I will miss playing chess and bridge in class  - even against weaker opposition, those whose understanding of the game was lacking and whose appreciation of it even moreso. Sadly, the games dried up in 2008 for a rather long stretch of two terms, and only resurfaced in the final days. I wonder when will be the next time (assuming there will be one) that I'll get to play contract bridge with friends again. BBO is not bad, but it's just not the same.

I will miss having the best HL teachers and sitting at their feet to learn from them, to be given advice which I otherwise could not have learned for myself. On the other hand, it goes without saying that I will not miss the few bad teachers I had, of which there are approximately four.

I will not miss the jokes which went un-understood due to barriers which have already been explained before. Nor will I miss the incessant loud and annoying yammering (in tongues) which characterised nearly every recess in which I remained in class.

I will not miss being among pagans who cared only for their own interests and made others suffer as a result. I will not miss the spiritual deprivation which inevitably came with such a setting. I will also not miss being scolded and reprimanded, repeatedly, for the sins of others. I will also not miss the annoyance of realising that more often that not, it stopped there and that there was no real punishment meted out to the offenders. Nor will I miss the sty, the mess of paper and rubbish and food wrappers strewn all over, as if I needed any more proof that the Second Law was true.

I will not miss the ACS(I) Chess Club of 2007-2008, because it was only a shadow of its former glory which lacked a soul comparable to that of 2003 and 2004. That club was one worth missing, and I doubt if it will ever be the same again.

I will not miss being alone. I will not miss being unable to say all the things I wanted to say and do all the things I wanted to do. As I said before, I will not miss having to endure events which were seemingly forced out of my control, events which in retrospect, I would with all my heart and soul say now that I should have stood up for my own rights regardless of the cost.

To a degree, I will miss FireAC and the warmth it brought from being among those of like faith every morning. Which is not to say that I found every moment of it beneficial, especially those times where I caught the speaker making some dubious claim (or interpretation), or saying something which was factually inaccurate. But I don't know how different things would have been without it.

It has also been six years of long and tiring rides to school and back. After six years, it is finally over. I will not miss it, nor do I want to do it again. But, as is especially true for 2008, I will not miss the fact that I was no longer capable of hitting the efficiency levels on public trasport I consistently achieved when I was in sec 1. Interestingly, the amount of things I could get done during a ride home was on par with the same amount I could have done in the same time had I been, say, sitting at my desk. On a related note, I will not miss waking up at 5.30 in the morning every day, and I will not miss the mad rush to catch the train which ensued almost daily. I will not miss running through the darkness of the field, so often muddy.

Finally, I will not miss the haunting awareness that I repeatedly failed to perform at my best, the knowledge that I could have achieved far greater things had I only been able to manage my time and my resources more effectively. But this has been said before too.

To the few who have stood by me throughout, thank you. You folks will be worth missing.

I had been to my grandmother's home today in the afternoon to attend some annual we-all-remember-our-great-grandmother-day where the entire pot bellied brethren-most of whom have already resigned to just lead a vicarious life through their kids- found themselves in one place with their kids, in order to, well, remember the great grandmother! I happened to see a few of those kids after a long time and found that they had quite grown up. One dude was just beginning to explore the nuances of college freedom-and it soon became evident he was not quite ready for it. Then there was this other dude who suddenly claimed he was now studying for his Tenth Board Exams! I mean the last time I saw this kid, he was being an integral part of a typical South Indian marriage scene by acting out the part of the kid pestering his dad to buy him one of those cool(??!!??) plastic toy guns from the Balloon-wala who was standing in front of the Marriage hall sporting a supercilious attitude! This dude has a very troubled past filled with self abuse. Not the wrist slitting or drug consuming kind. I am talking about the getting oneself injured kind. And to this guy, injuries take a whole different meaning altogether. He used to have atleast 2 fractures a month and once even fell from a height of 5 feet over an iron pipe- with his legs on either side of it! Thats right! He hit the 'Sac'! So much so, he had to get it stitched back! Ah! Imagine that! Getting your 'Sac' stitched back! ( It is also said that he held his 'Sac' with his bare hands for over an hour at school before the teacher noticed blood flowing on the floor!) So it was a little hard to believe he was actually in Tenth now but I presumed he was indeed talking the truth.

Now you see the thing is, among all the kids on my mother's side (the great-grandmother also from my mother's side), I am the eldest and so by default get to play Big Brother and sometimes even Godfather to these kids. From time immemorial, I have officially been the 'smart kid' or the 'intelligent kid' in the family(now of course having transitioned to the 'smart graduate'). So every other kid in the family have at one time or the other, been told, quite explicitly, by their parents,  to emulate me through some very inspirational one-liners such as: "You know Akshay Anna's(brother's) best friend? Books! You should also read books. Then you will also become like him" and "If you work hard, like Akshay does, then even you will get 1st Rank, like AKshay does!" (Ok when the f*** was the last time I actually stood first in my class?)

So you see, I have been the role model and the source of inspiration for all the family kids. These two now grown up kids were no exceptions. From day one of their schooling, they were taught to emulate me, and maybe even connived to do one better than me! I am not sure about the results, but I never heard of them going one better than me. Not to worry.

Now before I get to the crux of this dumb shit, it has to be notified here that I was at one time a very good chess player and during my more enthusiastic days, I had taught these two kids how to play chess. Again, they were taught to emulate my skill in the game by their parents. I remember to have played some really short lived games during the time I was teaching them the basics of strategy. And it so happened that there was this huge break when I had completely forgotten that I was once a chess maniac and instead began to focus on issues of more importance like IIT-JEE and AIEEE. And the last time I played a game of chess was about 3 years back.

