Chess, Chess Programs, Recommendations, Suggestions Comments (0)
Recently, I found and downloaded the Mac version of Shredder. I must confess it is very good. I have been playing against it almost daily for the better part of a month.
It is very similar to the interface provided by Chessbase for the Fritz based engines. Containing all the features such as evaluation windows, histograms, clocks and pop-up bad move warnings.
One of the very nice features is the adjustable playing strength. The play seems much more natural than the weakened engines in the Fritz series; no obvious blunders but real challenges and puzzles to be solved with solid analysis.
If you have a Mac and have been looking for a nice interface/engine, I recommend you check out Shredder for Mac.
R. Pointer @ July 3, 2008
Blegs, Chess, Chess Programs, ICC, Internet Chess Club Comments (0)
Last summer I returned to my roots and purchased a Macintosh. I have been completely happy with my choice save one repeated annoyance: Chess on Macs is not supported like it is on PCs.
Namely, ICC has many good interfaces but Blitzin offers all of the features I am both accustom and prefer. But Blitzin can only be run on a Mac using some sort of emulator for PCs or installing XP on a hard drive partition. I won’t go to such lengths.
Additionally, the number of chess programs available for Mac are also limited. Hiarcs offers a nice package for a dual-core intel Mac, as I have, but the price is high and the inability to run Chessbase makes this possibility only one of dreams.
My wish is for Chessbase to realize the huge inroads Apple has made in the past year and fix my problem.
Does anyone have any experience finding good fixes to these issues? Please email me with your comments.
R. Pointer @ June 3, 2008
Chess, Word of the Day Comments (0)
Kibitz – noun/verb – (Yiddish) – [kĭb’ĭts] = an unwanted comment by a spectator; to look on and offer unwanted, usually meddlesome advice to participants of a game.
Reference: American Heritage Dictionary
R. Pointer @ May 17, 2008
Chess, Word of the Day Comments (0)
Trébuchet - noun - (French) - [trey bushey] = a position of mutual zugzwang in which either player would lose if it is his or her turn to move.
Reference: Wikipedia
R. Pointer @ May 13, 2008
Chess, Word of the Day Comments (0)
Pion Coiffé - noun - (French) - [pyon coyffei] = capped** pawn.
**A capped piece is one with which checkmate must be delivered. In this case, a capped pawn (cannot be promoted) must deliver checkmate. In the 16th to 19th centuries, such an advantage would be given to amateur players when playing against masters.
Reference: Wikipedia
R. Pointer @ May 12, 2008
Chess, Word of the Day Comments (0)
Castle - verb - (Latin) - [kăs‘əl] = To move the king in chess from its own square two empty squares to one side and then, in the same move, bring the rook from that side to the square immediately past the new position of the king.
Addendum:
[NB: Castling can be completed as long as the king is not in check or passes through a checked square. It does not matter if the rook passes through an attacked square or if it is attacked from its initial square.]
Reference: American Heritage Dictionary
R. Pointer @ May 10, 2008
Chess, Word of the Day Comments (0)
Fianchetto - noun/verb - (Italian) - [fē‘ən-kĕt‘ō, -chĕt‘ō] = The development in chess of a bishop from its original position to the second square of the adjacent knight’s file; To develop the bishop to the aforementioned position.
Reference: American Heritage Dictionary
R. Pointer @ May 9, 2008
Chess, Word of the Day Comments (0)
En Passant - adverb - (French) - [an pas san‘] = in passing; used in reference to a move in chess in which a pawn that has just completed an initial advance to its fourth rank is captured by an opponent pawn as if it had only moved to its third rank.
Reference: American Heritage Dictionary
R. Pointer @ May 8, 2008
Chess, Downtown, Missouri, News Comments (1)
R. Pointer @ April 26, 2008
Chess, Missouri, Saint Louis, The Central West End Comments (1)
The Saint Louis Post-Dispatch reports:
“On another front, Sinquefield — a chess fanatic – soon plans to open The Chess Club & Scholastic Center of St. Louis. It’s to open in late May or early June in quarters at Euclid and Maryland in the CWE (and near Sinquefield’s St. Louis manse).
The 6,000 square foot facility will “physically be the most beautiful” chess hall in the country, he said.
Annual membership rates will be $80 for adult, $30 for children, with daily rates available, a spokeswoman said.”
