Chess Player Look-a-Likes: Carlsen-Damon

Here's another one.

Chess Player Look-a-Likes: Polgar-Livni

So I was at the gym the other day and was watching the TVs while I worked out. I thought I saw Susan Polgar being interviewed by CNN's Christiane Amanpour, but that didn't seem right. Then I adjusted my eyes and saw it was Tzipi Livni.

"Basic Instructions" Mentions Chess

I think Scott Meyer's comic is one of the best out there right now.

He gave 'chess' a mention today.

DHA Doping

Tonight I read likesforests' latest post tonight in which he referred to taking DHA supplements. I have a small story to tell that involves DHA supplements. Several weeks ago in October, I attended a safety and wellness meeting at work. One of the head honchos over at the Cooper Institute spoke to us. He spoke very highly of omega-3's which contain DHA. If you haven't heard about these fatty acids and the benefits from taking them, then do some research.

Anyway, I've known for a few years that omega-3's are very good for you and especially for your brain. The brain is basically made of omega-3 fatty acids. In the past, I've taken flax seed oil and walnut oil, but I stopped after a while. After listening to the gentleman at the Cooper Institue, I decided to start taking fish oil and Cooper Complete vitamins. Since then, I've been taking fish oil and Cooper Complete vitamins every day.

My skin around my nose and eyebrows, which has suffered from some type of dry skin exema, has cleared up as a result of taking the supplments. Also, I feel my memory and coodination has improved. You may laugh, but before I started taking the supplements, the best I could do at playing Wii Tanks was 173 tanks and that was hard for me. One week after I started taking the supplements, I doubled my Wii Tanks record to 240. Ever since, I have regularly been scoring higher and have bested my previous record of 240 tanks to 243. I don't think it is a coincidence.

I think my chess has benefitted. I've been playing more blitz than usual the last several weeks. For the longest time, I stayed below 1200. But for the last several weeks, I've managed to stay above 1200.

But regardless if the omega-3's and vitamins are helping my video gaming and chess, I think the health benefits are tremendous.

Chess for Hunger

I was doing a search for Thanksgiving and chess and found this link. The page has a registration link on it, but the said tournament is closed for new registrations. But it looks like there is a new one available.

The Real Story of Thanksgiving

I heard this story several years ago and it amazes me that it isn't touted and taught more in school.

Bradford realized that the communal system encouraged and rewarded waste and laziness and inefficiency, and destroyed individual initiative. Desperate, he abolished it. He distributed private plots of land among the surviving Pilgrims, encouraging them to plant early and farm as individuals, not collectively. The results: a bountiful early harvest that saved the colonies. After the harvest, the Pilgrims celebrated with a day of Thanksgiving -- on August 9th.

"And now you know the rest of the story"

Neatorama

So this post doesn't have much to do with chess, but it does have to do with a quest.

Some people read books for pleasure. I like to read blogs. The only blog I've read from post one to the final post was Don de la Maza's (our beloved founder of the Knights Errant).

Perhaps my all-time favorite blog is Neatorama. I'm on day two of reading every single post. I am leaving a comment on every post I read. The blog started in September 2005 and is still going strong today.

If you've never visited Neatorama, click on over there.

Brain Power

This is absolutely amazing. It is not unbelievable, but I didn't think I'd see these advances so early in my lifetime. My grandkids might not ever need to type! Wow. This technology is really mind-blowing.


Watch CBS Videos Online

Religion and Chess by Bill Wall

This is a fitting read considering the day of the week.

My favorite one - "Chess had picked up in Europe and pretty soon many of the clergy was spending more time playing chess than saving souls. In 1061 Cardinal Damiani of Ostin forbad the clergy from playing chess. He died in 1072 and chess was resumed in his domain."

This one is brutal - "In 1495 the Inquisition saw victims of persecutions stand in as figures in a game of living chess. The game was played by two blind players. Each time the captured piece was taken, the person representing that piece was put to death."

Getting Chess Skill

If you haven't visited Chess Vibes (or if you don't subscribe to their blog) you might want to saunter over there to read of some preliminary results they have on their recent study of chess skills.

Nothing too surprising about the results, but the glimmer of hope is found in once sentence: "Some believe that almost everyone can get to FIDE master with enough practice and study."

"So you're telling me there's a chance."

Additional Reading:
Susan Polgar picked this up too

I liked this graph which is displayed on Susan's blog

Straight Up Chess

Just when I thought chess could not get any more novel, it does.


Check out straightupchess.com The basic idea behind these boards is to make chess more artful by making the game into a piece of art ... hanging the game on the wall if you will. Very clever.

I wonder when the next leap will be ... LCD touch-screens with a chess board and pieces ... connected to FICS, ICC or wherever. I think I saw a commercial or maybe it was Bill Gates' home ... a coffee table that has a computer integrated into it. I seem to remember seeing people play chess on it.

Blitz Rating at FICS this Month

My blitz rating is mimicking the stock market. It goes up a little, but just keeps dropping even lower. I thought I'd get that off my chest.

