Has anyone ever given up chess?
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Has anyone ever given up chess?
Does anyone here know anyone who's given up chess for good? I mean players of at least club strength. I recall an acquaintance of mine here in Minneapolis storming out of the playing hall over ten years back after being trounced by a couple of low-rated juniors; his face beetroot red, his eyes valiantly holding back tears of self-pity, and his voice in falsetto pitch as he announced, "I'm never playing again; that's it." Yet I see that after a lengthy hiatus he's just recently taken part in another tournament.
Re: Has anyone ever given up chess?
The strongest player I can think of offhand is Neil Bradbury, who seemed to give up competitive chess completely.
I have an embarrassing story regarding Neil - In the National Club Open Competion one year (around 1987) Hackney were drawn against a strong Scottish Club. It was decided that the distance between the clubs made travelling out of the question, so it was arranged that the games would be played by phone. I was one of the gophers who communicated the Scottish players' moves to our players.
Neil was playing on board 1, and after a few moves his opponent blundered a pawn. I gave Neil's move to the Hackney telephone operator, who read it out to his Scottish counterpart, only to be told that the move played was illegal. It turned out that I had cocked-up - I had told Neil the wrong first move some fifteen minutes and half a dozen moves earlier (I think the Scottish guy played 1.c4 and I mis-read it as 1.e4). After a rather heated discussion between the captains it was decided to start Neil's game again, but I don't think he ever forgave me.
I have an embarrassing story regarding Neil - In the National Club Open Competion one year (around 1987) Hackney were drawn against a strong Scottish Club. It was decided that the distance between the clubs made travelling out of the question, so it was arranged that the games would be played by phone. I was one of the gophers who communicated the Scottish players' moves to our players.
Neil was playing on board 1, and after a few moves his opponent blundered a pawn. I gave Neil's move to the Hackney telephone operator, who read it out to his Scottish counterpart, only to be told that the move played was illegal. It turned out that I had cocked-up - I had told Neil the wrong first move some fifteen minutes and half a dozen moves earlier (I think the Scottish guy played 1.c4 and I mis-read it as 1.e4). After a rather heated discussion between the captains it was decided to start Neil's game again, but I don't think he ever forgave me.
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Re: Has anyone ever given up chess?
James Howell got the GM title and then gave up completely, not just competitive chess, but anything associated with chess.
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Re: Has anyone ever given up chess?
Any idea why?Matthew Turner wrote:James Howell got the GM title and then gave up completely, not just competitive chess, but anything associated with chess.
There was a young Scottish player, an FM, who gave up chess apparently because he had 'found religion'.
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Re: Has anyone ever given up chess?
I can recall three individuals who have forsaken the worship of Caissa for a more divine being. Bill Raines, previously a leading organiser of Athenaeum Chess Club, he became a vicar (Anglican, I think, but I could be wrong); Stephen Quigley, formerly of Islington Chess Club, who has been mentioned in the History forum recently, he became very religious in the 1980s; and Graeme Wilson, also of Athenæum, he was training to be a Minister of the Kirk (the Church of Scotland, not the Wee Frees, never mind the Wee, Wee Frees) in the 1990s.Andy Burnett wrote:... gave up chess apparently because he had 'found religion'.
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Re: Has anyone ever given up chess?
More divine than Caissa? Simon, I'm shocked, particularly coming from you as amongst the wisest of the wise of our holy men. Chess is a religion. That said, I do not number myself amongst the fundamentalist members of the forum who seem to think that non-attendance at regular service (hence absence from the Grading List) disqualifies one from being considered a devout and pious believer. But no more blasphemy, please.
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Re: Has anyone ever given up chess?
Bravo. So it can be done. I'm trying to do it myself but have belatedly realised chess is a big part of my being. I'm not talking of the aesthetic pleasures the game affords; I mean it's part of the warp-and-woof of my make-up and exorcising it will mean a big hole in the firmament of my being. But if a GM can do it, then so can a humble non-entity like myself.Matthew Turner wrote:James Howell got the GM title and then gave up completely, not just competitive chess, but anything associated with chess.
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Re: Has anyone ever given up chess?
I wonder if it is possible to develop a genuine psychological phobia of chess (or chess pieces?)...Arshad Ali wrote:Bravo. So it can be done. I'm trying to do it myself but have belatedly realised chess is a big part of my being. I'm not talking of the aesthetic pleasures the game affords; I mean it's part of the warp-and-woof of my make-up and exorcising it will mean a big hole in the firmament of my being. But if a GM can do it, then so can a humble non-entity like myself.Matthew Turner wrote:James Howell got the GM title and then gave up completely, not just competitive chess, but anything associated with chess.
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Re: Has anyone ever given up chess?
Hi MatthewChristopher Kreuzer wrote:Matthew Turner wrote:
James Howell got the GM title and then gave up completely, not just competitive chess, but anything associated with chess.
I'll see your James Howell and raise you Valery Salov.
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Re: Has anyone ever given up chess?
To answer the question posed by the thread title: "no". Once a chessplayer, always a chessplayer. These guys Howell and Salov might think they've beaten the addiction but they'll come crawling back sooner or later. Maybe they already have come back, playing online chess under a pseudonym or sneaking into their local libraries to read a chess column. Once the chess virus has bitten, it's with you for life. Don't fight it, guys, you can't win. Just relax, sit back in your chair and a nice nurse will bring you a copy of The Guardian with Leonard Barden's column in it or perhaps a lovely book of a super-GM's best games. There, now - you feel better already, don't you...
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Re: Has anyone ever given up chess?
Piket - although maybe he still plays correspondence
Re: Has anyone ever given up chess?
I have dreamt chess, is that bad? Do I need to see a doctor?
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Re: Has anyone ever given up chess?
I think my problem is that chess is giving up on me!
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Re: Has anyone ever given up chess?
John and I must be the two most serious posters here. I find it very upsetting when the suggestion, unvoiced and unwritten, is made that a subject of Her Britannic Majesty be subjected to the same humiliation as the Romans suffered at Caudine Forks. What will happen to Britain's strategic spear pile? I have, instead, opted to subject myself to nine of the best at the London Classic this December.John Saunders wrote:More divine than Caissa? Simon, I'm shocked, particularly coming from you as amongst the wisest of the wise of our holy men. Chess is a religion. That said, I do not number myself amongst the fundamentalist members of the forum who seem to think that non-attendance at regular service (hence absence from the Grading List) disqualifies one from being considered a devout and pious believer. But no more blasphemy, please.