First Donald Trump beat Kamala Harris in
Election Special 2024
(November 2024), then Elon Musk beat a troll in
Elon Musk Goes Trolling
(ditto).
The two billionaires are slated to square off in a high stakes contest for the Championship of the One-Percenters.
If the match is tied after two games, the winner will be decided by a hotdog eating contest.
Musk has an edge in the chess games because of his experience on his high school team; Trump has an edge in the tiebreak because of his appetite for winning.
Hello and welcome to week seven of chess month in which our team shines a light on two player games. Today we're looking at all the fun you can have with a chess board -- so this should be a short video!
...you might guess that anything can happen. And that's also what you'd expect from a Youtube channel that calls itself 'Shut Up & Sit Down'. Did he say 'chess tickles'?
Nine Easy Ways to Make Chess Fun (13:58) • '[Published on] Sep 23, 2020'
The 'Nine Easy Ways' are chess variants, including bughouse. Why variants?
If we can just put down the worthy analogies for a second, and if we can make an effort to cut through the choking cultural fog that billows off of the chess set and makes it quite hard to judge, as a game we're left with an uncomfortable truth, which is simply that playing chess is a bummer.
With nearly 100.000 views, the video attracted over 500 comments, many of them discussing other chess variants or board games.
Coming on top of GM Kramnik's
Nine Chess Variants
(September 2020), we might conclude that chess is facing some sort of an existential crisis -- another casualty of the coronavirus.
Subtitled: 'I Heart FIDE'. Today I intended to continue with last week's post,
Spectating the 90th FIDE Congress?,
but this being Valentine's Day, there are more important themes in the air.
Google search on 'chess heart'
Like much of the chess world, I'm often critical of FIDE officials, so I'll take advantage of the day by sending some positive vibes their way. That wasn't so hard, was it!
Since its complete makeover a few months ago, FIDE's website gets no respect. Case in point:
Coffee, Chess, the FIDE webpage & other Goofiness
(spraggettonchess.com), where we find this informed commentary:-
The Mad, Mad World of FIDE’s Home Page
•
FIDE's new website has been almost universally criticized in the online chess community. For one reason or the other, such as requiring too much scrolling to find what you are looking for, unfriendly and difficult navigation, incomplete player information and ratings, too crowded with BIG images and confusing layout, too much in your face, etc.
To that I would add a severe shrinking of news about FIDE's current activities. The site appears to be on information lockdown.
But all is not lost. Next to 'Top players', under 'Person of the day' you'll find a search on the 'Players database'. I entered my own last name and got this...
...That's my name, my birth year, the flag of my federation, and my last published rating; but that's not my photo. My guess is that it's
The other M.Weeks
(May 2006), aka 'Manuel William Weeks' of Australia. I suppose I should submit my own photo to FIDE, but how?
***
Later:
Re 'I should submit my own photo to FIDE', how about this one? (With apologies to the great Groucho.)
With World Championship qualifying events like the World Cup (finished a week ago) and the Grand Swiss (happening now), my short list for this month's featured video had more quality clips than I've seen in a long time. Too bad I'm a sucker for the offbeat. From Youtube's channel 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon':-
Jack White and Jimmy Fallon Play Grape Chess (1:17) • '[Published on] Sep 26, 2019'
The description said only,
Jack White and Jimmy take an intense game of chess to a whole new level.
The video has attracted nearly 250 comments. For example:-
'I mean do I really have to say it? Jack White should play chess with Jack Black.'
•
'Did you know Jack White and Jack Black are actually really good friends?'
•
'Whoever the writer is on Fallon who every so often comes up with these ridiculous and random sketches, props to you my friend.'
•
'Grape Chess... How is this not a thing yet?'
•
'Berries, the most royal and lovely of fruits, should have been the edible of choice.'
If you're wondering who Jack White is, see Wikipedia's
Jack White
('an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer').
If you're wondering who Jimmy Fallon is, you're on your own.
It's that time of the month again, when we look at the chess stories that the Yahoo news aggregator dragged in over the previous month. Just like last month's
June Yahoos,
the July pickings are slim, but not invisible.
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) is facing scrutiny after he appeared in a promotional video in which he seemed surprised that black schoolchildren play chess.
In the video, which featured a chess club at a predominantly black middle school in Louisville, Ky., Bevin says the club is "not something you necessarily would have thought of when you think of this section of town."
