A unique event has been planned in South India fromJanuary26thtoFebruary2nd, 2020:Achess tournament on a floating house boat in the famous Vembanad Lake of Kerala! Dubbed as 'Gods own country', the state of Kerala in south India is a beautiful stretch of land in the southwestern tip of the peninsula. With long stretches of beaches, lush green coconut groves and paddy fields, hills, valleys and enchanting backwaters, easily the most sought after tourist destination in India. As they say in India, it is the only state in the country with all the types of tourists destinations that one can think up beaches, rivers, waterfalls, lakes, hill stations, palaces, historic monuments, architectural marvels, art collections, famous temples, adventure sports, music and dance festivals and medical tourism.

For the first time ever, an international chess tournament that blends chess and tourism has been planned in this traveller's paradise, to be held at four different venues: two days in a floating houseboat in the Vembanad, the longest lake of the country, and a day each by the Marari Beach, a 5-Star hotel and a riverside resort.

It is a unique experience to live in the 'Houseboats' of Kerala you have a huge boat for yourselves, with all the amenities of a home floating in the Vembanad lake with bedrooms, dining space, kitchen and restrooms. The boat is managed by a crew who cook your food and cruise the boat along breathtaking scenery all through the day. The air-conditioned floater for the event 'Chess Houseboat 2020' is identical to the 'Spice Routes luxury houseboats' which hosted theKing of the Netherlands when he visited Keralaa couple of months ago.

The tournament itself will be a 10-round unrated Swiss with a time control of 20 minutes plus five seconds per game, spread over six days two rounds per day in the mornings in five days with a complete rest day after six rounds, apart from the day of arrival and departure. It is conducted by 'Oriental Chess Moves Trust', an independent chess body of organisers and chess lovers. They are headed by NR Anil Kumar, a former member of the Indian Chess Olympic team and an International Master in Correspondence Chess, along with Joe Parappilly and P Manojkumar, former international players. The authenticity stamp for the event comes in the form of the associate organisers, the Department of Kerala Tourism, an official government arm.

The tournament carries a total prize fund of 5000, with 2500 in cash and 2500 'in kind' as follows:

The accommodations for each day have been planned at different places, the first three nights being planned at the 'Lake Palace Resort', Alleppey.

The Lake Palace Resort, on the banks of the Vembanad Lake

A further two nights stay will be at the luxuriousCrown Plaza Kochi, a 5-star facility.

The Crown Plaza Kochi, one of the finest hotels of the beautiful city of Cochin

The final two nights of stay have been planned at theHyatt Regency, Trichur, another 5-star facility.

The breathtaking ball room of Hyatt Regency at Trichur, the cultural capital of Kerala

The games too will feature different ambiances, offering a variety of playing conditions. The first two days' rounds have been planned in floating houseboats.

Could this be your tournament hall?

The third day, the games have been planned at the famousMarari Beach resort, at a beautiful location of a long sandy strip of beach surrounded by palm groves.

Thatched-roof houses in style of the local fisher-folk abodes, are unique attractions of Marari

While the fifth day's games have been planned at the Crowne Plaza Kochi hotel, the last two rounds will be in another unique location, Rasa Gurukul Heritage Village, a beautiful riverside retreat among the coconut and spice groves.

A bird's eye view of Rasa

Strewn across the itinerary are some of the unique experiences of Kerala which the organisers are offering for the players. A few of the best tourist attractions of the state are included among the list of visiting locations, typically in every afternoon and the rest day.

Athirapilly Waterfalls, an unforgettable experience

Fort Kochi, a nostalgic ambience of a bygone era

The historic Chinese fishing nets of Fort Kochi

Kerala also being a land with a rich heritage, the organisers have promised some of the ancient arts of the state to be staged during the event.

Kathakali performance

'Kathakali', an ancient art form of Kerala, with elaborately colourful makeup, masks and costumes, which blends dance, music and acting, with dramatization of stories from the Indian epics such as Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Mohiniyattam, a delicate and feminine dance form

Kalaripayattu, an ancient battlefield martial art of the land, with unique weapons and combative techniques

The organisers aim to market the tournament with a complete package of entry fees, accommodation for sevennights, food (not includingalcohol) and light refreshments between games, tickets for travel, sightseeing, activities & cultural shows, airport transfers and a friendly tournament. The packages have been pegged at:

Since space on the boats is limited, the total entries are capped at100 applicants.

The itinerary with more details of the tournament and the registration process can be found atchesshouseboat.org. The organisers can be contacted at info@chesshouseboat.org, passedpawn@gmail.com and at +919446230888 (Mobile).

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Chess on an Indian house boat - Chessbase News

Perhaps only rivaled by the question if chess is a sport, athletics or just a game (Vik-Hansen, 2013) the role of luck in chess seems to captivate and intrigue players, non-players, professionals and amateurs alike.

The mere possibility of luck seems to contradict and undermine our perception of chess as a rational activity where skills and proficiency alone, in contrast to say dice or card games where luck is assumed to even out in the long run, are supposed to decide the outcome. In other words, chess is perceived as an activity where the players control the chain of events to such an extent that by training and effort we improve and thus control the result or outcome.

