Although online chess is truly international, as indeed the modern game is comparatively speaking, we all have roots whilst surfing the cyber-waves flowing towards transience. And although the following note can be read by anyone around the world, it is understood by whom?
We can but hope the only response be ‘What’s this obscure shit?
Or perhaps more pertinently ‘Is he on something?’
Anyway back to top notch tunes by our American friends.
Recommending viewing there.
Posted in On-line journal | Leave a Comment »
Titles have a function, hence the reason they exist but for those of us more subversive than most, can we play with them?
BM is for Bad Master (in honour of ex-Luton G.H.Diggle), in terms of style BM means battymanesque (ex Luton moi)
CM not Candidate Master but Complete Muppet
FM Not FIDE Master but Faint-hearted mobster
IM not International Master but Ill-mannered madman
GM not Grand Master but Gay minion
SGM not Super Grand Master but Scary gruesome monster
And finally
IA not International Arbiter but Incompetent arsehole
Right, it’s gone 1 am and I’m off to Bedfordshire.
Posted in My own warped humour, On-line journal | Leave a Comment »
Posted in Chess | Leave a Comment »
What better way to begin thine weekend than delving into how nuanced endgames be. And for reasons pragmatic in their persuasion, I ain’t going beyond King Prawn curry King & Pawn or Rook endgames though -no roller skates necessary.
Posted in My own endeavours | Leave a Comment »
It’s becoming increasingly difficult, if not downright impossible to watch videos entitled ‘Great players of the past’. I am yet to find a single video which is more about the subject and less about the presenter and the games he likes in particular. And I am most likely to give up on that very soon. Some are so blatant that almost nothing is learnt about the player being discussed but a great deal is conveyed about the person presenting…
Posted in On-line journal, Postmodern History | Leave a Comment »
As it stands from April to present:
Chess.com 596 games
Lichess.com 254 games
chess24 33 games
That’s 888 games.
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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
Posted in Chess, On-line journal | Leave a Comment »
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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 