Morphy Numbers Revisited: The Mortimer Effect by Taylor Kingston As I described in a 2005 article for ChessCafe.com, the concept of a Morphy Number (probably originated by Dutch writer Tim Krabbé [i]), refers to a chain of chess players linking back to the great Paul Morphy (1837-1884). In the late 1850s this young American won the first US championship tournament, then showed himself to be clearly the best in the world by traveling to Europe and defeating almost all the best active players in head-to-head matches, only to give up serious play for the rest of his life soon after. Anyone who played Morphy has an MN of 1, anyone who played an MN1 has an MN of 2, etc. My 2005 article, … [Read more...]
The Skittles Room
The Review of Mannheim 1914 and the Interned Russians
Author A.J. Gillam sent us a commentary concerning the ChessCafe.com review of Mannheim 1914 and the Interned Russians. We present it this week as a Skittles Room extra! The Review of Mannheim 1914 and the Interned Russians I would like to comment on a couple of issues raised by your review of my book. It is true that I spend two-and-a-half pages commenting upon errors in Di Felice's Mannheim tables. I say in the book: "This section is not here for pedantic reasons nor is it a claim to superiority. It is here to show that I know what Di Felice has published and to say that I have strong reasons for my different version." Later, when commenting on both Di Felice's and Gaige's … [Read more...]
Morphy’s NY Ledger Column, March 17, 1860
From August 6, 1859 until August 4, 1860, Paul Morphy "conducted the Chess Department" in the New York Ledger. There were fifty-two columns, written in English descriptive notation, with Morphy's annotations given at the very end of the game, referenced by letter. We have converted the moves to algebraic notation, added diagrams, and merged the commentary into the game. We hope you enjoy Morphy's NY Ledger Column. The New York Ledger New York, Saturday, March 17, 1860 [Column #32] Chess Department Conducted by Paul Morphy Twenty-eighth of the series between Labourdonnais and McDonnell London, 1834 (The Sicilian Game) White: McDonnell Black: Labourdonnais 1.e4 c5 2.f4 Nc6 3.Nf3 e6 … [Read more...]
Mannheim 1914 and the Interned Russians
by Anthony Gillam The interview given below was published in Vechernee Vremja (Evening Times; Petrograd) on October 13th (26th) 1914 with a photograph of Alekhine. The interview was given to N. Sh-p or N-Sh-tz. (presumably a reporter with the newspaper). The chess corrrspondent of Novoe Vremja (of which Vechernee Vremja was the evening edition) was Julius Sosnitsky. In the copies of the latter which I have seen for 1914, there was no chess column but there were games from the St. Petersburg international tournament of April/May 1914. There was some competition between the Petrograd papers to publish the games quickly and the Novoe Vremja company held an advantage, having two newspapers per … [Read more...]
Health Benefits of Playing Chess
by Riley Merkel Grandmaster and world chess champion Bobby Fischer is famously quoted as saying, "Chess is life." But can this two-player game, consisting of a square checkered board and playing pieces that are moved in different ways depending on their royal or military designation, benefit your mental and physical health? Absolutely! Check out these seven surprising health benefits of playing chess and then consider your next move. Health Benefits of Chess Grows dendrites Dendrites conduct signals from the neuron cells in your brain to the neuron they happen to be attached to. Learning and playing a game like chess actually stimulates the growth of dendrites, which in turn … [Read more...]