Here's what was New at Chessville between
1 July 2008 and 30 September 2008
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(8/3) The Sicilian Exchange Sacrifice:
GM Nigel Davies (Tigerchess) looks at an
important strategic theme in one of today's most dynamic openings: "I recall
that Bent Larsen opined that if he were suddenly transported back in time he
would easily become World Champion. The point he was making was not
that modern players are more talented or creative than their predecessors,
only that they have the benefit of knowing more. Certain ideas and
strategies that at one time had to be created anew, today are merely a
question of technique..." |
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(8/3) Corus Diaries 2008 -
The Caruana Kid: by Dr. Albert Alberts, author of How To Fool
Fritz
- Explorations in Man Assisted Machine Chess. The final chapter of
Dr. Alberts' coverage of the famous tournament at Wijk ann Zee at long last
sees the light of day. Dr. Alberts muses about why computers play
better then humans, and looks at the games Caruana - Loek van der Wiel, and
Friso Nijboer - Caruana. |
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(8/2)
Alekhine's Parrot:
Welcome to the
weekly leader of chess events around the world. This
week: SPNI – Big US Tourney for Girls, Sochi, North Urals Cup, Biel,
Mainz 2008. |
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(8/2)
Chess Training: Jim Mitch,
(aka Prof.
Chester Nuhmentz) brings you another opportunity to sharpen your chess
visualization skills.
A game by Gata Kamsky, the current highest-rated US player, is featured in
the August Chess Vision exercise, where players try to
imagine up to 10 moves from a starting diagram, finding all the legal
captures and checks that could be made in the envisioned position. |
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(8/2) Editorial:
The Black Hole In Chess
Ratings Part III by Russ Mollot. Chess Express Ratings honcho
Russ Mollot concludes his series of articles looking at rating deflation
caused by unrealistically low scholastic ratings with a series of
recommendations designed to counteract the "black hole in chess, warping the
rating system, causing all established ratings to be pulled steadily
lower..." In case you missed them:
Part I and
Part II. |
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(8/1) Review:
UltraCorr (CD), Edited by Tim Harding, reviewed by Prof. Nagesh
Havanur. "Correspondence chess abounds in opening experiments and
theoretical novelties...their innovations are deep and many of them have
stood the test of time. One can study the rise and fall of any
critical variation with the help of the search function in this
database...The current CC world champion is Joop Van Oosteroom, the
well-known patron of the famous Melody Amber tournament, is a powerful
attacking player and the following game is taken from the database..." |
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(7/31)
Nuestro Círculo #313:
2 de agosto de 2008,
dedicado al Maestro
irlandés James Mason (1849-1909). Publicamos, además de su biografía, las
notas: "Aguafiestas 232", "Ajedrez en San Luis" y "Partidas del Festival
Biel 2008".
Nuestro Círculo, un boletín semanal de ajedrez editado en Argentina en lenguaje
español. |
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(7/30)
Free Download:
Chess In Iceland and Icelandic Literature
by Willard Fiske. Today we offer the first of many new
additions we will be making in the coming weeks to our collection of eBooks.
Originally published in 1905 by the Florentine Typographical Society, this
work by Willard Fiske is now in the Public Domain. We make it
available in zipped PDF format. Find it on our main
Downloads page. |
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(7/27) Triple Penguin:
NM Brian Wall (Going to the Wall) brings
you another of his long-winded, irreverent, aside-filled, and highly
entertaining diatribes, with the alarmingly long title "Triple Penguin,
Double Full Metal Jacket, Queen sac, Rook sac, Knight sac, Endgame study,
and Proverbs - all in one game!" |
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(7/27): UCO - Bird's Opening with 2...Bg4: ICCF-IM Keith Hayward (The
Road Not Taken) analyzes 1.f4 d5 2.Nf3
Bg4. "Several
readers asked me to analyze this move. Admittedly, it is my favorite choice
as Black..." |
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(7/27) Chess Story:
Fallen Pawns -
Rick Kennedy shares a brand-new Kennedy Kids adventure. "Chessville
readers can follow the light-hearted chess adventures of “The
Kennedy
Kids”
– Mary Elizabeth, Jon and Matt – in two dozen short stories written by their
dad, Rick Kennedy. Although there are plenty more tales to tell of the
younger Kids,
Rick thought it would be interesting to update the trio and check in on
their adventures, chessic and otherwise..." |
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(7/27) Review:
Chess
Tactics Quiz Book by IM Vaidyanathan Ravikumar, reviewed by Michael
Jeffreys. "...there is a significant amount of information given along
with each problem. Above the diagram along with the player’s name, the
tournament the game was played in and the date, is the name of the tactic
used, i.e. pin, undermining, fork, etc. Beneath
each problem is a paragraph about the position you are being asked to
solve..." |
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(7/27) Review:
Chess
Assistant 9.1 & Chess Databases 2007 both from Convekta, reviewed by Prof.
