Stress. Pain. Worry. And unknown. These are some words that describe our headaches from time to time
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Reduce the Problem
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Failure Modes
In my latest Matrix Chess game against the computer I failed in an interesting way that actually involved winning the game. See what you think. Position after 15. Nb5. Black to move. FEN: rn1qk2r/pp4p1/3bb1P1/1N1p1p2/3Pp2p/5P1P/PPP1N1K1/R1BQ1R2 b kq – 0 15 I’m playing Black in this game, and I set Shredder’s strength to 2114 (somewhat lower than […]
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Life Of A King |Netflix [indie] Saturday
I’m a big fan of chess, even been to a few tourneys when growing up, so when I found out that
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Life Of A King |Netflix [indie] Saturday
I’m a big fan of chess, even been to a few tourneys when growing up, so when I found out that
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Numbers game
The Politiken Cup finishes today. Here's the Chess Facts with which they advertised themselves.
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There are several things wrong here, but let's start at the very beginning, with the very first "fact"...
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...which, as readers of this blog know, and as anybody producing publicity material for the Politiken Cup ought to know, isn't any kind of fact at all.
Talking of figures that aren't facts, our attention is drawn to a remarkable passage in the remarkable report on the FIDE site of our remarkable President's visit to the remarkable Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
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Four out of five North Korean men can play chess, reckons our General Secretary. Now far be it from me to question the veracity of North Korean statistics but I put it to the reader that if we were to approach a statistically-significant number of North Korean men and offer them each a game of chess, rather fewer than eighty per cent would be able to take us up on it.
Maybe he meant Janggi, the popularity of which I am in no position to judge. Or maybe a state with no chess players that I can name actually does have ten million male chess players.
Or to put it another way, one in every sixty players in the world turns out to be a bloke from North Korea. According to FIDE and the Politiken Cup.
[Thanks to Jon Manley and Matt Fletcher]
[605 million index]
There are several things wrong here, but let's start at the very beginning, with the very first "fact"...
...which, as readers of this blog know, and as anybody producing publicity material for the Politiken Cup ought to know, isn't any kind of fact at all.
- - - - -
Talking of figures that aren't facts, our attention is drawn to a remarkable passage in the remarkable report on the FIDE site of our remarkable President's visit to the remarkable Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Maybe he meant Janggi, the popularity of which I am in no position to judge. Or maybe a state with no chess players that I can name actually does have ten million male chess players.
Or to put it another way, one in every sixty players in the world turns out to be a bloke from North Korea. According to FIDE and the Politiken Cup.
[Thanks to Jon Manley and Matt Fletcher]
[605 million index]
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Project 365: Week 31
This wee I decided to focus on shooting entertainment-themed images, i.e. games and toys, inspired b
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Tactics Time Zero!
Today I have a special announcement! Anthea and I are going to be putting out a new kindle chess e-book called “Tactics Time Zero“! We had been working on a full blown Tactics Time 3, but this has kind of … Continue reading →
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Asian Women Continental 2015 LIVE!
The 2015 Asian Women Continental is taking place from August 2-10, in Al Ain, UAE. The event is a 9-round Swiss tournament with cash prizes for the top 30 places. The women’s champion will be awarded $6,000 and will represent Asia in the FIDE Women’s World Championship. Top seed is Chinese player WGM Tan Zhongyi (2512). Standings [...]
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Marshall August Grand Prix 8/1/2015
On Saturday, I played this game at the Marshall Chess Club.
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Round Three: Sicilian Defense, King's Indian Attack
Jonathan Maxwell (USCF 2067) - Jim West (USCF 2206), Marshall Chess Club 8/1/2015
1.Nf3 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 g6 4.O-O Bg7 5.d3 e6 6.Nbd2 Nge7 7.e4 O-O 8.c3 d6 9.Re1 Rb8 10.a4 a6 11.Nf1 e5 12.h4 h5 13.Bg5 Qc7 14.Qd2 b5
15.axb5 axb5 16.Bh6 b4 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.Ne3 bxc3 19.bxc3 Bd7 20.d4 exd4 21.cxd4 cxd4 22.Nxd4 Ne5 23.Nef5+ Nxf5 24.Nxf5+ Bxf5 25.exf5 Rbd8 26.Rec1 Qd7 27.fxg6 Qf5 28.Rc7 Qxg6 29.Bd5 Rc8 30.Raa7 Rxc7 31.Rxc7 Qg4
32.Kg2 Ng6 33.Qb2+ Kg8 34.Qf6 Nh8 35.Rc4 Qg6 36.Qf3 Kg7 37.Rf4 f5 38.Qd3 Qf6 39.Qd1 Ng6 40.Rb4 f4 41.Qxh5 fxg3 42.Rb7+ Ne7 43.Qg5+ Qxg5 44.hxg5 Rxf2+ 45.Kxg3 Re2 46.Kf4 Re5 47.Bb3 Kf8
48.Rb8+ Kg7 49.Rd8 Nd5+ 50.Bxd5 Rxd5 51.Kg4 Rd1 52.Kf5 Rf1+ 53.Ke6 Re1+, draw.
