Of all the women in the world who play chess, the one that can’t be beaten in looks is, in my opinion, Andrea Botez. You can see her here playing in this video.
Admittedly, if there is a criticism it is she does throw like a girl.
There’s being funny and there’s taking the piss. When you book hotel rooms online, there’s usually a customer service section where you can ask questions. So here’s mine.
I wonder if I will actually get an answer?
MJM, dark room late at night.
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So Magnus has chosen not to defend his title. Maybe its all got a bit too easy for him.
https://new.chess24.com/wall/news/magnus-carlsen-will-not-defend-his-title
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Help us out here, I am stuck on this one. First and foremost, what you are about to read is not an example of me bragging nor is it an attempt to attract attention, it’s more a case of general enquiry but I don’t quite know how to phrase it. Advice sought.
What I want to do is subtly slip into a conversation the line ‘you’ve probably noticed that I’m by far the most handsome chess player on the planet right?’ without making my interlocutor puke, burst out laughing, or think there’s something seriously wrong with me. So how do I slip a line like that into a conversation and move on from it casually? What sort of body language should I use? The tone of the sentence should be mild self-assurance overflowing with hope of confirmation. How many people around the world actually think I am I don’t know although I suspect it’s not very many (if any).
The reason I am asking this is I like to delude myself into thinking I am so funny and can make people laugh with such ease, so it’s just a gag I want to make a mental note of for female chess players, which I can drop into any conversation that starts drying up if I run out of things to say. Or alternately I might use it as a chat up line or maybe to get my fees waived at a tournament as it could actually be true, making me quite a coup.
Mark. J. McCready,
8.04 pm July 20th,
Laksi BKK
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July 20th is International Chess Day, and so here is a take on why that is significant.
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How does he do it? How Does Magnus Carlsen cope with the fame and pressure of being the world champion? He always seems pretty relaxed about it to me but whatever goes on off camera…well we don’t really know do we?
He is under the spotlight here, signing autographs, dealing with fans and admirers, and again not looking too flustered by it. Gotta respect the guy for that, perhaps he is well used to it by now.
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Back in blighty I believe the temperature has soared to 40 C, and we only just had the annual ChessFest in Trafalgar Square.
Playing chess in that heat phroar, well how do you do it? The trick is get yourself a few GM norms and become a Grandmaster as quickly as possible, that way when you play you’ll have lots of fans by the board!
(Now you have to admit, even by my standards, that is a cracking joke is it not?)
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What do I do when I am not at work and not online? Well, ‘I know its out of fashion and a trifle uncool’
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‘myth buster’It’s uncommon for a Grand master to also be well educated, having a Ph.D. Rowson does though and he writes well too. He’s well worth a read but you do need to read him ‘lento’ as the content is often dense and requires reflection.
Apologies for sliding into ‘myth busting’ mode but one of the attributes given to chess players is that we have a good memory (courtesy of opening theory) but it just isn’t true. Do you know which game does require a good memory, one if fact so vastly superior to chess they are incomparable, well do you? If not then I shall tell you -it’s Scrabble!
Final ‘myth buster‘, it’s not true that all chess players are like myself, incredibly handsome with a stunning physique, tanned with a six-pack and wearing sunglasses, full of charm and charisma too…(oh Mark really!! Maybe you should go to bed! That’s not remotely funny and working out why you think it is…erm no thanks, just drop the attempts at humour before you embarrass yourself further and get to bed pronto…of all the deplorable things to come out with! Really you should be quite ashamed of yourself because you really aren’t funny -ya know!)
Mark. J. M
1.35 am, a dark room somewhere…
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A side note on how to read old Tom Sweby's columns
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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
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- I’m either 10 or 11 here
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- 1982, myself versus Brian from Sunderland.
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- At the Thai Junior chess championships. My daughter of course.
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- 2011
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- Thai Junior Championships
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- Around 2011
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- 2011
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- 2011
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