Original version

BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

BBC Radio 3

Radio 3

The Essay Podcast

The Essay

Discussion & Talk

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond, themed across a week - insight, opinion and intellectual surprise.

The Essay: Checkmate

The Essay: Checkmate: Episode 3: Simultaneous Display - Chess on the Air

Checkmate

Episode 3

Episode 3: Simultaneous Display - Chess on the Air

Simultaneous Display - Chess on the Air

BBC Radio 3 - The Essay, Checkmate, Simultaneous Display - Chess on the AirClose menu

David Hendy discusses how chess was played and lost on the Third Programme.

Historian of radio David Hendy discusses how chess was played and lost on the Third Programme.

David Hendy writes:

Is chess the perfect game for radio? An abstract past-time for a medium that's blind? Forget for a moment the aesthetic appeal of those beautifully-carved pieces, or the patterns they make on the board. That's superficial stuff. Below the surface, it's all deep, pure thought. Which is why, back in the eighteenth century, the French teenage-chess-sensation Philidor covered his eyes with a scarf before playing. In blindfolding himself, he was, I think, making it easier to win, not harder. 

Talk of code, and radio and chess embrace each other more tightly still. The strange language of the chess manoeuvre is wonderfully efficient. "Bishop to c5", "K4 to Q7". Like the ones-and-zeros of the digital signal, these are messages that can't be degraded by interference. Their meaning survives long-distance.

Dr David Hendy of The University of Westminster is one of our foremost historians of radio and winner of the History Today-Longmans Book of the Year Award in 2008 for his book on Radio 4 "A Life on Air".

The Guardian's Online arts editor, Andy Dickson, described David Hendy's Essay series 'Rewiring the Mind' as "super-thoughtful - best 15 mins of radio for ages".

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Series exploring the history and importance of chess around the world

Series exploring the history and importance of chess around the world, in countries including India and Russia

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Essay

Checkmate

Episode 3: Simultaneous Display - Chess on the Air

Genres

Brand

Series

BBC Radio 3

About BBC Radio 3