# Brits: If them yanks can play chess on here, then we can play Mornington Crescent! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 7, 2005, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-them-yanks-can-play-chess-on-here-then-we-can-play-mornington-crescent/293344 "2005-03-07T12:58:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![garius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e19b73/32.png) [@garius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garius)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-them-yanks-can-play-chess-on-here-then-we-can-play-mornington-crescent/293344/41 "2005-03-08T15:13:01Z")
Can i remind people that in internet games they need to **bolden** the tube names please. Its not like that hasn’t been pointed out a million times already in the Mornington Post. :rolleyes: I’ll kick of with **Camden Town (Bank Branch)** and since we’re playing the Winter Variant i call **Leaves on the Track** ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-them-yanks-can-play-chess-on-here-then-we-can-play-mornington-crescent/293344/42 "2005-03-08T17:46:08Z")
Sorry, but **Leaves on the Track** is eliminated by the **2002 PFI Implementation Protocol** (surely you’ve not forgotten Ken’s expletive-ridden interruption of the round-table discussion?). So I claim a free Oyster card, and call **Debden**. ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-them-yanks-can-play-chess-on-here-then-we-can-play-mornington-crescent/293344/43 "2005-03-08T17:50:28Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Sorry, but **Leaves on the Track** is eliminated by the **2002 PFI Implementation Protocol** (surely you’ve not forgotten Ken’s expletive-ridden interruption of the round-table discussion?). So I claim a free Oyster card, and call **Debden**. \*\*debden \*\* eh? Big old trip out there. I think we need to get back into town here - so using the waterloo and city arrangements (which is now a tube line, before you all start) I’m going with **Bank/Monument** ---
**Author:** ![Iceland\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@Iceland\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iceland_Blue)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-them-yanks-can-play-chess-on-here-then-we-can-play-mornington-crescent/293344/44 "2005-03-08T17:51:36Z")
**Chalk Farm** Is it too much to expect that players of the game can have at least a rudimentary knowledge of the rules?They’re perfectly straightforward and whilst we do everything to encourage the newbies,it does make life very difficult when you have someone attempting to play who has obviously no idea what they’re doing. :wally ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-them-yanks-can-play-chess-on-here-then-we-can-play-mornington-crescent/293344/45 "2005-03-08T17:54:00Z")
I agree that at least a perusal of the first dozen or so volumes of the abridged regulations would help keep things moving. **Brixton** ---
**Author:** ![InvidiousCourgette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@InvidiousCourgette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InvidiousCourgette)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-them-yanks-can-play-chess-on-here-then-we-can-play-mornington-crescent/293344/46 "2005-03-08T18:11:11Z")
**Earl’s Court** Brixton was ridiculous. I can’t see any way of avoiding **MC** in a Syrian monoeuvre now, but I did my best. I hope I am wrong, but if not, I will say: [UL]bloody middle class amateurs[UL]. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-them-yanks-can-play-chess-on-here-then-we-can-play-mornington-crescent/293344/47 "2005-03-08T18:17:32Z")
I’m surprised you forgot that post-1968 stations are exempt from the **Charing Cross confliction**. **Temple** ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-them-yanks-can-play-chess-on-here-then-we-can-play-mornington-crescent/293344/48 "2005-03-08T18:31:55Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > The amendment I was referring to is what I now realise you would know as the _1983_ Jefferson (Distance Play) amendment Excellent! The Jefferson amendment… of course! Now I can see what you were getting at. Incidentally, I don’t know if you’re interested in this kind of trivia, but if you check your Ribden’s Annotated Classic Games (74 edition) you’ll find Game 15, Madlow .v. Djordevich, from the 72 Paraguay Masters Tournament, in which Madlow (the old rascal!) played what is \*technically \* a Jefferson manoevre, some 13 years before the Jefferson was officially defined and accepted as an amendment to the MA rules! I can’t reproduce the whole game, but the key exchange goes like this: [1970 WMCF Tournament Rules; Ngyang opening; stirrups declared for motions west or Parks; cross-waters barred] 1. M: Kilburn ; D: Parson’s Green 2. M: West Brompton (declaring Circle Line bar) ; D: Farringdon 3. M: **Bounds Green!!