A History of Chess in the English Civil Service, by Kevin Thurlow

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ben.graff
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A History of Chess in the English Civil Service, by Kevin Thurlow

Post by ben.graff » Wed Jul 07, 2021 10:13 am

Many congratulations to Kevin on his new book. I was delighted to review A History of Chess in the English Civil Service, for The Chess Circuit.


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Kevin Thurlow
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Re: A History of Chess in the English Civil Service, by Kevin Thurlow

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Thu Jul 08, 2021 8:54 am

Thanks Ben, for the glowing tribute.

The original plan was to include maybe 50 annotated games, as we had no idea how much material we would find. When it became clear that there was a lot of information, we (or maybe I) thought it better to concentrate on the history aspect. I have built a database of about 1400 games from CS league, matches and tournaments, and also CS players playing elsewhere, which I am adding to, and I thought I might offer John Saunders the games for Britbase at some stage. Once the book got over 500 pages, adding the games was difficult!

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Re: A History of Chess in the English Civil Service, by Kevin Thurlow

Post by James Pratt » Thu Jul 08, 2021 7:54 pm

It is a bargain at that price. How on earth, Kevin, did you manage it?

Full marks!

James

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: A History of Chess in the English Civil Service, by Kevin Thurlow

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Thu Jul 08, 2021 10:15 pm

"It is a bargain at that price. How on earth, Kevin, did you manage it?"

The price was decided by the publisher.

How I managed to write that amount without going completely mad (I hope) is a mystery. It was a relief to finish it, except for the worry I missed something important or said something really stupid.

Simon Rogers
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Re: A History of Chess in the English Civil Service, by Kevin Thurlow

Post by Simon Rogers » Sat Jul 10, 2021 11:28 am

Has the author written any other chess books?

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Adam Raoof
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Re: A History of Chess in the English Civil Service, by Kevin Thurlow

Post by Adam Raoof » Tue Aug 03, 2021 5:46 pm

I am pleased to say that following the review on The Chess Circuit, Ben Graff and I talked to Kevin about his book on my podcast (such as it is)

Review: - https://chesscircuit.substack.com/p/a-h ... he-english

Podcast: - https://anchor.fm/thechesscircuit/episo ... ce-e14vv05
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Re: A History of Chess in the English Civil Service, by Kevin Thurlow

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Tue Aug 03, 2021 11:05 pm

"Has the author written any other chess books?"

Not yet... But I have a couple of ideas.

"I am pleased to say that following the review on The Chess Circuit, Ben Graff and I talked to Kevin about his book on my podcast (such as it is)"

Thanks to Adam and Ben - I hope I didn't sound too awful.

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Gerard Killoran
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Re: A History of Chess in the English Civil Service, by Kevin Thurlow

Post by Gerard Killoran » Tue Oct 12, 2021 1:09 pm

Having bought this book, I was pleasantly surprised to find my name in the acknowledgements. This keeps up my 100% record of owning every book with my name in it, so that's a little marketing hint for all aspiring authors. I too missed the inclusion of games, especially as ebooks don't have any limitations when it comes size.

One small quibble, G. E. Wainwright is mentioned as playing for The Admiralty, when he turned out for the Local Government Board against them, where his opponent was R. P. Michell.

A larger quibble is in the biography of Bonar Law where this paragraph appears
When the Government appeared to be about to order British troops to attack Ireland, which became known as the ‘Curragh Incident’, there was some outrage, several officers threatened to resign, and this exchange followed as the Government backtracked.

Thurlow, Kevin. A History of Chess in the English Civil Service (Kindle Locations 7477-7479). The Conrad Press. Kindle Edition.
The British Government were not, 'about to order British troops to attack Ireland' - quite the opposite. If anything, they were going to order them to defend Ireland as part of the United Kingdom and uphold British law. The threat was against Home Rule (rather like Scottish devolution) from the illegally armed UVF who were being supported and incited by irresponsible politicians, the chief of whom was Bonar Law who said, ' I can imagine no length of resistance to which Ulster can go in which I should not be prepared to support them'. The 'Curragh Incident' is also better known and more accurately described as the 'Curragh Mutiny,' and Bonar Law's support for the mutineers (who numbered over one hundred - rather more than several) was a major factor in the subsequent decades of bloodshed. His love of chess did not make him a good man.

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Re: A History of Chess in the English Civil Service, by Kevin Thurlow

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Tue Oct 12, 2021 1:46 pm

I don't know why I put Wainwright in Admiralty as I knew he had played Michell. Thanks for pointing it out.

As for the Curragh Incident, I pass on the blame to BL's biographers, who doubtless had their own focus. And I did say "appeared", rather than claiming it was a fact. No argument about BL's unpleasantness - he was a politician.

Corrections are welcome, I'm making revisions as I go in case there's a second edition, which might include some of the stories I had to leave out of the original book...

And I will do more work on getting the games together, 1400 so far, with others being added as I get the chance.

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Re: A History of Chess in the English Civil Service, by Kevin Thurlow

Post by Gerard Killoran » Tue Oct 12, 2021 5:04 pm

Kevin Thurlow wrote:
Tue Oct 12, 2021 1:46 pm
I don't know why I put Wainwright in Admiralty as I knew he had played Michell. Thanks for pointing it out.

As for the Curragh Incident, I pass on the blame to BL's biographers, who doubtless had their own focus. And I did say "appeared", rather than claiming it was a fact. No argument about BL's unpleasantness - he was a politician.

Corrections are welcome, I'm making revisions as I go in case there's a second edition, which might include some of the stories I had to leave out of the original book...

And I will do more work on getting the games together, 1400 so far, with others being added as I get the chance.
Oh no, now I'm going to have to buy the second edition because my name will be in that one too!

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Re: A History of Chess in the English Civil Service, by Kevin Thurlow

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Tue Oct 12, 2021 6:37 pm

"Oh no, now I'm going to have to buy the second edition because my name will be in that one too!"

It might take a few years... I was pondering trying to write a murder mystery. If I start it with, "Superintendent Killoran strode into the Inteview Room and fixed the suspect with a steely glare", I might get at least one sale...

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Re: A History of Chess in the English Civil Service, by Kevin Thurlow

Post by Gerard Killoran » Wed Oct 13, 2021 12:38 am

Kevin Thurlow wrote:
Tue Oct 12, 2021 6:37 pm
"Oh no, now I'm going to have to buy the second edition because my name will be in that one too!"

It might take a few years... I was pondering trying to write a murder mystery. If I start it with, "Superintendent Killoran strode into the Inteview Room and fixed the suspect with a steely glare", I might get at least one sale...
Make it DCI Killoran - with the twist being I was the killer all along - and we might have a deal.

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Christopher Kreuzer
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Re: A History of Chess in the English Civil Service, by Kevin Thurlow

Post by Christopher Kreuzer » Wed Oct 13, 2021 2:15 am

Goodness, Gerard, your cartoon rabbit avatar image has never seemed more appropriate! :lol:

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Gerard Killoran
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Re: A History of Chess in the English Civil Service, by Kevin Thurlow

Post by Gerard Killoran » Thu Oct 14, 2021 1:23 pm

Christopher Kreuzer wrote:
Wed Oct 13, 2021 2:15 am
Goodness, Gerard, your cartoon rabbit avatar image has never seemed more appropriate! :lol:
Rabbit? Rabbit! I've never been so insulted in my life. It's the Mad March Hare! How very dare you.

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