The Dark Side Of Chess Some pastimes, soccer (1) for example, have long and dishonourable histories of violence both on and of f the field. Fortunat el y you’re not li ke ly to be stabbed at a chess matc h or headbutted at a congress. ven distance players seldom receive abusive letters or !mails from irate opponents, but chess does have a dark side. "ere #e take a look at cheating, gamesmanship, and occasionally #orse. A Personal Reminisc ence $s a %un ior & #as, & admit, oft en unc har ita ble to#ar ds my van 'ui she d opp onents and some times less than magna nimou s in defeat, but one incident stan ds out #hen & #as totally innocent. & #as playing in an a#ay match for "ayes and #as getting chomped by a far stronger player #hen suddenly after he pulled off a biarre combination & found myself t#o pieces to the good. & remarked to another "ayes player that this bloke #as masticating me*, and that & couldn’t 'uite believe #hat had happened. $lthough it #as thirty years ago & remember this phrase clearly. $nd & remember my opponent’s #ords too, #hen & turned backto him he said angrily &f you call me mad again brother, &’ll put one on you.* +he game #as of course over in all but name, and & had no desire to explain and even less to apologise. &ndeed at times like these discretion is the better part of valour. nly on one other occasion as a %unior did violence loom at a chess game #ithin my ambit, and unfortunately, & missed the other#ise humorous incident. &t #as at a congress #hen a very strong young player named -ick $lexander managed to upset his opponent, #ho s#ept the board and pieces to the floor #ith the #ords $nd that, r $lexander, is #hat & f/////g think of you.* +hey didn’t actually come to blo#s, fortunately, unlike the most notorious chess player in history, an $ merican crook #ho committed the ultimate crime. Claude Bloodgood: The Killer Grob(0) laude Friell 2loodgood &&& #as a strong chess player3 he #as also an habitual criminal. n -ovember 1, 1454 he #as released from prison after serving a sentence for forgery. n -ovember 14 he beat and strangled his o#n mother to death as his accomplice, 16 year old ichael 7uarick, looked on in horror. 7uarick helped 2loodgood dispose of the body, #hich #as found four days later. 2loodgood #as not arrested until the end of 8anuary3 he confessed to the crime, but later tried to blame the younger man. "e #as sentenced to death on 8une 14, 149:, and 8udge ;in#ood 2. + ab b fixed the date of his execution as -ovember <, although he #as later reprieved. (<) "e died on $ugu st =, 0::1 in the edical >nit at ?o#h atan orre ction al Faci lity #here he #as inmate number 44=<0. &n the three decades of his internment he made prodigious use ofhis time, playing chess against other inmates, and against regular players by post. ne of his earlier postal opponents #as a ethodist lay preacher from Staffordshire. 8ohn @alker, a
