Media comments on chess

[Stewart Reuben]

Geoff. There is quite a lot wrong with that cartoon, of course that may be intentional.

The white square is on the left.
The knight would have dropped on White's head by then.
Both players seem happy. A very rare occurrence.

[John Clarke]

There is quite a lot wrong with that cartoon

Not least the fact that an entire file is missing from the board - presumably the a-file if it was originally set up correctly.

Re the date: Peter Kuper has been drawing Spy vs Spy since 1997, but since 2001 it, like the rest of Mad, has been in full colour. So I'd say this is a reprint from the period 1997-2001. (And it would appear from their Wikipedia article that they're about to largely phase out the use of original material, and do mostly reprints from the end of this year.)

Geoff, you may have been using an outdated Morse chart (or perhaps the Spies sabotaged it) - the inscription at the bottom actually reads "BY PROHIAS". (Antonio Prohias created the strip in 1961, shortly after fleeing his native Cuba.)

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi John,

Thanks, decoded morse from memory, actually it's hard to read you have to hear or see it rather than read it.
replayed sound in my head. Memory and old peepers looking at my post did the rest.

But surprised I got C instead of Y. C = -.-. which sounds like 'Charlie-Charlie' and is one
of the first 'sounds patterns'' you are taught to show you sounds patterns are there.
Amazing how quickly the brain turned these sounds into words, the slow bit was manually writing them down.

Also be in trouble sending S.O.S . There I would have sent S.O. T. A.
(the boys would have been saying: 'S.O.T.A?' sounds like Geoff's in trouble again.)

You do not need electrical devices or the pretence of a weak bladder to cheat at chess.

You could send a move by visual morse very easily. The sender need not be in the same room but across the street,
you only have to be able to see them. Start looking for the players who brings binoculars into the playing hall.

[JustinHorton]

ESPN piece on the physical demands of top-level chess.

[John McKenna]

After reading that ESPN report I suddenly realised I had a stiff neck. Auto-suggestion!?

[JustinHorton]

Guardian Grand Prix coverage:

the upshot is this that Ferrari won this particular game of tactical chess to put themselves clear in second in the constructors’ standings

[Kevin Thurlow]

"the upshot is this that Ferrari won this particular game of tactical chess to put themselves clear in second in the constructors’ standings"

to continue the analogy, by means of a Leclerc sacrifice...

[Bob Kane]

I watched the latest "Predator" (2018) early in the movie the boy hero is at the chess club, the amazing thing is that all the boards are set up correctly ! in one scene he attempts to reset a board, the position might be from a classic game

[Andy Stoker]

Variation on a theme #94

Radio 4, PM, just now: Repatriating stranded Thomas Cook customers is like our old friend, three-dimensional chess or "Mornington Crescent for Aircraft".

[Matt Mackenzie]

Must have been a few chess metaphors floating about this morning?

[Gerard Killoran]

Must have been a few chess metaphors floating about this morning?

There should have been as the Supreme Court President, Brenda Hale, is married to Julian Farrand.

[JustinHorton]

Lewis Hamilton:

“I've got to figure a way to get by that Ferrari. I can't do it on the straights. They have too many horses. It is going to have to be like a chess game and every move has to be perfect to have any window of opportunity to swing past.”

[Gerard Killoran]

The worst chess analogy of all time?

Boris Johnson’s unwinnable chess match is nearing its endgame

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... -election

The go-to analogy for some when looking at the latest stage of the Brexit mess is three-dimensional chess, with multiple boards being played simultaneously.

Surely a no-go-to.

It ends with...

Perhaps high-stakes poker might be a better metaphor.

Well, wouldn't anything?

[JustinHorton]

Jack White and Jimmy Fallon

(thanks to the poster who let me know I'd previously used quite the wrong link)

[John Clarke]

The worst chess analogy of all time?

Boris Johnson’s unwinnable chess match is nearing its endgame

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... -election

The go-to analogy for some when looking at the latest stage of the Brexit mess is three-dimensional chess, with multiple boards being played simultaneously.

Surely a no-go-to.

Three-dimensional chess mightn't be such a bad analogy. Didn't C H O'D Alexander once give details about a 3-D version of the game that included pieces called "unicorns"?