The Sleepy Knight

Ek het so bietjie rondgespeel met die verfkwaste
Ek wou slegs net die kwaste, verf en papier
uitprobeer en sommer vir die lekkerte ook
net met die kleure rondspeel. Dan het ek boonop met
van my sagteware se nuwe funksies ook uitgetoets –
soos jy met die eerste ‘image’ kan sien.
Ek noem hierdie sommer ‘sleepy knight’ want
hierdie skaakstuk lyk behoorlik moeg. My inspirasie kom van ‘n
stuk wat ek gesien het deur ME Ologeanu -Ek het verander waar ek wou.

I looked at an image by Valentyna, which is basically
the face in this image and I changed it by
adding on till I had ‘enough’ – just another playing around with paint.

For my inspiration, I used Google images, however, I made quite a few changes – according to my taste.

Op die volgende link is daar ‘n uitdaging vir jou – ook ‘n lekker wiskundige uitdaging – maar jy moet die skuiwe van ‘n ruiter op die skaakbord ken vir die uitdaging.

https://www.mathsisfun.com/games/knights-move-2.html

On this link – you can try and move the knight on every single square in as little time as possible.

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You’ve taken the King!

Click HERE to view more chess art from the site of Echecs.

I’m not a huge fan of the Royal family, but must admit, I did watch 95% of the wedding yesterday. It’s only because of William. He reminds me alot about his mum. He’s a very down-to-earth  and caring person and I do hope he stays like that. I liked Kate’s dress as it’s typical my style/taste. I couldn’t let the opportunity go by to link them to chess! [of course!] My original draft-entry was about the chess players in the above painting. Well, I’m quite sure William will have a game of chess with Kate at some point, I’m sure it’s a game royals do like to play from time to time – even just for the fun of it. [as the link stated]

I have two music videos for Kate and William to wish them a happy marriage: Hold on tight -to your dream and…

…my old time favourite, Elvis! Suspicious minds…which I do hope they do not have!

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Chess Music Maths and the Arts

Digital Time – Boldriaan [schaakkunst.nl]

Ballet dancers – Irma Stern

Flowerseller – Irma Stern

 

The Hunt – Irma Stern

Chess is an art. Chess is a science. Chess is music.  Chess is a game. Chess is cool. Chess is fun. Chess is Chess! There are always people ‘arguing’ about what Chess actually is and I really find these ‘conversations’ [if you can call it a conversation] really boring. I think it’s mainly bored people on chess sites just wasting time around topics like these. The same with ‘men are better than women’ – also one of the most boring topics. Can Chess players not have more intelligent conversations in the Chess forums than these boring topics? – or is it just me in a ‘mood’.[haha]

Here’s some musical fun!  Click on this link for the  FUN  and enjoy! The link will open in a new window and you need to use your mouse to click the rain drops and you create your own melody too.

From a document found on the US Chess_trust site, I’ve copied a few paragraphs, but once again, this is just another ‘confirmation’ of what I’ve said in many entries on my blog before. So much evidence is available – research done by many people in the past and you will find plenty of documents on my blog to support it – to prove the benefits of chess for children and their learning. These quoted paragraphs are just a tiny drop in the bucket of all the evidence available. Whilst it’s Easter Holiday, I feel to take time out to enjoy a ‘trip’ to some fine ‘art galleries’ and fine  ‘music theatres’ of the ‘world’ and would like to share with you Irma Stern’s art. I’ve found you some info about Irma Stern on Wikipedia and her house [now an art gallery-museum]-link can be found near the bottom of this entry too. The three music files are some of my favourite music and it’s by Waldo de los Rios [and his orchestra] and you can read about the Toy Symphony on my blog on the link at the bottom of the entry. [copy/paste the link in your browser]. These files are not complete files – as you will notice. I hope you can hear the clock – at the start of the first file. Haydn’s ‘Clock’. [Turn the volume up if you don’t hear the clock] Lastly, I had to add a file from Mantovani and his orchestra: Elizabeth Serenade

She was born in Schweitzer-Renecke, a small town in the Transvaal, of German-Jewish parents. Her father was interned in a concentration camp by the British during the South African War because of his pro-Boer leanings.[1] Irma and her younger brother, Rudi, were thus taken to Cape Town by their mother. After the war, the family returned to Germany and constant travel. This travel would influence Irma’s work.

