Media comments on chess

Discuss anything you like about chess related matters in this forum.
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AlanLlewellyn
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by AlanLlewellyn » Wed Aug 03, 2022 8:57 am

blackpool2012[2305843009215662162].jpg
this is me
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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Wed Aug 03, 2022 1:14 pm

AlanLlewellyn wrote:
Wed Aug 03, 2022 12:02 am
also beth harmans story as an actress as well as her screen story is similar to my own in many ways, i was forced to take medication, i got drunk in youth very drunk, i lived in argentina(like the actress), i went to an institution, i lived a lonely existance, i got involved in playing chess tournaments, my mum died, my dad astranged me.
Well you haven't beaten the world champion, though there is still time for that of course ;)
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

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AlanLlewellyn
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by AlanLlewellyn » Thu Aug 04, 2022 1:26 am

Matt Mackenzie wrote:
Wed Aug 03, 2022 1:14 pm

Well you haven't beaten the world champion, though there is still time for that of course ;)
well i will get my zimmer frame out especially for my challenge

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AlanLlewellyn
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by AlanLlewellyn » Thu Aug 04, 2022 1:30 am

i have played a few strong norwegians on icc, i always like to think they may be him in disguise, i usually win

Simon Rogers
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Simon Rogers » Thu Aug 04, 2022 11:32 am

The I newspaper. Wednesday 27th July, page 34.
There was a small picture of humans dressed as chess pieces.
It was titled "Checked mates are to the fore"
"Children and adults dress as chess pieces in a special performance ahead of the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai, eastern India. The competition starts tomorrow and runs until 10 August."

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JustinHorton
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by JustinHorton » Thu Aug 04, 2022 5:52 pm

The popular Twitter account Postcard from the Past has this. I wonder who sent it?
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com

Stewart Reuben
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Stewart Reuben » Fri Aug 05, 2022 9:01 am

World Chess Hall of Fame Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Legendary 1972 World Chess Championship
American Bobby Fischer's historic win ended 24 years of Soviet dominance in the sport

SAINT LOUIS (August 2, 2022) - The World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF) pays homage to American chess phenom Bobby Fischer with the largest exhibition of its kind, 1972 Fischer/Spassky: The Match, Its Origin, and Influence, on view from August 18, 2022, through April 30, 2023. A public opening reception is happening on Thursday, August 18, 2022, 5-8 pm, with free admission. In addition, tickets to a special celebration at the World’s Fair Pavilion in Forest Park on Thursday, September 1—the official anniversary date of Fischer’s World Chess Championship win—being held in conjunction with the opening reception of the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, are available for purchase.

1972 Fischer/Spassky: The Match, Its Origin, and Influence celebrates the 50th anniversary of the American Robert "Bobby" Fischer's historic win over the Russian Boris Spassky in the legendary 1972 World Chess Championship, ending 24 years of Soviet dominance in the sport. The show features more than 500 artifacts, including chess pieces used in pivotal game three of the "Match of the Century," a replica of the tournament table created by the makers of the original and never-before-exhibited books from the personal library of Bobby Fischer. The exhibition also highlights pieces from the World Chess Hall of Fame collection, loans from the Fischer Library of U.S. Chess Hall of Fame Inductees Dr. Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield & Rex Sinquefield and from photojournalist and Fischer confidant Harry Benson CBE and recently-donated artwork by the LeRoy Neiman & Janet Byrne Neiman Foundation.

“We are honored to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Bobby Fischer’s landmark chess victory,” says Shannon Bailey, Chief Curator at the WCHOF. “The exhibition will explore the 1972 World Chess Championship, Fischer’s formative years as a chess prodigy, his ties to Saint Louis and his long-lasting legacy and impact on American chess.”

