Media comments on chess

[Ian Thompson]

CBBC has a quiz for children; seems the BBC have a lot of interest in chess at the moment

Are the answers correct? I searched for one of the supposedly correct "real versions of chess" (question 5) that I'd never heard of. Google found nothing. Wikipedia has nothing on it either.

[Mick Norris]

No clue Ian, I only got 2/5

The One Show has been at 3Cs

The BBC visited 3Cs' headquarters to film at one of our weekly club nights for use on the popular BBC1 primetime television programme "The One Show". The filming featured many of the 3Cs' coaches providing their weekly sessions as well as several of our players in action, some of whom were also interviewed about their interest in chess.

Prior to attending the 3Cs' club, the BBC had also been to one of the local schools where Dale James provides regular chess instruction as well as at "Spindles" shopping centre in Oldham where they filmed another set of our young players taking on any passers-by who might like to try their luck against "just young kids". The 3Cs' representatives never lost a game !!!

The actual date of the broadcast is not yet known but will be announced on here prior to its screening.

[Geoff Chandler]

I took the test and scored 3/5. I had no idea chess was now part of the Olympic Esports Series.

A few days ago my CHESS subscription ran out so I paid it and sent in an article bemoaning
commentators using chess metaphors and the 'fact' chess was not recognised as a sport. (OOPS!)
Hopefully they will publish it. The 'Chandler is wrong again' feedback is always entertaining.

I got the Queen one correct, but the pawn underwent a few changes as well (En passant and the two squares on the first move. So did the Bishop but it was not of the choices.)
I also got the chess variant one wrong,I had not heard of one of them.

Then I tried the Labrador - Dinosaur test and scored 1 from 5 and I was chomped!

[Stewart Reuben]

Last night I watched, by accident being in Leicester, WORLD ON FIRE. It was very good and about the Second World War.
A chess game was played between and English aristocrat and a 10 year old Polish refugee. You couldn't see the entire game, but no matter.
The adult said, 'You play very well. But you have to learn t feint, to give your opponent the idea that you have different objectives on a different part of the board. Perhaps that this where I have been going wrong, playing chess for the past 73 years. He was obviously drawing an analogy between chess
and war.
So there we go. War is like chess, and we can add it to football, tennis, cricket...

[Matt Mackenzie]

The current BBC2 series on modern technology, The Secret Genius Of Modern Life, has just featured chess and the Deep Blue/Gazza match.

[Stewart Reuben]

CARLOS ALVAREZ after winning Wimbledon
Chess helps me to be faster mentally, to observe plays, to see the movement you want to make, the strategy ...you get lost for a moment nd the game is already mixed up.

[Stewart Reuben]

Just watching ITV at about 11pm.
There was an ad about gambling and they used CHESS as a way in which one can gamble. WhT NONSENSE.
Chess is not a gambling game according to my definition.That is wagering on a result over which you do not have total control. Playing chess thhat is always there. I am just not good enough. But, when playing, the control is always there. In the British 65+ I currently have 3/5. But total control is there - were I a strong enough player.
I was a very strong poker player, but I could never have total control. That was gambling.

[Tim Spanton]

Just watching ITV at about 11pm.
There was an ad about gambling and they used CHESS as a way in which one can gamble. WhT NONSENSE.
Chess is not a gambling game according to my definition.That is wagering on a result over which you do not have total control. Playing chess thhat is always there. I am just not good enough. But, when playing, the control is always there. In the British 65+ I currently have 3/5. But total control is there - were I a strong enough player.
I was a very strong poker player, but I could never have total control. That was gambling.

Gambling is having a bet on something on which you do not know the outcome, so you can gamble on chess just as much as on tiddlywinks or lottery balls

[Stewart Reuben]

Tim, I disagree. Chess you and your opponent, or opponents if playing in a match, have control. If I play Magnus Carlsen chess for money that would not be gambling, it would be losing for me.
If I buy shares then, however successful I am, i am gambling, even if I spread my risk and am very successful.
Had I bet that I would pass my exams, that would not have been gambling. The results were within my control.

By the way, Tiddlywinks is a game of skill. There may be some luck element. I last plyed it possibly before you were born.

[Tim Spanton]

Stewart, I wasn't arguing with you - I was correcting you.

[Mark Howitt]

Gambling is uncontrolled chance like the lottery.

Chess is not gambling.

[Stewart Reuben]

Tim, that is because possibly you overlooked what I wrote.
Chess is not a gambling game according to MY definition.

I also disagree with Mark. He states Gambling is uncontrolled chance like the lottery. I used to think playing poker was NOT gambling. In due course I had 38 winning years out of 40 and, in one of those there was too much cheating going on. Like playing poker, Buying shares or betting on tennis or cricket are not uncontrolled. But I now think most people think of them as gambling. I used to think it was wagering against the odds.

However, of course I agree with Mark. Chess is not gambling.

Several people have said to me adamantly. 'The bookmaker always wins'. Nonsense of course. Part of their skill is balancing off the bets so they show a profit whichever horse wins. They seek NOT to gamble. In addition, when I played poker, no bookmaker was involved.

[Tim Spanton]

Gambling is uncontrolled chance like the lottery.

Chess is not gambling.

Playing chess is not (usually) gambling; betting on a game of chess is.

[Mark Howitt]

Nope betting on chess would be sports betting.

[Bob Kane]

In the apple tv Sci fi "foundation" series 2 episode 2 A teleportation device is central to the storyline , a character describes its function as like "the chess move where king and rook transpose " Another production where a chess advisor is needed perhaps ?