Now, coming back to the day, the lunch meal for this occassion, as per tradition, was deliberately made to be as inedible as it can be made. And so after going through the mandatory ordeal of the lunch, I finally was able to just sit and do nothing. Or so I thought. Suddenly these two now-grown-up kids proposed they play a game of chess with me. I was surprised by their enthusiasm and thought to myself: Ok I am meeting them after a long time. I might as well play a game with them. But then I knew there was no chess set at my Granny's place and told those kids so. But lo and behold! These dudes had apparently suspected that and had got their own chess set! I was again a bit surprised but proceeded to arrange the pieces to play against the more hyper active kid-The kid with the stitched 'Sac'. It was then that I heard his equally enthusiastic Dad comment loudly to no one in particular: "He has come here solely to play chess with Akshay anna and to beat Akshay anna!"

WTF??? I mean WTF??? Apparently this dude's sole purpose of visit was to prove that he had become better than me at chess and as an extension, better than me in general! It suddenly looked like he had been nurturing this desire of his to beat me at Chess for quite many years. It was as if he had been preparing for years together just for this one match! In fact, I could sense some kind of a grudge he had against me. For what? I have no clue. But as he began to play, it was not difficult to see he was playing with a purpose and a well prepared plan of attack! With some vigorous body language, he seemed to tell me his life will somehow attain some meaning when he beats me in that game!

Fifteen minutes and 25-30 moves later, I find I have won. Apparently he had improved over the years, but not enough to challenge my out of touch brain cells! And then immediately I hear statements like: "You were lying when you said you have not played since 3 years." and "Do you play at the State Level?" and "Do you go for Chess training?" and "You are a very good liar!"

Again, WTF?? I play a game of chess with this dude, partly for old times sake and partly not to disappoint him and now I find him trying to justify what he feels is possibly the worst defeat of his entire life!!! And as I began to acknowledge the other dude's request to play a game with him, I saw this guy suddenly become very silent and non responsive. I didn't pay much attention to it till the time his mother came out and said,"Why are you crying? Oh you are crying because you lost a match to Akshay anna? Dont worry, you learn from him about the different moves and strategies. He will help you!" And THAT crushed him real bad! He made a big effort to hold back his tears and disappointment. But for all his efforts, it was pretty clear he had imploded! Again, WTF? Wake up kid! Get a life! Its just a game of chess!

But in the end, I had to give him some advice on improving his chess and none more important and necessary than what Jason Statham said in REVOLVER : "You can only get smarter by playing a smarter opponent!" (Ah! How appropriate!)

The other dude also had similar aspirations. But his was less of a grudge and more of a dream to beat me at Chess. I will leave you to guess the outcome of that game. And again, after the game, the parents of both the kids gave some parental advice about how they should follow my example and learn from me, directly asking me to offer them advice on how THEY should shape THEIR futures. Me being the officious kind, started on my usual dose of Anti-Software and Anti-ENgineering content and saw them losing interest and so changed my stance to just Anti-Software, after which their attention was revived!

And so at the end of the day, their parents again directly asked me in front of the kids to give them some more advice the next time they met! I smiled at them and enthusiastically replied "ANYTIME!!!" And so thus ended the day, me still undefeated and still the guy to beat!

BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME KID!

PS: All the facts mentioned in this post are 100% true, including (and especially) the 'Stitching of the Sac'.

As far as genuine loopiness is concerned, Wilhem Steinitz is often regarded as having lapsed into mental illness during his later years, incidents having been cited in which he walked round his back garden in order to charge himself up with electricity. More recently there's the case of Tony Miles who had some unfortunate episodes. But are such incidents real evidence of a link, or do they just fit in with the popular conception of 'the mad chess player'?

Frankly I have much sympathy with Steinitz's practice given some theories that Chi Kung exercises work by promoting the flow of bio-electricity. In fact I do a walking Chi Kung set every morning just after standing still for half an hour, thus proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is a sane practice! With Miles meanwhile I understand that it was a simple chemical imbalance that was effectively dealt with via medication. So let's work from the assumption that we chess players are no more crazy than anyone else and consider alternative hypothese.

What is certainly true is that chess demands individuality and logical thinking rather than going with 'the crowd', so it should come as no surprise that players seem to have more than their fair share of trouble with authority. This recent and harrowing piece by a member of Streatham and Brixton Chess Club is a case in point, whilst some years ago Bobby Fischer produced this piece entitled 'I Was Tortured in a Pasadena Jailhouse'. The very nature of the game means that chess players are bound to fall foul of authority now and then. And they also seem unable to agree with each other about anything!

Copyright Nigel Davies, 2008. All rights reserved.

It's difficult to know for sure where we're going from here, but with ever greater support for some version of government buying of preferred stocks in banks, it looks like the finance industry will be partly nationalised. So it's goodbye to free market capitalism as we've known it, hello to something else.

What are we going to get instead? I figure that with all this debt around (including government debt) we'll be getting low interest rates and high taxes. So probably there won't be much danger of inflation, we'll just eat less and drive cars less. UK house prices will probably grind down to traditional levels of around three times salaries, especially if we end up with more council property to house those who can't afford to buy (the government may end up owning housing through its bank stakes). I don't think we'll get a depression like the 1930s, just a long period of zero growth and a very different way of life to the one we've been used to. Think of a somewhat impoverished version of what Japan's situation has been for the last couple of decades.

Probably this is very good for chess and other inexpensive cultural pursuits (eg singing and dancing) so I'm not convinced it's such a bad thing in every respect. But I figure the dice will be loaded against innovation.

