How frustrated I am. I guess you have to accept that we’re “Voting for Christmas”, in the sense that some change is wanted, and this is all that’s on offer. But why this particular modification, rather any change that might address the many complaints of the British public? The expenses scandal ended in imprisonment for a few MPs, but no obvious change to the system that anyone can describe. We’d like them to be restricted to doing just the one job, and staying at a dedicated secure hotel near the Palace of Westminster, removing the need for us to provide them with a second home in London that they can keep. As for the AV counting system, it’s not clear to anyone what this is trying to achieve. Is it supposed to improve proportional representation (PR)? Or is it supposed to improve the chances or the appearance of a majority government? I’m underwhelmed. Cynically, I’d say that the Conservative Party has formed a coalition with a small party that has given them a majority, but wanted to make a move towards PR. The negotiations has ended up with this being a very small move that could be rejected in a referendum, and the whole process looks more like a problem than a solution to me.

I am playing chess with people I have never met – using the web site, “chess.com”. This reminds me of the Turing Test. Alan Turing proposed that by conversing with a remote correspondent through a keyboard, one would fail or succeed to determine if that correspondent was a computer or a human. Failing to detect a computer would indicate the successful impersonation (or creation) of intelligence. In the case of remote chess, the ability of your correspondent to play as well as a computer often indicates that they are using a computer to decide on their moves! That’s an accepted issue that does not affect me.

What I find more interesting is that I invariably form an opinion of the other person through a few on-line comments, but also substantially based on their style of playing chess.  Can you detect someone’s character through their chess playing? I have found that I actually do, strongly disliking or liking a player depending on their approach to the game. This feels weird! We have never met, yet I feel I know them in a way. Is this my imagination only? What is going on?