Saturday, September 11, 2010

Bryan Clark on Chess from Las Vegas


Bryan Clark, a life member of the BCC, is a professional poker player in Las Vegas:


I've got some material which you may be able to use for the Boyston Chess Club Weblog. Though, you should note that the article links are somewhat promotional for the magazine I edit.



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1. Two very famous poker players have a proposition bet on a chess game.

The first player is Howard Lederer. He's won $5.5 million in tournament poker including two World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and two World Poker Tour (WPT) titles. He's also the primary owner of Full Tilt Poker (though a company called Tiltware and later Pocket Kings).

Howard is a former chess player who had a peak rating over 2100. However, he hasn't played a tournament game since at least 1987 when his rating was 1951.

The second player is Allen Cunningham. His career tournament winnings are over $10 million, including five WSOP bracelets.

Allen was a total novice at chess when the bet was made.

The bet was made in early 2010. The two of them will play a single game of chess in early 2011 (one year after the bet). Whoever wins the game, wins the bet. The stakes have been specified.

So, Allen Cunningham (the total novice) has one year to learn how to play chess well enough to beat Howard Lederer, the former Expert who hasn't played chess seriously in a couple decades.

Allen is putting tremendous effort into studying the game. Howard is not preparing at all.

This thread contains considerable information (including comments from Allen Cunningham as 'Allen C') about the bet and Allen's progress. I have posts in the thread under the name 'Dynasty'.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/140/chess-other-board-games/cunningham-prop-bet-get-2100-a-736080/



2. As the editor of an online poker magazine, I've published three chess articles recently.

All three of the articles are very good. I think the quality is at least as good was what you would expect from Chess Life or Chess Horizons (when it was good).

Due to the magazine's agreement with the author, you can't reproduce the articles on the BCC Weblog. But, you are certainly welcome to link to the articles if you think they're worthwhile.

September- Breakthrough in the Endgame
http://www.twoplustwo.com/magazine/issue69/pierre-boutquin-chess-breakthrough-endgame.php

July- The Weaker Minor Piece
http://www.twoplustwo.com/magazine/issue67/pierre-boutquin-chess-weaker-minor-piece.php

May- The Principle of Two Weaknesses
http://www.twoplustwo.com/magazine/issue65/pierre-boutquin-chess-principle-weaknesses.php

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