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Headline Archives
The headlines below do not include our regular weekly features:
Each of which can be seen at it's respective archive page.
Here's what was New at Chessville
between 1 October 2005 and 31 December 2005:
(12/24) Master Class:
A series of articles, written exclusively by titled players for the aspiring
Candidate Master, Elo 1700-2200. This column is intended for the player
with serious aspirations towards the Master title. See below for our
inaugural column, by GM Sergey Ivanov, on The Dutch Gambit in the QGD - Part
1. We've also placed a link to our
Lessons Learned column there, as
those articles are also written for the Candidate Master.
(12/24)
Review: Russians versus
Fischer by Dmitry Plisetsky and Sergey Voronkov (2nd Edition),
reviewed by Michael Jeffreys. "Recognizing a diamond in the rough when they saw it, Everyman Chess
bought the rights to [this] book, completely overhauled it, and released it in
2005 bigger and better than ever. Not only is the book physically
bigger, but it is now a beautiful clothbound hardback with a dust jacket,
(as opposed to the first edition, which was bound in cheap looking
shiny-plastic-covered cardboard) that features black and white photos of
Fischer. And on the inside, the paper is now of a much higher quality
as are the diagrams and font selection, making the book much easier to read.
Additionally, not only are cross-tables given for all of the tournaments
Fischer competed in, but new material has been added as well..." |
|
(12/24)
Roman's Lab (a review): Geoff Chandler (Chandler
Cornered) claims that his is "The chess column with a view that's a
little bit .... different." Boy, is he ever right on!
Today he provides a humorous but honest look at a pair of chess videos:
|
Chandler's Corner
with Geoff Chandler
"The chess column with a view
that's a little bit .... different." |
|
(12/23)
Move Prediction Exercise:
From the creative genius of Prof. Chester Nuhmentz. Click on the portrait of Paul Keres to try this month's
Recon64 game selected especially for the readers of Chessville: Keres vs. Alexander Alekhine; Margate, 1937.
With a mighty tactical blow, Keres handed his great opponent one of his few quick defeats in this short game -- it lasted only 23 moves! Similar to Predict-A-Move and Solitaire-type chess exercises,
Recon64 challenges players to find candidate moves from games played by masters. Players are encouraged to search for several strong candidate moves in each position, and are rewarded as long as their list of moves includes the move selected by the master during the game. As an extra twist, players invest
Recon64-dollars on candidate moves based on how likely they think each move was used in the original game.
|
(12/20)
Thompson's Variation:
A new Thompson Story, by
Ron Canter. Ron has recently received several letters regarding an
opening known only as as Thompson’s King’s Advance.
"Dear Sir, Some time ago I noted with cynicism and some amusement that
a stir was being caused by a putative Bobby Fischer playing an unusual
opening in Blitz chess on the Internet servers. A lot of his games
started with 1.f3, 2.Kf2, 3.Ke3, 4.Kf2 etc (or 1.f6 etc) to the obvious
puzzlement of his opponents, but this opening is not new. I well
remember the notorious Thompson playing this very same variation at our
school chess club back in the nineteen fifties..."
|
(12/18) Review: A Complete Guide to the Grivas Sicilian by GM Efstratios Grivas, reviewed by GM Suat Atalik.
"There was a long time that I had stopped buying opening books. I was
more for biographies and tournament books. I was always thinking like,
why do I need the ones on openings? After all I have my computer, thus
databases which allows me to get access to this part of the game in the way
I wanted to. When you buy an opening book by a person, first of all I
was always disgusted by the fact that bare information was piled up in a
clumsy form, never ending brackets etc… nothing contributed by the author
himself in the sake of not opening his secrets in this phase of the game.
However Efstratios’ book changed my opinion on the subject..." |
(12/18)
State Champion
of Champions Title:
IM Andrei Florean of Michigan takes the online U.S Championship
Qualifying Spot!
Seattle –
December 7, 2005 –
The America’s Foundation for Chess and Internet Chess Club are pleased
to announce that, after a very close competition, IM Andrei Florean of
Michigan has won the second State ‘Champion of Champions’ event, and
will now go forward to the 2006 U.S. Chess Championship to be held 1-12
March, at the NTC Promenade in San Diego. |
|
|
(12/18)
Annotated Game:
IM Andrei Florean annotates
one of his games from the State Champion of Champions finals,
against
IM Dmitry Zilberstein of
North California. "The finals were tough and the North
California champion proved a fair match for me, I think that in the end
pure luck decided. In the first game I used a passive opening and
got an inferior position but I think he underestimated White's resources
and I had the advantage in the endgame even though the win was not
obvious...." |
|
(12/17)
Bessel Kok Interview:
This week the World Chess Network interviewed well known chess organizer
Bessel Kok, candidate for President of FIDE. That interview is
reprinted here, so read about Kok's ideas for promoting chess, and for
unifying the World Chess Championship. |
(12/16)
Backtalk: The first of
three explorations by Canadian Master Dan Scoones. Dan looks at an
interesting position from a 1991 correspondence game between Mikhail
Tseitlin and Stefan Letic, and asks, which win is best?
