"It is in the compelling zest of high adventure and of victory, and in
creative action, that man finds his supreme joys." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Happy Birthday To Us!!
from the
editor... This issue marks the beginning of our second year. We thank all of you, our readers,
for your support and for all of the kind words you have sent us. To
celebrate, we have a special lineup of updates at Chessville, and we have
great plans for the coming year as well. We hope you all find your joy
in the creative action and high adventure of this great game we all love.
Sherlock Holmes: The
Case of the Baker Street Irregular, by Rick Kennedy and
Andrew Hinkle. Rick has wowed us for several months with his
stories of
Perry the
PawnPusher; now he kicks off a new series of stories about the
chess-playing Sherlock Holmes. This never-before published story won
second place in MENSA's Sherlock Holmes Special Interest
Group writing contest. Read
The Case of the Baker
Street Irregular.
Ask the
Tiger! The latest question and answer column from one of
the world's leading GMs, chess teachers, and authors, Nigel Davies, of
Tiger Chess fame. This month's column includes his list of the
top-10 must have chess books, advice on the Grunfeld and Stonewall
openings, the best ever endgame books, and more!
Read this months column,
and learn what the Tiger knows.
The Lucena Position: Why is this position so important to understand? Well,
consider that rook endings are the most common in chess, accounting for
nearly 60% of all endgames, and you'll start to get the idea. In this
latest addition to
Center
Squares, we have dissected the technique needed to win the Lucena
Position, with plenty of diagrams and interactive JavaScript boards.
Review: The
Chinese School of Chess, by
Liu Wenzhe; reviewed by Jens Madsen. Chessville's premier reviewer is
back with another fabulous review of one of Batsford's latest offerings.
Jens writes "The
Chinese School of Chess offers a refreshing look at chess from a
Chinese perspective. The book’s author, Liu Wenzhe, has been an influential
character in fostering the current generation of successful Chinese players,
so although largely unknown outside his homeland he is clearly well
qualified to write an insightful book on this subject."
Read the full review here.
"Let’s check out the key battle [in the 3rd] round, as I was
in sole
possession of first place with 2/2, but Stripunsky was ready to make
amends for his first round accident…"
NY MastersLIVE on Chess.FM every Tuesday
The final round of the NY Masters is now being broadcast LIVE on
Chess.FM, ICC’s chess radio
station, which has hundreds of listeners. So from now on, every Tuesday, tune into Chess.FM for live audio coverage of the New York Masters, with master
commentary (IM William Paschall commented on this week’s event)!
Fantasy Chess:
The Ciudad de León / Enghien-les-Bains Fantasy Chess Tourney
has started. Eddie Paul (USA) is back
trying to duplicate his win in the Fantasy Chess Linares 2003 tourney, as is
Rod Weis (Canada), winner of the Fantasy Chess Budapest 2003 tourney. The
gang from the Forum are fighting for bragging rights, and everybody's having
fun. Come take a look, and check your
standings!
Famous
Chessplayers: Several new entries, thanks to readers Danny Rosenbaum,
Scott Kerns, and
Ken MacGillivray.
Just in case you missed it the first time around,
Famous
Chessplayers
has just been updated with new celebrity chessplayers.
Review: ChessBase Opening CDs,
reviewed by Forum Host Kevin Fonseca, all 29 of them!
Free eBook: Problem Solving Tourney (1888) 78kb zipped pdf file. 100 mate-in-two problems, converted to algebraic notation
and pdf format by Anders Thulin, following the original published in 1888 by
C.F. Stubbs.
PGN Download:
GM Josif D. Dorfman, former USSR and French Champion. We have just
added a 272 kb zipped pgn file containing 1162 of his games to our download
section. Check out all the other great players with games collections
for free download too!
Links Update:
A baker's dozen of new chess sites, from Braille Chess, to great shopping
sites, to clubs and player's sites, check our what's new in our famous links
collection!
