Media comments on chess

[John Upham]

Private Eye has a cartoon of a chess queen holding a passport with a photo of a pawn, and explaining: "It's an old picture. "

Nice one!

[Kevin Thurlow]

Not sure if youtube counts...

I found this interesting - "The TRUE values of all chess pieces (according to maths)"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z96plkNUa-U

I am sure there will be many disagreements.

[Tim Spanton]

"A good game of chess at the moment" - Steve McManaman on Man City v Real Madrid

[Matt Mackenzie]

So what is a penalty shootout, the equivalent of a blitz game?

[Stewart Reuben]

Matt, it is more a bit more like Armageddon. That is not a true chess game. The rules aren't even to be find in The Laws of Chess.

[Reg Clucas]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68852876. Typical journalistic misuse of the term 'chess master'.

[Kevin Thurlow]

" https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68852876. Typical journalistic misuse of the term 'chess master'."

I agree, but his highest rating so far was just under 2200, which USA regards as master level. Anyway he reached the 58 hours, which is impressive.

[Tim Spanton]

" https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68852876. Typical journalistic misuse of the term 'chess master'."

I agree, but his highest rating so far was just under 2200, which USA regards as master level. Anyway he reached the 58 hours, which is impressive.

And US ratings are inflated when compared with Fide ones, so his Fide of 2197 would definitely have made him a master in USCF eyes.

[Stewart Reuben]

I think in Nigeria their internal rating system refers to
Masters category-2000+

Unlike England, I doubt Nigeria has its own rating system.

If I return to play rated chess in the US and just played one game, I would appear on their list as a US Master - for 3 months.

Tunde Onakaya's FIDE rating is also very out of date.
A non-chessplayer where I live commented on the record. So these things do hit the media.

[Nick Burrows]

Chess returns to the BBC:

https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/bbc ... zATXWbjlaX

[Roger de Coverly]

Chess returns to the BBC:

I see there's a particular piece of fiction that refuses to die.

More than 600 million adults play regularly across the world,

[Kevin Thurlow]

And...

"The English Chess Federation is thrilled that the much-loved game, which has six million regular players in the UK, will soon be back on the box."

Would I be correct in thinking that ECF has slightly fewer than six million members?

Anyway, it is good if chess returns to TV, although I will not rush out and buy a licence yet.

[Nick Burrows]

More than 600 million adults play regularly across the world,

The YouGov poll that the 605 million comes from says:

Most surprising is the percentage of adults who actually currently play chess (either
weekly, monthly or during the past year): 12% in the UK; 15% in the U.S. 23% in
Germany; 43% in Russia; and 70% among the 121m Indians considered ABC1 by advertisers.

Why is this disputed?

[Roger de Coverly]

Why is this disputed?

Because it grossly extrapolates the results from a survey which asked a weak question in the first place.

http://streathambrixtonchess.blogspot.c ... f-fun.html

The original claim was made ten years ago.

The verifiable total for active players in England is likely in the 10,000 to 20,000 range per year. That would include juniors and uses as a definition as playing a rated gane of OTB chess. That doesn't include the headcount of those playing at chess.com, lichess or other sites.

Was the audience for the Master Game over a million? That was in an era when at a club level anyway, chess playing adult headcount was a good deal higher. I think it was the case that even those in the audience that barely knew a Kinght from a Bishop, appreciate the interplay of ideas and the drama.

[Matt Mackenzie]

I think the last organised BBC chess programming of any sort was covering the Kasparov v Anand title match in 1995.

That is nearly 30 years ago now!