ChessAdmin has begun The Path to Chess Mastery with several excellent posts yesterday. Technically, he has been on the path to chess mastery for some time, but that's the name of the blog, which is fitting.
Reflections on Training is dead-solid-perfect.
I am flattered that he mentions my annotated games as a partial inspiration. I need to do another, so I'll get cracking.
Showing posts with label AGCB. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AGCB. Show all posts
Monday, July 18, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Apologies to HeinzK!
I realized that I neglected HeinzK's offer to contribute to the 6th Chess Improvement Blog Carnivàle!
There is some very interesting stuff here, at the post he calls Chocolate. It is really quite awesome, especially if the Chocolate was laced with a hint of belladonna, hashish and LSD:
But what I currently have to say sidechess-wise about chess being a fantasy trip still has to be worked out more carefully and thoughtfully. Right now, chess is quite a stressful endeavour. When performing on a higher level there is even more "frustration" instead of less - secretly I had hoped that when you reach a higher level, you will reach a happier state of mind too; but, unsurprisingly, that is not the case - for an outsider it does not matter if you have 1200 or 2500, you're the most amazing chess player of the street. And for yourself, it's just the same old crap with the same dreaded pieces. There's not any more insight involved than when you were rated a thousand points lower, you don't have more power, you don't have more money, you don't have more friends, you aren't more eloquent, you aren't more socially accepted, you are still restless... - you still will have to figure out a way to progress in all of those fields outside the board. For some reason, at the start of the journey, years ago, I subconsciously expected inner peace, salvation and seventy-two virgins as the final reward. ;-) Right now I'm not so sure. But despite the periodically returning frustrated feelings, I have been having a blast in the meantime anyway.
There's some philosophy right there! Make sure and check out his older posts, as well.
There is some very interesting stuff here, at the post he calls Chocolate. It is really quite awesome, especially if the Chocolate was laced with a hint of belladonna, hashish and LSD:
But what I currently have to say sidechess-wise about chess being a fantasy trip still has to be worked out more carefully and thoughtfully. Right now, chess is quite a stressful endeavour. When performing on a higher level there is even more "frustration" instead of less - secretly I had hoped that when you reach a higher level, you will reach a happier state of mind too; but, unsurprisingly, that is not the case - for an outsider it does not matter if you have 1200 or 2500, you're the most amazing chess player of the street. And for yourself, it's just the same old crap with the same dreaded pieces. There's not any more insight involved than when you were rated a thousand points lower, you don't have more power, you don't have more money, you don't have more friends, you aren't more eloquent, you aren't more socially accepted, you are still restless... - you still will have to figure out a way to progress in all of those fields outside the board. For some reason, at the start of the journey, years ago, I subconsciously expected inner peace, salvation and seventy-two virgins as the final reward. ;-) Right now I'm not so sure. But despite the periodically returning frustrated feelings, I have been having a blast in the meantime anyway.
There's some philosophy right there! Make sure and check out his older posts, as well.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Tommyg is BACK!
Great news. If I recall, his previous blog was "Chess and Music" but he deleted it in one of those spurs of the moment. Now he's got The Prodigal Pawn up, especially analyzing games--his own and others:
I will concentrate mostly on analysis of games (mine and others) and on reviews of books and/or software. I will from time to time post about improvement concepts as I see them. I don't want to beat the improvement thing to death as I am only just improving and have no hardcore evidence as to what does or does not work. Be that as it may, I am an opinionated person, so I will share those opinions once in awhile. :)
Nice job here analyzing a Thompson-Morphy game.
Welcome back, Tommyg!
I will concentrate mostly on analysis of games (mine and others) and on reviews of books and/or software. I will from time to time post about improvement concepts as I see them. I don't want to beat the improvement thing to death as I am only just improving and have no hardcore evidence as to what does or does not work. Be that as it may, I am an opinionated person, so I will share those opinions once in awhile. :)
Nice job here analyzing a Thompson-Morphy game.
Welcome back, Tommyg!
Monday, April 06, 2009
Calling Chessvine's Colonel Crockett
(For those readers less familiar with United States history, Davy Crockett is a famous figure of the American frontier. He was also a Congressman, but we won't hold that against him).
Nowadays Col. Crockett runs an excellent chess news and opinion blog, chessvine.com. Yes kids, it's true, he secretly escaped from The Alamo and pursued a number of careers, sub rosa, before becoming a leading light of the online chess world.
