So I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Tom is still very much active in chess. And here's an interesting video from the washingtonpost.com:

The definition of sport (n.) is: "a physical activity involving large muscle groups, requiring strategic methods, physical training and mental preparation and whose outcome is determined, within a rules framework, by skill, not chance." I just love those words: skill, not chance.

That's right! Chess is all about skill with no chance involved. Maybe a little luck, but dumb moves are made by woodpushers and patzers!

Major sporting events take concentration and and strategy, kind of like, um, uh, chess — but with just a few differences. With baseball there's a lot of running; with chess there's pacing. Wiith basketball there's the 24-second shot clock. With chess there's staring...and staring at the chessboard, and the game can go on for over six hours! With NASCAR there's a cheering crowd. With chess, there's silence. With golf, well, I don't have any analogies for that sport.

So, is chess a cool sport or what?

Rozerem, the popular prescription sleep medicine, which features honest Abe in a top-hat and a talking beaver as their "mascots," uses chess to promote the drug! I'm excusing Nozerem a little for their clever use of chess in their promotion. On their website they feature a cute AI chess-playing program that is very hard to lose. Choose between two levels: beginner or advanced. I would guess that its rating strength is in the range of 1100 or 1200, basically C-level.

Play against the Beaver and see how you fare
(Give it a try, it's easier than beating your dad!)

Note: not to worry, the AI engine doesn't have a book opening database. Even if you're a "wood pusher," you'll manage to beat the beaver by the middle game. Enjoy!

From the Candiates Matches only four players will participate in the September 2007 World Chess Championship. And the competition is fierce! The A-list grandmasters include the young prodigy Magnus Carlsen of Norway, the only woman Judit Polgar of Hungary, the veteran Boris Gelfand of Israel, and Gata Kamsky representing the U.S.A.

During the final phase of the Candidates there will also be a Computer Challenge match between the top programs Deep Junior and Deep Fritz.

Who will win? Watch the Elista games live at the official site.

For more information on the WCC click here.

The following game is from the Karpov-Kasparov World Championship Match, 1990:
[ Click here to play through the game ]

I was amazed when I started sparring with Fritz. The positions I felt comfortably with were demolished with horrifying ease, any counter tactic I would come up with was matched with an even better tactic, there was something missing in my game. When I looked back at those games, I realised that Fritz was playing plain simple type of chess: "attack, attack, attack."

And from there, I’ve learned to appreciate three elementary rules of chess tactics:

1. Evaluate checks first – your opponent is forced to do something about your check (or maybe it's a check-mate?!).

2. Evaluate captures next – in particular whether you can capture his better quality with your worse one.

3. Look where you can put your pieces so you can do 1. and/or 2.

It’s actually quite easy when the depth of a combination is 1-4 ply. I guess, for an average player, the difficulty arises when you are looking at +10 ply. GMs are too unpredictable - just take a look at the 1999 Kasparov vs Topalov game; Kasparov sacrificed his rook on move 24 to get it back with return on 39. It was a 30-ply analysis!

In the very near future, however, we will see computers with such advance software and microchips installed in them, and this will forever end any drawing chances a human may have against metal brains...

Welcome to time pressure....

Well, I'm being kind here.

In chess, as in soccer, there are defenders and attackers both simultaneously materializing into either. The pawns are central defenders and excellent forwards — looking for a chance to compromise on the opposing army's position. The rooks are excellent wingers on both sides of the board; they can also be superb mid-fielders, always ready to control the central files. The knights in their shiny armor, are the attacking midfielders and assisters in coordinating with the finishers (such as the Queen), but they can also be stoppers to offensive attacks. The pair of bishops cut diagonals and crosses from the latter field, and can halfback to defend.

The defending champions of this World Cup, Brazil — are excellent chess players in this regard. They are a complete team, well-organized...but too bad they lost.

In the above example, a pawn at e4 square controls the d5 and f5 squares. Conversely, Black's e5 pawn square controls d4 and f4 squares.

Each chess opening varies in degree, not in kind. And each opening has its own purpose - whether it's a defense for Black or a system for White - to control the center, equalize, defend or attack.

Any King's Pawn opening (1. e4) is considered an Open Game and any Queen's Pawn opening (1. d4) is a Closed Game. Please dont' ask me why!

25 winners and their guests will join Garry for a 25-board simultaneous exhibition followed by a sit-down dinner at the famed NY Athletic Club on June 12th. All proceeds will benefit the Kasparov Chess Foundation.

So, ar you ready to play? Click here to bid!

About the Kasparov Chess Foundation

Founded by World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov, KCF's mission is to bring the many educational benefits of chess to children by providing a complete chess curriculum and enrichment programs. The Foundation promotes the study of chess as a cognitive learning tool in curricular classes and after-school programs, both in the public and private school sectors. To learn more, visit kasparovchessfoundation.org.

Enjoy live audio coverage with Chess-Live-Radio, on the air. Sit back and listen to Masters, analyze play, by play, coverage of National, and International events right from the comfort of your home. Go to chess-live-radio.com.

There's even a BBC interview with Garry Kasparov [hear him now].

Squidoo.com is a quirky search engine that allows users to either sell or buy other people's esoteric skills and knowledge, among other things. The site uses the simple idea of a "lens" or "a single web page filled with information and links that point to other web pages.

Anyway, I ran a simple search with the word "chess" and came up with dozens of results - among them "chess blogs" all in its own category.

So, give Squidoo a try and check out the multitudes of chess blogs and links below. Who knows, your off-beat skill - or skills - may interest someone in Arizona or Portugal!

+ http://www.squidoo.com/chessblogs/

Bobby, who just turned 63, currently lives in Iceland.

The super-GM tournament in ciudad de Linares, Spain (XXIII Torneo Internactional de Ajedrez) is currently underway. After round four Veselin Topalov, the FIDE champ, is in deep trouble — or at least on the scoresheet. He lost to the young and extremely talented Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan in round two, and to Peter Leko of Hungary in round four. Leko is currently leading the elite pack with 3.5/4 points, tailed closely by Pyotr Svidler of Russia.

Check the latest news on the Linares-Morelia tournament website. For LIVE coverage of the games click here.

This according to their website: The Noguchi Museum recreates and expands the groundbreaking 1944 exhibition organized by Marcel Duchamp and Max Ernst at the Julien Levy Gallery. In addition to Isamu Noguchi, the exhibition features original designs by artists such as Man Ray, Arshile Gorky and Yves Tanguy.

For more information click here.