Nigel Short is on the mend

[Matthew Turner]

Good news from Nigel's twitter

https://twitter.com/nigelshortchess?ref ... wgr^author

[Simon Rogers]

Good news thanks for informing us Matthew.

[Kevin Thurlow]

Good news indeed, the non-chess playing members of the household have been worrying.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

That is good to hear, and thanks for the news and the update (I hadn't even been aware Nigel was ill).

[Simon Rogers]

Good to see Nigel getting stronger.
I played Nigel in a simul along with 19 others at Blackburn back in December 2010.
Martyn Hamer won a trophy for the best game against him.
I was the second last to finish and lost with the black pieces after 4 hours of play.
I remember after the game Nigel said to me that I was very tenacious.

[David Robertson]

Nigel is currently (ie today) in San Marino - 131 on his list of countries visited. You can deduce from this that he's fit enough to fly; and critically, he's now Covid-negative

[Leonard Barden]

Starting Sunday, Nigel will be in the same tournament and with exactly the same FIDE rating as the new World Rapid Champion.
https://chess-results.com/tnr574640.asp ... ES&flag=30

[NickFaulks]

https://chess-results.com/tnr574640.asp ... ES&flag=30

Looks like a great tournament. It's a shame English chess has no traditional event in its calendar around this time of year.

[David Sedgwick]

Looks like a great tournament. It's a shame English chess has no traditional event in its calendar around this time of year.

As the New Year dawns, I am trying to be optimistic. Amongst my wishes for 2022 is that the situation which you describe will no longer be the case.

[Simon Rogers]

Looks like a great tournament. It's a shame English chess has no traditional event in its calendar around this time of year.

As the New Year dawns, I am trying to be optimistic. Amongst my wishes for 2022 is that the situation which you describe will no longer be the case.

I am optimistic for 2022 as I have found some more congresses provisionally taking place this year.
As for a traditional event taking place, I am pleased to report that Poulton-le-Fylde Chess Club is open Bank Holiday Monday it was also open last Monday. I am planning to attend as I am the current leader of the club Rapidplay tournament which I have won in 9 of the past 11 years.
Also the New Zealand Chess Championships starts tomorrow with the forum's own Helen Milligan 13th seed in a very strong open section. Although I can't find former Lancastrian FM Ben Hague on the list.

[Nick Ivell]

I very much hope that things get back to what passes for normal.

It's about time.

[LawrenceCooper]

Starting Sunday, Nigel will be in the same tournament and with exactly the same FIDE rating as the new World Rapid Champion.
https://chess-results.com/tnr574640.asp ... ES&flag=30

Nigel's Facebook comments on one of his games:

"I was totally outplayed today by a 14 year old kid, with an Elo of 1966 (that's a date of birth, not a rating, in my opinion). I had two choices: either resign, or play on stubbornly and wait for his phone to ring. I chose the latter, and he was instantly forfeited."

[Nick Burrows]

the cell phone defence. I will try it

[NickFaulks]

the cell phone defence. I will try it

How did Nigel know his number?

[David Williams]

I've read that comment several times and I still can't decide if the inference is that the kid was cheating.