Logic Challenge

Logic Challenge - Just for fun: Four participants in a chess tournament will be selected from a group of six players; Adams, Baker, Collins, Donaldson, Evans and Fitzgerald. The participants will be seeded in rank order from first through fourth with first considered the highest seed. The seeding of the tournament is to be made according to the following considerations:

+Collins cannot be seeded lower than Adams, Baker or Evans
+Baker cannot be seeded lower than either Adams or Evans
+Evans cannot be seeded lower than Adams
+If Donaldson participates in the tournament, then Evans must be the tournament’s second seed
+If Fitzgerald participates in the tournament, then Baker also participates with Fitzgerald seeded higher than Baker.

Which one of the following could be a complete and accurate list of the players participating in the tournament, and their seeds?
(a) first Collins; second Evans; third Fitzgerald; fourth Donaldson
(b) first Fitzgerald; second Baker; third Collins; fourth Adams
(c) first Collins; second Baker; third Evans; fourth Donaldson
(d) first Fitzgerald; second Evans; third Donaldson; fourth Baker
(e) first Collins; second Fitzgerald; third Baker; fourth Adams

Notes from around the shop: We have been donating lately to our local food bank and want to encourage everyone to do the same in your own area. News reports indicate that millions of families are in need this season and numerous local food banks are reporting acute shortages. Even a modest contribution will be greatly appreciated. You can find your nearest Feeding America (formerly called Second Harvest) food bank by visiting "feedingamerica.org"

Featured Product of the Month: Classic Collectors Combo - this is a striking combination product including handsome wooden pieces with fancy leather (not felt) pads, a new chessboard and underneath a storage box for keeping your new pieces safe when not in use. But then again, why would you ever want to put such a beautiful chess set away? See this gorgeous combo here

The correct answer to the Logic Challenge is (e)

Please visit the Chess Right Chess Shop today.

Happy Birthday Samuel Reshevsky

Current Events: The 2011 Women\'s World Championships are under way. Read more about the competition at http://www.wwcc2011tirana.com/
Also see more photos on the FIDE website.

Historic Note: This November marks the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Grandmaster Samuel Reshevsky, famous chess player of the mid-twentieth century. Born in Poland in 1911, Reshevsky learned to play chess when he was four years old and was competing with accomplished players by the time he was eight (shown here at age of eight giving simultaneous exhibitions against several grand masters of France). He went on to win numerous chess matches, including eight US Chess Championships. He competed internationally as well, and although he was a recognized Grandmaster, he still "kept his day job" as an accountant. His later years were marked with a fierce rivalry with Bobby Fischer. Reshevsky died in New York in 1992. Wikipedia has an interesting page on him, or you can also read a quick summary of his life here.

Please celebrate by visit our shop at www.ChessRight.com today!

Chess Openings, and more

Chess Openings
Most chess games start with two players rather quickly executing some memorized moves. This is called the "Opening." For example, the most familiar chess opening is called the Ruy Lopez Opening, or the Spanish game.
But at some point, the pace of the game slows down as the players rely less on rote and more on considered reaction. The interaction of the pieces - called "the position" - requires analysis and thoughtful contemplation. This is the "middle game," the traditional image of players taking their time between moves, analyzing the situation, hoping for some insight and inspiration to turn the position into opportunity.
Trying a few new opening gambits will change the circumstances in the middle game. If you are looking to break out of the plateau where your chess game has stalled, the best prescription would be to try a few new openings. Here are some possibilities:

Traditional openings
Some unusual openings

Try something new and see where things lead. If the new opening doesn’t help your game, you can always go back to your favorite or try another.
National Chess Day
Mark your calendars and plan on having a little fun. National Chess Day is coming up, October 8th 2011. Email us and let us know what you are going to do to celebrate.
Chess Tournaments
Check out our "Playing Chess" page for a free game of chess against the computer, then find a chess tournament from around the world - many of these contests offer prizes, all offer an opportunity to meet new chess friends. Check back often for new postings.
Featured Product

Stallion Knight Chess Pieces - This is a top quality set for a remarkable price, making it our Pick of the Month. The king stands a bold 4 inches tall. Set comes with double queens, used for pawn promotions. The raised head of the knights, or 'laughing knight' style, gives this set its name. Pieces are padded with leather - not felt - which usually denotes more expensive sets.
Pair this up with your favorite chess board, or may we recommend? The 2.2 inch Rosewood / Maple board makes a perfect pair with this chess set. Order both together and use the coupon code “SeptSpecial” (no spaces) to receive $15 off your order.
Keep Playing Chess!

