Engaging Pieces - from front to back

Pre-order Engaging Pieces by Howard Goldowsky at Amazon.com.

PUI

In reviewing his Online Chess and Poker playing in April, Brian Colson discovered that...

...playing [chess] against crappy players while doped on pain killers is much more fun than it should be.

Who needs Modafinil?

Candids from the M-Tel Insurance Publicity Event

Blogger Goran Urosevic of Chess Strategy is in Sofia and sent along these photos from the "ceremony" in which players were given their free life insurance policies.

What's in a name? - Redux

Harold got it wrong, but in a rather amusing way...

The topic of last Saturday's Chess Notes column in the Boston Globe was GM Alex Stripunsky. Columnist Harold Dondis wrote that Alex...

"...will lead the New York Queens, one of two new teams in the US Chess League this year."

The New York Queens? Sounds like a transvestite cabaret group playing the Manhattan club scene. Then again, it probably makes more sense than Pioneers.

Related Post: What's in a name?

The Best of Goldowsky

Howard Goldowsky's new book, Engaging Pieces: Interviews and Prose for the Chess Fan, is off to the printers.

The book is a collection of Howard's chess writing from the past six years. It includes interviews with many interesting chess celebrities, chess fiction, and in-depth reviews and editorials. All but two stories and the appendix have been previously published, but most people have probably not read everything. The appendix lists every chess novel or anthology of chess fiction with considerable chess content published from 1933 to the present. Many books from 2007 are included in the bibliography. It is the most complete and up-to-date list of its kind. If one is interested in chess fiction, this is a must-read list.

Knights and other tactics hounds will be interested in Howard's profile of Michael de la Maza which originally appeared in Chess Horizons. The story "Chess as a Sport" also incorporates the thrill of tactics study.

Greater Bostonians may find interest in "When the Balance Be in Your Favor", which follows the going-ons in Harvard Square and "En Passant: An Opportunity Lost" which takes place at MIT.

Here is the complete table of contents:

INTERVIEWS/PROFILES
Michael de la Maza ('400 points in 400 days')
Mig Greengard
Paul Hoffman (chess writer and TV broadcaster)
Hikaru Nakamura
Charles Katz (former VP of Edge TV -- was planning to have chess on cable TV )
Chrilly Dollinger and Muhammad Nasir Ali (Team Hydra)
Jennifer Shahade (author, Chess Bitch)
Greg Shahade (President of the U.S. Chess League)
Joe Block (chess playing Beauty and the Geek star)
David Shenk (author, Immortal Game)
Mark Glickman (USCF Ratings Committee Chair)
Michel Weinreb (author, Kings of NY)

FICTION
En Passant: An Opportunity Lost
Chess as a Sport
Chess Doesn't Care
Inspiration for a Young Chess Master
A Conversation with Anthony Meters
When the Balance Be in Your Favor

OPINION
The Chess Journalist Letter
Tournament Entries: A New Perspective
Computer Chess: Looking Back, Looking Forward
Chess and the Art of Negotiation: A Review

APPENDIX
A bibliography of contemporary chess fiction

Engaging Pieces is currently available for pre-order at Amazon.com.

Hearing Monday on Wamala defense motions

From "Ex-teacher seeks gag order in rape case" at the Nashua Telegraph:

A former Lowell (Mass.) High School math teacher accused of raping three young women has asked the court to gag prosecutors, police and other officials from talking about the case.

Severine Wamala, 46, of 22 Danforth Road, Apt. 22, faces 34 felony sexual-assault charges, each punishable by up to 10 to 20 years in prison. He has been jailed since his arrest in September, unable to post $1 million bail.

Police charge Wamala repeatedly raped three young women, ranging in age from their teens to early 20s, while living in Nashua over the past year....

Wamala has denied the assault charges, and his lawyers also have filed motions arguing statements he made to detectives should not be allowed as evidence against him. A hearing on the various motions is scheduled Monday in Hillsborough County Superior Court....

Wamala’s lawyers argue the high-profile nature of the case creates an unusual risk of prejudicial publicity, and in a motion filed Wednesday, they ask the court to issue a “gag order” barring themselves and anyone else involved in the case from discussing it publicly....

Wamala’s lawyers also have filed a second motion arguing to suppress statements, including alleged admissions, Wamala made while speaking with detectives about the charges. Wamala previously had argued that detectives taunted him, calling him names including “pig,” “perv,” “faggot” and “nigger,” though prosecutors and police dispute those claims.

Wamala’s second motion argues that detectives questioned him at length after holding him for more than two hours, without reading him his Miranda rights, and also led him to believe they would let him go if he confessed to the charges.

Prosecutors have yet to file any response to the gag request or second suppression motion, and it’s not clear whether the court will consider those matters in the upcoming hearing, which was scheduled to deal with Wamala’s earlier motion to suppress statements.

Chess Now - episode 4

BDK wrote: "The lady in episode 4 is cute."

OK, maybe, but is it enough to sit through 28 minutes of technically deficient, excruciatingly bad chess video? You decide.

Related Post: Why sponsors aren't lining up for Chess on TV

Another way to win tournament prize money

I'm not sure what to make of this item...

The Insurance company sponsoring the 2007 M-Tel Masters tournament is providing free life insurance to all the competitors for the duration of the tournament. I guess it brings new meaning to the phrase "he got killed on the black side of a Najdorf."

Resigning can be hazardous to your health

Ohio prison inmate Christopher J. Newton finally got fed up with his opponent:

"I don't mean to laugh or anything," he said with a chuckle as he recalled the fateful chess game.

"But it's stupid when you look back on it. He kept giving up. Every time I put him in check, he'd give up and want to start a new game. And I tried to tell him you never give up. You never know when your opponent is going to make a mistake. So you play it out until you can't play it out any more. I just got tired of it."

So what did he do?

Christopher J. Newton murdered his cellmate because he kept surrendering during chess games.

Read "A Death Row Republican" from The Other Paper.

Hat Tip: The Chess Buzzard (who has since seemed to have gone 404 - just like Newton's cellmate, I suppose)

Shouldn't there be a law against this

From Goan Chess:

Reigning World Under 10 Champion Girish Kaushik was felicitated at the Mir Sultan Khan Academy...

Being unfamiliar with the term, I initially thought the worst; but thankfully, felicitated means congratulated. I learn something new everyday reading chess blogs.

Mice running on treadmills

A father inadvertently becomes the chess clock repairman for his son's class. Along the way he shares some pictures from the inside.

Caption Contest XVIII

Post your caption in the comments.

Source

The role of chess clubs

Shaun Press has some food for thought for brick and mortar chess clubs that are struggling in the new online world:

The main reason we have chess clubs today (as opposed to the past) is to provide a social environment for chess players. Having said that however, my belief is that a lot of chess clubs are failing to provide this. And consequently their numbers are starting to drop off.

While I'll continue this commentary at some point in the future, I'll suggest for now that for a club to increase its numbers, it needs to revisit what demand it is trying to fill, and to see if that demand still exists.