In 1913 Stern studied art in Germany at the Weimar Academy, in 1914 at the Levin-Funcke Studio and notably from 1917 with Max Pechstein, a founder of the Novembergruppe. Stern was associated with the German Expressionist painters of this period. She held her first exhibition in Berlin in 1919. In 1920 Stern returned to Cape Town with her family where she was first derided and dismissed as an artist before becoming an established artist by the 1940s.

In 1926 she married Dr Johannes Prinz her former tutor, who subsequently became professor of German at the University of Cape Town. They were divorced in 1934.

Irma Stern travelled extensively in Europe and explored Southern Africa, Zanzibar and the Congo region. These trips provided a wide range of subject matter for her paintings and gave her opportunities to acquire and assemble an eclectic collection of artifacts for her home. Stern was to travel extensively in her lifetime: in 1930 to Madeira, in 1937 and 1938 to Dakar, Senegal, 1939 Zanzibar, 1942 Congo, 1945 Zanzibar, 1946 Central Africa, 1952 Madeira, 1955 Congo, 1960 Spain and 1963 France. Stern travelled extensively in South Africa, for example in 1926 to Swaziland and Pondoland, in 1933 to Namaqaland, in 1936 generally, and in 1941 to the Eastern Cape. In 1931 she visited Madeira and Dakar, Senegal, in 1937 and 1938. Irma Stern refused to either travel or exhibit in Germany during the period 1933 – 1945. Instead, she undertook several exotic journeys into Africa; going to Zanzibar twice in 1939 and 1945 and then planned three trips to the Congo region in 1942, 1946 and 1955. These expeditions resulted in a wealth of artistic creativity and energy as well as the publication of two illustrated journals; Congo published in 1943 and Zanzibar in 1948.

Almost one hundred solo exhibitions were held during her lifetime both in South Africa and Europe: including Germany, France, Italy and England. Although accepted in Europe, her work was unappreciated at first in South Africa where critics derided her early exhibitionsin the 1920s with reviews titled “Art of Miss Irma Stern – Ugliness as a cult”.

The Irma Stern Museum was established in 1971 and is the house the artist lived in for almost four decades. She moved into The Firs in Rondebosch in 1927 and lived there until her death. Several of the rooms are furnished as she arranged them while upstairs there is a commercial gallery used by contemporary South African artists.

On the 8th of May 2000, one of her works sold at Sotheby’s South Africa in Johannesburg for an all time record of R1.7 million.[2] This record was soon broken, however, and in March 2007 Stern’s work was sold for R6.6 million.[3] Stern’s Gladioli was sold for an all-time high of R13.3 million in October 2010[4], but was then followed by the sale of Bahora Girl for R26.7 million later that month[5] – both were also records for sales of South African art at the time.

Quote from the Chess document, you can find it at the end of the entry. It is a PDF document and will open in a new window.

Chess clearly is a problem-solving tool, an “ideal way to study decision-making and problemsolving because it is a closed system with clearly defined rules” (Horgan, 1988). When faced with a problem, the first step is to “analyze [it] in a preliminary and impressionistic way: sizing up the problem” (Horgan, 1988, p. 3), possibly looking for patterns or similarity to
previous experiences. “Similarity judgements may involve high levels of abstract reasoning” (Horgan, 1988, p. 3)

When faced with a problem, the first step is to “analyze [it] in a preliminary and impressionistic way: sizing up the problem” (Horgan, 1988, p. 3), possibly looking for patterns or similarity to previous experiences. “Similarity judgements may involve high levels of abstract reasoning”
(Horgan, 1988, p. 3). As in mathematics, which might be defined as the study of patterns, pattern recognition in chess is of prime importance in problem solving. After recognizing similarity and pattern, a global strategy can be developed to solve the problem. This involves generating alternatives, a creative process. A good chess player, like a good problem solver, has “acquired a vast number of interrelated schemata” (Horgan, 1988, p. 3), allowing for good alternatives to quickly and easily come to mind. These alternatives must then be evaluated, using a process of calculation known
as decision tree analysis, where the chess player/problem solver is calculating the desirability of future events based on the alternative being analyzed. Horgan (1988) found that “the calculation may go several to eight or ten moves ahead. This stage requires serious concentration and
memory abilities…[or]…visual imagery” (p.4).

The mathematics curriculum in New Brunswick, Canada, is a text series called “Challenging Mathematics” which uses chess to teach logic from grades 2 to 7. Using this curriculum, the average problem-solving score of pupils in the province increased from 62% to 81%.

