Influencers - What Goes Around Comes Around

In an era of self-hyped, internet-media assisted, click-bait, like & subscribe influencers, it is tempting to imagine that pre-internet, social media life was devoid of such self-publicists. True, the opportunities for access to the realm of public influence and product promotion for profit were far fewer and far between, but access to it there was, nevertheless. I was thinking earlier about how the game of chess is suddenly big business - particularly online - and how these days there are so many content providers offering commentary, analysis and teaching to a vast, global audience and earning a very tidy income on the back of their endeavours, chwarae teg - fair play - to them: they are at least appropriately highly skilled in their niche and deserve to exploit that skill to their benefit as they see fit. But the likes of YouTubers like Levy Rozman, whose content is wonderful in my book, are not the first generation - by a long chalk - to exploit their talents in like manner.

Sticking with chess, you only have to look back to the nineteenth century and Howard Staunton. He was the world's leading chess player in the 1840's, and amongst many other things, a Shakespearian scholar. One Nathaniel Cook designed what is now the accepted standard form of the chess set, drawing his inspiration for the knight from the Parthenon frieze in the British Museum [there lies another story in itself] and registered his design in 1849. In The Illustrated London News that year, Staunton recommended the set for use, in order to achieve the standardisation he sought. After the design protection expired three years later he allowed his signature to be applied to every set as 'genuine Staunton chessmen', securing himself a fee on every set sold. There's nothing new under the sun, to paraphrase Ecclesiastes, also so paraphrased by Shakespeare himself. There you go...