Monokroussos profiles Vigorito

Dennis interviews BCC player IM David Vigorito at The Chess Mind. Here's my favorite part:

I grew up in Massachusetts and lived in Nevada from 1996-2006. I moved back east last July. Apparently I grew tired of the great weather, fine Mexican food, and clearly marked streets.

Hard times for the sidebar

This month's cleanup of inactive chess blogs took a heavy toll on the sidebar. No longer listed are Patzer's Mind, Globular, JG's Master Quest, Strong In Mind, Chess Vault, and The Chess House. Several of these were active, high quality blogs in their day. Hopefully some will find their way back to the sphere.

Among the Knights Errant, co-founder Sancho Pawnza has been quiet for awhile. In addition, Temposchlucker, who previously announced he was done, was removed from the active list. Of course, new Knights are always joining the path like recent additions The Common Man, Korsmonaut, and Hisbestfriend.

Beyond the sidebar, 15 other blogs went silent including Strong Among the Weak, ChessVista, Chess Boxing Club Berlin, and The Chessmill. No need to fret though, as new chess blog finds continue to be added to the listings. Besides those found during "The Bet", recent additions include The Chess Buzzard, Secrets of Grandpatzer Chess, Kenyan Chess Blog, Lansing Chess Club, The Chess Archives, Steve's Correspondence Chess Adventure, and Potentially boring chess blog.

Chess Bloggers Anonymous

Chess Blog Addiction, also known as CBA, is a well known, debilitating scourge on society.

As with all addicts, the first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem. Today, Mark Weeks took that step:

It's been exactly one year to the day since I started this blog and it has become an addiction. I need help in stopping. Lots of other chess bloggers seem to be able to stop without any problem. Why can't I?

Can you find it in your heart to help him?

Mishkin crushes Tenn. High School Champ

The topic of last Saturday's Chess Notes column in The Boston Globe was this win by BCF member Paul Mishkin at the club. I am posting the full article since the editors at The Globe have yet to see fit to post the chess articles on the web. Hopefully none of the newspaper's lawyers read this blog:)

The Boston Globe, Saturday April 28, 2007

Chess Notes
By Harold Dondis and Patrick Wolff
Globe Correspondents

The Albin counter-gambit, which gives up a pawn for space in the center, is generally thought to be unsound, but Black has many tricks and traps to give him an advantage. In this game, Paul Mishkin v. Matan Prilleltensky, played at the Boylston Chess Club, Black instead falls into an opening trap set by White.

It is common in playing against a fianchetto setup to eliminate the strong fianchettoed bishop which sweeps the long diagonal. Here, however, the maneuver backfires, as on the ninth move Mishkin, White, uncorks a pawn offer that cannot be turned down. Black has three ways to take the pawn, all bad. After choosing one, Black's king position is decimated, and there is a slim chance only that he can survive. But Mishkin gets his pawn back and breaks down Black's king cover. Prilleltensky is a rated expert and the 2005 Tennessee High School Champion. Mishkin is a regular at the Boylston Club.

After 2...e5?! - The Albin counter-gambit is not a good opening. Although it is tricky, if White reacts correctly he obtains a very big advantage.

After 8.Qb3! - Notice that White indirectly protects the e-pawn since 8...Bxf3 9.Bxf3 Nxe5 is impossible with the queen hitting b7.

After 8...Bh3? - This is a famous trap. Better is 8...Nge7.

After 9.e6! Bxe6 - Forced, since 9...fxe6 10.Bxh3 and 9...Qxe6 10.Ng5 both lose material.

After 10.Ne5! Qd6 - Forced: of course 10...Nxe5?? 11.Qxb7# is mate, and 10.Na5? loses to 11.Bxb7+! Nxb7 (11...Kb8 12.Nxd7+) 12.Nxd7.

After 15.Qa4 - A pawn down, behind in material and with an exposed king, Black is of course completely lost. But the finish is still nice to see.

After 21.Bxc6+! - If Black does not take the bishop then he loses the rook, but after 21...Qxc6 then 22.Rb7+ wins the queen. Resignation is completely appropriate.

Annotations by Grandmaster Patrick Wolff

What's in a name?

The US Chess League team from Philadelphia has announced that they are changing their name from the Masterminds to the Inventors. It seems there was some moniker overlap with a local chess club. The most relevant question, of course, is whether the team will be any more competitive under the new banner.

Speaking of names, Queens' selection of Pioneers continues to generate some heat. Here are comments from The Knights of Castle Kimbark's Tom Panelas posted in a comment at US Chess Online:

As a Queens native I'm happy to see my home borough enter the USCL, and since, alas, we don't have a team here in Chicago, where I live now, this is the one I'll root for. But I have to say, I don't get the pioneer/cowboy imagery. It doesn't fit with Queens. There aren't too many places in the borough to see a nice sunset, either....

Caption Contest XVII

Post your caption in the comments.

Source

Stream of Blogiousness

• It's nice to see that disgraced talk show host Don Imus has landed a new gig -- involving chess, no less.
  
  
• Ben is back! Thanks to a post on Heather Swan's Blog, I found IM Ben Finegold's new blog.
  
  
• Having caught a bit of the poker bug myself, I found this Chess Vibes' post on the attractiveness of poker to chess players quite interesting -- until they spoiled it at the end with an advertising pitch.
  
  
• Steve Eddins offered a thoughtful and thought-provoking response to Patrick's Chess For Blood closing post.
  
  
• I've finally decided to throw in the towel on Nezha. I must admit that I actually enjoy reading his posts on the trials and tribulations of job hunting in Japan. However, interview tactics and chess tactics are not one in the same. You can now find his blog listed in the Kibitzers section.
  
  
• Alec is giving up on online chess playing due to the prevalence of cheating opponents and other bad behavior.
  
  
• The Washington Post has annointed GM Alexei Shirov the Don Quixote of Chess. Those of us who know the original, realize that the prestigous newspaper has been duped by an imposter.
  

Have you seen this piece?

And now for the back of the milk carton edition of BCC Weblog...

Adam Fletcher is looking for our help in tracking down a piece from a rare chess set:

Would it be possible for you to ask the blog readers if they could help a friend of mine find a black bishop for a rare chess board? The board is a hand-made set from England, from a gallery in Hull called Studio Anne Carlton. The set is themed around revelation and only a short run of them have been made. The gallery is out of business as far as he knows....
The missing piece is the black bishop... It's a beautiful set and it's a shame it is not complete.

Here is a gallery of pictures of the set. Can anyone help out?

Yet another way to lose a piece

Organizing a game of human chess can be a challenging endeavor. For example, who gets to be which piece?

Certain [pieces] are more popular than others, said [New Hampshire librarian and educator Michael] Sullivan, who lectures and conducts workshops throughout the country. "Most of the elementary-aged boys end up wanting to be knights," he said. "Because dressing up as a knight is very fun."

