Archive for the ‘Chess’ Category

The pieces and their Etymology

Posted in Chess on September 21, 2022| Leave a Comment »

This article is well-researched enough for something that falls within the parameters of mainstream media, and sufficiently accurate, making it worth a good introductory read if the topic interests you.

https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/names-of-chess-pieces/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR0UIFl1Z0HZ-cJC2k1TySyqHiJz0FRBIfZXdRtqVrux1CbIuhOUAA6bpoE#Echobox=1663561304

MJM

Read Full Post »

The time for action is now

Posted in Chess on September 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Having just read my last post, I am in agreement with myself, that now is the time to act.

I’m going to write a letter to my government, suggesting they set up huge bonfires across the country for chess players who want to see the end of their books. You will not have to pay money for this service I will tell them. One of which will be just outside the London Chess & Bridge centre, Baker St. London

If you could just fill in the form below, I will start petitioning pronto, just put a tick in the last column for petition one

Petition 1 (of great importance)

Name of club

Books you are keen to burn

Town you reside in

Tricked into this by McCready

Petition 2 (additional information)

Hat size

Inside leg measurement

Shoe size

Vegetarian?

What is your quest in life?

Petition 3 (naughty boy info)

Do you sniff glue?

Are you an alcoholic?

Smoke drugs?

Have you ever mugged anyone?

Petition 4 (manifestation of guilt…oops extra info…yes extra info, that was what I meant)

Been behind bars have we?

Do you carry shooters when you play chess?

Worshipped the devil during competitive chess play before?

Does anarchy rule supreme for you?

All names received all much appreciated, I shall get onto this right away.

Read Full Post »

‘The road to ruin’ OR burn thy books pronto: on the double now!

Posted in Chess, My own endeavours on September 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Have you become a loser recently? Losing most of your games are you? Well, are you? If you are a loser all the time, then come to me and read on –I have a lot of experience there!

What do you do to prop yourself up after scathing defeat? A cursory glance at your rating for comfort? Reflect upon decorative victories further along memory lane?

Or do you emancipate yourself from the literary genre encompassing our beautiful game and turn your attention inwards? Have you ever lamented in front of your opponent ‘It was those fucking books I’ve been reading, they said?’

Our soon forsaken literary genre is turning digital these days but still carrying presuppositions which are transcending it’s new found medium-and you are the one paying for it!

If you buy into the blurb, which chess literature is replete with you study for improvement -to become a better player, hence the multitude of publications being churned out on opening repertoire and middle game play. Not to mention all the apps they are bringing out. And although I can’t prove it, the word on the street is the boffins programming them are all drugged up when they do it and the GMs roped in can’t live with themselves because they can’t cut it at the highest level so resort whatever alternative means of revenue they can get their hands on -awaiting further proof.

But should you remove improvement from your motivations, replacing it with the pleasure principle -everything changes. No longer will you stand on your chair in the club, screaming out ‘Them thar books got me all discombobulated! I’ve lost again.

You wouldn’t have started playing chess if you weren’t fascinated by it. No one starts out wanting to improve, it’s love of the game that keeps you coming back for more. But then so many become lost thereafter mainly because there is no profit in writing about playing just for pleasure, so they get hounded out. My advice is to play on but play for pleasure and not improvement.

In prioritising pleasure over improvement, you should enjoy your chess more by becoming unconcerned by results the hits to your self confidence stop, and those soul destroying defeats no longer matter. And who doesn’t want to enjoy our beautiful game more. It may sound like a false anti-thesis in play here but the bottom line is competitive play is defined in terms of results and not how much you enjoyed your game -which is of no importance.

It’s quite simple isn’t it? Stop looking at one thing and look at another instead.

But then why do so many buy into the desire to become better by achieving better results? Looking the other way when you factor in all the effort needed, the pressure it puts you under, and the stress becomes entangled in the smallest of smallest minutiae. And what happens when you reach your very own plataeu and can go no further -what then? Sold into it enough to buy more books, looking for the answer there?

Trust me sweetheart -it’s really not worth it. And above all else, isn’t it you leading your own life. Isn’t it you who chooses who and what to listen to.

Just go back to the very beginning and decide that improvement is not important but the pleasure you gain from playing is, and stays so.

I’m not so great over the board -I’m really not. But I know all too well that being a club player I can put 200 ELO points on my rating quite easily if I put the effort in and slog away. Most, if not all of us could. But not all of us fall prey to the sales pitch that comes along with it…

In order to avoid the road to ruin, head for the path to pleasure and forget about how good you are.

You could argue that eventually it becomes inevitable anyway. Most who hit retirement have already abandoned the latest theory as they are in the process of winding down, and sooner or later we all wind down. As mentioned in a previous post, you may define yourself in accordance with the institute or playing premises you are a part of instead, and just keep it as that if you so wish.

There is no road to ruin down that path. No pressure, no stress, and nothing to lose also.

Since it’s your life, it’s up to you but you should be able to clarify why you play and what you want out of it. And that answer really ought to be personal, decided upon by you with your own decisions made. Rather than something espoused by a literary genre you attached yourself to unwittingly. Ultimately it’s your call, and how rationally informed your decisions are, only you can answer. All I can do is put a few pointers along the way.

You have choices although. You may not realise this but you do. The abandonment of improvement and the stigmata of it’s uncompetitiveness will, once overcome, point you in a different direction. Maybe then, just maybe, you might even thank me for the pointers in play here -as always it’s your call.

And should you define all this as a leap of faith, one which you do not feel ready for, seek out the members of your club who are not interested in studying chess, and bringing along the baggage of chess theory. See how they are in your club and learn from them. You might one day call them ;the happy bunch’

Lastly, Mark’s mystery question about that post:

There is a line in the post which is directly taken from this truly wonderful cover song. Can you guess what it is?

