In an article on the website, Lubbock Online, 'The historic connection between chess and baseball in the U.S.', Susan Polgar writes, "Between 1857 and 1860, there were only two major sports "crazes" in the United States: baseball and chess." She also writes, "Unlike other board games, chess is considered a combination of art, sport and science." This is not true. For example,the same can be said about the game of Go. The entire article can be found at: http://lubbockonline.com/stories/110809/col_513984896.shtml
Larrey Anderson has written an article, 'Constitutional Chess', in American Thinker online. This is what he writes in the second paragraph: "Imagine that our Constitution is the equivalent of the rules of the game of chess. How would the modern Supreme Court and our progressive Congress conduct a chess tournament? How would they interpret the rules of the game? In making this comparison, I hope to demonstrate the inanity of modern constitutional interpretation, and to portray the legislative abuses of the Constitution, since the late 1930s. Let the games begin."
If you would like to begin the games, you can do so at: http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/11/constitutional_chess.html
Also today, Jamie Engle, a staff writer for http://www.murphymonitor.com/ writes an article, 'Murphy game inventor puts moves on chess'. It is about the new game Arimaa, "launched in 2002" (http://www.arimaa.com/) a game computers have yet to beat. She writes this, "That’s no mean feat, considering that computers have been beating human chess players for years, with no sign of humans beating computers anytime soon.
According to comments posted on BoardGameGeek.com, many of them like it even more than chess (http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/372482).
Each year there’s an online Arimaa World Championship, which (Karl) Juhnke, a Garland resident, has won twice. He recently released a book on Arimaa called “Beginning Arimaa: Chess Reborn Beyond Computer Comprehension” (Flying Camel Publications, 2009)."
What really captured my attention was this: “There are a few other games where the top human players are also better than the best computer programs, but all of these games use a much bigger board and many more pieces; also these games take much longer to finish. Arimaa is now considered the second deepest strategy game ever invented, according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_complexity,” he said."
Checking the link, I found the most complex games listed in this order: 1) Go; 2) Arimaa; 3) Shogi; 4) Amazons; 5) Quoridor; 6) Xiangqi; 7) Backgammon; 8) Chess.
The article can be found at: http://murphymonitor.com/articles/templates/news.asp?articleid=753&zoneid=3
Monday, November 9, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Martin Gardner on Bobby Fischer
An article by Martin Gardner on Bobby Fischer has appeared on the weekend edition of Arts and Letters Daily ( www.aldaily.com ). Mr Gardner writes: "Aside from chess, Fischer came close to being a moron."
This proves that when so-called 'brilliant' people write on things of which they know so little, they become moronic.
The full article can be read at: http://www.csicop.org/si/show/bobby_fischer_genius_and_idiot/
This proves that when so-called 'brilliant' people write on things of which they know so little, they become moronic.
The full article can be read at: http://www.csicop.org/si/show/bobby_fischer_genius_and_idiot/
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Do they play chess, or Go?
The headline reads: Extraterrestrial Life Official Disclosure Imminentby Michael E. Salla, Ph.DHonolulu Exopolitics Examiner
World Chess Champion Emanuel Lasker once said, "If games are played by sentient beings on other planets, then they play Go."
World Chess Champion Emanuel Lasker once said, "If games are played by sentient beings on other planets, then they play Go."
Complex Chess Game
UFO activist Stephen Bassett was the guest on www.coasttocoastam.com last night, sharing updates about the ET disclosure process. He said, "Disclosure is a 'complex chess game,' and there could be some false alarms before the truth is revealed, he added.
He envisions disclosure being announced by a non-partisan spokesperson, perhaps an esteemed scientist like Michio Kaku, who explains that an ET presence has been engaging with the human race, and this had been kept from the public because of security reasons.
He envisions disclosure being announced by a non-partisan spokesperson, perhaps an esteemed scientist like Michio Kaku, who explains that an ET presence has been engaging with the human race, and this had been kept from the public because of security reasons.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Former GM book #20 on Amazon
Former Grandmaster Kenneth Rogoff's book, This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly by Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff is the #20 top-selling book on www.amazon.com
Monday, November 2, 2009
Slaughter at Slaughters
It is always disconcerting when one learns that a person with whom one has crossed paths has 'snapped', especially when that person is a fellow player of the Royal game. The headline of the article reads: Jury sentences Young to 16 years.