Nagesh Havanur. "Convekta Ltd., the well-known Russian
chess company, has just announced that it is going to release CA 10, along with their engine Rybka 3, soon. In recent years Convekta products have carved a niche of their own in
the world of chess software. The flagship Chess Assistant in particular has
come up with new features and improved performance with each version..." |
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(7/27) Chess Cartoon:
Another side-splitting cartoon from The Chess Player Chronicles by
Gary Gifford, this one is labeled "Dragon Takes Bishop" joins more than a
dozen other chess-themed cartoons in our growing collection. Enjoy! |
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(7/26)
Chess Reports: from Bob Long.
Bob brings you another free issue of his publication, Chess Reports,
an ongoing series of pdf files delivered every other Friday via e-mail.
Each issue contains a wealth of chess instruction, with a wide variety of
subject matter. The latest free issue for Chessville's readers (Issue
#60, 27 June 2008) includes Master Lessons for Us All by FM Allan Savage;
Blunder Checking - The Analytical Method in Chess Thinking; Book & DVD
Reviews; the Editor's Hammer; and the Latest from Thinker's Press. |
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(7/26)
Alekhine's Parrot:
Welcome to the
weekly leader of chess events around the world. This
week: Beat The Parrot!, US Olympiad Squads Announced, Chessville
by Knight, Susan Polgar Teases Chess, World Championship off again?, World
Mind Sports administration, the USCF way, Spare a minute for Jacques?,
Problems with core product – Ratings, Biel – Our Alex holds the Kid, Fischer
the Peace-Monger? |
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(7/24)
Nuestro Círculo #312:
26 de julio de 2008, dedicado al Maestro inglés Amos Burn (1848-1925).
Publicamos, además de su biografía, las notas: "75º aniversario", "Recuerdos
del C.A.V.P." y "Perfume de mujer."
Nuestro Círculo, un boletín semanal de ajedrez editado en Argentina en lenguaje
español. |
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(7/23) Review:
Chess Tips for the
Improving Player by FM Amatzia Avni, reviewed by David Surratt.
"Why is it important that Avni's psychology background plays such a large
role in his writings? Well it's like this - to paraphrase that famed
baseball philosopher Yogi Berra, chess is 90% mental, and the other half is
knowledge and ability. Perhaps the greatest challenge for most players
is controlling their thoughts and emotions during the game, and training
their mind to focus on the things that matter, rather than things that don't..." |
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(7/23)
US Armed Forces Inter-Service
Championship: By Andres D. Hortillosa.
"Army
Specialist Baniel succeeded in demolishing the Air Force surgeon Dr.
(Colonel) Echaure in the last round to secure top honors...The sensation of
the tournament, Elena Dulger of the Air Force finished in clear second.
The young airwoman’s impressive performance commences a new beginning in
military chess..." |
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(7/20) Magnum Force: GM
Raymond Keene (Keene On Chess) writes
about the great young talent GM Magnus Carlsen, and his recent victory at
the 2008 Aerosvit Tournament. "Carlsen
finished on 8/11 ahead of Ivanchuk, Karjakin and Eljanov. Carlsen now
has real chances of smashing the record set by Kasparov for becoming the
youngest ever world champion. Kasparov did this age 22 in 1985.
Magnus therefore has around five years left in which to topple the record..." |
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(7/20) Chess Fiction:
Great Grandma's Wooden Horses by Russ Mollot. Enjoy Russ's
initial offering in this genre, a delightful little story that just might
have actually happened. Or did it?
"It was as a
small child, perhaps five years old, that I first saw the chess pieces.
They were carved wood, and I was fascinated by the interesting shapes –
particularly the horses! My grandmother told me that they had been
given to her mother by some stranger when she was traveling in some country
that Grandma called Flanders..." |
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(7/20) Reviews:
Two Books by Dr. Alexey W. Root, WIM:
Children and Chess:
A Guide for Educators and Science, Math, Checkmate: 32
Chess Activities for Inquiry and Problem Solving, reviewed by Rick
Kennedy.
