Musings on chess, and lesser things
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. …
The host team of the chess Olympiad is traditionally allowed to field a couple of extra teams (originally this was aimed to prevent a bye in case of an odd number of teams, but these days it’s a more general right). For instance, in 2010, hosts Russia fielded a phenomenal second team that was seeded …
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 …
We’re still a couple of months away, and already the first drama for the 2012 Chess Olympiad has begun. And it promises to be a real doozy. The Turkish Chess Federation has written an open letter refusing the applications of arbiters from a bunch of countries, on the basis that these federations have in the …
After 12 games at classical time controls, Gelfand and Anand are all square at six games a piece. The tiebreaks kick off in a little over two hours: four rapid games, followed by (if necessary) blitz matches and potentially even an ‘Armageddon’ blitz finish. And in a few hours’ time, we’ll have a World 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. …
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 …
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… …