The article, by Wanda Combs begins: "A jury of 6 men and 6 women found Jeffrey Martin Young guilty of all four charges in the 2008 attack of a Slaughter’s Supermarket employee and sentenced him to a total of 16 years, eight months in prison.
The jury rejected a defense contention that the 31-year-old man with a history of mental illness was insane at the time."
It goes on to report: "Young, a former chess champion and Eagle Scout, felt he had to slaughter someone at Slaughters Supermarket on January 30, 2008, and that feeling led to an unprovoked, violent attack on a 20-year-old Virginia Tech student who worked at the grocery store on U.S. 221 south of Floyd, a forensic psychologist told a jury in circuit court Tuesday.Young’s attorneys don’t dispute the attack that left Boyd scarred but they contend the 32-year-old man with a troubled past is not guilty by reason of insanity when he struck Boyd with his car in the store’s parking lot before attacking her first with a wooden log and then a club when the log broke. Young also threatened police and others with a knife.
Dr. Doris Nevin, the forensic psychologist who testified for the prosecution, said that while Young may be mentally ill she does not believe he was legally insane when he attacked Boyd.
Nevin said the name of the supermarket triggered a feeling in Young that someone had to die at the grocery store."
"Young, born in Ohio in 1977, moved to Roanoke with his mother in 1988 and graduated from Patrick Henry High School. His mother, Rebecca Young, described her son as a happy, smart student who won the city chess championship three times and a national youth chess championship. He also modeled as a teenager.
The young man went to Queens College in North Carolina after graduation but dropped out in his sophomore year after breaking up with his girlfriend, his mother testified. After a car crash that nearly killed him, she said he began to change, going into prolonged periods of depression.
Young was sent to mental hospitals in Virginia and Georgia in 2003, 2004 and 2007. In 2003, doctors at Southwest Virginia Mental Health Center in Marion diagnosed Young with a “psychotic disorder.” Other doctors later diagnosed him with schizophrenia.
Young cut off his hand with a chain saw near the Blue Ridge Parkway in 2006. The hand was reattached and he told police the incident was an accident."
The full article can be read at: http://www.savatoday.com/news/article/jury_finds_young_guilty_on_all_charges/6243/
Jeff came to the Atlanta Chess and Game Center earlier this decade, where I met the young man. He seemed rather 'high-strung', not unlike many other chess players I've encountered. The Legendary Georgia Ironman told me Jeff had once been stopped for DUI in Marietta, a very conservative city to the northwest of Atlanta, driving around drunk at 2AM on expired Virginia plates. Jeff, being new to the city, should have listened to Tim when he told him 'Mayretta', as it is known locally, was not the place to be. I mentioned to Tim then that, "He ain't right."
Jeff worked for Championship Chess, going into schools for an afternoon chess program.
In answer to my email informing him of the slaughter at Slaughter's, Tim replied: "My God, man! I started reading this without paying attention to the name, but finally I realized that this was the Jeff Young who was in Atlanta for a couple of years. He worked for Schneider, was a friend of Vest and Brian Tate. The man has been in my home, Bacon. It is chilling."
I have always wondered what it is about the game that brings 'disturbed' individuals to chess. I do not believe chess makes people crazy, but the game tends to exacerbate an already tenous situation. I cannot help thinking of Richard Crespo, the tournament director for Cajun Chess, now doing life in prison for taking a woman hostage in Texas and shooting it out with the police. I gave him the moniker 'Creepy Crespo' and was told, after the news of his 'snapping', that I was "prescient."
During a conversation with the local TD, and player, Steve Dillard, he mentioned he thought of one of the chess dads, who also plays, as being "bi-polar," having had occasion to deal with the "bad" side of this man in realation to a filming incident, and others. I could not help but recall the line of the song, "Needle And The Damage Done" by Neil Young: "A little part of it in everyone."
It is true that there is a 'fine line'...
The article, by Wanda Combs begins: "A jury of 6 men and 6 women found Jeffrey Martin Young guilty of all four charges in the 2008 attack of a Slaughter’s Supermarket employee and sentenced him to a total of 16 years, eight months in prison.
The jury rejected a defense contention that the 31-year-old man with a history of mental illness was insane at the time."
