The Skittles Room

We alert readers to a special offer from Tim Harding's Chess Mail website: For just a few more days, to celebrate Tim Harding's 70th birthday this weekend, the Ultracorr2018 correspondence game database is on offer at ChessMail for just 35 Euro. The offer ends on 8 May. After that the database will be completely withdrawn from sale so that Tim can concentrate on writing his next book. We do not intend to offer a new version until 2019, if ever. With over 1,830,000 games, UltraCorr-2018 is the largest and most accurate correspondence chess game database ever published. Up to 8 May you can still buy it for €35. There are many more games and considerable data improvements compared with … [Read more...]

The Hedgehog, Sergey Kasparov, Everyman Chess, Paperback, ISBN 9781781943588, 336pp., $29.95 Sergey Kasparov became a student in the Palace of Pioneers in the city of Baku at the age of seven, he acquired the grandmaster title in 2007, and has captured first place in many international tournaments. He has written several chess books and is a leading online chess coach. The Hedgehog is also available from Everyman Chess in CBV and PGN format for $19.95. The book is described as follows: “An understanding of Hedgehog structures is an essential component in any chessplayer’s knowledge. These structures arise when the black c-pawn is exchanged early on for the white d-pawn (as in the … [Read more...]

We are happy to bring your attention to the following notice: Dear chess friends, A new issue of the ChessProblems.ca Bulletin (Issue 13, December 2017) has been posted online at http://Bulletin.ChessProblems.ca. Contents 1 Originals 2017 Informal Tourney p.584 Hors Concours p.588 2 ChessProblems.ca Bulletin 2016 Award p.591 3 CPB Tourneys: Announcements p.597 4 Articles Arno Tungler: Series-mover Artists: Gyorgy Bakcsi p.598 Nicolas Dupont: Ordered classification of twelve series genres p.601 Klaus Wenda & Andreas Thoma: Welcome to KLAN p.610 Arno Tungler: Record Breakers V p.613 Cornel Pacurar: Series-Movers Visualizations II p.615 Adrian Storisteanu: … [Read more...]

We would like to thank those who have supported ChessCafe with a purchase of product and subsequent membership. However, subscriptions have fallen just shy of what is needed to maintain our stable of great columnists. Therefore, we are taking a three-month hiatus from posting new content. If you have an outstanding order pending in our shop, we will be issuing shop credit towards in-stock items, ebooks, or downloads. Along with a free gift valued at $89.95. We apologize for any inconvenience. … [Read more...]

Baron Munchausen Meets Mr. Bad Loser By Amatzia Avni The other day I was playing chess on the Internet. I have noticed that frequently, upon gaining victory in a fair contest, my opponent sent me a short message, stating that I was just lucky and in fact do not possess the slightest understanding of chess. To be honest, blaming my own losses on external factors, such as luck or destiny, also crossed my mind, whenever I have failed. I wondered whether my friend, the great Baron Munchausen, had encountered similar phenomena. "Of course I have" – he said – "and whenever I am blamed with being 'just lucky', I make a special effort to teach my rival a lesson". He quickly arranged the … [Read more...]

Fair Use or Infringement By Mark Donlan Our Video Spotlight feature on Nicolas Rossolimo prompted a reaction from Edward Winter, who protested that the videos, originating on YouTube, contained material that was taken from his Chess Notes website without permission. The videos were first posted at ChessCafe in May 2011 and have been available in our archives since then; we only recently reprised them because of the new format. As we do not wish to condone misappropriation of material, we have removed the links, though the videos remain available on YouTube. In an English Chess Forum post, brought to our attention by Mr. Winter, the videographer, Jessica Fischer, confirms some material … [Read more...]

This month we feature a report on the International Ladies' Chess Tournament from British Chess Magazine, August 1897 won by Mary Rudge (born February 6, 1842). We have updated the notation where appropriate and added images and diagrams. International Ladies' Chess Tournament It was a happy thought of Mrs. Bowles (hon. sec. Ladies' Chess Club) that an International Chess Tournament for ladies would be a fitting event to be held in the Diamond Jubilee year of the Queen's reign. The idea originated so far back as Whitsuntide, 1896, and Mrs. Bowles being of energetic character, set to work by speaking of the subject to several influential friends, and from most of these she received every … [Read more...]

This month we feature the obituary of Daniel Harrwitz from The Chess-monthly, Volume 5, September 1883 – August 1884, and an excerpt from The British Chess Review, January 1853. We have updated the notation where appropriate and added images and diagrams. Daniel Harrwitz by Mark Donlan Death of Daniel Harrwitz, The Chess-monthly, Volume 5, September 1883 – August 1884 One more link from the chain, connecting the past generation of Chess players with the present, has been severed through the death of Daniel Harrwitz, which occurred about two months ago at Botzen, Tyrol. Few masters, Anderssen excepted, leave such a splendid record as the late Harrwitz. During the fifteen … [Read more...]

The ChessEdu.org curriculum is designed to use chess as a tool for teaching problem-solving, creative thinking, and abstract reasoning in a classroom setting, be it in a public or private school, home school or other institution, or for personal use. Chess provides the opportunity to teach students how to think their way through solving complex problems, and it is a terrific way to introduce STEM and Common Core criteria. Children enjoy chess as a game. Yet, chess offers the means of teaching mental abilities used throughout life: concentration, critical thinking, abstract reasoning, strategic planning, problem solving, visualization skills, creativity, and patience to name just a few. … [Read more...]

This month we present an excerpt from The Knights and Kings of Chess (1894) by Reverend George Alcock MacDonnell. Dr. J.H. Zukertort Born 1842, Died 1888 Shortly before the opening of the tournament of the British Chess Association in 1872, four conspirators met one evening in the Strand at a restaurant which was at that time the hebdomadal rendezvous of certain well-known chess-players. "Well,"said one of them, "I think I have found a man who can beat Steinitz." "Who is he? "asked Lowenthal. "Zukertort,"said the discoverer. "He has just won a match of Anderssen." The matter was talked over, and the conspirators—all committee-men of the British Chess Association—resolved … [Read more...]