Evolution of Chess Strategies - and other thoughts

EVOLUTION OF CHESS STRATEGIES
I have been in an interesting discussion recently about breaking the rules of chess play. No, we aren’t talking about the basic rules like how each piece moves. The discussion has been about rethinking those moves we learned by rote as chess novices. It all started over here at the Celebrate Chess blog. Please jump on over and add your comments.

SPRING CLEANING
Lots of tidying up around the chess shop lately. A large number of products have been withdrawn based on my most recent communications with my suppliers. The 2011 wall calendars are totally sold out (except the one I use here by my computer) and they have been withdrawn. I will be looking for a new premium item to offer in the shop on certain purchases. What would be good?

WHAT IS CHESS CAMP?
With summer just around the corner, the question of summer camp for the kids is coming up at kitchen tables all across the fruited plain. Some chess camps are day camps, others are sleep-over camps. I recommend that you should look for a chess camp that also offers some additional summer activities like swimming and tennis. To find more on chess camps, try www.uschess.org

FEATURED PRODUCT OF THE MONTH

A favorite chess set here is the "Dragon’s Castle Combo" chess set. This eye-catching combo includes a striking sculpture of a knight on horseback battling a dragon. Inside the statue’s base, which looks like a stone castle, is a chess board and decorative chess pieces depicting kings, queens and noble knights. As our Featured Product for May, this set is on a special price this month of $107.00 -- this price includes shipping anywhere in the United States.

Visit Chess Right Chess Shop to find a chess set just right for your game.

Competitiveness

Against the constant politically-correct drumbeat of cooperation and teamwork, competition (particularly in individual sports and competitive games) remains one way to move towards self-reliance, goal orientation and personal achievement.

But can competitiveness be overdone? I don't see why not .. everything else can!

Here are a few interesting thoughts about competitiveness.

HISTORIC CHESS PIECES UNEARTHED

Recent excavations at James Madison’s Virginia estate have unearthed fragments that are believed to be parts of the President's chess set.
The news story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_madison_s_chess_pawns
Although several of the founding fathers were very fond of chess, most famously Benjamin Franklin, few people in Colonial America played chess. It is therefore fairly likely that these chess pieces would have belonged to the fourth President, and not some other member of the household.
In connection with this archaeological find, ChessRight.com is offering a new poster of Chess in the Revolutionary Era (http://chessright.com/product_info.php?products_id=395). Although James Madison is not pictured, the historic detail of the poster (including the pre-Staunton style pieces) shows the game to be taking place in the Tea Room at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home, around 1783. The Yahoo news story tells us that Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, fellow Virginians, played chess often. Perhaps James was not in attendance on this particular day because he was busy writing the US Constitution (which would be adopted in 1787).

Be sure to visit www.ChessRight.com soon.

Knights Tour

KNIGHT'S TOUR
Q: Is it possible for a knight to tour an entire chessboard in such a way that it visits each square exactly once?
A: Visit http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/4287/title/A_Magic_Knights_Tour for the solution.

Please visit www.ChessRight.com today

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?

Chess and Tennis?

Chess and Tennis may sound like an unlikely combination, but that’s just what the Chess Club of St. Louis has done!
The news story suggests that the Chess Club wanted to celebrate their second year in their new facility, so they have constructed a giant chess board the size of a tennis court. Last month (July 2010), tennis star Lindsay Davenport played some exhibition tennis on this oversized chess board as part of the Chess Club’s grand celebration.
However, it’s more than just a two-year anniversary in their facility. The St. Louis Chess Club proudly hosted the US Chess Championship in May 2010. Read more about it: (http://saintlouischessclub.org/content/2010-us-championship)
More current chess tournaments have been added to our "Playing Chess" page to find a competition near you. While you are there, you can go a few rounds against the chess computer, watch some chess videos, or visit some of our links to other chess sites.

Take this opportunity to rethink your chess board. We have many beautiful chess boards which your favorite chess pieces will appreciate and enjoy. For guidelines on what size your chess board should be, please check out these tips:
http://chessright.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html
It may not be enough to play tennis on, but you can get a lightweight, weather-proof chess board with six-inch squares. Our Nylon Chessboard is suitable for use indoors or outdoors.

