English Chess Forum

I just saw a few opening books that were also available on cassette, one being Basman's book on The St. George's Defence. Does anyone else have anything on cassette? When did we stop producing opening theory on cassette form?

Probably in the mid 90s when cassettes started to become obsolete

I've attempted to persuade Mike to digitise his Audio Chess library and make them available on YouTube.

As you may know, MJB regards computers as the "spawn of the devil" and therefore won't do that.

John Upham wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 11, 2021 9:09 pm

I've attempted to persuade Mike to digitise his Audio Chess library and make them available on YouTube.

As you may know, MJB regards computers as the "spawn of the devil" and therefore won't do that.

In the 70s, were chess cassettes common?

MJMcCready wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 11, 2021 9:14 pm

In the 70s, were chess cassettes common?

Mike Basman was the main if only supplier, but they were readily available at Congresses and by Mail Order. I forget just when the Sony Walkman and clones became available, but once everyone had one, that enabled the material to be studied.

MJMcCready wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 11, 2021 8:39 pm

I just saw a few opening books that were also available on cassette, one being Basman's book on The St. George's Defence. Does anyone else have anything on cassette? When did we stop producing opening theory on cassette form?

Howdo Mark.
I'm afraid I haven't got any chess on cassette. I have got plenty of Old Skool on cassette including JX.
Might be worth you starting a topic about music on cassette in the Not Chess Category.
I've still got a couple of Chess Videos from the Foxy Openings series.

Roger de Coverly wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 11, 2021 9:20 pm

I forget just when the Sony Walkman and clones became available ...

July 1979.

At the quiz at the British Championships one year, Richard Furness asked whether certain things were first available before or after Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister in May 1979. The Sony Walkman was the one which was closest to the key date, but "After" was correct.

Simon Rogers wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 11, 2021 9:24 pm

I've still got a couple of Chess Videos from the Foxy Openings series.

Most of those eventually got a DVD upgrade and Chess direct among others still stock those, so I'd be wary of putting those on YT

That said they do have a very "Bootleg" feel - I remember they were very picky about which DVD players they'd work on, I usually found I'd get a black and white picture.

Do we know if Basman ever put a cassette out for his book on the Grob? I'd be quite interested to get hold of that; though if you are going to play the grob you need to play it like Bloodgood and sac the g pawn, I seem to remember Basman recommended 2.h3

Nothing on (audio) cassette (unless I have suffered from amnesia) but I do have on VHS the New York round of the 1994 Grand Prix. It was a prize from the Maidenhead Junior Congress.

Jon Mahony wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 15, 2021 10:00 pm

Do we know if Basman ever put a cassette out for his book on the Grob? I'd be quite interested to get hold of that; though if you are going to play the grob you need to play it like Bloodgood and sac the g pawn, I seem to remember Basman recommended 2.h3

Yes he did. 2 x 90 minute cassettes called The Macho Grob. It's referenced in passing here:-

http://streathambrixtonchess.blogspot.c ... thake.html


There was also another cassette called The Grob Meets Its Match.


These were both from the early 1980s. The book didn't come out until 1990, I believe.

Jonathan Bryant wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 15, 2021 11:46 pm

These were both from the early 1980s. The book didn't come out until 1990, I believe.

He seemed to play it partly to obtain material for the book. In rapidplays, he would record the game.

Recording games in rapidplays (say, half an hour each) was I think definitely commoner at one time than it is now.

I had a few of the these.

'Bashing the Benko' by Tarjan, how to correctly pronounce the players names etc by, I'm sure it Mr. Barden.
And a smashing full tape interview cum happy chat with Michael Basman and Tony Miles.

"how to correctly pronounce the players names etc by, I'm sure it Mr. Barden"

Bernard Cafferty did one on Russian, which included players' names - maybe that was a different one.

Roger de Coverly wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 15, 2021 11:55 pm

Jonathan Bryant wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 15, 2021 11:46 pm

These were both from the early 1980s. The book didn't come out until 1990, I believe.

He seemed to play it partly to obtain material for the book. In rapidplays, he would record the game.

IIRC The Grob Meets Its Match was advertised as containing an analysis of all of Basman's games from the (then) latest British Championship at which he played the opening in every round.

Which is taking your strategy to its extremes.


Like other forumites, I had several of these tapes too when I first started out in chess (this would have been around 1986/87/88.


Ray Keene had a good 2 tape set on 1 d4, 2 c4 for White. It was much better than his book on the same subject - albeit much less detailed of course. With the benefit of databases you can see now that what he was recommending was basically his opening repertoire at the time.

I have always thought it would still make a decent starting point for a club player's repertoire - albeit the Grunfeld and Semi-Slav sections would leave you in great danger if you learnt nothing else to back up his theory.


I remember also had Basman's tapes on his own approach to the Sicilian as Black (1 e4 c5, 2 Nf3 e6, 3 d4 cxd4, 4 Nxd4 Bc5) and White (1 e4 c5, 2 Nf3 any, 3 Be2). Both guff, of course, but I played them fairly successfully for a while. Adams even tried the Be2 Sicilian against Kasparov one year. At Linares I think.



It's a shame these tapes were never converted to MP3s and available on the internet. I guess they're not going to be now but many of those tapes would be of genuine historic interest to listen to again.