Most young girls, said Sullivan, want to be the queen. This sometimes poses a problem, because Sullivan likes to assign pieces based on height.

Problems can also arise during the play of the game.

"When the pawns are wandering off to see their daddies, and the rooks are sitting down, it can be very difficult to visualize the game," said Sullivan.

Read "Check this out: Chess play gets physical" from the Portland (ME) Press Herald.

Local chess celebrities

The West Weekly section of yesterday's Sunday Boston Globe included a story on the chess exploits of the Frenklakh family (Valery, his son Dmitry, and nephew Roman Gankin). The Frenklakhs play in Boylston Chess Club events from time to time.

I was happy to learn that teaching chess is substantially more lucrative than flipping burgers:

It was Dmitry who suggested his younger cousin, Roman Gankin, start teaching chess after school. Gankin had been manning the fryer at Wild Willy's Burgers in Watertown, and was ready for a change. "I just felt that it wasn't for me," Gankin said. "I needed something more intellectual."

Now Gankin earns in three to four hours of teaching chess what he made spending 18 hours at Wild Willy's.

The article also mentions BCF member Matt Klegon, one of Valery's students, who recently won the Massachusetts High School Championship. Congratulations Matt!

Read "Chess mates - Family shares love, talent for game."

It's always closer than you think

I've been away for awhile and just got a chance to read this e-mail from Brian Salomon:

Members of the chess community may wish to know that Derek O'Dell, friend and active President of the Chess Club of Virginia Tech, is recovering after the shootings Monday.

Derek notified the chess club:

hey everyone, i'm doing ok. I was shot once in the arm. I was in Norris 207 in a german class when the incident occurred. Thank you all very much for your prayers, wishes, messages, and thoughts. I love you all very much and I'm very fortunate to be here still with all of you.

Love,
Derek

My apologies if this has already been covered elsewhere in the blogosphere, as it will take me some time to get through the 800 or so posts waiting for me in Bloglines.

Why sponsors aren't lining up for Chess on TV

So incredibly bad, it's humorous!

Peace Offering

From "At Pleasant Valley, chess is a school sport" at The Herald-Mail:

It's a competitive game of strategy, but team adviser Mike DiLeo stresses good sportsmanship, as with most sporting events....

That sentiment is echoed on the T-shirts chess club team members wear. "Play to learn" is on the front, with "Play to win . . . accept a draw . . . show good sportsmanship!" on the back.

Accept a draw? Under what circumstances? What if your opponent offers a draw in a position where you are clearly winning? I'm all for good sportsmanship, but I'm not sure accepting draw offers ought to fall within the definition.

MonRoi and Copyright

Paul MacIntyre forwarded an e-mail thread to me which included the following post from USCF Executive Board candidate Joe Lux:

Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 11:27 am
Post subject: Monroi and the US Championship

While "campaigning" in New England this weekend, some interesting developments have occured with serious ramifications for the chess community as a whole.

Stephen Dann has written a chess column for the Worcester Telegram and Gazette for over 30 years. Two weeks ago, he submitted a column that included a game score: Curdo-Rizzitano. The newspaper refused to include the gamescore. It was included on the Monroi website. It seems if you register to use the site, you have agreed to recognize Monroi's copyright on game scores.

A week ago, Harold Dondis had the same problem at the Boston Globe, where he has written a column for 50 years.

Both papers are own[ed] by the NY Times. I called Dylan McClain this morning. He has discussed th[e] matter already with NYT corporate lawyers, and is trying to reach Bill Hall.

I called Glenn Petersen, who probably has the most practical experience on publishing games and copyright laws in the chess community. He says there had been court cases where unannotated games are free from copyright laws, but that now with the internet, new rulings might be required.

Monroi will be recording all the games from the US Championship. Will they now hold hostage the distribution of these games around the world?

This is the type of issue that USCF must address. How does this effect Chess Life, and every other publication of chess? Is this what we can expect from endorsing the Monroi machine? I hope we don't need to find a chess attorney who can do pro bono work to stop Monroi, but we have to be prepared for that possibility. Maybe Monroi can be encouraged to change its policy before it goes that far.

Does anyone know about other chess journalists that have been effected by Monroi?

Chessically yours, Joe Lux

It seems to me that MonRoi is playing with fire. If they insist on their right to copyright unannotated game scores in contradiction to the long held precedent of free use, will organizers have any other option than to bar the use of MonRoi in their tournaments? Then again, if MonRoi cuts a deal with organizers which benefits them both at the expense of players and chess journalists, what then?

In light of this last question, Harold Dondis' contribution to the thread might be of some concern:

I have been in communication with Chris Bird who handles Monroi in this area. He has provided me with games from the Eastern Class and given me permission to publish games. I give Continental credit for the game score. I am sure Bill Goichberg will accord this privilege to others. HBD

While it is certainly "kind" of the CCA to give their permission, the real question is: why should we need to ask at all?

The new and improved CJA Awards?

Long time readers will recall that we've previously addressed the annual Chess Journalists of America (CJA) Awards with both seriousness and fun. As the 2007 Awards season gets underway, our friend Howard Goldowsky reports on his efforts to reform the organization from within (he sits on the CJA Awards committee) and on this year's changes to the awards program:

This year's CJA Awards Call for Entries should now be published in the April Chess Life. My guess is that people have begun to receive the April Chess Life, because I have begun to receive entries for the Mainstream category (I am the contact address for this category), Category 24. Here are some notes about this year's awards...

Over the last decade or so, the CJA awards have received much notoriety in the chess media. People (including myself) have complained about the high rate of self-nominations and the general absence of quality entries; in general, the CJA awards have not been taken seriously for some time. Probably the most ruthless attack on the awards came a number of years ago when Edward Winter publicly denounced the CJA as "a dazzlingly undemanding body with a track-record of dispensing hundreds of awards, often to self nominees [sic] with no realistic hope of winning an accolade from elsewhere. The winners read like a Who’s Who of who deserve nothing."

During the past three-plus years, I've been lobbying the CJA to reform its awards system. This year will employ the first major attempt to bolster the awards' prestige. There are two major changes. The first is that the CJA has reduced the number of categories from 39 to 24. This creates more competition per category. Done away with are categories that have historically received little or no entries and redundant categories. The second major change is the addition of Category 24, the Mainstream Media category. This category is open to free nominations by CJA members, and the CJA will accept nominations from any mainstream article (see the official rules for more details).

Here are the official rules and new categories for 2007.

Now my interest, of course, is in the chess blogosphere and I'm sorry to see that none of the changes reflect the new realities of chess journalism which have been established through the growth of our medium. Certainly, Howard has his own agenda for change which he has been pursuing for many years (finally, with at least some small measure of success); nevertheless, I might have hoped that his familiarity and experience with chess blogs could have bled over into the CJA reform process. Not this year obviously, though I'm sure Howard will tell us that this is likely to be a multi-year process and there will be more opportunities for change and improvement in the future.

