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Post by Angelo on Nov 8, 2010 8:44:49 GMT -5
Chess moves to Holland Park 2 November 2010 (info supplied by the Council) Players young and old, grandmaster and novice, can now come to Holland Park and try their hand at chess on a newly opened giant chess board that is believed to be the first in any London park.
At the recent opening English chess grandmaster Raymond Keene; Cllr Nick Paget-Brown, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Cabinet Member for Leisure; and Cllr Joanna Gardner, Chairman of the Holland Park Advisory Group, were on hand to watch and encourage local children to ponder a move with a little assistance from a grandmaster or two.
The idea of bringing a giant chess board to Holland Park was suggested to the Council by local resident and chess enthusiast Jason Kouchak who was supported by the novelist Joanna Trollope. The Council provided the site for the board and the playing pieces.
Cllr Nick Paget-Brown said: "We try to make sure that our parks have something for everyone, but the one thing we did not have was an outdoor chessboard. I am delighted that this omission has now been rectified. It is wonderful that a centuries old a board game like chess can still compete with online games and that games continue to capture the onlookers imagination.
"We hope that by having a Master Class for beginners here each Saturday morning we can give people the opportunity to learn from great players and also introduce a new generation to the joy of chess."
Games take place each Saturday between 10:30am and 1pm. The site is located between the Dutch and Napoleon Gardens. Players of all ages are welcome and in good weather the board will be free to play on every day. In the event of poor weather, children can continue to play in the Adventure Playground hut nearby.
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Post by Tommy on Nov 9, 2010 14:45:40 GMT -5
Giant plastic chess in Holland Park, pathetic! Can you do something better?
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Post by Mihalj on Nov 11, 2010 16:24:08 GMT -5
Pity that there is not a proper chess park in Holland Park!
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marc
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Post by marc on Nov 13, 2010 4:50:12 GMT -5
Hi all. I'm a gardener based at Holland Park and I can only applaud Jason's positive spirit, dedication to teach (no charge/from the heart) and his ability to enthuse others into the marvelous world of chess. His idea to make the giant chess a permanent feature has gone down extremely well with the young children and adults alike. Jason has a knack of making learning chess fun and is patient and marvelous with the kids...They love it. Weather the pieces are giant plastic ones or hand crafted £800 antique Jaques Stauntons ones matters not for the purpose of this project. In fact I would say that ( especially from a child's point of view) to get in amongst, walk around and move these giant pieces brings in a new dimension and understanding...Did I mention fun as well? I will have to admit being afflicted with the chess bug as well now thanks to Jason...To be honest I don't know weather that's a good or bad thing... . My hat goes off to you Jason, keep up the good work m8 and many thanks for opening up my mind to the wonderful game/world of chess. Marc Some pics :
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marc
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Post by marc on Nov 13, 2010 4:57:27 GMT -5
BTW, Great idea Mihalj to have a dedicated chess park/spot at Holland Park. Might be worth opening a dedicated thread on this subject to get some ideas a' going.
Cheers
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Post by Vlad on Nov 13, 2010 14:33:10 GMT -5
Not for my son, any other place in west London where my 9 year old can play, please?
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Post by Mihalj on Nov 14, 2010 9:53:20 GMT -5
There are no chess clubs in Kensington, the nearest one is in Hammersmith, once a week meetings (I think Monday night).
Maybe his school can organise something?
Get him to play chess on the Internet!
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Post by Angelo on Nov 14, 2010 13:27:44 GMT -5
thank you marc for your info. It is great that Justin is doing a good job in the park promoting chess.
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Post by Mihalj on Nov 14, 2010 15:36:56 GMT -5
Something puzzles me, Marc is a chess novice and he knows about Jaques Staunton's chess sets, incredible or .......?