However, the notion of no luck in chess is, perhaps surprisingly, inextricably linked to a notion of free will, an idea of control, which yet further is linked to a concept of consciousness and a conscious I. Therefore, our first task is to clarify what sort of agency, or control, would exclude luck from playing a part in chess.

Human agency might be summarised as (1) action, (2) thinking and (3) perception, and we start off with action.

Regarding agency, much debated is the mind/body duality where the problem is to account for how mental states, or properties, like seeing colours, experiencing pain, tasting or smelling something, can cause physical limbs (arms and legs) to movea duality that might be summed up in two hitherto unreconciled principles:

The causal closure of the physical domain, which states that every physical effect or event has a physical cause. In a physical system, like a human body, only physical causes can move the meat (Kim, 1993, p. 280; Vicente, 2006, p. 150)

The causal relevance of the mental domain, where the question is how mental properties or states can move the meat.

A problem with the term conscious when describing actions [consciously + verb], is ambiguity, as the term may refer to common/shared knowledge, censorship, introspection, personal identity (the I as the totality of all our mental states and the answer to what or who owns these mental states) (Gundersen, 2004, pp. 8-11) or free will as an ability to act freely and unconstrained.

Examples from chess discourse, chess literature and the chess press might lure us to think that consciousness pervades all mental life but far from it because we cannot be conscious of what we are not conscious of (Jaynes, 2000, p. 23). Jaynes (2000, p. 23; Nrretranders, 1999, p. 174) compares our impression of the ubiquitousness of consciousness with a flashlight searching for something in a dark room that is not lighted and has to conclude, since there is light in whatever direction it turns, there is light everywhere.

Despite huge time gaps when the flashlight is not on, to the flashlight itself it seems it has been on all the time, and similarly, we are conscious far less of the time than we think because we are not conscious of the gapsthe timewe are not conscious of (Jaynes, 2000, p. 24).

As with the blind spot (Jaynes, 2000, p. 25; Nrretranders, 1999, p. 180), in the field of vision we do not noticethe optically insensitive region on the retina void of visual cellsboth because the spot is located on different places in the right eye and the left eye and our brain and visual experience fill in the gaps, consciousness fills in the time gaps in the stream of consciousness and gives the illusion of continuity (Jaynes, 2000, p. 25)

Since free will hardly can be thought independently of consciousness and a conscious I, it begs the question if a non-physical consciousness could cause physical limbs to move, and if so, why not ask paralysed patients in wheelchairs to use their free will and make a conscious decision and just get up? Do we blame the paralysed for being weak-willed?

However, assumed consciousness cannot initiate actions or physical movements, neurophysiologist Benjamin Libet (1985), in the wake of his experiments in the early 80s, suggested consciousness, even if not the initiator, still could lay down a veto, depending on how disciplined it is.

How often have we not caught ourselves saying I was about to say/dobut caught myself, where our mind has initiated an impulse for us to say or do something but we stop, or veto the impulse from running to action. Because we cannot be conscious of what we are not conscious of and free will hardly can be thought independently of consciousness and a concept of a conscious I, neither can we know how much of the time free will is not at work; we only know when it is at work; during the veto.

A rare and striking illustration of the veto gave the blitz game Magnus Carlsen vs Levon Aronian in the eighth round of the 6th Norway Blitz 2018.

Aronian as Black onmove 52 was about to recapture Carlsens pawn on g4 but within a fraction of a second, with pawn in hand and hovering half way over Carlsens pawn, he catches himself and the brain initiates another impulse whereupon he with a slower movement passes by Carlsens pawn and Carlsen resigns.

Aronian was about to play the auto-pilot move, recapture since Carlsen first captured a pawn

Carlsens brain, on the other hand, initiated a blunder impulse, i.e. an impulse that if converted to action (move in our context) leads to a mistake, where Carlsen was not in time to become conscious of what he was about to; he was not in time to catch himself.

Actions are one thing, but what about thinking? Can we think what we want/will?

In the early twentieth century, Marbe (2012/1901) and Watt (1906) demonstrated that thinking and judging, the supposed hallmarks of consciousness, arenot conscious at all (Jaynes, 2000, p. 38). We do our thinking before we know what we are to think about. We do not know what we are thinking until were thinking it and only its preparation, materials, and end result are consciously perceived (Jaynes, 2000, p. 39).

Could we (consciously) select the best preparations and best materials for the actual thought processes, we would control the thought processes as well as the end result. In chess, thinking manifests itself in cognitive activity as diverse as assessment, analyzing and calculating. We are, of course aware of or conscious of the fact that we are assessing a position, analysing or calculating certain moves or variations but the processes are all subconscious, since, with access to all the (perfect) information right in front of us, we would not misjudge a position, analyse or calculate poor moves or bad variations on purpose.