So where does this leave chess bloggers in 2007? While it is a plausible option for bloggers to submit their sites to the Best General Website Category, I'd be surprised if a blog would ever win. While blogs, I suppose, are technically websites, a chess blog is as different from a traditional chess website as that website is from an offline chess publication. Quite simply, it's not an apples to apples comparison and I don't see the judges abandoning the traditional criteria for what makes a good chess website in order to give the award to a blog.

The alternative is to submit a single post or series of posts to one of the media independent categories. From my reading of the rules these might include: Best Tournament Report, Any Media; Best Human Interest Story; Best Historical Article; Best Interview; Best Editorial; Best Review; Best Analysis; Best Instruction; and Best Humorous Contribution. I can certainly think of blog posts I've read this year that fit into each of these categories; however, I wonder whether the judges will consider a post to be equivalent to an article or a story. Also, I'm not sure if they will consider a series of related posts (e.g., The Chess Mind's series on "Something Different vs. the French") as a single journalistic piece.

For my part, I'm considering testing these concerns by submitting the complete BCC Weblog coverage of the Boston Blitz's 2006 US Chess League season to the Best Tournament Report category. How do you suppose it might fair against current CJA President Jerry Hanken's most recent edition of his endless annual reports on US and National Opens? For amusement, I could submit my post on the Pete Tamburro chess journalism awards to the Best Humorous Contribution category. Do you suppose the judges will find it funny?

The CJA Best Chess Blog Award ... we're just going to have to wait.

The hidden side of everything (even chess)

Freakonomics author Steven D. Levitt shares a childhood chess story.

Paramounties make the turn

Here is an update on the standings of the Paramount A-section:

3.5/4 Ed Astrachan (1859)
4.0/5 Ruben Portugues (1819)
3.0/5 Evan Sonkin (1864)
2.5/5 Jon Lee (1801)
1.0/4 Ken Ho (1726)
0.0/5 Bill MacLellan (1600) - withdrawn

5 rounds down; 5 to go.

Blog Terrorists Strike Again

IM Ben Feingold's blog and Rob's Chess Blog have both been hijacked.

Be careful out there.

Caption Contest XVI

Pieces from Rev. Jesse Jackson's chess set

Post your caption in the comments.

Source

DG wins with eighteen to spare!

Read Mark's gracious concession post. The 1972 Fischer - Spassky World Championship match souvenir will make a fine addition to the Boylston Chess Foundation archives.

Related Post: Collecting on a bet

With coaches like these...

Kansas sixth grader Hannah Dalke has learned some key tactics from her coaches on how to win more games and move up the scholastic rankings.

One of Dalke's chess tactics that she uses when she is far back in her division is to try and do a four-move-checkmate. If this is not blocked, she is able to move up faster in her division. Also, if a timer is not present at her table, Dalke will take an excessive amount of time to think of her movement.

This disturbs her opponent causing them to resign, allowing her to sometimes win a match.

Hannah also points out the importance of diet to competitive chess players.

"It helps when Isabelle Moyer and I eat bananas before we play chess. Every time we eat them, we win," said Dalke. "It's our secret. Our coaches even bring bananas now for us to eat."

From "McPherson student uses game of chess to expand horizons" at the McPherson Sentinel.

Wamala trial delayed

From "District may vet workers more fully" at The Boston Globe (bold italics are mine):

Job candidates and volunteers in the Lowell school system may soon have to undergo a national criminal background check before they are hired.

The policy change is being considered by school and law-enforcement officials as a way to address concerns about the system already in place....

Concerns about background checks were prompted by the arrest last September of Severine E. Wamala, a math teacher at the high school. Wamala, 45, a Uganda native, was arrested on charges of sexually molesting three young women, ranging in ages from 15 to 23, in New Hampshire.

At his arraignment in Nashua, Wamala pleaded not guilty to 24 charges of aggravated felonious sexual assault and 11 charges of incest. The alleged assaults did not involve students from Lowell High School, where Wamala also organized the chess club. He is being held on $1 million bail in Manchester.

His trial had been scheduled to convene this month, but has been delayed, according to Patricia LaFrance, assistant county attorney for the Hillsborough County Attorney's office. At the time of his arrest, Wamala was living in Nashua. He moved there after living in Lowell.

Martin said Wamala had undergone a CORI background check for the Lowell job, but it did not reveal the fact that he had been arrested previously in New Hampshire on other charges. Martin did not have details of those charges.

The information had not been relayed to Lowell officials at the time of Wamala's hire, said Martin, who explained that the district learned of his record only after his arrest in connection with the assaults.

Wamala was hired as a substitute math teacher in 2003 and promoted to a full-time teacher in 2004. A year later, he was promoted to mathematics department chairman.

Collecting on a bet

In my post "How many chess blogs are there anyway?" I laid out the following proposition:

..."In the next two hours, I bet I can find 5 chess blogs you've never seen before." Any takers?

While most of the chess blog reading community didn't seem interested in taking me up on it, About Chess' Mark Weeks decided to play:

You're on. I'll trust you to use only two hours, and you'll trust me when I say whether I've seen them or not. My database has 275 entries, of which 127 were active in the last six months. Please give me a heads-up when you're ready. - Mark

Now, I had originally proposed this as a bar bet, so I wasn't really anticipating going up against one of the few other individuals in the entire world who actively maintains a list of chess blogs. Therefore, this needs to be viewed as probably the sternest possible test of my proposition. I nevertheless gladly accept the challenge in the spirit of "if it's not hard, it's not worth doing."

As Mark points out, trust is key to this exercise. On my side, I will actually complete the exercise live on BCC Weblog. I will list new chess blog finds at the bottom of this post and include the elapsed time starting at 0 and going to 120 minutes. If you are so inclined, you can keep checking back in real time to make sure I don't add anything after the two hours have elapsed. For Mark's part, he publishes his chess blog database on the web for all to see. While it may not be perfectly up to date and while he may have come across other chess blogs which he didn't list for one reason or another, he will need a compelling explanation if he claims to have seen all the blogs I find yet not have them in his list. All that being said, I have every reason to believe that this exercise will be pursued on the up-and-up by both sides. I'm sure Mark agrees.

Mark added one more stipulation to the challenge:

P.S. I'll accept no more than one blog not written in English!

Now I'm not sure why we ought to be discriminating against non-English chess bloggers, but since I don't have any other takers I'll gladly accept his conditions. Should I come across more than one non-English blog I will list them below, but recognize that only one can count towards the quota of five.

What are the stakes? That's not been discussed, though after I win I'm sure Mark will come up with an appropriate prize. Am I feeling a bit cocky? I'm absolutely brimming with confidence that I will prevail. In fact, I'd be surprised if I even need to use the second hour (I sure hope I don't end up eating these words!).

Keep checking back; I'll be starting soon...

Starting now!

