The Streisand effect

There is no sight so compelling as one that would be hidden. I am fascinated by the Streisand effect, named after Barbra Streisand, whose Malibu house appears in a large online collection of aerial photographs documenting the California coastline. In 2003, she filed a lawsuit to have it removed, which as well as being unsuccessful drew much more publicity to the photo.

You can count on that appetite for mischief: Goya’s ‘Portrait of the Duke of Wellington’ was more in the public eye after it was stolen from the National Gallery in 1961 than before. (Wittily, the painting ‘appeared’ the following year in the hideout of Bond villain Dr No; the real thing was returned in 1965).

In chess, there has often been great excitement or controversy that has had little or nothing to do with the actual play. In 1972, Bobby Fischer forfeited his second match game against Boris Spassky after a dispute about television cameras in the playing hall. In 2006, Vladimir Kramnik forfeited the fifth game against Veselin Topalov over disputed toilet arrangements and allegations of outside assistance. (Kramnik prevailed in the match despite the loss.)

In 2008 the Bulgarian grandmaster Ivan Cheparinov was disqualified after refusing to shake hands with Nigel Short; following an appeal, the game was played and won by Short. Another Anglo-Bulgarian incident occurred the following year: Aleksander Delchev played just one move for Bulgaria when his chirping mobile phone led to a win for his opponent, Stuart Conquest. This was memorable for me, as I faced Cheparinov on the adjacent board. (I won too, in case you’re wondering!)

Deliberately thrown games are rarer, but one such arose in 2017 when the women’s world champion Hou Yifan began her final game in Gibraltar with the conspicuously awful moves 1 g4 d5 2 f3 e5 3 d3 Qh4+ 4 Kd2 h5 5 h3 hxg4 and then resigned.