MetaFilter posts tagged with CHESS

“For surely of all the drugs in the world, Chess must be the most permanently pleasurable”

The Whelk — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:08:43 -0800

"Armenia is a tiny, poor country in the Caucasus, with a population of just over 3m. It has a long history of bloodshed and oppression; when it appears in the news it is usually because of its entanglement in some labyrinthine regional feud. And it excels at the ancient, cerebral game of chess." (via)

Novel Chess

carsonb — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:49:40 -0800

Reading to the Endgame: Algorithmic translation of classic nineteenth century novels into chessboard slugfests. Select the opponents from a list of fifty-five novels in five languages, and watch each text maneuver across the battlefield.

The Magician from Riga

Joe Beese — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:11:05 -0800

To play for a draw, at any rate with White, is to some degree a crime against chess. A Latvian Jew with ectrodactyly and lifelong kidney ailments, Mikhail Tal is considered one of the most audacious attacking players in the game's history. For a quarter century, he held the record of being the youngest man to win the World Championship. And his streak of 95 consecutive games without a loss is unmatched to this day. Tal first came to international attention at age 19 with this jaw-dropping (Google cache) performance in his first USSR Championship - which he would win the following year. This post is dedicated to one of Tal's legions of admirers - Father Beese, who would have been 75 today.

Chess Queen®

Joe Beese — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 09:42:50 -0800

Once dismissed as "the Anna Kournikova of chess" for marketing her glamour, Alexandra Kosteniuk is now the Women's World Champion. (previously) Not competing was Judit Polgar - widely regarded as the strongest female chess player in history - who restricts herself to men's tournaments.

The Singing Nerd

Effigy2000 — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 21:35:10 -0800

The Singing Nerd is a guy who likes to write, play, and record songs about the things that he likes and then post music videos on Youtube. Most of these songs are about nerdy things, such as The Ballad of Catan, a song simply entitled Chess! and a song about Role Playing. But there's also songs about things we can all relate to, like Fast Food Commercials, A Trip To Las Vegas and... um... Pirates?. Hmmm. Anyway, check out the rest of his songs here.

No, it's not about sex.

juv3nal — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:05:13 -0800

MateMaster. Flash chess problems ranging from "mate in 1" to the fiendish "mate in 6." (via JiG)

Who knew that chess has drug testing

caddis — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:19:35 -0800

The Great Chess Doping Scandal Grandmaster Vassily Ivanchuk refused to submit a urine sample for a drug test at the Chess Olympiad in Dresden and is now considered guilty of doping. The world of chess is outraged that he could face a two-year ban... [He] has been a grandmaster for the past 20 years and is currently ranked third in the world. The only reason there are doping tests in chess in the first place is that the World Chess Federation (FIDE) has been trying, since the late 1990s, to make chess an Olympic discipline. And anyone wishing to be part of the Olympics must submit to the rules of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Wu-Checkmate: flexin' ya mentals.

ColdChef — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:24:32 -0800

The Wu-Tang Clan ain't nuthin to PLAY CHESS wit. WuChess.com is the worlds first online chess and Hip-Hop community. You can create and share profiles with your friends and triumph over enemies on the 64 squares. Not just against people in your neighborhood but from all over the world. Play live chess with people from all over the world and get your learn on. Blog.

Tim Krabbé's Chess Curiosities

shadow vector — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 15:58:27 -0800

Dutch author Tim Krabbé, also an expert chess player, catalogues the unusual and sublime in chess: Tim Krabbé's Chess Curiosities.

Chess Records. The 110 greatest moves ever. Underpromotion in serious games. A poignant encounter with Garry Kasparov after a loss. Or you could just start at his Open Chess Diary and work your way back.

Griefing comes to First Life

thirteenkiller — Mon, 19 May 2008 16:07:02 -0800

BREAKING NEWS: Kasparov assailed by flying dong. Possible inspiration

Brickmate!

jabberjaw — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:08:22 -0800

Cool. Cooler. Awesome! Using Lego bricks as a medium to design chess sets seems absolutely logical to anybody that grew up playing with them. Fans have gone low-tech, the inevitable Star Wars, and a few more. Lego offers a virtual cowboys-and-indians version as well. (Not to be confused with Playmobil Chess.) Sadly, Lego hasn't seemed to put much effort into Lego Checkers. Via Geekologie. Previous Lego love on the MeFi.

Turn Your Bookshelves into Art

thebellafonte — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 08:31:41 -0800

Brilliant bookshelves by color. What's that? You can't find The Scarlet Letter? Did you look under lipstick red? Colourlovers is a design blog where color-crazies go to peruse palettes, make their own swatches, and find color combination inspiration. The site also features posting capabilities (not unlike MetaFilter) where members can bring the brightest and latest to the attention of their colorful constituents (like this chess set.) If you're as into color and organization as me, you probably let out a hefty sigh after seeing the shots of these shelves. It's beautiful but it's also... comforting. Like the way a Germaphobe must feel after opening a pantry full of perfectly-lined spray bottles, rolls of paper towels, and rubber gloves. Or maybe your first thought was "is this practical?" Or "my books aren't that colorful." As some of the pictures show, this organizational structure allows one to station a book by any present color, whether it's the predominant color of the cover, the text of the title on the spine, or even the little red house emblem of the publisher. Hues allow for much flexibility and even whites are varied, some having a hint of green to them, some a whisper of yellow. There doesn't have to be a white section; these frosty shades can slide seamlessly in and out of the regular rainbow. And if you do judge a book by its cover, this could be an even more efficient method of cataloging than alphabetical.

