English Chess Forum

Just received from the 4NCL: I’m very pleased to say that we’ve booked 4-star conference centre hotel Woodland Grange in Leamington Spa for our 25th 4NCL Congress on 9-11 July 2021. This will be our first OTB 4NCL congress since the start of 2020 if restrictions are indeed lifted on 21 June as we al...

Woodworking Crafts magazine has a 'turned' chess set on the cover - set up in the usual wrong way;

https://www.gmcsubscriptions.com/produc ... ng-crafts/

OK.
Here is how far I can get (1,940 games as White; 1,929 as Black), each move being my commonest choice in the position: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.0-0 0-0 6.Bg5 Bxc3 7.bxc3 h6 8.Bh4 Bg4
That is as far as I can get as I have not had the resulting position as White.

Yep, chess congresses from June 22 (but this could be put back). However, chess in beer gardens from April 12: https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2021/02/ ... chess.html

Apart from the mention of the likely cancelation of "The British" .....& the cancelation of Blackpool, Doncaster & Durham Congresses (there may be more). I am making the presumption that organisers of any potential OTB Congresses are now operating a "wait & see policy" before advertising any potent...

The latest Private Eye has a feature on the Guardian and Her Majesty under the headline QUEEN GAMBIT

ECF newsletter:

Given current circumstances it seems highly unlikely that we will be able to run an OTB British in Torquay this August, and we are looking at carrying the venue booking forward to 2022. We will confirm the postponement/deferral in the next couple of weeks.

Do you think the rule regarding being legally able to travel will be relaxed by the 26th March? https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-advice-novel-coronavirus No, but there are exemptions, and in any case I was thinking about Feb 28! What exemption for travelling abroad are you pondering? The curse of...

I see from the Fide calendar that the regular tournaments at Novi Sad in Serbia are one of the few events anywhere in the world going ahead more-or-less as normal, and in a country without compulsory quarantining rules for Brits on entry. Has anyone played at Novi Sad and know about arrangements fo...

I see from the Fide calendar that the regular tournaments at Novi Sad in Serbia are one of the few events anywhere in the world going ahead more-or-less as normal, and in a country without compulsory quarantining rules for Brits on entry. Has anyone played at Novi Sad and know about arrangements for...

"It's like chess on grass." NBC commentator Arlo White at halftime of Liverpool - Man City

Recent question in 'The Times' daily quiz (where I rarely get more than half marks): Who did Robert Greene (c 1558-92) call 'an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers'? The first word of the question should surely be 'whom'. Is it gradually falling out of use? Needless to say, I rather like it ...

Stockfish12 and Komodo12.1.1 reckon the position is dead-equal after 27...Be2

Marshmallows are tougher than most chess federations

I updated my Seniors news and calendar pages at www.chessmail.com today. The Bad Woerishofen organisers were to have made an announcement on Monday about whether their festival in early March (which includes a Senior tournament) can go ahead next month but they have now postponed this to 10 Februar...