Please stop by Chess Right Chess Shop to see all the beautiful chess boards.

COLLECTING

From Grandma collecting pictures for her scrapbook in an old shoe box to the fellow that collects antique cars in his garage, and back yard, and front yard, people love to collect things that have meaning for them.

SOMETIMES CHESS SETS ARE PART OF A COLLECTION.

The new arrival of the Santa Fe train chess set with diesel vs steam is just such a collectible. The train enthusiast that goes loco for all things locomotive will be thrilled to add this chess set to his train collection. Here he can show off his affection for trains while keeping his strategy skills sharp with friends, neighbors and family.

The boy who always wanted to grow up to be a fireman, especially if he did, will appreciate the Red Hats of Courage chess set or the Policemen vs Firemen chess set to add to the memorabilia he is already accumulating.

The World War Two veteran (or the history buff that loves collecting relics from that historic conflict with the Nazis) would delight in adding our World War II chess set to his archives.


SOMETIMES CHESS SETS ARE THE COLLECTION.
With so many attractive chess sets, the hardest part is picking just one. If you are not already collecting keepsakes and memorabilia with a theme, and if you love playing chess, it’s likely that you are a candidate for amassing a marvelous chess set collection. It starts off modest enough - perhaps you got a plastic chess set when you were young. Then you saved up and bought the main wooden chess set that you prefer to play, usually a traditional Staunton style. Then you added a small travel chess set to go with you on vacation. Soon, it just builds. Perhaps you like the look and feel of a stone or glass chess set so you buy one. Perhaps you find a decorative set that amuses and delights you, like a golf- or other sports-themed set or a set depicting a favorite period in history, and you buy one of those, too. Then, of course, you will need another chess board - or maybe even a chess table - to display your new decorative set. Then another chess set catches your eye at a flea market or yard sale, at such a bargain price that you just can’t pass it up. That set will need a new chess board, too. Perhaps one of your friends or relatives passes a chess set along to you when they are cleaning out the attic. And so it grows and grows.

We here at Chess Right Chess Shop encourage this sort of hoarding behavior. Chess sets can be so beautiful, and many folks think you are so smart just to have a chess set on display. (Sure, we all know a few chess players that are as dumb as a box of rocks, but that’s not the impression that most folks have. And there’s no reason to make any changes in that public image, thanks anyway.)

Chess is a classic game of strategy, little wonder it’s called the “Game of Kings.” Chess sets come in a variety of styles and material, from intricately carved wooden Staunton-style pieces to cast metal or hand-painted stone figures. It's highly unlikely that the game will be going out of style any time soon. So we say, “Collect away!” and let the admiring compliments roll in.

Please visit Chess Right Chess Shop to purchase a beautiful chess set just right for your collection

THE IDES OF MARCH

THE IDES OF MARCH
Calling all Classicists! “The Ides of March” refers to the middle of the month, the 15th of March, a day that was once celebrated with a parade in honor of Ares, the God of War. History holds that on the 15th of March in 44 B.C., Julius Caesar, Roman dictator for life, was assassinated in the capital city of Rome. A seeress had warned Caesar of this event, in the phrase later coined by Shakespeare, “Beware of the Ides of March!”
So it is fitting for the month of March that we here at Chess Right should welcome TWO new decorative chess sets with Roman themes. From the Studio of Anne Carlton, the Roman Chess Men are made of durable polyresin and ground stone. Our introductory price: $104.00 includes shipping anywhere in the U.S. and comes with a money-back guarantee if you are not completely satisfied. From the Studios of Ital Fama, the Roman Bust Chessmen are cast in metal by Italian artisans. Our introductory price: $426.00 includes shipping anywhere in the U.S. and comes with several options and premiums (please see our store for details).
Choose either one of these sets to add a bit of classic history to your home and your chess game. Now you can help Caesar renew his quest for world domination.
To add a quick note of perspective to our current national situation, Cicero was a Roman orator of the same approximate historical time period as Julius Caesar. Cicero had warned of the dangers to the Roman Republic when the citizens learned they could “vote open the doors of the Treasury.” One quote attributed to Cicero urges that “The budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced … the mobs should be forced to work and not depend on government for subsistence.” Sounds like something that could just as well have been said in our own era, doesn’t it?

TIME CHANGE
A new video about Speed Chess has been added to the page called “Playing Chess” (as have some more announcements regarding upcoming tournaments around the U.S.). If Speed Chess looks like something you could enjoy, please be sure to check out our assortment of chess clocks for the one that fits your style and budget.