Did I mention that he wrote a very flattering post about my piece on the Caro-Kann? That has, of course, nothing to do with this post; just coincidence, I'm sure. Then, in "What is Robert Pearson Doing Right?" he explains why this little blog is "well-placed search engine optimized." The funny thing is, it turns out I was optimizing without knowing it! Bloggers, I highly recommend you take the Colonel's recommendations seriously if you want to increase traffic.
Right now, if you Google "Robert Pearson" guess what the very top result is? This blog, beating out various artists, writers and diplomats who share that distinguished name. Is Google really, really smart, or really, really stupid? I guess I truly am optimized!
And by the way, why are you still here reading my drivel?
Hie thee over to Chessvine.com...cool as the other side of the pillow.
Nowadays Col. Crockett runs an excellent chess news and opinion blog, chessvine.com. Yes kids, it's true, he secretly escaped from The Alamo and pursued a number of careers, sub rosa, before becoming a leading light of the online chess world.
Did I mention that he wrote a very flattering post about my piece on the Caro-Kann? That has, of course, nothing to do with this post; just coincidence, I'm sure. Then, in "What is Robert Pearson Doing Right?" he explains why this little blog is "well-placed search engine optimized." The funny thing is, it turns out I was optimizing without knowing it! Bloggers, I highly recommend you take the Colonel's recommendations seriously if you want to increase traffic.
Right now, if you Google "Robert Pearson" guess what the very top result is? This blog, beating out various artists, writers and diplomats who share that distinguished name. Is Google really, really smart, or really, really stupid? I guess I truly am optimized!
And by the way, why are you still here reading my drivel?
Hie thee over to Chessvine.com...cool as the other side of the pillow.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Links and Things
A few new blogs have appeared in the chessosphere and their authors have taken the trouble to let me know about it--or, in certain cases my Sources have informed me of developments:
RT Solo checks in with Chess and Stuff.
"My name is Todd. I like looking for chess-related stuff on the Internet and happened, one night, to come upon a blog called "chess confessions" that was talking about "zombie chess"! It was so funny I had to check out more posts on the blog and eventually discovered there is a group of chess bloggers who call themselves the "Knights Errant" (a Don Quixote reference) and subscribe to a method of chess improvement called the Seven Circles, espoused by this guy Michael De La Maza in his book Rapid Chess Improvement. The method involves going over large segments of tactical puzzles daily until you've mastered them, then moving onto the next segment, or Circle, of puzzles.
I was intrigued and studied up on the author MDLM and his proponents and detractors. It struck me as funny that some people took all this stuff so seriously and got into really heated debates about the matter. I haven't decided whether I am going to try the Circles, but I did decide to start my own chess blog!"
Score one for Blue Devil Knight!
Also recently joining the chess blogging world is hiddenleaf and his Chess Chronicles.
"Just another chess blog about a pawn wandering to the other side of the board."
Finally, my friend and OTB foe from the Reno Chess Club, Eric Shoemaker, has rechristened (or redefined) his blog again, now Man of the West, formerly Pale Rider formerly Opening Laboratory formerly Best Games formerly...I don't even remember all the names, but this time Eric, please, if you're going to change things at least leave the old archived posts up. The world has lost a lot of interesting material!
I'm putting up these links on my sidebar list and moving some of my old friends who haven't posted in a long time to a new "On Hiatus" section. If you get back to posting let me know and we'll relocate you. If you're new to the chess blogging scene, though, don't forget to stop in to the blogs on hiatus, some of them have a lot of great content, but their authors are just a little busy with so-called "real life" right now.
RT Solo checks in with Chess and Stuff.
"My name is Todd. I like looking for chess-related stuff on the Internet and happened, one night, to come upon a blog called "chess confessions" that was talking about "zombie chess"! It was so funny I had to check out more posts on the blog and eventually discovered there is a group of chess bloggers who call themselves the "Knights Errant" (a Don Quixote reference) and subscribe to a method of chess improvement called the Seven Circles, espoused by this guy Michael De La Maza in his book Rapid Chess Improvement. The method involves going over large segments of tactical puzzles daily until you've mastered them, then moving onto the next segment, or Circle, of puzzles.
I was intrigued and studied up on the author MDLM and his proponents and detractors. It struck me as funny that some people took all this stuff so seriously and got into really heated debates about the matter. I haven't decided whether I am going to try the Circles, but I did decide to start my own chess blog!"
Score one for Blue Devil Knight!
Also recently joining the chess blogging world is hiddenleaf and his Chess Chronicles.
