Arthur Morton Jack at Camberley Chess Club

23 Dec 2022 · 1 min

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1:25

In this informal interview recorded on December 23, 2022, the host greets Arthur (Speaker B) and asks about his recent visits to Camberley Chess Club. Arthur describes two events: a Swiss memorial tournament honoring the late Gordon Birch, where participants were required to play the Grob opening (1.g4) when playing White, and he finished tied for 16th out of 30 players; and a casual, friendly chess session held in a fish‑and‑chip shop, where they played several games before sharing a meal. The conversation also touches on Arthur’s enjoyment of the Grob, the tournament format, and his willingness to return to the club.

Hello, Arthur.
Hello.
Uh, what day is it today, please?
Today is December 23rd, 2022.
And we've got Christmas coming up very soon. Nice Christmas tree. Okay, I believe you've been to Camberley Chess Club recently.
I have. I've been to several. I've been to a couple of tournaments.
Tell us about them, please.
So the first one was a Swiss tournament, which means if you win, you play a harder player, and if you lose, you play a Less weak player. Oh, weak player. And it was all in memorial of a player who died recently called Gordon Birch. And because he played an opening known as the Grob quite a lot, all of us had to play— well, if we were white, had to play the Grob.
What is the Grob?
The Grob is 1.g4.
And do you like the Grob?
I do.
How did you get on in the tournament?
I came tie 16th out of 30.
Oh, well done!
The second competition we did— well, it wasn't really a competition, it was friendly— was in a fish and chip shop. And what we did is we just played several friendly bouts of chess for an hour and a bit, and it was— and then we had fish and chips, and it was all quite friendly.
Good. Okay, are you going to come back to Camberley Chess Club?
I will, definitely.