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Eighth Charles Wheatstone Mornington Crescent Game


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Well this game is in danger of becoming silly

 

Quite so. Can I just caution everyone that there are people on this forum who have never played this game and will be trying to work out what is going on. Anagrammatic tube maps and such are very amusing between experienced players like ourselves (Dragonfly & Falcon Hire, indeed! Love the diagonal implications of that) but mystifying to the outsider. Let's have some nice, clean play, lads.

 

Chris

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Well this game is in danger of becoming silly

 

Quite so. Can I just caution everyone that there are people on this forum who have never played this game and will be trying to work out what is going on. Anagrammatic tube maps and such are very amusing between experienced players like ourselves (Dragonfly & Falcon Hire, indeed! Love the diagonal implications of that) but mystifying to the outsider. Let's have some nice, clean play, lads.

 

Chris

 

Well said sir! And with the aim of keeping the game clean and palatable I'll move to Aldgate East which puts the whole sneaky lot of you jammed together in Nidd giving me the time to move to Amersham, then Caledonian Road, and finally on to.......<drumroll>..... Aldgate East!

 

A perfect Cratchet's Speckled Bottom (Appleton-le-street variation)! Bet you didn't see that one coming B)

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Well played!

 

McWherter's 1942 variation (war-time use restricted and now recently come to light under the 70 year rule), permits me to play Totteridge & Whetstone, thereby extricating myself from Nidd.

 

 

PS also found in the archives was a poster to be used in the event of the country being occupied which encourages Keep Calm And Play Mornington Crescent - surely some code that an invading force would be thoroughly perplexed by.

Edited by SteveS
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Getting dangerously close to water, but to get to Craven Cottage, it must be -

 

Putney Bridge

If it's water you are worried about, I respectively suggest applying the Finchley variation 2.3 for a play of New York's, Sheepshead Bay.

 

Dangerously close, yet conveniently far, and a lovely spot, if all things are considered, and gentlemen, I sincerely hope that they are.

Edited by Jody Kruskal
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Just been away for a splendid weekend of music making, and thought I'd capped it all by finding a picture of Mr Bliss playing his concertina in Tolkien's eponymous book, but I have to say in my absence there has been some fine, near championship, level play. Good show, lads.

 

Chris

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Getting dangerously close to water, but to get to Craven Cottage, it must be -

 

Putney Bridge

If it's water you are worried about, I respectively suggest applying the Finchley variation 2.3 for a play of New York's, Sheepshead Bay.

 

Dangerously close, yet conveniently far, and a lovely spot, if all things are considered, and gentlemen, I sincerely hope that they are.

 

Blimey! If had known we were going that far afield I would have packed some sandwiches :)

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Well said sir! And with the aim of keeping the game clean and palatable I'll move to Aldgate East which puts the whole sneaky lot of you jammed together in Nidd giving me the time to move to Amersham, then Caledonian Road, and finally on to.......<drumroll>..... Aldgate East!

 

An epic Caledonian cycle!!

 

Well played!

 

McWherter's 1942 variation (war-time use restricted and now recently come to light under the 70 year rule), permits me to play Totteridge & Whetstone, thereby extricating myself from Nidd.

 

I'm a bit hesitant to play immediately after this move.

In a previous game I misjudged the diagonals because Whetstone is a mis-spelling of Wheatstone, and opened up the route to Mornington Crescent for another player.

If it's water you are worried about, I respectively suggest applying the Finchley variation 2.3 for a play of New York's, Sheepshead Bay.

 

Dangerously close, yet conveniently far, and a lovely spot, if all things are considered, and gentlemen, I sincerely hope that they are.

 

I hope that that's put enough distance away from Whetstone, so I'll come back to

Elephant & Castle

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It was the early days of the First World War. Between the 28th of August and the 3rd of September 1914 in the build up to the Battle of Marne one of the most legendary games of Mornington Crescent was played amongst the chaos of a rapid reorganisation of the defeated and retreating British Expeditionary Force in France. Captain Robert "Jinkers" Swift, Lieutenant Edward "Floppy" Harris, Major Edward "Old Big-Nose" Cholmondely-Smythe, and Lieutenant James "Strangely Brown" Compton had an epic battle. "Old Big-Nose" finally took the crown on the 967th move of the game in front of over two thousand cheering squaddies. Such was the positive effect on morale that it is arguable that the Allied forces' victory at the "Miracle of the Marne" can be attributed directly to this match.

 

Utilising advanced tactical skills developed while avoiding some of the stranger and more disturbing rituals of the English Public School system, and with the intensity of men who know that each day might be their last, this game featured no-less than sixteen gambits never seen before in the world of MC, many of which are now classics employed every day by keen MC-ers around the globe. Where would we be without Harris' "Long Nancy's Ha'penny Favour", Swift's "Put it away Compton!", or Old Big-Nose's "Thrice around the bushes with Mr Thomas"?

