Chessvine.com - My Adventures

World Records In Chess

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:32:02 -0400

Check out the World Records In Chess on Wikipedia!

Chess Humor My Bundesliga

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:59:19 -0500

I must have a well refined sense of humor because I derived a twisted kind of pleasure from the following headline:

"Werder Bremen catches Baden-Baden in the Bundesliga"

Alekhine's Defense

nospam@example.com (jlemoine) — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 07:09:40 -0500

Get ready to play in a chess tournament this weekend.

Here's a little video to help you get your engine started. (-or to just learn a little more about the game.)

I've found this to be easy to play from Black, especially against weaker players. As White, I used to be tempted to advance all 4 pawns but I usually did badly. This is, of course, the whole point of the Alekhine Defense: to tempt W to advance his pawns so that you can break up his center.

Book lines lead to obscure positions. While the obvious move 1. ... Nf6 was played for a century before, it is named "Alekhine" because of his great success with this move Budapest in 1921.

Play that Game!

Chess events in your area . . . and visit jrobi who created these wonderful videos.

www.jacklemoine.com

Peter Lalic Youtube Chess

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 10:56:08 -0500

From: Peter Lalic

"Hi!
I like your blog, and noticed that it has the intention to teach improving players.
Therefore, I am just wondering if you would be so kind to post a link to these chess videos:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=4CF48F864CFA7853
Hopefully they are instructive. The latest games are presented with notation as well. Please take this as an example for consideration:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIRBdyk3Obc
Thank you very much.
Peter"

I love to get these kind of e-mails. From my inbox directly to my friends that read the blog: PRESTO!

Chess Attack Press Release

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:39:04 -0500

"I am proud to be a part owner of Yes Games AS and an ambassador to Chess Attack. I was excited to find out about the new game "Chess Attack", which in my opinion is perfect for both grown ups and kids and greatly adapted to modern times. Chess Attack offers portability, innovation and shorter playing times, while retaining all the values of chess, such as the same pieces being used, and same playing rules. Chess Attack stimulates thought, is easy to learn, so even kids can start playing it minutes after they take it out of the box". - Alexandra Kosteniuk

See the Full Press Release Here.

Betsy Dynako Blogs on Nakamura

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 12:42:02 -0500

For those of you who still don't know Betsy Dynako is a brilliant photographer. She has covered chess events for several years and in a recent blog entry she explains her Chess Life cover photo of U.S. Champion Hikaru Nakamura.

"I felt like I might as well have said, “Pick your nose, it will look great. Trust Me.” Luckily Nakamura indeed trusted me and settled into the shot. I like this shot more than any of the others I posed of him that night. I feel like I bonded with my subject in that moment, and I was able to capture a winner’s smile that conveyed the relief of knowing the relentless hard work was over and well worth it."

Chess Blogging: Why So Little?

nospam@example.com (jlemoine) — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 21:27:52 -0500

The Georgia Society of CPA's launched a blog last week and I contributed a few posts to help them get started. This one was about blogging versus chatting and I used the USCF's activities as an example of the behavior. As you can see, while USCF politics was discussed therein, it really wasn't about that. Rather, I addressed this question: why is it so hard for people to blog?

I think that this is especially of interest to the chess community. Chess in the US needs all the promotion that it can get.

Here's the link to the CPA Society's post: GSCPA

And don't forget about the Chess Blog Carnival coming up at the end of this month. (Plug!)

Footnote: While I did not mention names in that post, the chess community will recognize the references to Brian Lafferty and Brian Mottershead. Not important to the point of my posting, just FYI here in this forum.

What is Sean March Doing Right?

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:18:00 -0500

As far as product reviews go I think Sean Marsh is a very good blogger. I enjoyed my visit to his blog and wandered around for quite some time. what drew me there? Chessbase has linked to Sean's Blog "Marsh Towers".

Some time ago here I ran an article on Robert Pearson called "What is Robert Pearson Doing Right?".

Let me break down just exactly what Sean has done right... and how this blog and my own experience differ:

1. Establishing Yourself - Marsh Towers has articles dating back to 2001 ... sometimes the age of a blog is a big help in its popularity. The older a blog gets the more it is generally assumed that it has a devoted fan base. It's true!

