It was 15. Ne5 that ruined it for me, a move I took a whole 15 seconds over.
I could have slipped the surly bonds of earth and touched the face of a 1900 rating, but, no, O vain adventurer, mere mortal, rest now and come back another day.
Magnus Carlsen has nothing to worry about from me. And probably not from Fabiano Caruana as of next week in London, either, for which he is quoted at 1/3.
The World Chess Championship isn't likely to become front page news again like Fischer-Spassky was because, like all sport, it has become tame, commodified and packaged but, like Kasparov-Short, which was actually on telly for the first few moves of each game at least, it will be even more possible now to gaze in uncomprehending awe at moves like, 1. e4, and thank heavens for the interweb. And it might be true to say that chess is no different from any other sport in that most of the people watching it don't understand quite what's going on out there, they just want their favourite side to win and are willing to pay good money to be there in case they do.
They are welcome because it makes them happy. And I'm no better. My batting and bowling, my cueing technique, my instinct for the back of the net, my dedication to reeling off the miles of endless road qualified me for no more than the right to take part in competitive sport but it's the special moments one remembers. If I could maintain a rating of 1850 on Chess24, maybe I'd sign up for a chess club in the Portsmouth League and batter my way into somebody's B team with my Sicilian Defence with the black pieces or Queen's Gambit with white. It's the Queen's Bishop's file I'm interested in.
But I can't. This time next week, I'll have blown it. I'll be back down at 1650. But I won't let anybody ruin my 15 minute rating because I won't play. Like Geoffrey Boycott, I know that the safest place to play fast bowling from is the non-strikers end, or from the pavilion or, most shamefully, when Andy Roberts and Michael Holding came over, or Lillee and Thomson, one is better off playing for Yorkshire at Scarborough and let Dennis Amiss face the music. I'm like that, too.
But 1/3 is a fair price about Carlsen. He'll grind out whatever needs grinding out, you'd never call him flash and take the full-time draw if necessary and win it in extra time, which is what he did last time. It would be a pity if he lost the world championship because he is the best at it even if his style of play isn't always the most glamorous or exciting. You can have exciting sport if you like, the Steward's Cup at Goodwood, for instance. Don't bet on it, though.
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One offers the whole building Reading Poetry for 'Learning at Work Day'. Good on them, something extra-curricula, entirely to be encouraged, like sports day at school but not so energetic. I think 9 signed up, I showed them what I wanted to do - Adlestrop, Elizabeth Bishop, An Arundel Tomb, Symborska and Auden. One of them immediately declined, which is fine. And now I've got 5, one of who would love to be there but probably can't be.
Isn't that wonderful. An hour away from their desks to talk about poetry and, out of maybe nearly a thousand people, I can talk to four. That is what I like about it. I hope they are any good.