The stipulation is "White to play and win material... |
Master Dan Scoones has been one of British
Columbia's leading players for the past twenty-five years, and was
twice Provincial Champion. He resides in Victoria, B.C., Canada. |
|
(12/14)
Constant Ferdinand Burille (1866-1914):
Rusty Miller presents a thumbnail look at
this lesser known chess figure, for many years considered to be the
strongest player in New England, giving Pillsbury pawn and move as late as
1891. Read all about the practical joke
he played on Pillsbury!
(12/12)
Famous People Who Played
Chess: We have just updated our list with several new entries,
and are looking for more all the time. Please check out this list and
if you know of someone who shouyld be on it but isn't, please let us know!
This list keeps growing thanks to contributions from our readers, for which
we are extremely grateful. Special thanks for some of the names added
most recently go to: Louis Dorse, Michael Macdonald-Ross, Rusty Miller, and
GM Susan Polgar.
(12/11)
Chess Toon: Another new
cartoon from the King of Chess Toons, Jerry King!
|
(12/11) Review:
Starting Out: Minor Piece Endgames by John Emms,
reviewed by Rick Kennedy. "Starting Out: Minor Piece
Endings contains 195 examples, and 32 exercises to be solved.
Emms is writing about knight and bishop endgames for club players like
me: "The material comprises mainly of basic positions and examples
from real games, ones that are much more likely to crop up in practice…"
Unlike a person, a book cannot talk to you, react to your puzzled looks,
or encourage you to persist in your analyses. However, a
well-designed and well-written book (such as this one) can anticipate
some of the reader’s reactions and address them. With Emms’ work
you will have to keep your own nose to the grindstone and shoulder to
the wheel, but the cost of this book full of lessons, mind you, is less
than an hour of a Grandmaster’s time." |
(12/11)
The Unknown Legacy of Morphy:
Prof. Nagesh Havanur annotates four games by the First American Chess Genius
to illustrate an under-appreciated aspect of Morphy's contributions to
the Royal Game,
the concept of
active defence. He also demonstrated how unsound attack on flanks
could be refuted by powerful counter-play at the centre.
"Paul Morphy presented a paradox to
his contemporaries. In an era of romance his games were suffused
with the light of reason. They revealed a fine harmony of
imagination and logic. But the modern player finds Morphy’s games
passé for several reasons. The opposition to Morphy was poor and
pitiful. Where would one find an opponent like the Duke of
Brunswick today and create a classic like Morphy? Gambits
dominated the play in Morphy’s day. Today many players do not even
begin with the open game 1.e4 e5, let alone gambits."
Enjoy the games, learn from the annotations,
and explore along with the Professor, this chess prodigy's powerful
defensive lessons -
The Unknown Legacy of Morphy. |
(12/11)
Thompson's Dream:
A new Thompson Story, by
Ron Canter. "(A seasonal diversion set in a porch, an omnibus, a Town Hall, a Museum
& Art Gallery, and a police cell; concerning Thompson’s adventures with milk bottles, a stuffed turtle and a chess set...) Christmas Eve commenced with yet another portent of doom for Thompson. For the last two weeks he had been communicating by note with his milkman about that worthy tradesman’s failure to remove empty milk bottles from his doorstep. Thompson’s last missive had been particularly acrimonious, with a decidedly negative attitude towards the milkman’s customary annual gratuity. But that morning Thompson opened his front door in a spirit of gaiety and anticipation. The chess club’s Christmas party was scheduled for that very evening, with the promise of alcoholic beverages, mince pies, paper hats, blitz chess, entertainment by the lady members and other delights too numerous to mention..."
(12/4)
Annotated Game: How I beat the Sensational Winner of the 2003
Dortmund Tournament, by IM Igor Khmelnitsky. "Back in 1989 I
was playing in my first ever International chess tournament. In
Round 4 I was facing one of the favorites - Viorel Bologan. See
what
happened
in that game below. Sometimes in the mid 90s, Viorel played in
World Open in Philadelphia, and I chatted with him a little. He
was determined to break into the World elite, and now he has.
Congratulations to him. As for myself, I am pleased to look at
this "nothing held back" game when we were both young and restless..."
See other great instructional articles
here at Chessville by IM Igor Khmelnitsky. |
|
|
(12/4) Review:
Breaking Through
- How the Polgar Sisters Changed the Game of Chess by Susan Polgar with
Paul Truong (Everyman Chess, 2005), reviewed by Rick
Kennedy. "Breaking Through, subtitled How the
Polgar Sisters Changed the Game of Chess, is Susan Polgar’s story of
their journey through chess society, up to the present day. This
most recent telling, from an “inside” point of view, expands and gives
balance to what has already been written. For that reason alone
(there are many others) Breaking Through is an interesting and
recommendable read. Chess has had its favorite stories of
prodigies, those of little boys [sic] looking on as fathers, uncles and
grandfathers pushed pawns, waiting their turn to reveal their true
genius. It was not until the 1970s and 1980s, however, that we
began hearing of a trio of Hungarian girls who were home schooled,
studying the Royal Game as much as eight hours a day – and playing it
with extremely high hopes..." |
(12/4)
Review: Jennifer Shahade's
controversially-titled new book, from Siles Press (2005), reviewed by
Michael Jeffreys. "There is no denying it; controversy sells.
