Musings on chess, and lesser things
Have you heard of The Lion King? Of course you have. Won two Oscars, took in almost half a billion US dollars at the box office, got turned into one of the most successful Broadway musicals of all time…sound familiar? Well, in case you still need a reminder, here’s a brief run-down of the plot: …
I’ve been slack with the blog, and have begun to receive pointed reminders from some of you. Fair call, although at least I have something of an excuse. Despite a sworn vow to never again return to the sub continent, I’ve been in Bangalore and its surrounds for the past month on a glorious summer …
The recent FIDE Grand Prix event in Thessaloniki provided me with hours of entertainment over the past week. I took to it like test match cricket: I had the games up on screen in the background while I worked on my thesis in the office. I was thrilled to see Lenier Dominguez (my nemesis from …
I’ve neglected the website for a while now, and for that I apologise. I’m in thesis mode these days and I’ve barely had time to make my bed, much less keep up my writing. (Just kidding; I never make my bed.) A lot of people have been asking me recently what exactly I’m researching for …
By now, many of you will be aware of the horrible road tragedy that occurred last week after the annual Doeberl Cup Easter chess tournament in Canberra. The tournament is Australia’s premier chess weekender and players come from all parts of Australia and overseas to attend the chess festival. Six players from the Melbourne Chess …
A quick update: Magnus Carlsen will play Vishy Anand later this year for the title of World Chess Champion after the young Norwegian won the candidates tournament on tie-break from Vladimir Kramnik. This was certainly the most dramatic top-level chess tournament I’ve ever seen, and the drama didn’t stop until the final game. Perhaps most …
Phwoar! Things have really heated up in the World Candidates tournament in chilly London. Magnus Carlsen has taken sole lead with plus-four (7.5 out of 11), with Kramnik in clear second on plus-three and Aronian a further half-point back. I have to say, my suggestion of ‘risky chess’ as the optimal strategy for this sort …
I’m writing from London, where the biggest chess tournament of the year, the World Candidates Tournament, is well and truly underway. Eight of the world’s best have qualified (through various channels in FIDE’s convoluted system that I don’t pretend to understand) for the right to play against Vishwanathan Anand for the World Championship crown. I …
It’s been a while since I’ve written a chess post. Occasionally I feel a tiny bit guilty about this, as my articles are cross-posted to ChessVibes, where the poor chess readers have to put up with my maniacal prose on all manner of chess-free frivolities. But the guilt is fleeting, and after all, none of …
While I am a reasonably well-travelled, experienced and dare I say it, cultured sort of a fellow, there are definitely still some aspects of living in Europe which make me feel overwhelmingly foreign. For instance, growing up as a young ankle-biter in Queensland, there were three sports falling under the umbrella of the term ‘football’, …