Click on the following link Why Chess to read more to convince yourself why Chess is so important for children to develop their thinking/reasoning skills at a young age.

http://www.irmasternmuseum.com/artist.htm

https://chessaleeinlondon.wordpress.com/2008/07/31/waldo-de-los-rios/

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Shakespeare, Chess and dance

 

The Chess players: Shakespeare and Ben Johnson playing chess-

Image: Wikipedia
The Chess Players attributed to Karel van Mander. This was identified in 1916 as an image of Ben Jonson and Shakespeare playing chess. Most scholars consider this to be pure speculation, but the claim was revived in 2004 by Jeffrey Netto, who argued that the chess game symbolises “the well known professional rivalry between these figures in terms of a battle of wits”.

Read more HERE about Shakespeare and chess.

Even Shakespeare (1564-1616) incorporated a well known, though minor, chess scene in The Tempest.

Image: http://sbchess.sinfree.net

The Tempest: Act Five, Scene One  (Ferdinand and Miranda)
The entrance of the Cell opens, and discovers Ferdinand and Miranda playing at chess.
Miranda: Sweet lord, you play me false.
Ferdinand: No, my dearest love, I would not for the world.
Miranda: Yes, for a score of kingdoms you should wrangle, And I would call it fair play

Miranda and Ferdinand are lovers whose fathers are sworn enemies. Their love, represented in a devious game of chess in the final scene,  restores harmony between the two families.[Source:sbchess.sinfree.net]

Sports and pastimes of the English:[see the next paragraph and the source link] – I think it is even today the case… – due to the weather…chess is a favourite indoor game, that’s why so many people in the UK play chess online. Comparing to our counterparts in the Southern hemisphere, you would get the opposite.

DANCING AND CHESS PLAY.–Dancing was certainly an ancient and favourite pastime with the women of this country: the maidens even in a state of servitude claimed, as it were by established privilege, the license to indulge themselves in this exercise on holidays and public festivals; when it was usually performed in the presence of their masters and mistresses.

In the middle ages, dice, chess, and afterwards tables, and cards, with other sedentary games of chance and skill, were reckoned among the female amusements; and the ladies also frequently joined with the men in such pastimes, as we find it expressly declared in the metrical romance of Ipomydom. The passage alluded to runs thus:
“When they had dyned, as I you saye,
Lordes and ladyes yede to to playe;
Some to tables, and some to chesse,
With other gamys more or lesse.”

In another poem, by Gower,  a lover asks his mistress, when she is tired of “dancing and caroling,” if she was willing to “play at chesse, or on the dyes to cast a chaunce.” Forrest, speaking in praise of Catharine of Arragon, first wife of Henry VIII., says, that when she was young,
“With stoole and with needyl she was not to seeke,
And other practiseings for ladyes meete;
To pastyme at tables, tick tack or gleeke,
Cardis and dyce”–etc.
Source

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Patches

Like my previous entry of yesterday, I was again playing around with [Adobe]Fireworks and used quite a few images from the web to put this one together, that’s why I call it Patches. You will see again I’ve used Samuel Bak’s art in this creation, but also another classic piece of art [in this post at the bottom]. Also, I’ve found Mark Twain’s letters online and if you are ready with your magnifying glass, you can even see a tiny piece from one of his letters in this image. In the next image, I’ve put together bits and pieces from a few of his letters. You can download his lettes in PDF.

 

Mark Twain-patches

Grimm-patches –You can read Grimm’s fairy tales online here on this link.

Chess-love – see the original next

 

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Monday’s [chess] child

I’ve been playing around with [adobe]Fireworks and edited/created this top image…I deleted the woman’s corset in the image, replaced it with these chess pieces from the chess art of Samuel Bak – [see more of his art on my Chess Humour-page] and I added the sort-of-border.
Original image here …the link will open in a new window.

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Fantastic Chess

Image here on Etsy.The link will open in a new window. Click on the image for a clearer view.

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De man of Delft

Cornelis de Man of Delft, The Chess Players, c. 1670, Oil on canvas, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest – Source:mentalblog

We all know by looking at evidence like art, poems, photos etc. we can tell what happened in the past. Do I have to say more…
See this video if you want me to explain more…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WLGMC9B6zw

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I like Dreaming

Hier het drie groen Rotstrolle gesit en vis eet. Een vet, vriendelike trol kon skaars sy balans hou – natuurlik hom ooreet!  Natuurlik het hulle ook geweet dat die ysbere daar onder vir hulle wag en daarom het hulle elke keer ‘n ander paadjie gevolg wanneer hulle klaar vis geëet het. [Ek hoop julle kan hul sien sit op hierdie rotse][This is where three green Rock Trolls have had their fish. One chubby, friendly troll could hardly keep his balance. Of course they knew the ice bears were waiting down there for them, therefore, each time they come to have some fish, they follow a different path back home. I hope you can see them sitting on these rocks!]