Copyright Nigel Davies, 2008. All rights reserved.

It appears as though chess has a new superstar. After taking the Women's World Rapid Chess Championship and the Women's World Chess Championship titles Alexandra Kosteniuk won gold in the 1st World Mind Sports Games Women's Blitz Chess Individual event in Beijing, China. Under her father's(Konstantin Vladimirovich Kosteniuk) coaching and guidance, Alexandra became a Woman Grand Master at age 14, an International Master at 16, and a Grand Master at 20. Her climb to the top started by winning the Girls U10 European Championship in Herculane in 1994, the Girls Under 12 European Championship in Rimavaska Sobota in 1996, and the Girls Under 12 World Championship in Minorca in 1996. At the age of 17, in 2001, she was runner up to Zhu Chen for the Women’s World Championship. In 2006, she won the Chess960 Women's World Championship and still possesses the title. In September 2008, Alexandra became the 14th Women's World Chess Champion after winning the final against Yifan Hou by 2.5 - 1.5.  In her free time, Alexandra enjoys appearing in films, fashion magazines, doing many product promotions, and walking the catwalk as a successful fashion model.

Below are some fantastic examples of Alexandra Kosteniuk's phenominal chess abilities. The final game in the list is the sudden death blitz game Kosteniuk played to win the 1st World Mind Sports Games Womens Blitz Chess Individual event.
[Event "Ch World (cadets) (under 12) (g)"]

[Site "Cala Galdana (Spain)"]

[Date "1996.??.??"]

[EventDate "?"]

[Round "11"]

[Result "1-0"]

[White "Alexandra Kosteniuk"]

[Black "Nadezhda Kosintseva"]

[ECO "C29"]

[WhiteElo "?"]

[BlackElo "?"]

[PlyCount "135"]
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 d5 4.fxe5 Nxe4 5.d3 Nxc3 6.bxc3 d4
7.Nf3 Nc6 8.Be2 Bc5 9.c4 O-O 10.O-O Qe7 11.Bf4 Re8 12.Qe1 Bf5
13.Qg3 Bg6 14.Rab1 Nb4 15.Rb2 Rab8 16.Re1 Nc6 17.Bf1 Nd8
18.Bg5 Qd7 19.Bxd8 Qxd8 20.Ng5 f6 21.Nf3 fxe5 22.Rxe5 Bd6
23.Rxe8+ Qxe8 24.Qf2 c5 25.Rb1 Bf4 26.Kh1 Be3 27.Qg3 b6 28.Ne5
Bf5 29.Be2 Rb7 30.Bf3 Re7 31.Bc6 Qh5 32.Bf3 Qe8 33.Bc6 Qh5
34.Bf3 Qg5 35.Bd5+ Kf8 36.Rf1 g6 37.Nc6 Qxg3 38.hxg3 Ke8
39.Nxe7 Kxe7 40.g4 Bd7 41.Rf7+ Kd6 42.Rxh7 g5 43.Bf3 a6 44.g3
Kc7 45.Be4 Kd6 46.Bf3 Kc7 47.Kg2 b5 48.Bd5 Kd8 49.Rh6 a5
50.Rb6 b4 51.Ra6 a4 52.Bc6 Bxg4 53.Bxa4 Bd2 54.Rc6 Ke7 55.Rxc5
Be6 56.Ra5 g4 57.Bb3 Bc3 58.c5 Bd7 59.Ra7 Kd8 60.Bd5 Bc8
61.Rg7 Bd2 62.c6 Bf5 63.Bc4 Bc8 64.c7+ Ke8 65.Rg8+ Kd7 66.Be6+
Kxe6 67.Rxc8 Kd7 68.Rd8+ 1-0

[Event "FIDE WCh Women KO"]

[Site "Moscow RUS"]

[Date "2001.12.07"]

[EventDate "2001.11.27"]

[Round "5.3"]

[Result "0-1"]

[White "Yuhua Xu"]

[Black "Alexandra Kosteniuk"]

[ECO "B31"]

[WhiteElo "2485"]

[BlackElo "2455"]

[PlyCount "124"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. Re1 Nf6 6. e5 Nd5
7. Nc3 Nc7 8. Bxc6 dxc6 9. Ne4 b6 10. Nf6+ Kf8 11. Ne4 h6
12. h3 Kg8 13. b3 Ne6 14. d3 Kh7 15. Ng3 Nd4 16. Bb2 Be6
17. c4 Qd7 18. Re4 Nf5 19. Nf1 Rhd8 20. g4 Nd6 21. Re2 Nb7
22. Ng3 a5 23. a4 Kg8 24. Rd2 h5 25. Ng5 Bh6 26. f4 Bxg5
27. fxg5 hxg4 28. h4 Kg7 29. h5 Rh8 30. h6+ Kh7 31. Qf1 Rad8
32. Qf4 Rhf8 33. Rf1 Qc8 34. Qe3 Rd7 35. Ne2 Nd8 36. Nf4 Bf5
37. e6 fxe6 38. Qe5 Rg8 39. Rh2 Rd4 40. Bxd4 cxd4 41. Qxd4 Nf7
42. Qe3 Nxg5 43. Kf2 Nf3 44. Rg2 Rf8 45. d4 g5 46. Nh5 Bg6
47. Ng3 Rf4 48. Ne2 Re4 49. Qc3 Qf8 50. Kg3 Qxh6 51. Kf2 Qf8
52. Kg3 Qb8+ 53. Kf2 Nh4 54. Rg3 Kg8 55. Qd2 Nf3 56. Qc3 Rxe2+
57. Kxe2 Qxg3 58. Qe3 Kg7 59. d5 cxd5 60. cxd5 Qf4 61. Qxf4
gxf4 62. dxe6 Nd4+ 0-1

