We are continuing our special offer – if you buy three books or more and live in the normal European Union zone (as defined by UPS – for example, they exclude some islands and remote areas) we will send you an extra book free. For June and July, the default option on the free book has been the Attacking Manual 1 and 2, respectively. But we will change that now to the QUALITY CHESS PUZZLE BOOK by John Shaw.
But if you already have the Quality Chess Puzzle Book, or would prefer a different free book, then send us an email with your order, asking to have it replaced with one of the following titles:
CHESS LESSONS
CARLSEN’S ASSAULT ON THE THRONE
POSITIONAL CHESS SACRIFICES
GRANDMASTER VERSUS AMATEUR
GRANDMASTER BATTLE MANUAL
REGGIO EMILIA 2007/2008
TACTIMANIA
SAN LUIS 2005
ATTACKING THE SPANISH
CUTTING EDGE 1: THE OPEN SICILIAN
CUTTING EDGE 2: SICILIAN NAJDORF 6.Be3
Last week’s question was: ‘Will the World Championship be held in New York this year?’ You believe it will, but there are a significant minority of doubters. As Mark Crowther astutely pointed out in a comment, AGON’s credibility depends on it being in New York, so they are likely to do all they can to make that happen. But sticking to the announced dates may be a different question.
And just in case anyone wrongly thinks asking this poll question showed hostile intent from me: I hope AGON manages to organize an exciting World Championship, in New York, on the announced dates.
This week’s poll question was brought to mind by the anti-cheating rules planned for next month’s Baku Olympiad: players will not be allowed to bring their watches or pens into the playing area. This would have bothered the younger me – “How can I play without my lucky pen?!” The newly-rational me is unperturbed. But superstitions are rife among chess players. For example, Karpov avoided washing his hair while he was on an unbeaten streak. And Karpov was usually on an unbeaten streak.
What about you? Do you have any chess superstitions? Instead of a simple Yes/No, I will offer a range of varieties of Yes.
On Thursday July 28, Boris Gelfand will be giving a lecture at the Xtracon Open in Helsingør, Denmark. It starts at 8pm and precise details can be found at the following link. There is a 225 kr. fee to see the lecture, but for that you also get a copy of Dynamic Decision Making in Chess, signed by Boris if you are lucky.
I believe 225 kr. is what the book would cost in Denmark, so essentially you would be buying a great book while getting a lecture by Boris Gelfand thrown in for free. Also, this book will not be published until August 31, so you would get your hands on it a month before the rest of the world.
The image above is from a short video by Tom Skovgaard showing Jacob and Boris talking about the lecture. So if you are in range of Denmark, I highly recommend this lecture.
Last week’s question was: ‘Who will win the British Championship?’ Of course Mickey Adams was the top choice, but I am encouraged that Gawain Jones took second place. I also think Nick Pert has a far better chance than our poll would suggest.
The question asked in the name of this blog post seems an easy one. Of course it will. The World Championship match between Carlsen and Karjakin will be held in New York from November 10-30 2016. That’s the official announcement. Except, with less than four months to go, there is no venue announced.
Just over a week ago on the ECF Forum Andrew Murray-Watson, AGON’s Communications Director, said: “I appreciate that there is a degree of doubt about New York being the venue for the championship match. But all I can say is that it is definitely happening in New York and we will make an announcement in the next two to three weeks.”
So that’s crystal clear, except Karjakin in an interview with Norwegian paper Dagbladet made it clear he was not keen to play in the US, and hopes for a move to Moscow.
I hope it all works out somehow, as a healthy World Championship cycle is good for chess. But what do you think? Will the World Championship be held in New York this year?
So, ‘Will you be combining a family holiday with chess?’ In general, ‘no’ you will not. Following on from the number of tournaments you will play equalling ‘zero’, this is consistent.
The Scottish Championship concluded with GM Matt Turner winning the tournament, and GM Keti Arakhamia-Grant becoming Scottish Champion. Congratulations to both.
GM Colin McNab finished a respectable 4th equal, with the consolation of becoming joint Senior Champion with IM Steve Mannion. IM Andrew Greet played in a frankly not-so-strong weekend event, and cruised to 5/5. The following link has a few photos of the winners.
On Saturday, the British Championship starts in Bournemouth on the south coast of England. I see three Quality Chess authors in the top ten entrants (as of today) but: Who will win the British Championship?
Naturally, Adams must be the favourite, but I am curious how many votes the others will get. Not just out of QC loyalty, I will tip GM Gawain Jones for the title, and IM Richard Pert for a GM norm. No pressure, though.
Last week’s question was: ‘How many tournaments will you play this summer?’ And the answer is: ‘not a lot’. ‘Zero’ was our clear winner, followed by ‘one’, followed by ‘two’, followed by…
I see a pattern.
Perhaps you are all too busy over the summer with work, family, and reading excellent chess books. But I am curious about what could be done to get more people playing tournaments. Any ideas?
And for those of you who will be playing tournaments: Will you be combining a family holiday with chess?
We do have one Quality Chess person in tournament action right now. GM Colin McNab is playing in the Scottish Championship. The games start at 1 pm (that’s a link to Round 3 on Monday 11th; links to later rounds will eventually appear on this page) and the playing hall is about a 5-minute walk from our office in Glasgow, so Colin’s solution is to work in the morning, then play chess in the afternoon. A fine work-life balance.
Meanwhile Andrew and I are here, working away all day…
Last week’s question was: ‘At the chess Olympiad, do you think it is fair that England, Scotland and other British teams are allowed to compete individually?’
I must admit I expected a big vote for ‘No’ but I was wrong. 67% of you are fine with the present situation. Maybe you are traditionalists, or British, or both?
Today Glasgow is grey and rain-sodden, but this is summertime, and traditionally the next couple of months are a busy time for chess tournaments. So: How many tournaments will you play this summer?
Last week’s question: ‘Was it right of Nakamura to claim the full point in the game against Topalov?’ 69% said Yes, and 23% No. The only surprise to me is that ‘No’ received so many votes. In competitive blitz, illegal moves lose. And push-a-pawn-to-the-8th-and press-the-clock is a blatantly illegal move.
Clearly some feel that the rule is too harsh, but for blatantly illegal moves, it seems fair to me. I have more sympathy for what I might call ‘accidental illegal moves’. Example: you move a piece, press the clock, then the piece topples over because it was not placed exactly flat and steady on its base. This has been given as a loss in blitz. The innocent party has been disadvantaged, so a penalty is due. But a time penalty seems fairer than a default, for what seems to me to be clumsiness rather than intentional rule-breaking.
You may have noticed that last week the UK voted to leave the European Union. And many believe this makes it more likely that the UK might split up into its constituent countries. But in chess, and various other sports, the UK is already split, and competes as various teams. Why? Tradition or inertia. This is the way it has been, so it continues. For example, in September, Andrew, Colin and I will play for Scotland at the Olympiad in Baku.
At the chess Olympiad, do you think it is fair that England, Scotland and other British teams are allowed to compete individually?
I am aware that ‘national chess teams’ would not make the top million important Brexit-related topics, but we will keep this a chess blog.
Recent Comments