Mark

Read Full Post »

2 years ago.

Posted in Chess on September 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »

The two pics below were taken on this day two years ago. It was around that time that I played the opening in question against GM Bogdan.

Petrosian V Spassky 66

Read Full Post »

Off the cuff wins

Posted in Chess on September 15, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Just look at that. Here I am writing about taking a break from chess across the board and then as soon as I finish a post, I decide on the spur of the moment to play a game or two on-line. And what happened? I only went and won both of them.

https://lichess.org/Yb4LkNgjUCId

https://lichess.org/YjechvWibqFR

Read Full Post »

Topic sentence, supporting sentence -a short essay

Posted in Chess on September 15, 2022| Leave a Comment »

In about two hours I have to go into work and teach the basics of how to write an essay. The focus is on structure and how to use topic sentences and supporting sentences in paragraphs. Last year I wrote a short essay on chess to illustrate what my students should be doing, roughly speaking. I’m going to use that same essay in today’s class and have posted it below.

Is chess a good game to play?

Every day there are millions of people playing chess. Some of them go to clubs to play and some of them like to play on line. Some people stay at home and play with their family. No matter what they do, there are people across the world playing chess all the time.

People like to play chess because there are many benefits to it. It can help you to think clearly and improve your concentrations levels. This is of great benefit to children because it can help them in school and think more easily about their studies. It can also help adults in their work because they can concentrate for longer periods more easily as well as when they travel to and from work. Another thing chess gives you is the skill to think ahead. In chess you have to think ahead so that you can make the right moves. In life skill can be used also and chess players are often good at thinking ahead more than people who don’t play chess. It can help them learn how to make decisions quickly and become more considerate over what they do in their life.

To conclude, there are many benefits from chess, which is why people around the world like to play it. Because of this, I think that chess is a good game to play and can be enjoyed by everyone.

معلمMark

That aside it’s almost 6 am.

Read Full Post »

The more you live, the more you love

Posted in Chess on September 15, 2022| Leave a Comment »

My daughter before she goes to school

Irrespective of how good you are at chess, you won’t transfer the skills you picked up and play them out in life itself, will you? Or will you? Perhaps more transferable are qualities such as improved concentration levels and overall ability to calculate more? And above all else success over the board pales in comparison to success in life…well these are the things I tell myself so that I don’t feel down over being something of an underachiever at the chessboard…it never really mattered anyway -yes that’s the spirit!

Having both a BA and an MA in Philosophy behind me, I suppose I ought to enquire into why things pan out how they do. I am compelled to question you could say and with regards to chess: my daughter was born out of my love of chess, and that is me done! Purpose in life is parental by nature, chess is nothing more than a hobby. I don’t know how varied chess-related goals are in life. Most players just want to improve their rating and get it as high as they can. I father a child whose very existence has come about because I met her mother at an international tournament. There’s nothing left for me to do: I am happy with my lot.

As we grow older, do we need to find reasons why we bother with things? Chess brought me a child, that’s enough for me, why others play on I don’t know. Presumably they just like it.

This evening I left my room unexpectedly. Dressed in casual clothes I walked to the nearest supermarket and bought some washing powder. When I returned I washed one and only one item of clothing -I wear it now. I wear it in the middle of the night, amidst solitude. But solitude is okay if you like your own company, and on the whole, I am pretty good at entertaining myself. It doesn’t matter what hour it is, all that matters is I am on line.

Above all else, the burning question is what did we get from chess? I have a child, and I reckon that can’t be beaten. Titles and rating points pale into insignificance over what I have. Not boastful just contented.

Read Full Post »

Headlines that bring about a wry smile of sorts

Posted in Chess, Viz inspired material on September 14, 2022| Leave a Comment »

I tried to refrain from commentating on the precise nature of the allegations levied against GM Hans Niemann but once it hit the mainstream media, and headline writers got a hold of it, it’s hard not to smile and say something. However, still I shan’t say much but if someone can explain just how such devices can be implemented in cheating, I am all ears. Just how did GM Niemann sit still if he was up to it? Of all the scandals to surface, it just had to be that! Can’t we go back to devices in shoes? Just perhaps we will have bottom inspectors at tournaments soon! Oh no! Not The Bottom Inspectors!

Oh!
The Bottom Inspectors from Viz

So here is an article that summarises the whole thing, bringing about a wry smile in the process.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11211325/Did-chess-grandmaster-use-anal-beads-beat-world-No-1-Magnus-Carlsen-Bizarre-rumour-sweeps-sport.html

Mark. J. McCready 5.46 pm Wednesday, September the fourteenth.

Room 306, Helwa Apt.

Sakaka, Saudia Arabia

Read Full Post »

Warriors head to head

Posted in Chess, On-line journal on September 11, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Despite having it’s own youtube channel, chessboxing is yet to take off. It has a cult following and has been televised enough times already, but it isn’t generating sponsorship on any level and remains subterranean for now. Admittedly, I can’t see what the attraction is as it appears so amateurish thus unentertaining. But anyway, here’s a sneak preview of something earlier this year, just perhaps it may float your boat.

You can find details of fighters and venues here:

https://www.chessboxing.info/venues/

And their youtube channel here:

https://www.youtube.com/c/Chessboxing

Read Full Post »

Chess groupies

Posted in Chess on September 11, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Meanwhile in St. Louis, in need of support of late, the American GM Hans Niemann has got it here -although I am not sure he will be so impressed!

Coverage can be found here:

https://clips.twitch.tv/AbrasiveTriangularPheasantStrawBeary-7EX_vdUlcKhnPM30

He’s got it here also:

The incident in question is discussed here:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/sep/09/chess-hans-niemann-hits-back-over-cheating-controversy-in-st-louis

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »