This photograph was taken during or possibly after the Chess Olympiad and it shows all the tournament’s arbiters, the sheer number of which gives you an idea of what a vast event it must have been. Of particular interest to local readers is the presence of the former league chairman and Bridge Chess Club stalwart, Alan Atkinson, who was attending the Olympiad in an official capacity. But can you spot him? If you want a clearer picture before trying to work it out click here to download a higher resolution photo. I’ll give you the answer under the photo. There was an interesting debate on the English Chess Forum as to the collective name for a group of arbiters and someone – to be fair, this was following some criticism of one or two – suggested the term ‘incompetence’! This brought about a reply from the former chairman himself who rightly described it as ‘harsh’ although he added that ‘there were the usual tales of some arbiters being useless/asleep/absent/etc’.
Alan Atkinson is second from the left in the second main row from the bottom.