Rachel Reeves and Chess

[Paul Cooksey]

The ECF AGM is so dull, here is the old thread viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3938

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Has this/did this come up at the ECF AGM?

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Oh, sorry, I see this thread was resurrected by John Upham with a media request. I wonder how many media requests British Chess News gets and whether the responses are seen as official or if someone with an ECF hat should be responding (apologies, I am not up-to-date with the current incarnation of the ECF and its officers).

[John Townsend]

I expect the government will be anxious to deflect attention away from the winter fuel allowance being taken away from pensioners, by Rachel Freeze and Sir Keir Starver.

[James Pratt]

I blame television.

[Matt Mackenzie]

I expect the government will be anxious to deflect attention away from the winter fuel allowance being taken away from pensioners, by Rachel Freeze and Sir Keir Starver.

#notallpensioners

[John Upham]

I expect the government will be anxious to deflect attention away from the winter fuel allowance being taken away from pensioners, by Rachel Freeze and Sir Keir Starver.

#notallpensioners

As always, the devil is in the detail.

[John Saunders]

The following was published in the 1994 British Chess Federation Yearbook, page 73 (n.b. it refers to a tournament played in 1993):

BRITISH WOMEN'S CHESS ASSOCIATION GIRLS' CHAMPIONSHIPS, Ipswich, 20-21 February [1993] U21: 1 L Orton (Ipswich) 4½/5; 2= R Sheldon (Manchester), C Webster (Sutton) 4; 4= A Nathoo, R Bates (both Richmond), J Alston (Lancaster), R Reeves, C Holmes (both Farnboro', Kent) 3½... 28 players
- U18 title to R Sheldon
- U16 title to C Webster
- U14 title shared by R Bates, J Alston, R Reeves, C Holmes
U12: 1 J Ho (Maidstone) 6½/7; 2 E Porter (Ipswich) 5½; 3= I Anguelov (London), E Ford (Manchester), E Walker (Southend) 4½... 16 players
U11: 1= J Badger (Norwich), J Hart (Sutton) 5½/7; 3= A Hardy (Torquay), J Persson (Lancaster) 5... 16 players
U10: 1 R Kieran (Farnboro', Kent) 7/7; 2 L Larter (Norwich) 5½; 3= H Cobb, C Marriott (both Swindon), L Stubbs (Newcastle) 5... 28 players
U9: 1= S Miley, J Rees (both Bury St Edmunds), S I Tidman (Birmingham) 7/9; 4 L McCartney (Lancaster) 6... 24 players - U8 title to E Player

[Derrick Walker]

I assume I am being asked to provide ammunition for Mr. Murdoch's media outfit to have a pop at Rachel.

The Murdoch family hasn't owned Sky since around 2018.

[John Upham]

I assume I am being asked to provide ammunition for Mr. Murdoch's media outfit to have a pop at Rachel.

The Murdoch family hasn't owned Sky since around 2018.

Thanks for the correction: I need to update myself.

[John Townsend]

I see the winter fuel allowance continues to attract attention. There are signs that at least one Labour M.P. has connected with the man in the street:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/20 ... nter-fuel/

[Roger Lancaster]

I see the winter fuel allowance continues to attract attention. There are signs that at least one Labour M.P. has connected with the man in the street:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/20 ... nter-fuel/

That's "connected" as in "with his fists".

[John Swain]

I've reverted to an earlier thread about Rachel Reeves which has a number of helpful and informative posts. Perhaps this thread could be merged with Rachel Reeves as a junior? The topic has also been raised in the Media Comments thread today.

It's a pity that Rachel Reeves's prowess as a chess player has become a political football. She has helped promote chess at various events in recent times, despite her busy political life, and she has agreed as Chancellor to continue the financial support for chess initiated by Sunak's government. All this is to be warmly welcomed. As a chess community, we should back her endeavours and put partisan political affiliations to one side IMHO.

It's clear that Rachel was a good chess player in her youth, with a grade of 129 in 1997. She competed in several Junior British Championships and was also fourth equal out of twenty-eight players in the under 21 British Women's Chess Association Championships in 1993, which resulted in her being declared joint under 14 champion at this event, with three others. Therefore she was a junior female chess champion; others could say the same for different events in the 1990s, such as the U.K. Chess Challenge, which started in 1996, and of course the Junior British Championships.

The strongest female chess players in parliament are also Labour politicians: Angela and Maria Eagle. Angela was joint winner with Jane Garwell (now Richmond) of the British under 18 Girls' Championship in 1976. I recollect that both were in the region of 150-160 grade players at their best.

[John Upham]

Possibly Nigel F. and his pals wish to distract attention from the warm and misty eyed recollections of his former Class 3R classmates at Dulwich College.

If only "This is Your Life" was operating in 2025 NF could welcome his Dulwich College pals onto the stage to speak gushingly of him.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Agree with John Swain. Sadly, the media will make the story what they will.