I know what you mean about Tony’s book prices, although I hadn’t appreciated that <Doc Fiala> was significantly cheaper. That’s something to bear in mind, so thanks.

I rarely buy any chess books these days. Occasionally I’ll scoop a cheap second-hander from eBay or Amazon Marketplace, but with regard to Tony and other outlets too, it seems to me that ‘new book’ prices have unreasonably soared for the last few years.

Not too long ago McFarland offerings (and similar) were about £18-29, as against £10-15 for more regular fare. Nowadays you’re looking at almost double those prices. I guess it was part of the ebook revolution – i.e. publishers wanted to push you down that route, but were unwilling to take a big hit on their income as they still had to fund the typesetting and pay out royalties to authors. So rather than give the ebooks away too cheaply, they simply bumped up the premium for the paper equivalent. That way they kept the ebook price significantly cheaper and forced the die-hards to switch, or pay extra.

Fortunately, it’s not such a big deal for me. Having already accumulated far more material than I could read in 2 lifetimes, it was in any case time to curtail the number I was buying. Added to that, the <Warsaw Olympiad> book is the only new book I’ve seen in ages that appeals.

In fairness to Tony, I must say that whenever I’ve bought 3 or more books at once, I would request some discount and as a minimum he would cancel all postage charges. Not something I would do for a smaller purchase though.

I was lucky enough to get another bound volume of Chess Magazine on eBay the other day. 1955/56. Several prominent obituaries that year – <Tartakower>, Julius du Mont, William Winter …

<Portmanteau mon drapeau>

<Yeah … there were a few oddly quiet places – I noticed that too. I think some of it was filmed at 6.00am before anyone turned up.>

<Paint My Chess Book>

Thanks for the link on the <Ambrosia>. I had downloaded that already, and I seriously considered purchasing the book. Sadly to ship it home would cost more than my car.

I am hoping that <AJ Gorilla> had a look at this book and madly scrambled the round dates down on his napkin.

The preview link is grand though to be sure- I can translate much interesting introductory material with Google and add it to the tournament collection.

If you have a look at the pgns and games I have in Game Collection: Merano 1926 , you will notice that somebody at cg.com has already "dated" every game.

<This once Sceptered Isle>

This is the most "fan friendly" match I have seen in ages. I doubt Blighty would have stood a chance against either:

Yes, the old games have a certain charm about them which modern games often lack.

<I am also interested in old people, if that's any help.>

I have decided to dedicate my forum to military history, mainly because that is exactly what it has become anyway. I won't fight the trend.

ALL military history is welcome to be posted there, EVEN DESCRIPTIONS OF MODEL ASSEMBLY! Yes, that's right. If you assembled a model of a tank, a plane, a ship, or even a model of Raquel Welch, you are welcome to discuss it there.

Wanna talk about WW2 fighter engines? The Merlin Rolls Royce? My forum is the place to be.

Want to talk about food rations in the Western Front trenches of WW1?

I so wish <Erling ‘Brute’ Haaland> had made it to the EPL. His ability to ride a tackle and stay upright is commendable. A great watch … and that Lewandowski guy, he never disappoints either, eh?

<Kitchens of Distinction>

I totally treasured this band back in the early 90s. Never thought they got the recognition they deserved. Absolute masters of the swirling crescendo …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmW...

<Auditions of Distinction>

Amazing performance from Elliot, the ET kid … I mean, wow!

Yeah, hard to know where else you could go for those dates. Presumably <Ambrosia Creamed Rice> went through the Italian newspaper archives, which might be a trivial exercise when you're in Italy and speak Italian.

He seems to have used two alternative names - Benno Alimonda de Mennentreu and Gyula Patay von Baj. No idea which ones are correct.

Edgar Colle versus Edgard Colle is of course a well known conundrum, but I tend to agree with Luca and stick the 'd' on.

<His name is Luca, he lives upstairs from you>

I remember the grudge match <Edgar Colle> vs <Edgard Colle>. It was indeed tough to pick a winner.

It may be a long time till I get my <Gilliam's Island>, given how lazy and incompetent Canada post is. Actually you could just delete "post" from that sentence and it would still be as accurate.

I am just now settling in for <Blighty v Iceland> and I certainly don't have my hopes up for this one.

<Promote my Music>

I never heard of <Kitchens of Distinction> but I can see why you like them. Awesome sound that could only ever come from <England>.

It is so rich, much like Faeries, Figgy Pudding and other mythical creations from your fabled Middle Earth.

I can see why they were likened to <Cocteau Twins> and I can't think of a more auspicious comparison.

Glad you liked <KOD>. Yes, <Figgy Pudding>. I can definitely go with that.

Their best tracks are annoyingly spread between albums and 12" singles, so they are one of the only bands whose <Best Of> (I think a double CD called Capsule) is actually a good option. Other tracks of note on <YT> would include Quick as Rainbows, Drive That Fast, Mad As Snow, Railwayed ... and you may be familiar with this nostalgic offering, probably the only cover they ever did ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4y...

------------

The <ENG-ISL> game - I'm assuming you have now seen.

What the 'eck happened to Iceland? Not so long ago (was it the last Euros?) they totally outplayed us. I even recall you rooting for them! Okay, we'll let that one slide by :)

While not expecting them to repeat that feat, I WAS shocked at how much they had deteriorated in the interim. England just walked through them.

It hardly merits talking about individuals, but I'd say <Jack 'Gascoigne' Greedyish>, <Phil 'Pudding Basin' Foden> and <Saka Crapa> ought to be among the most satisfied.

In truth, we could have played our C Team and they would still have been trounced. I guess their best players got old and none have come through the ranks.

I just hope England now build on the Rice-Mount midfield pairing and forget Henderson. Those two have youth on their side, good engines on them, and are moderately capable in both attack and defence.

Where did this come from? Nobody told me about this ...

<Portent Moi Dirge>

It came from not here- this is lies:

<For the first time in Youtube!

interview, intersting, 2005, george bush, chess, Saemundur Palsson>

Sammi Palsson's Fischer memoir was uploaded to Lie Tube 10 years ago, which is when I promptly downloaded it.

It's been on and off youtube since then. Now it has been offered by youtube itself, attendant with the usual bald faced lies we can expect from Google.

I suppose they paid for the rights, which gives them the right to publish as many "we don't care if we go to Hell for this or not because we're filthy rich" lies as they like.

<Ponce de Leon>

Quite right, but I was overdue for a trouncing. No matter how little opposition was offered, it's good to put someone to the sword. Particularly after such a limp outing against the <Sprouts>, where the average age is 60.

You heard it here first <Belgium> has no chance to win the Euros.

Neither does <England> unless they sack their witless manager. He makes <Olly Golly Saltshaker> look like <Sir Alex Ferguson>.

Yes it was great to see <Uncle Ben's Converted Rice> score a goal eh?

User: bark

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCG...