Documentaries | McCreadyandChess

Archive for the ‘Documentaries’ Category

American Gambit

Posted in Documentaries on September 6, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Another slow Sunday -American Gambit it is. When I was young, I found this documentary to be uncomfortable viewing in places as some of Kasparov’s behaviour leaves a lot to be desired. I think we can all agree that lecturing your opponent during the game and disturbing everyone else in the process of a simul is rather arrogant and not very gentlemanly. I used to offset this with admiration for GM Patrick Wolff, and a general interest in how play unfolded but that’s all. I haven’t seen it in so long so I thought I would watch it again. What I find interesting about this today is that since Kasparov, no other world champion has tried a feat similar to this.

GM Wolff’s win against GM Kasparov can be found here.

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1070358

M J M

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Where Karpov is king

Posted in Documentaries on August 23, 2026| Leave a Comment »

First rate BBC documentary. Enjoy

M J M

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Be it wholesome chess

Posted in Documentaries on August 21, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Esteemed chess fan and snooker world champion Steve Davis used to say that playing snooker was a sign of a mispent youth. Is constantly watching videos about chess a sign of a mispent adulthood? If so, guilty as charged but anyway there is a rapidly increasing number of themed compilation videos on chess appearing on youtube these days. On the whole they are quite watchable but some are obviously better than others. The two embedded below have well chosen content methinks for they show chess players in a light they are not normally portrayed in. Both definitely worth a watch -you will see that the best in the world are indeed very human.

M J M

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How good were they at Sans Voir?

Posted in Documentaries on August 21, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Sans Voir is the French term for Blindfold Chess btw. Here old masters Euwe and Botvinnik play a televised game of blindfold chess. It’s for Dutch tv, so its in Dutch but as you most surely know, you can use subtitles and change them to English with youtube. I don’t know who that is moving the pieces on the demonstration board, the commentary provided is there for the benefit of the audience, most obviously.

M J M

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Two short videos

Posted in Documentaries on August 11, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Video 1

Magnus loses in 19 moves if you can believe that. Judit comments on the game whilst Magnus is heckled by Giri.

Video 2

A hustler stays in the game against Hikaru, or just about, before being massacred in the endgame.

M J M

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Duels Of The Mind

Posted in Documentaries on August 10, 2026| Leave a Comment »

The old tv series devised and presented by GM Keene can be found below. All 12 episodes are there with some historical context provided and reasonable analysis of the game in question. Quite watchable I would say. The channel to which they belong (Chess Romantic) is worth looking at also as it has a lot of quality content on it.

M J M

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Vishy: positions, games, and career.

Posted in Documentaries on August 3, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Quality production here where Vishy is shown positions from some of the games in his career then has to name which game exactly the positions come from. Even though they go back as far as 1984, Vishy is able to discuss them at length as well as games and matches surrounding them, placing much content in context. In depth analysis from start to finish as well as Vishy at his humble best. Real insight offered throughout and a must see. Great journalism in play here.

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Aha

Posted in Documentaries on August 2, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Aha, another day with little to do looms, and so I search for chess documentaries to watch rather than wander off to Oxford to frequent its drinking establishments before staggering home in the dark. I have linked a doc here that gives an account of Kasparov from both himself and those who played him, with some criticisms of him thrown in! His agent also gives an account of the challenges he faces by having such a busy international lifestyle, and it also contains a lot of original footage you won’t find elsewhere, including an interview with his mother detailing the very beginnings of Garry’s interest in chess and the challenges they faced as well as footage of Kasparov with his children when they were very young. Kasparov’s attempt to unite chess with the tech world of his day is also documented.

With so much footage made of Kasparov it can be difficult to know what to watch, however, this is worth it, even if you’re not a big fan of the guy as it gives an informative sense of what it can be like to be the world champion, which he was when the documentary was made. Historians may take note that when Kasparov visits an intellectual society to discuss Russian historians, Kasparov’s objections to history being rewritten in the west are rather over-reactionary as any postmodernist can tell you there has always been bias in history and that’s hardly anything new. The model of history he works with is very outdated. Go to the 44.00 mark for that stuff.

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Informative doc on the K v K duels

Posted in Documentaries on May 29, 2026| Leave a Comment »

An informative documentary on the K v K duels can be found below.

M J M

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Speelman wins with the Lenningrad Dutch

Posted in Documentaries on May 13, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Here Jon Speelman defeats Kasparov. Much quality analysis can be found between the two players also.