Additional highlights of the exhibition include a rare audio interview with Fischer after his victory in the 1972 World Chess Championship, which Grandmaster Lubomir Kavalek, who also assisted Fischer with the second part of the match, covered as a journalist for Voice of America. Artifacts related to Bobby Fischer’s early training and achievements, including the furniture from the Hawthorne Chess Club, founded by U.S. Chess Hall of Fame Inductee John “Jack” Collins, where Fischer spent hours daily playing and analyzing games, will be on display.

“Bobby Fischer’s meteoric rise from promising young player to the king of the chess world brought new respect and media coverage to the game in the United States,” says WCHOF Curator Emily Allred. “The spectacle of an American, taking on 24 years of Soviet chess dominance, gained resonance during an era while the two countries were competing in the realms of politics, technology, space exploration and sports.”

To learn more about the exhibition or its events, please visit www.worldchesshof.org. For media interviews or a press kit, please contact Brian Flowers at [email protected] or (314) 243-1571.


# # #


About the World Chess Hall of Fame



The World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to building awareness of the cultural and artistic significance of chess. It opened on September 9, 2011, in the Central West End after moving from previous locations in New York, Washington, D.C., and Miami. Housed in a historic 15,900 square-foot residence-turned-business in Saint Louis’ Central West End neighborhood, the WCHOF features World Chess Hall of Fame inductees, United States Chess Hall of Fame inductees selected by the U.S. Chess Trust, artifacts from the permanent collection and exhibitions highlighting the great players, historic games and rich cultural history of chess. The WCHOF partners with the Saint Louis Chess Club to provide innovative programming and outreach to local, national and international audiences. Learn more online at www.worldchesshof.org and on our Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube channels.

About Bobby Fischer

As the 11th World Champion from 1972-75, Bobby Fischer interrupted the Cold War Soviet hegemony of chess. His phenomenal skill was apparent from an early age. He won the U.S. Open in 1957 and was the youngest person to gain first place in the U.S. Chess Championship in 1957/58. He would go on to win all eight of the United States Chess Championships in which he participated, and in the 1963/64 competition, he became the only player to achieve a perfect score in the event. My 60 Memorable Games, which Fischer authored in 1969, is widely considered one of the greatest pieces of chess literature. He made valuable contributions to opening theory and was renowned for his opening preparation and endgame technique alike.

Fischer is best remembered, however, for his win at the 1972 World Championship, defeating Boris Spassky in the most famous match of modern times. From 1970 to 1971, Fischer won 20 consecutive games in world championship qualifying events—an all-time record. These included victories over world-class players such as Mark Taimanov and Bent Larsen. After defeating former world champion Tigran Petrosian in the 1971 Candidates Match, there was a record 125-point differential between the ratings of number-one ranked player Fischer and Spassky, the second-ranked player. The first non-Soviet player to earn the title in 24 years, Fischer won the championship after 21 games. His thrilling rise to the top of the world of chess and his landmark victory in the “Match of the Century” greatly increased the popularity of chess in the United States. Fischer’s world championship win was especially impressive considering that the American player lacked the state support that the Soviet Union offered to its champions. While there were only 5000 registered players in the United States in 1960, there were five million in the Soviet Union during the same year, making training for his eventual world championship run even more challenging.

Fischer declined to defend his world championship title in 1975, retreating from the chess scene until 1992, when he faced—and defeated—Spassky in an unofficial rematch in Yugoslavia. Since that country was then under a United Nations embargo, his participation violated an executive order by President George H.W. Bush, and Fischer spent the rest of his life in exile to escape prosecution in the United States. Though his reputation suffered during his later life, his accomplishments on the chessboard cement his reputation as one of the game’s greatest players.

Stewart Reuben
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Stewart Reuben » Fri Aug 05, 2022 9:08 am

>never-before-exhibited books from the personal library of Bobby Fischer. <

In 1964 Bobby came to my home in a Manhattan hotel and he wanted a Russian Sicilian openings book I had, written by Taimanov. I wouldn't give it to him as I hadn't finished with it. I brought it back with me to England in 1965. In 1972 I gave it to him the last time I ever saw Bobby - at the match. It was clear he was going to beat Spassky by then. He immediately started leafing through it.
I wonder whether that book is in Bobby's personal library.

