Delaware Chess Weblog

I wanted to give you all a heads up on a limited-time opportunity to get some good deals on random chess stuff. You will understand why I say random chess stuff when you look at the site. The USCF is trying to clear out one of its warehouses and is offering merchandise at, or close to, cost. So jump on over to http://www.uschess.org/clearance.php and see what you can find.

Next week I’ll point you to a new shopping site I’ve found for everyday discounted prices on a wide variety of chess material.

Until next time….

Tom Fleetwood

We haven’t promoted part of our site for at least a month now so I though it was time to discuss a new feature here at Delawarechess.org. We now offer a discussion forum to share your thoughts and opinions and ask questions regarding clubs, tournaments, rules or just about anything else. You can get to the forum at

http://www.delawarechess.org/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi

Once you are there you can view the boards and read the posts as a ‘guest’ but to actually participate in any discussion you must register. Don’t worry, registration is free, fast and easy and we will not sell your email information to anyone! The reason we want you to register is so we have some control over the boards to keep them from being spammed and protect the users from unacceptable abusive language and the like. We want the boards to be a family place where we can learn from each other and discuss this game that we love (and sometimes hate :-(). Once you have logged in you can use your ‘control panel’ to control what information other members see about you, to track forums or topics that interest you, choose your avatar and more. Be sure to look over your options to get the most out of the board. Checkout the messenger also where you can send private messages to other members of the board. Furthermore, in the tournament forum you can include an item on the board calendar so feel free to add your upcoming tournament event. Come on over and register and join in on the fledgling conversations (we have just started afterall). I hope to see you there!

Until next time….

Tom Fleetwood

http://www.uschess.org/news/newsletter/050119/USNews.php

On January 12, 2005, Newark Charter School’s chess club hosted Centreville School’s chess team for an after school event. Centreville braved the extremely foggy conditions to travel down to Newark to play chess. Both groups of players (approximately 21) enjoyed meeting each other and playing a few rounds of chess. It was good experience for all involved to try out new chess moves, practice notation and learn from peers in an informal environment. Thank you to Centreville’s parents and Karen Hughes who defied the weather elements to make this happen. Thank you to NCS parents for providing snacks for the players! NCS chess club looks forward to visiting Centreville.

Colette Trouve, the top-rated player in the tournament, won the inaugural 2005 City of Wilmington Chess Championship with a score of 3.5/4. Her only “blemish” was a quick draw in round 4 against Scott Laporte, who finished tied for second at 3/4. Not being from Wilmington, Colette was awarded the trophy for “Top non-Wilmington resident.” Considering the size of it, there were no complaints. The winner, and city champion, was Rostislav Grinberg, a newcomer to USCF rated chess. Before the tournament, he thought he was fairly decent as a player, and so was “assigned” a 1700 rating for tournament purposes. That’s just about what he should have as a rating! He finished tied for second with Laporte at 3/4. A disappointing tournout was probably due to a major event at the Adams’ Mark in Philly that weekend. The chess was very friendly — the only thing marring the day was the fall that the T.D. took walking up to the YMCA just before its fire alarm went off and cleared out the building. The crosstable follows…

2005 Wilmington Championships
January 16th, 2005
Wilmington, Delaware 18901
T.D.: Dr. Ira Lee Riddle

1 Colette Trouve 1750 W7 W5 W2 D3 3½
2 Rostislav Grinberg unr W8 W4 L1 W6 3
3 Scott Laporte 1470 H– W8 W4 D1 3
4 Kevin Moss 1300 W6 L2 L3 W5 2
5 Corla Rogers 1191 B- L1 W7 L4 2
6 Michael Pergeorglis 709 L4 B- W9 L2 2
7 Mukund Balaskandan 912 L1 W9 L5 B- 2
8 Richard K Merriweather 1017 L2 L3 B- W9 2
9 Adyn Sullivan unr H- L7 L6 L8 ½

Many people wonder what chess software they should buy to play against and learn from their computer. There are various titles out there but for someone really interested in learning and playing chess it basically comes down to two programs: Chessmaster and, well, one of the Chessbase family of programs (Fritz, Junior, Shredder). I would venture to say that most Americans are more familiar with the Chessmaster series since that is what is on the shelves at the local Best Buy. And a great series it has been. The Chessmaster series has provided strong playing software and features that help teach you the game and has a number of pretty board setups and piece designs. I started out with Chessmaster and liked it very much.

