Monday, August 04, 2008

Chess Events on the Agenda

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Over the next few months there an unusual number of first class chess events on the agenda. First, here are a handful that are going on at t...
Friday, March 14, 2008

Experts Link Leonardo da Vinci to Chess Puzzles

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Experts say the Renaissance genius, whose interests included painting, mathematics, music, engineering, anatomy and botany, may have illust...
Friday, February 29, 2008

Chess and Social Networking

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It's your move Even if you just checkmated your new friend in India or took your Russian opponent's rook, new chess Web sites lik...
Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Dover Publications Sale - Classic Chess Titles

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Dover Publications specializes in reprinting older publications at fantastic prices - even when they are not having a sale. I've done bu...
Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Chess as Played in the Real World - No. 10 - My First Rated Tournament

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On Sunday I had the opportunity of playing in our first rated chess tournament. Speaking for me, "playing" might not be the best ...
5 comments:
Saturday, October 27, 2007

Romp With Rook: Chess History - A Rare Morphy Photograph

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A rare photograph of Morphy making a move against Louis Paulsen during the First American Chess Congress (New York, 1857). This certainl...
Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Chess as Played in the Real World - No. 9

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Coming tomorrow...
2 comments:
Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Rant - Time to Replace the Swiss System Tournament Pairings?

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Recently on the USCF web site there was an editorial Greg on Chess: The Swiss is Terrible . I have to agree with Greg Shahade. Although I ...
Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Chess as Played in the Real World - No. 8: Playing to Win

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Playing to win or playing it safe? Personally, I'd rather take a risk playing for a win than playing not to lose. Coincidentally, yester...
1 comment:
Monday, October 15, 2007

Rook's Rudimentary Resources - Yasser Seirawan "Winning Chess Series"

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This is not necessarily a recommendation (or even a review), I'm listing it simply as a resource to be explored. This series was first b...
4 comments:
Saturday, October 13, 2007

Romp with Rook - An English "Barley Corn" Chess Set from 1820

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I really like this set - including the "removable" flags on the rooks. Nice!

Fridays by the Fireside No. 8 - More Odd, But True Chess Trivia

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In our eighth installment of Fridays by the Fireside we feature some more odd, but true chess trivia from the Irving Chernev and Fred Rei...
Saturday, October 06, 2007

Romp with Rook: Halloween Costumes for the Chess Nut

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...and you'd have to be nuts to wear these costumes from BuyCostumes.com: For those who look to the past here's an idea from the ...
Friday, October 05, 2007

Rave - "The Immotal Game" Now in Paperback

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I've blogged about David Shenk's excellent book " The Immortal Game " several times ( here and here ) and I'm happy t...

Fridays by the Fireside No. 7 - More Odd, But True Chess Trivia

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In our seventh installment of Fridays by the Fireside we feature some more odd, but true chess trivia from the Irving Chernev and Fred Rei...
Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Rave - Age Over Youth: Viswanathan Anand Oldest World Champion Since Mikhail Tal

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According to an article at the USCF, Viswanathan Anand is the oldest player to win the World Championship since Mikhail Botvinnik regained t...
1 comment:
Saturday, September 29, 2007

Romp wth Rook - The Chess Art of Veronika Kasatkina

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Here is a sample of chess art designed by the famous Russian graphic artist Veronika Kasatkina . Her work graces the covers of software made...
1 comment:
Friday, September 28, 2007

Fridays by the Fireside No. 6 - More Odd, But True Chess Trivia

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In our sixth installment of Fridays by the Fireside we feature some more odd, but true chess trivia from the Irving Chernev and Fred Reinf...
1 comment:
Thursday, September 27, 2007

Rook's Recommendations - Chess Articles at Wikipedia.com

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There is a great wealth of chess material at Wikipedia that is worth exploring. Thanks to the "categories" feature you can explor...
Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Rant - No Hope for Adults to Improve Their Chess Rating?