 

Sadly of course none of these great players were to survive the war and it seems doubtful that we will see their like again. So, as we are almost precisely at the 98.5th anniversary of this game, it seems only appropriate to use perhaps the greatest move to have come from this match - one that is an old friend to us all....

 

I play "Strangely Brown's Massive Knobbler" taking me to....

 

Notting Hill

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It was the early days of the First World War. Between the 28th of August and the 3rd of September 1914 in the build up to the Battle of Marne one of the most legendary games of Mornington Crescent was played amongst the chaos of a rapid reorganisation of the defeated and retreating British Expeditionary Force in France. Captain Robert "Jinkers" Swift, Lieutenant Edward "Floppy" Harris, Major Edward "Old Big-Nose" Cholmondely-Smythe, and Lieutenant James "Strangely Brown" Compton had an epic battle. "Old Big-Nose" finally took the crown on the 967th move of the game in front of over two thousand cheering squaddies. Such was the positive effect on morale that it is arguable that the Allied forces' victory at the "Miracle of the Marne" can be attributed directly to this match.

 

Utilising advanced tactical skills developed while avoiding some of the stranger and more disturbing rituals of the English Public School system, and with the intensity of men who know that each day might be their last, this game featured no-less than sixteen gambits never seen before in the world of MC, many of which are now classics employed every day by keen MC-ers around the globe. Where would we be without Harris' "Long Nancy's Ha'penny Favour", Swift's "Put it away Compton!", or Old Big-Nose's "Thrice around the bushes with Mr Thomas"?

 

Sadly of course none of these great players were to survive the war and it seems doubtful that we will see their like again. So, as we are almost precisely at the 98.5th anniversary of this game, it seems only appropriate to use perhaps the greatest move to have come from this match - one that is an old friend to us all....

 

I play "Strangely Brown's Massive Knobbler" taking me to....

 

Notting Hill

Although not a player I always appreciate the pungent reek of tradition that permeates these games. Edited by Dirge
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It was the early days of the First World War. Between the 28th of August and the 3rd of September 1914 in the build up to the Battle of Marne one of the most legendary games of Mornington Crescent was played amongst the chaos of a rapid reorganisation of the defeated and retreating British Expeditionary Force in France. Captain Robert "Jinkers" Swift, Lieutenant Edward "Floppy" Harris, Major Edward "Old Big-Nose" Cholmondely-Smythe, and Lieutenant James "Strangely Brown" Compton had an epic battle. "Old Big-Nose" finally took the crown on the 967th move of the game in front of over two thousand cheering squaddies. Such was the positive effect on morale that it is arguable that the Allied forces' victory at the "Miracle of the Marne" can be attributed directly to this match.

 

Utilising advanced tactical skills developed while avoiding some of the stranger and more disturbing rituals of the English Public School system, and with the intensity of men who know that each day might be their last, this game featured no-less than sixteen gambits never seen before in the world of MC, many of which are now classics employed every day by keen MC-ers around the globe. Where would we be without Harris' "Long Nancy's Ha'penny Favour", Swift's "Put it away Compton!", or Old Big-Nose's "Thrice around the bushes with Mr Thomas"?

 

Sadly of course none of these great players were to survive the war and it seems doubtful that we will see their like again. So, as we are almost precisely at the 98.5th anniversary of this game, it seems only appropriate to use perhaps the greatest move to have come from this match - one that is an old friend to us all....

 

I play "Strangely Brown's Massive Knobbler" taking me to....

 

Notting Hill

Although not a player I always appreciate the pungent reek of tradition that permeates these games.

 

Oh indeed. This particular game is particularly redolent of the stench of it. Being late into the fray, thanks to a virus, and somewhat rusty I am nervous of letting down such a glorious panoply of former classic players. However,can I try a reverse polarity side straddle (avoiding linears or diagonals) and process along to SUDBURY TOWN ?

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If it's water you are worried about, I respectively suggest applying the Finchley variation 2.3 for a play of New York's, Sheepshead Bay.

 

In an earlier round of this game, five years ago, I made what I thought was a well-placed move to Columbus Circle and was unceremoniously drummed out of the proceedings.

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It was the early days of the First World War. Between the 28th of August and the 3rd of September 1914 in the build up to the Battle of Marne one of the most legendary games of Mornington Crescent was played amongst the chaos of a rapid reorganisation of the defeated and retreating British Expeditionary Force in France. Captain Robert "Jinkers" Swift, Lieutenant Edward "Floppy" Harris, Major Edward "Old Big-Nose" Cholmondely-Smythe, and Lieutenant James "Strangely Brown" Compton had an epic battle. "Old Big-Nose" finally took the crown on the 967th move of the game in front of over two thousand cheering squaddies. Such was the positive effect on morale that it is arguable that the Allied forces' victory at the "Miracle of the Marne" can be attributed directly to this match.

