Current Events: The 2011 Women's World Championships are under way. Read more about the competition at http://www.wwcc2011tirana.com/
Also see more photos on the FIDE website.
Historic Note: This November marks the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Grandmaster Samuel Reshevsky, famous chess player of the mid-twentieth century. Born in Poland in 1911, Reshevsky learned to play chess when he was four years old and was competing with accomplished players by the time he was eight (shown here at age of eight giving simultaneous exhibitions against several grand masters of France). He went on to win numerous chess matches, including eight US Chess Championships. He competed internationally as well, and although he was a recognized Grandmaster, he still "kept his day job" as an accountant. His later years were marked with a fierce rivalry with Bobby Fischer. Reshevsky died in New York in 1992. Wikipedia has an interesting page on him, or you can also read a quick summary of his life here.
Logic Challenge - Just for fun: Four participants in a chess tournament will be selected from a group of six players; Adams, Baker, Collins, Donaldson, Evans and Fitzgerald. The participants will be seeded in rank order from first through fourth with first considered the highest seed. The seeding of the tournament is to be made according to the following considerations:
+Collins cannot be seeded lower than Adams, Baker or Evans
+Baker cannot be seeded lower than either Adams or Evans
+Evans cannot be seeded lower than Adams
+If Donaldson participates in the tournament, then Evans must be the tournament's second seed
+If Fitzgerald participates in the tournament, then Baker also participates with Fitzgerald seeded higher than Baker.
Which one of the following could be a complete and accurate list of the players participating in the tournament, and their seeds?
(a) first Collins; second Evans; third Fitzgerald; fourth Donaldson
(b) first Fitzgerald; second Baker; third Collins; fourth Adams
(c) first Collins; second Baker; third Evans; fourth Donaldson
(d) first Fitzgerald; second Evans; third Donaldson; fourth Baker
(e) first Collins; second Fitzgerald; third Baker; fourth Adams
Notes from around the shop: We have been donating lately to our local food bank and want to encourage everyone to do the same in your own area. News reports indicate that millions of families are in need this season and numerous local food banks are reporting acute shortages. Even a modest contribution will be greatly appreciated. You can find your nearest Feeding America (formerly called Second Harvest) food bank by visiting "feedingamerica.org"
Featured Product of the Month:
Classic Collectors Combo - this is a striking combination product including handsome wooden pieces with fancy leather (not felt) pads, a new chessboard and underneath a storage box for keeping your new pieces safe when not in use. But then again, why would you ever want to put such a beautiful chess set away? See this gorgeous combo here
The correct answer to the Logic Challenge is (e)
October 2011
FIDE and the World Chess Cup
In September 2011, The World Chess Federation (FIDE) held their annual World Chess Cup competition in Russia. Peter Svidler won the first game of the final and then held draws in the remaining three games to defeat Alexander Grischuk and claim victory. Read more about it here ...
Then, during October, the FIDE held their 82nd Congress in Poland. read about it and check out the pictures.
Chess in the Movies
There are numerous references to chess in movies, such as the scenes of "Wizards Chess" in the first Harry Potter movie. Read a review of a black-and-white Russian movie from 1925 called "Chess Fever" ... more
Something unique:
The world's first competition specifically for disabled chess players is being held in Dresden, Germany. Find the details from our link on our Playing Chess page or take this direct link
Featured Product of the Month:
Have you seen our vertical chess boards? Now you can combine your chess game with your wall art - and never give up your precious horizontal workspaces again. You can let everyone know about your interest in chess and perhaps you can even hook a new chess partner from some unexpected source. Don't miss this unique chess board
Found this interesting item today. No, we can't offer it for sale. No, there aren't any instructions for how to make your own. Sorry about all that. But nevertheless, it's unique ...
The good news is that the girl who knitted this won a scholarship for her efforts. According to the scholarship sponsors, she is now pursuing a PhD in Medieval Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Bravo!
September 2011
Chess Openings
Most chess games start with two players rather quickly executing some memorized moves. This is called the Opening. For example, the most familiar chess opening is called the Ruy Lopez Opening, or the Spanish game.
But at some point, the pace of the game slows down as the players rely less on rote and more on considered reaction. The interaction of the pieces (called the position) requires analysis and thoughtful contemplation. This is the middle game, the traditional image of players taking their time between moves, analyzing the situation, hoping for some insight and inspiration to turn the position into opportunity.
Trying a few new opening gambits will change the circumstances in the middle game. If you are looking to break out of the plateau where your chess game has stalled, the best prescription might be to try a few new openings ... more
June 2011
CHESS NOTATION 101
There are several systems that have been developed to describe chess moves and positions on a chessboard. One of the more popular types of chess notation today is known as Algebraic Chess Notation. (RELAX! It is not necessary to review your high school math textbook in order to understand Algebraic Notation.)
The squares of the chessboard are described by their position on the grid, with vertical columns labeled A through H and the horizontal rows numbered 1 through 8. From the White perspective, the letters go across the bottom frame of the board from left to right while the numbers run up the side margins with 8 as the farthest row. Obviously, this is reversed from the Black position. Every square of the board can be described by one letter (the vertical column) and one number (the horizontal row). Therefore, the f6 square would be at the intersection between the vertical column F and the horizontal row 6.
Some chessboards come with these notation labels on the frame around the playing area. See this Maple and Mahogany board for an example. These boards are especially helpful in studying chess books, recording chess games for later analysis or playing correspondence chess.
Pieces are sometimes identified with Unicode characters - but for handwritten notations, capital letters are preferred: K=King, Q=Queen, R=Rook, B=Bishop and (since the K is already in use) N=Knight. There is no identifier for a pawn. When no piece identifier is given, it is assumed that the moving piece is a pawn.
So the traditional opening moves of the Ruy Lopez opening would be recorded as:
#1: E4 E5
Which would read as follows: Move #1: White, going first, moves a pawn (no identifier) to E4. Black responds by moving a pawn to e5. Algebraic Chess Notation expresses which square the piece was moved TO - and which pawn can move to that square is usually fairly obvious. Traditional chess notation would designate P for pawn, and would identify both FROM and TO (such as, Pe2 to Pe4 or "Pawn in square e2 moves to square e4"). While there may be a few instances where this sort of explanation is helpful, for the most part this sort of notation is no longer preferred. It may be useful to know this older style, if only for reading older chess books.
In the Ruy Lopez opening, the second move would be recorded as:
#2: Nf3 Nc6
White moves a knight to square f3, while Black counters by moving a knight to square c6.
When a piece captures another, an X is included in the notation. A note reading "Bxh6" would mean that the Bishop, moving to square h6, captures the piece on that square.
Now you have the basics for understand chess notations. If you want to learn more, such as pawn promotion, castling or checkmate, check out LogicalChess.com/tutorials, a very informative website.
I have been in an interesting discussion recently about breaking the rules of chess play. No, we are not talking about the basic rules like how each piece moves. The discussion has been about rethinking those moves we learned by rote as chess novices. It all started over here at the Celebrate Chess blog. Please jump on over and add your comments.
SPRING CLEANING
Lots of tidying up around the chess shop lately. A large number of products have been withdrawn based on my most recent communications with my suppliers. The 2011 wall calendars are totally sold out (except the one I use here by my computer) and they have been withdrawn. I will be looking for a new premium item to offer in the shop on certain purchases. What would be good?...
April 2011
WHAT IS CHESS CAMP?
With summer just around the corner, the question of summer camp for the kids is coming up at kitchen tables all across the fruited plain. Some chess camps are day camps, others are sleep-over camps. I recommend that you should look for a chess camp that also offers some additional summer activities like swimming and tennis. To find more on chess camps, try www.uschess.org
March 2011
COMPETITIVENESS: Against the constant politically-correct drumbeat of cooperation and teamwork, competition (particularly in individual sports and competitive games) remains one way to move towards self-reliance, goal orientation and personal achievement.
But can competitiveness be overdone? I don't see why not .. everything else can!
Here are a few interesting thoughts about competitiveness...more
February 2011
HISTORIC CHESS PAWNS UNEARTHED: Recent excavations at James Madison's Virginia estate have unearthed fragments that are believed to be parts of the President's chess set. Read the news story.
Although several of the founding fathers were very fond of chess, most famously Benjamin Franklin, few people in Colonial America played chess. It is therefore fairly likely that these chess pieces would have belonged to the fourth President, and not some other member of the household.
In connection with this archaeological find, ChessRight.com is offering a new poster of Chess in the Revolutionary Era. Although James Madison is not pictured, the historic detail of the poster (including the pre-Staunton style pieces) shows the game to be taking place in the Tea Room at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home, around 1783. The Yahoo news story tells us that Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, fellow Virginians, played chess often. Perhaps James was not in attendance on this particular day because he was busy writing the US Constitution (which would be adopted in 1787).
Would you care for a game or two of chess? How about 600 games of chess ... all at once? Check out new world record!
January 2011
New Year's Resolutions: Many of us make them, many of us don't. Whether you do or do not, the idea is to set a goal for yourself, something you want to improve in your life...more
Chess-Boxing? Here is the link ... for more about chess-boxing. They say they are looking for more participants worldwide in all skill levels and are offering to pay expenses.
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