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Chessville
Advertise to Single insert:
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 TheParrot
Squaawks….!Opinions and Reader Feedback
TheParrot Says… 11-17-2007 Guest Squaaawk !!! A Beautiful Mind. This letter has a strange provenance – beginning in Alabama, but forwarded to readers’ attention from IGM Adorjan in Hungary. (Ezt tök' véletlenül találtam a neten, elküldöm, hátha érdekel. A Chess One-t kertestem, de egy másik lap jött helyette. sok puszi. Saci) One Boy's Chess Story My son is now 11. Diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), he has had real social and behavioral difficulties since he was 18 months old, when we were asked to remove him from our church-based day-care. Subsequently, he was thrown out of several day-care centers, a Montessori school, and yet another private school. Since he is also gifted, his first break came in the 2nd grade, when the school in which he was started offering not only individual classes for kids like him (ADHD is considered a handicap), but also specialized classes for gifted children. Although his measured IQ is close to 150, his grades have never been spectacular, in fact, they have always been an average mix of As, Bs, Cs and even an occasional D. Highly variable from quarter to quarter, mostly dependent on his level of interest in a subject. Behavioral problems continued, notwithstanding a lot of help from the school system, from us, from psychologists and psychiatrists and from medications (Ritalin and clonidine). I might add that he is an only child, and although both of us are working, we are deeply caring, committed, spiritual, and have learned a lot about ADHD. We are both professionals; in fact I am a psychologist, therefore better prepared than most to understand and to know from where to seek help. Things had become pretty bad at about age 9 and half. Nothing seemed to work: timeouts, structure, behavioral management systems, medications ...nothing. About 18 months ago, my son suddenly developed an interest in chess, primarily because of a friend who just moved into town and who has been teaching all his boys how to play. All his boys are a tad younger than ours. Since our son has had many 'sudden' interests, only to be followed soon by a total lack of interest in the same area, we just allowed events to take their natural course, being supportive as always, and providing opportunities whenever appropriate.
He stayed with it, learned some more-we got him some software, books, the
usual. A major change came about a year ago when I inquired about the
quality of electronic chess games. Mr. Sloan replied that there is no
substitute for face-to-face experiences and invited us to the Sunday quads
held at the university. As they say, the rest is history. A few months after starting to play publicly, our son came in second in the state scholastic chess championships and recently only lost to the number one-ranked player in his age group in the city championships. According to him, he lost concentration for a minute and should have won that game too. We will see :-) Anyway, today he is a straight A student and his behavioral problems are minimal (but not trivial). He is enthusiastic about the friendships he has made, spends time organizing himself (a difficult task for AHDH children), is quite respectful, and has learned to control his temper by taking himself out of the class and going to the library to play chess. His social skills (quite atrocious until recently) have improved significantly. His language skills have also improved noticeably. He does algebra in his head. The reward system for appropriate performance and behavior? Time on chess.net or the Internet Chess Club. Sorry: no control subjects, no double blind, no defined independent variables (actually there are two: chess and age). Nonetheless, I think that the great improvements we have seen are, to a large extent, due to chess. Best, Andrew -- AJR, Alabama, USA Rare Chess Pictures:
SPICE participants all look very happy to be there, in this pencil-rendered photograph. Congratulations to the organizers for returning high level tournament chess to the USA, and many happy returns! 11-10-2007 Tastes like Chicken: Chess and the IOC. Every year the perennial subject of Chess in the Olympics emerges to do a few laps. I don't really understand much about IOC activity beyond their current orientation to 'real' sports, rather than games. But what would inclusion of chess into Olympic arenas actually mean for our game? BACK TO PLANET EARTH State of the discussion - some other writers here have begun to speculate on drug-use, even trans-gender 'issues', and take the current, and nicely innocent activity of playing chess, and fold it in these strange wrappers of ex cathedra context, which perhaps unwittingly confounds the core issues - which are /not/ addressed, and these are: a) The game does not suffer from drug use; b) Top players do not complain that others gain unfair advantage by taking drugs; c) Relating the innocent activity of chess playing with sports & drugs culture does not enhance chess, it achieves the opposite in two respects
- psychologically it suggests there is some drug which needs suppressing;
and Another Squaaawk? This one is about standards in our chess society, a conversation with a correspondent named Jack: Jack wrote: I spoke to this issue at last weekend's USCF Executive Board Meeting. The USCF is close to forming a program to certify chess coaches. It will only certify to their chess knowledge, however. I asked the EB about criminal background checks in connection with certification and they were quite against it - and on legal grounds. Their position was that checks would expose them to greater liability, not less. I don't understand this.
