Media comments on chess

[John Saunders]

Obituary in todays Telegraph for Bank robber John McVicar

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/ ... of-prison/

Near the end of a long obituary "by all accounts he was an able pupil at school and at 13 won the Essex junior chess championship."
Does anyone remember him

I remember meeting him in the press room at the 2000 Kasparov-Kramnik match in London. He wanted to know something about the background to the match and I spent about half an hour explaining it to him. He struck me as highly intelligent, articulate and affable, and I enjoyed his company, though it was weird trying to square this with the terrifying image of him that I remembered from 1960s newspapers when he was on the run from prison. I just googled and found mention of him writing an article for 'Punch' about the 2000 match though it doesn't appear to be available online.

I can't comment on the claim that he won an Essex junior title. It would be interesting to know whether this is correct.

[Roger de Coverly]

I can't comment on the claim that he won an Essex junior title. It would be interesting to know whether this is correct.

He died at the age of 82, so that would have been in the 1950s.

[JustinHorton]

Well more specifically the obituary says he

was born in London on March 21 1940.. and at 13 won the Essex junior chess championship

so it would need to be 1953 or 1954. The Essex chess website does not appear to list junior champions and besides, I don't know under whose aegis such a tournament would have been held. Maybe there are existing print archives which would reveal the truth or otherwise of the claim, which I am guessing may come from his autobiography.

[Joey Stewart]

Today's headlines by the daily mirror uses a bit of chess terminology (probably unbeknownst to the editor) worthy of a mention

https://mobile.twitter.com/DailyMirror/ ... 1982126080

[John Clarke]

One US article on Carlsen's cheating accusations can be found here. (Reprinted in NZ's Dominion Post.)

I don't know how much reliance can be put on it, when there's at least two glaring errors. Chequered boards never featured in chaturanga - they were a European innovation around the 11th century at the earliest. And The Turk a 17th-century phenomenon??

[NickFaulks]

I don't know how much reliance can be put on it

Reliance on what? Even by WaPo standards, this article is remarkably vacuous.

[Roger de Coverly]

Some alleged cheating at poker, mentioning you know who and regrettably you know what.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... 0-000.html

[NickFaulks]

Some alleged cheating at poker, mentioning you know who and regrettably you know what.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... 0-000.html

Hustler Casino? Seriously?

[Joey Stewart]

Shame there is no outcome where both of those reality tv idiots could end up losing the money - they are clearly just doing it to cash in on the chess cheating scandal.

[Stewart Reuben]

Ray Keene It’s on Talk TV around five thirty pm. Sunday (today) UK time.
He is talking about the Magnus allegations of cheating.

I am currently on a cruise on my way to Malta. If somebody could record this and provide me with a copy in due course, I would be grateful.

[Gerard Killoran]

I hope he isn't an online cheater...

https://hotfastnews.com/couple-fall-in- ... herspoons/

An American woman fell in love with a British man after she flew to the UK and he took her on five dates at Wetherspoons.

The couple met while playing chess online, but had never seen each other in real life, until 21-year-old Felicia DiSalvo traveled from New York to Manchester.

[Roland Kensdale]

Just found free online copies European Chess Union magazine at: https://www.chessscotland.com/news/ecu-magazine/

Skimmed the latest issue currently available - August. Very little actual chess, more general accounts of European activities. An arbiter described her work.

Addendum of niche interest to Aberdeen chess players: the Bon Accord centre now has a large set and pieces on the second floor. No doubt Bon Accord chess club had a hand in this. Hope they can use the board to promote their club.

[Paul Habershon]

Ray Keene It’s on Talk TV around five thirty pm. Sunday (today) UK time.
He is talking about the Magnus allegations of cheating.

I am currently on a cruise on my way to Malta. If somebody could record this and provide me with a copy in due course, I would be grateful.

I watched this Keene interview today when tuning to Talk TV for the first time. It lasted longer than I expected. The cheating controversy was the starting point, Keene's view slating Carlsen as a bad loser. I was puzzled by his assertion that the alleged anal beads vibrate when Niemann is 'about to make a bad move'. Is an accomplice watching for a Niemann feint?

The interviewer did also ask typical layman's chess questions, which elicited information about the amount of money in chess, the expansion in online play as a result of The Queen's Gambit and the Covid lockdown. Keene approved of the QG film but mentioned the Gaprindashvili error ('never played a male grandmaster'), disproved by the fact he played her himself. However, when asked about the length of his longest game he replied '3 days' (at the 1971 British) but did not sufficiently explain how adjournments used to work, so the impression of continuous play, day and night, was given.

The interviewer seemed genuine when he said he had really enjoyed the conversation, though he did have to apologise to viewers when Keene used the expression 'pissed off' when referring to his reaction to losing.

There was much more which I have not mentioned.

I have the programme recorded on my Virgin TV box, but do not know if it is thus possible to send a 'copy' to Stewart.

[Mick Norris]

After chess, cheating rows rock poker and fishing

[Stewart Reuben]

There is a difference between chess and poker of which people may well not be aware.
Most chessplayers are aware that cheating is unethical, even when they sometimes are involved in that practice.
Quite a high percentage of poker players do not think cheating at poker is unethical. It is just part of the game. I have no idea what that percentage is.