Isn’t It Lovely

Well, I have not heard back from the casting agent who dropped by the Marshall in search of two male chess players, one young and one old, for a TV commercial for medical insurance. (“At the chessboard, you must protect yourself against unforeseen dangers like a sudden attack on your king. In life, too, you must guard against the unexpected. Fischer Health Insurance can help you do just that.”) Drats, maybe I should have gone for the part of the older woodpusher.

My favorite TV ad that involves chess is a milk commercial in which the histrionic grandmaster Victor Korchnoi (a Soviet defector who played for the world championship) faced a placid opponent named Lovely.