Die klein dwergkaboutertjies het hier hul pot goud ontvang van die Maankoning en Maankoningin. Die Maankoningin was geklee in ‘n kleed gemaak van die heel beste maanstraaltjies geweef met maanfeëtjie-harpmusiek-klanke uit die kamer van die onderseese Perlemoenfeëtjie en siternote van die Sonfeëtjies.[The little gnomes have received their pot of gold here from the Moon King and Moon Queen. The Moon Queen was dressed in a gown made of the very best  woven moon beams and moon fairy harp musical notes from the room of the Mother-of-Pearl-Fairy,  from deep down under the sea mixed with cither notes of the Sun Fairies.]

Hier het die hoof Maanfeëtjie haar skaakskuif gelaat aan een van die Klawerkoning se hofknapies. Jy kan duidelik die skuif sien – dis uitgegriffel op die rots. Die Bergprins het ook die skuif aangestuur na die Rivierprinses wat dit moes opteken in ‘n maanstraaldagboek waarin al die Maanfeëtjie se skaakskuiwe veilig opgeteken word.[This is the place where the principal Moon Fairy left her chess move for one of  the page boys of King Clover. The Mountain Prince also passed on her move to the River Princess whose task it is to keep record of all the chess moves of the Moon Fairy in the moon beam diary.]

Image: David de la Mare

Image:schaakkunst.nl

Hierdie is die stomp van die klim-en-klouter kaboutertjies. Hulle moes vinnig by die Prinses uitkom om haar teen die trolle te waarsku. Gelukkig was sy veilig in een van die wolke-kamertjies van die wolkepaleis saam met die wolkekabouters. Sy het heerlik gesit en smul aan die lekkerste pienk spookasem wat die wolkekabouters vir haar met die wolke-feë se towerstaffies opgetoor het. [This is the log of the Climbing Gnomes. They had to find the Princess to warn her about the trolls. Fortunately, she was safe in one of the cloud rooms in the Cloud Palace, together with the Cloud Gnomes, busy having the most delicious pink candy floss. The Cloud Gnomes used the magic wand of the Cloud Fairy to do magic.

Image: Fairiesworld

Hier het die ysbere gesit en wag vir die trolle om af te kom! Hulle het die paadjie van die trolle baie goed geken en ook geweet dat hulle die raskels is wat hulle visse hoër op in die rivier vang, wat beteken dat hulle laer af niks kry nie! [This is the place where the ice bears live! They know about the trolls, they also know all the paths they’re following. They know the trolls catch all the fish in the upper-river, so there is little left for them.]

And HERE is the complete image!

And here…are the culprits!!

If you want to have some big fun, click here on the link of Radio 3 to have fun with the trolls and Peer Gynt!

Enjoy this song – I like dreaming

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London Chess Classic 2009

Please click on the image for a larger view

 

The Chess Player- 1954: Andy Warhol

This early drawing has a surreal quality created by the larger-than-life chess pieces and study of a face, surrounding the young man playing chess. In his later work Warhol would continue to play with scale, enlarging objects and people to increase their iconic status. The colour in this image was possibly completed at one of Warhol’s colouring parties, hosted at the fashionable Serendipity 3 café after it opened in 1954. He would encourage his friends – some of whom would have helped him create the original illustrations – to colour the works with an inventiveness that adds to their whimsical nature. This process looks forward to the production methods of Warhol’s legendary studio, the Factory, in the 1960s.

Art of Warhol here. The link will open in a new window.

David Howell

ENG

2613

The 8th Player in this tournament is David Howell

Cream of world chess to play in new London tournament.
London Chess Centre is proud to announce a world-class chess tournament to be held in London in December, 2009. The event will be an elite eight-player all-play-all in the most prestigious tournament in the capital since former world champion Anatoly Karpov won the Phillips and Drew Masters in 1984.

Since then, despite London hosting three world title contests, there has not been a tournament in which England’s leading players could lock horns with the world’s best on home soil. The December 09 tournament will be the first in a series of events designed to reinvigorate UK chess and promote the game and its undoubted educational benefits in schools and communities.

