• Sheffield Wednesday v Blackpool: live

Follow live minute-by-minute updates of the FA Cup fourth round replay between Sheffield Wednesday and Blackpool at Hillsborough on Tuesday 7 February 2012.

  • Kempton landmark as long-running Dvinsky races for the 200th time

Kempton's all-weather track puts a smile on weather-beaten racing's face as 11 year-old reaches a remarkable landmark

  • Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal claims ICC issued special dispensation for his controversial bowling action

Pakistan spinner claims ICC permitted him to straighten arm beyond normal legal limits - to 23.5 degrees.

  • Nathan Cleverly says sparring with southpaw Joe Calzaghe will help him defeat Tommy Karpency in Cardiff

WBO light-heavyweight champion will draw on years of sparring with Welsh southpaw in coming title defence.

  • Jamie Foster ruled out of St Helens' first Super League game at Langtree Park with thigh injury

St Helens will be without Jamie Foster for Saturday's first Super League fixture at their new Langtree Park stadium.

  • Warrington stand-off Lee Briers is back in contention after being dropped for breach of club discipline

Veteran stand-off Lee Briers is poised to return to the Warrington team this weekend after serving his punishment for a breach of club discipline.

  • Six Nations 2012: Scotland's Dan Parks announces international retirement with immediate effect

Scotland fly-half makes way for next generation and retires from international game with immediate effect.

  • Six Nations 2012: Scotland's Dan Parks announces international retirement with immediate effect

Scotland fly-half makes way for next generation and retires from international game with immediate effect, the SRU announces.

  • Harry Redknapp trial: jury sent home for the night after failing to reach a verdict

Jury in tax evasion trail of Harry Redknapp can't reach verdict after almost four hours deliberation and return tomorrow.

  • Red Bull engineer Adrian Newey pledges future to team as Kimi Raikkonen tops the timesheets at winter testing in Jerez

Red Bull engineer denies possibility of move to Ferrari saying leaving would be akin to walking out on your kids.

  • Raikkonen sets fastest test time

Lotus racer Kimi Raikkonen sets the fastest time on the first day of Formula 1 pre-season testing in Jerez, Spain.

  • Terry not ready to quit England

John Terry still wants to play for England despite being stripped of the captaincy for the second time, BBC Sport understands.

  • Redknapp tax trial jury sent home

The jury in the Harry Redknapp tax evasion trial is sent home for the day with deliberations to continue on Wednesday.

  • Parks stands down from Scotland

Scotland stand-off Dan retires from international rugby.

  • Stoke lose Huth's red card appeal

  • Parks retires from Scotland duty with immediate effect

? Fly-half's error crucial to England victory in Six Nations
? Greig Laidlaw expected to take Parks's place in Scotland side

The Scotland fly-half Dan Parks has retired from international rugby with immediate effect, the Scottish Rugby Union has announced.

The 33-year-old made his 67th Six Nations Test appearance during the defeat by England and was culpable for the decisive try as Charlie Hodgson charged down his kick.

The Cardiff Blues playmaker, who made his debut in 2004, has now made way for the next generation, with the Edinburgh captain Greig Laidlaw expected to start for Scotland in Sunday's Six Nations fixture against Wales in Cardiff and the uncapped Glasgow Warriors fly-half Duncan Weir set for a place on the replacements' bench.

Parks had been contemplating retiring after the World Cup, when he was second choice behind Ruaridh Jackson, but the lure of the opening Six Nations clash with England was too strong. However, now he has now called time on his Test career, insisting the time is right.

He said: "I was thinking about it but the first game of the Six Nations was against England, the auld enemy, Jacko was injured and being able to play against England was huge for me as there was a sense of unfinished business.

"On reflection after the game, after talking it over with my family, girlfriend and close friends, I've come to the decision that now is the right time to retire from the international game.

"There are some really talented guys coming through ? Jacko, Greig and Duncan ? and although I'm sad to be finishing my international career I have some fantastic memories of playing for Scotland and what that has meant to me.

"I've no regrets at what has been an amazing career for me. I've got my favourite moments for Scotland ? uppermost being the 2007 World Cup.

"Other memorable moments have been the two wins against England at home [in 2006 and 2008], the win against South Africa here at Murrayfield [in November 2010], the two wins in Argentina in 2010 and one in 2008 and the Ireland game in 2010 which was a great occasion."

