Google and the Brussels Bureaucrats

I generally use my Monday blog posts to develop a series on a theme that can't be handled by one or two posts. Two months ago I suspended a series on 'Going Mobile', last seen in

• 2015-06-15: Going Mobile : CFAA Site

to explore 'Early Chess on the Internet'. This was first covered in

• 2015-06-16: Early Chess on the Web, and
• 2015-06-23: Early Chess Newsgroups,

then expanded to a half-dozen more specific posts on chess engines:-

• 2015-06-22: Origin of 'Chess Engine'
• 2015-06-29: Searching for Fritz
• 2015-07-06: Computer Chess in the Early 1990s
• 2015-07-13: Deep Thought/Blue in the Early 1990s
• 2015-07-20 'The Chips Are Down!'
• 2015-08-03: Early Computer Chess Ratings

Now I have to return to the same sort of web site maintenance that I did for the 'Going Mobile' series, once again dictated by Google policies.

Dear Publisher, We want to let you know about a new policy about obtaining EU end-users' consent that reflects regulatory and best practice guidance. It clarifies your duty to obtain end-user consent when you use products like Google AdSense, DoubleClick for Publishers, and DoubleClick Ad Exchange.

'EU' stands for 'European Union', where I happen to reside, giving me a second reason to pay attention. If you search on one of the phrases from that excerpt, e.g. 'We want to let you know about a new policy', you'll find plenty of discussion on the subject.

Satyajit Ray Lobby Cards

Just as I did a few weeks ago with Novag Robot Adversary, I'm using the current edition of Top eBay Chess Items by Price to return after a short break from blogging. The item pictured below, titled 'India Bengali Cinema 1977 THE CHESS PLAYERS set of 10 lobby cards Satyajit Ray', sold for $722.50, Buy-It-Now.

Besides photos of the lobby cards, the auction had no other useful information in its description. I once featured the film in an August 2009 edition of Video Friday, Shatranj Ke Khilari, and more information is available on a Wikipedia page of the same name, Shatranj Ke Khilari, 'a 1977 Indian film by Bengali director Satyajit Ray, based on Munshi Premchand's short story'.

A Chess Skyline

The caption said,

The Sydney skyline planned for 2050. The biggest concern is that the now so prominent Opera House will drop out of the skyline.

That's the biggest concern?

Sydnew © Flickr user Guido Veltmaat under Creative Commons.

This artist's vision of the future brings to mind 'A Rook Lighthouse For Bobby' and Chess City, Dubai.

An Early Digital Clock

Last week, in 'The Chips Are Down!', I used USCF product catalogs from the 1990s to illustrate the state-of-the-art in chess computers circa 1995. After looking at computers, I started to wonder about digital clocks. When were they first introduced into the USCF catalog?

I found the first mention of a digital clock in the '1996 Official Spring/Summer Catalog'. Shown below, it was called the USCF GameTime and was sold to members for $99.95.

It turns out there was another story here. The earliest thread in rec.games.chess (rgc) was

• 1996-07-21: Advice Needed • 'I thought I would ask the readers for their opinion as they have been very helpful uncovering the USCF Gametime fiasco.'

Fiasco? What fiasco?

• 1996-07-10: USCF GameTimer • 'I have recently received a GameTimer from USCF and wondered if anyone else has had a similar experience with it. [...] I believe the problem is with shoddy manufacture.'

In the same thread, other rgc fans recorded similar problems, while more positive opinions were expressed about other digital clocks, e.g. Chronos & DGT. A few weeks later, a new thread appeared. It started, 'I received the following letter today':-

• 1996-07-29: USCF GameTime Recall • 'You recently purchased one of the first 400 new US GameTime clocks with special delay features. We appreciate your order, but we have an unusual request. We would like you to ship your clock back to us. [...] Excalibur Electronics, manufacturer of US GameTime, has notified us that...'

The USCF continued to sell the GameTime for several years, eventually adding a Saitek model and, shortly afterwards, the FIDE Digital Game Timer (DGT). As so often happens with new technology, the first horse out of the gate was not the eventual winner.

August 1965 'On the Cover'

Fifty years ago Pal Benko received a double billing for placing first in two strong open tournaments. If his photo on the Chess Review cover looks familiar, the same photo was also seen for the October 1964 'On the Cover'.

Left: 'San Juan 1965'
Right: 'Perennial Easterner?'

Chess Life

Benko, Lombardy Tie in U.S. Open • GMs Pal Benko and William Lombardy tied for first in the 1965 U.S.Open, played in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In accordance with USCF regulations in effect since 1963, they were proclaimed co-champions.

Chess Review

Pal Benko, former Hungarian and New Yorker, mops up regional tournaments regularly, mainly in the East. With his second Eastern Open title (the first was in 1962), he bids to become a perennial Easterner.

On the page announcing the result of the U.S.Open, Chess Life carried an obituary for a little-known, yet important benefactor of American chess.

