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Endgame Study Books 1898.44 What's the Best Style? 2300.1 Most Difficult Imbalance? Back Issues of The Chessville Weekly 2297.1 Life Master Title Fearless? Sicilian Defense Still A Major Fad? 2206.25 Playing Across the Internet With A Friend ICS Rating Program Personality Help in Chessmaster Chess Academy 7 2293.1 OTB - Doing It In Style, Or Not! 2285.1 Pandolfini Book Errata 2290.1
Books,
Sets, Software, Computers,
GAMES R. Kasimdzhanov - N. Short 1.e4 e5 D. Sadvakasov - P. Nielsen 1.e4 c6 C. Hansen - V. Bologan 1.c4 g6 Gallagher,J (2522) - McMahon,D (2221) [C65] 1.e4 e5 Hunt,H (2402) - Koskela,N (2280) [C90] 1.e4 e5
Past issues of The Chessville Weekly can be viewed at our archives. |
Volume 2 Issue 41
October 12th, 2003 In This Issue
[6k1/ppq3bp/2n2np1/5p2/2P2P2/4KBN1/PP5P/RQ6 b - - 0 23] Black to move and win - Find the
Solution
(10/12) New additions to the MyChessSite downloads page: French Defense Analysis: The game Riff-Henneman (C06 - 9.Nf4 variation) as played in the Mulhouse FIDE 2002 Tournament. A 105 kb zipped pdf file. (10/12) The Mad Aussie's Trivia Challenge: Ready for another dose of historical trivia, brought to you by the Mad Aussie himself, Graham Clayton? We bring you eight ranks worth of Who Am I quizzes, as well as more than a dozen other fascinating bits of history! Visit also Graham's archives of past trivia:
(10/12) Problem of the Week: Tactical training with our weekly puzzle.
(10/11) Scholastic Training Materials: Professor Chester Nuhmentz is back, with two new training score sheets: a Time Tracker score sheet and a Computer Challenge score sheet. Check out these and all the other Scholastic Chess training materials provided free by Professor Chester Nuhmentz!
Understanding Chess Strategy
Too often web page designers (yes, I'm guilty too) and software writers treat the computer screen as though it were just another way to present the written page, and what we wind up seeing on our monitors looks just like what we read in books and magazines. The medium of the PC offers so many more opportunities to present the material in creative and effective ways. I think we have only begun to scratch the surface of the possibilities, and Understanding Chess Strategy is clearly a large step in the right direction, and a harbinger of things to come. Raetsky covers the following positional themes: 1. Open files 2. Long diagonals 3. Weak pawns 4. Weak squares 5. White or black square weaknesses 6. Space 7. The Bishop pair 8. Passed pawns 9. Blockade 11. Bad co-ordination 12. The Centre 13. Assessing the position and planning 14. The Attack 15. Defense and counter-attack 16. Maneuvering 17. Isolated pawn positions 18. Hanging Pawns 19. Prophylaxis 20. Exchanges. Each chapter consists of a page or so of text, along with example games. Chapter One, Open Files, uses 15 example positions/games to illustrate the points Raetsky wishes to make. The games are presented first in a sort of thumbnail form on the book's pages. This is a review of the medium as much as it is of the content of Raetsky's work. It is this reviewer's first exposure to the so-called "multimedia" CD format, one that I think holds great promise for the future of chess study both on your PC as well as online. Does Understanding Chess Strategy live up to that promise? Let's take a closer look...
Read the entire review, including eight screen shots.
