On a lighter note

[Paul McKeown]

From the ECF silly names department:

The Brown Pond Trophy

- for Division 3 of the Counties Correspondence Championship!

You couldn't make it up, could you?

Something for Richard James for his next edition of Chess Addict?

[IM Jack Rudd]

We could compile a list of trophies with water-related names. The second division of the Somerset league is the Charles Marsh division.

[Martin Cruickshank]

On a lighter note, but alas not a water-based trophy, a video of the human face of Mr. Karpov....
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ipdYFuIX- ... annel_page

Martin

[Justin Hadi]

That's really nice. For some reason I can't imagine Kasparov doing that

[Paul McKeown]

Nice!

[Greg Breed]

On a lighter note, but alas not a water-based trophy, a video of the human face of Mr. Karpov....
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ipdYFuIX- ... annel_page

Martin

He tried his hardest to be nice and forgiving but i've never met a serious chess player yet that will lose on purpose!
Poor girl. I imagine she lasted longer than I would though!!!

[Greg Breed]

I'm not saying I've met or played Karpov, but... you get my point.
Lucky kid

[Simon Spivack]

On a lighter note, but alas not a water-based trophy, a video of the human face of Mr. Karpov....
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ipdYFuIX- ... annel_page

Martin

He tried his hardest to be nice and forgiving but i've never met a serious chess player yet that will lose on purpose!

It is quite hard to lose against a child of that age, I've tried it. The problem is that they often can't mate with king and queen against king (One time a young man of about five years experience of life on this planet did mate me with king and queen against king; I thought he'd never stop crowing ). I thought Karpov not choosing, eventually, to press the clock, may have enabled him to discover (sic) that he had lost of time.

[Stewart Reuben]

Quite a good game to play against players with little experience is that they get their full armoury and you get, with the black pieces, just pawns. The idea is to see how long they take to deliver mate and how long you can stave it off for.

We used to hold blitz tournaments at Islington Club. In one Ron Harman (then about 190) started off rather badly. After a time I realised what he was aiming at doing. That was to lose all his games without the opponents catching on. He was playing against an adult who had never won a game at all at the club. He knew how the pieces moved and thus could not have been actually ESN. Ron contrived to lose one piece after another. You know like Qxf7ch forcing the win of the queen.
The players' time started to run out. Eventually in desperation Ron resigned. "Who won?" asked the weakie. "Oh, you did." "Why?" Ron answered, "Well I had such a mad position I had no chance."
Later Ray Cannon told me the player had asked whether we would stop him coming to the club because he was such a weak player. Ray assured him, absolutely correctly, that we would never do such thing. Of course eventually he stopped coming of his own accord.
My objection to chess computers that manage to play at a very low level is that they do not correctly simulate extremely bad play. It is very hard to imitate.
Stewart Reuben

[Sean Hewitt]

My objection to chess computers that manage to play at a very low level is that they do not correctly simulate extremely bad play. It is very hard to imitate.
Stewart Reuben

Oh I don't know Stewart - I seem to be able to imitate bad play all the time!

[Charles W. Wood]

Silly names: I love my old captain's name from Bradford Chess Club. Mike West (say out loud) a man on a mission.

I hope you don't mind these as they are a little sexist. In the Bradford & District Chess Ass there is a structure for players who have scores the highest percentage of wins through the league effectively making them "Kings" one is the Cocking and the other is the Totty. King of Cocking or King of Totty, hmmm hard choice.

[James Pratt]

regarding Stewart Reuben's posting about Ron Harman, ESN stands for Educationally Sub Normal, perhaps not a label that is still is use..

Anyway, one year at the King's Head Rapidplay I was not given an opponent, I complained and was promptly paired with a controller or helper, before battle I enquired :"What's your grade?" he replied 'oh, say 45.'

We started off and he played five or six moves of orthodox Petroff's, then proceeded to lose material at every turn, leaving me with an ending three or four pieces up. I decided to sac my Queen so played Qxh7+, a gift to even things up. He thought a bit and then put his King on f8, whereupon I had to sacrifice her again. Belatedly, she was swallowed.

I then under promoted five pawns all to knights. The hardest thing was keep a straight face when I saw IM Andrew Whiteley laughing ...

My opponent had no notion of what was actually happening and finally got mated by the lumbering horses.

"You taught me something", he smilingly added.

James Pratt (Basingstoke!)

[Matthew Turner]

It sounds to me like you are being a bit disrespectful to your opponent. I'm not sure what they are going to learn from you underpromoting to five knights - perhaps nominative determinism?

[Charles W. Wood]

It sounds to me like you are being a bit disrespectful to your opponent. I'm not sure what they are going to learn from you underpromoting to five knights - perhaps nominative determinism?

Remember: On a Lighter Note. I found it funny, we have all been bloody minded, especially when patronised.

[James Pratt]

well, here's somethiing else to smile at, certainly not involving me.

Claire Whitehead was playing in the Major Open at the BCF Congress in 1979 and had expressed the worry - amongst friends and supporters - that she might come last. A number of fellows promised to 'see her alright' and the last round duly began and Claire - I think almost definitely - must have lost. However, things were not so clear as to her final poll position and on a neighbouring lowly board one player, he might have been called Taglione, conceived of the over-gallant notion that he might lose a won position by sacrificing all his pieces, thus saving CEW from her wooden spoon.

At this point, the controller, trying to stop him as a disturbance was taking place in the tournament room, (probably a gym in Chester School, I suppose..) said that the game might be annulled but they begged to continue. Right! exclaimed the controller, Bernard Cafferty, if you wish to continue go and play outside. The two guys duly did so, putting the pieces on a car roof and continuing ..I've no idea whether any of the fellows finished above Claire, but it's a good story, isn't it?

Pre Stewart Reuben,of course ..!

James Pratt (Basingstoke!)