Not that John or George

[99bottles]

Can you please tell me which is the best way to write this passage? Here is what I have got so far.

John and his friend George enjoy playing chess together. Not that either of them is especially good at it, but they have fun.

John and his friend George enjoy playing chess together. Not that John or George is/are especially good at it, but they have fun.

 

[Tdol]

I'd use are in the second.

 

[Yankee]

I'd go with "is".

 

[99bottles]

So, two English speakers disagree (Tdol says are, Yankee says is). Anyone who could help us resolve this?

 

[5jj]

What is there to resolve? People have different opinions on this. Unlike some languages, English doesn't have a language academy to prescribe rules that everybody has to follow,

 

[99bottles]

Unlike some languages, English doesn't have a language academy to prescribe rules that everybody has to follow,

Then we should found one.

 

[emsr2d2]

Then we should found one.

No, we shouldn't. One of the things most native speakers love about this language is its variety.