Sherlock Holmes:
The Case of the Baker Street Irregular By John
Watson, M.D. as edited by
A. L. Hinkle and Rick Kennedy
Rick has wowed us for several months with his stories of
Perry the PawnPusher; now he kicks off a new series of stories about the
chess-playing Sherlock Holmes. This never-before published story won
second place in MENSA's Sherlock Holmes Special Interest
Group writing contest. Here is a short excerpt:
It was late in the autumn of ’90 that I
was awakened one Sunday morning by the pleasant aroma of Mrs. Hudson’s
yeoman breakfast. The tantalizing smell of rashers and coffee wafting from
the sitting room prompted me to quickly throw back the bed covers and don my
dressing gown. Hurrying to the table, I found that my olfactory senses had
not deceived me. I was busy spooning thick marmalade on my biscuit before I
observed that Holmes’ setting was untouched. Hesitatingly, I laid the spoon
on my plate and turned the chair to see if the door to Holmes’ sleeping room
was still closed.
“Pray continue,
Watson,” I heard Holmes’ familiar voice say. “I fear that my appetite can not match
your appreciation of Mrs. Hudson’s culinary skills.”
Turning to see that Holmes was slouched
comfortably in his favorite armchair by the fireplace with his back to the
table, I guessed that he had inferred my action from the noise of my
movements. Still I was somewhat nettled by his oblique reference to the
extra pounds I had added lately. I started to object to his gentle rebuke,
but thought better of it and turned again to the prospect at hand...
The Chinese School of Chess
Reviewed by Jens Madsen
by Liu Wenzhe. Batsford, 2003, ISBN: 0713487739 288
Pages, Softcover
The Chinese
School of Chess offers a refreshing look at chess from a Chinese
perspective. The book’s author, Liu Wenzhe, has been an influential
character in fostering the current generation of successful Chinese players,
so although largely unknown outside his homeland he is clearly well
qualified to write an insightful book on this subject. Asia is poised to
become the next power-house of world chess, and in particular Chinese and
Indian players are already making quite an impact, so when the back cover
promises that Chinese School “… reveals the unique approach,
training methods and secrets of the Chinese School of Chess” this ought
to trigger your attention. Although, in my opinion, the book fails to fully
deliver all that it promises, I still found it a very interesting read.
Liu Wenzhe
first made notice of himself in the outside world, when he defeated Dutch GM
Jan Hein Donner in a spectacular game (crowned by a queen sacrifice) at the
1978 Chess Olympics in Buenos Aires. Incidentally, part of the reason that
game hit chess columns worldwide like a bomb was the sensation of a Chinese
beating a well-respected GM. While in the meantime we have grown accustomed
to spectacular results by Chinese players, this was clearly unheard off in
the seventies. Today, Chinese players are dominating women’s chess events,
most prominent examples being the two female World Champions Xie Jun and Zhu
Chen. Their male compatriots have not been quite as successful, but players
like Ye Jiangchuan, Xu Jun, and Zhang Zhong are established names in the
world Top 100.
Chinese School
was clearly written as a labor of love, and the author’s extraordinary
commitment shines through in all 288 pages...
The Lucena Position Another
Center Squares Addition, Written by David Surratt
Why is this position so important to understand? Well,
consider that rook endings are the most common in chess, accounting for
nearly 60% of all endgames, and you'll start to get the idea. In this
latest addition to
Center Squares, we have dissected the technique needed to win the Lucena
Position, with plenty of diagrams and interactive JavaScript boards.
Luis Ramirez Lucena, (1465-1530 est.) was a Spanish chess
player and author of the oldest existing printed book on chess,
Repeticion de Amores y Arte de Axedres, published in Spain in 1497. Only
8 copies are known to exist. The book is divided into two parts, the
first dealing with love, and the second with chess. Among other things
the manuscript covered ten openings, including the French Defense and the
Scandinavian, along with the position above.
This
position, and ones similar in characteristic, are known as the Lucena
position. The Lucena position is won for White, regardless of who is
on move, and regardless of which file the pawn is on, except for the a & h
files.
Beginnings: The United States Chess Federation
was formed in 1939, when the American Chess Federation, the National Chess
Federation and the Western Chess Federation merged to form one controlling
body for chess in the United States.