Anyway - this is a difficult subject to conduct as public dialogue, and I thank all respondents to it for their attention and sobriety. I would like to leave with the additional note that people who organise events, and have overall control of the environment of youth chess should also be of sufficient character - and this is completely normal in our society. While we all avoid any hysteria over the issue in our comments - it must still be said that when people respond intellectually to this issue, they tend to do so as the board is reported to have done, above, but when from their emotions or values, parents act rather differently in the assessment where their children will be. If we want to boost chess, then this difficult subject, IMO, needs further attention. Le Parrot. LIKE-CHESS, ANYONE? Any more of meddling with the rules and we will no longer play the same game as did the players at Nottingham in 1936 [see below]. And chess politicos motive to do whatever it takes to exercise a little bit of control over others is very strongly established. This factor is explained by needs to compromise with sponsors – such sponsors who still willingly associate themselves with chess organizations. This lust for quite unnecessary Olympic monetary infusion is an appetite not sated by being fed. The money is not even clearly going to chess players, but to media entities and approved organizers, and ‘commissions’. The facts are that administration of chess, at home and abroad, actually keeps mainstream commercial sponsorships at arm’s length, is not exactly a secret. For these reasons I do not encourage yet another level of insensible management layered over a dysfunctional national federation, already at odds with a world federation, by yet another stratum of completely inconsequential management activity by IOC, which does nothing for the game itself, as measured or valued by players of the game. And they, dear friend, is us. Vykod est! Rare Chess Pictures: Spotted his week on e-Bay, by Assoc Editor Rob Mitchell. Asking price was $199, but no takers:
The caption reads: For auction is the book Nottingham Chess Tournament 1936 by Grandmaster and World Champion Alexander Alekhine. This first English edition hardbound covers one of the strongest tournaments ever held in England. Capablanca and the up and coming Botvinnik tied for first. The U.S. was well represented with Fine and Reshevsky tying for second along with former World champion Euwe, with 9 1/2 followed by Alekhine with 9 and the amazing senior former World Champion Emanuel Lasker finished 8 1/2. This book is in excellent condition. Hint: Turn your monitor sideways [clockwise!] for a better look at the strongest players in the world in 1936. 11-3-2007 This week, in 3 newsgroups, the subject of normal background checks for people having to do with scholastic chess was raised, with two results. At a statistical level of appraisal, organizational security and liability was the chosen treatment by some writers.
In order for chess to make it into the mainstream, it will also need to adopt a mandatory screening policy like every other activity taking place in American schools. In consideration of those who determine these factors, current scandals highlight the need for those who are responsible for setting policies and conditions to also undertake the completely normal audit that is practiced everywhere else in the USA. As a Canadian correspondent put it; legal minimum requirements for public decency do not always meet the common sense level of what we would like. And Hey! Its our game! [Very] Rare Chess Pictures:
This one is very rare, and I forgot I had it! In case your monitor can’t resolve the overlaid text, names from left to right are: Botvinnik, Kramnik, Tiviakov, Kasparov. 10-27-2007 PRIVATE MEMBER'S CLUB?
A USCF Delegate argues by analogy, rightly,
that no-one has any business telling others if they can buy a pizza, or how
to make the things. That is a matter of market forces in accord with
demand from pizza-eaters,
But that isn’t the USCF mission as a non-profit - which is not a private member’s club oriented to the benefit of private members! Or is it? Is it a public mission supported by all people offering it tax-relief by way of its 501-corporation status? Let’s not do lunch. When any issue is raised of assessing /to what degree/ USCF contributes to its own mission, compared with others who do, or would do the same, or who elect to try to expand that mission beyond any plans USCF have using other resources than USCF has - this attempt at objective measurement is strongly resented. Hands Off! We are admonished. Let’s not even talk about it. But isn’t a non-profit quasi-governmental enterprise actually the business of the public? And that is the discussion at the root of much current troubles with USCF today, and in years past. I have said before it is not a necessary conflict of interests, nor are the actions of other entities in chess unsympathetic or unsupportive to USCF. Indeed, if USCF unmixed its own rather opaque blend of activities, and became a true umbrella organization for chess in USA, more power to it! Yet USCF seem to continuously contrive to make itself inert and uncombined with any other entity except short-term exigencies, usually from those who add needed money. Enter Entropy The rule of nature is; adapt or die. The state of the art today is that Entropy Rules - and insiders do not wish to upset the delegate-delicate balance in case the whole things goes under faster than what is strictly inevitable according to nature. Opposite Colored LawyersIf its true that three nuns and a laptop can run the rating system – essentially a clerical activity; one nun entering data, another posting results to a website, and the third praying for players still playing the Damiano… what are 20 other staff people doing? USCF no longer even funds the national championship with member funds, and as for Chess Life! Yikes! There is more chess here at Chessville per month than CL and CL Online, combined. In short, are 23 staff people, 7 board members, 25 committee members, and 2 squadrons of delegates, plus an increasing number of contractors, running a private members’ club that can be duplicated by vastly fewer people and run as a straightforward business at a quarter the cost? If USCF goes down the tubes tomorrow, the net effect would seem to be a simple need to provide those three nuns with the laptop and a website, and a little disinfectant to sprinkle over the change-over. In the complicated mix of current affairs and the usual crisis USCF is three pawns down, but utilizing opposite colored-lawyers, hopes to make a draw and neutralize any effort to shift the ground it commands, no matter how small a piece or real-estate that is. Rare Chess Pictures: Lois Lane, no… Lisa… This week we select a picture from http://www.angelfire.com/games/SBChess/girlchess.html for our picture, and the caption related to the picture, top, says; “Once upon a time... girls weren't allowed to play chess. They were barred from the smoke-filled rooms of the exotic clubs. The general idea was that girls lacked the capacity for chess. A few women broke through this barrier...a very few.
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and
like any private member's club of people who like pizza, collective pizza
concerns can charge whatever rate they can get, and serve up whatever
quality of pizza it wants if minimum public health requirements are met.
Fine! You don’t need a membership to buy a pizza, and even if
it were a video rental, a nominal membership is enough. Fine!
As
time progressed, so did society and women were allowed to have their own
little chess clubs, separate and inferior to those of their male
counterparts....but that was then....”
