Checkmate

[Phantom 2,467]

Chess player Ratmir Kholmov. No idea how famous he is in the world of chess but I am sure some of the chess fans here can put matters straight.

very minor

 

Coming from you Ibex that means absolutely nothing.

 

Bruno,

That's why I put this reply.

To say that Kholmov was a "very minor" player in the chess world, is very much an understatement

 

Chess player Ratmir Kholmov. No idea how famous he is in the world of chess but I am sure some of the chess fans here can put matters straight.

 

Not a very well known player, but a strong player none-the-less. He didn't gain worldwide celebrity status as players such as Botvinnik, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky, Karpov or the very charismatic Kasparov. He reached his pinnacle during the late 50s and early 60s and was ranked as high as 6th in the world by 1960

Had he been more consistant with his games, he could have made it as World Chess Champion.

Such a shame that's the 2nd chess player to have died within the space of a month

Not far behind him though is Boris Spassky who will be 70 next January, however for the past 30 years, Spassky has been living comfortably in France

[Magere Hein 1,397]

Chess player Ratmir Kholmov. No idea how famous he is in the world of chess but I am sure some of the chess fans here can put matters straight.

very minor

Not well-known in the West, maybe. He wasn't a candidate World Champion. Inside the chess world he was well known and well-feared as a strong tournament player.

 

regards,

Hein

[Magere Hein 1,397]

Such a shame that's the 2nd chess player to have died within the space of a month

Not far behind him though is Boris Spassky who will be 70 next January, however for the past 30 years, Spassky has been living comfortably in France

I've got Smyslov and Bronstein on my DDP team, but Spassky seems another good candidate Dead Grandmaster.

 

regards,

Hein

[Phantom 2,467]

Women's chess prodigy and former Women's World Amateur Champion Jessie Gilbert has died at the age of 19

She fell from an 8th floor window in the Czech Republic

[Tempus Fugit 212]

Such a shame that's the 2nd chess player to have died within the space of a month

Not far behind him though is Boris Spassky who will be 70 next January, however for the past 30 years, Spassky has been living comfortably in France

I've got Smyslov and Bronstein on my DDP team, but Spassky seems another good candidate Dead Grandmaster.

 

regards,

Hein

Bronstein is dead,

 

http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=1190

[Magere Hein 1,397]

I've got Smyslov and Bronstein on my DDP team, but Spassky seems another good candidate Dead Grandmaster.

Bronstein is dead,

 

http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=1190

Woohoo, my sixth hit. What a nice prezzie for Sinterklaas!

 

I hope Auntie or the broadsheets will pick up the news.

 

regards,

Hein

[Phantom 2,467]

I've got Smyslov and Bronstein on my DDP team, but Spassky seems another good candidate Dead Grandmaster.

Bronstein is dead,

 

http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=1190

Woohoo, my sixth hit. What a nice prezzie for Sinterklaas!

 

I hope Auntie or the broadsheets will pick up the news.

 

regards,

Hein

 

I'm sure Leonard Barden will mention something to the obit writers at The Guardian

[grobler 35]

Bronstein was my Chess Icon . I feel very sad . Really .

 

 

 

 

I've got Smyslov and Bronstein on my DDP team, but Spassky seems another good candidate Dead Grandmaster.

Bronstein is dead,

 

http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=1190

Woohoo, my sixth hit. What a nice prezzie for Sinterklaas!

 

I hope Auntie or the broadsheets will pick up the news.

 

regards,

Hein

 

I'm sure Leonard Barden will mention something to the obit writers at The Guardian

[Tempus Fugit 212]

I've got Smyslov and Bronstein on my DDP team, but Spassky seems another good candidate Dead Grandmaster.

Bronstein is dead,

 

http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=1190

Woohoo, my sixth hit. What a nice prezzie for Sinterklaas!

 

I hope Auntie or the broadsheets will pick up the news.

 

regards,

Hein

 

I'm sure Leonard Barden will mention something to the obit writers at The Guardian

Spot on Phantom, Bronstein's Guardian obituary.

 

The points are yours MH.

[maryportfuncity 10,012]

Jessie Gilbert; suicidal young chess star got a fleeting mention here. The above link is to the news story about her dad being acquitted of raping her.

 

So she just got the idea of telling a few people he had and then topping herself to add a little gravitas to the lies eh?

 

Oh, those wacky chess stars, put the rest of us in the shade with their antics they do!

[grobler 35]

Jessie Gilbert; suicidal young chess star got a fleeting mention here. The above link is to the news story about her dad being acquitted of raping her.

 

So she just got the idea of telling a few people he had and then topping herself to add a little gravitas to the lies eh?

 

Oh, those wacky chess stars, put the rest of us in the shade with their antics they do!

 

oohhh.....as a chess player , this is one I could go to town about .

I never met Jessie , but I've read a few bits and bobs (that wont have made the national press)

For what its worth , in my (uninformed ) opinion .....

 

1. Chess players are very unstable

2.Good chess players are TOTALLY unstable

3. Rape allegations are VERY difficult to prove

4. If the person alleging the rape is no longer alive , it is VERY , VERY difficult to prove

5. The verdict in this particular case was easy to predict .

6. You have to feel immense sympathy for Jessie...so sad...whatever the circumstances .

[Magere Hein 1,397]

1. Chess players are very unstable

I wouldn't exactly put it like that, I prefer: you don't have to be mad to play chess, but it helps.

