state of my chess

since about 2011, i've been trying to establish a goal of playing about 50 real games a year.  in 2012, i got to 41 games, in 2013 i played 52 games, in 2014, i only play 24 games.

in 2015 so far, i've played about 22 games.  i need to reach my goal of 52 games by the end of august.  this means i'm about 10 games behind.  but i think i'll be able to reach my goal.  most of my games are turn-based.  in fact, i've got an active game with robert pearson going right not - it's early into the match.  you can follow that game here.

unfortunately, this is about all the chess i can get in right now.  i started a new assignment at work and it does not leave much time for anything else.  every once in a while, i'm able to sneak away during lunch and solve some problems at chesstempo.  and once a in blue moon, i pull out chess book and read.

if anyone wants to play a 30 0 game or longer, leave a comment.  i play on chess.com or lichess.com.

and lastly, i'm sure everyone has already seen this, but in my effort to document chess violence, i needed to add this to the list: a 10 year old boy jumps to his death after being check-mated

Deadly Chess Part 2

I imagine it's been all around the chess world, but I still want to document it here.  Over the last few years (going back to November 2008), I've been documenting chess violence.  Today, I read on chess.com a story coming out of Ireland about a murder after a game of chess went awry.  The murder was quite gruesome - the murderer tried to eat the victim's heart!

Man Stabbed to Death 'Over Chess Dispute'
Dublin researcher, 39, 'stabbed to death following row over a late-night chess match'
Man 'stabbed to death over game of chess' in Ireland
Chess player stabbed to death 'after late night row with opponent over move spiralled out of control'
Man fatally beaten and stabbed in chess match row
Man held in Dublin over 'ritualistic chess killing'

Friday Chess Around the Net

Link: one review of Computer Chess

Link: this is an interesting read ... I'll classify this under WTF? A Game of Chess: The Intimacy of Antagonism

Link: a crime scene to turn into a chess park?

Link: another chess movie Pawn Sacrifice.  This article has an interesting opinion; especially this line which piqued my interest, "expect this [movie] to take more of a Rocky path, with most of the film focused on Fischer in the time leading up to his big showdown with Spassky."

Picture: not sure where this picture is from, but I really like it.

Repost: Intimidation At the Board

I just read this post over at The Chess Improver.  I've not heard this one before.

Click on the Chess Violence label at the bottom to see other instances of intimidation over the board.

Happy V-Day

In honor of Valentine's Day, I'd like to share a passage from a book I'm reading.  Chess is about passion and desire.  And so when we lose, our emotions tend to spill over.  Sometimes our love for the game turns to violence.

In Paul Hoffman's book The King's Gambit, he mentions some interesting tid-bits about other's desire for the game.

"Defeat in chess is always painful.  William the Conqueror reportedly smashed a chessboard over the Prince of France.  Pascal Charbonneau, the champion of Canada and my closest friend in the chess world, told me how a childhood contemporary broke all the furniture in a hotel room at a tournament and retired from chess.  The Spanish writer Fernando Arrabal once signaled his resignation with a theatricality that surpassed Rossolimo's.  He grabbed his king, climbed up on the chess table, extended his arm horizontally, and dropped the king so that it bombed the board.

"When I was a spectator in 2003 at the annual chess tournament at Foxwoods Casino, where 630 players were battling for a price fund of $93,500, I was nearly struck by a chess clock that an irate loser hurled in my direction.  I'm sure I wasn't the intended target, but I had to duck, and the clock smashed into the wall behind my head and broke into pieces.

"When a player get violent, his wrath is often directed not at spectators or his opponent but at himself.  One contemporary Russian grandmaster has been known to pick up the pointiest chess piece, usually the bishop or knight with a particularly jagged mane, and stab his own head until it bleeds.  Then he rushes out of the tournament hall only to return for the next round as if nothing untoward has happened.  At one event, this grandmaster was among the tournament leaders who were playing on an elevated stage.  When he lost a key game, he bloodied his face and then, in an extreme masochistic flourish, dove off the three-foot high stage, belly-flopping onto the hard floor."

Chess Rage (on the iPad)

source link (via Reddit)

Chilean Miners and Chess Violence

The King is Dead

It should be no surprise by now that I regularly document chess violence.  Chess indeed is a game of egos and some people just can't handle losing - so they resort to violence.  I think losing with grace and dignity and also learning from lost games is a mark of maturity and civility.

