Post
by John Clarke » Sat Nov 07, 2020 11:29 am
My own recollections of the various events mentioned here:
- World Championship match: I recall reading reports of the return encounter between Tal and Botvinnik, shortly after I’d learned most of the moves (but not as yet castling or en passant).
- Political event: the 1959 UK general election (“Life’s better with the Conservatives – don’t let Labour ruin it”, said the posters).
- FA Cup Final: Man Utd v Bolton, 1958 (but strangely, little or no memory of hearing about the tragic occurrence at Munich a few months before).
- Moon landing: camping in Italy, so missed it (and also, to my greater annoyance, Ann Jones’s long-overdue victory in the singles at Wimbledon).
- Rugby World Cup: watched it while staying in the main Quaker HQ in Melbourne – will never forget how grumpy Aussie PM John Howard looked when presenting the medals that were supposed to go to his team.
- Kennedy assassination: my dad came upstairs and told me while I was painting an Airfix model in my bedroom. (My wife’s sister and cousin both got married on that date. As a result, the anniversaries are easy to remember.)
"The chess-board is the world ..... the player on the other side is hidden from us ..... he never overlooks a mistake, or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance."
(He doesn't let you resign and start again, either.)