Put the champagne back in the fridge

The Chess Journalists of America (CJA) announced their 2005 prize winners on August 10th at the U. S. Open Chess Championships in Phoenix, Arizona during the annual CJA meeting.

My acceptance speech -- well, it's going to have to wait.

Chess Horizons Editor Mark Donlan submitted my article "2004 Boylston Chess Club Championship" (based on content from my blog of the same name) in the Best Magazine Tournament Report category. The bad news is that I was beat out by articles written by Mig and Tim Redman; the good news is that I received an Honorable Mention (see category 14).

I can imagine the judges reviewing the submissions: "Mig, Redman, Heisman, uh huh; Kavalek, Shabazz, Nunn, sure; DG...who the heck is this guy?"

Further down the list, you'll see that our occasional Guest Blogger Howard Goldowsky won the award for Best Editorial. Congratulations!

This leads me to a bit of editorializing of my own. Two years ago the CJA finally caught up with the new media trend by introducing internet-based award categories. This was certainly a major step forward in recognizing the role the web is playing in communicating chess-related information. In fact, I would be inclined to argue that web-based chess journalism far exceeds print at this point in time (at least in quantity, if not quality).

Yet, the current CJA internet categories are rather limiting given the broad range of web-based chess content being produced. For example, Michael Goeller had no better choice than to submit The Kenilworth Chess Club site under the Best General Website category. While he had little chance of winning in that category, I suspect he would have been a very strong contender in the unavailable Best Chess Club site category.

More importantly (and I'm sure you saw this coming from a hundred miles away), there are no categories for chess blogs. In fact, had 2004 Boylston Chess Club Championship not been adapted into a print article, there would have been no logical category to submit the site to (they don't even have a Web-Based Tournament Report category). Surely sites like Mandelamaza and The Chess Mind deserve the opportunity to receive recognition for the quality chess journalism they represent.

As a start, I would like to encourage the CJA to reevaluate the web-based award categories. Specifically, I believe -- at a minimum -- a Best Chess Blog category should be added. Should we be lucky enough to achieve this objective, in the future they might even consider sub-Blog categories, e.g. Best Chess Improvement Blog, Best Chess Analysis Blog, etc.

What do you think?

Eden

Photos from Natalie's trip to the Chess Garden at Crocker Park in Westlake (Ohio?):

Sign - Giant Chess Board - Not so giant chess boards

I like the sign the best, though the "chess attendant" in referee stripes is kind of interesting.

Chess Dude Chess Star

Chess in Chicago named Eric Rosen (chessdude64) their August 2005 Chess Kid of the Month.

The BCC connection? In the article they used the picture of Eric and his Dad (chessdad64) which I took when they visited the club this month. Regrettably, the BCC didn't get a mention nor the photo a credit. Oh well, that's life in the Wild West Web.

College rivalry

It looks like the sparks are continuing to fly between Athens and Atlanta. From Paulwesterdawg's Georgia Sports Blog:

Top 10 Overheard Things Freshmen at Georgia Tech Say

9. "I can't believe it. This is where Hochtuey Sheshmed went to school before he became northwest Nepal semi-regional chess champ. I-have-arrived!"

Chess Art III

A piece by Paul Kos

Got my back

J'adoube has weighed in on my spat with Quandoman:

Well, just remember that DG is our homeboy.... Mess with him and you'll have a bunch of Knights tilting at you...

It's good to have black belt karate masters as friends. Oh yeah, I edited out his humor indications to make him sound more fierce.

Chess Real Estate

With a name like that, you'd think he might actually play the game...

When Stephen Chess sells the last commercial condo in Union City's Chess Commerce Center, his legacy will remain in the abstract form of a king, queen and pawn splayed across a chess board.

Although he says it was a "dog-and-pony show" to meet Union City's requirements for public art, Mr. Chess has become quite attached to the 6-foot-tall display visible to all who drive down Kohoutek Way. Even if the 19 new owners decide to change the name of the three-acre development, he's pleased to note that those three chess pieces that mark the entrance aren't going anywhere.

"This leaves my name here forever," said Mr. Chess...

Read "Chess pieces helped make him a player in commercial condos" from the San Jose Business Journal.