It goes on to report: "Young, a former chess champion and Eagle Scout, felt he had to slaughter someone at Slaughters Supermarket on January 30, 2008, and that feeling led to an unprovoked, violent attack on a 20-year-old Virginia Tech student who worked at the grocery store on U.S. 221 south of Floyd, a forensic psychologist told a jury in circuit court Tuesday.Young’s attorneys don’t dispute the attack that left Boyd scarred but they contend the 32-year-old man with a troubled past is not guilty by reason of insanity when he struck Boyd with his car in the store’s parking lot before attacking her first with a wooden log and then a club when the log broke. Young also threatened police and others with a knife.
Dr. Doris Nevin, the forensic psychologist who testified for the prosecution, said that while Young may be mentally ill she does not believe he was legally insane when he attacked Boyd.
Nevin said the name of the supermarket triggered a feeling in Young that someone had to die at the grocery store."
"Young, born in Ohio in 1977, moved to Roanoke with his mother in 1988 and graduated from Patrick Henry High School. His mother, Rebecca Young, described her son as a happy, smart student who won the city chess championship three times and a national youth chess championship. He also modeled as a teenager.
The young man went to Queens College in North Carolina after graduation but dropped out in his sophomore year after breaking up with his girlfriend, his mother testified. After a car crash that nearly killed him, she said he began to change, going into prolonged periods of depression.
Young was sent to mental hospitals in Virginia and Georgia in 2003, 2004 and 2007. In 2003, doctors at Southwest Virginia Mental Health Center in Marion diagnosed Young with a “psychotic disorder.” Other doctors later diagnosed him with schizophrenia.
Young cut off his hand with a chain saw near the Blue Ridge Parkway in 2006. The hand was reattached and he told police the incident was an accident."
The full article can be read at: http://www.savatoday.com/news/article/jury_finds_young_guilty_on_all_charges/6243/
Jeff came to the Atlanta Chess and Game Center earlier this decade, where I met the young man. He seemed rather 'high-strung', not unlike many other chess players I've encountered. The Legendary Georgia Ironman told me Jeff had once been stopped for DUI in Marietta, a very conservative city to the northwest of Atlanta, driving around drunk at 2AM on expired Virginia plates. Jeff, being new to the city, should have listened to Tim when he told him 'Mayretta', as it is known locally, was not the place to be. I mentioned to Tim then that, "He ain't right."
Jeff worked for Championship Chess, going into schools for an afternoon chess program.
In answer to my email informing him of the slaughter at Slaughter's, Tim replied: "My God, man! I started reading this without paying attention to the name, but finally I realized that this was the Jeff Young who was in Atlanta for a couple of years. He worked for Schneider, was a friend of Vest and Brian Tate. The man has been in my home, Bacon. It is chilling."
I have always wondered what it is about the game that brings 'disturbed' individuals to chess. I do not believe chess makes people crazy, but the game tends to exacerbate an already tenous situation. I cannot help thinking of Richard Crespo, the tournament director for Cajun Chess, now doing life in prison for taking a woman hostage in Texas and shooting it out with the police. I gave him the moniker 'Creepy Crespo' and was told, after the news of his 'snapping', that I was "prescient."
During a conversation with the local TD, and player, Steve Dillard, he mentioned he thought of one of the chess dads, who also plays, as being "bi-polar," having had occasion to deal with the "bad" side of this man in realation to a filming incident, and others. I could not help but recall the line of the song, "Needle And The Damage Done" by Neil Young: "A little part of it in everyone."
It is true that there is a 'fine line'...
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Meredith
Before going to St Louis to play in the St Louis Open at the oppulent new St Louis Chess Club & Scholastic Center, I stopped to visit a friend, and former Georgia chess champion, MPD, whom I'd not seen since 2002. He has several cats inside, and a few outside. One of the outside cats, gray and white, took and instant liking to me, and the feeling was mutual. She reminded me of one of the cats outside the abode of the Legendary Georgia Ironman, a cat I called 'lady'. This particular cat remeinded me of a cat I adopted while living in Hendersonville, NC, at a cottage on a mountain. The cat, called 'Shady Lady' by my landlords, was most affectionate; the kind of cat that, when one strokes her from head to tail, she immediately turns around so you will do it again!
After playing in the Ga State Championship and Tennessee Senior, I came to stay with MPD. I named the cat 'Meredith' because I had watched several episodes of Grey's Anatomy with my cousin, with whom I stayed after she suffered a stroke. Upon my return, I found Meredith pregnant...
