Matthew Turner IM on Countdown
| | Matthew Turner on the Countdown set
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Matthew Turner, the International Chess Master from Scunthorpe, was the runner-up in the 43rd series of the game show Countdown, shown on UK's Channel 4 TV station.
It is quite unusual for chess players to appear on UK television these days. But viewers saw Matthew, 25, appear on nine editions of the show as he progressed through the heats and knockout stage to reach the final.
In the final, broadcast on Christmas Day, Matthew was up against Graham Nash, a student.
Although Matthew was leading in the early stages, he fell behind later on and was finally defeated 89-69.
Matthew has been busy playing chess this month - he picked up his second Grandmaster Norm at the Hastings International tournament. But he kindly agreed for me to interview him about his experiences on the show.
How did you get on to Countdown?
I would have never got round to applying to go on the show, but since they had an audition at the MSO I thought why not give it a go. I was just out of the medals for the events, which were all won by ex-champions. But Mark
Nyman, who carried out the audition (he is one of the show's producers and
sometimes in dictionary corner) was quite impressed and said "we'll get you on
in the next six months".
Have you been interested in Countdown for a long time?
Countdown actually started in my TV region [Yorkshire] as Calendar Countdown, so I always used to rush home from school to watch it at 4.30. Off and on I've watched it right from the start 18 years ago.
What seems most different about the show when you are on it from how it seems when you watch on TV?
It took a couple of rounds getting used to the relatively small TV monitor that the letters were displayed on and for that reason I'm sure the reigning champion has a big advantage. Everybody on the set was very friendly and
relaxed and I don't think nerves were a problem for many of the contestants.
Did you do any special practice before the show, and have you any special technique for the word or number puzzles?
I avoided watching the show before I took part because I thought it might make me nervous.
What are Carol Vorderman and Richard Whiteley like?
| "After the final, seven contestants stayed on and we managed to polish off 11 bottles of bubbly - not too bad a performance!" |
I was very impressed at how slick the production is. Each show was recorded straight with just one or two re-takes afterwards. Both Richard and Carol were really good chatting to the audience between shows. Obviously Carol earns a huge amount of money these days and she would only do Countdown if she
enjoyed it and this really came across.
I remember Carol Vorderman presenting TV coverage of the world title match Kasparov v Short a few years ago. Do you know whether she is much
interested in chess or not?
She didn't say anything about chess. Our common point of reference was that we went to the same College [Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge].
When you first got onto the programme, did you have any expectation of how far you would get?
At college I played some games against Sam Essen [who appeared in series 38] for £20 a game and we were fairly evenly matched, so the fact that he lost his first game when he went on was obviously a worry! However, I knew from watching the shows over the years that I was capable of getting to the Quarter-Finals, but you can always be unlucky and run into a great contestant early on. There is also a fair
amount of luck, with a big chunk of points being decided by the last two games.
What are the arrangements for recording the show?
They record six shows a day and have four recording days each month. My shows were at the end of the series so were recorded mid-November and the first was televised on November 30th.
In your first game against Andrew Jackson, it went right to the final conundrum. Did you think that you were about to go out on your first
appearance?
Andrew seemed convinced that he would be playing in the final (he had even booked a week off work). I really didn't want to lose to him so I tried not to think about losing. It was only after the game had finished that I
thought "that was close" (well that is the publishable form of what I thought!).
What did you think of the general standard of the competitors?
| "I got even with Richard Whiteley when he was desperately trying to sell his book. I said 'yes you've got to hurry there are only 20,000 left!'" |
In general I am surprised at how much difficulty a lot of obviously very intelligent people have with the numbers game. It was interesting that the game consists of seven letters games and two numbers games, yet in the final stages seven of the eight contestants were loosely speaking mathematicians.
How do the Dictionary Corner people find so many long words? Do they have someone helping them, or are they just very good at it?
Dictionary Corner don't get any help, but the people from the Oxford English Dictionary obviously have a brilliant vocabulary. Damian Eadie for example, who is sometimes in Dictionary Corner, was one of the first Countdown
Champions and Mark Nyman is a former British Scrabble Champion.