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The top picture might remind readers of Chessville’s annual picnic, but is actually a group of musicians preparing to welcome home ‘King Anand’ to his native Chennai. Below, the kids showed up too. Many physically challenged children in their wheel chairs also braved the afternoon heat to welcome their hero. All of them were from 'Vidyasagar', formerly known as the Spastic Society of India. They were there beacuse Anand is their brand ambassador. Even the visiting cards that Anand uses is made by the children of 'Vidyasagar'. It is customary for Anand to visit Vidyasagar and play chess with the inmates every time he visits Chennai. No wonder they were so excited to meet him. There was pandemonium the moment Anand and his wife, Aruna, stepped out of the airport. |
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Security personnel and media vied with each other to shake hands with the World champion, and, as usual, the smiling Anand obliged everyone. There were thousands of people, including hundreds of school children, outside the airport, and Anand had tough time moving towards a decorated car that waited for him. No, he was not perturbed by the jostling; in fact, he was extremely happy to see the multitude's affection for him. |
Surprises
did not end there. From the airport, the activities shifted to Adyar,
where bigger arrangements were made to welcome the son of the city.
To put it simply, it was a royal welcome for the king. A two-horse driven, colourfully decorated chariot waited for King Anand at Adyar. Four men on horseback, dressed as soldiers, escorted the king.
He was a true world champion, always smiling and obliging his fans. "I am moved by the welcome. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would get such a wonderful reception. It's touching to see so many kids waiting for me at the airport," that was his reaction to the overwhelming reception Chennai gave him.
More pictures and reporting at http://specials.rediff.com/sports/2007/oct/18pic1.htm
10-13-2007
Still trouble ‘t Mill
A recently departed USCF board member wrote in the New York Times this week: “From the above quote, it is apparent that two USCF employees have been dismissed in retaliation for revealing that two board members have been engaging in criminal activity.”
Another reader has pointed out the falsity of the statement:
| -First, we were led to believe that two persons were
asked to agree to temporary suspensions. They were not dismissed as
Sloan fabricates above. -Second, we now know that they had not agreed to any such suspension at the time Sloan fabricated the above, although the *volunteer* admin did last night agree to step aside temporarily. -Third, neither individual was an employee. To which might be added: that what is ‘revealed’ is an accusation. So... So what? You may sensibly ask. The answer is several million what’s, and a subsequent NY Times blog article features a comment by Dr. Eric Moskow that he intends to contribute several million dollars to US Chess, but no-way will he contribute to the mess at USCF. That’s what. |
And the moral of the story is… USCF have to figure out if they are happy
with amateur-city and all its wonderful down-home back-stabbing intrigues
and staying exactly as they are, in which case it really makes no difference
to their reputation, which simply remains atrocious.
On the other hand, if they are serious about promoting the game, which is actually their mission and the basis for their non-profit status, they should become equally serious about internal standards of performance and communication. O! And they might as well attend the subjects of decent, legal, honest and truthful, while they are at it.
This is the real question underlying affairs, and at board-level, the battle is between those who will ruffle a few feathers to change the status quo, and those who are quite happy with the ways things are, and their position in it.
Rare Chess Pictures:
Talking about internal standards…Clocking in.
In
all these years of chess writing, I haven’t encountered this one before.
Someone we might call “St. Caissa” who I guess is a chess dad, but could be a chess mom, wrote on their blog:
“A few months ago my son volunteered me to fix the broken chess clocks from his chess class. They are all analog and of different makes. I knew nothing about chess clocks nor how to fix them, but my son knows I like taking things apart. Sometimes I can even put them back together.
Amazingly I fixed 6 clocks. Or, approximately 6. I don’t really remember now. They were mostly simple solutions and none of them needed any parts. I don’t think any 2 had the same problem.
This last week the teacher sent home one more clock to be repaired. When I saw what the clock was doing, I knew exactly what was wrong because I hade experienced that problem with one of the previous clocks. I pulled it apart and was able to fix it in just a few minutes. I am starting to feel like an expert.
What
makes a chess clock so special? Really they are just 2 (somewhat)
normal clocks that have a system for starting one clock while stopping the
other. The only thing that makes them different from a normal clock is
they have a flag that drops when the time runs out. But, since they
are analog, they continue to run.”
There is a bit more to read at: http://www.mythoughtspot.com/2007/03/04/inside-a-chess-clock/
10-6-2007
The Two Towers
In one tower, USCF are currently undergoing convulsions at board level, with accusations and investigations and law suits, aided an abetted by more suggestive matter than any truth. A board member stands accused in the public court of pseudonymously imitating another. First of all, let’s begin with how it got started; the claim is that Goichberg and Hall authorised an investigation. That was proven untrue, but the instigators of the investigation could not halt their own momentum. They made a claim that an IP address came from Texas and Mexico, which implicates various people. But AOL IP addresses are not static IPs. You may be in Texas but it can show Colorado, or vice versa.
This vast diversion of good will and energy, is the current cause celebre at USCF, which at times looks like a McCarthyite witch-hunt, which at least is a plausible excuse why the new Board, and the staff, have not done anything very much, and therefore cannot be blamed if the status quo remains unchanged.
Indeed, seasoned USCF watchers have suggested this very thing as a deliberated screen developed to inhibit any change at all…
Meanwhile… In the other tower,
sometimes the efforts of a single individual, unpaid, with no budget, but
with sincere interest in developing chess, can pay off big time.
Chessville’s own associate editor Mr. Rob Mitchell seems on the verge of
creating a multi-national tournament among chess federations. The
English have already signed up, the Canadians are interested, the Scots and
Irish might come in with a bit of prodding, and as I write this, he is
inviting the Dutch Federation.