The Scotland head coach, Andy Robinson, did not select Parks in his first squad as head coach in 2009, but the Australia-born playmaker proved his credentials and has steered Scotland to a number of successes since returning.

However, he fell down the pecking order as Robinson fostered a more expansive gameplan and now his Test career is over following 266 points, including a Scottish record 17 drop-goals.

Parks is the third long-serving Scot to retire following the World Cup, after Nathan Hines and Chris Paterson.

Robinson said: "I have really enjoyed working with Dan. He wasn't in my first Scotland squads, but through his own determination, hard work, skill and competitive spirit he forced his way back into selection.

"It's never an easy decision to make, but I feel Dan has made the right decision and thank him for his contribution over the years."

  • Redknapp jury sent home for day

Judge tells jurors to ignore emotive subject of football in tax case against manager and former chairman Milan Mandaric

The jury trying Harry Redknapp and Milan Mandaric on charges of tax evasion has been instructed to ignore the "deeply emotive" subject of football as it retires to consider its verdict.

Judge Anthony Leonard told the jurors in his summing up of the case that they must instead focus on the evidence they had heard over the last three weeks.

The judge told the eight-man, four-woman jury at Southwark crown court: "Football is an emotive subject, stirring in an individual anything from deep passion to resentment. It has become so commercial that it may be thought by some to have lost its way."

But, he said: "This case is not about football but about some allegations of tax fraud."

The prosecution claims payments totalling £189,000 made by former Portsmouth chairman Mandaric into a Monaco account belonging to Redknapp were bonuses related to the latter's employment as the club's manager. It also contends that one of the payments was related to the £3m profit the club made on the sale of England striker Peter Crouch to Aston Villa.

Jurors were warned by the prosecution to "keep their eyes on the ball" when they considered their verdicts.

Redknapp's barrister, John Kelsey-Fry QC, said on Monday that some of the crown's evidence was "repugnant to all our basic instincts of fairness".

Mandaric's QC, Lord Macdonald, said the prosecution was flailing, with paper-thin explanations for the Monaco payments. "We say the evidence against him is hopelessly weak," he said.

Both Redknapp, 64, of Poole, Dorset, and Mandaric, 73, of Oadby, Leicestershire, deny two counts of cheating the public revenue when Redknapp was manager of Portsmouth.

The first charge alleges that between 1 April 2002 and 28 November 2007 Mandaric paid $145,000 (£93,100) into the account.

The second charge relates to a sum of $150,000 (£96,300) allegedly paid between 1 May 2004 and 28 November 2007.

  • Wada fears for London Olympics

? Research says fewer than one in five cheats is being caught
? Lord Moynihan criticised for 'misinformed tirade' against Wada

Less than six months before London 2012, the World Anti-Doping Agency fears that fewer than one in five drug cheats is being caught and urged against complacency from governments and sporting bodies in tackling the problem.

David Howman, the Wada director general, said that despite ever more sophisticated testing, a major research project undertaken by the global body had indicated more than one in 10 athletes were tempted to cheat but only between 1% and 2% were caught.

"We think the annual statistics show that maybe between 1 and 2% of athletes who are tested are cheating. By conducting these research projects, the results of which will be made known later this year, we think those numbers are more into double digits," said Howman.

"That's a concern. If more than 10% of the athletes in the world are being tempted to take a shortcut via taking prohibited substances then we've got an issue that is not being confronted as well as it should be."

London 2012 organisers recently unveiled the most comprehensive testing programme in the history of the Games and warned that cheats would almost certainly be caught.

But Wada said that while athletes who cheated in major events were likely to be caught, outside of competition too many tests were being conducted "selectively" with more expensive blood tests for EPO and human growth hormone not being carried out often enough.

"You can't test for human growth hormone unless you get a blood sample. In 2010, of the 258,000 samples collected there were 36 positive tests for EPO," said Howman. "EPO is probably one of the preferred substances of those athletes taking shortcuts and to have only 36 positives in one year is very disappointing."

It is feared that of the 258,000 tests conducted, as few as 2% of them include the blood tests that can catch the use of human growth hormone.

The scale of the problem is being masked by the fact that in many cases the contracts between anti-doping organisations (ADOs) and laboratories are confidential. Too many were testing for a "selected menu" of drugs rather than the "full menu", said Howman.

"We need ADOs to use the full menu because at the moment there is not as much testing for some substances as we need," he said.