Before I go any further, let me preface by saying I am not a very good chess player. In fact, I write these reviews from the perspective of an average guy who loves the game and is just trying to get better. I have a feeling that I am like most folks out there so I know where you are coming from and that is what I base my recommendations on.

With that being said, I have moved on to the Chessbase software family and would recommend that, if you are going to buy software today, you buy either Junior, Fritz or Shredder - generally referred to as the Fritz family. What is the deal with all these titles and why do I recommend these programs over Chessmaster? Glad you asked

First, the titles. The programs are actually named after their respective chess ‘engines’. Chess engines are the brains behind the interface - the actual decision making algorithms. There are many chess engines out there, some of which are free, and each has its own playing strength and style. Each of these programs has the same user interface, board and piece designs but they play differently. Actually Chessbase offers even more programs than these with the same interface but Junior, Fritz and Shredder are the big three.

Now, why pick one of these? First and foremost they are phenomenal chess players! These programs have ruled the computer chess championships for years generally losing the title to one another and then regaining it back again. The other programs involved in the computer tournaments often take a back seat and simply play for fourth place and below. Of course, beating other computers isn’t what it is all about. So these programs also have played against human opponents. And not just any ol’ humans but the likes of Garry Kasparov and reigning classical world champion Vladimir Kramnik. These are the top human players in the world with Kasparov perhaps being the best of all time. How did the computers do? The won some games, lost some games and drew some games. By the time it was over the matches over the last couple years have been draws. Kasparov is rated over 2800 and he couldn’t beat these programs! But what if you aren’t quite that good, what chance will you have? The program can be set to play at a variety of levels. There are levels for fun, like “moron” or “drunk”, which, admittedly, I play once in a while to seek some revenge and there are more sophisticated levels too. For example, there is the ‘friend mode’ which will play just a little bit stronger than you to help you consistently improve without getting beat down badly. There is also a “sparring mode” in which the computer will purposely make tactical errors for you to take advantage. You can set this mode to even flash a red light when the computer has made the error so you know when to look for it. These are excellent training tools. Furthermore, there are some opening and endgame practice setups built into the program to help you win that pawn and king endgame. Have some over-the-board games you want analyzed? Just replay them in the program, click analyze game and have a program that tied Kasparov tell you what you could have done better in both chess notation and plain english. This alone is worth having one of these programs. The list really does go on and on so I would encourage you to go to the chessbase.com site and take a look but I do want to mention two more features.

One, you can add other chess engines to the program. Remember, the interface stays the same but you can tell the program to play with another engine for a different “style”. Again, some engines cost money, others are free (like Crafty). Some versions of the Fritz family come with multiple engines already installed. Secondly, the program typically comes with a free year subscription to the playchess.com chess playing server. You use the same program interface to logon through the internet to play people from around the world. I am not as big a fan of the overall playchess interface as I am of the uschess live interface but there are always tons of people to play and the competition is better, I think, than uschess live.

Finally, and this is a big thing, there are many software titles that are designed to go with these playing programs to help you become a better chess player. Again, take a look around the chessbase site - there are programs for openings, endings, tactics etc… Some even have video and audio where an IM or GM shows you what to do and why. In fact, I will be reviewing some of these programs in upcoming reviews. If you are serious about chess training you should look at their selection. And they interface wonderfully with these programs so you always have a familiar look and feel. The point, I suppose, is that these programs are infinitely expandable to as far as you want to take them. And they give you grand master analysis the whole time.

Which one should you pick? Junior, Shredder, Fritz? Truth be told, you probably can’t go wrong with any of them. But, if you have a particular playing style that you want to take advantage of the typical thinking is…

Fritz - all around strong and solid, good for a defensive positional player ready for the long haul
Shredder - known for its strong endgame technique (although it is a monster in the opening and middle too :-))
Junior - known for its exceptional positional understanding and attacking style. Junior has a strong ability to understand sacrifices and compensation - it is more for the attacking player and perhaps most like a human opponent.