Chess Problems

Kattullus — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 09:03:58 -0800

Chess Problems has hundreds of problems in six difficulty classes from novice to fiendish [java]

In the squares, not on the intersections, goddammit!

sonic meat machine — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 22:29:22 -0800

At the beginning of the Twentieth Century, "International Chess" was the only widely known chess variant in the West. It had its problems. People tried to solve them. Of course, they could just play xiangqi instead. There's also janggi, Makruk, and the granddaddy of them all, chaturanga. Perhaps the most refined game in the family, however, is Japanese Chess--shogi. Shogi is a slower game than international chess, with few pieces able to range freely. Pieces remain in play throughout the game--captured enemy pieces can be "dropped" onto the board, using a move to do so; in practice, this thoroughly changes the strategy. Computer opponents aren't quite as good at shogi as they are at chess, probably due to the higher branching factor: even though pieces can't range as far, drops add a large number of possibilities to the game, particularly in the endgame. The game remains relatively unpopular internationally. "Western" Chess is played in most countries, including the Asian nations, and local variants (like xiangqi and Makruk) enjoy more popularity in their respective countries than shogi does. Even in Japan, shogi plays second fiddle to Go. Still, the game has its charms, and you might play a game or two to get a feel for it, though Kurnik lags significantly behind its go-specific brethren in terms of interface and features. Who knows, though? Soon there could be a boom in popularity. Shion no Oh is an anime with shogi as a central theme. Hell, it worked for Go, right?! Of course, Go never seemed to have an inferiority complex (or a board) quite this stupidly huge.

Shake, mate.

weapons-grade pandemonium — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 10:11:44 -0800

Bulgarian chess grandmaster Ivan Cheparinov twice refuses to shake hands with English grandmaster Nigel Short before a match. This is forbidden under tournament rules, so Short protests, and here's how it plays out.

Your move, Mr Spassky

JaredSeth — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 04:05:07 -0800

Bobby Fischer, former World Champion chess player, dead at 64.

But... they're all bishops!

GrammarMoses — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 14:26:17 -0800

Dildo chess set (NSFW, probably). Other suggestive chess sets, part of a small collection of, er, pawnography. [OK, I confess, I stole that joke.]

Jude Acers, New Orleans Chess Master

The Deej — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 18:35:27 -0800

Chess legend Jude Acers. In prison.

Today we learn Sicilian Defense.

basicchannel — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 23:31:14 -0800

Learn Chess with Igor and Gleb.

One more game you cannot win...

blahblahblah — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 19:02:33 -0800

For nearly two decades, fifty computers have been running day and night on an extremely complex problem. Today, scientists from the University of Alberta announced the result of all that work - they have solved the game of checkers. Chinook, the computer program they developed, can never be beaten - try for yourself. While checkers is the most complicated game to be solved so far, it is not the only one. You can play a perfect game of tic-tac-toe, of course, but also connect four, and a 6x6 board of the game othello. Chess players are already thinking ahead to when their game is solved, with Advanced Chess being Gary Kasparov's answer. The hardest game to completely solve might be Go, which may not be solved until 2100.

Chess 2.0

boo_radley — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 12:09:10 -0800

Ajax your chess experience up with 64squar.es.

Chess tactics explained in plain English

Rumple — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 21:53:52 -0800

A Field Guide to Chess Tactics. Chess tactics explained in plain English, with hundreds of examples. A great site for beginning to mid-level players. Includes a large library of positional problems, organized thematically, with the solutions explained and discussed. For example, learn about knight forks, then quiz yourself on the same topic.

and Cash is King...

dkg — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 22:50:56 -0800

A disturbing chess set uses the US war in the Middle East as inspiration for its pieces. This is only one modern take of many variations of sets which play off of religious/cultural conflict. to The game itself generally has had a turbulent relationship with religion. In the 13th Century, Pope Innocent III excused post-chess homicide as an involuntary act. Some modern Muslims don't approve of chess, despite Islam having probably introduced it to Europe. Judaism also has a long, if disputed engagement with the game, including enduring anti-semitic attacks about "Jewish" gameplay. The Taliban banned chess in Afghanistan, and the game has returned after their fall (though it now sounds like the Afghan women's team has been withdrawn).

integer

four panels — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 16:20:04 -0800

Machine beaths Man. Deep Fritz (.pdf) has beaten world chess champion Vladimir Kramnikin in Bonn.

Grob spike-attack, Santasiere's folly, and the vulture defense

blahblahblah — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 10:43:34 -0800

Chess has a long, if somewhat shrouded, history, with beautiful chess pieces found dating from the 5th century. It has spawned hundreds of fascinating stories, and many interesting names for moves. For the last five decades, the history of chess and computers have been intertwined in many ways. Chess continues to adapt to a new age, with controversies around computer-assisted cheating, attempts to sex-up chess books, thousands of variants, and an amazing online database that can search through recorded games for the last 200 years.