You want to get people’s attention? Say or do something
outrageous. It’s the old “Dog bites Man” = boring, but “Man bites
Dog” = news. And when it comes to the rather mundane world of
chess, all it takes is a racy title and provocative photo to do the job.
Jennifer Shahade’s new book, Chess Bitch uses both of these
tactics on the cover to grab potential readers’ attention. First
with the use of the “B” word in the title, and secondly with the
provocative photo of Jennifer wearing a pink wig, gloves, scarf and tank
top, along with a sultry “come hither” look. Oh yeah, and did I
mention she is holding a book on chess tactics!?" |
|
|
(11/27) Review:
Chess for Success
by Maurice Ashley, reviewed by Rick Kennedy. "Get this book.
Go through it. Pass it on. It’s that kind of a read...Quite
simply, GM Maurice Ashley has written an exciting book about chess and
young chess players - one that will be enjoyed by those who know the
Royal Game, and perhaps just as much by those who do not. Chess
for Success will move people to participate in or support the
growing world of scholastic chess. It should be on bookshelves in
the library, the classroom – and the board room...But Chess for
Success is a candy store of a book, and I’ve already moved too fast.
Let me back up. The book sports a Foreword by Will Smith, rapper,
TV & movie star, whose wife gave him a special Valentine’s Day gift a
few years ago: a personal chess lesson with Maurice Ashley. (Is
that true love, or what??)
Will Smith plays
chess? Why not? ...The Introduction presents the book’s
theme of the transformative power of chess, especially in the lives of
children. The author also presents and dispels seven Myths About
Chess..."
Learn how you can receive
a
free copy of Chess for Success!
|
(11/27) Review: Quarterly For Chess History
Issue No.3,
1999, Edited by Dr. Vlastimil Fiala.
Reviewed by
Prof. Nagesh Havanur.
"Dr. Vlastimil Fiala is a man
obsessed with chess history. His inner world is inhabited by the
likes of Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca and Alekhine. Dr. Fiala is
also a man with a mission. It is to inspire the modern player to
rediscover the magic world of a vanished era. Welcome to Quarterly
For Chess History. This issue is partly a tribute to Steinitz,
the First World Champion, on the occasion of the 100th
anniversary of his death..." |
|
(11/26)
Site Review: Ultimate
Chess Collecting, a collector &
memorabilia site by Lawrence Totaro.
"Lawrence Totaro
has developed a site dedicated to improving the presentation of chess
history as documented in autographs and memorabilia. The site's
Mission Statement says: "The presentation of chess just got better." Lawrence's main
purpose of chess collecting is not only to share his collection but the
collections of others in a multimedia feature presentation: "I want
people to be as close to chess history as possible. I feel that the
presentation of chess is just as important as collecting or understanding
the game. If we present chess in a new light more people will be
inclined to play the game and to realize it's roots."" |
(11/26)
The Parrot’s Cage:
has received three responses with partial information.
Check them out here.
The mysterious Polish set displayed
in the Cage a few weeks ago remains a mystery to most readers. Maybe we need
to offer a prize? If it's so rare, it must be worth a fortune!
|
(11/23)
Letter to the Editor:
We received a letter addressed to the Editor, but...well, we really
aren't sure what to make of it. Perhaps you can help. It
starts "Dear Mr. Chess Editor, I heard that the champion
Alekhiney used to bring his cat, Chess, to matches with him, and I began
to wonder if this was the secret to his success. So the first
thing I did was re-name my cat Chess. Actually, there was some
problem about this, as he would not come when I called him by his new
name (the potzer!), and so I had to re-re-name him Buster-Chess.
This little bagatelle settled, I sat down with Buster-Chess and jumped
on-line. In the name of progress, I felt justified in starting a new
account at chess.net (although I have three already, Hope does spring
Eternal, and, what the heck, they are free)..." |
|
(11/23)
Thompson's Cousin:
A new Thompson Story, by
Ron Canter. "Last week Thompson invited me to meet his cousin Alf
at The Ruddy Duck for a game of chess. Alf ’s unlikely occupation is that of
a wrestling clown in a traveling circus, but he is also a keen chess player,
having been introduced to the game by his cousin. As Jonty the Jovial
Clown, Alf has the gift of reducing circus audiences to helpless laughter
with his antics with ridiculous hats, buckets of water, and zany musical
instruments. But later in the show this large, comical man is
transformed into Crusher, a ravening monster whose slogan is “No quarter
given or expected.” The lights are lowered, Crusher makes a dramatic
entrance and then the challenge is issued. Anyone who can last a round
against Crusher will receive a cash prize, and anyone who beats him will
receive double the money. His opponents can expect to be subjected to
a specialty hold, the Half Crunch, which consists of being twisted into a
knot and held in that position by the back of the neck to induce
submission..."
