The 1907 World Chess Championship, Memphis TN

Did you know that in 1907 the World Chess Championship was held in Memphis, TN? The contenders for the title were Dr. Emmanuel Lasker the reigning World Chess Champion and the contender was Frank Marshall. Here you will find a review of the event.

http://www.chesscentral.com//1907_World_Chess_Championship_a/530.htm

Recognition for the research and presentation of this article goes out to Frank Wranovix and Dwight Weaver. Also, to leave comments on this article and for more on Memphis, TN chess history, go to: http://memphischessclub.blogspot.com/2014/04/world-chess-championship-in.html)

Watch Carlsen Destroy Bill Gates

What happens when Bill Gates challenges the world’s greatest chess player to a match? An embarrassment of a match that lasts little more than a minute. Notice that they are using the DGT 2010 which can be found here

Watch the Video

Words of Wisdom from Magnus Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen is only 23, but in the course of becoming the worldwide chess champion and the highest-rated chess player ever in November, he’s picked up plenty of wisdom.

While being interviewed by Founders Fund partner and PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel at a Churchill Club event at the Computer History Museum on Thursday, Carlsen, of Norway, expounded not only on chess, but also on the power and shortcomings of computers, the value of thinking fast, and the importance of eating well.

Carlsen’s insights could be of use to entrepreneurs, who, like professional chess players, need to think quickly and constantly watch for opportunities and attacks, spend day and night on their craft, and have to look confident to keep opponents at bay.

Here are a few choice quotes from the champion in response to Thiel’s questions:

Read more: http://venturebeat.com/2014/01/18/what-tech-founders-can-learn-from-chess-champion-magnus-carlsen/view-all/#ixzz2qt7aUgfF

January 2014 ratings – Nakamura now third

The sensational change at the top of the New Year’s rating list is (ta-dum!) Hikaru Nakamura’s climb to number three in the world. He is not only the highest rated American of all time, he is the second American to reach the top three since the FIDE ratings were installed. Incidentally did you know that only 0.0024% of the world population has a FIDE rating? Here’s the latest list.

http://en.chessbase.com/post/january-2014-ratings-nakamura-now-third

 

Getting in Too Deep

Working in computer chess software, the one question customers ask the most is “What is the difference between Deep and non-Deep chess engines?”.. However, in the last year or so, a close second is “What is the difference between 32 bit and 64 bit chess engines?”. Let’s take a look at the answers to both…

Deep vs “non-deep”(or standard) engines

So, for instance, Fritz 13 chess playing software (“Fritz” is the name of teh chess engine) comes in two versions. “Fritz 13” and “Deep Fritz 14”. Superficially, the products look very similar when you load them onto a PC. In fact, the interface (the part of the program that you see – the board, the analysis, the layout of the windows etc) is exactly the same. The real difference between the versions, is within chess engine (the chess playing “brain” of the program) itself. Now, I won’t get too technical with this, but if you have bought a PC in the last couple of years, you may have heard terms like “dual-core”, “quad-core”, “multi-core” etc. Don’t worry too much about the exact detailed meanings of those terms, sufficed to say that a “multi-core” processor has more than one core; which at a basic level means that your processor can do more than one thing at once, and is therefore faster than a single-core processor. Which means your experience of using your computer will be faster with a multi-core processor than with a single-core processor.

With me so far? Good.

Read the rest here

A Handful of Immortality

Almost all chess players, among the record of their games, have personal “Immortal” games. National “Immortal” games are known too – for example, “The Russian Immortal Game” (Shishkin-Griksberg, St. Petersburg 1889) and “The Polish Immortal Game” (Griksberg-Najdorf, Poland 1935) and many others. Charushin has collected some special Immortal Games!

Learn more

The Queen’s Gambit Declined, Semi-Grunfeld

We know from chess openings like the Grunfeld Defense (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5) that Black may control the center with pieces instead of pawns. But what about the Grunfeld’s poor cousin, 1.d4 d5 2.c4 g6, clearly a member of this hypermodern family? The first issue of Kamikaze Times (November, 2002) called this line the “Alekhine Defense” against the Queen’s Gambit. Alekhine did play this opening, but the editor correctly notes that Blackburne takes precedence. Unusual and seldom seen, there is not much theory to learn nor many games to consult; those who enjoy offbeat chess openings may investigate further. First we have Blackburne at work:

http://www.chesscentral.com/Chess_Knowledge_Base_a/518.htm

Working Backward to Solve Problems – GM Maurice Ashley

Imagine where you want to be someday. Now, how did you get there? Retrograde analysis is a style of problem solving where you work backwards from the endgame you want. It can help you win at chess — or solve a problem in real life. At TEDYouth 2012, chess grandmaster Maurice Ashley delves into his favorite strategy.

Check out this amazing chess and problem solving video here

Now you know why we encourage you to study the endgame! Ready to get started? We have a fast, fun, and easy way with chess software. Take a look at Endgame Training Software here.

A Paul Morphy Curiosity

This following is “a possible restoration” of an unknown Paul Morphy chess game given by Mr. A.G. Sellman, and appearing in issue #1 of The Internation Chess Magazine (Jan. 1885) edited by Steinitz.

Sir,

One of the most interesting reminiscences connected with the deceased chess king that has been handed down to posterity, is the following position which occurred in a game played at Paris, between Messrs. Morphy and Delannoy, the former giving the odds of pawn and two moves:

http://www.chesscentral.com/Articles.asp?ID=507

Fischer Random Chess Game in 1875!

Even Bobby’s “Fischer Random”, also known as “Chess960”, is not without precedent in our standard chess. We know that Fischer admires Steinitz, and is well aware of the 1st world champion’s games and writings. As a teenager Fischer was seen reading the International Chess Magazine, while as recently as 1996 he was observed buying a collection of Steinitz games from a chess shop in Argentina. One may guess whether Fischer was aware of the following game, played in the winter of 1875 between Blackburne and Potter – or of others like this one. It would be interesting to collect pre-Fischer examples of Fischer Random, to see if other piece arrangements were practiced.

The game itself is worth reproducing on several counts, beyond being a possible precursor of Fischer Random; for the unusual combat between two strong players, and the commentary by Steinitz are very fine – although the 1st world champion was still discovering his “voice” in this early column in The Field. Unless we are mistaken, a rare slip creeps into his note to Black’s 21st move where the dismissed 21…b6 does NOT lose the Exchange to 22.Ba6+ Kb8. The idea is valid, however, say if White’s Rooks were doubled. Perhaps another strange irregularity in an altogether irregular game.

Steinitz, from The Field (October 1875):

The interesting game published below was played at the West End Chess Club between Messrs. Blackburne and Potter a fortnight ago, for a small prize offered by Mr. Ballard. Both parties agreed to a displacement of the pieces, in order to waive all advantages from the knowledge of the openings, and it was therefore arranged that on both sides the Bishops should be placed on the Knights’ squares, and the Knights on the squares of the Bishops. We have adopted the usual notation, as if the pieces had been placed in the ordinary way.

View the Fisher Random 1875 Chess Game here