2. Good chess players are TOTALLY unstable

Well, there's at least something wrong with each and every grandmaster, but to call them totally unstable is stretching it a bit. That said, some of the greatest (like Steinitz, Nimzowitsch, Alekhine, Fischer) showed some very weird behaviour.

6. You have to feel immense sympathy for Jessie...so sad...whatever the circumstances .

Yup.

 

regards,

Hein (very unstable)

[Mr Pharmacist 0]

Ok, here's my DDP 2007 entry:

 

Team: The Grey Horde

 

edited.....

 

[*]Viktor Korchnoi

[*]Vasily Smyslov

 

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.

[Magere Hein 1,397]

Ok, here's my DDP 2007 entry:

 

Team: The Grey Horde

 

edited.....

 

[*]Viktor Korchnoi

[*]Vasily Smyslov

Darn you cancelled out my Smyslov unique pick!

Hey, I had him on my team last year, you could have checked.

 

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!

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.

 

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 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.

 

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.

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.

 

regards,

Hein

[Mr Pharmacist 0]

Ok, here's my DDP 2007 entry:

 

Team: The Grey Horde

 

edited.....

 

[*]Viktor Korchnoi

[*]Vasily Smyslov

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!!

 

[*]

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!

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.

 

[*]

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 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.....

 

[*]

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.

[*]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.

 

Edited January 2, 2007 by football_fan

[Phantom 2,467]

Couldn't find any more information on his health but Florencio Campomanes former president of FIDE was involved in a car crash last year, suffering multiple injuries.

He'll be 81 in February and who knows how much of a toll the car crash had on him.

 

He'll be assured of a UK obit as Leonard Barden is bound to write an obit for him. Also he was famous for his accusation of Garry Kasparov, bringing "ships of piracy to the FIDE coastline" during the 1988 Chess Olympiad which led to a huge rift between Campomanes and Kasparov

[Magere Hein 1,397]

I've got Smyslov and Bronstein on my DDP team, but Spassky seems another good candidate Dead Grandmaster.

Vasily Smyslov died today, picked by no one on this year's DDP.

Rats, another one for DDP's List of the Missed.

 

I did consider the 7th world chess champion for my 2010 team (as in: he's in my spreadsheet of candidates) but discarded him for a reason I can't remember.

 

Rats.

 

regards,

Hein

[Phantom 2,467]

I've got Smyslov and Bronstein on my DDP team, but Spassky seems another good candidate Dead Grandmaster.

Vasily Smyslov died today, picked by no one on this year's DDP.

Rats, another one for DDP's List of the Missed.

 

I did consider the 7th world chess champion for my 2010 team (as in: he's in my spreadsheet of candidates) but discarded him for a reason I can't remember.

 

Rats.

 

regards,

Hein

 

Bollocks! I forgot to add Smyslov on my list when I was shuffling them around and forgot to double-check to see if I'd missed anyone

[Phantom 2,467]

Florencio Campomanes, former president of FIDE has died at the age of 83

 

He accused Kasparov of "bringing ships of piracy to the FIDE coastline" during his speech following the 1988 chess olympiad in Thessaloniki

[Magere Hein 1,397]

Florencio Campomanes, former president of FIDE has died at the age of 83

Unfortunately I missed him for DDP, but I'm glad that fraud is gone. I'll keep an eye on his successor in crime, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Too bad he's only 48.

He accused Kasparov of "bringing ships of piracy to the FIDE coastline" during his speech following the 1988 chess olympiad in Thessaloniki

He should have known.

 

regards,

Hein

[VSBfromH 74]

Andor Lilienthal

 

Another chess grandmaster has made his final move at the age of 99. The Moscow-born Hungarian won matches against six world champions during his career. He is the the last surviving member of 27 original grandmaster chess players following Vasily Smyslov's death in March.

[Falkekopf 48]

Andor Lilienthal

 

Another chess grandmaster has made his final move at the age of 99. The Moscow-born Hungarian won matches against six world champions during his career. He is the the last surviving member of 27 original grandmaster chess players following Vasily Smyslov's death in March.

 

 

Relegated to the 'List Of The Lost' in the DDP but here's an obit from The Scotsman so he's lost no longer.

[Magere Hein 1,397]

Boris Spassky has reportedly suffered a massive stroke and is gravely ill

and

 

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.

Apparently, we missed Larsen's death. The article about Spassky that Phantom pointed to links to this NYT obit.

 

I'm a chess player myself and normally catch major chess deaths, but I didn't know.

 

regards,

Hein

[DevonDeathTrip 2,288]

Journalist, author, commentator and five-time U.S. Champion Chess Grandmaster, Larry Evans died on Monday after experiencing postoperative complications.

 

(PS - Mods, there should be a chess thread on DL - with a bit of judicious merging, it would probably stretch to a few pages)

Edited November 18, 2010 by Magere Hein
Split topic from "The Dead Of 2010"

[Magere Hein 1,397]

Serbian and Yugoslavian grandmaster Svetozar Gligorić died 14 August of a stroke, aged 89.

 

Obit at the Telegraph website.

 

regards,

Hein