(11/20) To Tell the Truth: Darren
Dillenger shows us the evolution of a chess problem, "As a student of chess
history, this is one of most intriguing positions I have ran across.
It is amazing that with White to move, White can force a win. These
are three versions of the same thematic problem that has been around for
over 50 years. Two of these positions were used in lectures by top
Grandmasters for years, apparently not suspecting their version was flawed..."
|
(11/20) Review:
Starting Out: The Dutch Defense by Neil McDonald,
reviewed by Rick Kennedy. "When I reviewed Neil McDonald’s
earlier Starting Out:
The English, I was favorably impressed: he had produced a very
readable and instructive book that was going to help many club players
(and up?) confidently open with 1.c4. Now the author / Grandmaster /
chess coach has come out with Starting Out: The Dutch Defence,
and I am convinced that he has produced another winner. McDonald
strikes just the right balance of enthusiasm and caution, strategy and
tactics, illustrative games (50) and analysis..." |
(11/20)
Chess Stories:
A Dangerous Game of Chess,
by James Crockett. "One of the most exciting games I ever
played in my life was against the champion of another ship, the “British
Adventure”, while I was on her sister ship, the “British Talent”, both
28,000 ton supertankers of the 1950s! And he was determined to beat
me. Our ships met up in Mena al Amadhi in the Persian Gulf and very
quickly I received a signal from the “Adventure” requesting a challenge
match from the senior apprentice Charles Mcleod of Glasgow. I accepted
and replied in the affirmative..."
(11/19)
Editorial:
Drug Use in "Intellectual Sports", by Dr. Stephen J. Press,
DC, PhD, CCSP, FACSM, FICC, Past-Acting President and Founder, FIDE
Medical Commission. "The rationale behind banning of a substance
is reasonable and fairly simple to understand. If an otherwise healthy
person can take a substance which is potentially detrimental to his/her
health, and that allows him/her to improve performance over those not
willing to expose themselves to this poison, then this is both
foolhardy, and clearly cheating..." |
(11/14)
Knights of the South Bronx:
A heroic story of a man who came into a broken-down school, taught a
group of aimless inner city children how to play chess, and took them
out into the elitist world of championship chess competition. David
MacEnulty strenuously argued that chess was not just a game but a set of
mind skills that would enable children to face challenges they would
encounter in their lives. A&E Network will debut Knights of the
South Bronx, starring Ted Danson, premiering Tuesday,
December 6, 8-10pm ET/PT.
Read more about the man and
the movie today! |
50
State Champions
1 U.S. Championship Qualifier
(11/13)
State Champion of
Champions Event: The
America’s Foundation for Chess and the Internet Chess Club are again
pleased to announce the running of the second State ‘Champion of
Champions’ event, the winner of which will win through to a guaranteed
spot in the 64-player field battling it out for the $250,000 U.S. Chess
Championship to be held next March at the NTC Promenade in San Diego. |
|
(11/13)
Review:
Speed Chess DVD (Superblitz Knockout Championship - Qualifying
Stage)
by
Maurice Ashley, reviewed by Michael Jeffreys. "...this new
DVD, which features four of the strongest Grandmasters in the country
playing 10- minute blitz matches. What makes these four players
special is each is a current or former US Champion. In match one,
fearless attacker GM Larry Christiansen takes on strategic virtuoso GM
Joel Benjamin. In match two, young prodigy GM Hikaru Nakamura (the
current US Champion) takes on the always dangerous GM Alexander Shabalov.
I don’t want to give away who wins in this review, but I will tell you
that the very first game between Benjamin and Christiansen features a
blistering attack that is simply an awesome sight to behold. And
just when it looks like the defending side has things covered, blamo!,
the attacker comes back with yet another shot. Although I hate
cliché’s, this one game alone really is worth the price of the entire
DVD..."
|
(11/13)
Psychology of Gambit Chess Openings:
Clyde Nakamura's latest article in
The Search for Dragons and Mythical Chess Openings. "Playing
a gambit chess opening in a chess game requires a different mindset from
playing a regular
chess
opening where no pawns or pieces are sacrificed early in the opening...
As a chess
player who plays gambits, I dream of playing a beautiful gambit chess
game full of brilliant sacrifices and combinations that will be
remembered for a thousand years. An “Evergreen” or “Immortal Game”
like the games played by Adolf Anderssen in the 19th
century." |
(11/13)
Annotated Game: Kasimzhdanov
– Kasparov Linares 2005, Semi-Slav Defence, Meran Variation (D48).
Notes by
Prof. Nagesh Havanur (based on Kasparov's analysis in NIC 3/2005 and Niktin's article
in NIC Yearbook 75.) This game has been excerpted from the Professor's
review of
New In Chess Yearbook 75.