I wanna get better at chess! (3)

Hypermodernity Chess Blog (7)

Snodland Chess Club (9)

Chess Opening for Blitz!!! (11)

Diary of an Itinerant Chess Player (13)

That's five in thirteen minutes, but I'm going to keep on going in case Mark has seen any of these before.

Mida's chess corner (16)

Chess In Canada's Capital (17)

Abend's Chess Blog (18)

World Chess Championship Blog (19) - Actually Mark will know of this one since it is his. Apparently he started it last month.

Chess Apocalypse Now (23)

Dan's Correspondence Chess Blog (24)

CHESS COACH , ajedrez a la orden (26) - Spanish

Bangladesh Chess (27)

Eastern New York Chess Association (28)

Jerry Chess (29)

VICKI chess engine (33)

Zeb Fortman II Chess Blog (34)

Fischer Random Chess Email Club (36)

The Chess-ucation of Raths (38)

Chess Monographs (39)

FCPL Chess News (41)

Chess Tiger Chess Rimau - World Chess Entertainment (44)

Chess by Andy (46)

Texas Chess Association (47)

MagicMadness' Chess Blog (55)

Chessalicious (58)

OK, that's an hour. I'm calling it now with 60 minutes to spare. Mark, do I have at least five you haven't seen before? Let me know what I've won :)

Talking Patzer Talk

To be honest, it is sometimes difficult to find chess at Chess Patzer Theories. However, that doesn't mean there isn't any interesting information there -- especially if you like moblogging technology and/or Malaysian street food. A few of Andrew's recent posts caught my eye.

First, he came clean about doing paid sponsored posts for PayPerPost. I've been fairly hesitant about over commercializing this blog, something that certainly can't be said for Chess Patzer Theories. For example, I waited over a year before putting Google ads up here and have tried to make them relatively unobtrusive (which is good for the readers, though not so good for earnings). Nevertheless, every dollar helps our struggling foundation and if PayPerPost is really as easy and (relatively) lucrative as Andrew suggests then it might be worth a look.

Next, he mentions Alexa website popularity ratings and includes rankings for several chess sites and blogs. I can see another installment of my "Measuring the Chess Blogosphere" series on the horizon.

Finally, there is this cryptic post which suggests that his blog is in its final days. At first I thought it might be an April Fool's Day joke, but the post is dated April 2nd. Who knows if they even have the April Fool's tradition in Malaysia? In any case, Andrew promises "Reason and explanation tomorrow." Whatever happens, I certainly hope he doesn't plan on shutting down ChessPublisher.

Stand up again, please

It turns out that BCF member Kevin Croxen has a literary chess accomplishment which far exceeds getting a question posted on Susan Polgar's blog. His article, "The Russian Myth of Lasker's Last Tournament," was recently published in the Quarterly for Chess History Vol. 12.

Congratulations, Kevin.

Land of the Chessically-Challenged Giants

The Chess House is pitching Giant Chess Sets. The post includes two pictures which "...show what can be done to make a giant chess set a very attractive part of any landscape."

One of the pictures (reposted below) also shows that some people still don't know how to properly set up the board and pieces of their giant chess set.

Where Sunday events are no problem

From the (Gary, Indiana) Post-Tribune:

More than 60 youth and adults converged on Christ Baptist Church for the inaugural "Chess for Christ" tournament.

Chess was chosen by church organizers as the centerpiece activity for the gathering because of its thought-provoking qualities, according to deacon Jerry Wiggins, church business manager....

"Chess for Christ" is a ministry of "Men for Christ" at Christ Baptist Church, where the Rev. W. Maurice White Jr. is pastor.

If you find televised chess too exciting...

...you might want to check out chess on the radio.

Politics and Promotion

Jack Lemoine has been posting some interesting chess-related information on his blog:

• A piece from current USCF President Bill Goichberg which argues that the current USCF political situation pales in comparison to the period 1996-2001.


• An interview with Paul Truong regarding local chess promotion.

Chess Video Goes Mainstream

There was a time, not long ago, when a personally produced chess video game or lesson was a unique occurrence. I remember Chris Kilgore's effort a couple of years ago and how impressed I was (unfortunately I can't find it on the web anymore).

Nowadays, with YouTube, Google Video, et. al. video has taken off everywhere and so too in chess, as well. Here's a rundown of recent personally produced chess videos I've seen in the blogosphere:

• Chess Strategy has produced two video chess lessons -- the first features the game Taimanov-Bronstein, and the second Addison-Fischer. By the way, if you haven't registered at the site yet, what are you waiting for? In addition to the content on the blog, registered users receive extended lessons via e-mail. I've received two so far and they've both been worthwhile. Besides, it's free!


• PE's Chess Cast has been listed here for quite awhile, but until recently I never actually watched one of the podcasts -- some pretty weird stuff it turns out. I don't know about all of them but the one I watched has this sock puppet animal talking in front of a demostration board. Whatever helps teach the kids I guess.


• Manju posted a video covering a very basic K+P vs. K ending. The content won't be of much interest except to beginners, but I never get to hear anyone speaking Dutch around here.


• J'adoube has posted videos of several of his games recently and this one where he takes on Dennis Monokroussos' anti-French line. Jim is actually a bit unfair to Dennis in the video since Dennis never claimed that his line was a refutation of the defense. In fact, Monokroussos is quite clear that his line is bad if Black plays appropriately. This was originally a multi-part series on Dennis' old blog and when he posts the last part to his new one, you'll see that he offers a multitude of good solutions for Black. All that being said, Jim does a nice job unearthing a key improvement in the variation.


• My favorite recent video comes from Emily's Chess Blog. Emily's enthusiasm is absolutely infectious and you've got to love that pink and yellow chess board!

New Jersey Knockouts Logo

This one is kind of cool...

In other US Chess League news, the Commissioner reports that Dallas and New York will both have new managers for the upcoming season. Of course, manager changes in the USCL aren't exactly the same as in, say, baseball. No one gets fired for team (under-)performance. Instead, the current incumbent gets tired or moves away and then someone new gets suckered into the role.

Do I have that right, Matt?

A Master's degree with a minor in Chess

If you want to earn an MBA from Virginia's Hampton University you're going to have to learn to play chess.

Chess is more than fun to first-year students in Hampton's five-year MBA program. It's part of the curriculum. A third of the course Critical Analysis and Strategy is devoted to learning and playing it.

After experimenting with chess in business administration classes for more than a decade, [Sid Howard] Credle[, dean of Hampton University's business school,] formally incorporated it in 2000 into the new MBA program, whose graduates finish with both bachelor's and master's degrees.

The game is a way to teach critical thinking and strategic skills in a dynamic environment.

Just as in, well, the business world.

So who is this Sid Credle guy?

...a past national champion in one of the lower ratings...

Here's his USCF rating card. It's hard to tell from his tournament history where the "past national champion" title came from. Though if you'd like to meet Sid, it looks like you'd have a pretty good shot at it at this year's Foxwoods Open.

Caption Contest XV

Post your caption in the comments.