** ; D: Blackhorse Road After which Djordjevich knew his prospects were limited, and he resigned seven moves later after a rather tedious exchange concerning Bayswater which didn’t fool anybody. But just look at that 18th move _after_ the Circle Line bar! Not only was it heralded at the time as something of a stroke of genius, but in strict technical terms it constitutes a Jefferson! How’s that for being ahead of your time?! But then again, that was Madlow all over. Never won a thing, of course, but a terrific player and if you ask me one of the great characters of the modern game. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-them-yanks-can-play-chess-on-here-then-we-can-play-mornington-crescent/293344/49 "2005-03-08T19:24:11Z")
Terrific player, I will grant you, but lacking style. Compare that slick motion with that of Lord Ashenockerbury, who would toy with the intricacies of the Earl’s Court platform-allocation requirements, leaving his opponents to shuttle from one terminus to another. He really was a _spectator’s_ player. Naturally, he was doomed with the introduction of the Fleet Line, which made his northbound permissions go the way of the geographic route map. But just to watch Pathe’s surviving clips of him in action really do suggest that today’s players wouldn’t be able to touch him. However, to return to the game, with the Off-Peak Expiration revolution being in play, I’ll cut my losses with **Liverpool Street**. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-them-yanks-can-play-chess-on-here-then-we-can-play-mornington-crescent/293344/50 "2005-03-08T19:52:24Z")
As a complete novice (and a 'Merkin) who is just following along, watching the Masters…it seems to me that the obvious next move would be **Shepherd’s Bush**. Is this too simple a move for mid-game? Or would \*\*Preston Road \*\* be tactically a superior choice? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-them-yanks-can-play-chess-on-here-then-we-can-play-mornington-crescent/293344/51 "2005-03-08T20:29:42Z")
**Preston Road** would be a high-risk strategy. It’s a tight rope to walk between **Hammersmith** and **North Acton** , with the all-too-obvious pitfalls in between. Assuming you therefore go for the steady centre-fairway of **Shepherd’s Bush** , I’ll call **Paddington**. ---
**Author:** ![Iceland\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@Iceland\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iceland_Blue)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-them-yanks-can-play-chess-on-here-then-we-can-play-mornington-crescent/293344/52 "2005-03-08T20:35:05Z")
Leads into a classic Womble-McKifferty loop with **Arnos Grove** The next few moves should flow thick and fast 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-them-yanks-can-play-chess-on-here-then-we-can-play-mornington-crescent/293344/53 "2005-03-08T21:46:32Z")
Sure will… **New Cross Gate** (and I know what you think I think you won’t play next, but you’d be wrong) ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-them-yanks-can-play-chess-on-here-then-we-can-play-mornington-crescent/293344/54 "2005-03-08T21:49:23Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > As a complete novice (and a 'Merkin) who is just following along, watching the Masters…it seems to me that the obvious next move would be **Shepherd’s Bush**. Is this too simple a move for mid-game? Or would \*\*Preston Road \*\* be tactically a superior choice? Welcme to the game, **Silenus**. While **Shepherd’s Bush** would be a perfectly _competent_ move, a little thought shows that it fails strategically to either **South Harrow** or **Warwick Avenue** , both of which leave you rather short of endgame options (unless you want to wade into the rather sticky complexities of stations featuring repeated vowels). The other slight mark against SB at this stage is that if someone should happen to declare _Line ends revoked_, then you are left rather vulnerable to **Mile End**. You see? However, please don’t feel disheartened. You wouldn’t be the first to get snared in the Mile End trap. I refer you to the fiasco in the semi-final of the 86 World Chamipionships when no less a figure than the mighty Szefranski, well ahead on points against the little-favoured Durble, completely overlooked the line ends / Mile End option and consequently lost the game! There is a particularly witty write-up of this wonderful match in ‘Tales From The MC Championships’ by D.K. Wykeham, which I recommend highly. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-them-yanks-can-play-chess-on-here-then-we-can-play-mornington-crescent/293344/55 "2005-03-08T21:57:06Z")