The tournament will be FIDE Category 19 with an average FIDE rating of 2700 and a minimum prize fund of €100,000. The eight players will comprise of three English and five world-class Grandmasters from abroad. Included in the prize fund will be a €10,000 Brilliant Game award along with separate prizes for each victory with the White and Black pieces. Matches will be covered live online where fans will be able to vote for Game of the Day.

The tournament has applied for membership of the prestigious annual Grand Slam of Chess which culminates in Bilbao and boasts a €400,000 prize fund.

The games will be under Classical Chess time control; 40 moves in two hours, 20 in the subsequent hour then an additional 15 minutes plus an increment of 30 seconds a move until the end of the game. The tournament will further benefit from the use of Sofia Rules which disallow early draws. Players will receive three points for a win and one for a draw.

Source:
http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/twic.html#london09

Click on the image for a larger view for the Olympia Conference Centre at spot marked as A.

Contact Malcolm Pein (IM) Director London Chess Centre:

Chess Centre: 020 7388 2404 (London)

New London tournament to be in the Olympia Conference Centre.
I am delighted to announce that the London Chess Classic 2009 will be staged at one of London’s most prestigious venues; the Olympia Conference Centre. Olympia will provide excellent facilities including a 400 seat soundproof auditorium, two commentary rooms and multimedia presentation. There will be ample space for Open, weekend and Speed Chess tournaments plus junior training which will run alongside the main event from December 8th-15th inclusive.

The London Chess Classic 2009 will be the highest level tournament in London for 25 years and will be the first in a series of events designed to increase enthusiasm for chess in the UK and promote the game and its undoubted educational benefits in schools and communities. It is also our objective to bring the world championship to London in the Olympic year 2012.

England’s four leading Grandmasters; Michael Adams, Nigel Short, Luke McShane and David Howell will be pitched against a world class field that includes a former world champion Vladimir Kramnik and 18 year old Magnus Carlsen ranked world number three and widely seen a future holder of the world crown. One of China’s finest players; Ni Hua and the US Champion Hikaru Nakamura, complete the field.

Spectators will be treated to live commentary on the games from Grandmasters and will be able to play tournament or informal games all day. Ticket information will be available in September. For those who cannot attend there be will live coverage and commentary on the games on the internet.

Contact Malcolm Pein (IM) Director London Chess Centre:

Chess Centre: 020 7388 2404. E-Mail: info@chess.co.uk.

Maybe, just maybe, I’ll get a chance to meet some of the Grandmasters in London – if I’m lucky! Meanwhile, the Scots want their Chessmen back!
THE BRITISH Museum has put a set of elaborately carved chess figures at the heart of a new gallery despite demands that they be returned to Scotland.

The 82 Lewis Chessmen, which are between 800 and 900 years old and made from walrus and whale ivory, were seen in a Harry Potter film and inspired the children’s TV series Noggin The Nog.

Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland, wants them repatriated to Edinburgh to be reunited with the rest of the set discovered on the Outer Hebrides in the early 19th century.

Just as the Greek government wants the Elgin Marbles in London to be returned to Athens, Mr Salmond claims it is “unacceptable” for the British Museum to have 82 of the figures while the other 11 are in the National Museum of Scotland.

Read the entire article here.

…and from South Africa: -click on the image for a clear view

Cartoon: wonkie.com

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Chess, poetry art and music

Image: Chesscentral.com

I believe this is a good combination: chess, poetry, art and music! I’ve started recently reading Dean’s poetry blog and glad that I’ve discovered his blog. This poem in this post, is today’s entry on his blog and I’ve really enjoyed it and thought to share it with you. If you’re a lover of poetry, make sure to visit his blog, if you don’t, you will regret it! If you don’t like poetry, then you still should visit his blog and you will immediately fall in love with his poems! I have a present for you today too, let’s call it an early Christmas present if you like, a composition by Jim Brickman. Finally, for my chess-lovers (and those who think they might become chess-lovers!) I’ve got a few games here (do check back as I have about ten more to blog in this entry!) played a few days ago in the Dresden Olympiad. This post is almost as good as “wine women and song!”:) All links will open in a new window.

Remember me to the world
And all the beautiful girls
I never kissed; if there’s one regret
That is it: that I left any lovelies’
Lips unblessed, her heart repressed

Remember me to the wind, which
Blows wherever it goes; still, or not
Any feeling does not cost, but what you
Do with it: recall I am that
Innocent, awake to only wonder told

Remember me to the sun; the heat,
The blaze, worries public or hidden,
I have had them all, unbidden: most
Of all when you see that woman or girl,
Remember me, my dear, to the blessed world

©Dean J. Baker
To read more wonderful poetry, please click HERE to read on Dean Baker’s blog! Chess=love+poetry+music+art=chess!