Again, it is hard to go wrong with any of the three. If you ever became as good as any of them you would be more than pleased with your game!

Whewww, that was quite a long review and there is still one more big announcement!

If you have thoughts on these programs or other chess software and want to espouse your opinions, come on over to our new Delaware Chess Forums! Check out this new website feature at http://www.delawarechess.org/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi

Until next time….

Tom Fleetwood

The annual Corus Chess Tournament starts Saturday January 15, 2005. You can view the matchups, results and even watch the games live at their official site http://www.coruschess.com/ You can also watch the games on any of the chess servers - US Chess Live, Playchess, ICC and you can hear commentary on the games at Chess.FM.

On December 15th, 2004, the Centreville School Chess Team visited the Charter School of Wilmington for an informal chess tournament. This was a wonderful experience for the students as they had the opportunity to play against students who were both older and more experienced. The Centreville team numbers ten players who range in age from eleven to fourteen years. The members were able to show off their knowledge of chess notation as well as try to keep their cool while using the chess clocks. The members of Centreville’s team are: Will Bradshaw, Samantha Brigman, Jacob Brodt, Mario D’Amico, Christian Harmon, Kyle Harris, Danny Hunter, Nathan Massouda, Elizabeth Moran, and Kurtis Theorin. The students learned a lot even in terms of “chess etiquette”. At least one of Centreville’s kids got into a friendly debate on whether “touch a man, move a man” is always the rule or if it has to be established before the beginning of a game. This seemed to be a beneficial experience for all involved and we look forward to playing Charter School of Wilmington again in the spring.

The Charter School of Wilmington wants to thank Newark Charter for their gracious hospitality and spirited play in a match held between the two schools on December 1, 2004. The event was great fun for both schools and the students learned quite a bit that day. The afternoon consisted of working on endgame studies with the NCS students, playing serious games and finishing with bughouse games for fun. Pizza, drinks, cookies, and candy shaped like chess pieces rounded out the afternoon of chess learning and fun. As Cindy Shermeyer, a NCS chess moderator, stated, “It was a great way for the kids to learn more about chess…For some, it was like getting a private lesson with a chess coach. Having the kids play each other is a positive experience…giving the kids a chance to play other new players therefore challenging themselves. It also helps build a love for the game. Having fun and meeting new chess “nuts” is the top priority.” Well said, Cindy, and thanks again to NCS and all the students who participated!

Here is a good site for the FIDE rules of chess. I would also include the USCF rules but I don’t think they are online anywhere. If anyone knows where I can find them online please let me know.

The site is http://www.kemmunet.net.mt/chessmalta/fidelaws/index.html which comes from the actual FIDE site of http://www.fide.com/official/handbook.asp?level=EE101.

So if you don’t have an official rule book but want to know when castling is illegal, for example, you can check out the above sites.

Until next time…

Tom Fleetwood

http://www.uschess.org/news/press/uspr0501.php

Happy New Year to all!

This week’s review involves a site where you can search a huge online database of games by player names, ratings, locations, dates, eco codes and more. There are over 2 million games in the database and it seems to be kept nicely up to date. For example, I found games from the very recent Nakamura/Karjakin match held in Mexico - which finished on 12/17/04. The site does require java but most internet surfers already have the necessary software for that. Once you find a game you can load it in the game window and play through the moves. You can even make a different move and have the site analyze what the response should be. I have no idea how powerful the analysis actually is but it is a nifty feature. Sometimes the games take a while to load into the game window but usually they are very fast, so don’t be put off if the first time you try it things seem a little slow.

In addition to searching games you can also load puzzles to solve by clicking on the appropriate tab. You can move the pieces on the board and ask for hints/solutions. Finally, if you go to the homepage of chesslab you can sign up to play various online games, obviously including chess. I don’t play on their service so I can’t vouch for the quality of play but it is free to register and play.

So go check it out at http://www.chesslab.com/PositionSearch.html and let me know what you think.

Until next time….

Tom Fleetwood