Your Move
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Claimed as the first ever interactive game show, this was a "computerised phone-in" in which the entire nation played a game of chess against grandmaster Jon Speelman. Viewers could vote for the next move by phoning a number whose last four digits represented the move's start and finish squares (similar to the common "e2-e4" notation, but using numbers instead of letters). Some of the callers also got to discuss their choice of move on air, and when the game was over, Speelman selected the best move made against him, and one of the viewers who voted for that move won a chess computer. | Claimed as the first ever interactive game show, this was a "computerised phone-in" in which the entire nation played a game of chess against grandmaster Jon Speelman. Viewers could vote for the next move by phoning a number whose last four digits represented the move's start and finish squares (similar to the common "e2-e4" notation, but using numbers instead of letters). Some of the callers also got to discuss their choice of move on air, and when the game was over, Speelman selected the best move made against him, and one of the viewers who voted for that move won a chess computer. | ||
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| + | <div class="image">[[File:Your move white in check.png|400px]]''White (the viewers) are in check... your move.</div> | ||
As a pioneering interactive show, it suffered from a few technical issues; in particular, for some reason "1" couldn't be used in the phone numbers, so the "a" rank and "1" file were designated "9" instead, which caused a certain amount of confusion (especially as the basic number to which the four-digit code had to be appended was 0898 991119). There were also, almost inevitably, some votes for impossible moves, and a couple of times a particularly bad move had to be disallowed by Hartston to prevent the game from coming to a premature end. | As a pioneering interactive show, it suffered from a few technical issues; in particular, for some reason "1" couldn't be used in the phone numbers, so the "a" rank and "1" file were designated "9" instead, which caused a certain amount of confusion (especially as the basic number to which the four-digit code had to be appended was 0898 991119). There were also, almost inevitably, some votes for impossible moves, and a couple of times a particularly bad move had to be disallowed by Hartston to prevent the game from coming to a premature end. | ||
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| + | <div class="image">[[File:Your move speelman in action.png|400px]]''An action shot of Jon Speelman''</div> | ||
In the end, Speelman won, though the nation put up a good fight. The show, scheduled for an hour and a half, ran for three hours - an eventuality which had obviously been foreseen, since it began at 11.25pm as the last programme of the night. | In the end, Speelman won, though the nation put up a good fight. The show, scheduled for an hour and a half, ran for three hours - an eventuality which had obviously been foreseen, since it began at 11.25pm as the last programme of the night. | ||
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Oddly, we may have the film director Stanley Kubrick to thank for this. Apparently Alan Yentob, the then controller of BBC2, commissioned it after Kubrick, a big chess fan, phoned him up to give him an earful about the fact that the BBC weren't covering the world championships that year. | Oddly, we may have the film director Stanley Kubrick to thank for this. Apparently Alan Yentob, the then controller of BBC2, commissioned it after Kubrick, a big chess fan, phoned him up to give him an earful about the fact that the BBC weren't covering the world championships that year. | ||
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| + | == Pictures == | ||
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| + | <div class="image">[[File:Your move hartston and screen.png|400px]]''William Hartston settles in for a long night of chess.</div> | ||
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| + | <div class="image">[[File:Your move rob on phone.png|400px]]''Rob talks to a viewer - whose name, evidently, is Phil Moore.''</div> | ||
[[Category:Board Game Conversion]] | [[Category:Board Game Conversion]] | ||
Current revision as of 08:53, 23 March 2025
Contents |
Host
Co-hosts
Commentator: William Hartston
Grandmaster: Jon Speelman
Broadcast
BBC2, 7 December 1990
Synopsis
Claimed as the first ever interactive game show, this was a "computerised phone-in" in which the entire nation played a game of chess against grandmaster Jon Speelman. Viewers could vote for the next move by phoning a number whose last four digits represented the move's start and finish squares (similar to the common "e2-e4" notation, but using numbers instead of letters). Some of the callers also got to discuss their choice of move on air, and when the game was over, Speelman selected the best move made against him, and one of the viewers who voted for that move won a chess computer.
White (the viewers) are in check... your move.As a pioneering interactive show, it suffered from a few technical issues; in particular, for some reason "1" couldn't be used in the phone numbers, so the "a" rank and "1" file were designated "9" instead, which caused a certain amount of confusion (especially as the basic number to which the four-digit code had to be appended was 0898 991119). There were also, almost inevitably, some votes for impossible moves, and a couple of times a particularly bad move had to be disallowed by Hartston to prevent the game from coming to a premature end.
An action shot of Jon SpeelmanIn the end, Speelman won, though the nation put up a good fight. The show, scheduled for an hour and a half, ran for three hours - an eventuality which had obviously been foreseen, since it began at 11.25pm as the last programme of the night.
Trivia
Oddly, we may have the film director Stanley Kubrick to thank for this. Apparently Alan Yentob, the then controller of BBC2, commissioned it after Kubrick, a big chess fan, phoned him up to give him an earful about the fact that the BBC weren't covering the world championships that year.
Pictures
William Hartston settles in for a long night of chess.
Rob talks to a viewer - whose name, evidently, is Phil Moore.