I am sure that many of the readers of this Blog have come across the story about top Grandmaster Vladislav Tkachiev having a little nap at the chess board the other day.

This story, not unlike the Gormally-Aronian incident, has thrown chess into the media spotlight again. You can find it reported in most of the English broadsheets and tabloids (see links at bottom of this article).

There have been differing views on the topic. Some people have been disgusted whilst others have commented that any press is good press.

I have found the story quite amusing and tend to be in the second half of the above group. To get any real money into chess its profile needs to be raised. And like it or not the above 2 incidents have had more impact in the press then any great game or tournament result that a player has had in recent years.

We need some individuals to stand out in the game. Most people I have met (this may have something to do with the group of people I hang around with!) prefer characters like Hurricane Higgins (pictured below) and  Shane Warne to Stephen Hendry and any number of the dull Cricketers out there (sorry I can only remember Shane Warne, Ian Botham and the Ashes guys).

At least they are entertaining and that is one thing that chess needs some entertainment that can be brought to the masses!

If it can be made entertaining then it will get more sponsorship, more money and better coverage.

On a personal level I have met Vlad on a couple of occasions. The first time I had a quick chat with him at an International Tournament in Coventry. The next time I saw him was at the European team championships in Austria. He was in the bar with Grischuk having a number of shots. I got the chance to play some blitz games with them for money. At the time if I remember correctly they were giving me 5 minutes against their 2 for a bit of cash. I did ok but they were in a completely different class to me.

Vlad was very charming and friendly not like a large number of other chess players. He is probably one of the most talented players in the world, which has been shown by some great tournament results (European Individual Champion, French Champion etc) and I believe he would be an ideal candidate to publicise chess on TV. At least it would be entertaining!

Anyone else got an ideal line up that we should send marching forwards to the BBC TV studios?

I will now leave you with a video from Kasabian called ‘Vlad the Impaler’! For no reason really except that they’re a great band!

Links to the incident

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6821924.ece

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/sep/04/vladislav-tkachiev-drunk-kolkata

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5740