"Just another chess blog about a pawn wandering to the other side of the board."
Finally, my friend and OTB foe from the Reno Chess Club, Eric Shoemaker, has rechristened (or redefined) his blog again, now Man of the West, formerly Pale Rider formerly Opening Laboratory formerly Best Games formerly...I don't even remember all the names, but this time Eric, please, if you're going to change things at least leave the old archived posts up. The world has lost a lot of interesting material!
I'm putting up these links on my sidebar list and moving some of my old friends who haven't posted in a long time to a new "On Hiatus" section. If you get back to posting let me know and we'll relocate you. If you're new to the chess blogging scene, though, don't forget to stop in to the blogs on hiatus, some of them have a lot of great content, but their authors are just a little busy with so-called "real life" right now.
Friday, March 28, 2008
New, Good and Useful
Michael Aigner, whose great report and photos from Reno's Far West Open were mentioned here yesterday, also writes the excellent fpawn chess blog.
I've linked her in a few previous posts, but really, how could I have neglected to permanently sidebar Elizabeth Vicary's USCL News and Gossip (which covers so much more than just the USCL)? Most of all, she's having fun, and can any of us really say we have too much of THAT already?
Both Michael and Elizabeth also write regularly for Chess Life, which is to the magazine's credit.
Finally, I've recently been using the Shredder site, especially their online openings database. If you don't have ChessBase or something like it just feed the moves of your games in and see how far you followed in the footsteps of the masters. You can also play Shredder for practice, and there's a database of ending positions.
Enjoy!
I've linked her in a few previous posts, but really, how could I have neglected to permanently sidebar Elizabeth Vicary's USCL News and Gossip (which covers so much more than just the USCL)? Most of all, she's having fun, and can any of us really say we have too much of THAT already?
Both Michael and Elizabeth also write regularly for Chess Life, which is to the magazine's credit.
Finally, I've recently been using the Shredder site, especially their online openings database. If you don't have ChessBase or something like it just feed the moves of your games in and see how far you followed in the footsteps of the masters. You can also play Shredder for practice, and there's a database of ending positions.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
(Not) The Instapundit of the Chess Blogosphere
I certainly have no chance in hell to match the wide-ranging polymath Prof. Glenn Reynolds, aka Instapundit, but I occasionally get the urge to bring a bunch of items together here for your (and my) entertainment and instruction. It's not a blog carnival, it's an idiosyncratic mishmash!
Blue Devil Knight, as promised, previews his "last post for a long time," a vlog--he's been one of the best and most popular chess bloggers around for a good long time, and he has been missed, but he's having fun with chess and that's what it's all about, people. Meanwhile, his successor as Sec. of Knights, Samurai, is also bowing out and now passes the torch to Glenn Wilson. And for the trifecta, Pale Morning Dun says Farewell for Now.
Edwin Meyer points out an interesting book by FM Charles Hertan, Forcing Chess Moves:
This rich book on chess tactics proposes a revolutionary method for finding winning moves. Charles Hertan has made an astonishing discovery: the failure to consider key moves is often due to human bias. Your brain tends to disregard many winning moves because they are counter-intuitive or look unnatural.
Right! While I'm no big believer that thinking like a computer is the path to success in practical chess play, the fact is we do tend to overlook strong moves that don't "look right." An example, gorckat in the first round of the Tournament of the LEPers:
"I didn't give b4 enough thought, but it's about a pawn better than my Na4, according to Crafty."
And in the comments, LEP himself says: "That move seems unnatural, and I may not have even considered it. The pawn structure looks ugly, the b4 Pawn simply looks more vulnerable, and the Knight loses its protection." Exactly. I too need to open my mind to more unnatural moves. (For the whole game see here at Glenn Wilson's).
Castling Queen Side (here, here, here and here &tc--how about some labels, Polly?), Reassembler and The Kenilworthian all have reports and photos from the US Amateur Team East. Sounds like a blast--we even have at least one person in my town who used to live back there and returns every year just for this event.
Some blogs REALLY worth your time: Temposchlucker has been working with Phaederus, a certified (Dutch) trainer with a lot of great stuff on his blog for us "improving" players. IM Mark Ginsburg has a marvelous bloggy mix of (personal) history plus quality games and annotations. Journalist, organizer, arbiter and all-round chess guy John Hillery is now blogging at Western Chess. Soapstone pointed me to Dana Mackenzie's great blog. These will be added to the blogroll--if you haven't posted since November 1, 2007 I'm afraid you're about to be cut from the roll of honor.