> [@ianzin](#): > > The other slight mark against SB at this stage is that if someone should happen to declare _Line ends revoked_, then you are left rather vulnerable to **Mile End**. You see? I think I see. Thank you. Then accordingly, still playing a very conservative game, you understand, my next move would be… **Hackney Wick**? That can’t be right! Let’s see…mutter…carry the two…nope. Still looks like \*\*Hackney Wick \*\* to me. What am I missing here? ---
**Author:** ![Iceland\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@Iceland\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iceland_Blue)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-them-yanks-can-play-chess-on-here-then-we-can-play-mornington-crescent/293344/56 "2005-03-08T22:06:26Z")
How long do we let him carry on perplexed before we point it out to him? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-them-yanks-can-play-chess-on-here-then-we-can-play-mornington-crescent/293344/57 "2005-03-08T22:30:33Z")
OK, I’m sick of people skirting round the obvious. I’m going for **Elmstead Woods** ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-them-yanks-can-play-chess-on-here-then-we-can-play-mornington-crescent/293344/58 "2005-03-08T22:45:38Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > OK, I’m sick of people skirting round the obvious. I’m going for **Elmstead Woods** You do realise what you’ve gone and done, don’t you? Now I can play the _Commissioner’s Exemption_ (Simpson vs Takahashi, Berlin 1983) on a semi-strile, by moving **Bank**. You are in brabbers for the next two moves now, unless you can somehow manage a reverse half-shunt and the loss of a blue token. Too easy. ---
**Author:** ![Iceland\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@Iceland\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iceland_Blue)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-them-yanks-can-play-chess-on-here-then-we-can-play-mornington-crescent/293344/59 "2005-03-08T23:06:57Z")
**Southwark Bridge Road** opening conduits to Lambeth,Victoria and Vauxhall I declare a state of Indulgence in Zones 1 and 2 ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2005, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-them-yanks-can-play-chess-on-here-then-we-can-play-mornington-crescent/293344/60 "2005-03-08T23:13:05Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Still looks like \*\*Hackney Wick \*\* to me. What am I missing here? Hi **Silenus**. Please don’t feel discouraged! Yours is a common source of confusion among newcomers. Although it has been declared that we are playing according to Marble Arch _rules_, you will note that _Goldhawk Road_ has already been played without anyone declaring Bassingtons Declined. This can only mean that the Uttoxeter _Conventions_ are in force. Never forget the distinction between _rules_ and _conventions_! Hackney Wick would be a fine, fine move if we were playing according to several of the other conventions, such as _Double Parks_ or _Mansion House Wild_. However, having adopted Uttoxeter Conventions, there are no limits on rotational cross-water motion and Fairfax’s Loop is void. This being so, I fear any attempt to visit Hackney Wick would be answered with **Chiswick Park**! This produces two consecutive cadence K stations, which pretty much kills your chances of winning. There are several alternative options. **Tower Gateway** is a legal move if rather cheeky-for-the-sake-of-it, and **Giles’s** choice, though perhaps obvious, nonetheless has its merits. I’d have been tempted to play **Theydon Bois** myself, thereby evading any attacking moves North _without_ falling foul of the dreaded Consecutive Wood rule (the only part of the Uttoxeter system that, as it happens, I don’t like). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-them-yanks-can-play-chess-on-here-then-we-can-play-mornington-crescent/293344.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brits-if-them-yanks-can-play-chess-on-here-then-we-can-play-mornington-crescent/293344.md?page=4)