Trivia Question

[John Upham]

Question:

Which chess player's obituary includes the following sentence?

"Jones where Brown had had had had had had had had had had had the master’s approval"

[MJMcCready]

oh boy that's a tough one. Can't even guess. Is that sentence grammatically correct?

[Matt Mackenzie]

I think the point of its inclusion is that it actually *is*?

[IM Jack Rudd]

It's not grammatically correct as written, because it needs punctuation. There is at least one way to punctuate it to make a grammatically correct sentence:

""Jones, where Brown had had 'had', had had 'had had'; 'had had' had had the master’s approval."

[John Upham]

It's not grammatically correct as written, because it needs punctuation. There is at least one way to punctuate it to make a grammatically correct sentence:

""Jones, where Brown had had 'had', had had 'had had'; 'had had' had had the master’s approval."

Having punctuated the sentence correctly what would be your interpretation of its intended meaning?

[Matt Mackenzie]

Anyway, any ideas about the player?

[Paul Habershon]

It's not grammatically correct as written, because it needs punctuation. There is at least one way to punctuate it to make a grammatically correct sentence:

""Jones, where Brown had had 'had', had had 'had had'; 'had had' had had the master’s approval."

Having punctuated the sentence correctly what would be your interpretation of its intended meaning?

I thought someone would have answered this by now. The had x11 sentence was doing the rounds when I was a schoolboy in the 1950s, except I remember it had 'examiner's' instead of 'master's'.

My interpretation is that Jones and Brown were examinees who had different answers to some sort of English grammar test.

I have no idea why this sentence was dragged into a chess player's obituary, let alone the identity of the player.

[Nick Grey]

I have no idea why this sentence was dragged into a chess player's obituary, let alone the identity of the player. SEEMS poor taste. may come up at an AGM if this year.

[John Upham]

I suspect it is time to reveal a clue...

The writer of the obituary was EGR Cordingley.

If that does not help I will reveal the year in 24 hours time.

I very much hope that this grave matter will be brought up an an AGM this year. NG does not specify which AGM merely "an AGM".

[John Upham]

I thought someone would have answered this by now. The had x11 sentence was doing the rounds when I was a schoolboy in the 1950s, except I remember it had 'examiner's' instead of 'master's'.

My interpretation is that Jones and Brown were examinees who had different answers to some sort of English grammar test.

I have no idea why this sentence was dragged into a chess player's obituary, let alone the identity of the player.

More detail for those who need it

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_whi ... he_teacher

[Mick Norris]

Vera Menchik

[John Upham]

Vera Menchik

Very good Mick!

May I ask how you got to that answer?

[Roland Kensdale]

Why Vera Menchik?

[John Upham]

accidental duplication

[John Upham]

Why Vera Menchik?

If you visit https://britishchessnews.com/2020/06/27 ... niversary/

you'll find an obituary from EGR Cordingley (amongst others). EGRC used this phrase about VM.


I'm assuming that is where Mick found the reference? Maybe he could confirm?