Another Guardian howler

[Jonathan Rogers]

Since there is much good content in Leonard's column, I hesitate to criticise when I disagree with anything, but today is not the first time I have seen Leonard write something like:

"the women's Pride and Prejudice team has been one of the successes of the UK League"

and this in the context of saying that womens' chess is not doing as badly in Western Europe as is often made out.

Goodness, Leonard, when did you last look at their team and count their number of female team members? Their decision to dump the majority of their female regulars when they earned promotion to the first division seemed to many to reinforce exactly the prejudices which they had supposedly been fighting. Hardly an example of womens' chess flourishing in Western Europe.

[Ben Purton]

Just in case Leonard did not see the strength of their standard team at the final weekend, here is a good example:


RD 10 PRIDE AND PREJUDICE 2521 v BARBICAN 4NCL 1 2398
1 w Adams, Michael 2704 ½ - ½ D'Costa, Lorin AR 2466
2 b Howell, David W L 2612 0 - 1 Parker, Jonathan F 2523
3 w Hebden, Mark L 2548 ½ - ½ Turner, Matthew J 2515
4 b Flear, Glenn C 2517 0 - 1 Ferguson, Mark 2393
5 w Emms, John M 2484 0 - 1 Collins, Sam E 2401
6 b Hunt, Harriet V (F) 2452 0 - 1 Cox, John J 2389
7 w Ward, Chris G 2431 ½ - ½ Knott, Simon JB 2342
8 b Grafl, Florian 2421 ½ - ½ Lauterbach, Ingrid (F) 2158
2 - 6

[John Upham]

I'm curious to hear the explanation from the P&P Team Manager to the players at the time when the female players were dropped from the team.

I would have tried to avoid that at all costs!

I was dreading deciding what to do had AMCA Dragons got promoted to Division One. Fate removed this quandary for me.

[LozCooper]

Since there is much good content in Leonard's column, I hesitate to criticise when I disagree with anything, but today is not the first time I have seen Leonard write something like:

"the women's Pride and Prejudice team has been one of the successes of the UK League"

and this in the context of saying that womens' chess is not doing as badly in Western Europe as is often made out.

Goodness, Leonard, when did you last look at their team and count their number of female team members? Their decision to dump the majority of their female regulars when they earned promotion to the first division seemed to many to reinforce exactly the prejudices which they had supposedly been fighting. Hardly an example of womens' chess flourishing in Western Europe.

I think March 2009 was the last time they fielded more than 1 female player and it was around this time that funding from the ECF stopped.

To be fair a lot of chess journalism is like this. It's full of generalisations and often overlooks recent trends and changes. I guess it's less of a story without a bit of journalistic licence. This is something of which I am becoming increasingly aware since becoming International Director.

[Jonathan Rogers]

Yes, there is journalistic licence, in exaggerating trends to make them more interesting, but this is different - calling P&P a womens' team today is just wrong. It was the intention four years ago ... and that's it.

Incidentally I don't have any problem with Claire changing the composition and objectives of her team. I also think it was her business whether she wished to keep the old team name. I have just been criticising the tendency of journalists still to call them a womens' team. (I may be unfair in singling out Leonard for criticism here, btw, but of course the criticism stands).

Was there still ECF money for the team as late as March 2009, on the basis that it was still somehow promoting English womens' chess (as Loz suggests)? I would be surprised by that, but then "I know that I don't know".

[Ben Purton]

Can I just say that ever since we changed our to Sambuca Sharks we've done our upmost to promote the sales of Sambuca.

[Mark Howitt]

I don't see why any team should be funded by the ECF when others aren't. If I was an opposing team captain I'd be furious. It'd be like the FA funding a team to get into the Premier League because it solely consisted of black players.

[Alex Holowczak]

Can I just say that ever since we changed our to Sambuca Sharks we've done our upmost to promote the sales of Sambuca.

This is interesting. Should the government ever ban alcohol advertising (which is what Cancer Research UK and the World Health Organisation want), would the 4NCL force you to rename your team?

[Geoff Chandler]

The only 'journalistic licence' I can see is Mr Barden writing something
positive about the game and then getting dunked in the river.

Actually good news '.....less of a story.' is often harder to write.

He could have easily dipped his pen into the pot marked 'Doom & Gloom'
and then everyone would have been happy.

[John Upham]

This is interesting. Should the government ever ban alcohol advertising (which is what Cancer Research UK and the World Health Organisation want), would the 4NCL force you to rename your team?

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambuca_%2 ... guation%29

[Gavin Strachan]

Perhaps he misread it as:

1 w Adams, Michaela 2704 ½ - ½ D'Costa, Lorin AR 2466
2 b Howell, Davina W L 2612 0 - 1 Parker, Jonathan F 2523
3 w Hebden, Mary L 2548 ½ - ½ Turner, Matthew J 2515
4 b Flear, Glenda C 2517 0 - 1 Ferguson, Mark 2393
5 w Emms, Jane M 2484 0 - 1 Collins, Sam E 2401
6 b Hunt, Harriet V (F) 2452 0 - 1 Cox, John J 2389
7 w Ward, Chris G 2431 ½ - ½ Knott, Simon JB 2342
8 b Grafl, Florance 2421 ½ - ½ Lauterbach, Ingrid (F) 2158

[Geoff Chandler]

Glenda Flear. What a great name.

Conjurs up images of a female tyrant who edits a woman's magazine.

[Mark Josse]

Chris Ward must have been gutted to have been surrounded by all those female players in Div 2 then to find they were replaced by a load of males

[Gavin Strachan]

Christine would have been alright about it