English Chess Forum

We've now come full circle, as my original post was about AI failing to defeat a human in a short Go match - when it had to give the human (Shin Jin-seo) a significant starting advantage. Despite this loss, it seems that AI is better at Go than at giving help to googlers.

An advantage: if I've got it right, he could place two stones on the board before the game started. The implication in the articles is that this is a significant but not overwhelming advantage, maybe the equivalent of pawn odds rather than rook odds, at a guess. The human was also given much more ti...

Ten years ago, AlphaGo announced its arrival by winning a match against one of the world's leading Go players. This week the Korean press has been claiming that Humans Strike Back when another Korean won a match against "the world's top" Go AI programme. A more detailed account revealed that not onl...

MJMcCready wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 03, 2026 7:50 pm

Who once pulled out of playing in Monte Carlo so as to take up a position at St. Owen's College Manchester?

It wasn't St. Owen's College, just plain Owen's College, named after a Manchester industrialist and philanthropist.

If we do enjoy chess it is curious that, unlike most enjoyable activities, we are hoping it will be over as soon as possible, in our favour of course. Perhaps the enjoyment comes from the winning glow which may well last longer than the game. I've had games when I've been disappointed when my oppon...

Well, I say new but maybe this is the first-ever book on Sultan Khan. Not out until July 2026, but previewed here: https://en.chessbase.com/post/the-life-of-mian-sultan-khan Unfortunately, this preview says that in the 1933 Folkestone Olympiad, Sultan Khan played on board 1 for India. Surely, he wa...

The decision seems weird overall. Surely the way to test these sorts of things is with minor events, local weekenders and the like, and then you get feedback on how well it works with those before you extend it to title-norm events. I can't see what the point of this is supposed to be when more tha...

One from five months ago: Choices for sweet couple with finale of Brief Encounter? (5,4) Very hard when one isn't given the hint that it has something to do with chess. Simon Anthony, on Cracking the Cryptic, failed to get it, even with all the checking letters. As requested, the answer is FOOLS MA...

He's a veteran compared to this player: https://www.etvbharat.com/en/bharat/indian-prodigy-sarwagya-singh-becomes-youngest-chess-player-in-the-world-to-achieve-fide-ranking-enn25120202521?fbclid=IwY2xjawOb1bFleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETEwQTdLR0xpcms2a3dydmxsc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHiJVzt...

... I think someone, preferably the OP, should reveal it soon with the parsing. OK. I will do, in a day or two. Re Simon Anthony: he was certainly aware of the term, and berated himself when he got the answer - having initially submitted something else - but of course he had no reason to believe th...

The Times, on 27 June. I got it from the Cracking the Cryptic (failed) live solve posted on the same day. Glad you liked it.

One from five months ago:

Choices for sweet couple with finale of Brief Encounter? (5,4)

Very hard when one isn't given the hint that it has something to do with chess. Simon Anthony, on Cracking the Cryptic, failed to get it, even with all the checking letters.

The (very hard) final puzzle in the Times Crossword Championship on Saturday had the following clue:

In the act of playing chess move (10)

"What is the highest prize in a weekender this year?"

If you include this season, then the Galway Congress (4-6 April 2025) will have a first prize of €1000.

According to a post on lichess, the Irish Chess Union has gone even further than FIDE in revaluing players at the lower end of the scale. https://lichess.org/@/teokajlibroj/blog/irish-chess-union-gives-massive-rating-boost-to-all-irish-chess-players/rJkHAJZw I read that the ICU start all new player...