There are 100 ways to react positively to the kids' interest in chess. The governor's reaction isn't one of them.
2018-07-26:Marsh & McLennan's (MMC) Q2 Earnings Miss, Revenue in Line
(finance.yahoo.com). The second screen capture above is a story that has nothing to do with chess, but I couldn't remember seeing anything like the stock chess image used to illustrate it. A King knocking over another King can be used to illustrate many ideas. An earnings miss -- 'Marsh & McLennan's Q2 results suffered from a rise in expense that outpaced revenue growth' -- stretches the imagination.
For the past few months I've been adding Google News chess stories to supplement the skimpy Yahoo offerings. On top of the July GM supertournaments -- Biel and Dortmund -- I thought these were noteworthy:-
2018-07-11:Massive chess pieces, rocks thrown from roof of DC apartment building
(wjla.com; '[Washington] DC Police are investigating a bizarre incident in which they believe four suspects hurled giant chess pieces from an apartment building roof to the street 11 stories below.')
Getting back to that story about the Kentucky governor, here are some of the 195 'reactions':-
'One of the chess players should challenge Bevin to a game of chess and see how he makes out.'
'I'm surprised anyone in Kentucky would play chess.'
'This is one of the reasons why many African Americans, even with conservative views, don't support the Republican Party.'
'And if you look closely enough, you can actually see some of the natives on this side of town using laptop PCs.'
'Yo, Governor, some black folks are astronauts, some are doctors, dentists, and the list goes on.'
'When people make comments like this, my response is usually, "You need to get out of the house more."'
'People don't realize how little time their Congressmen spend mingling in the districts and communities that voted for them.'
'Q: What's the state flower of Kentucky? A: The satellite dish.'
'The TelePrompter: Never leave home without it.'
'And guess what: they may grow up and run for President.'
Don't misunderstand me; I have relatives in Kentucky. Unfortunately, many other comments were overtly racist. Maybe the chess rule 'White always moves first' needs to be reviewed.
How often does chess grab mainstream headlines twice in one month for different stories?
Two weeks ago on Video Friday we had AlphaZero and
A New Style of Chess.
For this edition we have a controversial World Championship logo (and video).
Chess.com Founders React to World Chess Logo (5:24) • 'Among the most excited by the World Championship 2018 logo were Chess.com's founders, Erik (CEO) and Jay (CTO). Jay and Erik decided to take a shot at playing a game as depicted by the new World Chess logo, and were captivated by the tremendous spirit generated by this unique chess-playing position.'
The description warned,
NOTE: This was meant purely as a silly joke to show how ridiculous the new World Chess Championship logo is. This is not meant to offend or be taken seriously as any kind of political or moral statement. It is just for comedy. Enjoy (or don't)!
The controversial nature of the subject was further underscored by two standard, non-routine warnings:
'Age-restricted video (requested by uploader)'
and
'Comments are disabled for this video'.
An accompanying story on Chess.com,
Chess.com Founders Explore World Chess Logo,
started,
The new world chess championship logo revealed this week for next year's London match has drawn strong reactions from chess fans and the general public.
After a slew of mostly vulgar comments that were far more inappropriate than either the logo or the video, Chess.com's CEO Erik shut them down:-
I regret having to post this AGAIN, but ok, I will: This is obviously a SATIRE/JOKE to show how uncomfortable and impractical the World Chess Championship logo is. It is not meant to be offensive. It is meant to be silly - just like the logo. There is nothing more to it.
I will now be locking the comments since we have some incredibly upset people. It's almost like we have two different sides here in the comments section, locked in a psychological battle of words, but who's feelings are getting uncomfortably close to each other...
Happy Holidays! Now go enjoy some chess!
Another story on the same site,
World Chess Championship 'Kama Sutra' Logo Goes Viral,
this one from Chess.com's Peter Doggers, embedded a half-dozen tweets plus a video statement from Ilya Merenzon, CEO of Agon/WorldChess, who said,
We love the logo very much. Don't worry if you feel it's a little bit controversial and you don't want, let's say, your kids to see it. It's not going to be a logo used in this place; it's going to be something different and this one is just limited editions. But again, collectors are loving it and we hope you'll love it too and also we appreciate the fact that chess is in the news in design media.