Thinking of adding chess to your curriculum? Have just "a few teeny
tiny hurdles to clear, such as convincing your principal, and maybe the
Superintendent and perhaps the School Board[?] Oh, and addressing State
Standards for education. And finding
some lesson plans. Those would help, too. Fortunately,
Women’s International Master Alexey W. Root – make that Doctor Root, too, as
in “PhD” – has been there, and done that." |
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(7/20) Move Prediction
Exercise: A new "Recon64" Move Prediction Exercise from
Jim Mitch (aka
Professor Chester
Nuhmentz.) The latest edition of the Recon64 move
prediction exercise features a game by Siegbert Tarrasch -- the great
chess writer, teacher, and innovator. |
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(7/19) The Black Hole in Chess Ratings – Part II: Russ Mollot (founder,
Chess Express
Ratings) is back with a follow-up to his controversial
first article on
distortions in the local rating pool. "Like a celestial “black hole”
... there is a black hole in chess, warping the rating system, causing all
established ratings to be pulled steadily lower..." |
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(7/19) Chess Composition: Finales... y Temas
#48. ICCF-GM José Copié is back with another installment of this
Spanish-language (figurine algebraic notation) publication dedicated to
chess endings and studies. Chessville now hosts 14 issues for your
enjoyment! |
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(7/19) Review:
My
Best Games Volumes Two by Viktor Korchnoi, reviewed by Prof. Nagesh Havanur.
"Korchnoi
is a virtuoso with Black pieces and a master of counterattack. He has loved playing complex and difficult positions.
His penchant for complications has brought him a number of victories from
exciting battles. It is no wonder that his inspiration has always been
Emanuel Lasker, who usually fought on the edge of the precipice. In this second volume there are
50 games with Black. The index of opponents reads like the Who’s Who
in modern chess..." |
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(7/19)
Nuestro Círculo #311:
19 de julio de 2008, dedicado al Maestro rumano Adolf Albin (1848-1920).
Publicamos, además de su biografía, las notas: "Dice Jorge Vega" y "Reglas
de Steinitz, 2a.parte".
Nuestro Círculo, un boletín semanal de ajedrez
editado en Argentina en lenguaje español. |
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(7/19) Annotated Game:
Kasparov-Korchnoi,
Candidates Match, London, 1983. Annotated by Prof. Nagesh
Havanur, this annotated game was Kasparov’s only
loss to Korchnoi. |
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(7/13) Keep the Tension:
GM Nigel Davies (Tigerchess) looks at a
little-understood and infrequently discussed part of chess understanding -
tension. "I have come to realise that one of the
hallmarks of very strong players is the ability to recognise when they
should try to do something and when it is better to play a move which just
simply improves their position..." |
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(7/13) Chess Instruction:
King in
the Corner - Trapped or Safe? Find out with
IM Igor Khmelnitsky in his July Chess
Lesson of the Month. "Sending
your King to the corner often may seem too dangerous or even
counter-intuitive. While sometimes the King can be mated in the corner, in
other times, he may find it to be the safest place, mainly due to a
stalemate idea..." |
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(7/13) Opening Analysis:
The Play of the Jackal
(Attack) by Adrian Skelton. "The Jackal Attack
is a sharp but relatively unknown opening system occasionally used by White
against the French Defence... The opening occasionally emerges from
lines in which White plays 1.Nc3 or where Black initially intends playing a
Centre Counter, occasionally a Sicilian, or even a Caro-Kann but unwittingly
allowed his opponent to steer the game towards Jackal type positions... A
main line runs: 1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.d4 c5 6.Bg5!?
to reach the position below..." |
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(7/13)
Chess Around the World - and
Beyond: Bill Wall (Bill Wall's
Wonderful World of Chess) takes you on a tour of chess as it appears all
over our planet - and beyond! From Afghanistan to Yerevan, and even
into outer space, nowhere is off limits to Bill Wall's Wonderful World (and
Beyond!) of Chess. |
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(7/13) Review:
Hooked On Chess
by Bill Hook (New In Chess, 2008), reviewed by Rick Kennedy.
"Check out the back cover of Hooked on Chess... There’s a color
photo of the author, tanned and silver-haired, face shaded by the brim of
his casual hat... The slow smile says it all: ah, for Bill
Hook, life is good! Flip to the front cover. Men playing chess.