Read more about Dean on his biography-link on his blog!

Over 500 poems and prose poems published since 1972 in over 130 literary publications in Canada, the USA, England, Australia, New Zealand, etc., such as Descant, Carleton Literary Review, Poetry WLU, The Prairie Journal, Freelance, Nexus, Bitterroot, Oxalis, Bogg, Aileron, RE:AL, Art Times, Pegasus, Impetus, On The Bus, and many others. More have been published in newspapers, magazines, online and in anthologies, recorded and paper.

Music: Jim Brickman: Dream comes true

Please click HERE to play through the game of Nyback from Finland vs Carlsen played in round 6, Dresden 2008.

Carlsen

Please click HERE to play through the game of Dominguez from Cuba vs Gata Kamsky in round 6, Dresden 2008.

This game of Etienne Bacrot was played in round 7 against Sasikiran from India.

Click HERE to play through the game of Boris Gelfand from Israel vs Elexei Shirov of Spain in round 7.

Please click HERE to play through the game of one of my favourite players, Ivanchuk vs Wang of China.

Ivanchuk

Click HERE to play through Kamsky’s game played in round 7 against Peter Leko.

Play through the game of Michael Adams against Radjabov played in round 7, Dresden.

Please click HERE to play through the game of Yelena Dembo, from Greece,  played in round 7 at the Olympiad.

Yelena Dembo

Please click HERE to play through the game of Cheparinov in round 8, Dresden.

To play through a game of Topalov played in round 8, click on the link!
Please click HERE to play through the game of David Howell from England played in round 9.

image: Greekchess.com..David Navara

Please click here to play through the game of David Navara played in round 9.

To play through the game of NIGEL SHORT, played in round 9, click on the link!

Image: chessbase..Nigel Short

Please click HERE to play through the game of Peter Svidler played in round 9 at the Dresden Olympiad in Germany.

Samuel Bak Chess Art. See my “chess humour”- page for more chess art from Samuel and his link.

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Chess Picture of the Day

– “The chess game” – (undated)
by Bargue, Charles (1825-1883)
Image: chess-theory.comClick
HERE to read more about the book.

 

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Chess in Art

Chess in the Art of Samuel Bak

Please click on THIS LINK to view and read more about Samuel Bak’s Chess Art!

 

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Male and Female Chess players

On  ChessWorld, in the chess forum, we had a discussion about male/female players.  The question was… are men
better at chess….? and some wondered why men are/were better…  Some people think chess is a male game. I didn’t play chess when I was at school, although I could play, as there were always only boys playing…as I said before on my blog… I felt intimidated by those boys giving me the look of…”hey… you’re a girl…and you play chess!”… as if it’s actually a boy’s game…I think nowadays boys/men have accepted  that chess is also a girls/female game and that we can actually also play the game, and sometimes even a bit better…also, I think it’s just a matter of statistics. For some men on the site, it’s even hard to lose a game to a woman! I experience it every now and then and quite recently had again such an experience of a male player that couldn’t handle the fact that a female was beating him.

We have also two tournaments going…where there are equally male/female players in both… I’m in the one tournament…and in this tournament the outcome looks positive for both sexes…in the other tourney it seems to be the females that will walk away as the winners…How do you feel? Are men better…is it a male game…what’s your opinion? 

On THIS LINK you can follow the discussion about male/female chess on CW. This forum link will open in a new window.

 In the following chess game, I played white. My opponent – this game was played more than six months ago, before this entry – was about 400+ ahead of me although he’s actually a 2000+ player, which means he would then be 800 ahead of me.  He resigned at the end. You can click on the link and it will open in a new window to play through the game. I think it was also a bit of luck on my side. He wasn’t really impressed with the fact that I was beating him. Then, best of all, the game got more attention in the chess forum as an annotated game with a title: “Underdog wins”…Here is the game link ….Nikita1 vs. No6

This chess art is a brilliant piece of art by Roger Morin

I came across a site with very useful information… a very extensive site where you can read more about the research/study that was done about the female/male chess player! Read here an extract and you can follow the link to read the entire article! There is more to read than just this extract… you will not regret reading more!

After examining the data the researchers made four statements summarized below:

They found that men and women differed in chess ability in all age groups even after differences like frequency of play (read: level of training) or age were taken into account. The disparity between men and women in ability exists at the beginning and persists across all age groups. At least ostensibly this would lend credence to the ability distribution hypothesis in the sense that it suggests the mean ability between men and women are innately different. The last piece of data looks at whether that is true.

