Auld Lang Syne

New Year’s Resolutions: Many of us make them, many of us don’t. Whether you do or do not, the idea is to set a goal for yourself, something you want to improve in your life.
Personally, I find I spend a certain amount of time around the year end reflecting on my life, my friends and my intentions - where I am now and where I meant to be by this time - I think the requisite renditions of “Auld Lang Syne” help to set this reaction into motion. This is a bad practice because I already am prone to depression from the advancing dark days, when there’s not enough sunlight to keep up my spirits anyway. Then add to the darkness the “comparing mind” and my ruminating about the way things might have been, and it’s an annual recipe for disaster ... and a difficult frame of mind for playing chess. (See "Losing Sucks" - looks like I'm not the only one!)
For those of you who don’t know what “Auld Lang Syne” is actually about, I’ll sum up. The words are taken from a Scottish poem. (Easy tip: there is only one Scottish poet that most folks are expected to know - so remember the name *Robert Burns* and you have mastered the entire topic. See? I told you it was easy.) “Auld Lang Syne” means something like “Old Times’ Sake” or could be translated loosely as “Once Upon a Time.” The line “We’ll take a cup of kindness yet for Auld Lang Syne” is trying to encourage us to look back upon our memories with kindness, letting our reminiscences mellow with age, that sort of thing.
If you are one of the people who make New Year’s Resolutions, statistics say that you are generally interested in losing body weight (or getting fit) and/or saving money. So basically, the idea is to reverse the momentum - we want more money and less weight, and not the other way around like we did last year. That’s my attempt at a joke, so let’s not take any personal offense if “we” doesn’t include you.
Tournaments: Visit our "Playing Chess" page for a calendar of tournaments worldwide.
Product of the Month: Speaking of calendars, it’s time to hang the new 2011 calendars. Chess Right Chess Shop has two different styles of Chess-Themed Calendars - which one will you choose? Why not buy both - one for your home and one for your office?