Chess.com's CEO Erik closed the comments on that story with,
I guess this is one more post that got out of control. Many people have been offended, and many people have been offended at other people's offendedness, and many people are offended by the fact that they could not find something to be offended about. And now I'm offended that we can't have interesting things happen in this world without people taking it to the extremes. So now I'm locking these comments.
After this story was written and before publication, the "suggestive" world championship logo was announced, which surely would have made the list, and which shows that this interesting year is not yet over!
Has a World Chess Championship ever generated this much attention a year before the match and months before even knowing who both players will be?
If someone had to write a song about chess logos, it might be something like,
Ninety-six logos of chess on the site,
Ninety-six logos of chess!
Take one down and pass it around,
Ninety-six logos of chess on the site!
I might have overlooked one or two, but I counted the logos on my World Chess Championship site (see link on the sidebar) and came up with 96. Here they are in barely viewable format.
Honestly speaking, they aren't all logos. There are a number of banners, like the seven to the left of the top row (A1-A7), and I invented a couple of those myself.
My favorite logo is probably the panda shown last on the fourth row (D14).
It was created for the fifth leg ('Beijing, VII, 2013') of the
2012-2013 Grand Prix.
Many of the most interesting logos were created for women's events, like the
2011-2012 FIDE Women's Grand Prix
(fourth row, D2-D7).
As for the lack of logos from the 20th century, I've never made any systematic attempt to find them. I simply collect various images as I create the corresponding pages. The first event where I used a logo appears to be
1995 Kasparov - Anand PCA Title Match : Highlights
(G9).
Just as the exchange was about to turn politically incorrect, the round started.
•
For a more conventional Flickr Friday post on a previous edition of the same event, see
Gibraltar's Tradewise Chess
(February 2014).
You mean there's no such thing as lowbrow? So says
From Lowbrow to Nobrow
(wikipedia.org):-
A book on literary culture written by Peter Swirski, professor of American literature and culture at the University of Missouri, St. Louis [...] Having gone through several printings, the book is by now a staple in American popular culture studies. It furnishes a series of analyses of the relation of popular fiction to high literary culture. In his work, Swirski challenges the highbrow vs lowbrow categorization of literary culture, and popular culture in general by focusing attention on what he terms the nobrow taste culture, whereby "authors simultaneously target both extremes of the literary spectrum".
What about these images?
Google image search on 'chess lowbrow'
The image in the bottom row, third from the left, is from
Graffiti Pieces
(May 2014) on this blog. The 'lowbrow' keyword is from
How to Hold Chess Pieces
(ditto; in fact, it's a video). It's just another example of Google applying a keyword to the wrong image; it happens all the time.
I wanted to make a new 'lowbrow' category for blog posts, but it looks like I'll have to settle for a 'nobrow' category instead. I can always change to 'lowbrow' later.
I ended a recent off-the-wall CIS post (Chess In Schools), titled
Baloney Makes You Smarter,
with an off-the-wall link.
Google also points to Cracked.com's "5 Things You Didn't Know Could Make You Smarter: 1. Electricity to the Skull" [...] Lists definitely make you smarter.
3. Win a Chess Game in Just a Few Moves
•.
Chess is the game of geniuses. Hell, if Brain Olympics were a thing, chess would be the only event they have. It's all about strategy, anticipation, and thinking ahead, while mentally tracking the locations and abilities of 32 pieces. While the ultimate object is certainly to kill the opponent's King, the real effort goes toward systematically destroying his loyal subjects or carefully positioning yourself to stealth-murder him in the middle of their protective embrace. There's a lot of planning involved -- often, the game is over several rounds before the eventual checkmate. [...]
That's actually a good explanation of the objective of a chess game. Here's another example using chess history:
The 7 Creepiest Old School Robots:-
1. The Turk
•.
"The Turk," an 18th century chess-playing robot that faced, and usually defeated, live opponents, is probably the most famous automaton ever. [...] But after touring the world for over 80 years, it was ultimately revealed to be at least partially a hoax -- albeit one so impressive that it managed to fool such shrewd historical figures as Napoleon, Catherine the Great and Benjamin Franklin.
I don't know whether the three historical figures mentioned at the end really witnessed the Turk, but it wouldn't surprise me if they did. After these almost-reasonable examples, the chess references start to break down. Consider this one:
The 5 Creepiest Parenting Tactics Ever Attempted.
