 1958: "May I thank all those who have written in to express their appreciation of Chess Fare No.1. That it is being well received is gratifying but may I on...

I read this recently. I would say "good" by McEwan standards, which still equates to "brilliant" relative to most other writers. There are some flaws. A robot that can't lie feels a bit quaint, and a lot turns on this somewhat cliched assumption. The setting in an alternative 1982, is alright but in...

I hope everybody had a fantastic Christmas. Best wishes to all on the Forum for 2020. I reviewed The Moves that Matter , for the January edition of Chess and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm happy to share the PDF with anyone who wants to upload it here - I tried and failed... For me, Jonathan’s personal ...

Getting back on topic... The report could not be clearer in its findings. Those who took the time to do such a thorough piece of work deserve our thanks. Carl’s own statement is also really helpful. What’s left to say? Perhaps only to wish Carl the best of luck. I know he will do a terrific job.

Given Tim has said he is going to appeal, I can well understand why Carl will want to respect the ongoing process, by not commenting at this time. However, I did want to highlight that seeing as the Complaints Panel has just concluded that there were no issues with the appointment process, that shou...

Very sad news. I am sorry to have to inform the forum that Andy Price passed away on the 12th August, after a few days in hospital. Andy was a regular at Leamington Chess Club for over forty years, and was playing for Throw in the Tal in the 4NCL in recent seasons. He was in Torquay only a couple of...

Thanks Roger - I didn't know the guide was there. A combination of that and a helpful chat with London Chess and Bridge have got me going now.

I do think these things should be easier to use - but seem to have got there in the end.

Hi everyone, I've just got Deep Fritz 14 and am struggling. Two questions. (1) How do you download the manual? There doesn't seem to be any obvious link to it that I can see. (2) I've typed in a game to analyse. Within the analysis menu the main options are find position/ classify opening and let's ...

I read somewhere (frustratingly I can't remember where) that an expert in these things measured the length of time that Kasparov had his hand off the Knight for. Apparently, it was so short a fraction that it's possible a human might not have been able to register it. Not totally conclusive (and of ...

In other words, has Carlsen already done enough to be seen as the best player of all time?? The case for might go something like this... 1. Higher rating 2. Computers say he is more accurate 3. Level of dominance over peers (a stronger group than previous generations??) 4. More "complete" player (en...

Dave, I did say "corporate," meaning a FTSE or something of that nature. That semantic point aside, I think it's really interesting to hear your experience that other sporting bodies face similar challenges, so I take the substance of your point. Perhaps this could be another strand to draw on in lo...

I couldn't help but reflect that the ECF finds itself in a situation that just wouldn't be possible in "normal," Corporate Organisations. In most Organisations if the Chairman (President) or another senior figure fails a confidence vote, they stand down. (The semantics of exactly what form of vote t...

All really interesting. So we've established that improvement is possible. Why is it then that most players don't really improve? Where are they going wrong in their approach to development? (I include myself in this category.) Andy - whatever else we establish - try not to improve too much before o...

Wow Joey - that is amazing improvement.

What was your "secret?" Did you have a training plan/ strategy to improve?