Another great chess blog(s)
And perhaps the best blog title I have seen, check out Grandpatzer chess. It is a great blog, and he has some interesting comments on the Knights Errant. He comments on how the Circles, in undiluted form (i.e., 1300 problems on the last circle in one day), tend to lead to burnout. Indeed, the Knights who have done the undiluted Circles tend to stop posting and just shut down shop pretty soon thereafter (I think Pale Morning Dun is the exception). Grandpatzer pushes a kind of Silman vs the Knights drama, but I think that the Knights are pretty aware that strategy is important. However, some bloggers have expressed dislike of Silman's style of writing on the topic (though the biggest blog critic I have seen was a non-Knight, Patrick, in his review of Silman's book). The most popular books for strategy amongst bloggers seem to be Simple Chess by Stean and Weapons of Chess by Pandolfini.
At any rate, Grandpatzer provides great chess content, so check it out.
[Add on 4/17]
Also, check out Robert Pearson's funny tribute to Chessloser, whose irreverent and self-effacing quips are hilarious. As I mentioned in the comments there, TDs should hire this guy to do stand-up at tournaments to help unwind the uptight people in the U1800 sections trying to win $25 and +2 ELO. But no pressure, Chessloser. Write as if nobody is reading it, or else you'll end up with more ad space than content, and spending 500 hours on each post.
There seems to be an influx of great talent lately in the chess blogosphere. Or perhaps it was always there and I used to waste too much time trying to figure out what Temposchlucker was talking about.
At any rate, Grandpatzer provides great chess content, so check it out.
[Add on 4/17]
Also, check out Robert Pearson's funny tribute to Chessloser, whose irreverent and self-effacing quips are hilarious. As I mentioned in the comments there, TDs should hire this guy to do stand-up at tournaments to help unwind the uptight people in the U1800 sections trying to win $25 and +2 ELO. But no pressure, Chessloser. Write as if nobody is reading it, or else you'll end up with more ad space than content, and spending 500 hours on each post.
There seems to be an influx of great talent lately in the chess blogosphere. Or perhaps it was always there and I used to waste too much time trying to figure out what Temposchlucker was talking about.
posted by Blue Devil Knight at 4/17/2007 12:12:00 AM
6 Comments:
Thanks much for the link and the direction toward Grandpatzer Chess, which I enjoyed very much and I'll be adding to my links, as well.
I do think chess blogging is just getting better and better over time.
off topic but latest in RedSox nation.
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/
Aw, shucks!
I'm going to have to start a sidebar for blogs so I can return some favours.
Oh, and thanks for the link to that Silman review. I can completely understand why people react adversely to his style. His new endgame book is really annoying with all the "Oh my! these {really really easy} concepts are certainly daunting, but you can do it!" blowing-sunshine-up-your-ass statements at the beginning and end of each section. But hey, maybe it works for some people, especially scholastic players. However, I didn't read Amateur's Mind as being truly condescending. I thought he had his tongue firmly planted in his cheek as he wrote.
The Silman-hating prattle I take issue with is stuff like:
'most serious players think Silman is a joke. . .as do I.
"Imbalances"? Jeez. . .next thing you know we'll have "aura smoothing techniques" and "chakra readings" for chess. . .what a nitwit.'
Anyone who has read great games annotated by great players will see imbalances addressed all the time....they just don't jump up and down on a soapbox and bellow "IMBALANCE!" Let me do a quick run through my collections for examples:
"A purely positional sacrifice. For his Bishop White gets two pawns. But the destruction of the Black K side and the ease with which White can transfer his major pieces to that side make it justifiable to assume that White's attack will be almost irresistable"--Botvinnik
"If White now succeeds in exchanging two minor pieces, leaving on the board only the white-squared bishops, the game would be immediately decided, since Black's Queen Bishop is completely locked out of the game."--Tal
"Black's advantage of the Bishop pair is neutralized by the weakness of his QB3, which white can later occupy with his Knight."--Fischer
"White's positional plusses fully compensate for his material deficit. He has a strong passed pawn, and the opponent's pieces are badly placed, especially the knight at a6."--Kasparov.
I want to be a nitwit too!
Grandpatzer:
I look forward to reading Silman's Reassess once my tactics gets a bit better (and once his new edition comes out, which I wrote about here). I focus on positional ideas during games (piece activity is my guiding strategic focus), but I still usually lose games because I miss 1-3 move tactics (though more and more I'm actually making it to endgames).
thanks for bringing grandpatzer to our attention, a great blog...
and thanks for your kind words and mention of me, i appreciate it. don't worry, i'll never have ad space, i'll always write as "me"
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