I read a very fascinating article about those Chilean miners who are trapped 700 meters underground and are stuck there until December.  They've been trapped down there over a month now.  Due to their extreme conditions and isolation, there are worries now about their psychological well-being.  NASA has even sent a team to help them deal with the isolation.  The rescue team has been sending them provisions, but they are extremely careful not to send any games to them.  Read this:

Most of the miners remain upbeat, but there are ominous signs. Some of the men are already depressed, and a few refused to appear in a video the miners made. They will almost certainly have other problems, which is why officials were careful not to send down any games that might spark conflict. In the 1980s, the Soviet Union banned cosmonauts from playing chess in space after a Soviet researcher at an Antarctic station killed a colleague with an axe, after losing at chess.


It is only going to get worse as the weeks drag on, and the miners are going to have to come up with a set of rules and procedures for allocating scarce resources, resolving grievances, and dealing with deviant behaviour. What they need, in short, is a system of laws. As the 33 unfortunate Chilean miners will soon realize, even hell needs a government.

source: Chilean miners: That far down, who decides what's law?
image source: kalafudra.wordpress.com
other reading: Chess Related Deaths

*UPDATE*
Boston.com just posted a bunch of pictures of the rescue effort.  In photo #26, you can clearly see a bag of dice which is part of a "package" that was to be sent to the 33 miners.  The photo's caption mentions that games were going to be sent.  So there is some conflicting information out there as to whether games are going down there or not.  You can also see in photo #26 that a PSP is being sent down as well.
source: Trapped in a Chilean mine

Punches Over Chess Game

Continuing with the chess violence theme, here is another reported incident:

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- A chess game led to an altercation between inmates at the Indian River County Jail.


Indian River County Sheriff's Office deputies said Christopher Brown was playing chess with another inmate in the cell block Wednesday when Christopher O'Neal interjected on the other inmate's behalf.


Brown said he told O'Neal to leave them alone, but O'Neal ignored him and began yelling at him. Brown said he left the table and walked back to his cell when O'Neal followed him.


Deputies said other inmates witnessed O'Neal punch Brown several times. It took several detention deputies to break up the fight.


According to the incident report, O'Neal told deputies it was simply "a misunderstanding between them."


O'Neal was arrested on charges of battery on a detained person and resisting arrest without violence.

source: Chess Game Leads to Fight At Indian River County Jail

More Chess Violence?

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A 16-year-old is recovering after being shot in the foot overnight. Syracuse police say it happened around midnight at 686 South Ave at The Chess Club.

Witnesses told police a fight broke out at a party and as the crowd was leaving, a man wearing a plaid shirt, grey vest, and blue jeans fired a handgun toward the crowd. They also say that at the same time, a red Pontiac stopped at Hudson Street and fired back toward South Ave as well.

At 2:30 this morning, 16-year-old Damani Prince walked into Upstate University Hospital with a gunshot wound to his foot. Police say that Prince told them he was shot when trying to get away from the gun fire coming from the Pontiac.

source: Police investigate overnight shooting

2 Months Jail Time for Talking in a Chess Game

Think twice the next time you're in Taiwan and want to talk during someone else's chess game ...


Opinionated spectators beware: talking loudly during a game of chess can land you almost two months in jail.


The Taoyuan district court has sentenced an elderly man to 59 days of detention for assault. The man, surnamed Lin, was watching a chess game at a local park when he made excessive remarks disparaging the players' strategies and got combative when they told him to keep quiet.


The incident occurred last September in Taoyuan, in an open space in front of a temple where public chess games were popular. Lin, 79, was standing behind a sexagenarian chess player surnamed Tao, giving him and his opponent unwanted advice and commentary.


When Tao and his opponent had a dispute regarding a move, Lin threw in his two cents as well and pointed to Tao as the one in the wrong. Tao responded by telling him to be quiet, causing the more senior Lin to fly into a rage and beat the younger man.


The judge sentenced Lin to 59 days of detention — the equivalent to NT$59,000 (US$1,850) in fines.


Playing chess in front of local temples or in public parks is a favourite pastime of many senior citizens across Taiwan. The activity often draws a substantial crowd of elderly people with the same interests.


Source: Old Man Gets Jail Time for Being a Loudmouth
Image Source: chess-poster.com

Deadly Chess

Yet another news story of a chess game getting out of control.

"Guilty Plea Entered in Chess-Game Death"

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- An Iowa City man has pleaded guilty in the death of his opponent in a chess game.

David Christian was originally charged with second-degree murder. However, on Friday the 30-year-old pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in Johnson County District Court.

Assistant Johnson County Attorney David Tiffany said the plea deal was influenced by the victim's family, who wanted Christian to receive help for his psychological problems.

Police said Christian and Michael Alan Steward were playing chess and drinking at Christian's residence on Oct. 19, 2008, when a quarrel turned violent. They say Christian apparently trapped Steward's neck between his legs and squeezed until Steward was dead.

Although a sentencing date hasn't been determined, the plea agreement includes a recommendation for the mandatory 10-year sentence.

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."