tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post2660204613862432190..comments2023-12-28T02:11:22.501+00:00Comments on The Streatham & Brixton Chess Blog: The decline of the "The Decline of English Chess" articleTom Chivershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09850710685193416732noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-15919332369499079672015-11-30T04:31:16.886+00:002015-11-30T04:31:16.886+00:00Gallant of you, PH, to rise to Nigel's defense...Gallant of you, PH, to rise to Nigel's defense. Sure, Nigel has had an active chess career, and like other World title candidates has inspired people in UK and other countries to take up chess. <br /><br /> However, the activities which you might describe as "promoting English chess", I would (less generously) describe as "promoting Nigel's chess career and bank balance".<br /><br /> No crime in that, but not, in my humble opinion, especially worthy of praise.Andy Lewisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-88710430334188230182015-11-25T00:08:40.032+00:002015-11-25T00:08:40.032+00:00"Short....might.....have done a little more t..."Short....might.....have done a little more to promote the game in the UK"<br /><br />Not to let the facts get in the way, but off the top of my head you have his national simul tours, was Howell's second at the World junior, FIDE delegate, commentary work....and then of course he dedicated his life to chess and was never off the TV in 1993. I remember at the time at my university club an absolute deluge of new members, and reports in the BCM of Congress entries being down as players preferred to watch the chess on TV. Or perhaps you blame him for that? And you probably have to accept at the moment his newspaper columns, or the DVDs he did, in lieu of a book. <br /><br />Then of course there is the recent 4 day seminar he did in Glasgow too. <br /><br />Sure he has an acquired sense of humour, but on the other hand when George Ellison died he was one of the people to express regret on the ecforum. <br /><br />PHnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-10922889527671216502015-11-24T00:19:48.751+00:002015-11-24T00:19:48.751+00:00The Nigel Short section is also beyond parody. It...The Nigel Short section is also beyond parody. Its seems that the principle reason behind the decline of English Chess is the ”small-mindedness” of chess-players in the UK and the “old-fashioned” structure of the ECF. Everyone and everything is to blame: except super-star Nigel himself.<br />So what might Nigel have done? His achievement on the board are exceptional, but off the board he might, as Britain’s leading player for the past 3 decades have done a little more to promote the game in the UK. <br />How about writing another book? (His second and last book was published in 1994.) Or occasionally appearing in the British Championship. (He last won in 1998.) His adopted country, Greece, has recently fallen on hard time: how about a charity simul to aid his new countrymen? If he has a constructive agenda for re-structuring the ECF, why not publish and promote it – rather than expect everyone else to do the spade work. <br />And if he wants to avoid giving the impression that chess-players are intellectually and ethically negligible, he can certainly help by cutting out the sexist jokes.<br />SM can’t, of course, be blamed for Short’s silly comments. But one might expect a more critical appraisal from a Guardian journalist.Andy Lewisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-47663195754304845082015-11-23T11:53:51.894+00:002015-11-23T11:53:51.894+00:00It's also a bit tendentious to refer to "...It's also a bit tendentious to refer to "the government's ruling". It was a ruling of the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34537024" rel="nofollow">High Court</a> (which would not, I think, consider itself a branch of government) regarding a ruling made by Sport England, which is a body funded both by the National Lottery and the Treasury, but not really one whose decisions can be described as government decisions per se.ejhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01582272075999298935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-66837144134495302772015-11-23T10:36:35.642+00:002015-11-23T10:36:35.642+00:00The article certainly packs a punch with the headl...The article certainly packs a punch with the headlines - but there does not appear to much substance behind them.<br /><br />The lead headline is that the once mighty England has now been eclipsed by Peru and Egypt. Well, take a look at FIDEs own comparison been nations - based on the average rating of the top 10 players. <br />https://ratings.fide.com/topfed.phtml<br />England comes in at respectable 12th place - way ahead of Peru (37th) and Eygpt (46).<br /><br />Of course SM will point out that the current England Olympiad team has come nowhere near equalling the Silver medals achieved by their counterparts in the 1980s. Its a fair point. But why select that criteria for national chess strength? Except to make the headline as sensational as possible! <br /><br />We also read in the headline that an English GM has "defected". This turns out to be Nigel Davies agreeing to turn out for Wales, partly because he's hacked off with the ECF, but more likely so that he eligible to play for the Wales Olympiad team. If you read the sane and sensible Nigel Davies blogs referred to in the article, you will see that he says that the whole incident has been blown out of proportion. If Davies does not particularly like the term "defection" to describe his re-registration to Wales, why use it in the headline for this article?Andy Lewisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-78026947277789710522015-11-23T10:28:43.862+00:002015-11-23T10:28:43.862+00:00It was difficult to write "Chess in Decline&q...It was difficult to write "Chess in Decline" articles in the 1970s and 1980s as well as "Why are there no strong young players?". <br /><br />The latter article is due a comeback and there are multiple sources from the 1950s and 1960s. <br /><br />RdCAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37675897.post-74111937014240893462015-11-23T08:05:18.828+00:002015-11-23T08:05:18.828+00:00RE: decline of English chess articles, EJH reminds...RE: decline of English chess articles, EJH reminds me of this from 2007<br /><br /><a href="http://liberalengland.blogspot.com.es/2007/11/how-margaret-thatcher-ruined-british.html" rel="nofollow">http://liberalengland.blogspot.com.es/2007/11/how-margaret-thatcher-ruined-british.html</a><br /><br /><br />Jonathan Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00293162543015231439noreply@blogger.com