by greenpawn34 on May 19 2023 09:06 | 1513 views | 2 edits | Last edit on May 21 2023 09:26
They are here at last, Whoopee! I’ll be cruising Carlsen like in my neighbour
looking cool as I shoot a few hoops. (that’s Basketball for you uncool nerds.)
The adverts promotional bit.
"A new chess-themed edition of PUMA’s iconic Clyde sneaker featuring five
time world champion Magnus Carlsen’s signature is about to hit the streets...
So after 13 games it is 3 wins each and 6 draws and only one game,
(game 11) can we call dull. The other 12 games were full of spirit
and good play. The type of games the world title matches have been
missing since Kasparov - Short 1993. ( a magnificent match that one.)
So hopefully to avoid the dreaded tie breaks one player, sadly, has to lose this game...
by greenpawn34 on Apr 27 2023 12:40 | 623 views | 1 edit | Last edit on Apr 27 2023 21:09
Last night my Tiger Cubs, a team made up of Edinburgh Club juniors
(I’m the non-playing captain) were presented with the Division III trophy.
This is an adult league they play in and they are the only junior team in
the league. We also got medals and of all the dozens of medals and trophies
I’ve picked up over a career spanning 50 this is one of the most cherished.
{imgblock=/imgu/blog/1/b4u437199-1682543611.png}no title{/imgblock...
by greenpawn34 on Apr 26 2023 13:58 | 524 views | 1 edit | Last edit on Apr 26 2023 14:20
It’s getting to an exciting stage. Ding Liren is trailing 1-0 and has two white’s
left. If Ding loses this game and Nepo draws game 13 then no more Whites left.
Before the game started I predicted a quiet opening by Ding to frustrate Nepo
who might be tempted to wrap this up right away. Of course Nepo has been
around the block and should not be suckered this way. But you never know....
No wonder the ex-champ (to be) is looking miserable.
Nepo built up a good looking position that had a lot
of potential but being one point ahead killed the game.
by greenpawn34 on Apr 23 2023 12:43 | 311 views | 2 edits | Last edit on Apr 23 2023 14:25
Ian Nepomniachtchi is 32 and Ding Liren is 30. Ian is from Russia and
Ding Liren is from China. Both are unmarried and their hobbies include
Chess and... I don’t know. I met Ding very briefly but we never got around
to discussing each others hobbies. I’ve never met Ian Nepomniachtchi.
(I’m not too sure if both players are unmarried. Does that really matter?...
by greenpawn34 on Apr 21 2023 15:14 | 513 views | 1 edit | Last edit on Apr 21 2023 21:20
Recap after my instant notes which I do not edit.
Ding going for a Berlin Defence, which Nepo avoided. A standard looking
Lopez. Na7 and Qc7 from Ding caught me out (and Nepo) I did spot,
(eventually)a plan with Bf8 and the a7 Knight going to c5. I had plenty
of time to do this because Nepo spent 20 minutes on playing 16. Ba2...
by greenpawn34 on Apr 18 2023 13:30 | 682 views | 2 edits | Last edit on Apr 18 2023 16:12
Another twist in this match. Nepo knocks together a Kingside attack,
Ding defended magnificently and just on the point of going on the counter
he froze at the board. This is something that can happen to anyone. With
less than 5 minutes on the clock he took 4 minutes to move and lost on time.
...
by greenpawn34 on Apr 13 2023 13:25 | 484 views | 1 edit | Last edit on Apr 13 2023 13:31
This is the flag of Kazakhstan (where the chess world championship is taking place.)
Truly a chess mad country, Note there are 32 rays coming from the sun.
One ray for every chess piece. The 32 spaces in between the each of the
rays are for the empty squares when all the pieces are placed on the board...
I hope you lot appreciate the work I do for these intro screens.
We have a winner. Nepo. I watched most of the game at chessgames.com
no engine, no commentary and I can post there. I did however flick onto
Chess.24 to grab a couple of pics. The empty board is significant because
both players, especially Ding Liren spend a lot of time in their rest rooms...
by greenpawn34 on Apr 09 2023 15:53 | 611 views | 3 edits | Last edit on Apr 09 2023 16:30
At the opening ceremony a robot was to pick out a pawn to see what colour Nepo
would be for Game One. It pulled out two pawns of both colours at the same time
by greenpawn34 on Mar 26 2023 17:10 | 2126 views | 2 edits | Last edit on Mar 27 2023 17:29
A prelude to the coming World Chess Championship that is being played in
the St. Regis Astana Hotel, Astana, in Kazakhstan starting on the 9th April.
First I shall explain the flags. Nepomniachtchi (from now on Nepo the fully
accepted name used by everyone) is a Russian and due to sporting sanctions
imposed against Russia because of the current conflict in the Ukraine he can...
And speaking of covers. I always try to start off this blog with an interesting
picture or drawing or what ever. Last week I did a piece on ‘Test Tube Chess’
A few days after posting I thought up a good cover for that book which, if you
recall the cover position to solve nearly put me off chess studies forever. .
No need to applaud or PM me with praise as to how gifted I am. I already know...
Today we meet an old friend with whom I had lost contact with many years ago.
We recently met again courtesy of a friend unloading his chess books.
When ever this book came up in conversation I always mention that I nearly gave
up ever looking inside because the first things I did was to try the White to play...
by greenpawn34 on Mar 01 2023 10:07 | 5346 views | 1 edit | Last edit on Mar 01 2023 16:39
I came across one of these. It’s a Bishop Maze (9 moves)
1k6/8/6n1/8/4n3/1n6/8/4B2K w - - 0 1
Only the Bishop moves, nothing else. The Bishop must never move onto a
square where it can be taken and you have to place the Black King in check
If you want to give it a go then I’m giving the answer at the bottom of this blog...
This book, quite rightly so, has been hailed as a mini classic.
Quite a few of the older members here will have the one of the left.
For some reason, possibly a business going into administration the one
on the right (algebraic) is popping up in Oxfam charity shops all over
the country with players reporting the price varying from £2.99 - £3.99...
by greenpawn34 on Jan 31 2023 01:27 | 4829 views | 3 edits | Last edit on Feb 05 2023 10:42
The story so far. Detective Paul Green (green pawn...gedditt!!) the handsome
all round athlete with a full head of hair was trying to solve the murders of six
members of the Red Hill Chess Club. He had narrowed the suspects down to ten.
Five men, four woman and a dog called Blue. All the victims had been strangled
in their sleep. (spoiler alert! The dog did it with his leash. It was a clever dog....
Happy New Year and if your Birthday happens to also be on the
first of January then Happy Birthday as well. If you got married on the
first of January then Happy Anniversary. If you retired on the first....
A quick look back at last year. (because I cannot think of anything else. ...