Media comments on chess

[Mick Norris]

Jim Maxwell

BBC Test Match Special

This is a bit like Bobby Fischer v Boris Spassky. Who is going to blink first?

[Mick Norris]

Geoff, the game I saw being played was NOT in the open air. Moreover the position on the board was left set up and undisturbed until practically the end of the programme.
I will not be watching van der Valk again.

Well, not quite; they were playing outside (with an analogue clock) at the start of the episode when they were interrupted; Van der Valk wasn't sure if it was the announced mate in 4, so set up the position inside back at the police station (and appeared to have the police dog looking at it ) and left it there for quite a while to see if he (or the dog) could work it out; they then played it out at the end

And solved the murders in the meantime

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Did anyone here see the Countdown episode (2nd semifinal of the Champion of Champions) that was broadcast earlier this year (maybe January)? The Dictionary Corner guest did a story that featured chess. I would post it but may not remember the exact details (no spoilers for the final please, long way behind watching that series!).

I got the episode wrong above. It was the first semi-final. The guest was Rick Edwards. He related an anecdote about chess in relation to backgammon. It was quite funny.

[Pete Morriss]

I've just been sent an advert for a "4-part documentary series, THROUGH THE MIRROR OF CHESS: A CULTURAL EXPLORATION", produced by something called Ideas Roadshow. Does anybody know anything about this? It comes with a plug from Danny Gormally, though as he is one of the contributors maybe that is only to be expected. It seems to cover every topic one could possibly think of, which could be fascinating or could be too bitty and superficial to work. I found the trailer underwhelming, but has anybody ventured further?

[Christopher Kreuzer]

https://ideasroadshow.com/chess/

"The accompanying book, Chessays: Travels Through The World Of Chess, is now available as well."

[Roger de Coverly]

https://ideasroadshow.com/chess/

Here's the list of contributors. Some well known names in the chess world.

Jenny Adams, Pontus Carlsson, Tom Dart, Deborah Freeman Fahid, Daniel Gormally, Jovanka Houska, Larry Kaufman, Raymond Keene, Rick Knowlton, Mikhail Korenman, David Kwan, Wang-Sheng Lee, Russell Makofsky, Elshan Moradiabadi, Tunde Onakoya, Elisabeth Pähtz, Antonio Panaino, Bruce Pandolfini, Carl Portman, Daniel Rensch, Ulrich Schädler, David Smerdon, Elizabeth Spiegel, Irene Sukandar, Theo Wait, Jenny Yan, and Hou Yifan.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Of course the presence of a certain name much discussed in this forum previously will be noted.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Both documentary and book sound good.

https://ideasroadshow.com/chessays/

From that description of the book, I got to this review by Fredric Friedel:

https://en.chessbase.com/post/chess-a-waste-of-time

That includes an excerpt from chapter 2 of the book.

Trailer for the documentary here (this might be a good point to take discussion to a more appropriate thread?):

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

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Did anyone here see the Countdown episode (2nd semifinal of the Champion of Champions) that was broadcast earlier this year (maybe January)? The Dictionary Corner guest did a story that featured chess. I would post it but may not remember the exact details (no spoilers for the final please, long way behind watching that series!).

I got the episode wrong above. It was the first semi-final. The guest was Rick Edwards. He related an anecdote about chess in relation to backgammon. It was quite funny.

Coming back to this, I may at some point try and type out the entire anecdote, but from memory what Rick Edwards did was describe his experience on the fringes of a professional backgammon tournament, and his observation that the top backgammon players were also good chess players as well, but that they gravitated to backgammon because the 'luck' element meant that even the best players will lose backgammon games to 'weaker' players. The punchline (as such) was something along the lines of if people want a game where the stronger player will nearly always win, then they are looking for chess, not backgammon. I have described the anecdote very poorly, but it gave the impression that top backgammon players had a certain attitude towards chess, or the perception (wrongly or rightly) between the two games. Essentially that backgammon is more like gambling, and chess doesn't have enough chance to really satisfy those players that like to gamble the outcome (though really? maybe chess players that play sacrificial gambits are feeding some gambling urge?).

[Geoff Chandler]

...maybe chess players that play sacrificial gambits are feeding some gambling urge?

Without a doubt that is the case. We need help. There is a Gamblers Anonymous so why not a Sacrificers Anonymous? If after a game I have not sacced something I feel incomplete and need counseling. Whether you win or lose is not important. All that matters is that you have fed the addictive craving to sacrifice something.

[Stewart Reuben]

Chess.com listed in Time's 100 most influential companies 2923.
At various points, Chess.com has hit number 1 on both Google Play and the U.S. iOS app store. In May. Chess.com membership went past 140 million worldwide, which represents a 355% increase since January 2020, with 150,000 new users registered each day.

The site also had more than 57 million monthly active users playing 840 million games during the month, up 550% since January 2020. Chess.com is the 114th ranked site on the internet.

The list of celebrity chess fans who have talked about playing chess recently reads like a who’s who of popular culture. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Howard Stern, Will Smith, Ben Affleck, Woody Harrelson; the list goes on.

It has even been reported that playing chess has become so popular in classrooms that use of Chess.com has been banned by some school districts in Utah.

[Roger de Coverly]

In May. Chess.com membership went past 140 million worldwide, which represents a 355% increase since January 2020,

Only another 465 million to go then.

https://www.un.org/en/observances/world-chess-day

Did you know?

About 70% of the adult population (US, UK, Germany, Russia, India) has played chess at some point in their lives, 605 million adults play chess regularly.

The old Kirsan and Agon fantasy about the number of chess players just refuses to die.

[NickFaulks]

I think I just heard that Kasparov is about to be interviewed by Piers Morgan on Talk TV. I shan't be watching, can't imagine two more pompous and self-centred people in whose political views I have less interest, but some might wish to.

[Mark Howitt]

I'm glad I'm giving chess a lot of free promo on my website... it's doing fine for views.

[Peter Hornsby]

Newcastle-under-Lyme chess club were featured again this morning on BBC Radio!
We discussed the team's success in the World Chess League.Live and winning North Staff Division 2, as well as the sterling work Jonathan Blackburn has taken building the junior academy.

You can listen to it on the link below, 1 hour 9 minutes in, enjoy!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0ftq0dz