(11/13) Mad Aussie's Chess Trivia:
Another fascinating compendium of the weird, the wacky, and the wonderful.
In today's edition you can find out who "J'adoubovic" was, which former FIDE
World Champion lost a game in just six moves, who the first United States
World Champion really was, and play Who Am I? with Graham Clayton,
The Mad Aussie himself! Then, surf the Mad Aussie's Archives for more
Chess Trivia:
(11/13)
New Toon: Another great new
cartoon from the King of Chess Toons, Jerry King!
|
(11/13)
Review:
New In Chess Yearbook 75 reviewed by
Prof. Nagesh Havanur. "Since its
inception in 1984 the NIC Yearbook has carved a special niche in the hearts
of chess aficionados. This is the only Yearbook that appears four
times a year and every issue is eagerly lapped up by professionals and
patzers alike. In each issue there are about 33 Opening Surveys,
offering the cutting edge of opening theory...
The present Anniversary
issue begins with Sosonko’s rich tribute to Kasparov’s opening genius.
It also carries an article on the Meran Defence, Garry’s swansong in
Linares, by his former trainer Alexander Nikitin..."
|
(11/11)
Thompson's Battle:
A new Thompson Story, by
Ron Canter. "You may recall that
Thompson took his chess very seriously and this extended to passing comments
on other people’s games. This, together with his habit of punctuating
his remarks with a sort of grunt (something like “mmphh”), was liable to
cause extreme annoyance. One member of the club, a genial Irishman
named Paddy O’Connor, was particularly disturbed by this habit of Thompson’s
and on a memorable occasion it became too much for him..."
(11/10) Euro Gallery Live
Art: Time to check out the latest in the series of
evolving chess-themed art works. This time we bring you "Die Angst
der Schachspieler vor dem Computer" (The fear of the chess players of
the computer). Check it out, along with the other chess-themed art
on display at the Euro Gallery Live Art! |
(11/9)
ACP Statement
concerning the change of rules for the FIDE World Championship cycle:
The ACP Board would like to state its position regarding the recent change
of rules in the
FIDE
World Championship cycle. An initial press release by FIDE has caused
some confusion concerning the involvement of ACP in this
decision. In subsequent open letters posted on the website www.chessbase.com, emanating both from ACP and FIDE representatives, the
issue was cleared: ACP was in no way consulted by FIDE before the latter
decided on the drastic changes for the upcoming World Championship cycle...
|
(11/11)
Thompson's Battle:
A new Thompson Story, by
Ron Canter. "You may recall that
Thompson took his chess very seriously and this extended to passing comments
on other people’s games. This, together with his habit of punctuating
his remarks with a sort of grunt (something like “mmphh”), was liable to
cause extreme annoyance. One member of the club, a genial Irishman
named Paddy O’Connor, was particularly disturbed by this habit of Thompson’s
and on a memorable occasion it became too much for him..."
(11/10) Euro Gallery Live
Art: Time to check out the latest in the series of
evolving chess-themed art works. This time we bring you "Die Angst
der Schachspieler vor dem Computer" (The fear of the chess players of
the computer). Check it out, along with the other chess-themed art
on display at the Euro Gallery Live Art! |
(11/9)
ACP Statement
concerning the change of rules for the FIDE World Championship cycle:
The ACP Board would like to state its position regarding the recent change
of rules in the
FIDE
World Championship cycle. An initial press release by FIDE has caused
some confusion concerning the involvement of ACP in this
decision. In subsequent open letters posted on the website www.chessbase.com, emanating both from ACP and FIDE representatives, the
issue was cleared: ACP was in no way consulted by FIDE before the latter
decided on the drastic changes for the upcoming World Championship cycle...
|
(11/6)
Endgame Basics:
Another great article from IM Igor Khmelnitsky, Simple or not? You
decide! IM Khmelnitsky looks at some very basic endgame knowledge
all chessplayers aspiring to improve need to understand, and the focus this
time is on knight endings. "...knowing basic positions and ideas in
the Endgame can prove to be crucial on any level, up to grandmaster.
How devastating can this be - you are playing well for 60+ moves and 4-5
hours, only to blow everything just moments before the game should reach a
well-deserved outcome? The knowledge of Basic endgames is one of the
12 critical skills..."
"In short, focal points are the squares used to obtain a
fantasy position.
The h6 and f8 squares are examples of future mating
focal points. The key to understanding where focal points are on
the board is to understand what happens at a focal point. When the
Bishop moves to h6, it turns and attacks the f8 square. When the
Queen moves to f8, it turns and attacks the king for checkmate. So
it is this turning ability that the square offers to a piece that makes
it an important square.
Focal paths are the strategic roads that Pawn's or
pieces take to get to the fantasy focal points..." |
|
|
(11/6) Review:
Italian Game and
Evans Gambit by Jan Pinski (Everyman, 2005), reviewed
by Rick Kennedy. "In sum, Italian Game and Evans Gambit
is an up-to-date look at the life of “one of the oldest openings
around.” As 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 is often recommended to
those starting out in chess play (to learn about the Open Game,
development and tactics), knowledge of the Italian lines will always be
useful to the club and tournament player who will either use or face
them. Pinski’s book has much to offer those on either side of the
board (Black will love the roses, White will revel in the thorns).