Since the 1950s it has been known that only a fraction (1-40 bits) of the 11,121,000 bits of the information flooding through our sense organs makes up a conscious experience (Zimmerman, 1986), and neurophysiologist Hans H. Kornhuber (1988) states:

Thus, there is a great deal of information reduction in the nervous system. Most information flow in the brain is, by the way, unconscious. The soul is not richer than the body; on the contrary, most of the processing in our central nervous system is not perceived. The unconscious (which was discovered and elucidated long before Freud) is the most ordinary process in the nervous system. We just look at the results, but we are able to direct the focus of attention.

The brain, and not we consciously, controls the influx of information, selects and organises the relevant information units into a coherent conscious experience and if we could direct our focus at will, how to explain errors, mistakes, blunders, mishaps or slip-ups? The phrase having our attention or interest caught implies that something outside our consciousness does the catching. If we could direct our focus at will, why not focus on what we should focus on? Homework, chores, poverty, trapped knights and rooks en prise? (Parenthetically speaking, how come we let our knights get trapped or we leave our rooks en prise if we at will could direct the focus of our attention?)

Delineating human agency into action (the veto), thinking and perception, when our veto depends on how disciplined our consciousness is, our actions may be said to have three possible sources: (1) Intracerebral (brain/mind alone), (2) external (impressions/information solely from outside) or (3) interplay between internal and external factors where we, because we cannot get behind our consciousness, as it were, are in no position to distinguish, isolate or separate different types of causes from one another. We are not conscious of the preceding causes leading up to the moment of action we are conscious of.

However, our delineation of human agency suggests that the brain by subconscious physical processes plays chess when triggering moves, whereas we (consciously) play chess by the veto, i.e. when aborting or stopping our brains suggestions.

Winning the lottery as an example of luck might be considered paradigmatic, caused by a coinciding of several causes/circumstances/events, intracerebral as well as external:

(Chance in lottery does not consist in the drawing but in the picking of the numbers, as the drawn numbers do not occur by chance, i.e. are uncaused, but result from causes beyond our control.)

We may now summarise our findings so far:

(1) Actions subconsciously initiated, (2) the information units pouring through our senses, (3) the minds processing of the information, (4) the selection and organization of information into a conscious experience and (5) external causes/circumstances resulting in our winning the lottery, suggest a tentative and general definition of luck and unluck:

Luck: unpredictable. favourable outcome(s) where we neither control the causes at work or how they work together (certain outcomes presuppose certain events) and an ability not to abort impulses leading to unpredictable, favourable outcomes (picking the right lottery numbers and not handing in the ticket) and to abort ill-conceived impulses leading to unfavourable outcomes (blunders in chess).

Unluck: (unpredictable) unfavourable outcome(s) where we neither control the causes at work nor how they work together and are unable to abort the chain of causes (often in the shape of ill-conceived impulses (blunders in chess).

Case in point: We avoided the avalanche because we missed the ferry when our friend called to tell us he had won the lottery on the same day his wife said she would divorce him after his old parrot for the umpteenth time bit her in her wooden leg.

However, chess appears essentially different from playing the lottery but if in control, how to explain:

If mistakes are not made on purpose but still happen, are we suggesting our limbs move without us knowing?

If the better player (on paper) always is in full control, always wins and luck plays no role:

Victory against weaker players (on paper) would be a forgone conclusion, a matter of course, so why play at all (Beyond getting the formalities out of the way)? Unless the players are equally rated, will the games be called off?

We would never end up in worse positions against weaker players (on paper) in the first place.

There is no need for happiness, rejoice or celebration when winning games, tournaments and matches, since the result, again, would be a forgone conclusion and a matter of course. (Imagine a deadpanned reaction like, Hold your applause. Of course I won, Im better.)

However, applause, celebrations, congratulations, high-fives, rejoice, smiles, and feeling of relief after winning or drawing lost games against equally strong (on paper) or weaker players (on paper) and games against lower rated opponents still being played, are all visceral testimony to a realisation that there might be gaps and glitches in perception and neural networks; the result or outcome is not a given or foregone conclusion, as ratings per se only measure past achievements. The only possible praise or compliment appears to be a measured: Good for you, when we cannot take credit for our achievements or anything but appreciate we got to experience the pleasure of success.

If chess moves and lottery numbers as well result from a coinciding of intracerebral and external causes/circumstances beyond our control, how does playing chess differ from playing the lottery?

The boundaries of human agency and control summarised as (1) action, (2) thinking and (3) perception, and our veto depending on how strong or disciplined our consciousness is, distinguish luck in chess from lottery luck as:

Unpredictable, favourable outcome(s) of causes and circumstances beyond our control, internal as well as external, but not in the lottery sense of the word as the brain/mind as a physical system is more stable/consistent than the drawing of lottery numbers, yielding different numbers every week.

Ability not to abort impulses leading to unpredictable, favourable outcomes and to abort ill-conceived impulses leading to unfavourable outcomes (blunders). (If we did control the veto-moment, we would never let ill-conceived impulses run to action.)

Happens over the board (OTB-luck) when gaps and glitches in our control, i.e. time gaps we are not conscious of, provide our opponents with chances and possibilities we later come to call luck, since, if conscious (no gaps), we would in not on purpose present our opponents with such chances and possibilities the first place. (These gaps, paradoxically, do not lend themselves to dating (since we are not conscious of them) but are manifested or expressed by our moves.)