USCF have not yet entered the Chessville International Bash, which can feature Chessville’s own team, but perhaps more interestingly, can get the chess politicos from various nations to do something together – and who knows? Maybe some fruitful correspondence will strike up? At least it will get them out of themselves, and our of a destructive introversion, which serves nobody. Kudos to Rob Mitchell. [captioned]
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Squaaawk back to
TheParrot… Hey!
It’s your game. |
Rare Chess Pictures:
Still going...
9-29-2007
There is one known use for chess players, and if Winston Churchill is any guide, they served a supreme function in World War II as cryptanalysts, decoding German ‘Enigma’ cipher traffic as a function of their ‘pattern recognition’ skills.
But is there another more contemporary function? This week’s New Yorker magazine features a long article about the strongest chess player ever, but in the role of politician.
David Remnick’s article, “The Tsar’s Opponent”, discourses on Garry Kasparov taking aim at the power of Vladimir Putin. Not just a little bit, but a 13-page appraisal by a senior writer of the nation’s leading magazine.
Now, while readers may or may not like our Garry, his comments on Russia and world stability are recommended reading for those with serious interest in these subjects. It is very tempting to use pull-quotes from the article, but an overall sense from a senior writer from the New Yorker should not be short-cut by sound-bites. So that’s enough then, the serious reader will find a copy, others will miss nothing. But to end this note, it is necessary to properly honor the struggle in that country and to end on a coda:
How pleasing fatty topsoil is to ploughshare,
How silent the steppe in it April upheaval!
Well, I wish you well, black earth: be firm, sharp eyed…
A black-voiced silence is at work.
- Osip Mandelstam, April 1935
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Rare Chess Pictures: Chessville prepares for its Annual Staff Picnic. Forum Host Kelly Atkins [captioned] prepares to carry the honey and blanket basket to the raft. Hopefully there will be a decent seed-cake this year, dry and not soggy. |
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Chess-wives have been preparing pots of sweet things for tea, including real Kea Plum jam and Seville-orange marmalade. One informal discussion point for the 2007 Annual Picnic, is who to choose from all the applicants for Chessville jobs? |
9-22-2007
Hyping Chess and Scholastics. Here are two direct comments on getting chess into the schools in Russia as published by Fide, and I repeat these extracts verbatim before making comments:
Headline: Chess is likely to be introduced into the Russian Schools Curriculum. See http://www.fide.com/news.asp?id=1412.
The Parrot notes commentary by Anatoly Karpov, who opined:
"I am not in favour of children having to study chess during the whole period of the school education. It is difficult to be forced to study this game. But the first year of teaching chess allows to master a skill of defending one's point of view as well as an ability of taking decisions". At the same time, Karpov noted that the introduction of comprehensive chess education will be facing the problem of teachers. He said, "we are in absolute need of chess instructors. The main sports higher institution of the country produces 7 chess trainers per year". In her turn, Mrs. Ivanova said that "a Chess instructor" is not included into the list of teaching specialities and there is a lot to do in order for such a speciality to come into existence.”
The Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov drew the attention to the fact that in Kalmykia, its schools have lessons of chess for more than 10 years and according to the information he has, it promotes improving of the results in a whole range of subjects. Mr. Gryzlov said, "Average increase of the children's academic performance is 40%. I think that such experience can be widely used in other regions". He also noted that it is necessary to increase public and state support to the mass interest to this sport.
Okay! Now, if Mr. William Gates and/or Mr. Warren Buffett happen to be reading the Parrot column this week, please be in touch with me forthwith. I know bridge is big, and I love bridge too, but if this Russian fella is right about chess, but has overstated things just a little bit, and its not 40%, and its really just 4% - that alone in the US is worth a Nobel, 2 Emmy’s, 3 Oscars and a Partridge in a Pear Tree. Even arresting the decline in math scores would be a work of great public distinction deserving a huge statue, or possibly being represented on the ‘spare’ spot at Mt. Rushmore.
Oh – and if Mr. Karpov and the Russian educational system can’t produce enough chess teachers in Russia [!!] may I suggest outsourcing? Maybe try China?
Letter from Amsterdam:
Dear Parrot, Dutch GM Tim Krabbe compïled website with "110 MOST FANTASTIC CHESS MOVES EVER"
We did computer evaluations of all of them. Topalov-Shirov and Spasski-Bronstein refuted. Fritz/Rybka play the "Game of the Century" Byrne-Fischer EXACTLY like RJF did. Amazing and Greetings from Amsterdam. Albert H. Alberts, author of How to Fool Fritz, who also supplied us with the URL for his updated website www.howtofoolfritz.com.
The Parrot connected Mr. Alberts with newsgroup chess analysts who corrected some evaluations, which seems to be what Mr. Alberts wanted most to happen – Chessville readers are likely to find Mr. Alberts as appreciative of their own comments. If readers hesitate to contact him directly, start a thread in Chessville’s own forum to throw some ideas around.
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Rare Chess Pictures: I usually save these images for for the Christmas Season – on what not to buy for your chess-playing nephew or niece. I mean, who do you know that you could actually give these to? |
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They are ugly! |
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The glass set is probably fine, for about 2 minutes,
before your eyes start swimming. The Parrot also found a selection of transparent boards illuminated from underneath, with transparent pieces on top, and would look lovely on a high shelf or in a garbage-tip. |
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Don’t be cheap, give them what they really want. It’s the real thing! And for only $39. |
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9-15-2007
Rare Chess Pictures:
Meanwhile, in Brooklyn… a ghoulish fellow at Chessville’s
Forum supplied the following information:
Here is the grave stone of William Steinitz, Death: Aug. 12, 1900 New York. Buried in the Evergreens Cemetery, Brooklyn, Plot: Bethel Slope Section, Lot 5896.