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HZ Chess Tournament 2015 LIVE!
The 2015 HZ Chess Tournament is taking place from August 1-8, at the University of Applied Sciences in Vlissingen, in the Netherlands. The event is a 9-round Swiss FIDE tournament that gathers 243 players from 16 different federations. Top seed is former World champion GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov (2704) of Uzbekistan. Tournament website/ Standings and statistics
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The Lion King & Children's Chess Book
Friday I had a cute and special guest over my house – Gabi, my best friend’s son! I ador
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IM Mischuk wins 4th Lviv Tradition Tournament
The 4th “Lviv Tradition” chess tournament was held from July 27, through August 1, 2015, at the Hotel Nton, in the splendid city of Lviv, situated in western Ukraine. The event was a 10-player round-robin tournament with an average Elo rating of 2230. Top seed IM Dmitry Mischuk emerged a convincing winner with 6,5/9 points, leaving the nearest followers a full points behind. [...]
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Barbie Game Table Cushion Footstool Backgammon Checkers Chess 80s Novelty Ottoman Doll Furniture by Zee Toys
Great vintage find by JennStash (8.00 USD) http://ift.tt/1MDi51v
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Michael Adams completes line-up for London Chess Classic 2015
The 10th and last player to join the incredible line-up of the 7th London Chess Classic is none other than England’s number 1, Michael Adams. It is no surprise the Englishman is the recipient of the organisers’ wildcard, seeing as he has been the English number one since 1999 and was once ranked number 4 [...]
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SDS-Narzan 2015 LIVE!
The SDS-Narzan Tournament is taking place from August 2-10, 2015, in Kislovodsk, is a spa city in Stavropol Krai, Russia. The events is a 9-round Swiss tournament with tempo of play 90′ + 30″. Top seed is Oleg Diviakov (2142). Tournament website/ Standings and statistics
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BCC: FRIDAY NIGHT BLITZ // JULY 31 // ELITE 6 // ANDREW HOY PERFECT 10 // JOE PERL 2ND // SALEEM KARAMALI / STEVE STEPAK 1-2ND U1800 PRIZE //
BOYLSTON CHESS CLUB
CAMBRIDGE
FRIDAY NIGHT BLITZ
JULY 31, 2015
AVERAGE RATING: 2015
Andrew Hoy (2250) 10: 1st place
Joe Perl (2200)6.5: 2nd place
Alejandro Botta (2200) 6: 3rd place
Sebastian (1950) 5.5: 4th place
Saleem (1750)/Steve (1740) 1 point 1-2nd U1800 prize
Sebastian, white vs Andrew
Andrew was a perfect 10/10! Bravo, Andrew!
[What is Andrew's secret weapon? Endgame technique!]
Sebastian scored 5.5 points for clear 4th place.
Joe Perl, black vs Andrew Hoy. Joe scored 6.5 points
to claim clear 2nd in the event.
Saleem scored 1 point in this tough field, good
enough to tie 1-2nd for the U1800 prize.
Alejandro Botta white vs Steve Stepak.
Alej scored 6 points for clear 3rd place.
Steve scored 1 point, good enough to tie 1-2nd place
for the 1800 price.
EVENT TD: ANDREW HOY
PHOTOS: STEVE STEPAK
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BCC: MAGIC QUADS // FULL MOON // ROBUST 35 PARTICIPANTS // KIDS DOMINATE //
BOYLSTON CHESS CLUB
CAMBRIDGE
7 QUADS +3SS GAME 65 / 5"DELAY
QUAD 1
Brandon Wu scored 2.5 points for clear 1st place and a
+35 to 2019 rating. Bravo, Brandon, way-ta-go!
RELENTLESS CREATIVITY
Brandon Wu, white vs Mateos Sahakian, Round 4.
The post-mortem of this game suggests that Mateos had
chances to squeeze out a win in a blockaded position;
a draw for sure. But in the course of the game, Brandon
kept inventing fascinating complications and Mateos
made just one bad decision which cost him the point.
[Note: In reviewing Bobby Fischer's games
I see that there were many time when Fischer's
opponents had moves which would have saved
their games (for a draw). Yet! They did not find
these equalizing lines. Such is the fate of the
chess player.]
CONNECTICUT SCHOLASTIC STAR
10 yr old Maximillian Lu (2049) thinks out his
strategy vs Mateos Sahakian in Round 2: draw.
OPENING SALVOS: SYMMETRICAL ENGLISH
Brandon Wu calibrates his mind as he faces off
with Taylor Curtis in Round 2.
OPTIMUM VANTAGE POINT
Brandon Wu vs Taylor Curtis, Round 2.
