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I think many chess players assume that the ubiquitous Algebraic Notation in use today is a relatively new invention and supplanted the older English or Descriptive Notation that one finds in older chess books. I believed that myself until I bega... | Read More
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All but the most casual chess players are familiar with Algebraic or Standard Notation such as 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 and all serious students of the game are conversant in the Descriptive Notation that is still found in classic chess books: ... | Read More
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While for Bobby Fischer chess may have been life, for most of us it is merely an enjoyable, albeit challenging pastime. However upon deeper reflection, chess may be seen as an insightful model and guide to life, as appropriate for us as any ches... | Read More
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Nearly two years ago I posted part one of this blog and since that time I have been collecting new quotations as I encounter them in my readings. As before, I will offer a small sampling of information with each quotation in the hopes that it wi... | Read More
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Given the use of the web that allows individuals to play chess regardless of how far apart they actually live, we may make the following unremarkable claims. The barrier of space is no longer insurmountable, and each year’s discoveries, by fac... | Read More
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Everyone knows that the Ruy Lopez Opening is named after a Spanish priest; and that the Giuoco Piano is named after a reclusive Italian monk, as I revealed to the world in a previous blog. But not everyone knows that the Sicilian Opening draws i... | Read More
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Chess players are obsessive creatures. One player may make it his life’s ambition to become an expert on some arcane opening line, say the Soltis Line of the Yugoslav Attack of the Dragon Variation of the Sicilian Defense. There is actually ... | Read More
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When the elderly gentleman with unkempt hair shuffled in to the chess club for his first and only visit, no one paid much attention. He was dressed in a tweed jacket with what appeared to be a gravy stain on the left sleeve, ill-fitting trousers... | Read More
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“Are you the famous chess master?” the young student reverently inquired.
The portly Chess Master smiled indulgently, “Yes. And you have arrived on time for your first lesson, I see.”
“Yes, sir”, the boy remarked in a quiet voice.... | Read More
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It is triply ironic that the Spanish Opening, which begins 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5, is often called the Ruy López. In 1561 the Spanish priest described this opening systematically in his 1561 book, Libro de la invención liberal y ar... | Read More