Playing the prison

[Kevin O'Rourke]

Be interested to hear some stories of playing prisoners in league matches. In Edinburgh we have the prison as one of the clubs in the league that we play. I never had the pleasure of playing an inmate due to either missing that game or them not being in the league I was currently in. Personally I think it’s a good idea for inmates to use their time playing no matter what their ability is. You may also get some prisoners that are very good players or can strive to become good players – ie plenty of study time!

Oh and naturally, they played all their games at home!

[Matthew Turner]

I don't know any examples of chess teams, but the local rugby team played a match against prisoners. It all went very well.

Butleigh RUGBY CLUB

24 February 2014 ·

Butleigh V Portland Prison This Sunday 2nd March
11am Meet- we all have to go in together!

[Kevin O'Rourke]

would you accept a draw after 5 moves if you were up a pawn?

[Brian Towers]

would you accept a draw after 5 moves if you were up a pawn?

Only against Claude Bloodgood

[Kevin O'Rourke]

see how hard the handshake is before the game.

Also careful not to talk about a bishop being locked out of the game or similar comments.

[Stewart Reuben]

There is a book about, I think, CHESS IN PANKHURST PRISON

[Bill Porter]

There is a book about, I think, CHESS IN PANKHURST PRISON

Suffragette chess?

[Stewart Reuben]

How about CHESS IN PARKHURST PRISON?

That was the subject. But I don't know the title. The name of the prison in the Isle of Wight was changed a few years ago.

[Alistair Campbell]

Be interested to hear some stories of playing prisoners in league matches. In Edinburgh we have the prison as one of the clubs in the league that we play.

I think this is a slight exaggeration - HMP Edinburgh has never played in the league as far as I know. It has hosted the occasional friendly match; I played there 20 odd years ago. Although I cannot remember the exact moves, we reached something like the following position, black (the prisoner) to play.

r2qkbnr/ppp2ppp/2np4/4p3/2B1P3/5Q1P/PPPP1PP1/RNB2RK1 b kq - 0 6
I remember anticipating with horror the possibility of my opponent playing the move he soon played. Not quite TWMOTB.

"That's disappointing" was his commendably understated reaction as I quickly reset the pieces. I was careful not to win the rematch quite so quickly...

[John Clarke]

Wormwood Scrubs is said to have been capable of fielding a pretty fair team in the mid-1960s. I seem to remember a brief item about it at the time in Chess.

[Richard James]

Not a prison, but in the early 70s Richmond & Twickenham Chess Club played, I think, five matches against Broadmoor.

I played in three of those matches.

My first game was against this guy, whom I managed to beat.

In both my other matches I played, I believe, this guy, winning one game and drawing the other.

For more information about chess in Broadmoor, see a series of articles published just over five years ago on the S&B Chess Blog.

[Paul Buswell]

I remember a couple of friendly matches at Norwich Prison in student days.

For one we had been forewarned that disgraced minister John Stonehouse would play, and we drew lots beforehand as to who would play him. For the other we had been asked to list our team a few days beforehand; we gave only initials, not forenames, and I think the warders were a bit taken aback that one of our team was a buxom young woman - playing her was popular with the opposition. And team orders were to be generous in offering cigarettes to one's opponent.

PB

[Roland Kensdale]

Re Stuart Rueben CHESS IN PARKHURST PRISON

http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/phelan.html has full details about a felon's life including chess in Parkhurst.

[MJMcCready]

So contrary to what the OP claimed, there is in fact no such prison team in the Edinburgh league?

[Alistair Campbell]

So contrary to what the OP claimed, there is in fact no such prison team in the Edinburgh league?

There is no such prison team currently in the Edinburgh league.

However, contrary to my earlier statement, my opponent in a league game last night assured me that the prison participated in the league in the 1970s (before my time) and he had played there for his school team.