Updated: Manse is correct. Reading the Post-dispatch can be profitable. Though I don’t understand why ‘manse’ would be preferred over ‘mansion’, considering one of the connotations of ‘manse’ is a house of a clergyman.
Manse’s definition: Look Here, here, here, and also here.
R. Pointer @ April 23, 2008
Chess, Missouri, Saint Louis Comments (0)
Reprinted from the forum:
St. Louis Public Library presents Culver Gallery Chess
Get to know your fellow City dwellers while playing chess in one of St. Louis’ architectural gems. Bring a partner or team up with someone at the Library. (To get a leg up on the competition, be sure to sharpen your game with our books containing effective chess strategies.)
For adults of all skill levels.
Game boards provided. Call 206-6779 to reserve your space. Central Library • 1301 Olive Street • 206-6779 • www.slpl.org printed April 2008
R. Pointer @ April 23, 2008
Chess, Missouri, Saint Louis Comments (0)
On April 1st, the Saint Louis Post ran this article.
I am just glad it wasn’t an April fool’s story.
R. Pointer @ April 16, 2008
Yesterday my ICC membership ran out. It’s a shame because I really do enjoy playing chess online. But mostly it is a time waster for me. I have not really gotten better over this last year, and so I will only renew if I commit to playing only long games. But considering my work commitments, that might still be a few weeks away.
This post is a hodge-podge. Please have some patience with me.
Having purchased a Mac last summer, I would like to know if any readers have had any experience using chess programs such as Hiarcs for Mac. Have you been able to run Chessbase using a program like Parallels? What advice do you have?
Hopefully, I am back to more frequent postings as well.
R. Pointer @ April 16, 2008
Chess, Training, Visualization Comments (1)
Building on the last post, I have developed a system by which all the squares on the board are designated numerically. For me this makes more sense as numbers are more intuitive than letters for plotting individual points. Recall that a Cartesian plane is done with only numbers.
Now consider the process by which a knight moves across the board. If starting on 2:1(B1), then the squares to which it can travel on the next move are 1:3(A3), 3:3(C3), and 4:2(D2). This reveals a characteristic about knight move heretofore not seen. (To be honest, I am sure someone else has considered this.)
Taking the absolute difference between the initial square’s and the target square’s designation (the number is converted such that D4=4:4=44), the process will yield the following results: initial knight square 2:1, possible target squares: 1:3, 3:3, 4:2. resulting: 8, 12, 21. Continuing, we should place the knight on its most initial, actualizing square; 3:3. From this position the knight can move thusly to 8 target squares; 2:1, 1:2, 1:4, 2:5, 4:5, 5:4, 5:2, and 4:1. The absolute difference between initial and potential target squares is as such: 12, 21, 19, 8, 12, 21, 19, and 8 again. This is the pattern by which a knight moves.
If one takes away the absolute value operation on this process, then each type of move becomes numerically unique. But in terms of visualization, the move 4:1 to 3:3 is the same as 3:3 to 2:5. Practice using this method may improve knight visualization techniques, though I haven’t yet tested this.
R. Pointer @ March 18, 2008
Recently, I have sought to improve my visualization abilities playing chess. Enter the strange game of naming the color of the square.
One of my friends recommended long ago that I should be able to name the color of the square almost instantly. Back then he would quiz me and I would guess in the most haphazard fashion. I gave up trying; I just couldn’t see the color of the square in my mind’s eye.
But thanks to this webpage, I have been able to practice. Initially, I did quite poorly. But now I am very quick, averaging 22-24 seconds per test. My fastest score is 17.70 seconds. I would say now I can id a square instantly.
How can you improve your visualization skills?
Here is a method to improve your ability to know the color of the square. Convert the letters A through H to numbers, such that A=1 B=2 C=3 D=4 E=5 F=6 G=7 and H=8. Now, using these new designations convert each square to a numerical designation, such that A1=1:1, D7=4:7, G8=7:8, etc. Now when you add the two digits together you either get an odd number or an even number. For example, B2=2:2 which equates to 2+2=4; an even number. Another example, G6=7:6 which equates to 7+6=13; an odd number. If you continued to do this, you would find that every dark square would be an even number and every light square would be an odd number. This process yields a quick heuristic or tool to determine the color of the square. After about a week of practice you should find that you no longer should have to use this heuristic and that the color of the square is in your head almost instantly and without much thought.