If we were in control of both internal and external causes and circumstances underlying our moves, the better player (on paper) would always win against weaker players (on paper) as a matter of course but, as we know, the better player does not always win and our definition may explain why: Better players have full control most of the time, no control some of the time but never full control all the time.

When better/stronger players (again on paper) do not have control, there are gaps or glitches in their perception (they see the board but dont perceive it (Vik-Hansen, 2016)) or in the causal nexuses or causal chains in their physical neural network system (a.k.a. the brain/mind in the shape of processing the information) and in these gaps and glitches precisely lies weaker players (on paper) chance for improvement by defeating or drawing the better/stronger player.

We might say that one causal network (the weaker player) exploits the gaps and glitches in another causal network but where neither player consciously or volitionally controls the causal neural network, neither their own nor their opponents.

(In the contention that the better player always wins, there is a logical trap: If a weaker player (on paper) in a single game defeats the stronger player (on paper), the weaker player indeed turned out better. In other words, if the better player (on paper) does not always win against weaker players (on paper) they are by definition not better. How many games are better players (on paper) required to win against weaker players (on paper) to be recognised as generally better?)

Luck defined as gaps and glitches in perception as well as causal neural networks and unpredictable, favourable outcome(s) of causes and circumstances beyond our control, internal as well as external suggests, that luck in chess is not limited to play over-the-board but applies to (away-from-the-board) analysis or situations as well, illustrated by the following snippets from Kasparov and Anand:

Kasparov (2003, p. 208) on Laskers 59th move against Rubinstein (St. Petersburg, 1914): The last critical position in this amazing game. Here, with the help of a computer, I was fortunate enough to discover something.

Anand (2012, p. 187) commenting on Blacks 18th move in the 9th match game against Kasparov in their PCA World Championship match in 1995: I was surprised that he was prepared to go down this line [following a Scheveningen Sicilian from Cuijipers-De Boer, Dutch Championship, 1988] so blithely.It was lucky I didnt know about this game, or I might have abandoned the whole line!

Our definition suggests why luck and objectivity (IM Grnn as quoted in Fosse, 2017, Det beste og verste med sjakk [The best and worst with chess], para. 3) are not mutually exclusive: Objectivity merely signifies that moves and variations in principle, impartially and universally can be tested independently of individual subjectivity bias caused by perception, imagination, emotions, preferences or convictions, not that we control the unfolding of the events.

Along the same lines falls Valakers rejection of luck (Valaker, 2010) because chess is supposed to be a battle between brains/minds. However, dismissing luck ignores the human factor former world champion Lasker (1868-1941) encourages us to take into account when stating chess being a battle between brains/minds, as the battle does not imply our controlling the processes in the brain/mind.

In light of our analysis and definition of luck in chess, the axiom often ascribed to Capablanca (Winter, 2016), The good player is always lucky, may be said to be playing for three results(1) nonsense, (2) tongue in cheek and (3) deep insightand may serve to illustrate Italian programmer Alberto Brandolinis (2013) Bullshit Asymmetry Principle (or Brandolinis law), stating that the amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than to produce it, (he principle can be sharpened by differentiating between different types of nonsense or bullshit: some types taking longer to refute than others) captured also by the old proverb, a lie is halfway round the world before the truth has got its boots on.

If a good player is always lucky, were not talking luck and although the contention there is no luck in chess are only six small words, it takes quite an amount of analysis and elaboration to prove it problematic, if not flat out groundless.

Grnn (as quoted in Hiby, 2016) praises Carlens queen sacrifice 50.h6+ against Karjakin (New York, 2016), as something that happens to people who deserve it, as a reward for good play, and according to Hillarp-Perssonannotating Carlsen-Nepomniachtchi (London Chess Classic, 2017), luck usually comes to those who deserve it, which opens for worthy and unworthy recipients of luck. However, since the chain of causes leading up to the luck moment is beyond our control, luck is something we do not deserve but merely something that happens us (Good for you).

Accepting and coming to terms with the fact that luck indeed is an inherent component of chess and that we do not possess the control traditionally ascribed to conscious agency, may, as the presence of luck grants us adequate space to distance ourselves from our misery and cushion the blow, help us lower the bar of expectations and help us deal better with defeats and better cope with tension.

Concluding our analysis, we bid the reader farewell with the winged words of late Dutch grandmaster Donner (2006, p. 86):

Chess is and will always be a game of chance. How now, sir? I hear you cry. Isnt it precisely the best and noblest aspect of the game of chess that the chances are equal and that the players control everything themselves? Yes, gentlemen, quite, but who can control himself?

Among his philosophical interests, Rune Vik-Hansen nurtures a passion for the question of free will and has over the last decade suggested how it might be relevant to playing chess. Drawing upon philosophy and recent findings on brain and consciousness, Vik-Hansen offers an original and fresh approach to classical chess problems and has in great depth explored different aspects of chess playing, from analyzing blunders to questioning the concept of pattern recognition.

| Photo: Anniken Vestby, Troms

ChessBase articles

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Chess and Luck - Chessbase News

In 2019, we redesignedChessBase Magazine adding a new more accessible layout, and revamped theMega Database 2020 layout as well. Then there's the new Fritz 17 with multiple engines including Fat Fritz, arguably the strongest chess playing entity on the planet as we head into the new year.