Source

Queens Pioneers Logo

Ever seen a horse in Queens that didn't have a policeman on it?

Speaking of BCC players...

1. IM David Vigorito tied for fourth at the just completed NACA 4th North American FIDE Invitational in Chicago.


2. Kevin Croxen had a question of his answered at Susan Polgar's Blog.

Trouble By The Lake

It seems that things didn't go particularly smoothly at the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Chess Championship. Strange rules, not enough officials and lack of organization ultimately led to almost half the kids walking out by round 2. Here are two reports, ...:

• Tom Larson (Chicago Public Schools) Screws up the Elementary City Chess Championship (Again) - Chess 4 Chicago


• Meltdown at CPS Chess Meet - The Knights of Castle Kimbark

... a related "editorial," ...:

• A Chess Mom Speaks Out - The Knights of Castle Kimbark

... and a response from CPS:

• Chicago Public School Chess Coordinator Responds to Complaints Over Elementary Chess Tournament Problems - Chess 4 Chicago

I don't know much about the Illinois scholastic chess scene other than what I've read at The 64 Square Jungle over the years, but obviously there are issues that need to be addressed. I'm guessing it's all about adult egos, politics and power plays. How else can one explain why the CPS Championship took place the same weekend as the Illinois State K-8 Championship?

Let's all try to remember that scholastic chess is supposed to be about the kids.

Update (3/17): This story has made the front page (!) of the Chicago Tribune (Hat tip/related posts: Chess 4 Chicago & The Knights of Castle Kimbark)

Fufilling a Pledge, Part II

As a BCC member, I've also been asked to post on the blog more often.

Last week my home computer displayed the blue screen of death, and the budding digital opening database I had been working on for a month as well as my entire IPod .mp3 catalog were wiped out. Strangely, I don't miss either that much. I had listened to all the songs in the IPod several times over, and they were becoming stale. (I've already re-established half of my previous collection, having purged the songs I liked the least.)

As for the opening database, I'm trying to find a compelling reason to create another one. What's the point unless you're playing correspondence chess? The tools are there for maintaining opening lines up to move 30 and beyond, but how can non-professionals possibly expect to remember all the variations, much less recite the main lines? Maintenance always seems to clog memorization, much like going to a museum and keeping track of the captions instead of looking at the pictures. Also, the computer purchase cliche applies to opening theory as well -- the moment any analysis is published, it becomes obsolete. I personally have learned more about openings by playing over entire games, where the opening is organically attached to the middlegame and ending, than by entering and saving excerpts.

I've long struggled with opening theory, a necessary evil because I have to play professionals in the open sections. Outside my current full-time job, I'll never play more than 50 serious tournament games a year. I still haven't found the optimal medium between studying the principles and memorizing forced sequences; the only answer I've found is making more time for both. Any thoughts from BCC members on this?

- Alex Cherniack

GM Christiansen gets 3rd best game of 2006

The US Chess League has awarded the 3rd best game of the 2006 season to the Boston Blitz's Larry Christiansen for his win over Carolina's IM Milman. While ranked fairly highly by the judges, I found their comments on the game somewhat tepid (other than GM "I have no memory at all" Shabalov's).

As I remember it, even the titled players in the crowd were saying that Milman's attack would play itself and that he needed only 4 or 5 straightforward moves to bring Larry to submission. Instead, it was Christiansen who unleashed the lightning strike on his opponent's King. It was an exciting game and a very worthy award winner.

Hundreds of channels - no monthly fee

Forever is a long time, so you never know (see The Chess Mind for a specific example).

In any case, at Chess for Blood, Patrick's closing post uses cable television as a means for describing several chess blogs:

I trimmed my links to the right because I think that blogs are like TV channels-- you only need a few, and you don't even really need those. The Kenilworthian is like The Learning Channel with all its erudite commentary, Blue Devil is like PBS for his academic treatises on piece activity, EmilyChess is like the Disney Channel for her kid-friendly enthusiasm. Boylston is perhaps like C-SPAN for noting news with varying degrees of relevance. Jim West is like AMC, American Movie Classics, because his articles are old but not outdated. There are also other chessblog channels like the Cartoon Network, depending on your taste.

In a follow-up comment, BDK suggested that Chess for Blood was like SpikeTV. I suppose Susan Polgar is like Biography (well, Autobiography actually) and Chess News and Events is like CNN Headline News. Any other suggestions?

Paramount Participants

Fourteen players have turned out for this year's Paramount tournament (6-player 2-RR at slow time controls with adjournments possible). The A-section comprises the standard set of six players, but the B-section has been expanded to eight to accommodate all those who wanted to play. As tournament director Bob Oresick pointed out, the B-section at 14 games per participant is "...as a long as an interzonal match."

A-section

1.0 Ed Astrachan 1859
1.0 Ruben Portugues 1819
1.0 Jon Lee 1801
0.0 Evan Sonkin 1864
0.0 Ken Ho 1726
0.0 Bill MacLellan 1600

Tonight's parings: Astrachan-MacLellan, Lee-Sonkin, Portugues-Ho

B-section

1.0/1 Tony Cortizas 1573
1.0/1 Ted Gorcyzca 1409
1.0/1 Seth Lieberman 957
0.0/0 Frank Frazier 1653
0.0/0 Greg Hager 947
0.0/1 Adam Fletcher 1554
0.0/1 Bob Oresick 1487
0.0/1 Tony Scali 1118

Tonight's pairings: Cortizas-Gorcyzca, Fletcher-Lieberman, Scali-Frazier, Oresick-Hager

Does he tattoo key positions on his chest?

In this article from West Life Newspaper (OH), GM Alexander Shabalov makes the following remarkable claims:

It's not necessary to have a good memory to excel at chess, [Shabalov] added.

"I have no memory at all," he said.

I don't know about you, but I find both comments specious. Without memory how can you have pattern recognition? How can you recall opening theory you've studied? How will you even remember the basic rules of the game?

With no memory at all, how does Shabalov even know that he is Shabalov?! You don't recall the guy in "Memento" playing chess, do you?

The article continues:

He encouraged students to learn more by reading books about chess strategies.

I'm not sure what point there is in reading if you can't remember what you've read.

Toilet Training

GM Jaan Ehlvest covered his match with Rybka on this Wordpress blog. I'm not going to add it to the listings since I assume it will end with the completion of the match.

The best part so far is about two-thirds of the way down the page where Jaan after losing the first two games posts photographs of himself entering the bathroom. Not surprisingly, his results improved later in the match.

How many chess blogs are there anyway?

I'd been meaning to get to this topic for quite awhile, but with all the caption contests, chess poems, USCL expansion news, Wamala updates, chess pie recipes and obscure references only marginally related to chess, who can find the time?

This story begins at the end of December on Susan Polgar's blog where she posted "The chess blogging boom." Susan wrote:

If you go to google and type "Chess Blog", about 2,130,000 items come up. If you type "Chess Blogs", about 1,760,000 items come up!

