English Chess Forum

Just wanted to ask a question

has anyone from the chess world, has ever talk down to you and you feel that there actions was wrong?

Given the number of chess players most of us have talked to combined with the frequency of dubious social skills in the collective population?

You might need to be a bit more specific

John Reyes wrote:Just wanted to ask a question

has anyone from the chess world, has ever talk down to you and you feel that there actions was wrong?

Yes, lots. The chess world attracts some strange and wonderful people. Well 'wonderful', maybe.


On the upside there are some good guys. So for example, Keith Arkell offering a post mortem after I wasted a couple of hours of his time at Penarth a few years back. That was very generous of him. Essentially a free chess lesson for me.

Once had a brief but stern talking to by a player who I'd lost badly to - he was very critical of many of my moves.

He was right as I had played rubbish.

However, it was almost as if he was complaining that I'd not given him a good enough game and wasted his time and he had, summarily, to let me know how underwhelming playing me had been for him.

After that I never did it again - cross his path that is - and steadfastly remain a garbage man to this day.

You can find a fair number of examples if you look through this Forum.

MartinCarpenter wrote:Given the number of chess players most of us have talked to combined with the frequency of dubious social skills in the collective population?

You might need to be a bit more specific

it was just after an election and I went to him to shake his hand to say no hard felling and why I put myself forward, then he started to talk down to me, and only because I'm the bigger person, I did not swing for him.

That you did not take a swing at him shows admirable restraint, John.

At first I thought you might have had an argument over a game of chess.

As we well know, here, chess politics raises peoples' backs (as when cats get angry) even more than chess itself.

At the Leeds Congress, I once had a certain, well known Lancashire player, storm out of the open room (where he had insisted on having his game moved to, because of “noise” in the Major area) and shout in my face for giving bus directions to another player, at a level of volume he deemed unacceptable. I was too shocked to take a swing though

Jon Mahony wrote:At the Leeds Congress, I once had a certain, well known Lancashire player

I'm surprised you let them over the border Jon

Mick Norris wrote:

Jon Mahony wrote:At the Leeds Congress, I once had a certain, well known Lancashire player

I'm surprised you let them over the border Jon

I was dead set against it, voted down though

I recall being talked down to by Jan Hein Donner try as I might to avoid that.

Didn't he talk down to everybody, god bless him?

Matt Mackenzie wrote:Didn't he talk down to everybody, god bless him?

He looked down upon Ronnie Corbett but up to John Cleese.

Not so sure about Ronnie Barker ?

Wasn't he a tall b***er? And of fairly aristocratic heritage which of course fits the "other" meaning.

Matt Mackenzie wrote:Wasn't he a tall b***er? And of fairly aristocratic heritage which of course fits the "other" meaning.

I don't think JHD was ever a butler unlike Reg Varney.

Butler was not well liked by Stephen Lewis.