Wada welcomed this week's court of arbitration for sport judgment in the Alberto Contador case, in which the Spanish cyclist was banned for two years and stripped of his 2010 Tour de France title. The decision backed Wada's "strict liability" stance.

The Wada president, John Fahey, said: "I think it indicates clearly the robust nature of our code following a comprehensive review of significant evidence. Our code was upheld in strong terms.

"There is a strong message in that ? the onus is on athletes to ensure that they don't take substances that can lead to an outcome such as the one we've seen." He added: "Every time a cheat is caught it is a good day for sport."

But Howman and Fahey, also warned that "anti-doping fatigue" could impact on the battle to catch "sophisticated" dopers, particularly as governments and policy makers considered the new scourge of illegal betting and related corruption.

"In times of economic hardship other issues start to occupy the ground we try to keep for anti-doping. Anti-doping fatigue can set in," said Fahey. "We need governments to accept anti-doping is not just an issue for sport, it is an issue for society. We need champions in government and sport to stand up for clean competition."

Wada is increasingly working with Interpol, law enforcement and customs agencies to attempt to infiltrate those who traffic and supply prohibited substances.

Howman appealed to the sports industry to make a direct contribution to Wada's £17.8m budget, funded equally by the International Olympic Committee and national governments but recently frozen in light of the global economic downturn.

"We are harsh critics of our standards and conscious of the costs involved in testing. Wada has always been equally part-funded by the IOC and governments and maybe the time has come for Wada to look elsewhere for contributions," he said. "The global sports industry is not short of money ? $500bn (£315bn) per annum. Perhaps that global sports industry should consider making a direct financial contribution."

Fahey said it was looking into establishing a foundation where high earning sports stars could contribute to Wada's budget.

In March, the Cas will rule on whether Wada was right to rule the British Olympic Association non-compliant with its anti-doping code over its bylaw that bans drug cheats for life. Fahey said Wada had "conscientiously and rightfully" declined to comment on the facts of the case until after it had been heard and said it was a "matter of regret" that the BOA chairman, Lord Moynihan, continued to do so.

The issue has sparked a huge row between the two bodies, with Fahey again criticising Moynihan's "misinformed and inaccurate tirade" against his organisation.

Wada also urged US federal prosecutors to hand over evidence collected during a long-running probe into the American cyclist Lance Armstrong, which was this week dropped. "The inquiry in the US was about fraud, but the evidence that has been gathered was about doping. We expect the evidence will be shared in the same way [as in the Balco case]," said Howman.

"It is important that happens as quickly as possible, just in case there might be athletes who are going to London to whom it might refer."

Howman also called for more to be done to take effective sanctions against those who surround athletes who cheat, and in some cases pressure them to do so. "Often the athlete is persuaded and cajoled by people who should know better. It doesn't take much to realise how effective an entourage can be," he said.

"How many lawyers have been pulled before a law society disciplinary committee? How many doctors have gone to medical tribunals? That's the level we need to look at. It is very easy to catch the dopey doper. The sophisticated doper is becoming harder to detect and that's a big challenge for the anti-doping movement."

  • Ferguson urges racism clampdown

? Manchester United manager shocked by recent events
? Dalglish claims Luis Suárez should never have been banned

Sir Alex Ferguson has called for the authorities to crack down hard on racism in football.

The Manchester United manager has been close to the centre of one such controversy ? his defender Patrice Evra was racially abused by Liverpool's Luis Suárez, who has just completed the eight-match suspension imposed by the Football Association as punishment.

Suárez is set to come face to face with Evra again at Old Trafford on Saturday and the Liverpool manager, Kenny Dalglish, has already stoked the fires ahead of the match by saying he does not believe the Uruguayan should have been banned.

Other incidents have seen several fans arrested after allegations they racially abused players, while the Chelsea defender John Terry is to stand trial in July to deny a charge that he racially abused Queens Park Rangers' Anton Ferdinand, brother of United's Rio Ferdinand.

Ferguson has been shocked by the re-emergence of the problem and said a tough line is needed. He told CNN: "I don't understand at all where it's coming from.

"This is a moment where we have to take stock and we should do something about it if it's surfacing again, and be really hard and firm on any form or shape of racism.

"There have been a couple of examples recently which is not good. In 2012, you can't believe it. It was obvious maybe 20 years ago and the improvements have been for everyone to see.

"I have had some fantastic black players, absolutely magnificent black players, and with every one of them I have enjoyed my working relationship with them."