Those are of course staggering numbers, but just like the discussion of how many chess players there are in the world, rational thought and rigorous analysis can be brought to bear. So when one of Susan's anonymous commenters said, "I'm amazed that there are so many chess blogs", I thought it would be helpful to provide some clarity on the issue. I wrote:

Don't confuse the number of Google hits with the number of chess blogs. Many of the pages Google is listing probably don't even have the two words next to each other.

I would estimate that there are about 250-350 active chess blogs (where active = at least one post in the last 30 days).

Mr. Anonymous would have none of it:

"Don't confuse the number of Google hits with the number of chess blogs."

I believe Susan more than you.

It was all I could do to stop laughing. For this guy, Susan Polgar was the oracle of all truth and knowledge. It was posted on her blog so it must be true. To be fair, Mr. Anonymous would have no reason to know who I am, but had he done just a bit of research (e.g., checked my blogger profile and clicked over to this blog) he would have realized that I'm probably one of a very small handful of people on the entire planet who is in a good position to try and answer the question in the title of this post. Besides, anyone with a rudimentary understanding of search engines would realize that they are not a particularly useful tool for measuring things like the number of chess blogs. I posted a response to that effect:

"I believe Susan more than you."

Then I'm sorry to say that you would be wrong. As a test, go to say page 30 of the Google results for chess blogs and randomly click on one of the listings. Odds are it will not be a chess blog.

Thankfully, both Susan and another commenter came to my defense.

I didn't think much more about this encounter until Mark Weeks continued the discussion at Chess for All Ages:

A post titled The chess blogging boom ... caught my eye because it showed some typical confusion about counts on Google searches. A comment by DG ... corrected the misunderstanding and continued, 'I would estimate that there are about 250-350 active chess blogs...'

This number seemed high to me. I typically count about 75 blogs updated in the previous month plus another 40 active in the past six months. Since DG usually knows what he is talking about, I'll have to compare the BCC blogroll with my database of blogs.

It occurred to me that I needed to provide some explanation and the methodology behind my estimate. Here goes: While I maintain a database of all the blogs listed on BCC Weblog and continuously update their active/inactive status, I do not assume that I have a complete list of all chess blogs at any point in time. Why? Because new chess blogs are created everyday and on any given day if I want to find a few new ones I have several surefire ways of doing so. In fact, I could probably win a few bar bets with the following proposition, "In the next two hours, I bet I can find 5 chess blogs you've never seen before." Any takers?

OK, so if my database isn't complete then I need to estimate how much of the total universe of chess blogs it likely represents. I put boundaries on the problem -- it seems to me unlikely that there are 50% more chess blogs than I have in the database (i.e., I have found only about 2 of every 3), but reasonably possible that I'm short by 20% (i.e., I've found close to 4 of every five). One can certainly quibble with my estimates, but I think they are plausible.

Now at the time of Susan Polgar's original post I had ~ 220 active chess blogs listed. 220 + 20% = 264 and + 50% = 330, so that's how I came up with the 250-350 estimate I used in my comment.

Where do we stand today? I currently have 243 active chess blogs in the listings. Using the 20-50% methodology results in a current estimate of ~ 290-365.

Mark also suggested that another difference between his list and mine might be that he only tracks English language chess blogs. Certainly non-English blogs (and here I mean the language, not blogs written by people with good dental hygiene :) ) do constitute a sizable part of my database. Of the current 243 active chess blogs, 86 are not written in English while 157 are.

And lest you think we're finally done with this discussion, 10 days later Mark wrote a follow-up post on the topic which included the following:

How do I know when an inactive blog is reactivated? I don't. I trust that someone maintaining an active blog will post a welcome back message or refer to one of the newest posts in a dialog.

I have a solution for this problem. In Bloglines I keep a folder of RSS feeds for all the Inactive chess blogs. If they start up again, their posts pop up immediately. However, I wait until they've posted at least twice in 30 days before moving them back to Active status.

Anyone still awake?

Chess Training - African Style

The Nigerian Chess Federation (NCF) is preparing its players for the upcoming All-Africa games in Algeria. Here are some strategies you might want to incorporate into your own training regimen:

The players according to coach Akintola normally have two hours of physical training every morning and by next month, the players would be on special diet with more of fruits which [NCF] chess president [ACP Sani Mohammed] said will eliminate stress-causing acids.

"If we put the athletes o[n] fruits meals daily between from morning till midday, it helps to give instant energy and eliminate waste just as it increases body metabolism," he explained.

Fulfilling a Pledge

As a BCC member, I've been asked to step up and post on the blog more than I currently do (which is never). Unfortunately, I'm still figuring out how to use chess-viewer, which means I have to annoy everyone with my crude notation. Hopefully I'll learn some blogging skills soon; in the meantime, I'll beg your indulgence and pose the following openings question. Last night on ICC, I saw a strong GM play the line 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.a3!? Bd6 7.g4!?. This is analogous to the "Latvian Gambit" in the Meran, with the difference that White has played a3 instead of Qc2. The question is, can White also get an effective version of this gambit by playing 6.Bd2!? Bd6 7.g4 ?

Some things to bear in mind:

1) In comparison with the 6.Qc2 line, White is not hitting the h7 pawn, which may improve some of black's defenses based on Nxg4, i.e. 7..Nxg4 8.Rg1 Nxh2 9.Nxh2 Bxh2 10.Rg7 and now black can play 10..Qf6 without dropping the h-pawn. In addition, White is not yet on the c-file, which might make black's ...e5 break (commonly met with cxd5 and Nb5) more palatable. On the other hand, defenses based on ..dxc4 followed by ..e5 allow White to play Qb3 without losing a tempo: 6.Bd2 Bd6 7.g4 dc 8.Bxc4 e5 9.Qb3 with the idea of 9..0-0 10.g5 and the d5 square is now unavailable (Black can sac a pawn on d5, but I doubt it's good).

2) In comparison with the 6.a3 line, White is one move closer to castling queenside or to bringing a rook to c1, depending on the circumstances. On the other hand, Black is able to play a defense based on ..Bb4, which I personally think is one of the better tries against the g4 gambit. For example, a common position is 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.g4 Bb4, where white usually plays 8.Bd2. So the question becomes, after 6.Bd2 Bd6 7.g4 Bb4!?, does white have anything better than 8.Qc2 transposing into the above line?

3) The GM who played 6.a3 was using it in a 3-minute match, so all this may be irrelevant (for what it's worth, he had a great position out of the opening and converted it to a win).

Anyway, I think 6.Qc2 is still the best move order to get into the g4 gambit, but I don't see why 6.Bd2 is any less useful than 6.a3. Food for thought.

--CRR

p.s. Random survey -- if I can learn how to use Chessviewer, would people be interested in more of these types of posts?

The rest of the story

Like About Chess, I too have noticed a recent trend of defections from the chess blogosphere:

• Temposhlucker's decision to go on (permanent?) hiatus from the ranks of the Knights Errant is a monumental loss, perhaps second only to the day that Don Q did the same.