If you don't see your blog on the list at right, and you'd like it to be, leave a comment and I'll be glad to add.
Okay, I'd better quit blothering and go do some things to help me become a stronger player.
(UPDATE 02.20.08: I added the new and great blogs listed but didn't cut anyone. Yet. I'm such a softy).
(UPDATE 2--Chessaholic commented, and it reminded me that he has a great blog that should also be on the sidebar. Sorry it took so long!)
Blue Devil Knight, as promised, previews his "last post for a long time," a vlog--he's been one of the best and most popular chess bloggers around for a good long time, and he has been missed, but he's having fun with chess and that's what it's all about, people. Meanwhile, his successor as Sec. of Knights, Samurai, is also bowing out and now passes the torch to Glenn Wilson. And for the trifecta, Pale Morning Dun says Farewell for Now.
Edwin Meyer points out an interesting book by FM Charles Hertan, Forcing Chess Moves:
This rich book on chess tactics proposes a revolutionary method for finding winning moves. Charles Hertan has made an astonishing discovery: the failure to consider key moves is often due to human bias. Your brain tends to disregard many winning moves because they are counter-intuitive or look unnatural.
Right! While I'm no big believer that thinking like a computer is the path to success in practical chess play, the fact is we do tend to overlook strong moves that don't "look right." An example, gorckat in the first round of the Tournament of the LEPers:
"I didn't give b4 enough thought, but it's about a pawn better than my Na4, according to Crafty."
And in the comments, LEP himself says: "That move seems unnatural, and I may not have even considered it. The pawn structure looks ugly, the b4 Pawn simply looks more vulnerable, and the Knight loses its protection." Exactly. I too need to open my mind to more unnatural moves. (For the whole game see here at Glenn Wilson's).
Castling Queen Side (here, here, here and here &tc--how about some labels, Polly?), Reassembler and The Kenilworthian all have reports and photos from the US Amateur Team East. Sounds like a blast--we even have at least one person in my town who used to live back there and returns every year just for this event.
Some blogs REALLY worth your time: Temposchlucker has been working with Phaederus, a certified (Dutch) trainer with a lot of great stuff on his blog for us "improving" players. IM Mark Ginsburg has a marvelous bloggy mix of (personal) history plus quality games and annotations. Journalist, organizer, arbiter and all-round chess guy John Hillery is now blogging at Western Chess. Soapstone pointed me to Dana Mackenzie's great blog. These will be added to the blogroll--if you haven't posted since November 1, 2007 I'm afraid you're about to be cut from the roll of honor.
If you don't see your blog on the list at right, and you'd like it to be, leave a comment and I'll be glad to add.
Okay, I'd better quit blothering and go do some things to help me become a stronger player.
(UPDATE 02.20.08: I added the new and great blogs listed but didn't cut anyone. Yet. I'm such a softy).
(UPDATE 2--Chessaholic commented, and it reminded me that he has a great blog that should also be on the sidebar. Sorry it took so long!)
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Links o' the Day
In the chess blog kingdom, I finally get around to adding Takchess and Lousy@Chess, two blogs that thoroughly deserve your visit.
In the "Fine Non-chess" list, added Eternity Road, where I'm a (fortunate) co-contributor, and High Heels, where Fetiche posts her uniquely entertaining take on high-heeled footwear, and life, when she's not busy with business and playing brilliant chess.
My chess blog list is getting a bit unwieldy, and soon I'm going to have to delete those who haven't posted in 100 days or so. We're all busy with "Real Life" but throw your readers a bone every month or two, people.
In the "Fine Non-chess" list, added Eternity Road, where I'm a (fortunate) co-contributor, and High Heels, where Fetiche posts her uniquely entertaining take on high-heeled footwear, and life, when she's not busy with business and playing brilliant chess.
My chess blog list is getting a bit unwieldy, and soon I'm going to have to delete those who haven't posted in 100 days or so. We're all busy with "Real Life" but throw your readers a bone every month or two, people.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Links and Sidebar Stuff (New and Good!)
My friend Eric Shoemaker is consolidating his stuff on Pale Rider so his deleted blogs are gone.
Chess-videos.com has been Chess Videos TV for awhile; and I need to get over there more often!
Added Chess Tempo to "Chess Improvement."
New and good!---gorckat's Chess Adventures. Rich Dailey's (n8ux) Pawned (formerly Out of the Ether, still great video links)! Big Five Chess. Chess Tyro. Self-Flagellation to the Goddess Caissa (great title!).