What is Graham Nash like? He seemed very confident for someone who is still a student.
After the show many people have said that Graham Nash seemed a bit arrogant but nothing could be further from the truth. He was very nervous before the final and was I think so relieved when he had won. All the contestants were
superb and we all socialised afterwards in free bar provided with Richard,
Carol, Dictionary Corner and the Producers. After the final seven contestants
stayed on, and we managed to polish off 11 bottles of bubbly - not too bad a
performance!
Did you not think of the word "easterly" or were you just trying to get more letters by going for "easternly"?
I did see the word easterly, but I knew that my opponent was brilliant on the conundrums so I decided to go for a 9-letter word which I felt would be a knock-out blow (a nine letter word scores 18 points). Obviously looking back
it seems like ridiculous logic but there you go!
How disappointing was it to lose the final?
I wasn't really disappointed because I lost to a better player who was a nice guy. My only real disappointment is that losing the final might stop me getting to the Champion of Champions. The really annoying thing is that the player I beat in the Semi-Final might get there as the number 1 seed.
What do you think of Richard Whiteley's sense of humour?
| "At the MSO I expected to get in a medal at Settlers, but finished 31st out of 34. Well, I'll be back!" |
Richard Whiteley was very quick at picking up on things and we were assured he wrote all the introductions himself. I got even with him when he was desperately trying to sell his book to the 150 WI members who made up the
audience. I said "yes you've got to hurry there are only 20,000 left!"
Any plans to enter any other game shows?
Many of the contestants on Countdown had been on other shows and they all said this was their best experience of TV. This is because you get very good individual treatment. Each day there are only seven contestants as compared to Fifteen to One when there are 75. I wouldn't really want to ruin the experience of Countdown by going on another show that wasn't as good.
How do you think you would do on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
I think if I was on
Who Wants to be a Millionaire I would do about average, which is approximately
£40,000. I am not great at General Knowledge, but I think I could assemble a
fairly awesome Phone a Friend Team. Anyway I wouldn't try to get on Who Wants
to be a Millionaire, because it costs a fortune ringing up. I know people
who have spent £1,000 trying to get on.
Apart from chess (and Countdown!), what other mindsports interest you?
Last year at MSO I didn't play the big chess tournament so I could do a lot of Mind Sports disciplines. I played Poker, Continuo, Scrabble, intelligence, Mental Calculations (11th out of 12!), Chess and Borderline. But my personal
favourites are Boku, which could really catch on, and Settlers of Catan which
I play reasonably often. I expected to get in a medal at Settlers, but
finished 31st out of 34. Well, I'll be back!
What do you think of the MSO?
I think the MSO is a brilliant concept, but I suspect ultimately the idea will prove more successful abroad than in England. I know people who are involved in games clubs where they trial new games each week. Almost without
fail the best games seem to come from Germany. It seems that for whatever
reason Britain doesn't have a board game culture.
You are the BCF Director of Coaching as well as a strong IM. Which takes up most of your time? And what are your aims for the future?
Obviously I have just recently got my second Grandmaster Norm, so hopefully I will be able to get my third and final norm within the next year. I still feel that I am improving. I have recently started playing on the Internet and this has given me a new impetus. I can't see any bar to getting to 2600 and
playing for the England Team.
There is much criticism within the chess community about the BCF. In the end though if you criticise you have to be prepared to do things youself. I have introduced a scheme called the Certificate of Excellence which will hopefully have a big impact on grass roots junior chess. The scheme is sponsored by the Faculty of Actuaries and the Institute of Actuaries. People wanting more
details can contact me at +44-(0)1724-866433 or e-mail me.
Countdown is based on a French TV show called Des Chiffres and Des Lettres. It was the first programme to be broadcast on UK's Channel 4 on 2 November 1982. The programme appears regularly on weekday afternoons and these days there are generally two series each year.
For all the information you could ever want about Countdown, look at The Countdown Page. This includes full details of all the shows in series 43, and a blow-by-blow account of the final. But it also has masses of other information about the show, dating back to the first series. And there is yet more stuff about Countdown on the UK Gameshow Page.
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