 

Utilising advanced tactical skills developed while avoiding some of the stranger and more disturbing rituals of the English Public School system, and with the intensity of men who know that each day might be their last, this game featured no-less than sixteen gambits never seen before in the world of MC, many of which are now classics employed every day by keen MC-ers around the globe. Where would we be without Harris' "Long Nancy's Ha'penny Favour", Swift's "Put it away Compton!", or Old Big-Nose's "Thrice around the bushes with Mr Thomas"?

 

Sadly of course none of these great players were to survive the war and it seems doubtful that we will see their like again. So, as we are almost precisely at the 98.5th anniversary of this game, it seems only appropriate to use perhaps the greatest move to have come from this match - one that is an old friend to us all....

 

I play "Strangely Brown's Massive Knobbler" taking me to....

 

Notting Hill

But, but, but, you forgot about the Gate.

 

Red card or yellow card?

 

Anyway, I notice a nearby London Metropolitan Police box, step inside to some strange music and a very short time later arrive at:

 

Watford Junction

 

The year is 2016.

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It was the early days of the First World War. Between the 28th of August and the 3rd of September 1914 in the build up to the Battle of Marne one of the most legendary games of Mornington Crescent was played amongst the chaos of a rapid reorganisation of the defeated and retreating British Expeditionary Force in France. Captain Robert "Jinkers" Swift, Lieutenant Edward "Floppy" Harris, Major Edward "Old Big-Nose" Cholmondely-Smythe, and Lieutenant James "Strangely Brown" Compton had an epic battle. "Old Big-Nose" finally took the crown on the 967th move of the game in front of over two thousand cheering squaddies. Such was the positive effect on morale that it is arguable that the Allied forces' victory at the "Miracle of the Marne" can be attributed directly to this match.

 

Utilising advanced tactical skills developed while avoiding some of the stranger and more disturbing rituals of the English Public School system, and with the intensity of men who know that each day might be their last, this game featured no-less than sixteen gambits never seen before in the world of MC, many of which are now classics employed every day by keen MC-ers around the globe. Where would we be without Harris' "Long Nancy's Ha'penny Favour", Swift's "Put it away Compton!", or Old Big-Nose's "Thrice around the bushes with Mr Thomas"?

 

Sadly of course none of these great players were to survive the war and it seems doubtful that we will see their like again. So, as we are almost precisely at the 98.5th anniversary of this game, it seems only appropriate to use perhaps the greatest move to have come from this match - one that is an old friend to us all....

 

I play "Strangely Brown's Massive Knobbler" taking me to....

 

Notting Hill

> But, but, but, you forgot about the Gate.

 

> Red card or yellow card?

 

Ah! You are both correct and yet extremely and catastrophically wrong. Using the modern nomenclature Notting Hill Gate would be the station you are likely to think of but, under the High Court ruling of 17th May 1924 in the case of the Crown Vs Arbuckle, Lord Justice Edmonton ruled that when invoking Marne Gambits on part anniversaries of their creation it is a foul to employ nomenclature established after the 1918 Armistace. He then sentenced Robert Arbuckle to three years in prison and banned him from ever playing MC again because he was "a cad and a bad egg!", This ruling was formalised in law with the British Parliament's passing of the 1927 Great War Comemoration Act (Mornington Crescent, Cricket, Tiddlywinks, and Eton Wall Game).

 

So technically by the letter of the law my move was completely correct because I meant to move to Notting Hill station on the Metropolitan Railway line (opened 1864) rather than Notting Hill Gate station on the Central Railway Line. However a really pedantic individual with nothing better to do might point out that Notting Hill station was actually called Notting Hill & Ladbroke Grove station by the outbreak of the war, finally gaining its modern name of Ladbroke Grove station in 1938.

 

Perhaps I should have clarified this point but to be honest if you can't be bothered to learn this, one of the simplest and most obvious rules...... :P ;) B)

Edited by Woody
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After moves reeking of historical and futuristic redolence, I thought it time to bring things to a head with an Olympian counter thrust across taking us away from the yawning trap laid 2 moves ago, Here we go

 

Stratford International

 

That move's sooooo last year ;)

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If it's water you are worried about, I respectively suggest applying the Finchley variation 2.3 for a play of New York's, Sheepshead Bay.

 

In an earlier round of this game, five years ago, I made what I thought was a well-placed move to Columbus Circle and was unceremoniously drummed out of the proceedings.

 

Somewhat bizarrely, this would have been a very good move at this juncture of the game. Synchronicity or what?

 

 

 

After moves reeking of historical and futuristic redolence, I thought it time to bring things to a head with an Olympian counter thrust across taking us away from the yawning trap laid 2 moves ago, Here we go

 

Stratford International

 

That move's sooooo last year ;)

 

Woody, I have always appreciated your insouciant and provocative play, and your mastery of the more obscure details of the game (as well as your predilection to display it) has not gone unnoticed. But along with it goes a tendency to disrespect which is not really true to the spirit of the game. It is with a heavy heart that I have to raise the green purply checkered card. This is your formal warning that one more infraction will lead to the raising of the blue purply checkered card.

 

Chris

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