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AlanLlewellyn
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by AlanLlewellyn » Sat Aug 06, 2022 6:22 am

Stewart Reuben wrote:
Fri Aug 05, 2022 9:08 am
>never-before-exhibited books from the personal library of Bobby Fischer. <

In 1964 Bobby came to my home in a Manhattan hotel and he wanted a Russian Sicilian openings book I had, written by Taimanov. I wouldn't give it to him as I hadn't finished with it. I brought it back with me to England in 1965. In 1972 I gave it to him the last time I ever saw Bobby - at the match. It was clear he was going to beat Spassky by then. He immediately started leafing through it.
I wonder whether that book is in Bobby's personal library.
out of curiosity what was the notation of the book

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Sat Aug 06, 2022 9:45 am

Greeting cards are media.

https://thegiftbarn.co.uk/products/hors ... eq=uniform

I got this card from a local shop, if you want lots of them contact drawuk.co.uk

On the back is some info on chess history, which seems quite sensible but too long to reproduce here (and probably breaches copyright law to do so).

However, the last sentence is our old favourite, "It is estimated that about six hundred million people know how to play chess worldwide."
The way they phrase it makes a bit more sense than claiming there are that many players (which gives the impression they all turn up to tournaments). It still looks a wild guess.
Some years ago, one of my club colleagues taught at a local school and had started a chess club. I asked how many pupils played. "About 200." My reaction was a bit like Steve McQueen's in The Great Escape. Apparently, he had all but about 6 pupils playing and thought they were wavering. I have no idea if any continued to play when they went to secondary school, but they knew how to play, even if they were not "players"...

Stewart Reuben
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Stewart Reuben » Sat Aug 06, 2022 2:16 pm

AlanLlewellyn >out of curiosity what was the notation of the book?
It was a Russian book. It was written in Russian, which I don't understand. But it was mostly variations in algebraic, using the standard
Russian letters.
Bobby scored his games in US descriptive, but analysed in algebraic. I started out using descriptive, but switched quite easily, to algebraic at 16.
Last edited by Stewart Reuben on Sat Aug 06, 2022 2:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Stewart Reuben
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Stewart Reuben » Sat Aug 06, 2022 2:34 pm

Kevin >"It is estimated that about six hundred million people know how to play chess worldwide."<

I suspect it an underestimate if it means that many people learnt how to play - at one time or another. I live in a retirement village. Several people have told me they played a bit when much younger. But none played seriously after school.
An independent survey estimated a million people played in the UK. Their estimate was based on a survery and asked whether people played at least once a month. That seems to me to be an overestimate. Chess isn't that popular here.

Nick Ivell
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Nick Ivell » Sat Aug 06, 2022 3:32 pm

I never met Bobby. Possibly Stewart and Leonard are the only forumites who did?

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JustinHorton
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by JustinHorton » Sat Aug 06, 2022 3:58 pm

Stewart Reuben wrote:
Sat Aug 06, 2022 2:34 pm
Kevin >"It is estimated that about six hundred million people know how to play chess worldwide."<

I suspect it an underestimate if it means that many people learnt how to play - at one time or another.
I very much doubt this
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com

Roland Kensdale
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Roland Kensdale » Sun Aug 07, 2022 6:14 pm

Hotels.com advert showed 2 people playing in a lounge/lobby.

Expedia advert showed 2 people playing in a heated pool in (I think) an ice hotel.

A bit less current, a Callan episode from 1970 'The same trick twice', has the hero working through Golombek's 'Game of Chess'. They show the cover but not the board position. More often Callan got involved in wargames as the actor enjoyed these in real life - Edward Woodward (John Gielgud : 'His name sounds like a fart in a bathtub'.)