Meanwhile,
elsewhere in Brooklyn, he adds…
I read somewhere that [Fischer] attended Erasmus Hall High School together
in Brooklyn. Also, in
this
article it says he lived in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant district - no
street address though.
…Just found what appears to be the first street address in NY for Bobby and his mom Regina: Apt Q, 560 Lincoln Place.
While goofing around in that thread in the Forum I admired a chess site based on chess in NY City by Michael Goeller, who has a good photo of folks playing in Washington Square Park.
If you ever think of doing a chess-tour of NY city, check out this link.
Now, here is a technical word we chess-journalists use: stealing. I also stole this handy list from the Forum:
Reuben
Fine was born in the Bronx. Probably the Fordham area.
Attended CCNY.
Al Horowitz was born in 1907 in NYC.
Sam Reshevsky lived in Monsey, NY and his family still lives there.
Bobby Fischer - He attended Erasmus Hall High School (Brooklyn)
Isaac Kashdan Lived in NYC. He was partners with Al Horowitz.
Capablanca went to Columbia University
Albert Pincus- was a partner with Horowitz, Maurice Shapiro, Maurice
Wertheim, and Mickey Pauley. (All chess players). Pincus lived on the upper
West Side and before Wall Street
worked with Guppy in a Tropical Fish Store. (Yes that Guppy).
Before California, like the Dodgers went out West:
Larry Evans lived in NYC.
Probably the Byrne brothers.
Herbert Seidman.
Fred Reinfeld. (Attended CCNY). CCNY is still there. If you get into the
Library, you will be amazed at the Chess collection.
Sites:
The New Yorker Hotel, 481 Eighth Avenue at 34th Street in 2002 80 masters
played.
Hotel Alamac - I have an address: Broadway and 71st Street in Manhattan
(New York 1924 International Tournament)
NY 1927 - Do not know where it was played.
Note that for Chess Players who were born or lived in NYC the City has
changed.
Buildings torn down.
What is standing as above:
CCNY, Columbia, Probably the Hotel Alamac,
IF you have an old Chess Life, look up the address for the USCF. I believe
it was located
in the E 3rd St. & 14 st area not sure.
Bookstore: Check out Strands, lots of chess books. Near 12th St. and
Broadway.
The
Manhattan CC is closed.
The Marshall CC was the original home of FJ Marshall and is still there.
Photograph the back room of the club. That is where Fischer played a Telex
match
in a Cuban Tournament.
The grave of Edgar Allan Poe is in the Bronx. He wrote a long article on the
TURK.
Near NYU is a park. Probably where searching for Bobby Fischer was filmed.
Union Square Park - When I left NYC in 2000, they were playing chess in the
park
for greens even in the Winter. That is where the sharks hang out, looking
for Fish.
Bogart may have played chess there in the 30's.
Herman Helms. Active even in his 90's. Wrote for the Brooklyn Eagle. (Folded
1954).
and the New York Times chess column. Can not locate his address of birth.
Photo’s Wanted: If your digital has any space left photograph the Chrysler
Building.
Nothing to do with Chess. In 1929 the tallest building in the World.
The Art Deco appears in the walls inside. On the outside of the building:
Art Deco designs of a car around the building. Wheels, hubcaps, Eagles on
all 4 sides
(Designed from a late 1920's Chrysler car). They probably played chess in
the old
Men's club inside the building. Cigars, soft chairs and chess.
Recommendations: Use a Metro card - Trains are faster than rentals or cabs.
9-8-2007
The debate of the week at USCF board level, is about the level of boredom with USCF’s own forum. Should it be shut down? Ask some, which would incidentally save $11,000 of insurance premiums per year, and which also occupies the work of half a dozen moderators, plus a guidance panel, and a partridge in a pear tree.
The problem arises by ‘questions’ being asked at the forum which seem barely separable from accusations or even libels, containing highly personalized views presented as a form of objective ‘reporting’ – and that’s just by board members, current and past.
The Parrot got a big laugh from the USCF executive director with the suggestion that the forum would be fine if only board members were banned from writing there.
Another contentious issue is whether sponsors should be criticized? One recent example is the Monroi company of Canada which now has mandatory use of its device at some tournaments – and on which ChessLife on-line has written reviews, but failed to point out that the reviewer was actually a paid consultant for the company.
USCF should figure out the purpose of the forum, and their really are only 2 possibilities: (a) it is the traditional ‘communications vehicle’ from USCF to members, or (b) it is a means to comment on chess management by USCF members?
Strong evidence is that people wish to comment on USCF itself – which has historically had chronic communication and presentation problems, even after a $50,000 ‘refit’ of ChessLife and its on-line version last year. If interactive communication with the chess public is deemed too hot a subject to handle, it must conclude that the forum should be shut down, or some other means of acknowledging and responding to members inserted. After all, it is a ‘membership organization’, and some form of hearing aid utilized to remedy USCF’s traditional deafness.
