Chess Around the Net

I haven't done this in a long time ...

Surf n Chess Club
"An avid chess player, Neely had read dozens of studies on the positive effects of chess on learning and wanted to introduce it to his students.

There was one hurdle.

"A 'chess club' is something for eight or nine bright nerds," Neely said. "I wanted something more than that. I wanted something cool for the kids."

So Neely, also a longtime surfer, decided to jazz up the game with Beach Boys tunes and a beach party atmosphere. There was also one hard and fast rule: Students had to shake hands with their opponents to wish them good luck before each game. His students became known at chess tournaments for being the most polite."

Fischer Spassky Board

Bridge (not Chess) in School
"Chess is still the game of choice among educators, but bridge is catching on at a growing number of schools, community leagues and recreational centers across the nation, many of which see the card game as offering similar mental benefits to those of chess, but with a social component."

A Different Kind of Talking Chess Set
Not sure I would pay even $19.99 for this ... interesting.

picking up the pieces

i had a very interesting week this week.  licked my wounds a bit only to be comically re-injured when i challenged my team league team mates to a 45 0 game.  my captain took me up on the offer and then handily whooped my ass.  i was literally laughing at the utter breakdown on my part coupled with his flawless play.

i joined the 21st century and discovered pandora this week.  quickly i found the android app for it and have been listening to my one selection of genre the whole week.  it had picked up a song i shared on facebook (a william orbit song) and auto-generated my personal radio station.a couple of days ago, i installed the windows 7 gadget -  it is the perfect companion for doing tactics at chesstempo.

last night i was doing just that - tactics and listening to pandora - when this exceptional piece was played.  it is called 'our breath shall intermix' and is by a group called symbion project.  again, i finally caught up.  this group (artist?) has been around for 20 years.  come to find out that the album this piece is from is called immortal game and there are two tracks on it that reference chess 1) pawn to king 2) bishop to king 7, checkmate.

another interesting thing from my tactics session last night ... i was limping along ... 12 right 8 wrong.  it felt like a real struggle; like my head was in the fog; like i wasn't really paying attention.  like a switch, i just said to myself, 'enough.  i am going to get these problem right.'  it seemed to work.  i ended up with 36 right and 12 wrong.

and now, for your listening pleasure.  find 10 uninterrupted minutes, sit down, put on some wicked headphones and listen to this track.