[I watched the time-scramble at the end of this game from
the photo's perspective: Brandon had 3 minutes; Taylor had 6
seconds! It was fascinating to see how Brandon took
his time and planned out his game, squeezing ever so
slightly, the position towards a win on the board.
With 2 seconds left (5 second delay), Taylor just could
not hold the focus and blundered his knight. A well
fought game by both sides. Brandon showed great maturity
of planning under pressure and nerves of steel at the
height of the time pressure denouement. Bravo, Brandon!
QUAD 2
With a smile, Natasha Christiansen sets up her game with
white vs Jason Tang. Natasha and Jason each scored 2 points
to tie 1-2nd in Quad 2. Jason was +8 to 1959 rating and
Natasha was +19 to 1905 rating. Bravo, Natasha and Jason!
10 yr old Alex Yu sets up his game in Round 2.
Alex was 1.5 for the day an even 50 percent and
a +2 rating to 1904. Bravo, Alex!
QUAD 3
Nisha Deolalikar scored 2.5 points to take
clear 1st place and a +21 to 1919 rating!
Brava, Nisha!
Juan Payan scored 2 points to claim clear
2nd place in Quad 3. A +15 point addition
brought his rating to 1868. Bravo, Juan!
11 yr old Suraj Ramanathan thinks hard for 1.5 points in Quad 3.
QUAD 4
3 time BCC Grand Prix winner, David Martin
scored 2.5 points to take clear 1st place, and
a +82 to 1770 rating. Bravo, David!
QUAD 5
Bharath Heggadahalli scored 2.5 points to capture
clear 1st place and a +50 to 1688 rating.
Bravo, Bharath!
FULL HOUSE!
Bharath Heggadahalli vs Bob Oresick, Round 1.
Bob scored 2 points for clear 2nd place and a
+19 to 1646 rating. Bravo, Bob!
QUAD 6
Bernie Xu, black vs Arthur Emanuel Williams, Round 2: draw!
Arthur scored 2 points for clear 1st place and a + 13 to
1634 rating. Bravo, Arthur! John Archibald and Steve Stepak
each scored 1.5 points to tie for 2-3rd place. (background):
Bharath Heggadahalli plays black vs Boshen Li.
8 yr old John Archibald 2-3rd place and a
+7 to 1573 rating. Way-ta-go, Johnnie!
QUAD 7
Jerry Li scored a perfect 3 points to take clear 1st place
and a +29 to 1679 rating. Here Jerry is playing
Jeff Weinstein in Round 1 who he beat. Bravo, Jerry!
Jeff scored 1.5 points to share 2-3rd place with
Ray Behenna.
THOUGHTFUL AND ENGAGING
Jeff Weinstein plays white vs the ever congenial and
contemplative Ray Behenna. Jeff and Ray each scored
1.5 points to share 2-3rd place. Jeff was +13 to 1455
and Ray, +6 to 1482 rating, respectively.
(background): Lance Wong plays Lewis Tu.
3SS("SMALL SWISS")
Lance Wong plays his 4th tournament ever, and
first time at BCC. Lance and his younger brother
Neil participated in this wonderful event.
Lance was a perfect 3-0 to take top honors in the
Small Swiss. Bravo, Lance!
[ps: Lance, Neil and their mom drove 1 and a
half hours from Connecticut to get to this event!]
GETTING ON TOP OF THEIR GAMES
Evan Wang plays Lawrence Tu in Round 3.
(background): Neil Wong, black vs Tianna Wang.
Tianna Wang thinks about the position.
Tianna, her younger brother Ryan, and Lewis
Tu each scored 2 points for 2-5 place and a share
in some prize money.
SCENES FROM AROUND THE HALL
Professor Jerry Williams white, vs Boshen Li, Round 1.
Jerry won this encounter for a total of 1.5 points.
BCC Veteran Howard Goldowsky, Round 1.
CROWD SOURCING
(left to right): Professor Jerry Williams v Bharath Heggadahalli;
Arthur Williams vs Bernie Xu; Suraj Ramanathan (standing)
Alex Yu, Brandon Wu, Nisha Deolalikar, Taylor Curtis,
Juan Payan, Walther Driscoll, Howard Goldowsky,
Gabriel Birzu, Jason Xiong.
TOURNAMENT ADMINISTRATION
Bernardo Iglesias, Chief TD;
Natasha Christiansen, Assistant TD
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Free
To run through pine forest, make bed of felled leaves, To breathe in the holy, untainted mist, To fo
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Table Top. Wood, handmade, Chess, Checkers, Game Table, coffee table
Great vintage find by Traincasesandmore (40.00 USD) http://ift.tt/1SxJhSo
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Hot Chess in Phoenix: US Open Begins
FM Mike Klein of Chess.com is reporting for US Chess from the 116th US Open in Phoenix, where the Main Event has kicked off, as well as the Denker, Barber and NGIT.
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