tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119524032024-03-15T21:09:40.888-04:00Confessions of a chess noviceA chess blog is too serious to enjoy, and too frivolous to take seriously. –Source UnknownBlue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.comBlogger563125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-28602767585679575202014-04-02T10:57:00.001-04:002014-04-02T10:57:17.437-04:00Some new chess rules passed by FIDEYou can read about it at Chess.com.
Here are the first couple:
At the recent FIDE Congress, delegates from the 103 countries
represented made some rule changes that had been debated for the past
few years. Here are the highlights-
1. Changes for title requriements:
a. By a margin of 100-4, it was voted for the introduction of a new
title-TM (Traveling Master). To earn his TM title, a Blue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-58437598810291117912014-01-13T16:08:00.003-05:002014-01-13T16:08:52.426-05:00Smith Morra Mayhem!
Quick update...I will probably have a few over the next month.
I
have been playing a lot of blitz lately (2-5 games a day, with 3 0 time
controls). I have ignored opening theory (in fact I have purposefully
been playing objectively unsound, reckless openings), tactical training, and slow
games for the last few years. Other bits of life have become my highest
priority.
While I have found Blue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-42240904533029152122011-12-06T01:11:00.007-05:002011-12-12T12:10:57.666-05:00Happy Birthday, Carnival!That's a wrap!Welcome to the December 5, 2011 edition of chess improvement carnival. Some great stuff, and as a Christmas gift I was very inclusive in accepting stuff that was submitted.This is the last Carnival I am going to be involved with. I appreciate everyone taking the time to participate by submitting articles, hosting carnivals, etc..You have provided a lot of great content the past Blue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-6550293998455092072011-12-05T12:11:00.001-05:002011-12-05T12:12:08.218-05:00Chess Improvement Carnival the 12thWill be up tonight...My apologies for the delays, this is a sign it is time for me to pass on the skeptre!Blue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-72996367978493153992011-11-30T23:04:00.003-05:002011-12-02T09:55:22.178-05:00Tomorrow is deadline for December Carnival!UpdateThe fearless Wahrheit has volunteered to continue on with the Chess Improvement Carnival next year! If you have suggestions for how we could improve it, please write it in the comments here, or let him know.One thing on my wish list is better carnival software. The site we use is awful, but the only thing I found. If anyone knows of any alternates, please tell.Last chance! See previous postBlue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-71482082163890965742011-11-08T09:03:00.005-05:002011-11-08T09:09:35.024-05:00November Carnival is up!Intrepid Prodigal Pawn had to walk backwards through New England ice and snow, hand-coding the Carnival in machine language and sending it in via carrier pigeon. Also, I screwed up and didn't send him the submissions until late. So in general he has been through a lot, so go read his dang Carnival!Next month will be the final Chess Improvement Blog Carnival! Submit your stuff, anything from the Blue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-572835460576282552011-10-31T22:09:00.001-04:002011-10-31T22:10:05.184-04:00Reminder: Tomorrow is deadline for November 4 Carnival!See my previous post for details on this second-to-last chess improvement carnival.Blue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-59905127648839195122011-10-04T21:00:00.002-04:002011-10-04T21:03:27.372-04:00October Carnival is UpMark Weeks, at Chess for all Ages, has posted a most excellent Chess Improvement Carnival.Thanks for hosting, Mark! I look forward to learning how to improve at chess!The second-to-last carnival will be hosted by Prodigal Pawn on November 4, submissions due by November 1 here.Blue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-60748979218550764092011-09-29T08:42:00.001-04:002011-09-29T08:44:26.677-04:00Three days to submit for October!October 1 is the deadline for submitting to the October Chess Improvement Carnival. Mark Weeks is hosting, and has the announcement here.Blue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-72194488263790347022011-09-05T11:47:00.003-04:002011-09-05T11:50:01.638-04:00September Carnival is up!The ninth monthly carnival is up over at Hebden Bridge Chess Club. Thanks, Hebden Bridge for hosting twice this year.
October edition will be hosted by blogger celebrity Mark Weeks over at Chess for All Ages. You can submit your content here.Blue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-54800608921594796142011-09-03T09:04:00.004-04:002011-09-03T12:32:48.243-04:00Lineup for next four carnivals...September 4: Hebden Bridge Chess Club
October 4: Chess for all ages (Mark Weeks)
November 4: Prodigal Pawn (Tommyg)
December 4: Right here at chessconfessions.
Those hosting, please email me at bluedevil [dot] knight at yahoo so I can be sure I have your most up-to-date email address.
You can submit content (either your own or others that you really like) here by the first of the month for eachBlue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-85727142649204449502011-08-19T09:21:00.005-04:002011-08-20T00:51:49.249-04:00September Carnival HostingHebden Bridge Chess Club will host the September Chess Improvement Carnival! Submit your posts here by September 1, and the Carnival should go up sometime on the fourth. Thanks, Hebden Bridge Chess for keeping this going!
