When the BBC Radio program “Across the Board” was announced, it was pointed out that this was the second time it had chosen chess as a topic. The defunct Network Three ran from 1958 to 1964 and experimented with a wide variety of ideas, essays, and games for the chess lovers, and those curious about the royal game.
Although the program is long gone, there is a book dedicated to the show and transcribing many of the best moments called Chess Treasury of the Air. Thanks to the wonder that is the Internet, a few clicks were enough to track down the book, available new for the rather hefty sum of $28.80 (it is paperback). I paid $6.50 for a second-hand copy, which seems to have dried up, though some foreign sources still show up cheap copies. Still, the effort and money was well worth it as it turned out to be a genuine treasure trove of interesting material.
A bit of searching still turns up interesting things for the chess-loving bargain hunters
It starts with a series of essays on the writers who contributed the most to chess, in this case, Philidor, Staunton, Lasker, Reti and Nimzowitsch. There is also a plethora of player profiles, anecdotes, commented games, and a variety of articles covering topics such as time trouble, sportsmanship and gamesmanship, and even cheating in chess! Needless to say, there is no mention of trying to hide a phone in one’s shoe as one of the reviled methods.
In fact, it was with considerable interest that I read that the idea of a player against the world who voted on a move, is not new and was tried more than once by BBC radio! While Garry Kasparov, and other players to follow, had the benefit of the Internet to keep the process going speedily enough, the broadcaster had no such luck. The process reminded me of the tales of Lincoln walking miles and miles to borrow a book, and then doing the same to return it (we are such a spoiled lot). Back then they appointed a master to play a move as white, and the listeners could then choose their move and send it in as their voted choice. A second master, usually Clarke or Golombek, would then choose the most voted move or one of the better ones, and a move was played every two weeks this way.
Mikhail Tal's glare did not help in Leipzig 1960 where he lost to Jonathan Penrose
Still, it was the world class consultation games that must be considered the crown jewels of the series, including not only a game pitting Bobby Fischer with Leonard Barden against Jonathan Penrose and P.H. Clarke, but also Gligoric and Penrose versus Golombek and Tal.
18-year-old Bobby Fischer in 1961, the same year as the game below
This little known game featuring 18-year-old Bobby Fischer has been all but forgotten over time, and GM Alejandro Ramirez brings his own look at the game with his dynamic commentary and modern perspective.
The game ended somewhat controversially as there was no more time left and over eight hours had been spent playing it. As a result Penrose and Clarke offered a draw, which Fischer promptly refused. He was indeed better, but there was nothing clear about it. The game was therefore sent to Max Euwe to adjudicate, and he sent in several pages of commentary and analysis to justify his opinion that a draw was the correct result. Below is but a sample of the analysis found within the book.
You can find the full score of the game in Chess Treasury of the Air. This book — a collection of the best moments, games and discussions from the BBC series-was published originally by Penguin and remains available from the specialist chess publishers Harding Simpole.
You can buy it new at Amazon (for example)