That's all we have time for right now, kids--though I know there are some that I noted in my travels and haven't included (it always happens) so please, please if you blog about chess and visit here and I haven't noted your efforts, leave a comment.
Chess-videos.com has been Chess Videos TV for awhile; and I need to get over there more often!
Added Chess Tempo to "Chess Improvement."
New and good!---gorckat's Chess Adventures. Rich Dailey's (n8ux) Pawned (formerly Out of the Ether, still great video links)! Big Five Chess. Chess Tyro. Self-Flagellation to the Goddess Caissa (great title!).
That's all we have time for right now, kids--though I know there are some that I noted in my travels and haven't included (it always happens) so please, please if you blog about chess and visit here and I haven't noted your efforts, leave a comment.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
And Then There Were Six
Yet another Reno Chess Club blogger! Chessboozer (aka John Clifford) makes the scene with Chess Karma, and his second post is already a LOL--10 Ways to Make Chess More Popular, including:
Bring Back the Cold War, Chess Hooliganism and...Cheerleaders!
Well, I don't know if chess has ever had cheerleaders but if not, then bring 'em on.
Bring Back the Cold War, Chess Hooliganism and...Cheerleaders!
Well, I don't know if chess has ever had cheerleaders but if not, then bring 'em on.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Another Reno Chess Club Blogger!
Kevin Gafni, an up-and-coming player with a pleasing style, has entered the chess blogging universe with drunknknite. That makes five of our Reno Chess Club members who are blogging; I don't know what the leading chess blogging club in the U.S. or the World might be, but whoever it is watch out because we will catch and pass you!
Kevin has played several riveting games that I've seen parts of (while strolling between moves from my board) and I look forward to seeing some of his efforts on the blog.
Kevin has played several riveting games that I've seen parts of (while strolling between moves from my board) and I look forward to seeing some of his efforts on the blog.
Friday, March 02, 2007
Another Good Chess Blog!
SquirrelChess.com
"[T]his website is about learning to play chess, random things I discover on the long way to chess mastery, and the game of chess itself."
A player who's having fun with chess, and has a fun site about it. Recommended.
"[T]his website is about learning to play chess, random things I discover on the long way to chess mastery, and the game of chess itself."
A player who's having fun with chess, and has a fun site about it. Recommended.
Friday, February 16, 2007
New Links!
Streatham & Brixton Chess Club
Sword and Shield
Chess Patzer Theories (Also home of Chess Publisher)
All interesting takes on the great game of chess--have a look!
Sword and Shield
Chess Patzer Theories (Also home of Chess Publisher)
All interesting takes on the great game of chess--have a look!
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Another Good Chess Blog II
The Hungarian Knight (formerly e4c5.net).
Something is wrong right now with his comments and links--but I'm sure he'll have it taken care of soon. Meanwhile, the content is excellent on its own.
Plus he linked to this little chess blog, which is always a sign of taste in all things chess!
Something is wrong right now with his comments and links--but I'm sure he'll have it taken care of soon. Meanwhile, the content is excellent on its own.
Plus he linked to this little chess blog, which is always a sign of taste in all things chess!
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Some New (Here) Excellent Chess Sites
Mark Weeks does an excellent job at the About.com chess pages, and also has a fine blog in Chess for All Ages, "My place to say things about chess that I can't say in the other places where I say things about chess."
Also added Patrick's Chess for Blood, a personal chess blog packed with interesting and instructive material.
Thanks, gentlemen, for adding to the conversation.
ADDENDUM: Dennis Monokroussos is again active at The Chess Mind. Hurrah!
Also added Patrick's Chess for Blood, a personal chess blog packed with interesting and instructive material.
Thanks, gentlemen, for adding to the conversation.
ADDENDUM: Dennis Monokroussos is again active at The Chess Mind. Hurrah!
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
AGCB (Another Good Chess Blog)
There are hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of worthwhile chess blogs out there and I've only put up links to few of them so far, so I'll be making an effort to add regularly under the label AGCB (Another Good Chess Blog).
Today's entry is Dread Pirate Josh, a fun, down-to-earth chess blog with some of the author's games, a little humor, etc. Also, he linked to me, always a sign of good taste.
Here is one of his best games.
Recommended under "Chess for fun."
Today's entry is Dread Pirate Josh, a fun, down-to-earth chess blog with some of the author's games, a little humor, etc. Also, he linked to me, always a sign of good taste.
Here is one of his best games.
Recommended under "Chess for fun."
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