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Post by MS on Nov 15, 2010 2:01:31 GMT -5
You a welcome Angelo. Mihalj, Indeed. I did try and learn to play chess back in 1984 when I was in the French army for a while, bought a small computer chess game and book at the time. I soon got fed up/frustrated with it, haven't played since. But I'm back with a vengeance now:) and I'll have to admit to becoming a little obsessed with it all in these past few weeks...Been looking on the net, researching chess sets, PC software, books. Went to library and got myself "How to win at chess" book (really enjoying it) and waiting for "Studying Chess Made Easy" to arrive from amazon (which got good reviews). Also visited the chess shop in Baker street. I did manage to get hold of a PC chess game "Chessmaster 10th edition" which I have been playing/learning from also this past week or so. Great fun/pain! I would also like to invest in a decent chess set and after scouring the net etc it would appear that the Staunton sets are the ones to go for with a King height of 3.75 to 4", made from Ebony and rose wood and weighted. Looking for a set to keep for life/get enjoyment from as well as a cheaper set I can carry around with me to places like Holland Park. Some of those Jaques Staunton sets are really beautiffull if a little out of my budget at the mo... Here is a link to some really nice chess sets from a uk e-seller: www.chessbaron.co.uk/luxury-chess-sets.phpand Jaques Stauton stuff: www.jaqueslondon.co.uk/chess/staunton-chess-designMust dash as I will be late for work... Cheers Marc
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Post by LoveChess on Nov 15, 2010 6:28:40 GMT -5
Angelo old man, you are naive! You don't know Jason, he is only interested in promoting himself. The gardener messages are probably written by him. Well, no surprise.
You said before you are prepared to finance a proper chess park in Holland Park - are you still interested in doing this?
Thanks for the chess set and the clock you gave me last year.
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Post by MS on Nov 15, 2010 12:51:18 GMT -5
LoveChess, I assure you I am a real Marc (Marc Sinclair ) and do work as a gardener in Holland Park. Just ask for me next time your in the park and I would be more than happy to introduce myself to you. I work for Quadron services. Also as I work there I often see Jason teaching kids first hand, no cameras, action please, press etc; just him and the kids...I think the chap deserves some credit. Come on gents, lighten up cause life's way to short to be bitter and cynical. Lets all have a chess-love-hug or somat BTW, it was lovely day today in the park with a great luminosity and evening sky highlighting the wonderful autumnal colors of the trees and plants with the birds chirping away in the background...It made you happy to be alive. PS Lovechess, here is a link that you might find of interest: www.jasonkouchak.com/
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Post by Mihalj on Nov 15, 2010 17:28:03 GMT -5
It is getting better and better, Marc you should go to the PR business.
Your best friend Jason is, how they say "Gods gift to humanity" ? Maybe Nobel award!
Some people are crazy, it seems, I better give up. Puts me off of Holland Park!
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marc
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Post by marc on Nov 16, 2010 1:33:31 GMT -5
lol Mihalj, yes thought that link would go down well here . twas meant to be tongue in cheek. Anyway enough about Jason, lets talk dirty: chess I've started a new thread regarding a dedicated chess park at HP. Any sugestions/ideas etc would be apreciatted. Cheers Marc
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Post by Angelo on Nov 16, 2010 7:38:01 GMT -5
Angelo old man, you are naive! You don't know Jason, he is only interested in promoting himself. The gardener messages are probably written by him. Well, no surprise. You said before you are prepared to finance a proper chess park in Holland Park - are you still interested in doing this? Thanks for the chess set and the clock you gave me last year. Yes you are right, I am old (is 70 old?) and maybe naive. I received info regarding Jason, and I am bit surprised. In my opinion, the guy definitely wants personal publicity, and good luck to him. My only issue is that I have been using the domain www.hollandparkchess.com and he is using the exact same name with a different suffix. This is not on - a definite no no in the Internet community. I am glad that you like the chess sets and the clock. If I may say here, I have donated some 20 clocks, chess sets and t-shirts to chess players in Holland Park. But what bugs me, as I heard, is that some people sold the chess clocks, some are not coming to the park anymore and some are not bringing them. But we always have Yuri, a great guy, who brings his equipment regularly and this is why I gave him the best Chronos clock. Regarding financing chess park - I am now having second thoughts. The council thinks that giant chess is a fantastic idea - maybe they now don't want a proper chess park at which a great number of people could play every day.
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