Teaching Life Skills
Through Chess
This small book is an interesting attempt to use the teaching of chess as a way of enhancing young people's understanding and solution to interpersonal problems. Engaging young people in thinking about their problems is often difficult and the major hurdle for any professional counselor. Fernando Moreno has provided an interesting and potentially very worthwhile system for subtly helping young people consider their options. The book contains four chapters, Chess As An Analogy To Life, How To Use Chess In Counseling, Directory of Chess Positions To Be Used In Counseling, and Chess Counseling Programs. Mr. Moreno points out in the skills table on pages 12 through 15 how conversations can show the parallels between chess and life. He sees chess problems as analogs for challenges between people and between people and the system. He shows how group discussions dealing with chess problems can, in fact, help to analyze even the group pressures of peers (page 33). He points out how present choices have both immediate and long term consequences in how you must think before you act. He nicely points out how chess has rules as does life and that solutions need to be found within the rules. A major issue in all counseling is to get the clients or people with problems to take a step back and distance themselves from the problems. This clinical distance allows them to use their intelligence to both analyze the situation and look at different options. Young people and many older people in the middle of the maelstrom of interpersonal problems cannot get the clinical distance which would allow them to use their intelligence to find solutions. The use of chess situations as analogies would permit many students to gain this clinical distance and hence allow them to engage their intelligence at solution finding. Mr. Moreno does give some helpful truisms and rules for dealing with problems, be they on the chess board or in life. The Directory of Chess Position's that Moreno advocates includes eight life-skill related positions, including such positions as Légall's Mate (used to foster discussions about stealing, "Look at the long-term consequences"), and the following one... Read the
full review, see the examples, and read Dr. Rubin's conclusions.
See also the
complete index of reviews at Chessville.
Scholastic Training Materials The Professor is back! This time he has two new training score sheets, a Time Tracker score sheet and a Computer Challenge score sheet:
Time Tracker Score Sheet: Time management skills are emphasized on these score sheets. After each move, the player records how much time is left on his clock. Space is provided to later write how much time was spent on each move. This can be used to help players effectively pace themselves and make the best use of their available time. 1 page. Approximately 55K. Computer Challenge Score Sheet: This is a training score sheet designed to help players practice looking ahead. It's for playing against a computerized chess game that's set to play at a level above a student's usual strength. Players must pause before they make each move to predict how they think the computer will respond. They must write down the 3 replies that they think they're most likely to face. AND, next to each prediction they must write how they think they would respond in turn to each of these potential computer moves. As an added incentive, students receive points when they correctly predict what the computer will do. 1 page. Approximately 75K. Check out these
and all the other Scholastic Chess training materials provided free by
Professor Chester Nuhmentz!
The Mad Aussie's Chess Trivia Living Chess Pieces: In 1891, a Club of Living Chess was formed in Dublin, Ireland, with the purpose of giving living chess displays for suitable charities. In 1892, one of its members, Dr Ephraim McDowell Cosgrave, wrote the book "Chess with Living Pieces", arguably the only book ever published on this type of chess. Living Chess History: The chess periodical with the longest continuing run of issues is the "British Chess Magazine", which was first published in 1881, and is still being published today. Submit your trivia to the
Mad Aussie! Pablo's Chess News Chessville coverage of:
other online chess news resources
