Chess world divided in row over national federations
DAMIEN HENDERSON
June 28 2008
We have long grown used to seeing questions of national identity played out on the football pitch. But for a game normally regarded as the cerebral opposite of the nation’s favourite pastime, chess would rarely seem to provoke such passions.
This week, however, has seen an extraordinary row break out between two of the country’s leading chess grandmasters over the merits of Scotland having its own national team, with Nigel Short, Britain’s most famous player, calling the situation “absurd, anachronistic, and profoundly discriminatory”.
The English GM, who challenged Garry Kasparov for the world championship in 1993 and now resides in Greece, called for the formation of a British (UK) Chess Federation that would take in players from across the UK.
He also launched a withering attack on Jonathan Rowson, the leading Scottish player and three-times UK champion, accusing him of not “appreciating his citizenship”.
In an open letter on the popular chessbase.com server, he added: “At least his fellow Scotsman, the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, does . . . It is the UK that is a member of the UN and the IOC (International Olympic Committee). England, Scotland, Wales, Jersey and Guernsey are not – they are simply parts of that same country.”
However, Short’s remarks provoked a furious response in Scotland, where he was accused of riding roughshod over the sensitive debate over Scotland’s sporting and constitutional future.
There was also widespread condemnation of the idea of forming a Team UK, as Scotland currently punches well above its weight in international competitions. According to some experts, a British team would be unlikely to include more than one Scottish GM – Jonathan Rowson.
The argument was sparked when Rowson, who is The Herald’s chess correspondent, publicly objected to comments on the chessbase website which said that Britain could field teams from “Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and probably Northumbria”.
In a brief remark published on Wednesday, he labelled the notion as offensive and betraying “complete ignorance of the unique geopolitical situation in Britain, where several nations peacefully coexist within one nation state”.
But this elicited an angry reaction from Short, who mocked the status quo where five federations are recognised by FIDE, chess’s governing body.
Here is the full story.
Yipe! Yipe! Bark! Bark!
Short is obnoxious.
No, Short is right. There are many multi-national countries, but they all represent one country/one team.
Why should the British be any different than the rest?
Scotland in my view is a independant country but perhaps technically it is not!
Does this remind anyone of braveheart
“Scotland in my view is a independant country but perhaps technically it is not!”
Did you ever hear of a prime minister of Sctoland (or something like that?
Two dunderheads have no better way to spend their free time.
what a suprise short a complete ass talks to hear his head rattle,and usually says NOTHING. just talks for attention. his best days being behind him he is mentally sick. a very disgusting person. i hope his legs grow together starting from the ankle.
Let everybody just admit- it is all a mess in the United Kingdom.
Rowson won the British Championship 3 times- yet he won also the Scottish- but what about England then? It is completely wrong to have to allow Scottish players to play in both and Englis players only one.
Therefore it is right that the BCF has now become the ECF, and the British Championship should become English and disallow Scots if that is how they like it. Rowson can’t have it both way and be national champion of two different entities.
Short is probably the best player ever born, besides Kasparov. His addictism for shitting stopped him from excelling further.
Short has the same claim over Karpov as Kramnik over Kasparov. If Kasparov weren’t around and Short did not give a rematch to Karpov just imagine- both were just ‘one-off against the trend’ results. Atleast Short qualified by winning earlier matches.
Kramnik is over-rated is my point. In my view he is the weakest champion- just Euwe gave the rematch.
If something really his absolutely not interersting, is worse – or maybe the same level – that two neighbors saying both “this tree is in MY garden”, we have this article – incredible… we could hope some GM have an higher level.