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| Posted by jstevens1 blitzbrain.com 6/28/2008 07:16:11 Play online chess |  Subject: Chess and the Wizard of OzMessage: The Land of Oz or the Wizard's Kingdom = The Land of Expertdom for those players with ratings of 2000+, which at the moment for me is ......... Somewhere over the Rainbow! The Yellow Brick Road = The Road to Expertdom. The Wicked Witch of the West = Enemy Queen, the chessplayer's chief nemesis who will do everything in her power to halt that chessplayer's path along The Yellow Brick Road. Glenda, Good Witch of the North = Friendly Queen - this is what I call my queen, who is doing everything in her power (by protecting her beloved husband Dear Ole 'Enry with all her might and main) to prevent the Wicked Witch of the West from pushing me backwards on the Yellow Brick Road. "The North" is also significant, because this is where the Yellow Brick Road is heading. We chessplayers all want our ratings to head DUE NORTH!! Ok, well I have annotated a few games based on this story. One is called "Glenda Saves the Day" against a chessplayer called ronlum with a rating in the low 1500s. I was two pawns down in a queen and piece ending but Glenda got in some very useful checks, winning back one of the pawns and enabling me to exchange queens into a drawn opposite bishop ending. The second one, against the same opponent is called "Stealth and Wealth" where I quietly amassed a queenside attack on a castled position and won oodles of material. I then annotated another two games against two different opponents, one who had a rating of 1480 in Old Matey Strikes, Part 1 (in which Glenda played a useful back up role) and another who again had a rating in the low 1500s called Old Matey Strikes, Part 2. In both games I delivered checkmate. I hope you all enjoy your weekend and have a good read! Cheers and bye for now. Joanne |
Chess news: Tournament of Stars -- The Tal Memorial, honoring the brilliant Latvian world chess champion, is underway in Moscow. Mikhail Tal (1936-1992) won the world chess title in 1960 and had great results throughout his playing career. But he is mostly remembered for the way he played. He enriched the chess world with incredible attacks and beautiful combinations, taking the element of risk to the edge. He was a wonderful storyteller who turned commenting on games into an art. It was a pleasure to work with him. The Tal Memorial, which ends Saturday, is called the "tournament of stars." By coincidence, the Soviets insisted on the same name 30 years ago for the tournament I organized in Montreal. It was ... A Bad Night at the Board -- “Nobody told me there would be days like these, strange days indeed.” (John Lennon) Hikaru Nakamura is the reigning United States chess champion and ranked No. 24 in the world. He is one of the best chess players the United States has ever produced. As good as he is, it has probably been a very long time, if ever, since he played a game like the one he was involved in on Wednesday night. Nakamura was playing in the quarterfinals of the United States Chess League for the Seattle Sluggers and his team faced the Miami Sharks, who are led by Julio Becerra. Becerra is unquestionably a good chess player. He is a grandmaster and he is ranked No. 477 in the world among ... Kramnik Retains Lead at Tal Memorial; Carlsen Notches First Win -- With one round to go in the Tal Memorial chess tournament in Moscow, Vladimir Kramnik of Russia holds a half-point lead over Viswanathan Anand of India, the world chess champion, and Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine. Magnus Carlsen of Norway is alone in fourth after beating Ruslan Ponomariov in Round 8. Kramnik has held the lead since Round 6, despite being held to draws in the last two games. In Round 8, he launched a sacrificial attack against Peter Leko of Hungary, but Leko was never in any real danger and simply returned the extra material to achieve a balanced position, after which Kramnik forced a draw by perpetual check. Carlsen, the top seed in the chess tournament ... | |