English Chess Forum

Well spotted, John and thanks for your interest in Heroes of Classical Chess (written 2008-09). I don't know why I didn't spot that after that Bxf2+ move (long known), followed by ...Qe5!, the truly new resource, which seems to have been first discovered by Sorokhtin + computer (see that 2004 Chessb...

I am also greatly saddened to hear this news. Colin was a great ambassador for chess on many fronts and touched many players of all strengths throughout the entire UK, not excluding Scotland, where he was one of the first of the early English players to compete regularly in Scottish events in the 19...

Can anyone (Stewart R!? perhaps) explain why FIDE/ECU scheduled the 2015 Euro Teams in Iceland (ie not the seniors event) to overlap with 2015 world individual seniors 50+ and 65+ championships? As there may be many 50+ players who would like to play in both events (possibly Nigel Short!?) and proba...

Just back from 2nd Larsen memorial in Aalborg for 60+ seniors (Danes won't change to 65+ for senior events either) + open to any under 2300 ELO (interesting system). Vladimir Okhotnik (64 and 2011 world seniors champion ... 60+ days) told me that he wouldn't play in Katerini because of the rule chan...

Eh? I doubt if there was any 'row' that caused the SCA to conclude that continued affiliation to the BCF (in 1930) should cease. Nor is there likely to be any evidence that the SCA was making 'demands above its station'. If there were any such evidence, I'd like to be pointed to it. That could be th...

Just to observe on the 'affiliation' v 'join' point: it's the latter word that is insufficiently specific as it doesn't help identify the strength of the 'union' which 'joiners' actually 'join'. 'Affiliation' implies a loose compact and especially strongly that the parties agree that a 'right' to di...

I look forward with some interest to Nigel Short's 'forthcoming article on Scottish chess in NIC magazine'. More generally the BCF does indeed seem to have been originally constituted on a fairly loose 'affiliation' basis that sought in some way to reach out to 'include' the entire (then) British Em...

For info: the German Chess Federation formally voted a year ago to reject outright the application of the (then) recent FIDE / ECU reduction in the (international) definition of 'senior' (from 60+ to 50+), for all German national 'senior' events. The considerable range and popularity of Senior team ...

Just to be clear and to add to Keith's post: 1. There are still only around 50 players entered in the 50+ championship and around 100 in the 65+, making only circa 150 in both tournaments (leaving aside the women's sections). Last year some 200 players entered the 60+ championship alone (no players ...

I can see that with Nunn, Hebden and Arkell entered in the (new) 50+ world seniors individual championships, English interest might be mainly focussed on that event. But hasn't anyone noticed (see Chess-Results.com) that the 50+ event has so far attracted less than 50 entrants while the 65+ event ha...

Maybe a somewhat false dichotomy here!? My point (and the "Scotsman's" view) is that the heart and mind (or 'brains') can be, and usually are, united. Mine have certainly always been so on the matter of the referendum; and I'm fairly certain that the silent majority in Scotland (and the wider UK for...

Wasn't even aware of this thread and haven't read through it in detail. No, I have never remotely been 'undecided'. Nor do I think that anyone at least in Scotland (and possibly extending into NE England - Newcastle is much nearer Edinburgh and Glasgow than far-off London) has been unaware of virtua...

To balance matters, given one Anglo-Scot chess player's glowing take on the 'Yes' side in the forthcoming Scottish Independence referendum (quoted a few posts above), here's one from another lifelong chess playing Anglo-Scot, an old Glasgow school-mate and fellow Glasgow University graduate. From to...

In a perhaps slightly sideways bid to bring back poor old 1946 British Champion R F Combe centre stage, and return to the original issue about the value of (trying to) emulate great players' playing styles, I think he'd firstly say, "Yes, essential for any step change in self-improvement." He'd stre...

Keen to hear about Houdini's take on "style". That style has some real meaning in chess is clear, at least in my view, but it's hard to define, pin down to any actual chess-player and is chimeric. In the introduction to my recent Everyman Chess book "Chess Secrets: Great Chess Romantics", I quote th...