Media comments on chess

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Roland,

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5043&p=242792#p242715

That is an incredible coincidence. The article was submitted about November 2019 (maybe earlier)
quite a while before Corona was the buzz word. Just checked again, that is what is printed in the book.
(if mysterious forces are afoot then it's just as well the match was not v a team called Bubonic plague.)

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi,

The Scottish Chess Historian Alan McGowan has been in touch and found some info regarding the Carona Chess Club.


"SCA Bulletin 10, January-April 1963, in a section with news from Edinburgh, Says:- ...and Corona have won Division C with Central second. Corona, a new club recruited from Italians in the Edinburgh area, have completely outclassed the rest of Division C and will tax the Division B teams next season."

[JustinHorton]

Radomir Antic has died, and English people who remember him are most likely to remember him for this, though in Spain he's better remembered as the manager of Atlético's double-winning side in 1996. What's this got to do with chess and media? Well I didn't know until today that Leontxo García had written a book about him.

[Kevin Thurlow]

Not sure this is really media, but I am halfway through "The Institute" by Stephen King, and one of the characters delivers scholar's mate, then later plays through Estrin-Berliner 1965 (Copenhagen) from memory (his not mine), and there's a comment that it's the best chess game. Looking it up on Chessbase, I see the annotations do claim that.

Stephen King also wrote (inter alia) "The Stand", a very long book about a global pandemic that kills 90 % of the world's population. I'm not going to re-read that any time soon.

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Kevin,

Does it say 'Copenhagen' in the book, it was a correspondence game dating from 1965-1968.

Tim Harding mentions that it was voted be C.C. game ever played in 'Chess Mail.'
(Game 25, '64 Great Chess Games' Masterpieces of Postal and Email Chess.)

[Brendan O'Gorman]

[Event "5th CC World Ch Final"] [Site "corr-5"] [Date "1965.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Yakov Estrin"] [Black "Hans Berliner"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C57"] [EventDate "????.??.??"] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 b5 6.Bf1 Nd4 7.c3 Nxd5 8.Ne4 Qh4 9.Ng3 Bg4 10.f3 e4 11.cxd4 Bd6 12.Bxb5+ Kd8 13.O-O exf3 14.Rxf3 Rb8 15.Be2 Bxf3 16.Bxf3 Qxd4+ 17.Kh1 Bxg3 18.hxg3 Rb6 19.d3 Ne3 20.Bxe3 Qxe3 21.Bg4 h5 22.Bh3 g5 23.Nd2 g4 24.Nc4 Qxg3 25.Nxb6 gxh3 26.Qf3 hxg2+ 27.Qxg2 Qxg2+ 28.Kxg2 cxb6 29.Rf1 Ke7 30.Re1+ Kd6 31.Rf1 Rc8 32.Rxf7 Rc7 33.Rf2 Ke5 34.a4 Kd4 35.a5 Kxd3 36.Rf3+ Kc2 37.b4 b5 38.a6 Rc4 39.Rf7 Rxb4 40.Rb7 Rg4+ 41.Kf3 b4 42.Rxa7 b3 0-1

[Kevin Thurlow]

"Does it say 'Copenhagen' in the book, it was a correspondence game dating from 1965-1968. "

Yes, that puzzled me as neither player was in Copenhagen! Both players were better-known as CC players and it was Berliner's first world championship (he won by 3 points!) and he promptly retired. Thanks to Brendan for the game. 10....e4 was the exciting innovation which has caused a great deal of comment.

[E Michael White]

15.Bf1

[Paul Habershon]

In 1926 a Danish Championship playoff game at Copenhagen, Ojvind Larsen v Erik Andersen Snr, has the same position after 7 moves as the Estrin-Berliner game. White varied with 8 cxd4 and also lost.

In his notes in the Correspondence World Chess Championship book co-authored with Ken Messere, Berliner reckons that 31...Rc8 is one of the best moves he has ever played.

[Geoff Chandler]

That may be it Paul, a note from the stem game mentions the Copenhagen game and Stephen King ran with that.
It is a remote possibility he saw C.C. (correspondence chess) and mistook it for Copenhagen Club.

Played this line a few months ago and following a tip in Estrin's Book I opted for a the piece sac here.

r1b1kb1r/p1p2ppp/8/1p1np3/3n3q/2P3N1/PP1P1PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 9

I played 9...Bb7.

We eventually got to here (White to play.)

1k3r2/1bp4p/p7/1P5p/Q2pNn1q/3P4/1P3PPP/R4RK1 w - - 0 24

I was angling for 24.bxa6 Qg4 25.Ng3 Qh3.

1k3r2/1bp4p/P7/7p/Q2p1n2/3P2Nq/1P3PPP/R4RK1 w - - 0 26

But alas my opponent played 24.Qd1 and I lost. (win some...lose some.)

[Geoff Chandler]

As mentioned above by Kevin, The cartoon and the Fischer question.

[JustinHorton]

Dumb Britain is such a stupid feature though. if you're on a quiz show and you don't know, you make a wild guess.

[NickFaulks]

Dumb Britain is such a stupid feature though. if you're on a quiz show and you don't know, you make a wild guess.

I once wrote them a letter saying that. It wasn't published.

[Kevin Thurlow]

"Dumb Britain is such a stupid feature though. if you're on a quiz show and you don't know, you make a wild guess."

Fair point - I haven't a clue what the Bunyan answer is. Again, William G Stewart advised before the recording of 15 to 1, try to make a sensible guess, e.g. "In which country is X?, don't say Africa". But, if you only have a few seconds...

Completely off topic, sorry, but see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umpalMtQE50

[JustinHorton]

Radomir Antic has died, and English people who remember him are most likely to remember him for this, though in Spain he's better remembered as the manager of Atlético's double-winning side in 1996. What's this got to do with chess and media? Well I didn't know until today that Leontxo García had written a book about him.

Sid Lowe writes of Antic that he "played chess".