The text is at times clinical..." |
(11/6) Review:
Secrets of Attacking Chess by Mihail Marin (Gambit, /2005), reviewed by Michael Jeffreys.
"To be honest, I find this book very difficult to review. Why?
Because, as I went through it, I could see that Marin had invested a lot of
time and energy into the material. There were lots of deeply annotated
games, some played by Marin and others by strong GMs. There were lots
of diagrams, and even paragraphs of the author’s thoughts about chess and
the games themselves (something I really like in a book) and yet, for some
reason, I just couldn’t “connect” with the material..." |
|
(11/6)
Alekhine's Parrot Show
Cage: A new feature, brought to you by two of the premier
chess memorabilia collectors sites,
Baysholiss
and
Ultimate Chess Collecting. We'll feature your questions about your
chess memorabilia, inviting readers to "fill in the gaps". To kick it
off, we've got a fascinating chess set, perhaps an old hand-carved set from
Poland:
|
(11/6)
The Life and Legend of Claude Bloodgood Part II: Robert
Tuohey's interview with Bloodgood's friend, CC opponent, and executor of
his estate, Don Wedding. "Don Wedding was a long-time friend
and CC opponent of Claude Bloodgood; in fact, when Bloodgood passed away
in August 2001, it was Don Wedding who wrote the obituary article (see
note below). Here then, for the first time giving a detailed
interview, Don Wedding provides us with some recollections into that
fascinating enigma that was his friend, Claude Bloodgood..."
(Miss
Part I? Read it here!) |
|
(11/4) Chess
for Peace: Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachov recently
joined GMs Susan Polgar and Anatoly Karpov at the Karpov
School of Chess in Lindsborg, Kansas, to kick off the Chess for Peace
Initiative. See our lavishly illustrated report from Paul Truong. |
|
(10/30)
Review: Vishy Anand
: Best Games by Nickolai Kalinichenko, reviewed by Prof. Nagesh Havanur.
"Caissa is a fickle goddess. Vishy Anand started as the favorite
for the recent FIDE World Championship. The Tiger from Madras had
won the title in 2000 and repeated the feat in 2002. In the
present cycle, however, he appeared jaded and finished second, 1.5
points behind Topalov, who deservedly won the title with a superb
performance. Anand’s numerous fans can only console themselves with the
thought that form is temporary and class is permanent. The present
book under review bears eloquent testimony to Anand’s extraordinary
talent..." |
(10/30) Review: Garry Kasparov's Greatest Chess Games Volume 1 by
Igor Stohl, reviewed by Michael Jeffreys. "One thing that
has always seemed peculiar to me was that although Fischer hasn’t played
a serious game in over thirty years, books still continue to fall out of
the cracks about the 11th world champion. And yet,
Garry Kasparov, who is arguably even stronger than Fischer (there is no
disputing that he achieved a higher rating), has had precious few books
written about him...However, we now have a new book out by the Slovakian
GM, Igor Stohl..." |
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(10/30) Quick Italian Lessons: Another view into
Bill Wall's
Wonderful World of Chess. "Bongiorno. Here are some quick lessons
in the Italian Opening: Morphy - Schulten, New York 1857 1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O f5 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 d6 7.exd6 Qxd6 8.Re1+ Nge7 9.Ng5
Ne5? (9...Nd8) 10.Bf4 N7g6 11.Bxe5 Nxe5 12.Nf7 (and 13.Rxe5) 1-0 etc."
(10/30)
Chess Toons:
Chessville welcomes renowned cartoonist Jerry King!
An award-winning cartoonist, Jerry is one of the most published,
prolific and versatile cartoonists in the world today. His work
has appeared in thousands of greeting cards, magazines, Web sites,
books, newspapers, newsletters and children's books. His
client list includes Disney, American Greetings, The United
States Golf Assoc., and many others. Jerry's magazine
credits include Better Homes and Gardens, Golf Digest, The
Saturday Evening Post, National Enquirer, Woman's World
and hundreds of others world wide. |
Aside
from greeting cards and magazines, Jerry is the author and
illustrator of seven nationally published cartoon books. He
has also illustrated ten children's books, and has provided
illustrations for numerous children's publications.
Chessville is very happy to introduce you to Jerry's unique brand
of humor! |
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(10/30) Chess Fiction:
Thompson's Gambit by Ron Canter, the latest installment of
The Thompson Stories. "Some
people thought that Thompson was accident prone, and various happenings in
his eventful life seemed to bear out that opinion. Certainly, many
things of a somewhat physical nature occurred to him during his time.
Frequently they impinged on his chess career, often with startling results.
The events which I am about to relate must have been one of the most
traumatic episodes of his history. Thompson’s day started badly,
although this was not an unusual occurrence for him..."