We've implemented several improvements to the FritzTrainer line of instructional videos, notably adding Mac compatibility to our flagship releases. An independent iPad version is also available. Now we've asked prolific reviewer Davide Nastasio, who's probably spent more time with the FritzTrainers than just about anyone, for his top picks of the year. Here are ten video series not to be missed!

For coaches and chess teachers the series of FritzTrainers by Pert on typical mistakes is fundamental in Nastasio's opinion.

Within the video series there are several chapters, and each chapter comprises a theme for games played between players rated between 1000-1600. Several games are explained and then there are many interactive examples for the viewer to have a go at themselves.

In every game of chess, there comes a moment when one is confronted with the question: what should I do now? Often, the solution involves more than finding just one single move, and you are rather challenged to work out a complete plan instead. In order to make an effective plan, one needs to delve deeper into the position just determining which pieces are good and bad normally is not enough to find your way.

Five key elements of positional play are discussed which help you formulate the right plan:

After going through the 12 examples from the theoretical section, its time for you to get actively involved! The author has collected no less than 50 instructive examples with multiple questions to test your positional understanding. On top of that, another 50+ examples have been added in a separate database, while there is also a new feature in the Fritz app to play out various positions.

The current World No.2, being a 1.e4 player his entire life, has shared his deep knowledge about the Ruy Lopez in a 3-DVD series, acclaimed by amateurs and professionals alike. In 2018, Fabiano Caruana achieved one of the most prestigious honours in the history of the game: he qualified for a match for the World Chess Championship. He lost, but left many surprised as to how he out-prepared and out-played Magnus in the classical portion of the match.Read the review.

Navigating the Ruy Lopez Vol.1-3

The Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest openings which continues to enjoy high popularity from club level to the absolute world top. In this video series, American super GM Fabiano Caruana, talking to IM Oliver Reeh, presents a complete repertoire for White.

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The London System with 2.Bf4 Reloaded

Over the last couple of years nearly all the worlds elite grandmasters have been employing the London System, and on this DVD Simon Williams shows what we can learn from their practice. The Ginger GM takes a look at all the latest developments whilst t

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Why bother learning hundreds of complex variations when you can play a simple yet deadly opening the London System with 2.Bf4. Over the last couple of years nearly all the worlds elite grandmasters have been employing the London System, and on this DVD Simon Williams shows what we can learn from their practice. The Ginger GM takes a look at all the latest developments whilst teaching you all the basics that you need to know in order to play this opening with success.

Following his first bestseller on the London System, Williams new work not only updates previous analyses but is also packed with new and original ideas which can be used even at the highest level - a must for players who want results, yet do not have much time on their hands. If youre not a practitioner of the London System yet, in fact the only question remains: Why Not?

The London System is becoming increasingly popular, both at grandmaster and club level. The theory of the opening is developing quickly, with new things being tested all the time. This, in return, gives rises to fresh tactical ideas which should belong to the basic arsenal of any London devotee after all, tactics remains the be-all and end-all of the game. On this DVD, Simon Williams shows all the complications in the London System one has to know as White, giving you the tactical tools for a successful practice the player who knows the typical motifs has an advantage over the board. Using the interactive FritzTrainer format which invites the viewer to answer questions by entering the moves on the screen, the Ginger GM, intensively and systematically, makes your familiar with a multitude of typical tactical finesses in positions of the London System. Of course, those who dont yet have this opening in their repertoire can also profit after all, a sharp combinatorial vision is always useful in chess.

Of course Black has something to say about the opening as well. In this FritzTrainer, GM Yannick Pelletier offers Black a repertoire against the London System that you can employ no matter which opening (Systems with d5, systems with g6, Queens Indian, Queens Gambit, Benoni, Benko, Dutch) you usually play against 1.d4 followed by 2.c4. Thematic games explain and illustrate the theory and ideas of the repertoire Pelletier proposes. At the end of the DVD you are invited to test your knowledge. The author pauses at key moments and asks you to find and to play the best move, after which he gives feedback. A database with carefully selected and annotated games helps you to understand and play the opening better and to counter the London System with success.

Is Bird's opening an audacious attempt by chess mavericks? Or a slightly offbeat way for White to get an advantage in today's hyper-engine-analyzed opening landscape? Can the Bird's be a way to disorient our opponents using a lesser-known opening? The Bird's is an opening for players who are free spirits. IM Lawrence Trent in his latest work addresses this need, covering all of Black's answers, and proudly finding new moves in old lines. If you are a club or a tournament player, searching for a surprise weapon, the Bird's can give a boost to your wins! Read the review.

Always wanted to play like a World Champion? Search no further! With Magnus Carlsen using the Sveshnikov variation as his weapon of choice in the World Championship match against Fabiano Caruana, this DVD could not be better timed. The Dutch grandmaster Erwin LAmi (former second of Veselin Topalov and currently seconding Anish Giri), guides you through this dynamic opening variation. The DVD offers a complete overview of this fascinating opening that has inspired generations of chess players!

