Media comments on chess

[Kevin Thurlow]

Christopher beat me to it...

BBC website live coverage

[LawrenceCooper]

Christopher beat me to it...

BBC website live coverage

Plenty more chess quotes being bandied about by the two commentators today, too numerous to quote.

[JustinHorton]

Kirsan linked to offshore network, says Guardian

[Stewart Reuben]

I was at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club this evening. To my surprise I saw a photo of the late, eponymous musician/club owner deep in thought over a chessboard. The board was round the right way, but the position looked rather ridiculous from what I could tell.

[Barry Sandercock]

I see from Google that Ronnie Scott used to play chess in a backroom at the club with like-minded guests, so he was obviously a chess player, which I didn't know before reading Stewart's post. I used to enjoy his music and also the playing of the great blind jazz pianist, the late Matt Ross at Kettners Resturant.

[Stewart Reuben]

Viktor Korchnoi died 6 June. Many people may wish to view the extensive obituary on Page 27 of today's Daily Telegraph.
Such obituaries are always anonymous. But I imagine Malcolm Pein prepared it well in advance.

[LawrenceCooper]

"It's like a game of chess, tactically" Martin Keown on England-Wales after 11 minutes.

[NickFaulks]

I think that one has moved into third place among football commentary cliches, behind "at the level" and "for me".

[Kevin Thurlow]

"It's like a game of chess - he's trying to stay one move ahead"

Mahela Jayawardene, England vs Sri Lanka, 1st One Day International (Cricket)

[JustinHorton]

Guardian Knowledge:

"This has puzzled me for longer than is healthy, but where does the term ‘dead rubber’ originate from?” asks Peter Egan. “I’ve heard some say it originates from chess, but there’s nothing conclusive.”

Eh?

[Roger de Coverly]

"This has puzzled me for longer than is healthy, but where does the term ‘dead rubber’ originate from?” asks Peter Egan. “I’ve heard some say it originates from chess, but there’s nothing conclusive.”

A brief Google suggests "unknown" as the origin. But if you want a Mind Sports origin, then Bridge rather than Chess.

A Rubber of Bridge is a series of Hands, whilst a Match in Chess is a series of games.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_bridge

[MartinCarpenter]

It would be very hard - impossible in the traditional sense of playing for money! - to get a dead rubber in bridge though, so I doubt it is that.

[John Clarke]

Guardian Knowledge:

"This has puzzled me for longer than is healthy, but where does the term ‘dead rubber’ originate from?” asks Peter Egan. “I’ve heard some say it originates from chess, but there’s nothing conclusive.”

Eh?

I've always understood it to come from cricket, where "rubber" has long been used as a term for a series of test matches between two nations. England at one time was notorious for only being able to beat Australia in a test once the rubber was already decided - i.e. "dead" as a contest.

[Chris Rice]

From this article it appears that rubber was adopted by bridge and whist players from Lawn Bowls at the turn of the 20th century. A rubber of bowls was best of three. Whether this was actually true or just a very nice story is the age of the internet we live in I guess. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/29/nyreg ... 21342.html

[Stewart Reuben]

A dead rubber would be very unusual in chess. That is because normally every competitive game counts for rating purposes. But in 1851 they played knockout matches. They didn't play the 'dead' games. In 1993 for the Kasparov - Short match I raised the issue, before the start, of the possible dead games. I was swept aside. 'Oh, they'll play them as exhibition games'. I knew this would never happen. Indeed they did play exhibitions each of the scheduled days after Kasparov had won, but these were rapidplay and other fillers hastily cobbled together.

Test cricket is often the best of 5. Thus once a team has won 3-0 the last two matches are 'dead' in those terms and only played for the spectators.

In tennis it is the best of 3 or 5, but once one player or pair has scored 2 or 3, the match is over. In the Davis Cup it is the best of 5; 2 pairs of 2 singles and one doubles match. Once a team has won 3, the last two are thus dead, But they are played over 3 sets for the spectators and possibly to give the players. who didn't otherwise get a game, the opportunity to play.

Snooker they don't play the dead frames in a rubber. Nor do they refer to a match as a rubber.

In a bridge tournament in the early days I suppose they played a team knockout of 3 hands. If one pair won the first 2, then the third would have been dead and not played. Then they proceeded to a game being the first to score 100 points in rubber bridge. Again, in a knockout tournament, the third rubber would have been dead if one pair led 2-0.
The reason duplicate bridge has displaced rubber in the EBU is that they have convinced the government that duplicate is a game of skill and thus not subject to gambling laws.

Late in the season of the football league, teams meet and there is nothing hanging on the result except pride. They do a very good job of making these dead matches seem important.
That is one disadvantage of an all-play-all or round robin tournament at chess. That is why, in such a tournament, it is best if there is a prize for everybody. Then a dead game is unlikely. But we have all played in Swisses where there was nothing at stake after a time except for rating or grading.