English Chess Forum

[snip] Nevertheless, it was clear that some considerable effort to make the chess as realistic as possible, and that I applaud. Particularly how the actors, none of whom are known chess players as far as I know, were able to memorise long sequences of realistic moves and even give simultaneous and ...

Jack was a clubmate of mine and almost certainly a team-mate at some point. However I remember him more for his production of the Stepps Chess Club magazine, which I think was something of a labour of love – it was of a high quality, containing games by the masters, games by club members, puzzles an...

I believe Keti Arakhamia-Grant was on BBC Breakfast last week sometime. Don't think this is still available.

She was also on BBC Radio Scotland's "Drivetime" show yesterday I think, being interviewed by John Beattie for about 2 minutes before he segues neatly into a discussion on table dimensions.

Simon Rogers wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 25, 2020 1:20 am

I'm surprised Jim Sillars of the SNP wasn't an option.

I'm intrigued by this thought...

Matt Mackenzie wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 25, 2020 1:16 pm

Poll closed already?

I don't think so - I just voted (you can probably work out who for). (I would have voted for Jim had he been a candidate - I think he would make a good dinner guest.)

The home page just has room to describe this thread as "Alex McFarlane is on the ..."

My mind reeled with all the possibilities for ending that sentence.

I guess "mend" may be the best of them. Please convey my best wishes, Geoff.

Probably MacLeod. (Admins - feel free to move to the Pedants' thread). Since I'm here I should perhaps contribute my own tuppence worth with something I watched back at the beginning of lockdown, but which I can't trace. I think it was an episode of "Coast", set on the south coast somewhere, where N...

MJMcCready wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 07, 2020 2:38 am

Do you remember any other chess related cryptic clues Paul?

One piece on board that is for a raw recruit (6)

Neil Graham wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 18, 2020 8:41 am

Kevin Thurlow wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 17, 2020 6:42 pm

"Who did Virgil Tracy commemorate ?"

Gus Grissom?

That's correct. All the Tracy brothers (Scott, Virgil, John,
Gordon and Alan) were named after U.S. astronauts.

The Mercury Seven. They featured heavily in the 1983 movie "The Right Stuff" and more tangentially in "Apollo 13"

Another quibble - the difference between "league" and "division", particularly with regard to sporting competitions. As far as I am concerned, a league is made up of divisions. These divisions may be based on merit or geography (and possibly other criteria that I can't think of). I was comfortable w...

This was also sad news. I attended Hugh’s funeral remotely back in May; I understand his neighbours came out to line the street as the hearse went by. Hugh was a maths teacher by profession and for many years a head teacher at Lasswade High School, just south of Edinburgh, but still had time to purs...

Many thanks Mark for this tribute – I hadn’t spotted it at the time or I would have replied much sooner. I first met Derek as an opponent from afar – we played a couple of correspondence games many years ago. I’ve a feeling he retired (from work) mid-game and his address changed. Certainly it was a ...

I was also sorry to have heard of this. I played as a team-mate of Jim’s for several years, but didn’t know him well. He never lost his Barra accent but I’ve no idea how long he spent there – it was a surprise to find he had been born elsewhere. He was a keen player and I suspect one who prioritised...

I’m not alone in being sorry to have heard of this. I played alongside for Paul for a season in Edinburgh before he moved back west. I didn’t get to know him particularly well – I think he was a Celtic fan, but with a Liverpool accent. He was always a friendly face on the circuit – I played him a ha...

Another grammatical offence (one of which this website, or rather the supporting software, appears guilty): times, in particular noon and midnight. I was taught (correctly, I believe, which wasn't always the case) that 12 o'clock was either noon or midnight, rather than a.m. or p.m. (As an aside, I ...

Pronunciation is a different tea-pot of fish, as a German ex-colleague of mine once said, but surely both “d”s in Wednesday are pronounced?! (Note how I avoided the use of an apostrophe to denote a plural). Mismatch of plural nouns with singular verbs (and vice versa) provides fertile ground. MPs (s...