I wrote about it once before -- FIDE/ECU Chess in Schools -- but I'm still not sure what it means. Once upon a time it meant this...
Chess in School (1931)
Source: Unknown
...but those days are long gone. Bear with me while I try to figure it out.
What's this all about? After almost four decades, Market Street chess games are taking a break (SFExaminer.com):
People from all walks of life brought their own chess sets and spent a few hours Sunday afternoon playing on Market and Fifth streets, as had been a San Francisco tradition for decades. They were not bothered by police, who last month confiscated chess sets, tables and chairs after businesses complained about drug dealing, gambling and theft.
The poster says, 'Join your community for a CHESS-IN! Bring your chess boards, tables, and friends...'
Chess is not a crime San Francisco protest
© Flickr user Steve Rhodes under
Creative Commons.
For all photos in the set see: Chess is not a crime San Francisco protest. Other slogans in the photos: 'Good Queen Fun'; 'Sit, Lie, Play Chess'; 'Not Pawns in Their Game - We Won't Move!'; 'Let Us Play'; 'Sidewalks are for everyone!'; 'Public Space for ALL!'; 'Homes & Chess Boards NOT Jails'; 'SFPD, Stay in "Check"' [SFPD : San Francisco Police Department] ...
Batgirl's many fans, among which I count myself, were dismayed to see her recent post, Final Blog, where she announced,
This is my last blog on chess.com. I may continue to contribute an occasional article on chess history, but that's all.
I was particularly dismayed because I've corresponded with Batgirl on and off for a dozen years and have watched with great interest while her career developed. Our first meeting was on an ancient Yahoo! Group for ChessHistory (which through the years has been converted so many times by Yahoo that it is impossible to navigate) in July 2001.
I started playing chess about 5 years ago. I don't play competitively, just for fun. Actually, I think I'm more interested in the history and background than in improving or playing.
She appeared again a few years later on an About.com forum, where I recall an early, lengthy discussion about chess blogs, appropriately titled Chess blogs (February 2004).
Does anyone have a chess blog... or know of any?
Talk about being ahead of her time! She later penned an article for the About.com chess site (May 2007, now on Archive.org): The Art of Odds Giving, by Sarah Cohen, Sarah's Chess Journal. I introduced it with
This article is a portion of a much longer essay A Perspective on the Art of Odds-giving, and grew from a forum discussion on the Ehlvest vs. Rybka match ('Man-Machine Match at Odds'). The longer essay has examples of many of the types of odds discussed here.
All of that is just small potatoes compared with the bulk of her work. She hung out for a few years at Chessgames.com, SBC; Member since Mar-26-04, where she still contributes from time to time. Her big break came when she started writing for Chess.com, shortly after it was founded; first post: SBChess (June 2007).
Batgirl has left so many articles scattered across the web and has left them on so many sites -- mainly of the free hosting variety that disappear suddenly -- that I wouldn't know where to begin to locate them all. The SBChess post above has links to the current home, edochess.ca, which seems to be a permanent address.
Who is Batgirl in real life? While I was writing this post, I discovered another blog post on Chess.com, Chessy Talk: Interview with Batgirl (August 2011).
I've been at chess.com almost since its inception a little over 4 years ago. Since I do a lot of online research involving chess, the site came to my attention relatively quickly. My chess activity goes back 15 years. I'm not sure chess.com has actually changed anything for me. I've had blogs before; I've written for different chess sites before; and I've published my chess history explorations before in various forms - most commonly though my websites. I think what chess.com offers - and this is not little thing - is a ready-made reader base within a friendly and supportive atmosphere with access to some very nice-to-use tools.
Is her leaving Chess.com the end of an era or the start of something even bigger? Like her other fans, I'll be waiting eagerly to find out.
I learned so much from writing the series of posts on Fischer's Middlegame, that I decided to summarize the further analysis of his endgame. To recap, the quoted bullets are from the chapter on preparing for the 1972 Spassky match titled 'Fischer's play: An analysis', from 'Russians Versus Fischer' by Plisetsky and Voronkov (1994 edition). Here are extracts from the section on the 'The Endgame' together with links to Chessgames.com for the referenced games.