Dalglish risked reigniting a row with United with his comments about Suárez after the striker came off the bench during the 0-0 draw with Tottenham Hotspur.

"We don't think he should ever have been away but we are delighted to get him back," said the Scot.

United need to win against Liverpool to keep them in touch with Manchester City and Ferguson believes the point his side achieved at Chelsea, coming back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3, could prove crucial in the title race.

Ferguson admitted his mind was turning to "damage limitation" after Chelsea moved into a 3-0 lead after half-time at Stamford Bridge.

He said: "It was a funny thing, in the first half we dominated it and then came the own goal and at half-time we were saying 'we are going to win this match as we are the better team'.

"But after losing two goals in a few minutes after half-time at that moment we were thinking damage limitation, get home and start again.

"But in true fashion in terms of the character and history of the football club they never gave in and kept going and deserved a point and that point may be one that does it for us ? you never know."

  • Bell axed from ODI and T20 squads

? Bairstow and Buttler preferred to out-of-form batsman
? Briggs and Bresnan also come into limited-overs squads

Ian Bell has been dropped from the England squad to face Pakistan in the forthcoming one-day and Twenty20 series.

The batsman had a miserable Test series in the UAE, scoring 0, 4, 29, 2, 5 and 10 in his six innings and has been left out of the limited-overs squads in favour of Somerset's Jos Buttler and Yorkshire's Jonny Bairstow.

The 21-year-old Buttler has been in fine form for the England Lions tour of Sri Lanka, scoring two centuries in five innings. Bairstow has not been in quite such fine fettle for the A side, but impressed with a couple of feisty ODI innings against India last summer.

Tim Bresnan will also return to the international arena after injury, although his participation in the series will be subject to his fitness following an elbow operation, while England's spin options have been increased by the addition of the uncapped Hampshire left-arm spinner Danny Briggs.

Kevin Pietersen, who like Bell endured a difficult time in the Test series, will be act as opener in the 50-over games.

"He is going to be opening the batting for us in this series, and that should be really exciting to watch," said the England coach, Andy Flower. "We started with him in that position in the World Cup, and unfortunately he got injured and had to go home early.

"He's a very, very fine cricketer ? a very dangerous cricketer ? and someone we'd like to give the option of facing as many balls as possible in the limited-overs game. If he stays in long enough, he will win games for us in that position.

"It hasn't worked out well for him at number four recently, but I'm really excited to see him embrace the challenge of opening."

Pakistan have called Shahid Afridi into their squad and rewarded Azhar Ali for his fine Test form. The uncapped, hard-hitting batsman Awais Zia also made his way into the Twenty20 squad

England play the first of their four one-day internationals against Pakistan on 13 February and the 50-over series will be followed by three Twenty20 matches on 23, 25 and 27 February.

England ODI squad

A Cook (capt, Essex), J Anderson (Lancashire), J Bairstow (Yorkshire), R Bopara (Essex), T Bresnan (Yorkshire), D Briggs (Hampshire), S Broad (Nottinghamshire), J Buttler (Somerset), J Dernbach (Surrey), S Finn (Middlesex), C Kieswetter (Somerset), E Morgan (Middlesex), S Patel (Nottinghamshire), K Pietersen (Surrey), G Swann (Nottinghamshire), J Trott (Warwickshire).

England Twenty20 squad

S Broad (capt, Nottinghamshire), J Anderson (Lancashire), J Bairstow (Yorkshire), R Bopara (Essex), T Bresnan (Yorkshire), D Briggs (Hampshire), J Buttler (Somerset), J Dernbach (Surrey), S Finn (Middlesex), A Hales (Nottinghamshire), C Kieswetter (Somerset), E Morgan (Middlesex), S Patel (Nottinghamshire), K Pietersen (Surrey), G Swann (Nottinghamshire).

Pakistan ODI squad

Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal, Umar Gul, Junaid Khan, Aizaz Cheema, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Wahab Riaz, Hammad Azam.

Pakistan Twenty20 squad

Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Asad Shafique, Adnan Akmal, Awais Zia, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Wahab Riaz, Aizaz Cheema, Junaid Khan, Hammad Azam.

  • Dow committed to providing London 2012 stadium wrap despite criticism

? 'We are committed to our Olympic partnership' says executive
? Bhopal controversy 'gone on longer than I'd have anticipated'

Dow Chemical says it is fully committed to providing the decorative wrap for London's Olympic Stadium despite continuing criticism of its involvement.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has demanded London 2012 terminates its deal with the US firm because of its links to India's Bhopal gas disaster in 1984.