That leaves two more spaces for hosting this year, before I close up shop and pass on the baton, or just close up this experiment. If you want to host in October or November, Blue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-80502844259108093822011-08-04T23:48:00.005-04:002011-08-05T00:01:57.726-04:00Carnival the 8th is up!Thanks to Takchess, who has spared us the brown acid (see incredible footage below, go to 9:26) and given us something to smile about in the eighth chess carnival!If interested in hosting a future carnival, email me at bluedevil dot knight at yahoo.Don't take the brown acid!!!And one of the greatest performances...Blue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-85311200396826335142011-07-25T10:37:00.005-04:002011-07-25T11:42:20.955-04:00Brains on chessAn interesting paper (citation and abstract below) recently came out in which they look at chess master versus amateur brains. It suggests that the "face area" in the brain is not really specialized for recognizing faces, but familiar spatial patterns more generally. In my analysis of the circles, I commonly drew on analogies between facial recognition and chess pattern recognition, and this Blue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-72943073145007528822011-07-24T13:26:00.002-04:002011-07-24T13:31:49.106-04:00Reminder of August 1 deadline for eighth carnivalThe August Chess Improvement Carnival, to be hosted by Takchess is coming up. Deadline for submission is August 1. If you want content to be seen, whether yours or someone else's, you can submit posts here. If you want to host future carnivals, please email me at blue devil [dot] knight at Yahoo.I plan on seeing this through to number 12, the December Carnival. If you are interested in taking Blue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-5845163901704060232011-07-04T10:08:00.003-04:002011-07-04T10:15:18.177-04:00Independence Day Chess Improvement Carnival is up!The July improvement Carnival is up at The Prodigal Pawn, who is definitely in the spirit of July 4th. For those that don't know, July 4 in the United States is when you blow stuff up to show how much you love the country (ok, really it is the day, in 1776, that the United States declared its independence from British imperial rule). You can learn some American history, chess blog history, and Blue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-71439549582662516022011-06-16T00:04:00.003-04:002011-06-20T08:53:52.929-04:00Prodigal Pawn to host 4th of July Celebration of ChessUpdate: carnival announcement is up over at Prodigal Pawn: here is the link.===========Tommyg over at Prodigal Pawn is hosting the July 4 Carnival, seventh in the series. Thanks to those that are consistently publishing great content, it makes this thing keep going!If there is something you want to see, whether it is from you or from someone else's site, you can submit it here.Blue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-41732370641659736612011-06-04T20:49:00.002-04:002011-06-04T20:56:56.447-04:00Carnivàle the sixthRobert Pearson has posted a most excellent Sixth Carnival. I love the book reviews, hope that becomes a trend. Thanks Robert!You can submit stuff for the 4th of July carnival here. If you want to host then email me (bluedevil [dot] knight (yahoo)). We always need hosts: even if you are a shy, new, or infrequent blogger, or don't think you can do it, you can, and I will help you as much as you Blue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-54883069308986620562011-05-22T09:34:00.003-04:002011-05-22T09:39:11.872-04:00June Chess Improvement Carnival: Pearson Steps UpThe sixth chess improvement blog will be hosted at Robert Pearson's Chess Blog. You can submit material here, either your own or other content you like. Remember, if you want others to see it, then submit it!Blue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-75648688829205341682011-05-12T13:17:00.000-04:002011-05-13T16:24:30.124-04:00June Carnival any takers for host?We've had five great carnivals. We seem to get a steady 10-20 submissions a month. Getting people to host it is a bit tougher, though. If you are interested, please email me bluedevil dot knight at yahoo. Perhaps someone at chess.com?Blue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-7929020862417819482011-05-04T23:20:00.004-04:002011-05-04T23:27:14.984-04:00Great carnival of chess, Hebden Bridge has madeThe Fifth Chess Improvement Blog Carnival is up at the Hebden Bridge Chess Club. Some truly excellent work this month, both from the usual suspects, and some unusual suspects (especially see the roundup of Mark Weeks), and a very creative well-executed blog theme. Makes my first hosting gig look so very amateurish by comparison.Thanks Hebden Bridge Club. Err, I mean Hebden Bridge Chess Club.We Blue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-90878398969150803482011-04-27T09:54:00.005-04:002011-04-27T10:01:16.712-04:00May 4 Carnival Coming Soon:The fifth carnival is almost here, and is going to be hosted by the Hebden Bridge Chess Club Blog. It's not a Bridge and Chess club, but a chess club in a town with the quaint name 'Hebden Bridge.' It's all very British if you ask me, which just gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling (or cold and rainy I guess). The blog announcement and details are here. Remember, if there is something you want to Blue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-30784469952402202222011-04-04T11:17:00.005-04:002011-04-04T11:26:35.834-04:00Fourth Chess Improvement Carnival is up!Donnnie over at Liquid Egg Product has done a great job putting together the Fourth Chess Improvement Carnival: the Omelette Edition. Sorry, Mascot.Some great material, as usual, from the chess blogosphere. Some people are just consistently posting good stuff about improvement every month. I kept up serious blogging for about three years. Some contributors have been at it much longer: their Blue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-11081272969691464842011-04-01T00:01:00.006-04:002011-04-01T01:11:51.512-04:00My rating jumped 1000 points in one day!As most of you know, I haven't been exactly on top of my game as a chess improvement blogger. Since my humiliation at the World Open a couple of years ago, I didn't have much motivation to study chess. I just don't have the talent required, the minimal, basic innate chess IQ to hit 2000 with years of serious study. Basically, after that tournament I came away thinking I was a chess retard.Or so IBlue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11952403.post-77737632555935873612011-03-30T16:31:00.004-04:002011-03-30T16:38:02.337-04:00Three days left to submit to the April Chess Carnival!Deadline is the end of the day April 2. If you want to see something in the carnival, whether you wrote it or not, then submit it here. Liquid Egg Product's carnival anouncement is here. Chess instruction, annotated games, humor...it's all good. Whatcha got, blogosphere?Blue Devil Knighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12045468316613818510noreply@blogger.com0