See also:Fast and Furious: The Sveshnikov surge

Nastasio noticed a flaw in many chess biographies of world champions. They all have an index for the opponents, they have an index for the openings, but there is no index for the interesting endgames. Often we find a 400 or 500 page biography with tons of games, yet no idea how to find typical middlegame themes or endgames to learn from. In the latest FritzTrainer from GM Karsten Mueller, however, you'll find the world champions' best endgames, each deconstructed using Mueller's great endgame insight and teaching experience.Read the review.

In Master Class Vol.11: Vladimir Kramnik,Dr. Karsten Mller, Mihail Marin, Oliver Reeh and Yannick Pelletiershowyou how to learn from the example of one of the best players in the history of chess, how to successfully organise your games strategically, how to keep your opponent permanently under pressure and how to bring your games to a successful conclusion with accurate technical endgame play. Through Vladimir Kramniks games it is possible, moreover, to follow the history and development of numerous popular openings and thus obtain a better understanding of the ideas behind them.

Master Class Vol.11: Vladimir Kramnik

This DVD allows you to learn from the example of one of the best players in the history of chess and from the explanations of the authors (Pelletier, Marin, Mller and Reeh) how to successfully organise your games strategically, consequently how to keep y

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For a player who wants to learn a wide range of different middlegame positions, the English should definitely be high on the list. Flexibility in move orders can mean the difference between quiet or aggressive play.Marin, who previously authored one of the biggest literary works on the English opening and has now brought his experience to the video format in a new, updated repertoire. Glimpse his deep knowledge, acquired through years of practice, in order to gain confidence in this new opening weapon suitable in every type of setting, from long time control tournaments to online blitz.Read the review.

Looking for a holiday gift for your chess-fan friend or relative? We've got you covered! You'll find all these and much more in the ChessBase Shop!

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Top FritzTrainers of the year - Chessbase News

LUDHIANA: In what could be a satisfying result against India's top rated Grandmaster and fifth seeded Sasikiran Krishnan, city's only GM Raunak Sadhwani got success in holding his experienced opponent in the sixth Sunway Sitges International Chess Festival at Barcelona, Spain, on Saturday.

Defending brilliantly well with his black pieces the 13-year-old played out a marathon 63-move contest to hold country's top ranked Indian GM participating in the tournament. With this draw, both Raunak and 2656 Elo Sasikiran Krishnan maintained their joint fourth position.

While Raunak gave one of his best performances so far, Divya Deshmukh ended her two-game winning drought with a facile victory over Candidate Master Shahil Dey. Sankalp Gupta, however, found higher ranked Spanish GM Larino Nieto David tough to handle in the eighth round.

For 2507 Elo Raunak the day brought satisfactory result. On the 10th board, Raunak opted for the Ruy Lopez opening which had an Anti-Marshall Variation against the King Pawn start done by Sasikiran. Both the Indian masters fought for over 4.5 hours before they finally split the points with Raunak down by a piece in a double-rook end game.

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Raunak holds India's top rated GM Sasikiran in Spain - Times of India

Chess, they say, is the gymnasium of the mind. And so, when one sees, a young eight-year-old trapezing through it, so effortlessly, it becomes a fascinating feat to behold. Alana Meenakshi Kolagatla is such a champion. A cute and lean-looking girl, its when you challenge her to a game of chess, that the mean-thinking machine in her comes leaping out. Focussed and composed, she quickly beats you at a game, with moves youve least expected.

At the age of five and a half, when most kids were trying to use crayons and colour inside the line, this young girl was already making highly strategic moves. It all started when I brought home the game of chess, and laid out the board in front of her. I simply told her the names of each of the pieces, and showed her a few basic moves, shares Dr. Aparna, Alanas mother. Without giving it a second thought, the box was brought out the next day, and Alana recalled not only all the pieces but their positions as well. Dr. Aparna being a junior level chess player herself, was quick to identify her talent, and slowly started to encourage her child. It would be casual games at home in the beginning, but I soon felt that I wasnt doing this right. She had interest and needed time and attention. A coach could really help her understand and explore the game better. Alana soon became part of a summer camp at YMCA, and despite being the youngest, her coach Chiranjeevi saw the spark in her, when she began beating opponents at matches.

It was from this juncture that Alana started getting into serious training. She participated in competitions, at district and state levels, acing in all of them. By the end of 2018, Alana had played in different formats and even won medals for the country. This included winning four medals at the 14th Asian Schools Chess Championship, in Sri Lanka, which comprised of a gold, a silver and two bronzes in the Under 7 girls category. She went on to bag the gold in Classic format and also the Women Candidate Master (WCM) Title. Alana next participated in the 32nd Under-7 girls nationals Championships in Karnataka and was tied for gold. She went on to win at the Under 8 girls category in the Asian Youth Chess Championship, in Sri Lanka in 2019 and won two gold medals for India in the rapid format in both individual and team. Riding the wave of victories, she next represented India at the World Cadet Chess Championship 2019 in China and finished in the top 15. This was closely followed by the Western Asian Junior and Youth Chess Championship at New Delhi where Alana dominated all the Chess formats in the Under-8 girls category, as she finished with two gold in Rapid and Blitz and one bronze in Classic format. Having finished 47 brilliant matches, in a short span of 37 days, she has moved from one victory to another, as she was defeating children her age, and many opponents who were older than her too. It was encouraging to see her improve at every game, analysing mistakes and learning from them., says her mother Dr. Aparna.