Endings: Former world champion Max Euwe was
offered a position in the final of the 11th World Correspondence Chess
championship by the International Correspondence Chess Federation.
Euwe accepted the invitation, but died before he could commence playing in
the final.
Mechanics' Institute Chess Room IM John Donaldson's
Newsletter #142, 06/01/2003
1) Thornally,
Poehlmann and Evans lead Thursday Masters
2) Summer Tuesday Night
Marathon
3) Sokolov wins in
Sarajevo
4) Seirawan interview
5) MI Chess Camps
6) Upcoming Events
18 year old International Master (IM) Dmitry Schneider of New City, NY won
clear first place at the 2003 Pan-American Junior Chess Championship held
May 26 to June 1 at the Ginásio de Esportes Municipal in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
In the finals, Schneider drew his game with Lafuente and defeated Esplana to
win the gold medal with a total score of 7 out of 9. With this
victory, Schneider earns a personal right to participate in the World Junior
Chess Championship scheduled to be held June 21 to July 4, 2003 in
Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan. This victory also gives him his first Grandmaster
norm.
IM Dmitry Schneider (2424) - Ernani Francisco Choma (2269)
Pan-American Junior Chess Championship, round 2, May 28, 2003
Chess, with all its philosophical depth, its aesthetic appeal, is first
of all a game in the best sense of the word; a game in which are revealed
your intellect, character, will. – Boris Spassky
By some ardent enthusiasts, chess has been elevated into a science or an
art. It is neither; but its principal characteristic seems to be what human
nature most delights in - a fight. – Emanuel Lasker
If chess is a science, it's a most inexact one. If chess is an art, it's too
exacting to be seen as one. If chess is a sport, it's too esoteric. If chess
is a game, it's too demanding to be "just" a game. If chess is a mistress,
she's a demanding one. If chess is a passion, it's a rewarding one. If chess
is life, it's a sad one. – Source Unknown
Chess is so interesting in itself, that those who have leisure for such
diversions cannot find one that is more innocent, but advantageous, to the
vanquished as well as the victor. – Benjamin Franklin
The game of the Gods. Infinite possibilities. – Vladimir Nabokov
The battle for the ultimate truth will never be won. And that's why chess is
so fascinating. – Hans Kmoch
Chess is in its essence a game, in its form an art, and in its execution
a science. – Baron Tassilo von Heyderbrand und der Lasa
For surely, of all the drugs in the world, chess must be the most
permanently pleasurable. – Assiac
If drink is the curse of the working classes and work is the curse of the
drinking classes then chess is the curse of the thinking classes. – J. Ross
Chess is eminently and emphatically the philosopher's game. – Paul Morphy
Those who rely on chance should play cards or roulette. Chess is something
quite different. – Tigran Petrosian
The point is that chess doesn’t have a strict criterion of correctness.
Chess is a multiform game! – Bent Larsen
For me chess is certainly more than a game - it is my profession. Chess
embodies art and creativity. Twenty years ago it was much more of a creative
activity than it is today. In those days you had to mainly rely on your own
creativity but today there are many other factors such as computers and
trainers, which can outweigh that creativity. – Judit Polgar
A chess game is a work of art between minds, which need to balance two
sometimes-disparate goals - to win, and to produce beauty. – Vasily Smyslov
I am still a victim of chess. It has all the beauty of art - and much more.
It cannot be commercialized. Chess is much purer than art in its social
position. – Marcel Duchamp
Chess is only a game and not to be classed with business, science,
technology, not to speak of religion, philosophy or the arts. No one desires
to see players devote to chess such time as they need for serious purposes.
– Emanuel Lasker
The essence of chess is thinking about what chess is. – David Bronstein
Chess, which severely eliminates accident, is a forcing house where the
fruits of character can ripen more fully than in life. – E. M. Forster
Chess is a sport. The main object in the game of chess remains the
achievement of victory. – Max Euwe
Chess really is a universal game that cuts across all of those artificial
boundaries we set up to segregate ourselves from our fellow human beings. –
Steve Lopez
Comments, suggestions, ideas, praise, and so forth, please
write to us!