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Abandon hope! That's seems to be the general message from the August 2007 Chess Life's Chess Coach Symposium article when the follo...
7 comments:
Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Chess as Played in the Real World - No. 7

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I've finished the ICC September tournament with a score of 0-4. I lost my last game. I think mostly because I came out of the opening pr...
Monday, September 24, 2007

Rook's Rudimentary Resources - Correct Pronunciation of Chess Words

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If you are new to chess you will start building a new vocabulary pretty quickly consisting not only of new terms but also names of famous ch...
Sunday, September 23, 2007

Regal Games from the Realms of Yore - Benjamin Franklin and André Danican Philidor

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Today, in our Sunday series Regal Games from the Realms of Yore , we feature Benjamin Franklin - one of the most talented and remarkable ...
Saturday, September 22, 2007

Romp With Rook - Little Known Chess Facts

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The longest chess game theoretically possible is 5,949 moves. The record number of moves without the capture of a piece is 100. The longest ...
Friday, September 21, 2007

Fridays by the Fireside No. 5 - Chess As It Is Played - The Two Rook Sacrifice

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In our fifth installment of Fridays by the Fireside we feature a dramatic two rook sacrifice from the Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld book...

News Item - Is Your Chess Set from China? Is It Safe?

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I guess I really didn't give this much thought, but an article on MSNBC .com mentions chess sets as being tested for safety reasons. I...
Thursday, September 20, 2007

Rook's Recommendations - Checkmate with Bishop and Knight vs. Lone King

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One of the fundamental things the chess novice must learn is how to force checkmate against a lone King (or if it is even possible to force...
7 comments:
Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Rant - Doing Algebraic Notation Right

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Although I am a product of a "descriptive notation" generation (1. P-K4 P-QB4) I adapted relatively painlessly to algebraic notat...
2 comments:
Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Chess as Played in the Real World - No. 6

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It's a little discouraging to be 0-3 in the ICC tournament I'm playing in - but that's what happens when you completely ignore y...
1 comment:
Monday, September 17, 2007

Rook's Rudimentary Resources - Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess

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Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess has gotten a lot of criticism, from complaints that it was "ghost written" (i.e. Margulies and Mosenf...
Sunday, September 16, 2007

Regal Games from the Realms of Yore - George Koltanowksi vs. Humphrey Bogart

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Today, in our Sunday series Regal Games from the Realms of Yore , we feature a game by Humphrey Bogart. Bogart was actually an accomplishe...
Saturday, September 15, 2007

Romp with Rook - Queen and Pawn Endgame Puzzle

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Here’s a chess puzzle that Women’s Grand Master Susan Polgar rates as a one-and-a-half stars out of four for difficulty. Even Rook should be...
1 comment:

Romp With Rook - Chess and the Great Flood

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How the game of Chess survived the great flood: Chess Ark by Kosobukin Juri (USSR)
Friday, September 14, 2007

Fridays by the Fireside No. 4 - Odd, But True - A Challenging Mate-in-Six Problem

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In our fourth installment of Fridays by the Fireside we feature a very challenging "Mate-in-6" problem from the Irving Chernev a...
1 comment:
Thursday, September 13, 2007

Rook's Recommendations - Chess Tactics Server

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No one will argue that a mastery of chess tactics is essential to improving your game. So one of my goals is to set aside time each day to p...
Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Rave - WorldChessLinks.net

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I just came across a chess web site today and thought it was so good it required immediate mention: WorldChessLinks .net - "Best colle...

Rant: Why Isn't There a Serious Contender to the Staunton Chess Set Design?

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Uniformity is a good thing I suppose, but it flies in the face of the old adage "Variety is the spice of life." It seems to me a b...
4 comments:
Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Chess as Played in the Real World - No. 5

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I'm feeling a bit depressed over this loss. Oh, well. I took my time and I tried hard. Hopefully I'm a little wiser. The game is fr...
6 comments:
Monday, September 10, 2007

Chess News - FIDE World Chess Championship 2007 Starts This Week

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Just a reminder - the FIDE World Chess Championship 2007 will be held in Mexico City, starting this Wednesday, September 12, 2007, as an ei...

Rook's Rudimentary Resources - Online Chess Databases

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"Chess is an aesthetic experience – the more you understand, the more you enjoy the beauty of this game." One of the best ways to ...