Media comments on chess

[Kevin Thurlow]

Letter to the Daily Telegraph, 2nd September 1938, from Lincoln Chandler (KIngston upon Thames)
"Sir

Sir Charles Hyde compares 'timeless' Test cricket with a chess match by mail. Itis only fair to the game of chess, commonly looked upon as the slowest of games, to point out that in all international and other chess tournaments there is a strict time limit for moves."

The last Test of the season (against Australia) had been played without scheduled time-limit, instead of the usual 5 days, although the match finished on Day 5. The practice was abandoned after this match https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/eng ... -scorecard where they gave up as England had to catch their boat home.

It is ironic that cricket now has rapid, blitz and bullet variations.

I do not have a huge backlog of newspapers - the letter came from, "Not In My Day, Sir", a compilation of letters on cricket, edited by Martin Smith, ex-assistant sports editor.

[Joey Stewart]

https://www.ft.com/content/c1147065-ef6 ... 435d5955e1

There was a chess message in the financial times for older players to represent England - I thought the over 50s team was already as strong as it could possibly be from the players available.

[Ian Thompson]

There was a chess message in the financial times for older players to represent England - I thought the over 50s team was already as strong as it could possibly be from the players available.

Maybe not. The Guardian refers to "retired GMs like Julian Hodgson who still plays successfully online".

[Kevin Thurlow]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/arti ... layer.html

I offer no comment on the merit of the article.

[Roger Lancaster]

Couple of slots on BBC Three Counties radio - I'll be on their breakfast show tomorrow morning (should be around 8.0) and London u-10 champion Advait Keerthi Kumar will be making his radio debut there Sunday evening, 6.30-ish. Both likely to be fairly short slots.

[Tim Spanton]

Chess-themed sled in a shop window in Graz, Austria

[Geoff Chandler]

A couple of chess players mentioned in TV quizzes today; 'Bobby Fischer' The Bridge of Lies. The contestant admitted he had never heard of him but guessed he was a teenage Grand Master and Luke McShane was correctly identified as a chess player in The Chase.

[Roland Kensdale]

Dragon's Den episode 9. Steven Bartlett said 'this is like chess' or similar. A number of Dragons wanted to make an offer but they all wanted to wait for another to do so first, either to undercut, or to decide what % of the business to ask for.

[Stewart Reuben]

Snooker Six-Red World Championship in Thailand, shown on Eurosport 1.
During the commentary on the Third frame of the match between Ronnie O'Sullivan v James Wattenu.
'Early in Ronnie's career they played a tournament where a chess clock was used.' He couldn't remember what happened when a player ran out of time.
Quite likely Steve Davis, Past President of the BCF, influenced the decision to try that experiment.

[Peter Hornsby]

Yesterday I had a further interview on BBC Radio Stoke about Newcastle Chess Club:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0f4fzjd

2 hours 42 minutes in. I discuss the World Chess League.Live and Chess in general and how its growing in popularity : )

[Roger Lancaster]

Yesterday I had a further interview on BBC Radio Stoke about Newcastle Chess Club:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0f4fzjd

2 hours 42 minutes in. I discuss the World Chess League.Live and Chess in general and how its growing in popularity : )

Good to see. I wound up with three slots on BBC 3CR a couple of weeks back, one of our juniors joining me on the third occasion. Disappointing that so few chess players/organisers do this. Perhaps the ECF needs to organise a seminar on communicating with the media.

Re: Media comments on chess
Post by Roger Lancaster » Tue Feb 21, 2023 11:50 am

Couple of slots on BBC Three Counties radio - I'll be on their breakfast show tomorrow morning (should be around 8.0) and London u-10 champion Advait Keerthi Kumar will be making his radio debut there Sunday evening, 6.30-ish. Both likely to be fairly short slots.

[Peter Hornsby]

Yesterday I had a further interview on BBC Radio Stoke about Newcastle Chess Club:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0f4fzjd

2 hours 42 minutes in. I discuss the World Chess League.Live and Chess in general and how its growing in popularity : )

Good to see. I wound up with three slots on BBC 3CR a couple of weeks back, one of our juniors joining me on the third occasion. Disappointing that so few chess players/organisers do this. Perhaps the ECF needs to organise a seminar on communicating with the media.

Re: Media comments on chess
Post by Roger Lancaster » Tue Feb 21, 2023 11:50 am

Couple of slots on BBC Three Counties radio - I'll be on their breakfast show tomorrow morning (should be around 8.0) and London u-10 champion Advait Keerthi Kumar will be making his radio debut there Sunday evening, 6.30-ish. Both likely to be fairly short slots.

Great stuff, well done! Make sure you record/save the segments as they are often deleted on the BBC after 30 days.

And yes, more chess people should engage with the media, its not really that difficult. I just Google the list of local and national outlets and BCC them with news about chess by email and they pick it up from there.

With that said, it would be good if there was some guidance/encouragement for people to do it.

[Mick Norris]

Outdoor chess

Each week more than 50 people sit in the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College with one thing on their mind.

Timers primed, children and adults face one another with 16 intricate playing pieces to hand.

They show up regardless of the weather to play a pastime going through a boom period across the UK — chess.

[Roger Lancaster]

Great stuff, well done! Make sure you record/save the segments as they are often deleted on the BBC after 30 days.

And yes, more chess people should engage with the media, its not really that difficult. I just Google the list of local and national outlets and BCC them with news about chess by email and they pick it up from there.

With that said, it would be good if there was some guidance/encouragement for people to do it.

To which I might add, it generally helps with the media if you can also attach a usable pic. Local newspapers are more attracted to stories with pics and, counter-intuitively, it even helps with radio stations as pics - although they can't be used - are more likely to get journalists' attention.

[Peter Hornsby]

Great stuff, well done! Make sure you record/save the segments as they are often deleted on the BBC after 30 days.

And yes, more chess people should engage with the media, its not really that difficult. I just Google the list of local and national outlets and BCC them with news about chess by email and they pick it up from there.

With that said, it would be good if there was some guidance/encouragement for people to do it.

To which I might add, it generally helps with the media if you can also attach a usable pic. Local newspapers are more attracted to stories with pics and, counter-intuitively, it even helps with radio stations as pics - although they can't be used - are more likely to get journalists' attention.

This is an excellent point. When I did it for Newcastle, I used a copy of the league table from SCORCH, which has a really nice design:

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