The Chess Cafe Larry Evans On Chess: ROT ON TOP OR: WHY SEIRAWAN RESIGNS John Henderson Is The Scotsman CNN.com: In the zone: Training your mind as well as your body RusBase Part Three - New Material From 1986, 1989 Newsday: Checkmate! Bronx 12-Year-Old's Got Chess British Chess Magazine Online12th Monarch Assurance Isle of Man International (Prizegiving - and Nigel Short's Withdrawal) Chessbase Analysing with Kasparov - join his search for ultimate chess truth Man vs Machine – who is winning? The Women of Crete Steve Lopez: Book properties in ChessBase 8
The Times of India
Mechanics'
Institute Chess Room Review: First Anglo-Pacific Invitational Chess Championship by I.C.C.F. International Master Erik Osbun, reviewed by IM Eric Tangborn The Chess Drum"The Talking Drum" with Ian Wilkinson Disputed Calls at Jamaica's Clarendon Open Annotated Games The Telegraph Chess ClubMalcolm Pein: Sakaev-Kasparov, European Club Cup 2003 David Norwood: Short-Zhao Xue, 3 Arrows Cup 2003 Nigel Short: Svidler-Bologan, European Club Championship 2003 World Chess Rating Best of the Fourth and Fifth Rounds, European Club Cup: Shipov Kasparov Annotates an Interesting Endgame Game of the Week: Bacrot-Papa, location/date not given Robert Byrne (NY Times): Svidler-Cicak, European Club Ch. 2003 Lubomir Kavalek (Washington Post): Huzman-Kasparov, Svidler-Bologan, European Club Championship 2003
David
Sands (Washington Times) Jack Peters (LA Times): Azmaiparashvili-Kasparov, Crete 2003 Puzzles & Problems
Chessville -
Problem of the Week Tell us about your favorite site that you would like us to keep an eye on for you. Write: Newsletter@Chessville.com
Position of the Week: Solution
Letelier,R - Fischer,R 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 0-0 5.e5 Ne8 6.f4 d6 7.Be3
c5 8.dxc5 Nc6 9.cxd6 exd6 10.Ne4 Bf5 11.Ng3 Be6 12.Nf3 Qc7 13.Qb1 dxe5 14.f5
e4 15.fxe6 exf3 16.gxf3 f5 17.f4 Nf6 18.Be2 Rfe8 19.Kf2 Rxe6 20.Re1 Rae8
21.Bf3 Rxe3 22.Rxe3 Rxe3 23.Kxe3 [Diagram] 23...Qxf4+ 0-1
24.Kf2 (24.Kxf4 Bh6 mate) 24...Ng4+ 25.Ke1 (The only other try
that isn't mate-in-four or less is 25.Kg2 Ne3+ 26.Kf2 Nd4 and White can call
it a day.) 25...Qxf3 26.Qc2 Nd4 These knights just tear up the
White position, like a pair of marauding pit bulls. 27.Qd2
Alternatives lead to mate even faster, but it's mate in any event. Letelier,
of course, saw all this after 23...Qxf4+ and did the sensible thing -
resign. |
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A Collection of Chess WisdomWhy Didn't Somebody Tell Me These Things?"Play the opening like a book, the middlegame like a magician, and the endgame like a machine." - Rudolf Spielmann When you see a good move, sit on your hands and see if you can find a better one. – Siegbert Tarrasch Memory should never be a substitute for thought. If a move is absolutely forced, don't waste time calculating it. Make the move and calculate the ramifications on your opponent's time. If something is happening on your board that is strange or you don't understand, stop the clock and get the tournament director. Stay flexible. Always be ready to transform one type of advantage to
another, or to switch from tactical to positional play. Use your time to think of specifics and to find the best move. Use your opponent’s time to think in generalities and of future possibilities. Always make sure you use your opponent’s time productively. If you blunder, don’t resign. Sit back and figure out how to give your
opponent trouble. Go down fighting. To improve your chess game, combine STUDY AND PLAY; study and play, study and play, study and play… Chess is not Solitaire. Sound chess begins with respect for your opponent’s ideas, moves, threats, plans and ability. Don’t be afraid of higher rated opponents. They have more to lose than
you do. Have some fun and go for the kill. In many cases, it is better to allow an enemy piece to occupy a square and then drive it away, as opposed to preventing him from coming there in the first place. This way, you gain a tempo instead of losing one. That’s a difference of two tempi. While a stockpile of principles, guidelines, rules, and basic positions can be very useful in any chess player's arsenal, one should never forget that there is no substitute for analysis. A general idea or guideline is not the end, but the means to an end.
Books,
Sets, Software, Computers,
GAMES Korchnoi,V (2580) - Kelly,B (2487) [A13] 1.c4 e6 Shirov,A (2737) - Atalik,S (2570) 1.e4 e6 Sokolov,A (2584) - Flear,G (2516) 1.e4 e5 Mitkov,N (2530) - Erdogdu,M (2359) [B33] 1.e4 c5
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