Welcome
Welcome to Chess Masters
I used to play chess every Wednesday for several hours, after a while I actually got quite good at it, not good enough to challenge a professional ( I tried that once and got squashed repeatedly ), but good enough that I'd win 80% of the games I played against occasional/regular players like myself. In one city I lived there was a park that had a chess board in block, the pieces were about 4 feet high average and there was always someone there even in winter, at first it was rather odd playing as it was a different view of the game and sometimes real people would be substituted for pieces if we had no access to the building where the pieces were stored. Of all non-sport games I'd have to say chess is and was and likely will continue to be my favorite game.
The
Politically Incorrect Reason I Want My Children to Learn Chess
by Richard Stooker :
Yes, sure chess
is good for
developing the ability to think, to reason, to ponder, to calculate and
analyze. Sure it develops the ability to read and remember. To look and
think ahead, to carefully reason out and foresee the consequences of
actions and to make the optimum move.
All that's fine and dandy.
And I guess I wouldn't object if I had a chess prodigy child who'd grow
up to be a world champion and rake in big bucks. Though, to tell the
truth, if I wanted to make money off my children they'd make more money
as successful models/actors or tennis players.
(And given the
strange psychological relationships between some famous chess prodigies
and their parents -- such as Bobby Fischer and his mother, Gata Kamsky
and his father -- I'm not sure I'd want to be the parent of a chess
prodigy.)
To tell the politically incorrect truth, I want my
children to learn chess because despite political correctness it is
still what it started out as -- a nonviolent form of war.
Peaceniks
want to gloss over the history of chess, but there's no doubt that it
began as a pastime for rajahs in India who had to be prepared to fight
to defend their territory and developed as a evening activity for kings
in Europe who had to be prepared to fight to defend their territory.
I'm
not in favor of war, but it's obvious that the world is still full of
violent people and if you're not prepared to defend your family and
your country, you'll lose them.
On a lesser scale, this is just
as true of everyday life. It's too much of a cliche to compare chess to
life -- but whether you're a businessperson strategizing a new
marketing tactic or an engineer designing a car that runs on hydrogen .
. . you need the skills and attitude of chess.
Yes, sometimes
your "war" may be against a technical problem rather than another
person. Fine, you still need the attitude that there's an optimum move
you can make to take advantage of the properties of the metal you're
working with.
The great thing about chess is that it's all out
in the open. Your opponent sees the same board you see. Unlike another
great game -- poker -- nothing is hidden. Unlike poker and life itself,
chance plays no role in chess.
Your
advantage is only between your ears. It's your ability to think more
clearly and farther than your opponent. To some extent face to face
chess is like poker in that it can help to "read" your opponent's body
language. Do they appear confident because they're "bluffing" -- or
just because don't want you to know that they just made a bad move?
Chess is a great game, but it's a game.
Beyond
the game is something called "real life." You win in real life to the
degree that you can shape your world to make you happy.
This
often calls for intellectual thinking and knowledge, but you must know
how to go beyond that. You must know how to compete for the money and
career goals you desire. You must be willing to defend your home, your
family, your job -- yourself.
Hopefully violence won't be necessary -- but an attitude of competition
is.
An
attitude that says that learning every variation of Ruy Lopez is
important not as an intellectual exercise but because it increases your
chances of checkmating your opponent's king.
Those old time rajahs and kings understood.
Chess was an entertaining way to practice warfare
when you weren't actively chopping off heads.
Article Source: http://www.my-articles.com
c 2006 by Richard Stooker Read more about the world's greatest game at
Richard's Chess Theory PDF blog
The History of
Chess
by Lisa Sparillo :
Chess is widely considered to be
the oldest of all board games as it is a sport in more than a few
countries, and a test of skill played by millions the world over and it
is gaining popularity day by day. The Modern chess sets have 32 pieces,
16 black and 16 white, on a board comprised of 64 squares and with this
finite arrangement of figurines and playing surfaces has led to a wide
variety of chess sets over the years.
Chess and history:
The
history helps one to learn the history and mythology of the Vikings as
you sail your ship to far-off lands, conquering countries and winning
treasures. Due to its historical significance it is seen that there are
a lot of historical attributes that add to the kind of quality it has
with a different set of rules and the game is played differently. In
the western countries the extension of the powers of the queen made it
easier to enforce checkmate in the endgame and the set of rules differ
from place to place and so does the history.
Chess sets and cartoon characters:
The
best example is the hand painted and that gives it an artistic look to
it with features all of the endearing characters from the wonderful
world of Winnie the Pooh. It is a great opportunity to Capture memories
of childhood or introduce your children or grand children to these
timeless characters as the children are fond of them. The fine details
such as noses, horses ear's, swords, daggers and flag staffs could be
snapped of if treated too roughly. There is a great variety of other
themes chess page where there is a great collection of marble, onyx,
fossil coral and soapstone chess sets together to create an interest
for chess among the players who intend to play chess.
About The Author
Lisa Sparillo for http://www.chess-resource.com.
Disclaimer
To the best
of our knowledge these are all from either the public domain or free to
use, and a link either has been or will soon be placed on our link page
whenever possible to credit the sources of the photos and tips.
If for some
reason we have inadvertantly placed a photo or image or article that is
not freely
available we will be glad to remove it upon request.
Sponsored by The TAZ Zone and TAZForum