They found no greater variance in men than women. It had been suggested that since science selects for individuals at the upper tail of the distribution, a higher variance in men than women might explain their greater representation. However, the researchers found that — with respect to chess — if anything in most age groups women had a higher variance then men. Upper tail effects do not explain the differences in the numbers of grandmasters.

They found that women and men do not drop out more or less frequently when ability and age are factored out. For example, if you are not very good at chess you are more likely to stop playing tournaments, but girls and boys that are equally good are equally likely to stop playing. This strikes a blow at the differential dropout hypothesis.

Finally, here is the interesting part. If you look at the participation rate of women and relate that to performance, you find that in cases where the participation rate of women and men is equal the disparity in ability vanishes. Basically, this means that in zip codes where there are equal numbers of men and women players there is no great disparity between male and female ability — and certainly not a disparity in ability large enough to explain the difference in the numbers of grandmasters…read moreHEREabout the research/study.

Update: 26Dec 2008: You can read on THIS LINK new info on a new “gentle“ research that was done by a chess player from the Oxford University to prove that it’s only statistics when it comes to male/female GM’s…the link will open in a new window.

On this pdf-link you can read more about male/female chess players and the personality of chess players.

http://people.brunel.ac.uk/~hsstffg/preprints/Bilalic%20et%20al%20-%20Personality.pdf

Click on here to find out if you have a male/female brain. The link will open in a new window.

I had this chess game in this post annotated, here is the annotation if you’re interested.

1.e4 e5 2.d4 d5!? Playable, but not the best. Black can’t afford to mimic White’s moves, especially when it comes to centre Pawns. The obvious (2…exd4) is best.

3.f3 Weakening the King’s position. Best is simply (3.dxe5 dxe4 4.Qxd8+) and Black loses the castling priviledge, although with the Queens off the board this isn’t too critical.

3. … Bb4+ Wastes time, as White will simply interpose the c-pawn and the Bishop will have to retreat. Best is (3…exd4).

4.c3 Bd6 5.exd5 exd4 6.Qxd4 Nf6 7.Bg5 O-O Since the shaky first three moves, both sides have played quite well, but here (7…Nbd7) is better, as White will now be able to shatter Black’s King’s position.

8.Bxf6 gxf6 [8…Qxf6 may be safer, if not better, for if 9.Qxf6 gxf6], Black has the same Pawn formation as in the game, but White’s main attacking piece (the Queen) is gone.

9.Bd3 Qe7+ Since White can cover the check with a developing move, it may have been better to start chipping away at the White centre with (9…c6). Also worth considering is (9…Be5).

10.Ne2 b6 11.Be4 An unnecessary moving of the same piece twice in the opening. White should complete her development with (11.Nd2), followed by castling (Queenside being safer in this case, because of the semi-open g-file).

11. … Bb7 Logical, given his previous move, but (11…f5) would’ve forced White to retract her last move.

12.c4 Another unnecessary move, as the d-pawn was amply protected. White should once again have played (12.Nd2).

12. … Nd7 It’s hard to knock a move that develops a new piece, but (12…Be5) was stronger here.

13.Nd2 White finally makes this move, but as long as the c-pawn is no longer preempting c3, this Knight would be better placed there.

c5?? Once again, (13…Be5) would have been an uncomfortable move for White to face. The text is a blunder which should lose a piece.

14.dxc6 Be5? Wrong time for this move now, as it just compounds his previous error. Better is (14…f5 15.cxb7 Rab8 16.Bd3) etc.

15.Qd3?! Good enough to maintain the advantage, but (15.Qxd7 Qxd7 16.cxd7 Bxe4 17.Nxe4 Bxb2 18.Rb1 Be5 19.f4) is much stronger.

15. … Bxb2? Here Black had a chance to avoid the worst with (15…Nc5 16.Qc2 Bc8 17.Bxh7+ Kg7).

16.Rb1 Good, but better is (16.cxb7 Rae8 17.Rb1 Nc5 18.Qe3) etc.

16. … Ne5 (16…Bxc6) is probably better, although Black would still be losing.

17.Qc2 Ba3 Again, (17…Bxc6) is better, but perhaps Black was trying to confuse the issue.

18.cxb7 White now has an overwhelming advantage, and should win with reasonably careful play.