(10/29)
The 1st Annual Susan Polgar National Open Championships for Girls under 21:
The Susan Polgar Foundation and the South Texas Chess Center proudly
present: The First Annual Susan Polgar National Open Championships for
Girls under 21; January 27-29, 2005 in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Details!
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(10/26)
2006 US Championship: The venue for the 2006 U.S. Chess
Championships will be the newly-opened NTC Promenade in San Diego, and
will run from February 28 through 12 March, 2006. The field for
the 2006 U.S. Championship will again be the “natural” chess number of
64 with a guaranteed minimum prize fund of $250,000! Less than
one-third of the field will be seeded players including the defending
champions, while the remainder will be composed of players who will be
given the opportunity to qualify by competing in eight of America’s top
open tournaments...
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(10/23)
Review:
A pair of promising looking books reviewed by Rick Kennedy:
-
Match for
the World Chess Championship: Mikhail Botvinnik – David Bronstein, Moscow
1951;
and
-
Return
Match for the
World Chess Championship:
Mikhail Botvinnik – Mikhail Tal,
Moscow 1961, both by Mikhail Botvinnik,
compiled and edited by Igor Botvinnik.
"When
I saw the name “Botvinnik” attached to these two volumes, I jumped on
them. The past World Champion’s One Hundred Selected Games,
even in descriptive notation, is a great way for developing students
(and beyond) to improve their understanding and play of chess. The
current two books proved to be of a different nature. For
starters, although
the name “Mikhail Botvinnik” is prominently displayed
on the front of the books, readers will not discover until looking
inside that each is “compiled and edited” by Igor Botvinnik.
While there is a lot of Botvinnik stuff inside – including, of
course, annotated games of Botvinnik’s tied World Championship match
with David Bronstein in 1951, and his successful World Championship
rematch with Mikhail Tal ten years later – it is a mixed bag, and
perhaps, like the name on the cover, not quite what was expected..." |
(10/23)
Piece opposition: The Great Pawn Hunter's
latest lesson. "Remember when you first learned to use the king in
a concept called the "Opposition?" I thought that no one else knew
the term, or the concept, at my playing level. Because, once I had
learned it, I won many games. I thought that, mainly, the
opposition was only applied to the king. That is how many books
have introduced the concept. However, it is also applied to the
pieces as well! Here is the concept in a nutshell: "the opposition
is a term that describes forcing the opposing king to give up ground so
your king can invade enemy squares." Do you see how it is easy to
think that the term only applies to the king when it is stated like
that?" Read all of
The Great Pawn Hunter's lesson on
Piece Opposition.
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(10/22) Site Review: Chessworld.net,
reviewed by S. D. Tortorice.
"As a devoted, if miserable, chess player, I am
always looking for new ways to get in some game action. Unfortunately, as
the responsibilities of life begin to take an ever increasing bite out of my
recreational time, it is often difficult to scratch the unrelenting chess
itch. Sites that specialize in real-time chess games, such as the Free
Internet Chess Server and Pogo, are great when you actually have the time to
sit down for an hour or more for intense over-the-board (OTB)
competition---but such moments are frequently rare. Sure, there are
excellent chess programs, like Chessmaster 10, that provide an ever ready
and patient chess opponent, but such programs don’t fill the all-important
need to wade out amongst our fellow chess gladiators and best them. What to
do?..." Find out, in
Scott's review of Chessworld.net!
(10/20)
Jude Acers Is Back!!:
"Legendary Chess
Master and International Chess Teacher and author
Jude Acers announced today
that he will return to New Orleans and re-open his famed world chess
table for all. “The
Man in the Red Beret”
has been a permanent fixture in New Orleans for more than 25 years and
chess fans worldwide will be delighted to know he is back in business.
Jude Acers World Chess
Table will open 2pm sharp on October 27, 2005..."
Read all about this resilient Katrina survivor,
chess legend Jude Acers! |
|
(10/16) Review: Secrets of
Opening Surprises Volume 3, Edited by Jeroen Bosch, reviewed by
Prof. Nagesh Havanur. "For players weary of endless lines of opening variations, SOS 3 offers a ray
of hope. There are surprises galore presented from a wide variety of
openings. The initial impression of a reader is one of disbelief.
Surely, such ideas are too eccentric and outlandish to be tried in serious
play! But the eminence and standing of contributors like Mikhail
Gurevich, Lajos Portisch and Alexander Belyavsky, to name only a few, should
inspire some confidence in the ideas advocated in the book..."
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(10/16)
Chess Fiction:
The Thompson Stories, by Ron Canter. Thompson is a character
you'll be sure to recognize - every club has at least one such
"character", someone that Thompson will remind
you of!
Today's first
installment in the series is
Thompson's Dilemma, a story that sounds all too
believable:
"We
used to have a chap called Thompson in our chess club and he took the
game very seriously. He wasn’t a particularly strong player, but
had dark brown eyes and a piercing stare - a bit like Tal’s - which many
people thought was worth pawn and move. If you got into a
conversation about openings or endgames with Thompson you could look
forward to at least half an hour of serious and intense discussion.