Visit ChessRight.com today for these and many more chess products!

Questions and Answers about Playing Chess

Q: Where can I learn to play chess? I want to know the rules of the game and how the pieces move.

A: You can learn about the basic moves on a website called “Chess is Fun” (http://www.princeton.edu/~jedwards/cif/intro.html) which will show you how to set up the chess board, how each piece moves and will give you the basic rules of chess. It will even help you learn some strategies.
You may also want to view the video tutorial on our new “Playing Chess” page (http://chessright.com/playingchess.htm) called “How to Play Chess: The Pieces” for instruction on the fundamentals.

Q: I want to learn to play better chess. Where can I go to get better at chess?

A: Children as young as five years old can learn to play chess, but folks will spend a lifetime trying to learn to master the game. That is the beauty of the “Game of Kings” -- that it will always be challenging and there is always another level to achieve. The best way to get better at playing chess is to play regularly, play as often as time allows, and play against people who are better than you are.
Personally, I have a very competitive nature. Sometimes I think I’m a little too competitive, and it’s important to know that about myself. For me, I find it practical to practice by playing chess against the computer. If you think you would benefit from playing against the computer also, I have put a computer game on our “Playing Chess” page (http://chessright.com/playingchess.htm) which is free and limitless, no strings attached. Please come over and help yourself any time, day or night.
Also, from time to time, I will be posting links and resources on chess strategies on the “Playing Chess” page to help improve your skills in chess. Right now, there is a video on the page about Knights Openings that may be of interest. English is apparently a second language for the makers of this video, so all GrammarNazis are warned to stay away. But the strategies discussed in the video are understandable and may even prove to be helpful.
Check back to our new “Playing Chess” page often as these resources are subject to change.

Keep playing chess!
Visit Chess Right Chess Shop today

National Chess Day

Did you know the U.S. has an official National Chess Day? The observance first began in South Carolina as a state event. In 1976, President Gerald Ford (the 38th President of the United States) declared October 9th to be National Chess Day. This year marked the 32rd annual observance of this occasion since that Presidential declaration.

In celebration of National Chess Day, many chess clubs offer tournaments, expositions, public events and educational programs in their communities to raise awareness of the game of chess. The 2009 US Womens Chess Championship in St Louis, however, observed chess day as a day of rest from the competition to interact with some community activities. You may watch the video recap of the closing rounds of the US Womens Championship at http://main.uschess.org/content/view/9755/556/

Here at the Chess Right Chess Shop, we believe that nothing raises chess awareness more than a Megachess(R) game in a public setting, such as a park, shopping mall, public library or community center. Our best selling Megachess(R) set is our “School Special” with the 25 inch king (direct link: School Special). If your chess club would be interested in buying one of these eye-catching chess sets, please contact us! We have a number of fund raising tools and techniques and we can often negotiate discounts with the supplier for qualified nonprofit organizations.

OUR CHALLENGE: Take your club s Megachess(R) set to the busiest neighborhood park in your area and just play a game. Put up an easel with your club’s name and the words “Open Game” and “Membership Drive.” If you don t get at least one new member, you can return your Megachess(R) package for a refund. No one has ever returned their package because this works better than anything your club has ever tried.

More recently, our Megachess(R) supplier has partnered with Operation Interdependence to send these oversized chess sets to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. If you or your group would be interested in sponsoring a Megachess(R) set for a deployed unit, please let us know and we will get you set up with their “signature chess program.”

New Chess Image

I have been working with my new digital camera and my Paint Shop software. I would say that the results have been tasty, but the play on the words is too much even for me. But you can zoom off to the chess shop in a twinkling if you click on this link: www.ChessRight.com (I put the image on the shipping page. No reason. Can't figure out where else it should go ...)

The Chess Pieces

What do the chess pieces mean? Is there some sort of symbolism?
There are thirty-two pieces in a chess set; eight pawns, two castles or “rooks,” two knights, two bishops, one queen and one king of each color. Their meanings refer back to the Middle Ages when the game was brought into Europe by the Muslim Moors.
The king and queen are the monarchy, exactly as they appear. The bishops were the representatives of the Church, very much a part of everyone’s life in the Middle Ages. The knights were mounted warriors, thus the use of the horse’s head to represent this piece. These are the only professional soldiers in the game. The castles refer to the king’s home. The pawns are the peasants, the foot soldiers, and like every society there are more of them than any of the other pieces.
Interestingly, the term “freelance” comes from this same period. Originally, the term referred to any knight who was not sworn to any army, but was “free” to carry his own “lance” (weapon) for anyone who would pay him.