'1. Even in the simplest positions, which seem absolutely drawn, he does not give up the struggle'
- Efim Geller vs Fischer; Palma de Mallorca Interzonal (1970)
- Fischer vs Mark Taimanov; Candidates Match (1971, g.2)
'2. Fischer draws upon an extensive arsenal of strategic devices'
'3. Fischer is superb at endgames that provide scope for sharp combinative play, which require that his opponents calculate far ahead'
'4. Fischer feels very confident in endgames in which he has some kind of definite advantage'
- Fischer vs Mark Taimanov; Palma de Mallorca Interzonal (1970)
- Fischer vs Mark Taimanov; Candidates Match (1971, g.4)
- Vasily Smyslov vs Fischer; Palma de Mallorca Interzonal (1970)
- Fischer vs Samuel Reshevsky; U.S. Championship (1962)
- Bruno Parma vs Fischer; Rovinj/Zagreb (1970)
- Fischer vs Jorge Alberto Rubinetti; Buenos Aires (1970)
'5. In positions in which his opponent is deprived of opportunities to play vigourously, Fischer plays faultlessly'
'6. In defending difficult positions he displays great ingenuity and staunchness.'
The Soviet GMs also pounced on some weak spots. 'In Fischer's record there are cases of inferior playing on his part.'
'1. When his opponent plays vigourously, Fischer always feels insecure.'
'2. In endgames difficult to evaluate, where everything cannot be calculated, Fischer's play is not faultless.'
- Efim Geller vs Fischer; Palma de Mallorca Interzonal (1970) [same as above]
- Mikhail Botvinnik vs Fischer; Varna Olympiad Final 1962
'3. If a defensive idea is well camouflaged and does not strike the eye, Fischer may not notice it.'
- Fischer vs Mark Taimanov; Candidates Match (1971, g.2) [same as above]
'4. Sometimes Fischer makes mistakes in the endgame that are not characteristic of him but are, rather, a result of the strain of the struggle.'
'5. Fischer is sometimes inaccurate when he is worse off in the endgame'
What to make of all this? These 'cases of inferior playing' all have a strong psychological quality. Is it really possible to learn anything from them? In future posts I'll take a look at a few of the endgames to see what can be gleaned. The two games mentioned in both the strengths section and the weaknesses section would be a good place to start.
Continuing with Anand's W-L-D Record 2004-2008, I picked up where I left off and brought the W-L-D (win, loss, draw) data up to date through Anand's most recent tournament, the Tal Memorial, held at Moscow in June. I haven't applied any of the 2004-2013 W-L-D data to the public page, Viswanathan Anand's Tournament, Match, and Exhibition Record (1983-), because there are still many gaps to fill.
The most recent years covered two title matches,
The next event, in November, will be the much anticipated title match,
While I'm filling those aforementioned gaps, I'll compile the record of Anand - Carlsen encounters in reverse chronological order. It will give me the opportunity to compare my page on Anand's record with Magnus Carlsen's Tournament, Match, and Exhibition Record (2000-).
The last time I featured a chess clock on Top eBay Chess Items by Price was a year and a half ago in A Vintage Schachuhr. Since it's high time to have another, I'm happy to feature two similar items, pictured below, from the same seller.
The item on the top, titled 'Antique Chess Clock Hague Netherlands 1910s', sold for US $1850 after receiving 46 bids from six bidders. The item on the bottom, titled 'Antique Chess Clock Haagsche Arbeiders Schaakclub 1915' [Hague Workers Chess Club], sold for US $1225 after 19 bids, also from six bidders. Were they the same six bidders? Of course, I have no idea, but since the clock in the bottom image was chronologically the first to be offered, it appears that interest is headed north.
The descriptions for the two clocks were similar, so I'll give only the description for the second clock sold (top image):-
Clock measures approximately 3 1/8"D x 10 1/4"W x 6 1/2"H. The faces of both clocks are identical. The body of this clock almost exactly matches one that we sold recently that came from The Hague in the Netherlands, so it is reasonable to guess that this one is from the same place and that it also dates from around the 1910s. Piece is made of steel and brass with a wood base and glass face covers. Faces appear to be made of card stock. Metal has surface patina in areas.
Both clocks wind up, but only run for a short time before stopping. Main springs are good but the mechanisms are in need of cleaning. We cannot guarantee the continued functionality of the mechanical portions of this or any item we sell as per our company policy, regardless of condition.
If a third such clock should appear on eBay, I bet that it would sell for even more.
This video incorporates two recent news reports -- Chess.com to acquire ChessVibes and Kasparov announces candidacy for FIDE President -- both with the potential to have a profound impact on top-level chess.
Chess News: Garry Kasparov Interview! (31:13) • 'Kasparov sits down with Peter Doggers to discuss his plans to run for the World Chess Federation Presidency in 2014.'
The interview covers mainly World Championship chess politics from the 1980s to the present. For more about Kasparov's FIDE candidacy, see kasparov2014.com.
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