MJM

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…on what this site initially became…on what this site is now becoming…on what this site cannot become…

On what this site initially became…

…once upon a time, the chess-related musings of an adrift academic were bound playfully and electronically in this online journal of sorts. They grew and grew as the decade did too. I kept on because I love to write whether I had much to say or not; therefore, being read by others was usually of little or no importance, comparatively speaking. Content was based on personal thoughts and experience on various topics with no intended audience borne in mind. With topics broadening, my own take on things always shaped the narrative I constructed: I often thought I was insightful but never that I was right. Sometimes imagination gave rise to originality: and of that I have always remained proud. I often introduced humour, believing that I am funnier than I really am. Sometimes, I found my own style antithetical to the conservatism I believe chess is plagued by -oftentimes that has put a gracious smile on my face… .

On what this site is now becoming…

…this site is now becoming a collaboration of chess in Bedfordshire: much more so of the past than the present -that has become the dominant trend. I document the history of chess in Bedfordshire as much as I can, and as time has passed I have become more thorough and resourceful. However, I am not a trained historian as my background lies principally in philosophy but yes it is true I did study some modules on history as both an undergraduate and a post-graduate too; furthermore, I have trained myself up, particularly in terms of postmodern history. Since 2015, I have only read history and historiography as well as those philosophers who have been so influential on postmodern history, such as Nietzsche (whom I once wrote a 19,000 word dissertation on, entitled: Can the Will to Power be Found in The Birth of Tragedy?), also Richard Rorty and Foucault and I suppose certain structualists such as Claude Levi-Strauss too. Regarding postmodernism, mostly I keep to Hayden White, Keith Jenkins and Alan Muslow.

Some friends and former playing partners back home describe me as the ‘go to guy’ for the history of chess in Bedfordshire. This compliment says more about the lack of interest in the subject than my own endeavour. As mentioned, I am too adrift from academia to feel chuffed by it. Rather, I tend to lament that my historical research, like my chess, just isn’t what it should be. Even though I may well have a broad understanding of Bedfordshire chess history courtesy of the volume of research put into it, all of which began in 2014, this is not something I am particularly proud of. Nonetheless, out of courtesy compliments are graciously received. If the truth be told, I just see it as my job and only that – after all someone’s got to do it and no one else is that interested!

Amongst the many others, I have created three categories: ‘Bedfordshire Chess’ and ‘History of Bedfordshire Chess’ and ‘Luton Chess Club’. This website is slowly moving towards a consolidation of those (all of which can be found in one of the toolbars to the right).

On what this site cannot become…

…I like to be both creative and amusing when I can be, factor in that playfulness has been an ever-present factor, the content of this site should be thought of as multifarious. It could be said I continue to enjoy undermining the conservatism I believe chess is underpinned by even after all these years, and often try to use humour to do it still, believing I have got better at it. Consequently, despite the general direction its going in, this site cannot only be about Chess in Bedfordshire and nor will it be. It may become noted for that yes -in fact that’s been the case for years already even by established historians, archivists, and whoever else. External factors aside, this site is titled McCreadyandChess. I cannot, nor will I not, remove my own personal thoughts and experiences of chess from the posts of this site -especially if I think they are funny or original for they constitute my writing at its very, very best. In addition, the number of categories alone tells you that breadth of content is important to me. I am proud of my site, it is identity conferring and that is how it shall stay -end of story. All you really have are: ‘Some thoughts on the beautiful game’, which, incidentally, just happen to be my very own; nothing more, nothing less, take of it whatever you please… .

Mark. J. McCready

9.56 pm Monday, October 28th 2024

Bangkok, Thailand
Categories
Posts which McCready is mighty pleased with

Malpractice — Replete with dark humour and literary devices

Bedfordshire Chess in the 70s its past and its future — Local History

Our Clash of Future Champions — Local History

Fond Memories of Bedfordshire Chess — Humour & Reflection

Bedfordshire Outfoxed -Local History

Reflections 20— Reflection & Warm Condolence

Reflections 17 — Colourful reflections from afar
Luton & The University of Bedfordshire Chess Club
The University of Bedfordshire Library, Vicarage St. Luton
01582 743921/07710036246 (Humuyan)
kitefighter@gmail.com
Tuesdays from 7.30 pm, The Library, Ground Floor

Please go to:
https://www.lutonchessclub.com/
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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.
Gallery

I’m either 10 or 11 here

1982, myself versus Brian from Sunderland.

At the Thai Junior chess championships. My daughter of course.

Pattaya 2011

2011

Thai Junior Championships

2008

2011

Around 2011

2011

Pattaya 2009

2011

Kuwait 2008

2012

2012

2011 BKK Chess club

2011

2011 Thai Open

2011 Thai Open

2013 approx

Around 2014

2010

2012

Around 2011

2011

2011

2013

Around 2011

Around 2011

2020

2011

2008

2011

2013 or thereabouts

2010

2017

2014?

2010

2024

2024

2024
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