Radio Times encouraging listeners to take in chess through the ear

Chess … on the radio. BBC Radio 4 is getting round the obvious drawback of the game of kings not producing a lot of actual, um … sound with the clever wheeze of having Dominic Lawson interview his opponent across the chessboard during their match. A chesserview, if you will. The BBC has tried chess on the radio before, 50-odd years ago, with Radio Times writer Christopher Holme providing helpful hints for listeners planning to tune in. "As a subject for the sound medium, chess has obvious difficulties." Ah – the dead air conundrum. Yes, go on. "Many of these programmes will be a of a kind which can be taken in by any listener through the ear alone; for others, diagrams will be provided in Radio Times (see page 34); but there will be some few programmes which can be fully enjoyed and appreciated only by the listener who has his board and men set up in front of him." Holme expresses the hope that "chess-players of all classes will not only listen but also compete", as chess by radio will only succeed with the "fullest participation of the audience up and down the country". You don't get a lot of sentences constructed along the lines of "taken in by any listener through the ear alone" these days, more's the pity. So stand by your boards, people – but radio chess will still have to go some to compete with the thrills and spills of the World Championship Stare-out Finals.