I was a Contestant on the Show and read with great interest most of the comments here ,even the negative ones. So just to clarify a few things :-none of the participants ever suggested that they were more than keen amateur players but were indeed proud and pleased that they were part of a programme designed to introduce chess to the general public and raise awareness of the game as a fun pastime/hobby etc.
They gave up their spare time to do so for no financial gain whatsoever but were thrilled that they were promoting chess. Therefore, I find some of the criticism aimed at them unfair and unwarranted.
For my own part my best playing days are obviously behind me. But in my youth I won some Majors and also the British Intermediate in 1991( if i remember correctly ) plus several club championships including one in 2023. There were many successes in the strong Armed forces events so no longer a strong player perhaps but no patzer either.
Therfore, just to dispel a further myth I did not miss Qg6 , I simply chose not to play it ! My intention from early on after Thalia played h6 was to try and land a piece on g6 .But that move had to be prepared and part of that prep was to swop off the white squared bishops to accentuate the weakness on the white squares. However , even before the opportunity arose to play Qg6 i had intended to allow Bxe3+ (sacing the pawn ) and just stick the King in the corner whereupon the attack continues .
But in a sudden rush of blood to the head I (too) quickly thought I can just play Qf2 ( still + on SF by the way ) save the pawn and keep the attack going.
However, the Queen hadnt even settled on the square when i realised it wasnt as good and consequently knowing I had made an inferior move when short of time it subsequently played on my mind for several moves afterwards and I blundered the knight. - Sound familiar anyone ??
Who of you havent been on the wrong end of this exact scenario ?
And just for the record I have seen it reported in various outlets that I missed the perpetual.
Wrong again. I didnt miss that either I simply opted not to play for it as I was still playing for the win.
Chess Masters New BBC Chess Show
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6 days ago
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#3
The problem with chess as a form of entertainment via spectating is it just isn't "exciting" or engaging enough for mainstream tv.
Something like University Challenge is that while they're not exciting because if the action, they're engaging because you can answer the questions and play along at home.
Snooker would probably be the closest you could get to having something like chess on tv. And even then, it's not the most popular sport on the bbc.
Chess has returned to the UK https://youtu.be/N1LJv24EiM4screens this week in the form of Chess Masters: The Endgame. It's on BBC 2 in the 'intelligent' slot where University Challenge and Only Connect is shown.
The show?
A group of 12 amateur players meet in a tournament where one is eliminated each round. Featuring rapid games and puzzles. It sounds good. Unfortunately it is not. It's horrendous. It's a dumbed down show where chess is hardly shown and silly gimmicks reign.
You can see my review below:
Chess has returned to the UK screens this week in the form of Chess Masters: The Endgame. It's on BBC 2 in the 'intelligent' slot where University Challenge and Only Connect is shown.
The show?
A group of 12 amateur players meet in a tournament where one is eliminated each round. Featuring rapid games and puzzles. It sounds good. Unfortunately it is not. It's horrendous. It's a dumbed down show where chess is hardly shown and silly gimmicks reign.
You can see my review below:
https://youtu.be/N1LJv24EiM4