Serious chess. Shirts, ties, suits, hats. Pensive faces.
Onlookers. Newspapers and discussions in the background. More
chess. The New York Academy of Chess and Checkers. Fisher’s.
The Flea House. In between the covers of this memoir, Bill Hook
literally places his life story..." |
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(7/13) Reviews:
My Best Games Volumes One by Viktor Korchnoi, reviewed by Prof. Nagesh Havanur.
"When the Russian Team
Championship commenced in Sochi last April, some of the participants were in
for a shock. The luck of the tournament pairings brought each of them
face to face with the old war lord, Victor Korchnoi. Victor, the
Terrible as he was known in the prime of his career shows no mercy to his
opponents, least of all himself. Even as tired players on other boards
signed a peace treaty and left together for a drink, good old Victor fought
on till the bitter end. But then Korchnoi has always been true to
himself..." |
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(7/12)
Nuestro Círculo #310:
12 de julio de 2008, dedicado al Maestro inglés John Wisker (1846-1884).
Publicamos, además de su biografía, las notas: "Capablanca-Alekhine" y "Sparkassen
Dortmund" con 11 partidas del reciente torneo.
Nuestro Círculo, un boletín semanal de ajedrez editado en Argentina en lenguaje
español. |
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(7/11) UCO Opening Theory -
Chiodini's Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 3.Nxe5 Nc6: Walk a while with Clyde
Nakamura on his never-ending Search for
Dragons and Mythical Chess Openings as he takes a look at yet another
unorthodox approach to solving the opening problem. "In
1997 Stefano Vezzani, an email chess friend had said that his friend had
invented a new gambit from the black side called Chiodini's Gambit (1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Bc5 3.Nxe5 Nc6)... I recently compiled a database of this gambit
and found that the gambit originated in 1906 in the game David Baird -
Busch..." |
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(7/10)
The Parrot's Picture Album #4:
Each week The Parrot closes his column with one or more "Rare Chess
Pictures." Every six months we gather them together to form another
volume of
The Parrot's Picture Album.
Here's the latest batch, taken from The Parrot's columns published during
the first six months of 2008. |
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(7/6) Chess Composition - Shortest
Proof Games Part One: another lesson from FIDE Master of Chess
Composition Peter Wong (Peter's Problem
World.) "The shortest proof game
(SPG) is a type of problem in which the task is to reconstruct a legal
game. Starting from the opening array, the solver has to find the shortest
possible game that leads to the diagram position..." |
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(7/6) Review: Zimbeck's Chess Puzzles by David Zimbeck,
reviewed by Rick Kennedy. "Owwwwwwwwww! My head hurts!! But
like the song goes – it hurts so good... I’ve been working on
problems in David Zimbeck’s new book, subtitled “The hardest chess
puzzles known to mankind.” I am no Milan Vukcevich, but I think
the author is onto something. Those who enjoy solving these little
mysteries (and I use the word “enjoy” advisedly) have some serious fun
(ditto) ahead of you..." |
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(7/6)
Chess Training: Jim Mitch,
(aka Prof.
Chester Nuhmentz) brings you another opportunity to sharpen your chess
visualization skills. A game by Siegbert Tarrasch -- the great
chess writer, teacher, and innovator -- is featured in this month's Chess
Vision exercise, where players try to
imagine up to 10 moves from a starting diagram, finding all the legal
captures and checks that could be made in the envisioned position. |
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(7/6)
Nuestro Círculo #309:
5 de julio de 2008, dedicado al Maestro alemán Emil Schallopp (1843-1919).
Publicamos, además de su biografía, las notas: "Reglas de Steinitz", "Torneo
de la Despedida" y "María Carolina Luján (!!!)".
Nuestro Círculo, un boletín semanal de ajedrez editado en Argentina en lenguaje
español. |
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(7/6) Chess Cartoons:
another new chess cartoon from The Chess Player's Chronicles
courtesy of Gary Gifford. Check out the thumbnails & links to all of
the chess-themed cartoons in our growing collection! |
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(7/5)
Alekhine's Parrot:
Welcome to the
weekly leader of chess events around the world. This
week: Beat the Parrot!, GM Baburin wants your opinion, SPICE Cup
Reps, "Our Nigel" - again, leaks, Mangalia Chess Festival, Big Bucks at
Bilbao, and Conversations in the real world. |
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