MARK RUBERY CHESS

The Bulgarian super GM Veselin Topalov and his influential manager Silvio Danialov paid a visit to Wales a few years ago where they were entertained by a former SA chess circuit player, Tim Kett. Now residing in Cardiff, Tim who has represented Wales in numerous Olympiads, sent the following detailed and amusing impressions after hosting them both for dinner in an official capacity. ‘Veselin chose the Soup of the Day followed by Salmon with a lemon garnish, new potatoes and seasonal veg. To drink he had a glass of Chilean Merlot. His charming compatriot Silvio started with Caesar Salad and continued with Chicken Kiev, washed down with a pint of the appropriately named local brew, Brains Best Bitter (I kid you not - that is the name of the main Cardiff Brewing company). They both were polite about the fare - well the Welsh Chess Union was picking up the tab.

It was a bit surreal - and excellent fun of course - but what the day taught me most of all was that their chess world is in a sad state right now. The whole trip was supposed to be about the Chess in Schools program but it was clear from the off that - despite the recent “landmark European Parliament motion” we’re still millions of miles from getting any funding or proper traction on this.

When asked about what was next on the playing agenda the answer was “not much. No tournaments these days. Sponsors are drying up. Linares is no longer. We thought Nanjing would survive at least, but that’s not on this year and even Wijk aan Zee doesn’t look so secure - and I’m never going get an invite for London (he went on to get an invite to the 2015 event where he finished in last place). I’ll play the Olympiad but other than that - not much”. He is a bit faraway and other-worldly at times, but you can see there’s someone underneath the cool exterior who wants to be a popular, nice guy.’

The following position occurred in an online tournament consisting of players who made their mark on the chess scene some decades ago and included the likes of Friedgood, De Villiers, Schackis, MacFarlane, Kett etc. The event was surprisingly, yet deservedly, dominated by former food critic, Victor Strugo.

A former Chessa President missed a tactical shot that would have enabled him to defeat a former SA Closed Champion.