[Event "FIDE WCh Women KO"]

[Site "Moscow RUS"]

[Date "2001.12.13"]

[EventDate "2001.11.27"]

[Round "6.4"]

[Result "0-1"]

[White "Zhu Chen"]

[Black "Alexandra Kosteniuk"]

[ECO "A80"]

[WhiteElo "2497"]

[BlackElo "2455"]

[PlyCount "114"]
1. d4 f5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 d5 5. O-O Bd6 6. b3 Qe7
7. c4 c6 8. Bb2 O-O 9. Qc1 a5 10. Ba3 Na6 11. Bxd6 Qxd6 12. c5
Qe7 13. Ne5 Nd7 14. Nxd7 Bxd7 15. f4 b6 16. cxb6 Qb4 17. Qc3
Qxb6 18. Nd2 Rfc8 19. Rfc1 c5 20. Nf3 Rc7 21. e3 Rac8 22. Qd2
a4 23. Ne5 Be8 24. dxc5 Nxc5 25. bxa4 Bxa4 26. Rab1 Qa7
27. Qd4 Be8 28. Rc2 Qa3 29. Qc3 Qa4 30. Qb2 Qa6 31. Bf1 Qa7
32. Qd4 Qa3 33. Qc3 Qa4 34. Qb2 Qe4 35. Re1 g5 36. Bg2 Qa4
37. Rec1 Qa5 38. Qc3 Qa7 39. Qd4 Qa3 40. Qc3 Nb3 41. Qxb3 Qxb3
42. axb3 Rxc2 43. Rxc2 Rxc2 44. fxg5 Re2 45. Nf3 Rxe3 46. Nd4
Kf7 47. Bf1 Bd7 48. Kf2 Rc3 49. b4 e5 50. Nf3 Ke6 51. Nh4 e4
52. g6 hxg6 53. Nxg6 d4 54. h4 Rc2+ 55. Ke1 Rc1+ 56. Kf2 e3+
57. Kg1 Bb5 0-1

[Event "FIDE WCh Women KO"]

[Site "Moscow RUS"]

[Date "2001.11.28"]

[EventDate "2001.11.28"]

[Round "1.2"]

[Result "1-0"]

[White "Alexandra Kosteniuk"]

[Black "Jennifer Shahade"]

[ECO "B99"]

[WhiteElo "2455"]

[BlackElo "2295"]

[PlyCount "79"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 a6 6. Bg5 e6
7. f4 Be7 8. Qf3 Nbd7 9. O-O-O Qc7 10. g4 b5 11. Bxf6 gxf6
12. f5 Ne5 13. Qh3 O-O 14. Qh6 Kh8 15. Rg1 Rg8 16. Rg3 Bd7
17. Rh3 Rg7 18. g5 Qd8 19. Nce2 fxg5 20. fxe6 Ng4 21. Qh5 Nf6
22. Qf3 fxe6 23. Qb3 Qc8 24. Rc3 Qg8 25. Ng3 h5 26. Nc6 h4
27. e5 dxe5 28. Nh5 Bxc6 29. Nxf6 Bxf6 30. Rxc6 g4 31. Rxe6
Bg5+ 32. Kb1 Bf4 33. Rdd6 Rd8 34. Qd5 Rxd6 35. Qxd6 e4 36. Qd5
Bxh2 37. Qxe4 Qh7 38. Qc6 Qf5 39. Bd3 Qf3 40. Re8+ 1-0
[Event "Women's World Championship"]

[Site "Nalchik RUS"]

[Date "2008.09.14"]

[EventDate "2008.09.14"]

[Round "6.1"]

[Result "0-1"]

[White "Yifan Hou"]

[Black "Alexandra Kosteniuk"]

[ECO "C90"]

[WhiteElo "2557"]

[BlackElo "2510"]

[PlyCount "96"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5
7. Bb3 O-O 8. a3 d6 9. c3 Bg4 10. d3 Na5 11. Bc2 c5 12. h3 Bd7
13. d4 Qc7 14. d5 c4 15. Nbd2 Nb7 16. Nf1 Nc5 17. g4 h5
18. N3h2 hxg4 19. hxg4 Qc8 20. f3 Nh7 21. Ng3 Bg5 22. Nf5 Qd8
23. Kg2 g6 24. Ng3 Kg7 25. Rh1 Rh8 26. Nhf1 Qf6 27. Be3 Bxe3
28. Nxe3 Ng5 29. Qe2 Rag8 30. Raf1 Qf4 31. Rxh8 Rxh8 32. Rh1
Rxh1 33. Nxh1 Nd3 34. Bxd3 cxd3 35. Qf2 d2 36. Ng3 Nxf3
37. Qxf3 Bxg4 38. Qf2 d1=Q 39. Nxd1 Bxd1 40. Qe1 Bf3+ 41. Kg1
f5 42. exf5 gxf5 43. Qf2 Kg6 44. b3 e4 45. c4 bxc4 46. bxc4
Qg5 47. c5 f4 48. cxd6 fxg3 0-1

