Chess in the Media

[Ben Purton]

How much is Chapman sponsoring

[Stewart Reuben]

I am the arbiter for the Staunton Memorial and have no idea what, if anything, Terry Chapman is putting into the event. I see that of no biusiness of mine.

Both Leonard's Evening Standard column is back in print and Ray Keene's column is back online as well as remaining in print.
There can be little doubt that this was achieved, at least partly, by the lobbying that went on from the chess community.

It shows what can be done if people get stirred out of their apathy.

Stewart Reuben

[Ben Purton]

O Yeah Mr Chapman is really good for the game defo, just was curious. I think we might win the top section!

[TomChivers]

Both Leonard's Evening Standard column is back in print and Ray Keene's column is back online as well as remaining in print.
There can be little doubt that this was achieved, at least partly, by the lobbying that went on from the chess community.

It shows what can be done if people get stirred out of their apathy.

I wonder if it also shows the power of this particular forum to reach the chess community? (And thus further questions the ECFs decision to disassociate itself from it?)

[Carl Hibbard]

I wonder if it also shows the power of this particular forum to reach the chess community? (And thus further questions the ECFs decision to disassociate itself from it?)

It's possible but it's also certain that search engines pick up the posts with remarkable speed

[Simon Spivack]

The all-play-all group looks interesting. This year it looks like there will be some genuine norm chances (as opposed to Bob Wade's entirely theoretical ones last year).

Yes it does. If Korchnoi needs a second, I presume, given there are lots of young eager talents out there, that he won't bag Keene.

My anti-virus still doesn't care for the website.

[Alex Holowczak]

Both Leonard's Evening Standard column is back in print and Ray Keene's column is back online as well as remaining in print.
There can be little doubt that this was achieved, at least partly, by the lobbying that went on from the chess community.

It shows what can be done if people get stirred out of their apathy.

Stewart Reuben

Then why does the main page of the ECF website say:

Emma Bentley played Raymond Snoddy, OBE on the London Eye and in Parliament on Tuesday. It was to call attention to Chess and the Staunton Memorial in August. Raymond Snoddy presents Newswatch for the BBC and writes for the Financial Times. He is a strong player and was basically responsible for getting Barden & Ray Keene's chess columns back online after they were switched off a few months back.

That gives me the impression that it was all thanks to him, and not thanks to the chess community at all. Given that a lot of the chess community went to effort to get the articles back online and in their newspapers, it seems a little ungrateful, in my opinion.

[Simon Spivack]

Emma Bentley played Raymond Snoddy, OBE on the London Eye and in Parliament on Tuesday. It was to call attention to Chess and the Staunton Memorial in August. Raymond Snoddy presents Newswatch for the BBC and writes for the Financial Times. He is a strong player and was basically responsible for getting Barden & Ray Keene's chess columns back online after they were switched off a few months back.

That gives me the impression that it was all thanks to him, and not thanks to the chess community at all. Given that a lot of the chess community went to effort to get the articles back online and in their newspapers, it seems a little ungrateful, in my opinion.

Unless my eyes are deceiving me, the article is unsigned. Its style suggests that its author is "Emma Bentley's dad", as he chose to call himself when he posted on these fora. While I am not in a position to say who was responsible for the partial reprieves; it is, as a point of fact, impossible to credit Raymond Snoddy with being "basically responsible for getting Barden & Ray Keene's chess columns back online". Leonard's Evening Standard column is no longer updated on the Internet, as the reader can ascertain for himself by looking at http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard- ... article.do . Note the words: "Message to readers: Leonard Barden's chess column now appears in the London Evening Standard. The online column will be discontinued...."

Keene's newspaper articles on chess are, in my estimation, worth rather less than the bones of a Pomeranian grenadier. I am not alone in this opinion, as anyone looking at previous posts in this thread can see.

The author of the ECF article appears to have hitched himself to RD Kobe's chariot. I don't know whether there are any germane back issues of Private Eye available on the Internet. But there is Kingpin. At least there used to be. I suggest that this is required reading for anyone wishing to deal with RD Kobe.

Here are a few links:

http://www.chesscenter.com/kingpin/Kingpin/raylevy.htm
http://www.chesscenter.com/kingpin/King ... eviews.htm
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/keene.html


I remember that Raymond Snoddy has written for the FT, although, I am afraid, I can't recall anything he has had to do with chess. Amongst journalists who have written for the FT, there is a Richard Donkin. There was a Donkin (I can't recall his initial) who played chess in the 1970s; I believe he played for Athenæum Chess Club and had a grade of 170.

In today's Financial Times Philip Stephens uses simultaneous chess as a metaphor when discussing Barack Obama's foreign policy. There are a few minor slips in his account. GMs only playing a dozen opponents in a simultaneous would make the economics more problematic: although I don't doubt that there have been such small displays. Furthermore: "Instead, Mr Obama has sprinted from continent to continent with the speed and confidence of a grandmaster." I wouldn't describe the late David Ionovich Bronstein, for instance, as confident.

[Ian Kingston]

The article about Emma Bentley, Raymond Snoddy and the Staunton Memorial appears to have vanished. It's not mentioned on the ECF home page, and when I click on the link in my RSS reader all I get is a 404 Error - not found. But it was definitely there this afternoon.

I love a good conspiracy theory...

[Jonathan Rogers]

I'm glad it's gone. I have rarely read such embarrassing drivel, where several politicians and other dignitaries apparently attended but were all said to be "[not to be named]".

The only celebrity who was apparently happy to be named and photographed was Charles Clarke, who (the report said) gave career advice to young Emma.

Presumably "whatever you do, don't let them give you the Home Office ..."