English Chess Forum

Today's The Times carries an article on pp.8-9 entitled "Scaremonger General is chess club chum of chancellor". It refers to Matthew Gould, who it seems has been head-hunted by George Osborne and is apparently entrusted with the job of bringing together government documents backing staying in the EU. It says that Gould "is a close and long-time friend of George Osborne ... The two men have known each other since both were members of their school's chess club." A little later, it refers to the school as St Paul's.

St Paul's in the 1980s was the top school in the country for chess, winning the National Schools title in 1981, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1989 and 1990.

Does anyone know how strong George Osborne is/was as a chess player (or Matthew Gould for that matter)?

There are some games where he plays 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Be3 - also known as The Wankers gambit

Reminds me of that infamous book, "Steve Davies Plays Chess".