Having started to play very early on, life has been far from typical for this chess player. However, it hasnt affected her much. When shes home, shes chilled out, plays with her friends, paints, and draws. When shes travelling, she adapts to new places quickly, shares her father Madhu Kolagatla. It did take a while to adjust to food options in different countries, and for a while, my wife would carry a cooker to provide the type of food that Alana was used to. But soon, that wasnt required as well, as Alana started adapting to new environments and foods. When asked what the extended family and relatives had to say, Dr. Aparna dismisses by saying, There was some criticism initially, but slowly support started growing when they saw her winning, she adds.

After her gold at the Asian Youth and Western Asian Chess Championship, Alana now eyes the dream of becoming the youngest Grandmaster. Currently undergoing training, at Chennais Chess Gurukul, this chess player is honing her skills. Shes building patience, technique, and skill, to tackle the games that come her way in the future. Having been an official Indian representative for this years Under-8 girls Chess World Youth Cadet, Asian Youth, Common Wealth, Western Asian Youth and Under-9 girls Chess Championship for World Schools, Asian Schools, and Indian Nationals, she has shouldered plenty at her young age. And as she readies for upcoming competitions, this young star is set to shine further.

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Meet Alana Meenakshi, the 8 year old chess player making Vizag proud - Yo Vizag

The Premier Leagues official fantasy football league has over seven million entrants. And as of a few days, World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen was number one in the league. As of this writing, he's down to third place.

Apparently, Norwegians tend to do well in the league:

Carlsen, like many Norwegians, is obsessed with both the Premier League and its fantasy league spin-off. In 2017, eight players from Norway were in the top 50 FPL players in the world.

Along with a "phenomenal memory for Premier League details," Here's his strategy:

Writing for EGM, Alexis Ong looks at Neurocracy, SCP Foundation, and other gameful hypertexts. It reminded me of SCP-3308, which describes a disturbing Ikea. The location seems to be a typical Ikea, but once you enter, youre transported to an infinite space that looks like, but is not quite an Ikea: SCP-3008-1 is inhabited by []

I remember buying Westwood Studios (miss those guys) point-and-click Blade Runner game to play on my old ThinkPad, back in the late 1990s. It was the first game I can recall owning that spanned multiple disks. While I was surprised to find that the main character in the game neither looked or sounded like Harrison []

Writing for Vice, Gabriel Soares takes a look at Civilization and why a standard playthrough tends to get more boring as the player reaches modern day technology: what is progress in an historical 4X game? To be blunt, its the elimination of difference. The closer you are to us, the more you have progressed. []

A good vaporizer is a preferred method for casual smoking for a reason. Theres just something about the operation thats calming, and definitely preferable to lighting up. Combine that with CBD, and youve got a daily ritual that can not only melt your stress but chronic aches and pains too. This Jane West CBD Vape []

Anybody can be a creator. All you need is something to say. Those are great platitudes when youre building up the confidence to start your YouTube channel or vlog, but lets be honest: If you want to be heard, you need to look and sound presentable first. And were not just talking about your diction []

Want to class up your walls? There comes a time when we all must move out of the dorm room and its comfortable movie posters. A time when we might even consider purchasing actual art by actual living artists. Believe it or not, theres tons of great art out there and you might not []

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Current chess champion Magnus Carlsen is also one of the top fantasy soccer players in the world - Boing Boing

These two wily operators are circling each other warily. Photo: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

To read most press accounts, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and his closest allies are fighting a lonely battle to keep the impending impeachment trial of Donald Trump short and bereft of witnesses. Meanwhile, Trump himself, House Republicans, and maybe some Senate renegades like Ted Cruz want a trial focused on the alleged corruption of the Bidens that the president was supposedly pursuing in his conversations with the president of Ukraine, while airing some of the vast conspiracy theories about the origins of the witch hunt Democrats have pursued to torment the poor, defenseless POTUS.

And now comes Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer with his own demands for a longer trial with witnesses, as the Washington Post reports:

The top Senate Democrat on Sunday called for subpoenaing several senior Trump administration officials who have yet to testify in the Houses impeachment probe as witnesses for President Trumps likely trial part of an opening salvo in negotiations that could determine the parameters for the Senate proceedings next month.

In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) outlined a number of procedural demands that Democrats say would make the Senate trial fair and able to be completed within a reasonable period of time.

That includes subpoenas issued by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. for acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney; Robert Blair, a senior adviser to Mulvaney; former national security adviser John Bolton; and Michael Duffey, a top official at the Office of Management and Budget. Mulvaney, Blair and Duffey had been subpoenaed by the House committees and defied the summons; Bolton has not been subpoenaed but indicated he would fight one in court.

