Media comments on chess

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

Post by Geoff Chandler » Fri Nov 05, 2021 9:30 pm

Hi Simon,

Showing sports personalities in a different setting, footballers playing tennis etc was a common trick on Q of S.
It occasionally caught out a team. I say 'was' because it's been about 25 years (really) since I last watched a full episode.

Lennox and the chess connection are well known. He once made the cover of CHESS (October 2006)

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Stewart Reuben
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Stewart Reuben » Sat Nov 06, 2021 1:00 pm

PAWN SACRIFICE
In case anybody hasn't seen it, This film shows ON BBC1 at 12.15am this evening.
It is of course about Fischer's match against Spassky.

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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Stewart Reuben » Sat Nov 06, 2021 3:52 pm

WORLD CHESS organiser moves towards float. By Ben Woods page 37 in the main section of the Daily Telegraph.
The organisation behind a slew of op-level chess tournaments is piecing together a London listing to capitalise on a global resurgence of the sport.
...They originally thought to do so two years ago, but shelved the plans. ...

Mick Norris
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Mick Norris » Sun Nov 07, 2021 12:37 pm

Mick Norris wrote:
Sun Sep 12, 2021 3:43 pm
Chess playing Corrie fans will be pleased to hear that a script is currently under development; no clue yet when it will be on screen
4 days of filming currently underway; expected to be on screen on New Years Day
Any postings on here represent my personal views

Dan Lambourne
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Dan Lambourne » Sun Nov 07, 2021 12:37 pm

J T Melsom wrote:
Thu Nov 04, 2021 11:20 pm
As I said the archive materials that I have are minimal , and I don't know what happened to Brian Lacey's papers. Sadly in order to maintain a good archive, you need somebody with a keen sense of the historical importance of the materials and the space to retain them whilst putting them into an accessible format. We've lost too many people in recent years without getting residual documents from their estates. It is a project that needs to be addressed whilst people are still with us.

Other memories of Wycombe junior chess and the Lewis brothers are being shared on Facebook but I don't think they are public.
As a player from Bucks, I also have a Lewis chessman trophy for being part of the Wycombe League and South Bucks Jamboree winning school Bellfield in 87-88. Although seeing as it is made from Plaster of Paris and is only just about surviving I wonder if it was a replica made by our motivating teacher, Mick Woodcock, to commemorate the season by copying the trophies of old. That season I also became the individual (U12) champion, wooden block with large but generic metal piece on top, although the organisation was renamed South Bucks School Chess Association which is what I have etched on my dull looking shield for becoming the U10 champion the previous year. I did copy the cross table for the individual 87-88 tournament into Excel if anybody is collecting that sort of information for a historical archive, I may still have the original table but it was very tattered when I last looked at it, and I may also have newspaper clippings about various chess events (either school or county teams) around the time I was playing as a Bucks Junior (1985-95?). By this time, when you got to Secondary School age you either went to a chess playing secondary school, or you joined Hazlemere to compete against the other junior teams, or a senior team to compete against the adults.

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Gerard Killoran
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Gerard Killoran » Sun Nov 07, 2021 3:33 pm

Did everyone here miss last night's 'episode of Strictly Come Dancing' with its chess themed tango? I tried but failed to see if they set up the board correctly with the white square in the right corner.

On a more serious note, a link from the Edward Winter website led me to this fascinating blog. https://jewishchesshistory.blogspot.com/

I don't know how true the following anecdote is, but someone should ask Kasparov about it.

https://jewishchesshistory.blogspot.com ... layer.html
But the mention of Yosef "Tommy" Lapid and Garry Kasparov in the previous post got me thinking: who decides who is a Jew? The reason is that, technically speaking, Kasparov isn't a Jew--his mother isn't Jewish (only his father is) so he isn't Jewish, either, according to the halacha (Jewish religious law). But Lapid told me that Kasparov, when visiting Israel, told him he considers himself a Jew--and, indeed, a right-wing Zionist Jew, who complained to Lapid Israel doesn't treat the Palestinians harshly enough.

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Sun Nov 07, 2021 3:56 pm

Well the latter bit is certainly believable - unless he has also changed his mind on that, of course.
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

NickFaulks
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by NickFaulks » Sun Nov 07, 2021 4:03 pm

Gerard Killoran wrote:
Sun Nov 07, 2021 3:33 pm
But Lapid told me that Kasparov, when visiting Israel, told him he considers himself a Jew
I wonder what he said he considered himself when looking for votes from Palestine.
If you want a picture of the future, imagine a QR code stamped on a human face — forever.

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Sun Nov 07, 2021 6:12 pm

How could you possibly be so cynical about Gazza's motivations :mrgreen:
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

J T Melsom
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by J T Melsom » Sun Nov 07, 2021 6:46 pm

Daniel Lambourne

There was a time when Lewis pieces were available as 'plaster-cast' kits so you might be right! Last saw Mick Woodcock pre-Covid - his papers might be worth retaining especially having taught at more than one local school. Bellfield one year fielded an all girls team, which I suspect was unique. The WPSCA It was always more of a South Bucks organisation reaching no further West than Princes Risborough so the re-branding probably made sense.

Kevin Thurlow
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Kevin Thurlow » Sun Nov 07, 2021 11:30 pm

Just found this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO0_ahE2Bxs

with the wonderful Irving Finkel. He has done some broadcasts on a game called Ur, which I found interesting.

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John Clarke
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by John Clarke » Sun Nov 07, 2021 11:31 pm

J T Melsom wrote:
Sun Nov 07, 2021 6:46 pm
Daniel Lambourne

There was a time when Lewis pieces were available as 'plaster-cast' kits so you might be right!
The one I briefly had in the 70s (before having to abandon it on emigrating) used resin - much more durable than plaster, though difficult to work with. I've still got the black king I made with it.
"The chess-board is the world ..... the player on the other side is hidden from us ..... he never overlooks a mistake, or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance."
(He doesn't let you resign and start again, either.)

Geoff Chandler
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Geoff Chandler » Mon Nov 08, 2021 5:37 pm

I had the Staunton pattern moulds. Great Fun. I made quite a few complete sets, painted and felted them.
A nice size, quite heavy and made a pleasant clunk sound when putting them down on a board.
( if you lost a piece then you simply cast another.)

Also used some pieces painted in a mixture of colours mounted on a base for trophies.
Wandering Dragons used one of mine for years as their club championship trophy.
(I won it once. Anybody else ever won a chess trophy they designed, built and donated? )

Stewart Reuben
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by Stewart Reuben » Mon Nov 08, 2021 6:06 pm

Geoff >Anybody else ever won a chess trophy they designed, built and donated? <
Not quite. But... I created a prize for the World Senior Team Chess Championships to go to the team that most improved their ranking in the tournament, limited to teams from the British Isles. I paid the organisers to produce the trophy and 5 medals.
Of course, it was a little like a rating prize. Of course high ranked teams had no chance.
The second occasion my team, England 65+ II won it. I captained that team as well as playing.

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JustinHorton
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Re: Media comments on chess

Post by JustinHorton » Fri Nov 12, 2021 9:15 am

Review of Lea Ypi's much-praised account of her upbringing in Albania includes this passage:
In the background of her tale, you might also notice the functioning public transportation, or the relative autonomy of her mother, who had been a national chess champion at the age of twenty-two.
"Do you play chess?"
"Yes, but I prefer a game with a better chance of cheating."

lostontime.blogspot.com

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