If the chess pieces came from the Moors, why is there a cross on top of the king? And why would the queen be so powerful in a Muslim game?
The Europeans put the cross on the king’s head as something of a modification in defiance of their Moorish neighbors. It was their way of taking this game and making it their own. But relations between Christians and Muslims in the Moorish occupation of Spain were not as hostile as this may sound. See our new poster on our website for an historic chess game in the Spanish court. (www.ChessRight.com  Books, etc.  POSTER: King Alfonse X)
As for the queen, when the game first came into Spain, that piece was originally the king’s vizier, his most trusted counselor. Many scholars believe that the powerful queen that served as the inspiration for the modern chess piece was Queen Isabella of Spain, although in those days the piece did not move quite like the modern game piece.

Chess Duel

More on the Benefits of Chess

http://www.blinklearning.com/Cursos/c26_c225_Benefits_of_Chess.php

More about Chess and Kids

This article suggests that kindergarten is not too soon to begin reaping the benefits of learning to play chess:

Chess Players are the Villains!

A friend of mine offered me several books this past week. I have a lot of books but there always seems to be room for more. So I took a look -- these were detective novels. Generally, I don't read a lot of detective stories although I admit to a great weakness for Stacy Keach's portrayal of TV detective Mike Hammer, and of course Sherlock Holmes. Nevertheless, I took one along for some potential summer reading.

Edgar Allen Poe is reputed to have written the first detective story in the modern genre with The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841). Poe uses the chess motif in some of his works, but clearly with little technical expertise and not much liking. He referred to the game as "frivolous" and compared it unfavorably with checkers. It was Edgar Allen Poe who began the image of the chess aficionado as the nearly-machine-like semi-human villain with many schemes and few emotions.

The first Grandmaster of modern detective fiction would have to be Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, writing his famous Sherlock Holmes stories some fifty years after Poe's works. While Doyle's personal opinion of the game of chess is not known, he plays to his readers' prejudices and confines his chess references to his villains and scoundrels. In "The Adventure of the Retired Colourman" (around 1898), the title hero is an avid chess player who murders his chess partner. While Doyle uses the moves of the chess matches in the story to foreshadow the action in the story, Holmes also uses the chess games as a clue to solving the murders. Holmes declares that an interest in chess is "[a] mark, Watson, of a scheming mind."

One of the more technically proficient recountings of a game of chess in a detective novel was penned by Agatha Christie in The Big Four (1927). In this story, a chess master was murdered by a strong electrical shock dealt him in the third move of his Ruy Lopez opening. In anticipation of his opening, the electical connection was rigged to the square on the board through the floor from the apartment below. Unlike the other two stories mentioned here, Agatha Christie's chess player is the victim, not the scheming villain.

Ian Fleming portrays one of his villains in From Russia with Love (1957) as a Russian Grandmaster but the description of the actual chess play is nonsense and incidental to the story.

So it appears that chess players have a negative image in modern detective novels. Chess players are the villains, more often than otherwise. It remains curious to me that Sherlock Holmes was not portrayed as a chess player, given his penchant for logical thinking. Holmes remains a popular figure among chess players -- who apparently admire him more than he admired chess players.

This popular decorative chess set captures the characters of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle detective stories of the many adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock is accompanied on his adventures by his faithful companion Doctor Watson, while the rest of the set features other leading characters from the famous stories including Mrs. Hudson and Inspector Lestrade, others. These carefully designed pieces are based on the original drawings that appeared in the Strand Magazine to accompany the Sherlock Holmes stories. Enhance your own reasoning skills through playing chess .... whenever a worthy opponent can be found. You will find this set on sale today at our website. Please purchase your set from www.ChessRight.com while this sale lasts!

Keep playing chess!

Army Chess Tournament 2009

The annual Army chess tournament was held in April 2009, and the inter-service chess tournament just concluded a week of competition as of May 9th. The winner is .... Specialist Jhonel Baniel of the Army Medical Department. Read more about it:

Military Chess Tournament

The NATO Chess Championships will be held in Hammelburg, Germany during June. Good luck to all the participants from all of us at www.ChessRight.com!