One night he came into the club and
announced that he had taken up correspondence chess, a competition had
just been started by his trade union. Three players, each to play
a game against two other players, were required to form a team, and
Thompson had persuaded a couple of his workmates to participate.
They weren’t regular players, but Thompson had assured them that he
would keep them right if necessary. This was in the days before
email chess and moves had to be sent by post..." |
The Thompson Stories are
dedicated to the memory of
David B Sugden
1944 - 2005
...friend and chess opponent, without
whom Thompson might not have been perpetuated.
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(10/16) Review: Mikhail Tal, Tactical Genius by Alexander Raetsky &
Maxim Chetverik, reviewed by Michael Jeffreys. "Did you
ever notice how some famous GM games are more interesting to play
through than others? For instance, tell me you have a Tartakower
or Nimzowitsch game and I’m sorry, but I just can’t get that excited.
But tell me you have a Fischer, Alekhine, or Tal game you want to show
me and woo-hoo!, break out the milk and cookies because I know I’m in
for a real treat! And Mikhail Tal: Tactical Genius by
Alexander Raetsky and Maxim Chetverik is loaded with enough tasty treats
to satisfy the most demanding of palates..."
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(10/13)
The Triple World Championship Crowns for Bulgaria:
Last year, GM A. Stefanova won the Women's World Championship. A
few days ago, GM L. Spassov won the World Senior Championship.
Today GM V. Topalov won the World Championship. That gives
Bulgaria a rare Triple World Championship Crowns. Congratulations
to all three and congratulations to Bulgaria! See more in our
coverage of the 2005 FIDE World
Championship, with commentary & annotations by GM Susan Polgar.
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European Team Championships
Goteborg 2005
Click
here or on the picture below to visit
GM Kosteniuk's personal web site!
|
(10/9)
Annotated Game:
Kosteniuk - Dembo, European Team Championship, Goteburg (Sweden),
31.07.2005 with annotations from GM
Alexandra Kosteniuk.
"Congratulations to GM
Kosteniuk (first board) and the entire Russian Woman's team for their
Bronze Medal finish in the European Team Championships, Goteborg 2005.
Below GM Kosteniuk annotates one of her games from the event..." |
(10/9)
Using Bishops:
Another installment of The Great Pawnhunter!
from Manny Paddy Fealy. "The lesson of chess is the lesson of
"Activity." As fighting chess players, we need to fight for open
files for our rooks and queens and open diagonals for our bishops.
In diagram #1, we see the black bishop closed in by all the black pawns
that are on the same color. In contrast to the black bishop, the
white bishop has all the pawns on white squares. The white bishop
is able to fly down his diagonals without being blocked by his own
pawns. In chess, this white bishop, because his pawns are on the
other colored squares, is said to be a "Good bishop." The black
bishop, because his pawns block his own diagonals is said to be a "Bad
bishop..." |
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(10/9) Review: The Queen's Bishop Attack Revealed by James Plaskett, reviewed by Michael Jeffreys.
"Dictionary.com defines Ugh as a word “used to express
horror, disgust, or repugnance.” Sadly, this about sums up my
review of this monstrosity by Plaskett. (Gee Michael, what do you
really think!?) Ironically, I had purposely requested to
review this book because (A) I play this opening (as it’s a close
relative to my beloved Trompowsky), and (B) I was hoping to give
Plaskett a favorable review after the spanking I gave his
Starting Out:
Attacking Play book. However, after I received the book,
my high hopes quickly turned to disappointment..."
Read Michael's
to-the-point review, and see just why he was disappointed as well as what he recommends as an excellent
alternative!
|
European Team Championships
Goteborg 2005
Click
here or on the picture below to visit
GM Kosteniuk's personal web site!
|
(10/2)
Annotated Game:
Maric - Kosteniuk, European Team Championship, Goteburg (Sweden),
31.07.2005 with annotations from GM
Alexandra Kosteniuk.
"Congratulations to GM
Kosteniuk (first board) and the entire Russian Woman's team for their
Bronze Medal finish in the European Team Championships, Goteborg 2005.
Below GM Kosteniuk annotates one of her games from the event..." |
(10/2)
Wilhelm
Steinitz: The Unknown Legacy: By Prof. Nagesh Havanur.
"Steinitz was a seminal thinker and laid the foundations of
positional play with his games and prolific writings. But in his
younger days he was known for his romantic style and nicknamed "The
Austrian Morphy". Objectively speaking, his games with White from
the early years do not always make a striking impression. Feeble
play of his opponents takes the joy out of many of them. The
following position is an exception..." |
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(10/2) Mad Aussie's Chess Trivia:
Another new page full of the curious and the sublime, from everyone's
favorite trivia-master, The Mad Aussie himself, Graham Clayton. See
this latest batch, then check out
the archives:
Chessville Headlines
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