I spent a great deal of time on the back porch reading, and was there when Meredith began to produce kittens. Like an excited child, I ran inside to inform MPD. I counted as each one entered the world, all five of them. I stayed up late that night, and got up early the next morning, to be informed that there were now SIX kittens!
Since I never married and never had any children, the experience of being with Meredith while she 'did her thing' was something special. I was with my two sisters when they delivered my three nephews, but on the outside, if you know what I mean!
I kept my distance while still spending time out on the back porch, keeping the other cats, opposums and raccoons away. It was not long before Meredith came over to me, and began going over to the other side to eat, leaving me 'in charge' of the kittens. MPD simply could not believe it...
Meredith would get up on my lap, or, especially after eating, hop up on the table next to me and cat-nap. Although an outdoor cat, she had the disposition of an indoor cat, being gentle and sweet. Some of the kittens took to me, especially a black and white one I called 'chess'. MPD called it 'Skunk' because it looked like a skunk, and it stuck. The three gray & white ones were somewhat indifferent, but the white one with brown splotches with black streaks I call 'BB', and the totally black cat I called 'Little Blackie', because that's what the Ironman called his black cat, where more feral. The Ironman's lady friend, Miss Pat, is an animal lover, and had informed me that most outdoor cats would not take to a human, although a few would, for some unknown reason. MPD said the same thing, telling me not all of the kittens would warm up to me... It took a long time before BB would approach me, and even longer before little blackie warmed up to me, but eventually, they all did, I'm proud to report!
I got a gig at the Kentucky state fair and had to stand all day. I was bone tired upon arriving home, but always looked forward to going outside and spending time with my 'family'.
When the kittens were ready, a lady came from Alley Cats to take Meredith and the father, Daddy-O, to be fixed. I spent much time with the kittens during the time Meredith was away...Some time after, she returned to take all the kittens to be fixed. It was my job to round-up the kittens. The first one was not difficult, lulling me into a sense of false security. The second cat, Skunk, I took through the house to the cage awaiting on the front porch turned on me, scratching me, bringing blood, before running back to the back porch. The lady from alley cats told me I needed to grab them by the scruff of the neck, which I did, having no problems with all of them. Until, that is, I nabbed Little Blackie. I could not get a good grip on him, and, as I put my left hand up to stabilize him, he turned with a look of fear, hissing, as he lashed out, ripping the flesh from my left index finger, causing blood to spurt. As if that weren't enough, he then sank his teeth into my right hand, causing much pain. Somehow I managed to not let go, and managed to get a grip on the little black devil, and put him into the cage. My hands were not completely healed by the time they were returned, and it took a full week for them to heal...I told MPD I wished to change the name from Little Blackie to Ninja Assassin, but he preferred 'Black the Ripper'!
Upon their return, all warmed up to me, especially Skunk, and BB, but not The Ripper. I noticed Meredith was acting different upon their return, but MPD told me it was natural; that mother cats want their young to be independent. Meredith took to staying on the front porch, in lieu of the back porch with the 'family'.
This morning, MPD mentioned that he had not seen Meredith that morning when he fed the family, asking me when I saw her last. I told him I had seen her on the front porch yesterday afternoon as I was leaving, recalling that I had bent down to pat her on the head as I left. I took MPD to the grocery store and Feeders Supply, for cat food. After returning, our next door neighbor came to the door, asking MPD to come outside. He came back in, calling for me. He told me CJ had seen a dead cat on the other side of the street and thought it may have been one of ours. We live on a curve, and the cars come around at too high a rate of speed. MPD could not go, so I walked over, finding the lifeless body, twisted and mangled, of my precious Meredith.
MPD gave me a trash bag, into which I had to lift and put the body, which I then took into the back yard. I used a shovel in the dismal, overcast, gray chill, to break the soft ground, where I buried the carcass, tears streaming down my face, trying the best I could to hold back the sobs. Watching me, MPD was overcome himself.
I've not been able to do much of anything today, this Halloween of 2009. I've welled up with tears for no reason, and am crying like a little baby as I sit here punchin' & pokin'...
The children are at the door and I hear laughter. I promised MPD I would come down and 'watch his back', but I really don't feel like it. My heart is not into it because it is broken. Oh, how I miss my cat!
After playing in the Ga State Championship and Tennessee Senior, I came to stay with MPD. I named the cat 'Meredith' because I had watched several episodes of Grey's Anatomy with my cousin, with whom I stayed after she suffered a stroke. Upon my return, I found Meredith pregnant...