Chessvine is still in its youth. While I have been experimenting with blogging for many years this is just the second year for Chessvine.com.

2. Muted Color & Color Variety - Too often I see chess blogs or websites in general using strong colors. The webmasters sometime underestimate the mute color tones. However, there are some blogs that consist mostly of text. This is a terrible mistake! the more color the better!

The color of this blog is Grayscale. That totally violates the rule but I like the Newspaper feel. Then to add insult to injury Chessvine's sidebar is full of scattered color. This gives my blog a more homie and 'used' feel.

3. Content vs. Depth - There is a constant battle in the average blogger to balance frequency of blog posting with the depth of content. Sean's compromise is to post fairly in-depth articles but only posting every few days.

There is little or no depth to most chessvine postings but I post nearly every day. I want to get the most pressing news out to the chess commun ity as fast as possible. That leads to relatively small posts, short visit lengths even from frequent visitors, and almost no decent writing samples from me. It hurts my journalistic career but it follows my real goal. Getting the chess news to you ASAP!

4. Professional Appeal - "Marsh Towers" gives the feeling of a blog put together by an extreme professional. neat, organized, and evenly put together.

Chessvine is almost completely unprofessional. What do I care if the chess politician in a fancy suit overlooks this blog. This is a site for the people ... you.

5. Blogosphere Connection - A prominent feature of Sean's blog is the links to other blogs. It shows a real connection with other bloggers and the world of chess blogging.

I have difficulty trusting that other bloggers will be around in a month. Only established blogs that I've actually read frequently end up on my blogroll. I've never been good about making connections in the chess blogosphere. I have different goals from the average chess blogger.

Happy Belated Halloween

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:08:15 -0500

While I don't enjoy the celebration of this pagan holiday ... I do enjoy eating a ton of candy and feeling ill. Enjoy!

Road To ??Recovery??

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:31:38 -0400

Okay, so today I spent all day at the local version of Octoberfest. Around 3pm this afternoon I performed in a Martial Arts demonstration and the grand finale was board breaks on the body. My sensei broke a board over the back of my neck immediately followed by a break across my throat. I came through it without a scratch but my adrenaline is still pumping. So ... conclusively ... I'm not in the mood to make a big rant or report any chess news. Forgive me my fans! Off to relax and take it easy the rest of the day. I deserve it!

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 07:28:59 -0400

Back On Twitter

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:57:12 -0400

Okay, so after a too-long hiatus I've finally returned to a more frequent chatting on twitter.

At this writing I have nearly 7,900 followers (see the link above for my profile). I've only been surpassed in the chess community by GM Natalya Pogonina. I'm very proud of that fact and I'm glad to see myself surpassed because that means that my goal of increasing interest in chess on twitter is actually coming to light!

If you haven't tried twitter yet I strongly encourage you to do so! If you are on twitter then let's start chatting!

I get asked all the time "what's your secret, why do have so many followers?" it's pretty simple. I actually get the most followers when I strive to engage the twitter community. I get the most followers from discussing the trending topics on twitter. people tend to follow other peoplewho are talking about the biggest and most important topics.

Good luck in your twitter experience and please join in!

Susan, Blogshares, & An Incomplete List Of Chess Blogs ...

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:23:32 -0400

I've recently been exchanging e-mails with a fellow blogger who had come across an article by Susan Polgar.

Now, I know for a fact that Susan is very aware of this blog (no small thanks to my incessant self-promoting attitude, lol). So I can only conclude that it was Susan's intent to make some bloggers aware that they were not being listed by blogshares.

I did know about blogshares ... I'm not on the list of chess blogs and I did plan to apply to be included. In fact I plan on being in the top 5 on that list ... I don't consider that overambitious judging by my site's rankings among chess blogs elsewhere.

For crying out loud, the chess blogs for World Champion GM Alexandra Kosteniuk and GM Natalia Pogonina aren't even listed there!

I'm Taking A Sick Day

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:07:45 -0400

No Blog Post From Me Today

nospam@example.com (ColonelCrockett) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 06:41:00 -0400

Why no posts today? Because I'm at a Shaolin Martial Arts Tournament.