Additionally, this process produces some interesting characteristics when considering how the pieces move about the board. More on that in a later post.
R. Pointer @ March 17, 2008
Chess, News, Saint Louis, The Central West End Comments (1)
A vigilant reader relays:
I saw the new chess club in the Central West End. 7,000 sq. ft. It is huge!! Only $80.00 per year. I will definitely join. It is supposed to open in May, but nothing is finished on the inside, so I am not sure if that is going to happen. They are getting DGT boards (the ones that relay moves to a computer when you make them in real time) for the tournament hall. Also the tournament hall boards are going to be carved into really expensive wood tables by some wood carver who won some wood carving national championship last year. Really expensive luxury seats. They are going to have plasma tv’s pretty much everywhere throughout the building. They are even going to have plasma tv’s facing out the front windows towards the streets, so that when people walk by they can watch the games in progress or display current chess events or news. There will be a library with plush seating and you can checkout books, plus a chess store.
I am completely with my reader. Amazing how this has come about. Absolutely like a dream. I want to shove my money in the owner’s pocket and kiss him!
R. Pointer @ March 13, 2008
Blegs, Saint Louis, Suggestions, The Loop Comments (0)
A thoughtful reader, Philip Minter, writes:
I am looking for a Don Pace who I played with in the Philippines back in the 60s. Would anyone know if he is the don pace mentioned in and around missouri and if so how to get an email address for him. It would he appreciated. Thanks, philip_minter |at| hotmail |dot| com
I am not sure how to get in touch with Don, but I am sure someone here would be able to put Philip in contact with him.
R. Pointer @ March 13, 2008
Links, Suggestions Comments (0)
Poking around, I have found some very good training aids. I hope you all will find them interesting. Below are some of the links.
Knight Moves Visualization Test
R. Pointer @ March 12, 2008
Chess, Internet Chess Club Comments (1)
Recently, I have been trying to play longer time controls. The goal has been to make my Internet chess more productive and educational. To my surprise, I was paired last night with someone way out of my league. Below is that game. Enjoy!
R. Pointer @ March 5, 2008
Chess, Missouri, Saint Louis, The Central West End Comments (0)
It is my great pleasure to reprint below an article first published in The Missouri Chess Bulletin Vol. 35 No. 1 Winter 2008 by Tony Rich. I say with great pleasure because I am extremely excited about this new club, as I love chess, Saint Louis and the Central West End. I am a kid in the candy store! Tony was kind enough to permit this republication on my site. Enjoy!
It is exciting times for chess in the St. Louis area. Opening this spring, The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis will be the premier chess club in the Midwest! Located at the corner of Euclid and Maryland in the heart of the Central West End, this multi-story facility will provide ample space and quality equipment for all members. This historic, yet completely remodeled facility will be available for members to play, watch or analyze at their leisure. There are also future plans for a research library and retail space to give members quick access to and great discounts on their favorite books, DVDs, and equipment.
In addition to the great facility to play, watch, and analyze, the club will also host frequent tournaments, simultaneous exhibitions, lectures and classes. Groups and individuals may also be able to use this space for other chess activities, including teaching. The Chess Club and Scholastic Center is especially proud of our plans to provide chess-related materials and chess mentors to St. Louis area schools. This special program will offer tutoring and lessons, and support the efforts of other scholastic chess organizations. Chess players recognize the benefits of the game of kings, and the club intends to extend that to the community at large.
The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis is made possible through the generosity of Mr. Rex Sinquefield, a retired executive with lifelong dedication to chess, education and children.
Absent tournaments, other special events or holidays, the club plans to be open
Tuesday through Sunday at the following hours:
Tuesday: 3:00 PM to 10:00 P.M.
Wednesday: 3:00 PM to 10:00 P.M.
Thursday: 11: 00 AM to 10:00 P.M.
Friday: 3:00 PM to 11:00 P.M.
Saturday: Noon to 11:00 P.M.
Sunday: Noon to 10:00 P.M.
Hours of operation may change to accommodate tournaments and other events.
We encourage you to visit our website at saintlouischessclub.org for more information, progress reports, and membership information. You can also contact Tony Rich, the club manager, at mailto:trich@tonyrich.org.
By Tony Rich
R. Pointer @ March 3, 2008