That’s the difference between ‘talk to’ and talk with’.
| Rare Chess Pictures: GM Rowson startles
Chinese players this week by doing the Liverpool Shuffle, moving his
b- and g-pawns simultaneously. “Saves time on the clock if you move both your ‘wingers’ at one time, besides, Liverpool Rules” quipped Rowson. The United Nations, NATO, Fide and the visiting Chinese players are all trying to understand what ‘wingers’ are, as well as ‘the Kop’, in the best cross-cultural tradition of international rapport. |
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9-1-2007
Guest Squaaawk !!! From Daren Dillinger, Vice President, Chess Journalists of America
Dear Parrot, I never met Bobby Fischer, but I did get an email from him in 2001.
I had a 10+
year fellow chess instructor relationship working with his first mentor and
chess teacher, Carmen Nigro. . . So I did benefit from some inside
information on him.
See:
http://web.archive.org/web/20041026050533/http://www.nysca.net/Dillinger.html
It was from Carmen that I received copies of all of Bobby Fischer's Chess
columns he had published in the official Boy Scout's magazine, Boys' Life
from 1966 to 1970.
I miss the days, like when I interviewed GM Ken Rogoff in 2003 -- he would
tell me that in New York it was not unusual for Fischer to show up
unannounced at scholastic tournaments. Open up and talk with the kids, sit
down and play a lot of off-hand speed chess, etc. An all around nice guy.
To see the piece I ended up having published on Ken with the game which
won Ken the High School Championship (in 1969 I think) annotated by him &
Bobby Fischer, see:
www.academicchess.org/images/pdf/cal%20chess%20journal/APRILwebversion.pdf
Page 25.
Warmest regards, in the fellowship of chess, Daren Dillinger
Rare Chess Pictures:
She likes it. The Chairman of USCF Susan Polgar posted this image and this message to her personal blog site last Thursday from the CISSCOM conference on chess and education held in Aberdeen, Scotland.
“This
is an example of the TV show created by Mr. Leo Battesti in France. It
is working and he proves what Paul and I have been saying for a long time.
Chess can be promoted on a large scale. It can be very successful.
But the problem is chess players themselves. An amazing example that was shown here was an organizer went from a unknown person in chess to having more than 200 sponsors for his annual events now, including some of the biggest companies in his countries. World class players like Anand, Topalov, Bacrot, my sister Judit and tons of other world class players look forward to come to his events. But the success did not come from the top players. It came from working through the grass roots and building chess and education. Then companies started to notice the numbers and opportunities and they started to invest / sponsor. But unless we can conduct ourselves properly and professionally, this would never work.
Instead of learning from business people on how to make things work, the problem is we have too many idealists who want to retain the status quo and chase away any possible opening for new and better things. For example, my larger chess events can draw up to 30-40 sponsors while most tournaments in the US cannot. Instead of treating our sponsors and supporters with respect, we have "personalities" who like to be opinionated about every issue, including issues they know nothing about, and insult / attack our biggest assets.
Many other people in this conference have shown that they can make things work in their areas / cities / regions / countries by doing things themselves instead of bogging in down on chess politics, bureaucracy and personal ego. I can tell you first hand that this is a fantastic conference and I am very glad that I attended. I hope to be able to create similar chess and education conferences in the US, hopefully at Texas Tech University, and invite friends and colleagues from all over the world to come and share ideas.”
8-25-2007
From an interview of Senator Gravel's spokesperson Shawn Alexander Colvin to the newspaper Pravda.ru as reported in public by ex-USCF board member, Sam Sloan.
PRAVDA.RU: Can you imagine the former chess champion Bobby Fisher as the leader of an opposition movement in the USA? Please substantiate your answer.
COLVIN: Bobby Fischer would be pardoned. He deserves an apology for the way he has been treated by the Bush administration.
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”This is great news, long overdue. Too bad that the Executive Board of the United States Chess Federation refuses to support Fischer.” - Sam Sloan
At least a couple of Squaaawks in that one! Board member Sloan previously proposed a motion to re-instated Bobby Fischer into the USCF, against Fischer’s known wishes. In fact, Fischer never has any liking for USCF.
After a ‘bad chess politician’ campaign which swept in a very different USCF board recently, here we see a chess federation politico wanting to directly advocate to the government, based on a sound-bite in that beacon of truth, Pravda.
It doesn’t matter if you like or dislike Fischer-the-person, compared with Fischer-the-player. Deliberately conflating these two factors is big spin!
Rare Chess Pictures:
In honor of the just-concluded Staunton memorial, here is a picture of one of the most remarkable chess sets of all time. Ray Keene had sent Chessville several pictures of it 2 weeks ago, but this one is much clearer.
Here is the story of this set from the official site: http://howardstaunton.com/index.shtml:
“This duty over, the players and guests sat down to a highly enjoyable closing dinner and prize-giving. Chess sets again became a topic of the moment, as Mickey Adams added to his first prize by taking the best game award, for his round 9 masterpiece against Jan Werle. The prize consisted of the chess set belonging to the late Morris (Moses) Sobkowski, one of the original founders of The Friends of Chess, who have done so much for British chess over the past 40-odd years. Sobkowski and his chess set survived incarceration in no fewer than five Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz and Belsen - a remarkable story of human endurance. After his death, the set was donated to The Staunton Society by his widow, Trudie, and was won in 2005 by Jonathan Levitt, winner of the Third Staunton Memorial. Earlier this year, Jonathan kindly re-donated the set to the Society.
8-18-2007
This week another uncompromising plain-language & eye-watering conversation among real chess organizers about what its really like out there and what really needs fixing-up by the new USCF board.
Here is a commentary emerging from 3 writers and chess organizers, and similar to anything you could have read in 2001, except the disasters are different, and of greater effect. The new board needs to engage these subjects and these organizers, otherwise they will be just more talking heads, without a body.
