Media comments on chess

[Kevin Thurlow]

Great stuff - the 1966 Hastings with Botwinnik et al was the first I attended.

[Stewart Reuben]

Ad on TV. Skipton Building Society. An elderly man is playing chess.

[Bob Kane]

On the occasion of the late WH Audens birthday (21st) find the chess ref in his poem ..the night mail
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmciuKsBOi0
enjoy

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Stewart,

Not seen the ad. Is the Rook shaped like the Skipton Logo. They have used one on a Chess Set in the past

[Robert Page]

I think you’ll find the apparent rook reference in the Skipton Building Society logo is meant to be Skipton Castle.

On a separate note, a recent episode of Pointess featured a set of pictures of board games. If you don’t know the format - although I suspect many chess players watch the programme - ‘100 people are given 100 seconds to name or identify.....’ and in this case all 100 recognized a chess set. Not surprising, you might think but 100 is rare and you’d be amazed at some the things people appear not to know. For once, the chess board was the right way round but - yes, you guessed it - both queens were on the wrong colour.

[Michael Farthing]

Well I suppose it would have been an even bigger blunder if only one queen had been on the wrong colour.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"On a separate note, a recent episode of Pointess featured a set of pictures of board games. If you don’t know the format - although I suspect many chess players watch the programme - ‘100 people are given 100 seconds to name or identify.....’ and in this case all 100 recognized a chess set. Not surprising, you might think but 100 is rare and you’d be amazed at some the things people appear not to know."

They also say that the 100 people don't know they are doing it for "Pointless"!

[Paul Habershon]

Times crossword Sat.23rd Feb.: Clue for BUSKER is 'Book addict hugs King's Head player in street'. For those unfamiliar with cryptic clues, the definition is 'player in street' and the indicators are B for book, USER for addict, with K for King's Head inserted. However, since clues are supposed to 'make sense' I wonder if the compiler had chess in mind when referring to a King's Head player. But then they probably have a team for darts, dominoes, 5-a-side football etc....

[NickFaulks]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/0 ... ion-widget

Just another story about a board the wrong way round. It makes Branson look like a twerp, and we don't mind that, but otherwise I've never really understood what the fuss is about. Ditto kings and queens reversed ( provided they both are ) - it doesn't actually change the game at all.

[Matt Mackenzie]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/0 ... ion-widget

Just another story about a board the wrong way round. It makes Branson look like a twerp, and we don't mind that, but otherwise I've never really understood what the fuss is about. Ditto kings and queens reversed ( provided they both are ) - it doesn't actually change the game at all.

Well actually it changes the game significantly, in a way that just having the "wrong" colour squares does not.

[John Upham]

Quite often the picture editor will mirror the image about the y axis for aesthetic reasons not realising the implications for the content of the image.

It may be therefore that the board orientation was correct.

[NickFaulks]

Well actually it changes the game significantly, in a way that just having the "wrong" colour squares does not.

How?

[NickFaulks]

It may be therefore that the board orientation was correct.

That's an interesting point. I wonder how many people have been maligned in this way.

Having said that, the position in the picture is not suggestive of great sophistication.

[Stewart Reuben]

Nick F>That's an interesting point. I wonder how many people have been maligned in this way.

It is quite common. The cover of Chess Magazine once had the board round the wrong way for tht reason.

[JustinHorton]

Quite often the picture editor will mirror the image about the y axis for aesthetic reasons not realising the implications for the content of the image.

It may be therefore that the board orientation was correct.

Isn't the point here that it was posted by Mr Branson, so there was no "picture editor" involved?