Last month Meredith Alexander, a member of the body which oversees the sustainability of the London Olympics, quit in protest, saying people should be able to enjoy the Games without "a toxic legacy on their conscience".

"It would be great to be controversy-free, but as I talk to other sponsors and other parts of the Olympic organisation you realise that over the years the Olympics has been a free platform for organisations and individuals to make their points," said George Hamilton, vice-president for Dow Olympic Operations.

"It's a free country and people are allowed to state their case and then take actions, they are allowed to do that.

"I can't speak for what people's motivations are but it is what it is ? this is not going to deter us, we are committed to our Olympic partnership, both in London and future Games and we are committed to delivering technology that makes it the most successful Games in the history of the Olympics."

Dow denies any responsibility for the accident that activists say killed up to 25,000 people after the leak at a pesticides factory then owned by Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL), a subsidiary of Union Carbide.

Dow completed a deal to buy Union Carbide in 2001 and campaigners have demanded that it boosts a 1989 compensation package for those affected by the disaster.

Hamilton said the compensation paid by Union Carbide and UCIL in 1989, a sum of $470m (£296m), was twice upheld by the supreme court, and Union Carbide sold its Indian subsidiary in 1994 and "exited India".

He said that Dow, one of the International Olympic Committee's most recent partners, was looking forward to strengthening its partnership in the 2014 Sochi Winter Games and in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and was undeterred by bad publicity.

"We had no association with Bhopal, we bought a company that was an investor so why would we take action that would imply that we were connected or doing something out of guilt," he said. "We recognised when we became a sponsor that organisations and individuals would try and associate Dow with legacy issues.

"We were prepared for that. It's gone on longer than I would have anticipated but it doesn't change our resolve."

Dow's plastics division is providing the material for 336 panels that will adorn the outside of the Olympic Stadium during the Games before they are dismantled and reused elsewhere.

Hamilton said the decorative wrap, initially scrapped by the British government to save around £7m, was effectively a gift to the British public. "What we are trying to do is throw in a little more light and colour," he said of the 25m-high vertical panels which, under IOC rules, will have no Dow company branding.

"The London organising committee, the designers, the engineers, artists and architects said that the wrap was necessary ? let's not just pull it and leave this stark structure that would not have been a good image.

"Dow stepped in and addressed this not just on an aesthetic point but also on a costing point; we relieved a financial burden to the taxpayer by contributing this wrap."

However, Alexander claimed last month that the London Organising Committee should have nothing to do with Dow and the wrap could still be scrapped. "They are basically legitimising Dow's position that they have no responsibility for Bhopal," she said last month after quitting the Commission for Sustainable London 2012. "The wrap is completely optional, so I think Locog do have the choice here about whether or not they cancel the contract."

  • Willie Mullins has Quel Esprit on the Cheltenham Gold Cup trail

? Trainer looks for big run in Sunday's Hennessy Gold Cup
? Irish Festival candidate entered for Grade One chase

Quel Esprit will try to cement his position as Ireland's number one Cheltenham Gold Cup hope when he lines up in the Hennessy at Leopardstown on Sunday.

One of several high-profile runners on an important weekend for the champion Irish trainer Willie Mullins, Quel Esprit was in contention for the Grade One PJ Moriarty Chase on the same card 12 months ago when falling at the second-last fence.

He then fell again in the RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival before his luck took a further turn for the worse when brought down by a loose horse at Punchestown in May. However, this season Quel Esprit has won races at Naas and Thurles, giving every impression that he is ready to fulfil the considerable promise he showed earlier in his career.

"To be honest, we couldn't believe it when he fell twice as we wouldn't have a horse who jumps better than him at home," said Mullins.

"It obviously wasn't his fault when he got brought down afterwards but it was at that point that you draw a line and start again, so we gave him some time off and then started again after getting plenty of schooling into him.

"Sunday is definitely the acid test for him, but Cheltenham is definitely on the cards if everything goes well. That's the plan. On the ratings, he looks as if he'd have something to do, particularly with Quito De La Roque, but he's a horse I always thought a lot of and we'll see."