Chess Comparisons

Tis the season when every sports writer in America breaks out the chess comparisons. Every year, MLB writers compare baseball matchups to chess. During the summer, it's not so bad. But during the playoffs, every, single writeup has at least one reference to chess.

Now with football in full swing, comparisons are being made between linebackers and quarterbacks. This week it was Ray Lewis vs. Peyton Manning.

To add on top of these is the US Presidential election. And we all know that somewhere in a political contest, there has to be at least some reference to chess. This political chess comparison is actually pretty good. The writer seems to have the good sense to take the comparison one step further by actually explaining the comparison of John McCain to an amateur chess player. Most writers will simply say, "it's a chess match" and leave it at that.

And then there is this article that classifies the two candidates into classic and hypermodern types. He dubs McCain a "classic 'Romantic-era' player" comparing him to Captain Evans. On the other hand, the author tags Obama as a "Hypermodern positional player" who is "an analytic who prefers big ideas to short-term tactics."

I really don't mind the comparisons. I enjoy the ones that go into the details. But the ones that make the broad-stroke comparisons aren't really that great. Everything is like chess in one way or another. But to put some thought behind the comparison is what makes the comparison truly worthy.

An Amusing Confession

With Magnus Carlsen making the news again (unofficially number one in the world now) I remembered the time our youngest son was born.

Our youngest son was born a few years ago. I was really, really interested in chess back then. I was playing daily and studying the game and such. During the course of my studies, the chess phenom Magnus Carlsen was garnering a lot of attention for his incredible chess talents.

So when our son was born, I tried really hard to convince my wife to name him Magnus. But she didn't like the name. She liked the name even less when I told her it was the name of a chess prodigy.

So instead of naming him after the next world chess champion, we ended up naming him after we heard a contestant's name on The Price is Right.

Chess Around the Net

I haven't done this in a while, but I managed to find some interesting stuff.

This New York Times article reports that American astronaut Greg Chamitoff is playing a game of chess against Mission Control. It also talks a bit about the first chess game played in space (by the Russians of course).

In this Washington Post article, the author relates how he used a chess class as a "crash-protection device" for his GPA. Read the full article for a useful tip in earning a higher GPA by taking a chess class.

Bored with chess? If you're good enough, you can always try rogue financial trading like Matthew Piper ... read more.

First there was chess-boxing. Now we have chess-marathon-running. David Levans, age 69, is determined to play six games of chess using his mobile phone while running a marathon! Read the article here.

In this eulogy, one of the stories described how government officials thought two-time Georgia chess champion A.C. Davis was a spy because he kept sending and receiving mysterious postcards!

"The demise of chess blogging" Response

LEP's post about the demise of chess blogging caught my attention. I've seen it too. I am a part of this falling off. Earlier this year (March-April-ish) my attention to chess blogging (reading and writing) decreased significantly.

In my case, there are number of reasons why. Right now I'm beginning to finish off an 18-month job position that requires me to work shifts. Hopefully I'll be done with this job early next year. The shift work has greatly disrupted my on-line chess activities. I mostly play correspondance chess now.

My family is continuing to grow up. Two kids are on school, one is in pre-K. They have a lot of activities going on and that takes a lot of time.

The last reason why I've decreased time with the chess blogging scene is I've sorta lost interest. I want to spend time on chess, but with so many other "distractions" I've not thought a whole lot about chess (not like I used to). Also, the Knights Errant seems dead. There isn't so much attention to them any more ... and nothing new (on-line) has replaced their gusto and fervor for chess.

One other thought occured to me ... I continue to peruse the chess blogs via bloglines. I agree with LEP's 2nd point ... there is a LOT of chess content on-line now. Information over-load might be another reason for the drop in interest. The vast majority of posts are *yawwwn* boring ... seen that, not new. But once in a while, there is a great post and catches my attention. I used to do "Chess Around the Net" posts and try to find out-of-the-ordinary stuff about chess. I still attempt this exercise, but more often than not, the stuff I find is old-news or not really blog-worthy. I might try it again tonight just for kicks.

Anway ... that is my two cents on the subject.

I need a chess vacation

No ... I don't need a vacation from chess ... I need a chess vacation.

I just read an article tonight about how US workers get fewer vacation days than medieval European peasants! One research assistant of this study dubbed the United States the "No-Vacation Nation"

This same article suggests that "staycations" where you stay home and "relax" are not good enough to re-fuel the brain. Instead it suggests "activity vacations such as hiking, canoeing, chess or some other activity that challenges the brain in new ways."

The Help Channel on FICS

Here's a screen shot of a little conversation on FICS from tonight.

Is there some inside joke switzer was trying to make? I fingered him and from the looks of his rating it would seem his comments have some deeper or cynical meaning.

Then again, he might have just been acting facetious. There are lots of "those" on FICS.

I should have castled earlier

Here's my first draw at Red Hot Pawn. Interestingly enough, when I started this game, my opponent was rated 921. By the time we finished he was 1459.

I haven't fully examined the game, but all I have to say right now is I should have castled earlier.

Alice Chess Set

I found this via Neatorama. It is a chess set "inspired by the novel 'Alice through the Looking Glass' where the pieces magically turn transparent when they touch the board."

Neatorama Link.

Original Link.