Musings on chess, and lesser things
Non-chess posts
Thursday, 7:00 pm, 20th December 2012 Amsterdam, The Netherlands The day before the world ends. Tomorrow is December 21, 2012: The day the world ends, at least according to the ancient Mayans. I’ve always loved those tricky hypothetical questions such as “What would you do if you knew today was your last day on …
A few pics from my new, accidental purchase from the astoundingly awesome website ThinkGeek. I bought a bunch of stuff from them online, but then mistakenly clicked “Add to checkout” (and forgot about it) when looking at their new shirt range – including this whale-shirt detailing a phenomenally obscure reference to the Douglas Adams …
I have an addiction. A destructive, nasty addiction that is unhealthy, unsightly and, apparently, incurable. It’s a little unusual. It’s not a food, or drink, or any other substance. It’s not, contrary to what some of my snotty-nosed friends might claim, a debilitating dependence on fruit smoothies, or the Twilight series, or even internet chess …
A lot of my friends often ask me what I do in my studies. Unfortunately, for the most part, it’s difficult to make what I study sound interesting to a non-economist. Economics as a field is fascinating and incredibly useful, but the core skills and courses required of a PhD in economics are themselves largely …
Dearest Stonewall, . It’s over. I’m sorry. It’s hard even to pen these words to you, though I’m sure that the pain will pass in time. But this has to be done; I’m breaking up with you, once and for all. Please don’t try to convince me otherwise – you know the effect you have on …
A friend introduced me to the Doghouse Diaries webcomic, and I just couldn’t help but repost. Original site is here: http://thedoghousediaries.com/4477 The author’s postscript: OK wait, before you send me hate mail for my potentially inaccurate portrayal of an Aussie playing chess, let me just say I’ve never actually played chess with an Aussie, so I’m …
Chessbase has started a little online debate thanks to King-Ming Tiong’s comparison between chess and the deliberate losing by some of the teams in the Olympic badminton. Unfortunately, as often happens in online chess forums, the debate has really missed the mark, focussing solely on ‘grandmaster draws’ and pointing out (rightly) that badminton doesn’t have …
It’s such a shame that there aren’t more marketed “holiday tournaments”. Of course, it’s not easy for organisers: you need the right combination of weather, tourist attractions, accessibility and a budget that allows one round a day with a rest day or two thrown in for good measure. Murray Chandler’s Queenstown Classic has got the …
I’ve delayed wrapping up the report of the Curaçao chess festival because I’ve been without internet on a tiny little Caribbean island called Bonaire, swimming with turtles, windsurfing – you know, the usual post-chess comedown. More on that later. Given the division of interests from visitors to davidsmerdon.com, you’ll find most of the non-chess shenanigans (and …