A decision over the participation of the Jonjo O'Neill-trained Synchronised in the same race is set to be taken on Thursdaytomorrow after the Lexus Chase winner has worked at his yard. If he sidesteps the contest, connections will send the horse direct to Cheltenham for the Gold Cup. Last year's RSA Chase runner-up Jessies Dream will make a belated seasonal bow with Timmy Murphy booked to ride.

With four Grade One events on the Leopardstown card, Mullins plans to run ? among others ? leading Triumph Hurdle fancy Ut De Sivola in the Spring Hurdle, Lambro in the PJ Moriarty and Sous Les Cieux in the Deloitte Novice Hurdle.

The last-named horse was beaten at odds-on after running keenly from the front at Leopardstown over Christmas, but remains towards the head of the pecking order in the eyes of his trainer.

"Things didn't go to plan there ? well, not to my plan anyway," said the trainer, who was interested to find out that Nicky Henderson had supplemented Captain Conan to the field at the modest cost of ?8,000 (£6,700).

"He [Captain Conan] will need to be pretty good to win, I'd say. I'll certainly be interested to see how he goes, because looking at the entries I think this is going to be a really good race."

Mullins stands clear at the head of the standings in the trainers' championship, having recently recorded the fastest-ever century of winners in a season. With nearly ?1.8m in prize money, more than twice his nearest competitor, and a wins-to-runs strike rate of nearly one in three, things couldn't be going much better.

"We've obviously been fortunate to have the support of some owners who are prepared to invest in nice horses, but still give us time to develop and bring them forwards," he said.

"The danger with looking at the statistics is that you can't stop being vigilant and looking for dangers on the horizon. It's at this time of the year, with all the big Festival meetings on the doorstep that you're dreading hearing a cough that can derail all of your plans."

Meanwhile, leading owner JP McManus has moved to expand his ownership interests by purchasing Venture Capital and Thomas Edison, first and third in a hot Fairyhouse bumper in December. Thomas Edison, trained by Tony Martin, has already won on his next start, while fifth-placed Starkie has also franked the form with victory at the same track.

  • Why chess deserves a place in schools | Jonathan Calder

In Armenia all six-year-olds study chess; in UK schools it 'fell off a cliff' in the 1980s. But its educational benefits are plentiful

Primary school children in Armenia have more to contend with than just the three Rs. From the age of six, they all study chess as a separate subject for two hours a week. Chess is important to the very identity of this landlocked little country. Armenia suffered massacres and repression in the 20th century and has recently experienced an economic collapse. Yet in the 1960s, it provided the Soviet Union with one of its succession of world champions in the shape of Tigran Petrosian. A master of defence, his relentless grinding down of opponents made him the Geoffrey Boycott of the chessboard. And today, Armenia ? with a population of just 3 million ? holds the men's world team title.

So it was no surprise when an official of the Armenian education ministry told the Associated Foreign Press that teaching chess in schools would "create a solid basis for the country to become a chess superpower". But there is more to it than that: Armenia is one of a growing number of nations hoping to see wider educational benefits from encouraging chess in schools. India, Turkey and Norway have all made similar moves recently, and a summary of research produced by the Quad Cities Chess Club in America talks of enhanced mental abilities and an improvement in conventional schoolwork.

This is not a new idea. The Soviet dominance of the game was rooted in the new regime's embrace of chess immediately after the revolution. The game was seen as a cheap way to bring culture to the masses and display the new state's superiority to the decadent capitalist west. "We must organise shock brigades of chess players and begin the immediate realisation of a Five-Year Plan for chess," declared Nikolai Krylenko, the father of Soviet chess ? some years before Stalin had him arrested and shot.

The international master and chess journalist Malcolm Pein, a gentler soul, is one of those who want to see the game flourish again in British schools. "There is no other activity that costs so little to organise and that cuts across so many barriers," he says. "Age, sex, race, religion ? they mean nothing in chess. Anyone can enjoy it. Around 500 million people in 167 countries play the game and only football can rival that. Yet it has long been in decline in our schools."

Two years ago, Pein's organisation, Chess in Schools and Communities, launched a pilot programme involving 60 primary schools and 6,000 children. By 2015 it aims to have introduced the game to 17,000 schools and to have a million children playing. It is an ambitious target, but so far they are on track. Chess is still played by many British children, and Pein praises the Delancey UK Schools Chess Challenge. However, his impression is that many of the 2,000 schools that take part come from the private sector.

