Musings on chess, and lesser things
Non-chess posts
Two thirds of the way through the tournament, Robbie and I are locked in a two horse race for the title, and the pairings really are starting to become bizarre. (By the way, the tournament website is http://www.curacaochess.net/ ) The two of us have taken to a serious, no-nonsense schedule every day: lazy breakfasts, tourist …
With only 14 players in the main section of the 9-round Open, the pairings are going to get weird really soon. The top two seeds met already in round three, with my roommate Robbie and I slugging it out in a real coffeehouse classic. On move five I found myself faced with the white side …
Greetings (or, apparently, “saludos fo’i”) from Curaçao!! If you’re, well, not Dutch, you’ve probably never heard of Curaçao (or else associate it with a sickly sweet, fluoro-blue-coloured liquor. If that is you: my sympathies). It’s a small island off the coast of Venezuela, and apparently a former Dutch/French/British colony at various points in its history. …
Koninginnedag, or “Queen’s Day”, is the most festive day on the Dutch calendar. The 30th of April is the birthday of one of the Netherland’s former queens, Queen Juliana, and is marked by raucous celebrations, street merchantry, and lots and lots of orange. First celebrated in 1885, the day has an unusual law in that …
As many of you know, I’ve been channeling my inner hippy for the last twelve months, with remarkable success. Of course, that depends on your definition of success; an aversion to shaving, repetitive lounge music and ownership of a solitary pair of shoes are hardly new attributes that will endear myself to everyone. But this …
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 …
Dear Karma, Thank you for your recent visit – it was a pleasure, as always. It had been a while between meetings; if I recall correctly, the last time we spent some quality time together was in Buenos Aires, where you kindly brought round a pickpocketing, attempted mugging and flight-cancelling volcanic ash cloud all …
I’ve been offline for a while, thanks largely to: (a) The deaths of both of my computers (well, one remains in Computer Hospital); and (b) Concerted efforts to survive the coldest Dutch winter in twenty years. To be honest, the time away from my number one vice (Facebook) and indeed internet distractions in general has …
Ah, the New Year. That magical time of the year when, amazingly, every man and his dog, filled with hope and promise, resolves to change, revamp and improve every aspect of life over the next twelve months. And then promptly gives up by the first weekend. In recent years, however, I’ve started taking this whole …
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 …