Just When You Thought Fox Couldn't Get Any Worse

It's hard to credit these people as intelligent and sane....

Bent Larsen (1935-2010)

The Great Dane of chess died after a short illness at the start of September. His importance for popularising chess in Denmark cannot be exaggerated.

Slack Bastard

No, not Anarchist Andy in Aus', but yours truly.

Blogging isn't the fun it used to be. The paucity of posts here for 2010 should reveal that! Mind you, I have spent most of my summer working on and playing chess.

The chess was great, the highlight being the Copenhagen Chess Festival, where there were more GMs than you could wave an inflatable pawn at. I had a few drinks and chats in the Hotel bar with legendary Lajos Portisch; he was in the world elite for donkeys years and is very kind towards the average chess fan. Peter Svidler, one of the present top 10, stopped by for an exhibition match against Denmark's nr. 1 Peter Heine Nielsen. It was really inspirational to see all these great players in action.

Doctor Who Monsters and Villains

The Guardian has entered "nerd corner" as it tries to compile a list of the villains and monsters of Doctor Who. Needless to say, the fans have obliged!

I have spotted some flaws and omissions already, even on the updated list. (The benefits of having seen and heard every TV story transmitted.)

Some of the comments make interesting reading:

The North Sea gas seaweed monster in "Fury from the Deep" was the scariest of all the Doctor Who creatures, for me.
At the time, in 1968 when this was aired, Britain was converting from town gas, to natural gas from the North Sea, so this was a very topical story, and as a 12 year-old, it all seemed so much closer to home, so much more real, and more likely than beings from outer space.
The creature came out of the plumbing, and gassed people, before taking them over and transforming them into seaweed monsters, themselves.
Absolutely terrifying!

and:

Bonnie Langford appears to have been missed off the list.

A Liverpool Banner

the Guardian published the above pic today, upon the news that Benitez has left the Reds. I am certain the Inveresk Street Ingrate will like it because he has an occasional series on his blog called "Mixing Football and Politics".

And - World Chess Champion

Anand retains title!

I followed the exciting last game with some friends via the Internet Chess Club and over several bottles of red wine and some cheese and biscuits. Great fun!

Anand is only one of two world champs I have seen. I first saw him when I played the British U-18 championship back in the 80s. (The other champion is Alexander Khalifman.)

the World Chess Championship

The wait is almost over as Topalov (Bulgaria) and Anand (India) go head to head in the world chess championship in a few days, in Sofia.

I hope that Anand wins, not least because he has the Dane Peter Heine Nielsen on his team of helpers.