Does this mean British chess has always been confined to a social elite? Pein suggests not. Talking about the match held by radio between Great Britain and the Soviet Union in 1946, he says: "Yes, the British team were all Oxbridge types ? probably because everyone else was too busy earning a living. But if you look at photographs of the audience, they don't look particularly middle class." My own experience as a member of the feared Market Harborough team of the 1980s bears this out. When we won a trophy, it would be engraved with the names of all its previous holders. Until the 1960s these were overwhelmingly works or company teams: after that they barely featured. Looking at those trophies was like discovering a lost culture.

Chess held on for longer in state schools. Pein dates its decline ? "it fell off a cliff" ? to the 1980s, a decade that saw the narrowing of the curriculum and a subsequent disaffection among teachers. But it may not be too late to reverse that decline, because the memory of the benefits and pleasures of chess lingers. "When I talk to headteachers," says Pein, "they often say: 'We always had a chess club when I was at school. Why haven't we got one now?'"

  • Nathan Cleverly vows not to take Tommy Karpency's threat lightly

? WBO light-heavyweight champion fights on 25 February
? 'Recipe for disaster' to underestimate little-known opponent

Nathan Cleverly says it would be a "recipe for disaster" to underestimate Tommy Karpency in Cardiff on 25 February.

The WBO light-heavyweight champion Cleverly has been matched against the little-known American for his homecoming fight. While the unbeaten 24-year-old from Cefn Fforest hopes to treat the expected sell-out 5,000 crowd to a fine spectacle, he is making sure complacency does not creep into his preparations.

"It would be absolutely stupid and naive to underestimate any opponent in boxing, especially in a world title fight," he said.

"It would be recipe for disaster. A lot of people have written Tommy off, but they're not the ones who are stepping into the ring. When you face another trained fighter, you must be on your game, especially at this level."

  • Theo Walcott: Arsenal players owed Arsène Wenger a big performance

? Arsenal winger says players have not been good enough
? Park Chu-young at risk of losing his place with national team

The Arsenal winger Theo Walcott believes the team owed the manager, Arsène Wenger, a big performance to get their Premier League campaign back on track.

Arsenal defeated Blackburn Rovers 7-1 at the Emirates on Saturday ? their first league win of 2012 ? which took them to three points behind fourth-placed Chelsea after the Blues' 3-3 draw against Manchester United on Sunday.

Walcott feels it was about time Arsenal's players got it right after a frustrating spell in which they lost three successive league games and missed several chances in a stalemate at Bolton Wanderers. "The boss always takes a lot of stick from everyone criticising him, but us players need to look up to him because he's been taking it all," Walcott said. "We are the ones who go out there and put out the performances and sometimes they have not been good enough."

Walcott added: "There are so many world-class players in the dressing room, so it is disappointing when we come back from Bolton with a 0-0 draw where we had a lot of chances. It has just been one of those frustrating seasons. Hopefully a lot of those frustrations came out against Blackburn, where everybody stood up for themselves."

Walcott set up the opener for the captain, Robin van Persie, inside two minutes, then laid on a second for the Dutchman, who completed a hat-trick, before a mazy run ended with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scoring the fifth at the start of the second half. The performances of Oxlade-Chamberlain have led to calls for him to be fast-tracked into the senior England side for the friendly against Holland, although Walcott is wary of things moving too quickly.

The 22-year-old, who was a controversial selection for the 2006 World Cup when still a teenager, has often found himself criticised for a lack of end product ? something against which his captain launched a fierce defence at the weekend. Walcott said: "One of my main jobs as a winger is to get assists. The goals are a secondary thing. Some of them against Blackburn were just tap-ins so it was like a goal really. I hope it made Robin's job easy."

Wenger did not make any major moves in the January transfer window, reflecting in an interview with a Belgian newspaper the importance of securing a "profit of between £15m and £20m" every season, and that the purpose of a coach is "to always buy at a price he sees fit".

One player who arrived last summer, Park Chu-young, has struggled to make an impact and the South Korean striker is now in danger of losing his place with the national team. The South Korea coach, Choi Kang-hee, was in Europe to scout some of his squad this past week and admitted it could be difficult to expect the 26-year-old ? left on the bench against Blackburn ? to be thrown straight in for the World Cup qualifier with Kuwait on 29 February.

"He has at least some positive thoughts, as he is with a world-class team like Arsenal, but he is not playing in games and I felt that Park is not on Wenger's mind," Choi was quoted as saying. "I have listed two or three players per position at this moment, but even if a player has great skills, he can't play in the match if he is not ready."