Raymondo

[John Moore]

Check my post about the tournament a few minutes ago - Great sac by Howell - England doing well.

[Ola Winfridsson]

The problem is of course that many of the things Ray Keene gets up take place in the shady wasteland between the immoral, the unethical and the downright illegal.

At the event where the incident that gave rise to this long thread (which incidentally, and quite contrary to what Geoff Chandler tried to imply early on, has got nothing to do with settling scores or bearing grudges for decades. The blog post was no 5 in a weekly series where Lars Grahn, former editor of the Swedish chess magazine Schacknytt, publishes some of the many photos he took during his 20 years as editor. Each picture has a little story, some evoking fond memories and others less so) took place - the Candidates Semis in London 1984 - Keene, as the head of the organisers, not only violated copyright law, he also breached more than one contract. For instance, Aussie GM Ian Rogers had been doing live commentary for four days for an agreed fee of £50 per day, but lo and behold, once Rogers approached Keene to collect his fee e tried to renege and offered a measly £5 per day!

Of course, Ray Keene does deserve praise for some of his contributions to British chess over some 40 years, not least the hugely successful Grand Prix series (I believe he was one of the main driving forces behind it). However, using that as an excuse for his less than scrupulously correct behaviour (to put it very mildly) in what should be perfectly normal and straightforward business transactions is a little bit like asking people to overlook the activities of a certain herr A. Hitler on the strength that he got the Autobahn built.

[Roger de Coverly]

not least the hugely successful Grand Prix series (I believe he was one of the main driving forces behind it).

At the risk of contributing to a thread that is showing signs of going Godwin, wasn't it Len Barden behind the Grand Prix, Len probably named the moves 1 e4 c5 2 f4 as well.

[Leonard Barden]

I actually first named 1 e4 e5 2 f4 the Cutty Sark Attack, in honour of the then Grand Prix sponsor. When Cutty Sark's backing ended and was replaced by the waste management firm Leigh Interests (where David Anderton was a director) the opening's name metamorphosed to Grand Prix Attack.

[Paul McKeown]

At the risk of contributing to a thread that is showing signs of going Godwin, wasn't it Len Barden behind the Grand Prix, Len probably named the moves 1 e4 c5 2 f4 as well.

Roger,

If you call someone Schickelgruber, does that count?

P.

[Paul McKeown]

Plagiarism is not as clearly defined in chess as in other things. Basically every chess book has other peoples' games in it, so you are using other peoples' innovation to sell your books. For Keene's Big Book of Gambits, I imagine that there wasn't much information available on the Litsin Gambit, so he copied Donaldson almost verbatim. In truth had Keene been a bit less lazy and made more cosmetic changes then he would have done the same as almost every other chess author.

Actually most people acknowledge the contributions on which an original work has been built; no genius being an island and all that, all depend on what has gone before.

[Ian Lamb]

how much did keene charge the bcf in taxi fares now there a point in his expense claims! i wonder if anyone can guess the figure or knows the figure?

[Geoff Chandler]

Gosh!

I'm in a few Chess Forums on the net and this is by far the most serious.
It's hard work here but I'm determined to raise a chuckle or two.

That's Pol Pot and Hilter now mentioned in the same posts as Raymond Keene.

Lighten up boys, some of you really do have Keenitis, let it go.

[Paul McKeown]

Geoff,
I'm pretty sure that Hilter has not been mentioned on this forum before, either in this thread, or elsewhere. Errare humanum est.
P.

[Matt Mackenzie]

In the recent Maria Eagle thread both Hitler *and* Pol Pot were alluded to, I believe

[Paul McKeown]

Yes, but Hilter is a new one to me.

[Roger de Coverly]

Yes, but Hilter is a new one to me.

North Minehead by-election?

This is getting silly

[Matt Mackenzie]

Yes, but Hilter is a new one to me.

North Minehead by-election?

This is getting silly

Not to mention Tarquin Fintimlinbinwhinbimlin Bus Stop F'Tang F'Tang Ole Biscuit Barrel, of course

(and don't forget the vicious "keep left" signs whilst you're at it )

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi,

Well there is a lot venom getting spat out and nobody seems to be defending
the poor guy. He's a chess player. I'll stand by him.

Let's look at some incidents.

Perhaps RK thought the 25 year old photgraphs were out of focus.
Remember he is short sighted.

And Ian Rogers is Australian, they speak funny, so you can see there was bound to
be a misunderstanding about payments there.

You see you have to look at both sides.

I suppose I should correct my typo 'Hilter' but that would ruin all the wee jokes.
I'll leave it in, I like to see people having fun.

And everytime someone uses a Latin quote I'm counting that as a catch. I'm 3-0 ahead.

[Matthew Turner]

Brain Games Network certainly didn't work out too well for investors, but I have to wonder if they didn't get what they deserved? If you think this is bad though check out the career of former England Cricket star and serial entrepreneur Phil Edmonds. He seems to have done a lot more of people's money than Raymondo, but he isn't castigated in the same way.