3. Man Decides to Raise His Children as Chess Prodigies Before They Are Even Born
•.
Laszlo Polgar, an educational psychologist from Hungary, fully believed in the idea that genius is something people learn rather than a trait they are born with, a radical viewpoint hotly contested by the docudrama 'Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2'. Laszlo decided he would test his theory on his own children by seeing if he could hone them into brilliant chess players simply by exposing them to the game at a young age and having them train constantly throughout their adolescence. Makes sense. The problem was, he didn't actually have any children. Laszlo had devised an experiment wholly dependent on a group of test subjects that didn't exist.
That one was half fact, half fantasy. (And there's nothing creepy about the Polgar family.) The next one is complete fantasy.
'12. The Godfather -- Spain
•.
This Spanish poster for The Godfather was based on an early draft of the script, in which a young Michael Corleone must choose between a life of managing his family's world-renowned spaghetti restaurant and his dreams of becoming a world champion chess player.'
The piece gives credit for the poster image to 'Movie Poster DB' -- indicating it is real -- but the meaning of the chess pieces is a mystery.
This next example is also fantasy and also has a movie theme:
Upcoming Celebrity Sports Movies.
TITLE: Check, Mate
•.
STARRING: Paul Hogan
•.
SYNOPSIS: The city of Sydney is picked to host the annual World Series of Chess tournament, and a hermit-like crocodile wrestler, Herman Herzwazzer (Hogan), scores a ticket to the competition after winning a crocodile throwing contest. [...]
It's nearly impossible for a non-chess publication not to poke fun at our favorite game. Consider
Find Your Perfect Board Game:-
'I am a wealthy 1920s industrialist ... Your perfect board game is: MONOPOLY'
•.
'I am aroused by letters printed on wood tiles ... Your perfect board game is: SCRABBLE'
•.
[...]
•.
'I enjoy being bored ... Your perfect board game is: CHESS'
'You know, chess would be great if people didn't take it so seriously. Taking 15 minutes between moves is just ridiculous. I play games so I'm not bored, not so I can be bored while you sit there and try to figure out if you're going to castle. Just move your pawn out there and be done with it. Get over yourselves, chess people. Computers are better than you anyway. Just have fun already.'
Yes, indeed, computers are better than us. 'Just have fun already'! Somebody at Cracked really likes chess.
'SOVIETS are convinced that a super-computer like the one shown here...'
Checkmate shocker!
•
Computer charged with murder after frying chess champ!
A Soviet super-computer has been ordered to stand trial for the murder of chess champion Nikolai Gudkov -- who was electrocuted when he touched the metal board that he and the machine were playing on!
"This was no accident -- it was cold-blooded murder," Soviet police investigator Aleut Shalnev told reporters in Moscow.
"Niko Gudkov won three straight games and the computer couldn't stand it. When the chess master reached for his knight to begin play in the fourth game, the computer sent a lethal surge of electricity to the board surface. The computer had been programmed to move its chess pieces by producing a low-level electric current.
"Gudkov was electrocuted while a gallery of hundreds watched."
The decision to put the computer on trial stunned legal experts around the world. But the Soviets are convinced that the computer had the pride and intelligence to develop a hatred for Gudkov -- and the motive and means to kill him.
[...]
For more, see the original article. How did I get on this subject? It's another example from
Chess Magazines on Google,
somewhat more lowbrow than
That's Definitely Bobby.
I was amused to discover that 'Weekly World News' (1979-2007) occasionally used chess stories.
Regular followers of this blog know that, when it comes to videos, given the choice between highbrow and lowbrow clips, lowbrow wins almost every time.
Most Chess Pieces Held In Hands (1:10) • 'Eli held two chess sets in his hands minus the one missing Rook, 63 pieces. The diameter of the base of the Pawns is one inch.'
This is a record made to be broken. You don't even have to know how the pieces move.
The piece I featured in
Chess Comics No.5: Mad About Chess?
wasn't the only chess related drawing in Mad Magazine, September 1958.
One of the four articles in the 'Don Martin Department' was 'The Chess Game' (p.23). Rather than copy the entire page, I split it into frames to create an animated GIF.
No time for blogging? Mention previous post,
Chess Comics No.4: Mad's Modern Chess.
