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Chess Match Thread

Sorry I haven't been around, Jonah. One of my courses has no textbook this year, so I will barely be in here for the next several months. I will resign.

I thought I had bored the hell out of you by not resigning twenty moves and a month ago.

Sounds like you're gonna be a better teacher this semester.

Yesterday, while exploring the mind of a chess programmer, I sent my girls out to do some pretty disheartening chores in sub-freezing fog. They gave me some static about what I was doing.

I nought about it a bit, then went out to help.

So I made a new rule for myself around here.

Anytime my kids find me playing a game online, they can call me on it, and if they want, they can play a game of chess with me, and then something else they want. If I have time, they can have it.

However, they are bookworms, so sometimes they won't notice. . . .
 
I would appreciate another game.

I prefer more of a blitz style one day done inside about one hour.

I have some difficulty with a flat screen because apparently I key to 3D recognition of pieces.

So anyway I'm often in CA and could plan to meet for a game like that. . . .maybe in Reno, too.
 
An historical game yesterday at the premier grandmaster tournament at Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands. For only the second time in chess history the reigning men's champion faced the women's champion over the board in a classical tournament game.

The first time was way back in 1971 when Boris Spassky (pre-Bobby Fischer match) crushed the women's champion. Since then women's chess has come a long way and now there are many more strong women grandmasters playing the game.

Yesterday's game featured Magnus Carlsen against Hou Yifan. Hou is only twenty years old, four years younger than Magnus, and from China where chess is exploding with many strong young players recently making names for themselves. Magnus, it should be mentioned, was in top form having just won the day before with the black pieces against world number two, Fabiano Caruana. Magnus ground out the win against Hou, but only after she played him evenly in a long game before finally blundering in time and position pressure. The game could otherwise have been a draw.

The conclusion is that the future looks bright for Hou, for women in chess in general, and for the many young players coming from China and just starting to gain international experience. It will be interesting to follow her progress as her game matures over the next few years. Maybe in five years time she will hold both the men's and women's championship titles! Anyway, right now, Magnus has many young players reaching for his crown, Hou Yifan will certainly be one of them to watch.

UPDATE: Magnus won again today, now he has five straight wins, I believe the best streak of his career against GM competition, so he really is in fine form and has to be the favorite to win the tournament with five games still to play. Hou drew her game against Levon Aronian, the number two rated player as recently as last year, so even though she is not a threat to win the tournament she continues to show good results against the best players in the world.
 
Why is there women's chess and men's chess anyway? I mean I get it in other true sports, such as basketball, where the size advantage of most men's teams, and players, would be simply overwhelming. But in chess it seems to me that having divisions for both is superfluous.
 
One last update on Wijk aan Zee and some thoughts on the general state of chess in the United States. Not sure how interesting this will be for people. Probably just myself and possibly babe.

Many chess players in the United States were disappointed when no serious American candidates for the chess championship emerged following the Fischer/Spassky boom in the 70s and 80s when so many kids learned the game and were trying to emulate Fischer. Millions of new players and not one of them ever became a serious title contender. Since then, over the last twenty to thirty years, the popularity of chess has ebbed and Fischer is now remembered as much for his crazy last years as he is for his chess brilliance.

All that, for whatever reason, is starting to change. Over the past year, and now with the results at Wijk aan Zee, (Magnus won by a narrow half point margin) it is clear there are two, and possibly three, American players emerging as serious championship contenders. If any one of them were to play Magnus Carlsen in a match, a new chess boom could be ignited.

For the first time the United States could have potentially three players in the world top ten list. Probably the best known American player is Hikaru Nakamura. He has been a top ten player for several years and reached number three in the world in January 2014, although an indifferent performance record later in 2014 has since dropped him back. Hikaru skipped Wijk aan Zee to train for the upcoming qualifying tournaments that will determine Magnus Carlsen's next challenger in 2016.

The second top ten player is Wesley So. Wesley, twenty-one years old, was born in the Philippines but now lives in St. Louis and plays for the U.S. He finished tied for second in the tournament at Wijk aan Zee and drew his individual game with Magnus. Rapidly improving and rising in the rankings, So just this week passed Nakamura and is now the top American player and number seven in the world.

The reason I said potentially three players is that the current number two rated player in the world, Fabiano Caruana, holds both U.S. and Italian citizenship. He was born in Miami and grew up in the U.S, but at the age of twelve moved to Spain to further his chess career. For ten years he has played and studied chess throughout Europe and although he currently plays for Italy, Caruana has a standing invite to play in the U.S. Championship and has indicated he is open to the possibility of returning and playing for the United States.

If these players continue to improve, odds are good that one of them could challenge Magnus in 2016. The venue has yet to be decided, but a strong contender is New York City, which means the next World Chess Championship could turn into a great media event, especially if Wesley So ends up as the challenger. Unlike Hikaru, who can be aloof, and Caruana, who is quiet and introverted, So has a charismatic and engaging personality, sort of a friendly, less arrogant version of Gary Kasparov.

If you're at all interested in chess, and I imagine if you've made it this far you should be, (either that or just very bored and in need of something to read even if it's about chess), three names to watch this year are Wesley So, Fabiano Caruana, and Hikaru Nakamura. One of them could be the next Bobby Fischer.
 
Why is there women's chess and men's chess anyway? I mean I get it in other true sports, such as basketball, where the size advantage of most men's teams, and players, would be simply overwhelming. But in chess it seems to me that having divisions for both is superfluous.

Back in the 1800s women were banned from most chess clubs and tournaments so they formed their own clubs and started holding their own tournaments. Obviously, that's what led to the current system.

Chess has always been a numbers game. When women were not allowed to participate, thousands more men and boys learned and played the game. Once they started their own tournaments and championships the numbers have gradually started to equalize. Fifty years ago it was down to around a hundred to one, now I think it's closer to twenty to one.

If you're interested in growing the game and getting more girls and women involved, then it makes sense to continue with what's working. I think women's chess is just starting to boom. The Polgar sisters helped generate a lot of interest and Hou Yifan is the first prodigy from the next generation. She won the Women's World Championship at fourteen. Now, at twenty, she is just starting to compete against the top men grandmasters and is still five to ten years away from reaching her potential.

So women have come a long way in chess from the days when they were not allowed to compete, but there is still a long way to go. Once the playing field is level and roughly the same numbers of boys and girls are learning and playing the game, then we can argue about combining tournaments and championships.
 
Women's brains are wired differently. My wife tells me they can see more color, have vastly superior sense of smell.

One difference is field of focus. They don't see "logic" or care to follow something like chess much.

If they cared to, they would be superior chess players.

As long as there's a chic flick on the tube, the kids are bouncing off the walls, and she's reading Pride and Prejudice, I could do alright. But mainly it's why play this stupid game.
 
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babe vs. LOG: the porcine rollover game

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1. e4
 
1. e4 c5



Sorry I can't get the website to work for the diagram. I will try again later.
 
1. e4 c5



Sorry I can't get the website to work for the diagram. I will try again later.

I've had issues about that chess diagram resource before. I think I can play a game without the diagram by just using my computer chess app to track the game, but maybe will post the pic every five moves or so. If you find out how to do it, you can do it with that pic anytime you like.
 
So somehow I lost my Chess Titans and other games on my computer. Great, now I'll have to just make better use of my time. And wifey won't be doing so much Hearts and Solitaire. I can't believe I didn't even notice this since the computer was re-done last February.

OK, so I have the link to the chess pic, and we can just do that when we need to.
 
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