Because I read a lot, I encounter chess triva often. And so it is the case I just cant stop making questions about it, as I get a real buzz from it. And it is true sometimes -not all times- it goes down really well and stimulates real interest. Here’s the latest on the ECForum.
Please note this post is placed in the trivia category where you will find hundreds of other trivia questions. Aside, do you fancy a bit of Dutch punk with a Japanese twist?
M J M
Harpenden
Posted in Trivia | Leave a Comment »
Grace played in her first tournament in a while.
Sadly, I was not there to be with her this time but her mum was.
N.B The title comes from a Pink Floyd song recently covered by The Damned, who do a better job with it IMHO.
M J M
Posted in My daughter | Leave a Comment »
An informative documentary on the K v K duels can be found below.
M J M
Posted in Documentaries | Leave a Comment »
Which internet bank -started in 2005- has a founder who shares the same surname as a former world champion?
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I have found no traces of the past pertaining to this but will continue to look and post here if found.
Update incoming:
Posted in History of Bedfordshire Chess from 1920-1940 | Leave a Comment »
As you may know, it’s a popular misconception that Tony Miles was the first Englishman to gain the title of GM. To clarify, for OTB chess yes it was Miles but problemist Comins Manfield was awarded the title before him. Taken from the 1923 B.C.M, here’s one of his problems.
More about him can be found here. Comins Mansfield.
M J M
Posted in Chess | Leave a Comment »
A side note on how to read old Tom Sweby's columns
Not perhaps, but quintessentially, Old Tom Sweby is best thought of as a passionate devotee to the newspapers he wrote for. He was well read and knowledgeable of the Bedfordshire chess scene and well beyond, given that he was the president of the S.C.C.U. once upon a time. He was generally well-respected and rubbed shoulders with many, if not all, of those eminent within British chess circles. It would, however, be a critical mistake to see his column is primary source material entirely. That it is not. You will also find secondary source material quoted too, and the reliability of that is not quite as Tom hoped. Given that he wrote for decades, this is to some degree inevitable, and after all we are all prone to error whether we realize it or not. Thankfully, with regards to old Tom Sweby, they are infrequent and for the most part old Tom continued to document events and developments in the Bedfordshire league from the get go as best he could but, of course, everything lies open to interpretation. Despite this, and generally speaking. this does indeed make him informative and thus worth reading. Dare I say his columns constitute a narrative describing the latest developments, match reports and changing nature of the Beds league...he knew his audience and wrote according. This manifested itself over decades but brevity was always in play courtesy of the restictions imposed by writing a column. Should you wish to read a in instrumental figure of the Beds' league post WW2, you are quite welcome to peruse what has been posted here... . :-) I should, however, point out that as the decades wore on he gradually moved on away from narratives concerning the Bedfordshire league towards affairs both historical and international. The reasons for this are multifarous, old age was a predominante factor presumably, however, the bottom line is with regards to how the Bedfordshire chess scene developed post WW2: old Tom Sweby is your go to guy. He wrote more about chess in Bedforshire than anyone else did but given he was a Lutonian and writing for a Luton newspaper there is both bias and greater coverage of his hometown than the rest of the county.
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