E. Forry Laucks • Players at the United States Open were shocked and saddened by the sudden death of E. Forry Laucks on Saturday evening, July 31. Mr. Laucks, a participant in the Open, had played the first six rounds and seemed to be in good health and spirits. Accompanying a large group of chessplayers on a tour of San Juan, he collapsed suddenly and was pronounced dead upon his arrival at a nearby hospital.

Mr. Laucks, a Life Director of the USCF, was most famous as the founder and patron of the Log Cabin Chess Club. This unique chess organization, found. in 1934, was located at 30 Collamore Terrace, West Orange, NJ., and was visited by thousands of players -- including all the outstanding American masters. Hospitality at the Log Cabin was proverbial; proverbial also were the many chess trips and excursions that Mr. Laucks and the club members made to many points in the United States, Canada, Central America, Cuba, and Europe. In 1958 alone, the club sent representatives to eleven countries.

The Log Cabin played for many years in the Metropolitan Chess League in New York City and in 1945 won the league championship. From August 7 to August 22, 1959 the club was the scene of one of the greatest master tournaments ever held in this country -- the United States Seeded Championship. This event, held in celebration of the club's Silver Anniversary, was limited to ten of the strongest players in the nation. William Lombardy was the winner, followed by Benko, Bisguier, and Robert Byrne. Mr. Laucks provided an unusually generous prize fund: first prize was $1200, second $1000, with the others in proportion. Play was held at the Log Cabin and at Mary Bain's Chess Studio in New York City.

Although the Log Cabin had not been as active in the last few years as previously, Mr. Laucks had lost none of his enthusiasm for chess promotion. Only a few days before his death, he was outlining plans for more "firsts" and spoke enthusiastically of future tournaments and matches.

For more than thirty years E. Forry Laucks was a generous chess patron, an energetic chess promoter, and a colorful and well-beloved figure at chess gatherings everywhere. It will be hard to imagine a U. S. Open without him.

For more about Laucks, especially his influence on young Bobby Fischer, see Elliott Forry Laucks on Chessgames.com.

Early Computer Chess Ratings

Continuing the look at early chess computer news on rec.games.chess (rgc), my previous post 'The Chips Are Down!' ended,

The long explanation indicates the importance of ratings in choosing a chess computer. I'll look at ratings in my next post in this series.

One of the longest running computer rating lists has been maintained by the Swedish Chess Computer Association, SSDF [chessprogramming.wikispaces.com]. The first reference to the SSDF that I can find on rgc is

• 1989-04-24: ICCA Journal • 'Volume 12, number 1 of the ICCA Journal is now available. This issue contains: [...] The Swedish Rating List'

The first list I can find is

• 1990-11-26: Kamsky in Tilburg • 'This are the ratings calculated by the swedish chess computers federation.'

An excerpt of that list is shown below.

A rating list that corresponds to the computer models from 1995 mentioned in 'Chips Are Down' is

• 1995-06-04: Swedish Elo list for computers

Is anyone really interested in computer chess ratings from 20 years ago? If my early-2004 page on FIDE historical ratings is any guide, then the answer is 'Yes!'.

Chess Curriculum - Pre-chess

Returning to Chess Curriculum Inventory, after Chess Curriculum - Short Versions comes a full, stand-alone version.

No.2: Teaching Chess the Easy and Fun Way with Mini-Games • Kathy Price, Andre E. Zupans • 84 pages • Randolph-TeachingChesstheEasyFunWaywithMiniGames.pdf • subtitled 'Teach Clear Thinking, Promote Math Skills, Enhance Memory & Reasoning; Supporting the Common Core State Math Standards'

The philosophy behind the document can be gleaned from the section 'About the Authors' [p.03 (of the PDF)],

Kathy Price [...] developed this system of teaching chess to entire classrooms by trial and error with students in 1st through 6th grade classrooms. When one adult is facing 24 eager second graders with a variety of skills and interests, it became necessary to have an effective format that allows effective teaching and learning within constrained time limits to take place. • Andre Zupans [...] discovered that un-packing the game of chess in small Mini-Games was an effective way to teach chess. This educational guide has been designed on this principle.

and from the 'Introduction' [p.05]

The value of teaching chess to elementary age children is well researched. Occasionally we see schools that offer optional chess clubs or after school programs but arely we see it instituted in a whole classroom. Why? It is because most teachers do not know how to play or more importantly don’t have an effective system to teach chess to 24 or more active elementary students at once. This book is for that teacher!

Assuming a significant difference between 1st and 6th grade students, I would place the material at the younger end of that range. The document talks to a teacher responsible for a full class -- 'Classroom/Club Management' [p.15, with some good tips] and 'Supporting the Common Core State Standards in Math' [p.65-72, eight full pages] -- not to the students, and not to classes of one or two students.

The exercises can best be described as pre-chess or proto-chess. There is a full page of 'Game Variations' [p.56], e.g. Pocket Knight, Checkless Chess, etc. There are no full games, no openings, and few real-game situations. I expect that students come away eager to play a real chess game, when a more experienced chess teacher would necessarily take charge.