[Event "Chess"]
[Site "Beijing"]
[Date "2008.10.05"]
[Round "17"]
[White "(RUS) Kosteniuk A."]
[Black "(BUL) Stefanova A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[WhiteElo "2525"]
[WhiteCountry "RUS"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[BlackElo "2548"]
[BlackCountry "BUL"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Bc5 6. c3 b5 7. Bb3 d6
8. d4 Bb6 9. a4 Bg4 10. h3 Bh5 11. Bg5 Rb8 12. axb5 axb5 13. Qd3 O-O
14. Nbd2 h6 15. Bh4 g5 16. Bg3 exd4 17. cxd4 Bg6 18. Qc3 Ne7 19. Rfe1
Ra8 20. Rxa8 Qxa8 21. d5 Nh5 22. Kh2 Nxg3 23. fxg3 Kh7 24. Nd4 Qa5 25.
N2f3 Qxc3 26. bxc3 Rb8 27. g4 b4 28. c4 Ra8 29. Nf5 Ng8 30. e5 dxe5
31. Nxe5 Bxf5 32. gxf5 Re8 33. Nd3 Rxe1 34. Nxe1 Ne7 35. g4 Bd4 36.
Nd3 Bc3 37. c5 Kg7 38. d6 cxd6 39. cxd6 Nc6 40. Ba4 Nd8 41. Kg2 Kf8
42. Nc5 Bd2 43. Kf3 Bf4 44. d7 Ke7 45. Ke4 Bd6 46. Nb3 f6 47. Kd5 Bg3
48. Nd4 Bd6 49. Nb3 Bg3 50. Na5 Be5 51. Nc4 Bg3 52. Nb6 Bc7 53. Nc8+
Kf7 54. Kc4 Ba5 55. Kb5 Bc7 56. Kxb4 Nb7 57. Bb3+ Kf8 58. Kb5 Nd8 59.
Bd5 Bf4 60. Kb6 Bg3 61. Na7 Ke7 62. Be6 Bf2+ 63. Ka6 Bxa7 1-0

In the game TorontoJer-Gitaneman68 white can give a firced checkmate. How?

Solution of the last position:

The white bishop capture the f7 pawn to give a pretty checkmate.

Did you give a nice checkmate and want to show it to your friends? Please email the game number to dailymate@chesspark.com and maybe your checkmate will be the next on this page!

https://ocs.usask.ca/chess

The first Computer Science, Humanities, Engineering/education/economics, ScienceS (chess) interactions conference is a truly interdisciplinary conference which brings together experts from computer science, the humanities, engineering, education, economics and the social and natural sciences. the main objective of the conference consists in exploring common themes and methodologies among the diverse disciplines.

This is a three university collaborative effort as colleagues from the Universits of Saskatchewan(Canada), Leicester (UK), and Vaxjo(Sweden) are putting it together with speakers from three continents.
We invite contributions from participants, which will be peer-reviewed by the scientific committee and oral presentations will be selected. The proceedings will be published. The deadline for submission of abstracts is February 27, 2009.

Dr. Chary Rangacharyulu
Professor and Head,
Department of Physics and Engineering Physics
University of Saskatchewan
Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7N5E2
+1-306-966-6412
Email: chary.r@usask.ca
Visit the website at http://https://ocs.usask.ca/chess

For example, a game like Legend of Zelda might last, to the uninitiated, about 60 hours(pfft. yeah right.). There's a lot to explore in a game like that. But one week and your done. Period. Consider, however, just how much time has gone into people exploring and pondering Chess. It's a simple game. And yet, no one can say that they've "completed" Chess. It just doesn't work that way.

Traditional board games like Chess, Parcheesi, and my favorite: Go, consume far more entertainment time than Gears of war ever could. Even the longest lasting games, roguelikes such as NetHack and Stonesoup, can't compare to Go.

Still, youngins are gravitating towards video games more than ever, even while creativity and originality is on the low. Allow me to explain the differences between Chess and Go, which has been touted as the game with the most strategy involved of all time.

Most people in America are familiar with Chess, though not that many people play it. It's that game with the king, and the queen, and you're trying to kill each other on a chess board. Oh, and then there's that castle thingy...

Not quite. In chess, the board is an 8x8 set of squares, with each square allowing one piece to sit on.

picture:

This is the beginning of a chess game. Players command opposing armies, the battle atop the chessboard about to begin!

But what about Go? If co can be compared to chess at all, then where chess is a battle, Go is a full fledged war. Go was invented in China thousands of years ago, and had spread all over the east by the time the western world was in the renaissance. In china it was known as Wei'qi, but the game spread to the west from Japan, in which the game was known as Igo, thereafter shortened to "Go".

Basiclly it's like this: There are two types of pieces, called stones, because they look like round, flat stones. Each player places stones down on the board, one by one, turn by turn, and tries to form territory. A stone is like a platoon of soldiers, and, wherever you place your stone, is where your soldiers have influence. You want to form the borders of you country with your soldiers, as does your opponent with his soldiers.

That's rule number 1.

You also want to surround your opponents stones(soldiers), completely. If you manage to do this, they are "captured", and are your prisoners. The more prisoner's you have, the more territory, as well.

Those are the two basic rules of Go: Create territory and capture prisoners. Here's a picture of a small, 9x9 board:

A List of Differences Between Go And Chess:

1. In Chess pieces move. In Go, pieces don't move.

2. In chess, there are a variety of types of pieces, each with different abilities. In Go, there is only one type of piece, a stone.

3. In Chess, the aim is to capture the king. In Go, the aim is to carve up the board into your own territories.

4. In chess, winning is absolute. In Go, you can win by .5 a point.

5. In chess, a single piece captures a single piece. In Go, groups of stones capture groups of stones.

6. A surefire strategy in Chess is to take control of the center, and kill as many pieces as you can, without getting your pieces killed. In Go, that is probably the worst way to play. You want to start in the corners, spread out to the sides, and finally, fight over the center.

7. In Chess, there are less pieces on the board as the game progresses. In Go, there are more pieces on the board as the game progresses.