Rab8 19.O-O Prudent, but White should have played (19.Bxh7+) while the opportunity presented itself.

19. … Bc5+ 20.Kh1 Qd7 Here Black might have tried getting rid of the thorn in his side with (20…f5 21.Bxf5 Rxb7).

21.a4 There’s still no reason why White can’t play (21.Bxh7+).

21. … Nc6 Seals off White’s b-pawn, but (21…Ng6) would have saved Black’s h-pawn …

22.Bxc6 … except that White doesn’t seem to want Black’s h-pawn for some reason.

Qxc6 23.a5 Worth considering is (23.Qe4).

23. … Rxb7 Black finally eliminates White’s advanced Pawn, but is not yet out of the woods. For one thing, he’s still a piece down.

24.a6 More of an annoyance move than anything else. (24.Ne4), with the idea of exchanging off Black’s Bishop, is better.

24. … Re7 25.Nf4 (25.Ne4) is still probably the better move, but the text isn’t bad, either.

25. … Be3 Flashy, but inconsequential.

26.g3!? A bit dangerous. With (26.Nd5) White would be assured of eliminating Black’s Bishop.

26. … Bxd2?! Obliging White by exchanging the Bishop himself, thinking only of winning the c-pawn. Something like –26…Rd8– is probably better.

27.Qxd2 Qxc4 Black regains a Pawn, but the real threat was White moving her Knight to h5, followed by Qh6 threatening mate in two. Therefore, (27…Re5) is safer.

28.Ra1 Fortunately for Black, the above-mentioned threat doesn’t occur to White.

Qc6 29.Kg2 Once again, [29.Nh5 would force 29…Re5, then 30.Qh6 threatens mate in two, so Black would have to play 30…Rxh5], losing the exchange.

29. … Rd7 30.Qc1 Offering the exchange of Queens, which isn’t a bad idea, as White is a piece ahead.

Qxc1 Black should have avoided the exchange of Queens by, say, (30…Qb5).

31.Raxc1 Rd2+ Black gets more mileage out of this move than he should.

32.Kh3 Better would be (32.Rf2), when Black would either have to exchange Rooks or retreat.

32. … Ra2 33.Nh5 White trades her a-pawn for Black’s doubled f6-pawn, not a good deal as Black will now have two connected passed Pawns. Better is (33.Ra1).

33. … f5 Of course, Black doesn’t have to let the forward f-pawn go easy, but it would have been better to take the a-pawn.

34.Nf6+ Once again, better is (34.Ra1).

34. … Kg7 35.Nd7 Rd8 36.Ne5 Here White might have tried [36.Rc7, and if 36…Rxa6, THEN 37.Ne5].

36. … Rdd2 Black doubles Rooks on the second rank, normally a very strong manoeuvre. However, it’s stronger when White’s King is still on the first rank.

37.g4!? Much safer would be protecting the h-pawn with (37.Rh1).

37. … Rxh2+ 38.Kg3 Rag2+ It was at this point that Nikita asked me to look at this game. My comment at the time (not giving her any actual advice as to which move to make, of course) was, “If you can avoid checkmate in the next few moves, you may have a chance at winning.” Prophetic, as it turned out.

39.Kf4 Ra2?! Back to attacking the a-pawn, but he should have first played (39…fxg4).

40.gxf5 The natural move to make, but (40.Rc7) is much stronger.

40. … f6? Gives White the game. (40…Ra4+) would have made a fight of it.

41.Rc7+ Kg8 42.Rg1+ Rag2 Forced, as —42…Kf8 43.Rf7+ Ke8 44.Rg8– is mate.

43.Rxg2+ Rxg2 44.Nd7 Rg7 It makes little difference what Black plays now.

45.Rxa7 b5 46.Ra8+ A bit of a slip. (46.Nxf6+) would have won quicker.

46. … Kf7 47.Nc5 And now (47.Rf8+) is stronger, but White is wrapping up the point.

47. … Rg8 48.Ra7+ And here exchanging Rooks was quicker, but it would be hard for White to lose this game almost regardless of what she plays.

Kf8 49.Rxh7 Even better would be [49.Ne6+), but the text is still good enough to win, as Black can’t stop White from queening the a-pawn. Black rightly resigned at this point.
49. …

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Chess on stamps

http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping

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Dragon Chess

Image: Ullart.com

I’ve played around a little bit in Fireworks and made some little changes to the original picture. The original pic’s link is on the image
 

See on this link more about the Dragon-opening in chess
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicilian_Defence,_Dragon_Variation

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