Mr Pharmacist

Darn you cancelled out my Smyslov unique pick! Hey, I had him on my team last year, you could have checked. I knew this, we cancelled each other out last year!! [*] Ok, I won't trust that friend of mine anymore, national referee no less. Fide.com is down at the moment, so I can't check the facts, but I will. The FIDE list is up in a couple of places. Korchnoi has had up and down form but is without a shadow of a doubt the best player of his age. I don't think he'll ever completely stop. [*] [*]I considered him for 2005, but lack of news made me pass him. He was a fine 2006 hit. Unfortunately one other team spotted him on the radar. Yep, that would be me again..... [*] [*]Not really a household name, but a bell rang. A rather small bell, actually, a bit like those little double bells that are rung by Holy Men in Indian temples, temples where they keep rats as holy and which are consquently infested with those filthy rodents. But I digress. [*]I had to look him up. He's quite a biggie, actually. Tying as Champion of the USSR puts one in the class of Candidate World Champions. Few men could say they defeated Capablanca, fewer can. He retired when I couldn't play chess yet. Or read his games, for that matter. [*]His old age might secure him an obit. I'm certain he will be mentioned in the newspapers when he does go. But as I say he was looking amazingly healthy relatively recently.

Darn you cancelled out my Smyslov unique pick! Korchnoi returned to the top 100 in the world and played 24 games in the last three months, hardly a man who has retired, although he could be one of those who dies with his boots on! Smyslov has looked increasingly frail but he's always looked after himself. Bronstein who died last year had been in poor health for 15 years! I went with Andor (Andrei) Lilienthal as my second chess player, 95 years old and someone who beat Capablanca and Alekhine in his career, he will get a mention when he goes, although its not really a very certain pick as the last pictures I saw of him showed him still to be in good health.

Didn't you get a handy confirmation E-Mail with your names in it? I'm glad I didn't choose Josie Grove, I think the Deathlist rule about being famous for being ill should apply next year. My list: Lee Hazlewood joker: Ariel Sharon: Fidel Castro: Kirk Douglas: Ian Brady: Ronnie Biggs: Vassily Smyslov: Boris Yeltsin: Brooke Astor: Alex Higgins: Denis Healey: Ronald Searle: Lady Bird Johnson: Osama bin Laden: Harold Pinter: Charlton Heston: Yegor Gaidar: Andor Lilienthal: Brian Close: Ray Bradbury. Sub (replacing Bradbury who replaced Saddam) Ian Huntley.

Gosh darn. Never thought of Josie Grove, perfectly within the rules but still she's not famous for anything other than refusing treatment. Virtually my entire list would have to die to win! Finished 56th= in 2006 with the usual provisos not bad for a first go. Its a lot harder than it looks! Naively thought Lee Hazlewood might be a rare choice... he's my joker. Put a couple of chess players in again. I'm cross I didn't put Ian Huntley in, he was my last minute substitute after the death of Saddam so someone else will have to have died last night for him to get in.

Well most of the heavy drinking and smoking chess playing legends have died. Bronstein has been in poor health for a few years but still gets around and hadn't got any worse last time I heard, Smyslov frail of late but he's always looked after himself. Bent Larsen has had some health problems recently, he's famous as one of the men beaten 6-0 by Bobby Fischer. Speaking of old chess players there is also Andor Lilienthal (born 5 May 1911) who will undoubtably get obituaries as he beat legends Capablanca and Alekhine before the second world war. Last I heard he was still in pretty good health, fairly recent photos of him show he's still built like an ox. One for two or three years time maybe.

Ah, so it's you. Gary Kasparov is an interesting choice. Relatively young and no known health issues, apart from being in Russian politics. regards, Hein Yes Kasparov is there simply because I think russian politics is a very dangerous place to be. He's already been assaulted a couple of times. Hope it doesn't happen. I didn't want a list of people all over 70 or of names taken from the DL but I left it a bit late to be really creative. I'm interested to see how it will go.

I was a bit pissed off too! You cancelled me out, I thought no-one else would come up with them either. This is my first year of entry after not getting my act together last year. I did managed three unique picks including two I thought looked a bit dodgy during last year and one that I only fear might come true. I'd have had five unique picks with Bronstein and Smyslov.

Hans Bethe who worked on the Manhattan Project dies at 98. http://abcnews.go.co...Story?id=559105 One of the greatest physicists of the 20th Century.

According to 5 Live he's died. How come he wasn't on this year's list? Anyone who saw his recent interview would have had him on there.