I spent a great deal of time on the back porch reading, and was there when Meredith began to produce kittens. Like an excited child, I ran inside to inform MPD. I counted as each one entered the world, all five of them. I stayed up late that night, and got up early the next morning, to be informed that there were now SIX kittens!
Since I never married and never had any children, the experience of being with Meredith while she 'did her thing' was something special. I was with my two sisters when they delivered my three nephews, but on the outside, if you know what I mean!
I kept my distance while still spending time out on the back porch, keeping the other cats, opposums and raccoons away. It was not long before Meredith came over to me, and began going over to the other side to eat, leaving me 'in charge' of the kittens. MPD simply could not believe it...
Meredith would get up on my lap, or, especially after eating, hop up on the table next to me and cat-nap. Although an outdoor cat, she had the disposition of an indoor cat, being gentle and sweet. Some of the kittens took to me, especially a black and white one I called 'chess'. MPD called it 'Skunk' because it looked like a skunk, and it stuck. The three gray & white ones were somewhat indifferent, but the white one with brown splotches with black streaks I call 'BB', and the totally black cat I called 'Little Blackie', because that's what the Ironman called his black cat, where more feral. The Ironman's lady friend, Miss Pat, is an animal lover, and had informed me that most outdoor cats would not take to a human, although a few would, for some unknown reason. MPD said the same thing, telling me not all of the kittens would warm up to me... It took a long time before BB would approach me, and even longer before little blackie warmed up to me, but eventually, they all did, I'm proud to report!
I got a gig at the Kentucky state fair and had to stand all day. I was bone tired upon arriving home, but always looked forward to going outside and spending time with my 'family'.
When the kittens were ready, a lady came from Alley Cats to take Meredith and the father, Daddy-O, to be fixed. I spent much time with the kittens during the time Meredith was away...Some time after, she returned to take all the kittens to be fixed. It was my job to round-up the kittens. The first one was not difficult, lulling me into a sense of false security. The second cat, Skunk, I took through the house to the cage awaiting on the front porch turned on me, scratching me, bringing blood, before running back to the back porch. The lady from alley cats told me I needed to grab them by the scruff of the neck, which I did, having no problems with all of them. Until, that is, I nabbed Little Blackie. I could not get a good grip on him, and, as I put my left hand up to stabilize him, he turned with a look of fear, hissing, as he lashed out, ripping the flesh from my left index finger, causing blood to spurt. As if that weren't enough, he then sank his teeth into my right hand, causing much pain. Somehow I managed to not let go, and managed to get a grip on the little black devil, and put him into the cage. My hands were not completely healed by the time they were returned, and it took a full week for them to heal...I told MPD I wished to change the name from Little Blackie to Ninja Assassin, but he preferred 'Black the Ripper'!
Upon their return, all warmed up to me, especially Skunk, and BB, but not The Ripper. I noticed Meredith was acting different upon their return, but MPD told me it was natural; that mother cats want their young to be independent. Meredith took to staying on the front porch, in lieu of the back porch with the 'family'.
This morning, MPD mentioned that he had not seen Meredith that morning when he fed the family, asking me when I saw her last. I told him I had seen her on the front porch yesterday afternoon as I was leaving, recalling that I had bent down to pat her on the head as I left. I took MPD to the grocery store and Feeders Supply, for cat food. After returning, our next door neighbor came to the door, asking MPD to come outside. He came back in, calling for me. He told me CJ had seen a dead cat on the other side of the street and thought it may have been one of ours. We live on a curve, and the cars come around at too high a rate of speed. MPD could not go, so I walked over, finding the lifeless body, twisted and mangled, of my precious Meredith.
MPD gave me a trash bag, into which I had to lift and put the body, which I then took into the back yard. I used a shovel in the dismal, overcast, gray chill, to break the soft ground, where I buried the carcass, tears streaming down my face, trying the best I could to hold back the sobs. Watching me, MPD was overcome himself.
I've not been able to do much of anything today, this Halloween of 2009. I've welled up with tears for no reason, and am crying like a little baby as I sit here punchin' & pokin'...
The children are at the door and I hear laughter. I promised MPD I would come down and 'watch his back', but I really don't feel like it. My heart is not into it because it is broken. Oh, how I miss my cat!
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