Fodder for the sidebar

You can be sure that some of these kind words from Goran Urosevic (of Chess News and Events) about BCC Weblog will find their way onto the sidebar.

Last round of the BCC Reubens Landey

The Reubens Landey is part of the BCC championship cycle. The winner earns a place in the fall championship played among the club masters.

Tomorrow we conclude the Reubens Landey with the following match-ups in a tight race:

Reubens Landey Round 5 (final) pairings

Theil (3.0) v Warfield (2.5)
Newman (2.5) v Didham (2.5)
Clayton (2) v Paphitis (2)
Gupta (2) v Slive (1.5)
Nutzman (1.5) v Oresick (1.0)

1/2 pt. bye - Glickman (3 /5),

1 pt. bye - Blanchfield (2.0 /5)

If you can't bring the club to the jungle...

...bring the jungle to the club! Here are a couple of photos from The 64 Square Jungle's visit to the BCC for last Tuesday's blitz:

Chessdad64 and Chessdude64 standing beneath the
late, great Dean of New England Chess Harry Lyman

Chessdude64 battles with former BCC Champion FM Chris Chase

See also my previous post "How did you find out about the Club?".

There's no such thing as bad publicity

I know that's what they say, but what do you suppose Susan Polgar's reaction would be to this headline on Gawker Media blog Kotaku's coverage of her world record-breaking simul?

Start saving your money

I doubt anyone is going to give their favorite chess player one of these as a birthday gift:

The Jewel Royale (Chess Set) Company Limited and jewelry partner Boodles is currently finalizing the commissioning of the design and production of The Jewel Royale Chess Set - a gold and platinum gem encrusted chess set and board valued at some US$9 million. Constructed in gold and platinum, this single chess set will be set with diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires and pearls.

New additions to...

... Other Chess Blogs: En Passant and The Closet Grandmaster.

A "C" player

Link

Counter-Attack

A 15-year-old detainee at Shuman Juvenile Detention Center tried to escape Tuesday by punching through the ceiling plaster of his room with a smuggled wooden chess piece....

In Tuesday's attempt, [Raemon] Thomas stood on a sink and used a king from a chess set to punch his way through the ceiling, Wilson said, adding that he thought the effort took place over the course of several days.

Read "Detainee, 15, tries to escape from Shuman Center" from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Topless Chess

Link 1 - Link 2

More Street Chess

An article about the scene around the chess tables on Market Street in San Francisco -- more street, than chess.

The Ghost of Frank Sinatra?

I found this link over at Chess Pundit and DreadPirateJosh -- not our old friend BlueRook, but BlueEyedRook.

...And here's one from The Kenilworth Chess Club's Blog page -- Peter Dove's Chess Blog.

Speaking of The Kenilworth Blog page, it now provides listings comparable in scope to mine with the addition of small blurbs describing the background and/or content of each. A very worthy resource, though I suspect it will be difficult to maintain the timeliness and accuracy of descriptions as blogs become inactive or change their focus.

Pinhead Wiki - Update

I'm sorry to report that the Wikpedia "geeks" have had their way. All references to the Knights Errant as chess bloggers have been removed.

Boycott Wikpedia, anyone?

See also my previous post "Pinhead Wiki".

How to make friends and influence people

Maybe it's something about the internal solitary experience of playing chess; or, maybe it's the overly competitive attitude which comes from the unwavering effort to "kill" the opponent. In any case, it seems that chess players are often extremely skilled at making their points in ways which are unlikely to endear them to others.

Our "friend", Quandoman, is no exception. As a result of my post mentioning his anti-De La Maza rant, several readers have left comments on his blog. In response to a comment from Blue Devil Knight, Quandoman points out that:

• He follows a chess improvement program which is superior to De La Maza's, but which he needs to keep a secret so his potential opponents can't use that knowledge against him [DG: What percentage of games between Class B players do you suppose are won/lost due to opponent research?].
  


• While doing tactics is part of the program, unlike De La Maza's, his program doesn't make the mistake of actually having you solve the problems.
  


• He is so brilliant that his coach sought him out and doesn't make him pay for lessons [DG: Presumably the prestige which comes from having Quandoman as a student is more valuable than mere money].
  

Sure seems like the kind of guy that would be fun to go out and have a beer with -- not!