Media comments on chess

[Matt Mackenzie]

The passing of Manuel Gottsching has drawn attention to the fact that one of his better known albums was titled e2-e4.

[John Sellen]

From todays Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/ ... blitz-rout

[Paul Habershon]

From todays Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/ ... blitz-rout

The usual highly readable content, though Michael Adams gets 10 years subtracted from his age.

[David Sedgwick]

From todays Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/ ... blitz-rout

The usual highly readable content, though Michael Adams gets 10 years subtracted from his age.

Adams's age is correct now, so presumably an earlier error has been corrected.

I don't think that we normally use this thread to comment on the content of chess columns

[Chris Rice]

Wednesday evening, Leontxo Garcia, Cathy and Ian Rogers and I went to see 'THE CHESS PLAYER' (also known as 'The Royal Game') at the Tristan Bates Theatre in Covent Garden. This is a 75 minute one-man play, written and performed solo by Richard McElvain, inspired by the novella by Stefan Zweig,
Immediately I mentioned this possibility, they were gung ho to join me. It is a very famous piece about a man imprisoned by the gestapo and tortured by isolation. He manages to steal a book , which proves to be of major chess games.
This is not your run-of-the-mill entertainment. This is the third dramatisation I have seen, having read the story as a schoolboy.
I introduced us all to Richard after the show and, I think it was Cathy, who suggested he be interviewed tomorrow by Judit Polgar at the match. The production runs until the 17th and starts at 6pm. It started last year in Edinburgh and is still on tour.
Zweig escaped first to England, then the US and finally Brazil, pursued by his demons. In 1942 he posted the manuscript of what became his most famous work to his publisher. Two days later, he and his wife committed suicide.

Trailer of film version of Chess Story by Stefan Zweig, release date January 13, 2023. As you can see from the above quote from 2018, Stewart likes it and if the trailer is any indication this film could be right up there in Queen's Gambit territory.

[Alistair Campbell]

I note that the professional golfer Louise Duncan recently qualified for her Ladies European Tour playing card. Her management company has tweeted a picture of her celebrating with a glass of pink champagne, sponsors' logos prominently displayed, and...a chess board and pieces.

I'm not aware of her having any serious playing history - maybe Chess Scotland has secretly joined the likes of Baillie Gifford, Arnold Clark, Ping and Laurent Perrier in providing financial backing?

[Kevin Thurlow]

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/ir ... skbarhover

I now see Lawrence Cooper has mentioned this elsewhere, but I think it belongs in both places.

[Paul Habershon]

Chess features twice on 'The Times' letters page today. John Burscough of Brigg, N Lincs., suggests that Deep Blue should have won the 1997 Overseas Sports Personality of the Year. This followed a GOAT sports correspondence thread in which Marion Tinsley (draughts) was suggested.

In the other letter John Enock of Bexhill follows up a December 26 article mentioning 'dignified' chess openings (I missed that) with examples of 'wacky' opening names, including Fried Liver, Monkey's Bum and Bongcloud.

[Paul McKeown]

On Telegram, the notorious Igor Girkin writes of the Russian armed forces being in Zugszwang:

Igor Girkin - Zugszwang.png (94.27 KiB) Viewed 1919 times

"intelligent people have come to the conclusion that the RF is in Zugszwang. It is impossible to adopt a defensive posture, as this will weaken the strategic position, whilst it is impossible to attack, as this risks a military catastrophe. The combat readiness and morale of the Russian armed forces are similar to those before the Kerensky offensive of 1917."

Girkin, of course, is a milblogger dealing with the conflict in Ukraine from the perspective of the lower and middle ranks of the Russian armed forces. He has a huge following in Russia. He also has been found guilty in absentia by a Dutch court for the murder of the passengers and staff of the MH117, when it was destroyed by a Russian surface to air missile.

[NigelDonovan]

Chess features twice on 'The Times' letters page today. John Burscough of Brigg, N Lincs., suggests that Deep Blue should have won the 1997 Overseas Sports Personality of the Year.

...

From the song "Bad Losers on Yahoo! Chess" by Half Man Half Biscuit (2008)

"Deep Blue, in '97 I voted for you
as Sports Personality of the Year
thought at least you'd get the Overseas
'cos when all is said and done
you're not like some of these
bad losers on Yahoo! Chess"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8w3eW1huCM

[Kevin Thurlow]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64185176

[Christopher Kreuzer]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64185176

For the record (and I know there is another thread about this), the above article is titled:

Harry has turned against military, says ex-commander

The chess-related content is Prince Harry saying (in his book) about his military service in Afghanistan against the Taliban:

They were chess pieces taken off the board, bad guys eliminated before they kill good guys.

(Prince Harry served as an Apache helicopter pilot.)

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Quick post here to point out the numerous references to chess in the in-depth pieces about Andrew Tate, whose father was a US Army chess champion, and seems to have been quite a good chess player. Will start a separate thread about that.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/arti ... c-man.html

What turned the son of a chess champion and a Luton dinner lady into the world's most toxic man? [...] Andrew Tate's surprising background

(Will post the link to a separate thread here, as this is worth an in-depth look, IMO.)

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=13210&p=292566#p292566

Separate thread on Emory Tate (1958-2015), US IM and father of Andrew Tate (famous for other reasons).

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Apologies for another Daily Mail link...

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/a ... ather.html

Heath Ledger's teenage daughter Matilda has grown into the spitting image of her late father - 13 years after his untimely death

In March, an insider claimed Matilda had also recently sparked an interest in one of Heath's old hobbies: chess.

'Heath was obsessed with chess, and now Matilda is getting quite good at it. She even has her dad's old chess board,' the source told New Idea.

'Matilda has the skills to become a Grandmaster. Michelle [Williams] thinks this is a great thing and will prevent her from getting up to no good.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/a ... Heath.html

Heath was a keen chess player and won a chess championship in Perth at the age of just 10-years-old.

At the time of his death he was planning to perform in and direct a feature film about a chess prodigy in an adaptation of The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis (1983).

(Not sure if all the above has been mentioned here before?)

[Roger de Coverly]

More on Niemann v Carlsen

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/ ... hout-abuse