• Losing Goran at Chess News & Events was tempered by the fact that he continues to post at Chess Strategy. Since then, things have improved further with a new blogger taking over the reins of the original blog.


• Patrick at Chess For Blood has decided that he is "due for a break from chess and chess blogging for awhile" and the Underpromoted Knight has decided to make school a priority over chess.
  

Then there is the case of Strong In Mind's Fierabras. About Chess gave you the facts, but only here will you find the story behind the story (thanks to a tip from an unnamed Knight).

As many of you may be aware, J'adoube has been advocating the somewhat provocative position that endeavoring to play moves highly rated by top chess computers (specifically Rybka in his case) is a good path to improvement. This has resulted in some healthy and spirited debate across several posts. However, it seems that somewhere along the way Fierabras' and J'adoube's point counter-point turned heated, personal and anything but healthy. Shortly thereafter Fierabras announced his intent to leave the Knights. It isn't too hard to connect the dots.

Now, I'm certainly not here to point a finger of blame at anyone. You can read the thread and draw your own conclusions. In fact, I believe that a bit of controversy can often be a good thing in terms of generating interest and readership. Nevertheless, as a general rule it would be hard to go wrong taking to heart Sancho's previous "Can't we all just get along" appeal.

Update (3/7): Comment threads at J'adoube's blog are not currently no longer available.

Say it and it's so

Reykjavík, Iceland has declared itself the chess capital of the world.

Care to declare your city or town the world capital of something?

Ahead of the curve

It's been over a year since I first advocated the use of deli food to name US Chess League teams. While we've yet to see the Boston Blintzes or New York Bagels come to fruition, I am happy to report that one of the 2007 expansion teams has taken up the challenge. I'm extremely pleased to introduce the New Jersey Knockwursts.

Don't confuse these Knockwursts with your usual run of the mill hot dogs. They're short chubby sausages made from pork and beef with fresh garlic -- absolutely delicious! With a name like Knockwursts we can expect big things from New Jersey during their inaugural USCL sea...

Huh?...Oh, really?...Knockouts, not Knockwursts?...Seems rather derivative of Sluggers, don't you think?...Oh well...

Never mind.

Notes from 2006 Paramount

One of the most fun tournaments for me in 2006 was the double-round robin Paramount, held at the Boylston Chess Club. I bring a highlight from my games, just to bring attention to the unique situations the Paramount can offer.

Pre-game prepwork was nothing new for me, but I had never had an adjourned game in 15 years of tournament chess. In Clayton-Rihel, Paramount 2006, I had my first adjourned position, and I was able to turn a depressing loss into a miracle draw, thanks to my home analysis and a little luck.

The following position occured at move 40, when Kyle sealed his 41st move.

Clayton- Rihel adjourned position
White to move

For those playing along at home, this position looks hopeless for Black on almost all White moves. Up a pawn, White cruises with almost any queen move (Fritz calls it +4.7), and I thought about calling Kyle to resign on the spot. Yet, there was one move that looked natural enough to play over the board -- the simplifying 41. Qxg7. When analyzing at home, I saw a faint glimmer of hope in this line.... just a faint one. Given the tense time scramble we had just played, I gave Kyle a 20% chance of playing that very move. When we reconvened later in the week, I vowed that I would resign on the spot if Kyle had sealed any normal move other than 41. Qxg7.

When I sat down over the board and ripped open the sealed move, I was so thrilled to see 41. Qxg7 that I immediately left the board, canceled my dinner plans, and sat down to defend a bad position with my last idea, one cooked up from home.

After the moves, 41.Qxg7 Kxg7 42.Kg2 Nb1 43.Bxc4 Nxc3 44.Kf3 Kf6 45.g4 g5 46.fxg5 hxg5 47.h5 Ke5 48.Ke3 Nd1 49.Kd2 Nf2 50.Be2 Ne4+ 51.Ke3 Nd6 52.Bd3 Nf7 53.Bc4 Nh6, we have reached the following new position:

Clayton-Rihel after 53...Nh6

My idea in full bloom. The whole point of my previous moves was to work my knight to h6, where it hits the pawn on g4 and blockades the position together with my king. This situation was not forced, but even Fritz will often let it happen. I love this position because 1) I worked out this exact idea at home, 2) Without adjournments, I doubt I would have come up with such a cool blockade over the board and 3)Fritz still gives White a large winning advantage, all the way to the end of the game, when a draw is certain.

Kyle tried for many more moves, but cannot make progress:

54.Kf3 Kd4 55.Bb3 Kd3 56.Be6 Kd4 57.a4 Ke5 58.Bb3 Kd4 59.Bc2 Ke5 60.Bd1 Kd4 61.Be2 Ng8 62. Bb5 Nh6 63.Bd7 a5 64.Be6 Ke5 65.Bb3 Kd4 66.Bd1 Ng8 67.Bb3 Nh6 68.Ba2 Ke5 69.Bc4 Kd4 70.Bb5 Ke5 71.Bd7 Kd4 72.Bf5 Ng8 73.Bh7 Nh6 74.Bg6 Ng8 75.Bf7 Nh6 76.Bb3 draw agreed.

Of all my chess games, this one ranks as one of my absolute favorites. It was also a great moral victory (a moral draw?) for me and turned my tournament around. I went on to finish well, including a nice win against FIDE Master Chris Chase.

So, come and play this Monday!

Of the utmost importance

This Monday is the start of a very unique event on the Boylston Chess Club calendar. The 8th Annual Paramount, an original brainchild of former BCC president Bryan Clark, is a 10-week double round robin at slow time controls. Players are formed into groups of six by rating and each competitor plays their five other opponents once as White and once as Black. The groups ensure that players get consistently competitive opponents throughout the course of the tournament (unlike some Swisses where a win against a player rated 400 points below you is often followed by a game against a player 400 points above).

Since your schedule is known for the tournament after the first round, pre-game preparation can take on added significance. What does your opponent play against your favorite opening and will he stick with it this time or try to change things up? Also, the time controls of 40/2, SD/50 are the longest on the current BCC schedule and provide the opportunity for adjournments. Rather than ruining a well played game by being forced to blitz through the endgame at the end of the night, you just might get the opportunity to study the position in depth at home and return later to realize the fruits of your effort.

Your usual monthly Swiss will always be there, so why not try out something different? Play the Paramount!

Monday, March 5 – May 7: 8th Annual Paramount 10 Rounds, 2RR, Players divided into six player sections by rating; 40/2, SD/50; Entry fee: $24, $17 to BCF members; Prizes: 50% EF Registration: 6:00 to 6:45 PM Rounds at 7PM.

Presidential Pet Chess

From a very long list of Bill Clinton jokes:

Q: Did you know that Clinton's cat can play Chess?

A: Inside Information -- The cat isn't really all that good at Chess. The last time they played best of five, Clinton won three games to two.