Schumers demands, it should be understood, are in the context of a possible (but not at all mandatory) bipartisan resolution laying out the details of an impeachment trial beyond the broad outlines set by the Constitution and the standing Senate rules. Such a resolution was enacted prior to the Clinton impeachment trial in 1999, to the great surprise of observers at the time. Absent a deal, the Senate majority can easily impose a set of rules of its own by a simple majority. And items not covered by those ad hoc guidelines may trigger rulings from the chair (in this case, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts) and/or additional Senate votes, with 51 needed for a decision (except for procedures that require amendment of the standing Senate rules, which will require a supermajority).

Yes, Democrats particularly in the House, where the White Houses obstruction of efforts to secure testimony from high-ranking administration officials led to an entire second article of impeachment would love to get the opportunity to question Mulvaney, Blair, and Duffey, and have reason to think a subpoena issued by the chief justice in a Senate trial would not be challengeable in federal courts. But the White House and Senate Republicans are very unlikely to agree to such a stipulation. So what Schumer is probably conducting is a dual gambit to satisfy Democrats who want a deeper impeachment investigation than the House was able to pull off, while signaling no deal to McConnell on a bipartisan rules package even as he talks the language of bipartisanship.

Schumer is also doing McConnell the favor of giving him a talking point against Republican demands for a broader, longer trial with the witnesses Trump wants. Absent a bipartisan deal (and Schumer is no more likely to accept the idea of Hunter Biden testifying than McConnell will go along with dragging Mulvaney into the Senate), decisions about calling witnesses could wind up being resolved on individual votes, and McConnell might well fear the possibility of just enough Republicans defecting on one or more that he could lose control of the parameters of the trial. In any event, the only available compromise is for both sides to back off demands for witnesses, leading to the short-and-sweet trial and acquittal McConnell wants.

This is a tricky business, though. House Republicans and allied professional troublemakers like Ted Cruz are unlikely to stop agitating for a longer trial with witnesses until Trump publicly goes along with McConnells plans. Thats why the Kentuckian is making such a big display of his total coordination with the White House, as I noted last week:

McConnell knows that the only way to put out the MAGA fire building for an insane-a-thon in the Senate is to get Washingtons chief pyromaniac on his side. What harm is a little groveling if it keeps the lid on the craziness? Being a megalomaniac wrangler is all just part of service in Trumps army.

In other words, theres a lot of not-entirely-sincere posturing going on about how this impeachment trial will proceed. My money would be on McConnell keeping a lid on it, providing Republicans with a quick acquittal, and Democrats with protection for Joe Biden and for the five Democratic senators currently in the presidential race who could be imprisoned in Washington during a long trial.

Having said that, Cruz has helped cast some light on the fiction that senators are exactly like jurors in a criminal trial who must remain totally silent during the trial:

Senators are not required, like jurors in a criminal trial, to be sequestered, not to talk to anyone, not to coordinate. Theres no prohibition, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) said on This Week, calling impeachment inherently a political exercise and Trumps impeachment a partisan show trial.

The standing Senate rules for impeachment trials provide no avenues for senators to speak (they must submit questions for any witnesses in writing), but theres no gag order preventing them from saying whatever pops into their heads when the trial itself is not in session. Id expect senators to have a lot to say late at night and on Sundays, though some will use the juror excuse to avoid reporters and angry constituents.

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Schumer and McConnell Play Chess Over Impeachment Trial Rules - New York Magazine

by beth on December 19, 2019

Above: The Library has planned some free fun for kids after Christmas. (images from Library Facebook page, Magician Stephen Brenners website, and of Legos from flickr by Benjamin Esham)

It has been a busy time of year for public events. Thats about to quiet down, but the Southborough Library will offer some fun for kids on school break. Here are the dates to save.

First, they will be taking a break for Christmas Eve and Day, so be sure to check out materials or passes by Monday at 5:00 pm.

Theyll reopen on Thursday, December 26th.

At 4:00 pm that day, Childrens Librarian Kim Ivers will hold her annual winter break storytime with Hot Chocolate. Kids are encouraged to come in their pjs. This year, the fun will take place in the downstairs Eaton Meeting room.

On Friday, December 27th, the Library offers two drop-in choices for fun.

From 10:30 am 4:00 pm kids can build with Legos in the Eaton Meeting Room. They can build creations to be displayed in the Childrens Room. (Parent attendance is required. The activity is geared towards ages 4 and older.)

That afternoon, Drop-in Chess will take place from 2:30 4:30 pm on the main floor. All ages are welcome to play. (Thats also available this Friday, December 20th, in the Eaton Meeting Room.)

The following week, the Library is bringing in special entertainment.

On Monday, December 30th at 11:00 am, the Library will host a magic show for kids:

Magician Stephen Brenner will share magic and a surprise or two! This fun and engaging event is sponsored by Friends of the Southborough Library. All ages are welcome and registration is not required.

The Library will close early on Tuesday, December 31st for New Years Eve (5:00 pm).

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Library fun over break: Hot cocoa storytime, Lego play, chess, and magic - mysouthborough