This might seem a bit confusing. But both games are a great way to pass the time while you are saving up to buy that next video game. You might not have 60 dollars to by the next great videogame, but it's worth it to check out one of these games. They've kept people busy for  centuries, so you'll never get bored. Plus, it's fun when you get good, and start beating the snot out of your enemies. heheh...:D

That's it for today. I'll leave you with two links: one for chess, the other for Go:

USChess Federation

USGo Association

That's it for today, 

--This is Plumalion.

Below is the description of my chess activities from ten years ago:

The Chess Coach

Teacher of Champions

I am Chris Torres, a scholastic chess coach who lives in San Jose California. I am the Supervisor of Instructors for Success Chess and also teach private lessons. Currently, I am the head coach for Warm Springs(Fremont), YoYo Chinese School (Fremont), and Challenger Schools(Pomeroy/Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale campuses), and a teacher at the prestigious Weibel Chess Club (Fremont). I also teach at Argonaut(Saratoga) and Gomes School (Fremont). My students have many success stories including both team and individual national and state championships. As a chess coach, I aspire to introduce children to the wonderful game as well as give them a taste of success. Students range from kindergartners to sixth graders. If you are interested in expanding a child's logic, self-esteem, and creativity please email me at chesslessons@aol.com to find out the rates for private, semi-private, and group lessons.

The Philippine contingent to the inaugural World Minds Sports Games is doing well above expectations. Spearheading the group over in China is GM Mark Paragua who came very close to bagging a medal after topping the men's blitz preliminaries with a blitz performance of 2820. The scorecards Page of the ongoing event is now updated.

In the game Johngonzaga-springbok white got a big advantage in the beginning and he can finish the game in style. How?

Solution of the last position:

The black queen moved to h1 to give a pretty checkmate :)

Did you give a nice checkmate and want to show it to your friends? Please email the game number to dailymate@chesspark.com and maybe your checkmate will be the next on this page!

]]> http://mychessfamily.wordpress.com/?p=5 Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:28:38 +0000 Dmitri http://mychessfamily.da.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/touch-down-pawn-game/

Hello Chess Family!

    I would like to introduce to you one of my favorite games to start chess education and it is a Pawn touchdown game!

Have fun, hope you love it!

Both sides have only 8 pawns . We replace them on a chess board exactly on their beginning position.On the second row white, and on the sevenths black.

Moves:

Pawn move straight one square or at the beginning has a choice to move two squares. Each pawn can move one or two squares at the beginning , but only straight forward.

Captures:Pawn can capture only on diagonal which is to the closest square on diagonal.As well there is a complicated rule "in passing" that possible only if the pawn cross the diagonal line of the opponents pawn while moving two squares .I will illustrate it later in my sample video for this game.

Goal: to touch down the last line.The base of your opponent. The first touching the last line wins.

If there are no possible moves for both  sides there is a draw.

At the same time this game might be played with more strict rules , which is if there is no possible moves than the one who need to move loses the game.

Enjoy!

Vitorino Ramos

   Anand and Kramnik both enjoy playing the Petroff Defense(1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6) and I would be very surprised not to see it used in their 2008 World Championship Chess Match. Both players know the theory very well in this opening, so any game they play could lead to new ideas for the world to use.
   In the game below, Kramnik plays 17... Qf5 in order not to repeat a loss he had suffered against Anand when he used 17... Bf5. Anand's choice for move 24 seems odd and could be inaccurate if you are playing for a win. 24.Rxe7 Rxe7 25.dxe7 Nf6 seems more natural and White maintains a small edge. However, Anand's 24. dxe7 is very interesting and he used a great deal of his time finally deciding on this move. Kramnik responded very quickly with 24... f6 and seems to have a well conceived plan as to how to take the advantage from his opponent. In fact, by the time Kramnik plays 29... c5 he is considered to be winning by all my chess engines. Don't be fooled by your computer's later assessment however. I have seen many esteemed chess players proclaiming various ways for Kramnik to win the endgame. After Anand plays 42. Kf2 there is no opportunity for Kramnik to turn his advantage into a win. Kramnik does his best to entice a blunder from his opponent but Anand will have none of that. I have spent many hours studying the endgame from this game and I would encourage any serious student of the game to do the same. 
[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.??.??"]
[White "Anand,V"]
[Black "Kramnik,V"]
[Round "3"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2792"]
[BlackElo "2769"]
[ECO "C42"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4
d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. c4 Nb4 9. Be2
O-O 10. Nc3 Bf5 11. a3 Nxc3 12. bxc3 Nc6 13. Re1
Re8 14. cxd5 Qxd5 15. Bf4 Rac8 16. Qa4 Bd7 17. Qc2
Qf5 18. Qxf5 Bxf5 19. Bb5 Bd7 20. d5 Ne5 21. Bxd7
Nxd7 22. Bxc7 Rxc7 23. d6 Rxc3 24. dxe7 f6 25. Rad1
Rc7 26. Nd4 Ne5 27. f4 Nc6 28. Nxc6 bxc6 29. Rd6
c5 30. Ree6 c4 31. Rc6 Rexe7 32. Rxc4 Rxc4 33. Rxe7
Ra4 34. Rb7 h6 35. f5 Rxa3 36. Kf2 h5 37. g3
a5 38. Ra7 a4 39. h4 Ra2+ 40. Kf3 a3 41. Ke3
Ra1 42. Kf2 Kf8 43. Kg2 a2 44. Kh2 Ke8 45. Kg2
Kd8 46. Kh2 Kc8 47. Kg2 Kb8 48. Ra3 Kb7 49. Ra4
Kb6 50. Ra8 Kc5 51. Ra7 Kd5 52. Ra4 Ke5 53. Ra5+
Ke4 54. Kh2 Kf3 55. Ra3+ Kf2 56. Ra4 Kf1 57. Kh1
Ke1 58. Kg2 Kd1 59. Ra7 Rc1 60. Rxa2 Rc2+ 61. Rxc2
Kxc2 62. Kf3 Kd3 63. g4 hxg4+ 64. Kxg4 Ke4 65. Kh5
Kxf5  1/2-1/2

went shopping today, getting those few things i might need.  a pack of pepto bismol tablets, a small notebook, some purell hand sanitizer, and of course....

