The Short is father

This came up a few days ago and boy, is it a bunch of humbug.

All right, it's Nigel's old man so let's not be as harsh as we might be, but the idea that you would combat corruption in sport by teaming up with the former Deputy Prime Minister of Russia is patently absurd - you might as well fight organised crime by linking up with Vito Corleone. It's a nonsense. A convenient nonsense, for all manner of people, but a nonsense nonetheless.

A complete nonsense, given stuff like this.

It's so very typical of Nigel to make a big noise about the Kremlin and the Skripals when it's a matter of somebody else's naked personal ambition. And then to make a big noise about how they're nothing to do with it, when it's a matter of his own.

So much, so obvious, but the extent of the obvious isn't limited to the recent past or Nigel's relationship with Russian political figures - it's also obvious from Nigel's relationship with English chess that he has no more interest in ethical conduct, political transparency or financial propriety when it's his old friends involved, than he has where his new ones are concerned.

I've had a lot of cheap fun as the campaign has gone on pointing out his closeness to Ray Keene, whose multiple ethical violations have blighted English chess for forty years, but there's also the question of CJ de Mooi, the most disastrous and ridiculous of all ECF Presidents and one whose term of office (2009-2012) took place during Nigel's own period as an ECF official.

I don't want to rehash all the various ludicrous events of CJ de Mooi's time in the job - besides, it'll mean nothing to readers of this blog who aren't attached to the English Chess Federation (and believe me, you're better off). Suffice it to say that among an absolute parade of irregularities it included among its highlights

● CJ throwing around other people's money at the British Championship without keeping proper records ;

● CJ organising a simul tour to raise money for that Championship but never producing any accounts for it despite multiple promises ;

● CJ claiming expenses to travel to the Olympiad and then resigning as soon as he was off the plane to take a holiday rather than do his job.

In other words, exactly the sort of conduct you'd be expect to be very harshly criticised by Nigel Short Man Of Principle - except that it wasn't, because CJ was a friend and supporter of Nigel's, who was the player who undertook the simul tour. And because Nigel Short is patently not a Man of Principle, and you'd have to be a fool to think otherwise.

Mind you, there's a lot of fools about.

Nigel, before he was old enough to know better

The English chess community doesn't like to talk much about CJ de Mooi, because his own embarrassing conduct was matched by their even more embarrassing failure to do anything much about it, let alone learn lessons from it when he went. Nigel Short doesn't say much about CJ - or, now, about Kremlin links, because Nigel says what he wants when it suits him and the opposite when that's what he prefers. David Short says a lot about Nigel - like I say, he's Nigel's dad, so let's cut him some slack. But what he says is humbug all the same.

But not as much as this is.

Really. Given what happened next. State of that.