The Greatest Bunratty Festival Yet What drew more than 350 chess players to a remote hotel in the south-west of Ireland, including twelve grandmasters and many IMs just for a weekend, 20-22 February? Perhaps it was the wet, windy Irish weather. More likely, it was the beer. Most likely of all it was the traditional festival atmosphere created by the sponsor Gary O'Grady of the London Heathrow-based Blackthorne International Transport (www.blackthornetransport.co.uk) which specialises in delivery cargo to Russia. This was about the twentieth time a winter chess congress has been held in Bunratty but only the second time I have attended. The previous time was 1997 when there were only a … [Read more...]
Hours of Chess Fun
Hours of Chess Fun by Steve Goldberg First Steps in Pawn Structures, by Andrew Martin, 2014 ChessBase, DVD, approx. 4 hours playing time. $29.95 (ChessCafe Price $22.46) Andrew Martin gets right to the point in explaining his purpose in producing First Steps in Pawn Structures: "The purpose of this DVD is to focus on pawns, pawn structure, and to demonstrate exactly how pawns can play a pivotal role in our favorite game ... Pawn weaknesses don't necessarily lose, but you have to know how to handle them. Pawns are important because they facilitate the proper development of the pieces." There are several aspects to this DVD. The primary segment consists of analysis of 22 … [Read more...]