i play against pieces by svetozar gligoric.

cause, you know, you can't backpack across south america with only zurich 1953 and 500 master games of chess.    damn, even when my whole damn life is about to change significantly, i stlil end up buying another damn chess book.

but this one looked so good.  it has interesting comments that explain certain moves, like "this is the right moment to open the position" or "this is bad becuase it creates a hole on c3."  im thinking i could learn how certain moves do certain things and affect certain squares.    i never thought much of gligoric, but i dig his explanations and notes, and, well, he plays better chess than i ever will, so i can learn from him.

so there is that.  i'm hoping to play some chess while travelling, or at least studying.  not like i'll be in a rush to get anywhere.  this might be just what i need.  alone time with my chess set.

i'll endeavor to write updates as i travel, i might even maybe get to post some pics.

a few days to go.

In an era where young people are less likely to be in church and more likely to be influenced by hustlers, rappers and movies like Scarface, things have changed. The 48 Laws of Power by author Robert Greene, has emerged as the hustlers Bible in hip hop. I have personally met people in the rap game that can quote Robert Green's Laws by number, more readily than they can quote any other book intended to refine their life. Any independent would be music mogul without The 48 Laws of Power is a pawn of those around him. Robert Greene replaced The Autobiography of Malcolm X as the book of choice on the block. Busta Rhymes, Bruce George, T-KASH, Jay-Z and 50 Cent are just a few hip hop icons that consult this book when battling on wax, the block or the boardroom. 50 Cent could easily be considered its most adept student. 50 has not only left peoples reputation and bank accounts in shambles, he has made more money arguably than any other rapper in the history of the art.

Which is why it makes sense that Greene's next book is entitled The 50th Law, co-authored by none other than 50 Cent. In this  interview, Adisa Banjoko talks with Greene about how his book became today's street Bible, and how The 50th Law can help you step up your game.

FULL STORY:

http://www.vibe.com/news/interviews/2008/10/the_50th_law_strategy_expert_robert_greene_and_the_hustlers_mind/

PS. You can purchase that set at www.thechesspiece.com

(anonymous player) - US:

1.b4?! ... Nf6,
2.Bb2 ... d6,
3.c4 ... e5,
4.e3 ... Nc6,
5.b5 ... Ne7,
6.d4 ... exd4,
7.Qxd4 ... Nf5,
8.Qd1 (a strange move, and certainly not the best. Qd2 seems like the obvious move to me) ... Be7,
9.Nf3 ... 0-0,
10. Be2

... d5 (I was spending quite a bit of time on that move, I'll admit that),
11. cxd5 ... Nxd5,

Before move 10, I was wondering if 12.e4 would be 'a killer' or not. I found that it wasn't; white hasn't castled yet! If 12.e4 then Bb4+ followed by 13.Nbd2 (or Nc3 or Bc3, but then white doesn't gain anything by the e4-move) and black has 13...Nf4! followed by 14...Re8 if white takes with the pawn. This position is not materially balanced, no, but it looked to me as if the attack was worth it:

Fritz agrees, and for instance gives this (quite complicated) line: 14.exf5 ... Re8, 15.Be5 ... Nxe2, 16.Qxd2 ... Bxf5 (black shouldn't play ...f6? yet of course, as this is refuted by 17.Qc4+!, after which black is dead), 17.0-0

... Bxd2, 18.Rad1 (if Nxd2 ... f6 follows. The check on c4 doesn't help white after ...Be6) ... Bg4, 19. Rxd2 .... Bxf3, 20.Qe3 (the b-pawn is hanging if he takes with the rook) ... Qe7. White can in other words not hold on to his material advantage if he plays e4 even if he plays correctly, so my intuition about the d5 move and the resulting complications was correct. Besides, complicated games are more interesting ;)

I couldn't use my calculations regarding 12.e4 to anything, however, as white decided not to sharpen the game by e4, but instead chose to play a completely different move:

12. Bc4 ... Bb4+,
13. Ke2 (Nbd2 is probably better) ... c6,
14. Qb3 ... Nfe7,
15. Rd1 ... Ba5,
16. e4

... Nf5+,
17. Kf1 ... Qc7?? (I was starting to feel that I had to move my pieces a bit faster or I'd soon be in time trouble. So I played a bit faster and threw away the game by completely missing 18.Be5! Luckily, so did my opponent)
18. g3? ... Ne6,
19. Be5 (one move too late...) ... Qb6,
20. Nd4 ...

...Nc5,
21. Qf3 ... cxb5,
22. Nxb5 ... Qg6! (threatening to take on e4 as well as threatening ...Bg4),
23. Bd6 ... Bg4
24. Qa3 ... Bxd1,
25. Bxe7 ... Qxe4!,

Black's position is winning, but that I'd win as fast as I did I had no idea (even if my opponent was nearing the one minute mark and severe time trouble I did not think he'd miss a mate in one. He did)

26. Bxf8?? ... Qh1++

0-1

In the game Dmattson-ImpioFuror white tried to escape, but this gave a chance for black for a pretty checkmate. How?