> The real loss here is not money. The real loss is the utter
> frustrated exhaustion of the real chess organizers all over the
> country who finally have thrown up their hands and walked away.
I
understand that of all the USCF staff, no one is appointed a contact person
for chess organizers or even affiliated chess clubs.
> Yes we had two million dollars in the LMA. The Chessdonites xxxxxx it
> away.
That's a lot of jackets~ what I don't see is a listing of where the cash was converted to assets. I suppose much of it went to supporting operating loses in 9 of the past 11 years, plus assorted debt, and an occasional $10,000 party or $50,000 make-over...
>
Yes we used to own a building in New York. The Chessdonites sold it and
moved to Crosstobear.
That's an old term term. Some of us now say 'ChessHut' to reflect ‘small-tent’ philosophy.
> Now the LMA is gone and so is the building. Instead of assets, we now have a mortgage and an un-funded annual expense for 10,000 life members. So we are starting every year in the Chessdonite hole.
What do you think those 10,000 cost in greenbacks? More than ten bucks apiece?
> And what about the ripoff of the book and equipment sales? How is it that the gross margins for books and equipment purchased by the outside world are always in excess of 50% yet USCF always showed about 30%. The disappearance of that money was always a wonder to me. We were always promised answers but they never came.
Ah! Lost but not forgotten - There are other on-going inquiries on this subject which will not go away. I mean, if I can negotiate a better deal from a publisher from a relatively small outfit than USCF can, and I mean 20% /better/ than that starts to look like real money after a while.
>
Then we gave away books and equipment in exchange for a "guaranteed
> contract". Does anyone really think there was a guarantee worth
> having?
Again, without a challenge there would have been no guarantee at all.
> I did learn one technique from the Chessdonites. Whenever confronted
> by unpleasant facts, we were always told, "let's move on". Never
> solving anything but changing the subject as if the ripoffs were just
> a little fact of life in the federation not worth resolving lest we
> offend one of the insiders. They knew and we learned that if one scam
> was revealed they would all fall like dominos. I was always amazed
> the IRS never took a look. There is always hope.
Do you know of any other non-profit that can forgive debt to for-profits, [and to beat that, then continue on an unsecured basis?]
> It would be interesting to note how many professional people who
> donated their time to chess have just walked away in the past decade.
> Their best efforts were totally undermined by the Chessdonites and
> their fellow travelers.
People will mention it on the phone, but less easily commit to writing. To say much and be exposed is to fear being ostracized.
> It has always amazed me how cheaply the fellow travelers were bought.
>
> To borrow a line from the now nearly chess departed Jim Eade, “Sheesh”.
"Better Politicians" couldn't make the Soviet system work any better than could Bad Politicians. What is now in prospect is if systems can take over that provide clear [in both senses of transparent and straightforward] and fair operations.
That is the task of the current board, who now barely have their feet under the table - and I think the contest at board level will be how dug-in some are about supporting the miserable record you cite, versus another approach ushered in by the new team.
Otherwise,
it will be chess politics as usual. There is no point in exciting the
population to try chess if chess organizers have no increased reason to
trust you, and keep you at arms’ length.
| Rare Chess Pictures: And also Now Showing…
in Holland Follow this link. |
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As well as a collection of chess paintings which are available as prints which can be ordered from the company, I was pleased to also find this handsome-looking book on Chess Art. [Shach=Chess, Kunst=Art] The cost is 27Euros and seems to be only available in the Dutch language. The exhibition is associated with a big international tournament now taking place in honor of Max Euwe, see http://www.euwe-stimulans.nl/. The website is in Dutch and English languages and says, “The tournament will be played in the NH Rijnhotel in Arnhem, Onderlangs 10. There is free admission to watch the games and well known Dutch players will give commentary. Also, there will be an exhibition of chess art. You can follow the games of the International group live on this website.” |
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One participant is 23 year old, 2334-rated Bianca Muhren. The Parrot will report tournament results next week. Images are Copyright © 2007 Schaakkunst. |
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8-11-2007
Thoughts on Computer Chess:
Conversations with 3 parties on the nature of the beast
This is the news event, followed by the background conversation:
Joel Benjamin is playing Rybka which is giving him pawn odds. GM Benjamin has been three times US Champion, six times World Open champion or co-champion, three times U.S. Open Champion or co-champion, and has played on the U.S. Olympic Team in six Olympiads and two World Team Championships, and also in one Interzonal. More to the point, he was the chess consultant for Deep Blue, having earned the job by defeating it 2-0 in a formal match in 1995.
>> > It's the nature of chess: chess is a game of blunders, and lines that lead to blunder far outweigh 'brilliant Mikhail Tal sacrifices', which detractors of Crafty seem to think exist in chess at every move.
>>Critics of this hyped methodology are not necessarily critics of Crafty per se; on the contrary, many would bet money on Crafty to win a set match against such titans as GM Bogolyubov, GM Tal, GM Anand, etc.
> I won't bet on it.
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Then the Parrot chirped-in: To further interrogate this subject, I have been in correspondence with Albert Alberts about his recent MAMS title- Man Assisted Machine Chess, indeed, about his preparations for a new volume on same subject - and I am about to introduce him to the Rybka folks in Moscow. What seems evident to me is that Alberts has struck on an important point in his book, that these generalizations about the strength of the machine are rather suspect, since once or twice per game human intercession puts it onto a winning path, after which the chess engine is then competent to cruise home. But without these intercessions the engine makes duffer-moves strategically. |
Reviewed by:
Dr. Steven B. Dowd |
In essence, Mr. Alberts proposes a positional and strategic approach, while simultaneously unbalancing the position, initiative :: material, as a means to defeat the computer, but the same is true for defeating anyone - which I think Tal proved beyond a doubt, and Fischer was no pawn-counter, not caring overmuch if he gave up one or two buttons.
