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.

The Dark Knight

Check out this link.

I just returned from a screening and I wanted to commit this to a public forum as quickly as possible. Heath Ledger gives a blockbuster performance in the new Batman movie. His work, as The Joker, will absolutely be nominated for an Oscar, and at this point in the year, Ledger is also a hands-down favorite to win it posthumously. Ledger offers perfect pitch, perfect tone, his Joker hits all the right notes. 'The Dark Knight' is among the better super-hero movies of all time, and Ledger is THE BEST villain in a super hero movie of all time. Really. It will only add to the conversation of all that Ledger could have accomplished had he lived. Amazing work.

One of the "better super-hero movies of all time"

"THE BEST villian in a super hero movie of all time"

Wow! I really can't wait for this one to come out.

J.K. Rowling Quote on Failure

The Benefits of Failure

So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.

You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.

Never give up and never be afraid to try.

Link to entire commencement address.

Full-fledged Red Hot Pawn Member

Right before our vacation, I purchased a year supscription to Red Hot Pawn. I did so because I was going to get one anyway and the timing was right because I didn't want my games to timeout.

Correspondance chess is perfect for my schedule. I can make decent moves at my own pace without having to sit down for one whole hour or two. If the kids are breaking out into a brawl, I can pause my anylyzing, stop the fight and establish the peace again and then get back to the game.

I've only lost two games so far, but I'm sure as the competition gets stiffer, those losses will increase. If you want to start a game, let me know. I play 7-day moves with a 7-day time bank. I'm no longer restricted to playing 6 games at once.

I'm still working on tactics at ChessTempo. The site has greatly improved since I first found it. The problems are getting better too.

Top Tagger

Chess Tempo has been upgraded a bit and I like what I see so far. All the gory details can be read here.

But what really suprised me was seeing my handle at the top of the taggers list. I'm a top dog at Chess Tempo ... at least for now.

Live Blogging of Chess Tempo Session

1:42pm
so I'm working on tactics at chess tempo and I thought I'd live-blog a short session. I'm doing blitz problems. My rating right now is 2051. For the last four days I've been hovering between 2030 and 2070.

1:45pm
I just finished two problems that I had recently seen before. This seems unusal as chess tempo claims to have over 25,000 problems. I know I've not seen all the problems. Maybe because of my rating I don't see the really low and really high rated problems. The highest rated problem I've seen was just over 3000. I failed that one. Anyway ... the last two problem were problems I've seen before. I missed them both last time I saw them. Fortunatly I "tagged" them and I got them right this time. They were 29960 & 11726.

1:50pm
DAMN IT! I get to move six of a mate-in-seven and I screw it up. I am bothered by the fact that I miss too many tactics on the very last move ... I'm humming along, making all the right moves and I think I've got the sucker ... them bam!! I screw it up. Rating's at 2048

1:55pm
Ever see a really high rated problem, miss it and then smack yourself in the head? This one was over 2700 and it was a simple pin. I think I let the rating intimidate me sometimes.

1:59pm
I hate it when the server dishes out problems that are rated over 800 points below my rating. I just got a 1227 ... an easy 3 points. Rating's 2050 (again).

2:04pm
I missed a problem and I'm suspicious of the solution. I copy the position using DiagTransfer 2.0 and feed it to Fritz 8. Herr Fritz takes a baseball bat and whacks me upside the head and says, "are you a nutless, brain-dead possum?" Rating's 2047

2:09pm
I finally break even on the problems for this session (11 right, 10 wrong) Rating's 2058

2:11pm
My first instinct is to take the bishop with my rook, but then I think there might be a better move. I only have 12 seconds. Thinking, thinking ... I go with my second thought-of move ... wrong. My first instinct was correct - take the bishop. I do that alot. Rating's 2062

2:15pm
I just did it again ... the whole instinct thing. Rating's the same

2:16pm
I take 24 seconds to solve a 14 second problem and my rating goes down a point.

2:17pm
WOW! I solved a 2375 whose avg solution time is 103.8 seconds and I got it in 51 seconds! I jumped up 7 points to 2067.

2:20pm
I'm done with the last problem of this mini-session. I got it correct and finished at 2070 which means I'll probably miss 3 or 4 in a row next time I log on, have my rating drop back down to 2030 and I'll spend 30 minutes trying to get it back up to 2070.

Losing Streak Over

The last time I played a longish game was April 10 and I won that game ... it was my one win in the LEPers tournament. I've not played much at FICS since then. I've been focusing on my chess correspondance play at Red Hot Pawn as well as spending a lot of time at chesstempo. I just lost my 2nd game at RHP, by the way.

Tonight I logged into FICS and dinked around. I finally found a 20 5 game. My opponent kept making these annotation type comments. I usually ignore chat messages during a game. But some of his comments sounded like smack. If I remember correctly, his first comment was something like "Black up in material, White up in space and tempo" or something like that (I was playing Black). I wasn't too distracted, other than a passing thought in my head ... "wait until I shove your king into your blowhole after I deliver checkmate ya frickin' idiot!" I didn't let his smack bother me.

Pretty soon I had pretty good spacing and felt really confident. That's when he made another comment ... something like "e5 is a weak spot in the Sicilian." I probably should have paid more attention to his subtle hints. He wacked my e5 pawn and my d6 pawn could not recapture else his rook would capture my queen. Pretty soon, his white-squared bishop was hounding my king and his knight was forking my queen and rook. By this time, all dreams, hopes and aspirations of kicking this cocky SOB to Australia were dashed. I simply resigned. I had no gumption to finish it. His last comment was something to the effect that the score is now 1-1. I didn't understand at first, but then I issued a "hstat rockyrook [opponent]" and found that I had beat this fellow before. Either he issues the same command during most of his games or he must have remembered the last time I beat him (probably very soundly). That was my first longish game in a month.

Here's the game in all it's bloody glory.




The other three I played tonight were against a decent chap. The first game was kind of close until the end game. His queen and rooks really put the pressure on me. I gave it one last effort, sacrificing my rook to let my other rook and queen try to finish him off, but he defended well and I lost on time.

The 2nd game was quick and very painful. I blundered in under 7 or 8 moves. I let his queen and bishop zoom in on the f7 pawn and I could not defend it. I resigned.

The last game was a battle to the finish. I only won because I gobbled up a couple of his pawns during the course of the game. Otherwise it was pretty even. Because of the pawn advantage, I was able to trade pieces and let my pawns do the walking. He resigned. And thus the pitiful losing streak ended. My ego was almost crushed in a night of defeats, but I managed to salvage some respect before heading to bed.