Solution of the last position:

The knight captured the h2 pawn to win the game!

Did you give a nice checkmate and want to show it to your friends? Please email the game number to dailymate@chesspark.com and maybe your checkmate will be the next on this page!

]]> http://thrashalot.wordpress.com/?p=113 Wed, 08 Oct 2008 10:05:49 +0000 Thrashalot http://thrashalot.da.wordpress.com/2008/10/08/weekly-karazhan-followup/ Yesterday was our followup night in Karazhan. With only the Prince, the dragons and chess left, it promised to be a short night.

First up was the chess event, which can be described as "free epics" time. Not much to say about it, apart from the fact that the boots I'd really like to have didn't drop.

After that we went to the prince. After an intense fight, Malchezaar gave up the goodie I've been hunting for months now, the Sunfury Bow of the Phoenix.

I packed my Truestrike Crossbow in my pack and equipped the Sunfury for the next fight, Netherspite. This is one fight I do not like. Why? I suck at capturing the beam when they show up. Make me second on the beam, and I'll be fine, make me first and I break out in a sweat. In order to get past this snag, I'll be volunteering for first on the beam from now on though.

My new bow performed very well on Netherspite and for the first time I pushed a sustained 1250 dps on a boss. Now if I could do that on all bosses...

Last up was Nightbane, apart from losing our main dps quite early in the fight, it went quite well and we downed him in one go as well.

All in all, a great run. Like blue team last friday, we remained wipe-free. I think a first for both teams.

1) Kramnik plays “boring” chess.

   Kramnik has a very solid style that sometimes receives criticism for being boring. The fact that he can draw at will as black actually makes hims very exciting to admire in chess matches. If he gets ahead of Anand in the match, Anand will have to try radical ideas to make a come back. In this way, Kramnik's solid play actually inspires exciting games.

2) Kramnik consults a computer in the bathroom.

   This is simply not true. From what I've seen there's no conclusive evidence to support cheating by Kramnik, just circumstantial tid-bits that seem important out of context and are perpetuated by Topalov's fans.

3) Kramnik refuses to recognise Anand as the World Chess Champion.

   Those critical of Kramnik enjoy taking his comments in the interview quoted below out of context. Perhaps to some deranged minds creating controversy where it does not exist adds excitement to the match.

EURO: You reach arguable better results during matches then in tournaments. Traditionally, the World Champion title was to be won in matches. A challenger had to beat the reigning World Champion in the direct fight in order to become the new World Champion. The only historical exception was the situation just after the end of the Second World War, when Alexander Aljechin had died during his reign and so a tournament was played.

KRAMNIK: You can call me an old- fashion guy, but I still believe that the real chess championship is actually a match between the best players, not a tournament. So that is going to be the match which will take place between me and Vishy Anand this autumn in Bonn. The tournament in Mexico which you are asking me about was from my point of view a huge compromise.

The problem was that the situation around the World Champion title was still difficult even after my unification match against Top alov. There was a need to find an acceptable compromise. After the unification my aim was to come back to a final match contest for the world champion crown under the umbrella of FIDE. In all the years after defeating Kasparov I felt this responsibility. Anything else would not have been in accordance with chesshistory, and also not with the desire of the overwhelming majority of chess fans all over the world.

It was always my goal to end the unhappy period when the World Chess Federation organised their ridiculous knock-out or round robin tournaments for the title. The problem was that the tournament in Mexico had already been agreed and I was informed that if I had refused to play there, the event would not have taken place at all. This would have ended in another impasse. So in order not to cause another split I, in the end, agreed to compromise and played the tournament, which FIDEcalled World Championship. The truth is I did not win in Mexico, the winner was Anand, and I will compete against him this year in the real contest for the chess crown. I attach ten times more attention to the coming match in Germany – consequently this event is ten times more important to me than the tournament in Mexico. 

EURO: So d o you consider Vishy Anand to be the World Champion or not?

KRAMNIK: It is not a question of simply yes or no. Anand won the tournament, which was called the World Championship Tournament, and I competed in that tournament as well. The I nternational C hess F ederation FIDE agreed to do it this way, so I have no right not to consider him the World Champion. A question is, however: what is the value of such a title? Similary I considered Kasimdzhanov to be a FIDE Champion, after winning the knock-out tournament in Libya. However I did not consider him to be the real champion. He had won a tournament and by FIDE’s definition he was a FIDE World Champion . But the value of this title was lower compared to the classical title won in a one-to-one match by Champions like Lasker, Spasski , Kasparov or me. The winner of the match Kramnik -Anand won’t be World Champion only from a legal point of view , he will be considered to be the World Champion and best chess player by the entire public.

The interview was published in the magazin "Weekly Euro".

 ....And they're off!...

...at the World Mind Sports Games (October 3rd-18th) in Beijing, China.

Young (and old) men and women alike from around the globe, filling gymnasiums, cracking knuckles, readjusting glasses, and competing at such games as bridge, chess, checkers, go, draughts and xiangqi (pronounced "象棋") for the glory of a gold medal.  

[caption id="attachment_806" align="alignleft" width="175" caption="In the backrooms of the WMSG"][/caption]

Unless you count adderall crushed in a cup of coffee, it's finally a worldwide competition where "performance-enhancing drugs" is a non-issue.

A battle of wit. A battle of skill. And a battle I'm pretty sure the U.S. wasn't invited to. At least as far as I can tell.

Because so far, not a single medal has gone to a country anywhere near the Western Hemisphere. But China's kicking butt. Maybe we should take Bobby Fisher to a pet cemetery or fly in Mike                                                                    Ditka. There's only a week left.