Open Mad Magazine, September 1958 (No.41, 'Lower the Pitch Department') to page 20. Copy chess related picture. Mention title: 'Snob Appeal vs Slob Appeal'. Quote introduction:
More and more advertising agencies are using "Snob Appeal" in their ads. Snob Appeal is supposed to make us "slobs" feel like "snobs" when we buy their client's products. The only thing wrong with that is: Us "slobs" like to feel like slobs! That's why we are slobs! And, as slobs we'd rather have "Slob Appeal" in our ads! So wise up, Madison Avenue!
Show picture and give credit.
Text: Frank Jacobs • Pictures: Bob Clarke
Make gratuitous remark like, 'Which ad looks like most of the chess players you know?'. Mention upside-down small print at the bottom of the page: '"Promise her anything" ... but don't put it in writing!'. Post to blog and hope no one notices.
After
Comic Interlude,
you might think I've had enough of Mad Magazine,
but there's more. Going back to April 1963 (No.78, 'One False Move Dept.'), we find a four-page spread that starts,
Basically, the game of chess is a game of 'war'. It was created many centuries ago, and so it was naturally based on war as it was waged in those times. [...] The kind of war the traditional chess game represents is a far cry from the kind of war nations would be moronic enough to fight today. And so, we propose that the game be brought up to date, that all the pieces be re-designed, and that, while there's still time, we start playing MAD's MODERN CHESS.
The first page of the spread shows a 'normal' chess set -- not Staunton design, but otherwise recognizable, assuming you ignore the h1-square of the wrong color and the Pawns all being different -- plus the caption:-
Note how accurately this fine old antique chess set depicts the glory of ancient war. Note splendid royalty. Note proud bishops. Note grand castles. Note haggard, tattered, hungry pawns who are in the front rows ... and have to take most of the beating.
The second page of the spread is shown below.
Artist: Bob Clarke • Writer: Al Jaffee
The text here is readable enough that I don't have to transcribe it. As for the moves of the pieces, both 'old' and 'new' moves are detailed in the last two pages of the spread and are pretty much what you would expect from Mad Magazine.
The digital ink had barely dried on my previous post,
Gone Fishing,
when I remembered what I did the last time I had limited time for blogging : I ran a mini-series on chess in comics. Why comics? The time consuming portion of a blog post is not the writing, it's the research. With comics, there's not much to research -- someone wrote a silly story about chess and someone else illustrated it.
Yesterday, Viswanathan Anand successfully defended his title as World Chess Champion by defeating Boris Gelfand. Now, we know what you’re thinking — the only thing more boring than playing chess has got to be watching chess be played. Well that’s where you’re wrong! The match was filled with exciting, surprising events! Don’t get us wrong, it was still boring – but for a chess game, pretty exciting!
If you think that article belongs in the Not-Everyone-Likes-Chess department, you're right. Here are its last three-and-a-half bullets, plus a rare photo of Anand and Gelfand playing with a Simpsons chess set.
'Surprising Developments'
Thank goodness that's the only chess-related piece on the site. There have been, however, other chess features in past print editions of Mad Magazine. Stay tuned for 'Chess Comics No.4'.
The secret is no longer a secret! I started this series on chess comics -- see
Chess Comics No.2: 'Black Knight',
for the previous edition -- so I wouldn't have to spend precious time blogging during the
2013 Candidates Tournament
in London.
Today's 'comic' (why do they call them that even when they're not funny?) is from 'Batman' no.448, published in 1990.
In the story, titled 'Pawns', Batman and his nemesis Penguin are engaged in a chess game.
No.448, the first of three parts, was followed by 'Detective Comics' no.615 (part two, no kidding!), and 'Batman' no.449. DC no.615 had no mention of chess and I didn't bother to look at 'Batman' no.449.
From 'Batman' no.448
Penguin: 'I've been indulging in chess ever since I was a mere hatchling. Its play requires intricate planning that forces one to not only plan each move far ahead ... but to account for any and all contingencies.'
•
Just ask Magnus.
2025 FCGST, Paris [Not!]
-
By all the guidelines of common sense, the title of this post should be as
above, excluding the '[Not!]' portion. This would be the logical
continuation of...
It's Later Than You Think
-
A number of complications -- a failing PC, two new chess960 correspondence
events, complications around an inheritance, tax season, vacation -- have
all ar...
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