Posted in Chess on January 1, 2021| Leave a Comment »
If you teach then perhaps you know that the website www.readinga-z.com has become a force to be reckoned with in the context of blended learning. And since ‘enlighteners for the little blighters they be, below lies a Level G reader all about Chess. You are, of course, quite welcome to download it and do whatever you so wish. And yes I have already contacted the publisher to suggest improvements as the initial definition of chess clearly isn’t correct.
Posted in Chess on January 1, 2021| Leave a Comment »
As a rule of thumb, the more complex the concepts you grapple with are, the better the player you are. By this I mean when you move away from the material to the abstract, it means the more you are absorbing, very generally speaking. If you never consider control over colour complexes, it’s fair to say you are most likely playing for pleasure than playing to push yourself towards becoming a professional player. Those at the very top are able to win by means of controlling colour complexes and here’s a fine example by the first accredited Soviet Grand Master Verlinsky. Yes of course in retrospect we see Botvinnik as being the first but that wasn’t so. And so here is our old Soviet friend, who played without hearing, doing what he does best, showing why he was indeed world class.
Posted in Chess, Sources of inspiration on December 30, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Chess on December 29, 2020| Leave a Comment »
When general principles are refuted by the counter-intuitive, it becomes tough to remain precise.
Posted in Chess on November 28, 2020| Leave a Comment »
The platitude, one not upheld by photographers on the whole, is that a picture says a thousand words. But words are part of sentences and derive meaning from context whereas pictures don’t illustrate the process that they emerged from and the intentionality that spawned its arrival.
Nonetheless, here’s a gift from fb, posted many moons ago. I can’t quite say why I posted it but it does give you some idea of your playing strength, which can be correlated to the amount of time it takes to formulate plans for white. The correct plan for white adheres to a general principle but there’s a lot of play left if you not much good or at best distinctly average, it’s well worth investing time in, as your average club player would not find this easy.
So Harmonist V Tarrasch, Breslau a mere 131 years back.
More words left unsaid by images in all their guises: creating a PGN is advantageous courtesy of the digital revolution we are experiencing, but it pales in comparison to the position reached over the board. We learn by doing, repetition and reinforcement, not by staring at images. They restrict our concentration to what they are and don’t allow is to play with the position at hand. It’s hardly the ideal solution but at least we have the games kept online.
Posted in Chess on November 23, 2020| Leave a Comment »
…no don’t think GN’R think the Vienna. One commendable facet of what will in retrospect be referred to as our digital revolution is that those who possess both understanding and the means to communicate are easy to come by. I’ve hunted high and low -no don’t think A-ha- keep focused on the Vienna for something that ticks both boxes, and here be a fine young cannibal example of that.
Posted in Chess on November 21, 2020| Leave a Comment »
White begins with 1. c7+
Posted in Chess on November 8, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Chess on November 7, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Chess, On-line journal on November 2, 2020| Leave a Comment »
I think we can safely say that with the vast majority reverting to the internet for chess instruction it has, invariably, become something of a free for all. Youtube has many channels, and is in all probability the best place to go, but how much of what is on offer is worth watching? Not much, I can assure you.
But in recent months I have noticed that the Americans are getting some things not just right but spot on…for what it’s worth, the following two channels are thoroughly recommended.
https://www.youtube.com/c/STLChessClub/featured
https://www.youtube.com/c/ChessClubandScholasticCenterofAtlanta/featured
Olcmarcus
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | |||||
A side note on how to read old Tom Sweby's columns
Not perhaps, but quintessentially, Old Tom Sweby is best thought of as a passionate devotee to the newspapers he wrote for. He was well read and knowledgeable of the Bedfordshire chess scene and well beyond, given that he was the president of the S.C.C.U. once upon a time. He was generally well-respected and rubbed shoulders with many, if not all, of those eminent within British chess circles. It would, however, be a critical mistake to see his column is primary source material entirely. That it is not. You will also find secondary source material quoted too, and the reliability of that is not quite as Tom hoped. Given that he wrote for decades, this is to some degree inevitable, and after all we are all prone to error whether we realize it or not. Thankfully, with regards to old Tom Sweby, they are infrequent and for the most part old Tom continued to document events and developments in the Bedfordshire league from the get go as best he could but, of course, everything lies open to interpretation. Despite this, and generally speaking. this does indeed make him informative and thus worth reading. Dare I say his columns constitute a narrative describing the latest developments, match reports and changing nature of the Beds league...he knew his audience and wrote according. This manifested itself over decades but brevity was always in play courtesy of the restictions imposed by writing a column. Should you wish to read a in instrumental figure of the Beds' league post WW2, you are quite welcome to peruse what has been posted here... . :-) I should, however, point out that as the decades wore on he gradually moved on away from narratives concerning the Bedfordshire league towards affairs both historical and international. The reasons for this are multifarous, old age was a predominante factor presumably, however, the bottom line is with regards to how the Bedfordshire chess scene developed post WW2: old Tom Sweby is your go to guy. He wrote more about chess in Bedforshire than anyone else did but given he was a Lutonian and writing for a Luton newspaper there is both bias and greater coverage of his hometown than the rest of the county.
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McCreadyandChess 