Musings on chess, and lesser things
Posts on chess
I’m disappointed. I’m watching Game 9 from the World Chess Championships between the reigning champion, Vishy Anand from India, and Israeli Grandmaster Boris Gelfand. In fact, I’ve been closely watching all of the games, and commentating on them every now and then for ChessFM. But, to be honest, I’ve been pretty disheartened by what I’ve …
(* If you think that’s a bad pun, just keep reading – you’re in for a real treat.) It’s time for that great biennial chess event again: the 2012 World Chess Olympiad will be held in Istanbul, Turkey in August. Preparations for the greatest teams chess festival on the planet have begun in nations around …
August: The 2012 Chess Olympiad, Istanbul, main playing hall. A large crowd has gathered around the last game to finish. Australia is playing against an unspecified Eastern European team, the match locked at one and a half each, and so teammates hover nervously behind the two players for the final stages of the deciding game. …
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it, And spills the upper boulders in the sun, And makes gaps even two can pass abreast. The work of hunters is another thing: I have come after them and made repair Where they have left not one stone on a stone… …
There was a time when chess only made an appearance in the movies if the director felt the need to add some intellect and cunning to his evil villain’s persona. The recent Bond baddie in Casino Royals is a typical example, and the John Travolta/Jonathan Rhys-Meyers action flick From Paris With Love doesn’t do much …
I got a rare chance during my Australian return to visit my old chess club, Club Bullwinkle. Perhaps better described as a creatively Bohemian community than a chess club, Bullwinkle is known for its energy, spontaneity and perhaps above all else, its often completely chess-free club meetings. Started by a bunch of students from the …
I’m not really in the habit of plugging chess books, nor authors. But I’m going to make an exception for Victor Moskalenko, well-known author of The Flexible French and most recently Revolutionise Your Chess. With no time to study chess (and even less time to remember my old theory), it was time for me to …
I was completely shocked yesterday by the news of the passing of one of my oldest friends. Kieron and I met at our high school (‘Churchie’) back when we were 14, playing chess together not just in the interschool competitions, but nationally and internationally as well. His death is untimely and truly tragic. Kieron was …
Recently, I was lucky enough to get a brief excursion out of Amsterdam for a weekend, as the Utrecht team and I trekked to the most northern part of the country for our monthly league match. We were to face Groningen, a small student town that once boasted one of the most feared chess teams …
Ah, now this is the way chess should be. On Saturday I was recruited to play in the annual regional blitz championships, playing board one for Utrecht. The event is basically a grudge match among the best of the Netherlands league teams from the union, and the day contains plenty of well-meaning ribbing and a …