Here is a game of mine from the last Lexington tournament:

Positional Chess is not the absence of tactical themes ... it's two tactical ideas clashing and being forced to a standstill while both players work around those features. Take that following example:

[Event "Don't Let Your Flag Fall"]
[Site "Lexington, Kentucky"]
[Date "9-20-2008"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Anton Taylor"]
[Black "NM Davis Whaley"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. Nf3
{
1.Nf3 is by some analysts considered to be a lackluster first move. These same analysts extol the virtues of 1.d4 Nf6 ... I'll never understand chess analysts.
}
1... c5 2. e3 Nf6 3. b3
{
The Queen's Indian Defence with an extra move ... Davis is out of his element here ... but then again, so am I.
}
3... e6 4. Nc3 d5 5. Ba3 Qa5
{
Qa5 is an aggressive LOOKING move. In reality White is ahead in development and not looking to retreat.
}
6. Qc1
{
Qc1! I really liked this move when I played it ... I saw b5 coming but any chance for Black to overextend his pawns gives white batter attacking prospects.
}
6... a6 7. Be2 b5 8. Bb2
{
Black has wasted two moves in making an attack that takes White one move to defend. What's worse ... White is almost fully developed and ready to unleash his pinned up fury. However, don't let my optimism fool you ... the open field that Black enjoys is a plus on his side too.
}
8... Bd6 9. O-O O-O 10. d4 c4 11. Nd1 Qc7
{
Davis recognized that the queen was very far out of play so he brings her back in with some effect (namely, keeping my knight on f3).
}
12. c3 Nc6 13. Qc2
{
This may be viewed as a waste of move but I'm convinced it is the right approach. White needs to fight for the light squares and get his rooks into the game ... this move helps both plans.
}
13... Bd7 14. h3 a5 15. Nd2 a4 16. f4
{
I was tempted to play e4 here but f4 keeping the game closed keeps Black from getting much needed activity.
}
16... Ra7 17. b4
{
Ra7 planned two things: 1) double on the a-file and trade off pawns to control an open file and 2) protect the second rank from a future invasion there. c4 prevents the first but the second idea is a good one (albeit somewhat slow there is nothing I can see that's better).
}
17... Ne8 18. a3 f5
{
Black could have tried to play f6 and work toward challenging White's center but it entails more risk than Davis is willing to commit to here.
}
19. Nf2 Kf7
{
Kf7!! the right idea. A quick evaluation shows that White coyuld safely play g4 and Kh1 and then Black will have a loose king. this move and the king moves to follow solve Black's problem and present White with a few of his own.
}
20. Nf3 Ke7 21. Nh1
{
This move looks goofy but it was the only place for the knight that allowed the king to move and prevented invasion by the knight on e8.
}
21... Kd8 22. Kf2
{
Davis jokingly exclaimed at this point "Stop copying my moves." Of course he realized I was getting forced to move away sooner or later or risk getting a loose king myself.
}
22... Nf6 23. Ke1 Be8 24. Kd1 Bh5
{
I don't know that I agree with this idea. Trading off the Bishop for the knight would be a good trade if Black can close things up but White has the opportunity to force things open ... and that spells difficult endgame for Black missing a Bishop.
}
25. Bc1
{
Ignoring Black's non-threatening strategy White forges on to improve his Bishop ... you'll see this guy move until he's one of White's better pieces.
}
25... Bxf3 26. Bxf3 Kc8 27. Qe2 Ne4 28. Bd2 Kb7 29. Kc2 Qe7 30. Be1 Raa8
31. h4 g6 32. g4 h6 33. Ng3 Qg7 34. Nxe4 fxe4 35. Bg2
{
And this is where my notes end but after Bh3 and Bg3 White should have an advantage. unfortunately somewhere around here I got into time trouble and threw the game away. It's struggles like this that define positional chess and Davis showed that he can indeed play something other than a tactical shootout.
}
*

well, here again I'm wandering around chessblogland and I find a website I first discovered in 2006. I'm rediscovering it and it seems there is still a heated 'whose the best looking female chessplayer' debate.

That's right folks ... I'm talking about the 2006 Chess Olympiad in Torino (chesspics.com). Why are we talking on a chess blog about the subject of aesthetics? well, I'm curious ... where's the men go? There's a link to kosteniuk.com that's supposed to be the men of Torino ... but all you get is a 404 error.

I want to see how the men of chess stack up against one another in handsomeness. I mean, if we can put women through the emotional rollercoaster of a 'whose pretty and whose not' ... why not subject the men? Granted, I'd lose to kasparov even in that contest but I'd enter.

tongue fully out of cheek ... why is this popular?