I hope it will be a fruitful correspondence.
The other aspects of computer versus human play are well rehearsed, though not much explored, since it is mostly talk of 'what if' rather than what happens. In other words; speculation posing as some sort of datum.
Advocates for the computer side have NO data on what would happen without the book, yet make claims typically to the effect that the book is only worth 50 or so points, but have not actually tested that hypothesis against enough humans to warrant calling it a fact.
Tal, mentioned above, won many positions since in the time allowed, people could rarely refute his play OTB. What we understand of time-pressures versus complexity of position is not here revealed - and certainly 'bad' moves which are unsolvable in the time allowed is a sort of grudging if minimalist appreciation of Tal's art, that is, Tal’s is something demonstrated, not proposed without evidence.
| Rare Chess Pictures: I’m not making this up! If you are into it, this is the way chess is for you! Doesn’t matter if other people laugh!
Tough guys play too… even in helicopters, even with the cheapest plastic sets. |
Photos courtesy http://xkcd.com/chesscoaster/ |
8-4-2007
What Needs Fixing Up? Ratings do!
Now a new board is about to take the reins at USCF, lets look at some core chess services which need fixing up if USCF is to stop the decline in membership, losing active players to rival services. The ratings service has 3 troubles:
(1) “Ratings Floors” always gets a good mail-bag. Essentially, a player
achieving a certain level of play then competes against others with that
level set as a minimum. The result of this practice is to play an ostensible
master, with rating floor of 2200, but actually engage someone with a
performance rating of 1815. Opponents are scored against the 2200 ‘floor’
rather than 1815, thus the ‘title’ becomes confused with ELO’s idea of the
math, and which causes USCF ratings to be inflated.
(2) Quality Control needs serious reinforcement and titles made separate
from political meddling. In the past 12 months a very high profile case
appeared, where a board member had to resign because there was so little
quality control over who he had played that he was falsely awarded a master
title. It turned out that his opponents were rated much less than he was,
most around the 1600-1800 range, with the same named opponents appearing
very frequently in the required 300 games necessary for the title.
To award the title is therefore either gross negligence on behalf of the ratings department, or, considering the person was active in US and FIDE chess politics, not negligence at all!
While that is all water under the bridge at a personality level, interactions with those speaking for the quality of USCF’s ratings systems, suggest that this may not be an unusual circumstance; they have not been able to say why the particular catastrophe cited above, came about, how extensive it is, or what would avert it happening again tomorrow.
(3) Timeliness of response – USCF came might close in the past 12-months to
both being sued and losing all its correspondence players, which they seemed
prepared to drive into the arms of competing rating services by promises,
and more broken promises…
One national master was so disgusted by the correspondence scenario that he suggested that an Omgoodsman [an independent assessor] independently resolve the 9-month delay in correspondence ratings he and all correspondence players had paid good money for services they were not receiving.
Rating Services must be a core element in the foundations of national chess, and somewhere along the line Quality Control seems to have gone out the window, together with a tardy attitude which literally serves no one.
New USCF Board Members have campaigned on the need for less personality politics, and more systems accountability. It is there responsibility to restore credibility to core services.
The Parrot has already received several other complaints about another USCF core service, from 2 GMs, 1 IM, a National Master and a partridge in a pear-tree. Some correspondents have feared they will be ostracized if they raise the issues themselves. So…It will continue to feature these issues here, and monitor progress in an objective way, not on a personality basis or who says what, but as an objective approach to USCF’s systems.
Rare Chess Pictures:
Fantasy Chess Tournament Scenarios
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Already used as a set in a James Bond movie, here are some of the most visited interconnected Domes in the world. The tiny figures on the path are real people, and this is not a photo-enhanced model. And yes, those are tropical plants, the central palm tree is about 50 feet tall. |
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7-28-2007
How to Lose an Election, and Now What?
An exchange with a USCF Board member who lost his place is quite revealing, since the board member can’t understand what happened!
In terms of campaigning, there were often impersonal comments posted on the Polgar-Blog site, on how others were misbehaving, but only when the most egregious ideas were aired in McCarthy-ite fashion was there direct response to personality issues.
This
losing candidate couldn’t understand how four people recommended at the Blog
site could have won ‘without campaigning’. Yet
they
were
interviewed here at Chessville, and - I don't think anyone wrote less
than 1,500 words on ISSUES, all relating to the proper platform to chess in
US for the C21st. The Parrot thinks this was what the disgruntled
board member couldn’t understand. But the voters could.
The pity of this election is that Dr. Mikhail Korenman's application to the board, was almost, but not quite successful. Taking his seat would have been the best chance any board member ever had, a sort of holy-grail for chess in USA, to credibly approach the mainstream federal education budget.
OKAY – Now What?
For the first time in an age, the elected team seem capable of doing much more than the maintenance activities of ‘business-as-usual’, though not neglecting its often shoddy performance. This team seems capable as a group of actually undertaking USCF’s mission, which is to expand the game into the mainstream. Who should lead it as president?
President
Goichberg, An Incumbent
President, representing the Big Tournament theme. Very great strengths are
to run the CCA, the largest and longest-established tournament organization
in America. Weaknesses are the same as strengths; while taking strong
individual