Following my chess films post, I finally separated the list into Documentary and Drama. These are the documentaries followed by a separate list with details of each one I've seen (I’m trying to see them all). Both lists are in alphabetical order. ...
I haven’t just noticed this phenomenon but it cropped up again recently when I was looking for a photo of Diana Rigg playing chess which I had no reason to believe existed. It was for a club match I was playing as she’d recently died and I thought...
Well I know I'd be doomed if I had to play chess for my life but I started wondering what the connection was between Death (the personification) and chess. Where has this theme cropped up? Who does he play? and Is there any prep I can do should I ...
Whilst travelling in China many years ago, I picked up this chess set. I got it because it is small and ‘packable’. The pottery pieces look ancient, authentic and beautiful but aren’t actually very easy to play with as some of the pieces look too ...
I'd thought of posting this on a 'show your chess set' forum but I'm not that posh. Unfortunately, this isn't my garden but it's a nice thought. I spent some of my New Year visiting Portmeirion in North Wales. A nice little place with an enormou...
Does anyone notice anything wrong with this table? This is a table in a cafe where I sometimes have breakfast. At first glance it looks like a chess table and I thought it would be quite a good idea where people could bring pieces and play over a...
Once upon a time, a very very long time ago in the 12th century which is later on in the days of Vikings. There was a man who lived in a place called Norway but travelled to lots of places buying and selling beautiful things. He liked playing ches...
Once upon a time, a long time ago, before even the days of King Henry the Eighth, there was a queen called Isabella. She was queen of a large part of what we call Spain and she very powerful. In those days in Spain, there had been lots of batt...
There follows, a list of chess films - those where chess is integral to the film rather than simply appearing in the film. Films such as “The Thomas Crown Affair”, “2001” and “Blade Runner” don't make this list. This is the list of Dramatic films...
In 1859, the science journal, Scientific American, published an article on chess following the success of Paul Morphy. It bashes the game of chess consistently and has some amusing and potentially useful phrases that I aim to use myself whenever ...
Some time ago, I watched a relaxed interview with BBC foreign affairs correspondent, John Simpson which took place in what I assume to be Simpson’s home. In front of Simpson was a chess set. The chess board wasn’t clear enough to see what was goi...
I've recently been reading a lot about the Lewis Chessmen (12th-century chess pieces discovered in 1831 in Lewis, Scotland) particularly to try to answer why the queen looks so scared rather than the aggressive piece she is. I can't say I've found...
While I was looking for the link to a chess programme about St. Louis, I came across another series on the BBC called Across the Board. Its a very interesting idea where the interviewer, Dominic Lawson, interviews interesting people over a game...
I heard this programme on the radio about how St. Louis is becoming a Chess capital. Its quite interesting. The city has become a world centre for the game of chess. Its status has partly been achieved by funding from a controversial multi-million...
I usually play online but do like playing on a real board so in 2013, I bought this board. I suppose it’s fairly modest by many standards but it’s lovely to me. It’s not my first board but it’s my first real board – wood, 12”, rosewood etc. Now I...
I first joined Chess.com in 2012 after Meeting a friend for drinks in a cafe. During the first drink he discovered a chess set under the table and suggested we played. I'd never really played but I knew how to move the pieces and agreed for fun. H...
