Net-Chess.Comhttps://www.net-chess.com/phpBB2/

Likely it was ignorance being passed off as knowledge. Checks have been irrelevant to the 50-move rule as long as I've known the rules (~30 years). Many errors regarding check persist because people teach them. While teaching third graders to play, I must correct several who insist check doesn't cou...

USCF Rule 14F1: The game is drawn when the player on move claims a draw and demonstrates that the last 50 consecutive moves have been made by each side without any capture or pawn move. Please note that checks are irrelevant to the rule--in KBN vs K, for example, mate can be forced in under fifty mo...

One month after my 50th game, and I have logged my 50th win. I've also lost a baker's dozen and drawn nine. For those paying attention, however, the database shows 90 wins for me, as 40 games timed out in my favor prior to the tenth move. That's 72 rated games for me, but 112 for my opponents. I've ...

ChessFM announced several months ago that they were ceasing operations, but will relaunch a new improved site later this spring. They are a spin-off from the Internet Chess Club, and are working on improving both. Meanwhile, playchess.com is offering growing numbers of lectures--Dennis Monokrouses n...

It should not offend the strict vegetarian when she learns that I practice catch and release. But the animal rights activist will fail to find comfort from my debarbed hooks. Even so, trout as long as your arm can be appreciated without the art of the angle. Still, my preference is to catch them, ki...

Better to keep your fingers still, and be thought a fool, than to type and remove all doubt. When the words consist of no more than their first letter, is the sentiment expressed? No, only the obligation to speak. gl is, of course, ludicrous unless you are playing Knightmare chess (a card game) or o...

After 2 1/2 months, I have finished 50 games!

My record is not too shabby, as I've won 35 and drawn 6 against an average rating of 1863.

Not as impressive as 1300 or even 400 wins, but a good start on this site.

My rating here is much higher than my USCF rating, my ratings on servers like ICC, and my other correspondence ratings. 300-600 points. How typical is my experience?

I finished The Chess Artist earlier this week. Hallman writes well in the style they must be teaching in the writing schools these days--part travel narrative, part autobiography, part social and historical commentary sprinkled with evidence of abundant research. The author's love of chess quickly r...

I chose what I wanted--teach, study, write history--and it grew into teach, study, write history and literature, with emphasis on topics I did not anticipate originally. The economy for such academic service work went sour during the Reagan years, grew worse during the reign of Bush I, ignored the a...

Cheating is a real concern when cash is on the line, or if you take the ratings seriously. My rating here is 900+ above my USCF--how serious can that be? At correspondence time controls, computers lose their edge. I'm with mic, "bring 'em on!" If you want to use your computer, I'll still enjoy the g...

Now that I log into slowchess.com three times every day, I am spending less time playing blitz and bullet at ICC, playchess.com, and other servers. Perhaps I'm changing my addictions. Let's hope twelve moves in a minute in twelve games is better for my chess than twelve one minute games several time...

While you go through the process of these important discussions, you might want to look at the essay, "Remembrances of Things Played: Presence and Memory in the Pianist's Art" by Edward Said. It can be found in his collection Reflections on Exile, and Other Essays . I am not a musician (to my regret...

You are correct--life is not a play, or warm-up for something better. If your only rewards are riches, you have already lost. Find work that sustains you--the spirit as well as the flesh. I, too, could have selected engineering. History and Literature has never paid as well, but my children get enou...

Winning a lost position by the clock is a reasonable strategy in blitz. I do it all the time. :twisted: It must be said that if you view 20 seconds as time pressure, you lack the necessary spirit! :? In the game cited, after 1...Rf6, you needed to pile-on the pinned piece with 2.Rxc6! Then, call the...