Chess Blogs

This week we look at...


It is not really a chess puzzle book as in a real chess puzzle book,
its actually a chess themed puzzle book. I’ll show you what I mean.
I will give a solution to a few of the puzzles, not the word searches etc.

Which piece comes next in this logical sequence.

The Black Bishop[/hidden...

Viz, the popular British distinguished and...er...educational magazine
has again lampooned chess. This time with a double page feature which
is a bit too indelicate, near the knuckle and too racy to reproduce here.


Inside they are running a chess competition.

What is the least number of moves it will take for the Knight to
capture the Rook, Queen and Bishop, which will remain stationary....

A lot of weeks we start off with what chess treasure I have found
in a junk shop This week is no different except here is something
my wife picked up for £2.00 a few days ago. Never pass a junk shop!


Quite smart and in a very good condition, what was inside?


An eight level Novag chess computer. I put the batteries in and it fired up!

A Novag computer found in a wooden box (on level 4) v Me, Scotland, 202...

What is this? It is a Chess Sock. I use to have two, one for each foot.
I made the mistake of putting them both in the washing machine at
the same time and now it appears this sock has eaten the other one.

I cannot find it’s partner anywhere. My wife, who does not believe
this sock is a cannibal theory, told me to check out my sock drawer.
(that pun ‘check out’ whilst looking for a chess sock is deplorable.)

What is this? I found it in my sock drawer. It is a June 1977, minus th...

When I saw this Chess Life I thought the chap on the right was a young Fabiano Caruana.


It was only when I looked at the date, September 1982 did I realised that it can’t be.
That lad on the right is Steve Jacobi who tied with Thomas Crispin (left) for the 1982
U.S.A. Amateur Championship. (I still think it is Caruana and he is an ageless vampire.)


Fabiano Caruana (or an older Steve Jacobi)...

I got a tee shirt for my 75th Birthday


Notice there is a green pawn on e4!!


I wonder if they do t-shirts for those who play the London System. If so
they will be in pansy pink and have ‘Kick Me Hard’ printed on the back.

Another recent second hand purchase was this.....

The title; “The Flanders Panel (Chess)” is thus because I have been told
by my computer expert. Tommy the next door neighbours 11 year old,
that web crawlers come out at night and pick up on the word ‘Chess’ so
I must try to include the word ‘Chess’ in every title. Sometimes I forget.


Found in a ‘Four for £1.00’ oddment bin.

The Plot.
A 15th century painting of two noblemen playing chess is undergoing restoration.
However it has come to light that two years before the picture was painted one of...

Rain. To escape it I ducked into an art gallery and bumped into this.


Chess on a 12 by 12 board, or is it, the squares are all over the place.
This ruined my day. What is it with these artistic types? Why do they
have to mess about so much. Can they not do anything right. How hard is it
to paint a proper chessboard. I wish I had stayed outside and got myself wet.

Onto a book I’ve been strolling through; ‘Social Chess’ by James Mason.

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The combinations and tactical tricks we play in our games are sourced
from games or positions we have seen before. Sometimes they have the
been played against us (the best source of learning, once you feel burn of
an idea you rarely forget it.) Here are two ‘must know ideas and patterns.’


A basic Queen and Bishop mating pattern and a first rank mate.

For the first mating pattern I’ll show an actual game to help it sink in.
It is the ‘WOW!’ factor than is important. The game is hard to forget...

Back to this book by Jan Timman and we look at Phoenix Knights.


A Phoenix Knight is a pawn that has been under promoted to a Knight.
and prior to that happening a Knight has to be sacrificed to clear the way
for the new Knight - which has risen from the ashes of the sacrificed Knight .

Easier to show a Phoenix Knight than explain one. I can use an RHP game.

Mr Ch - Luck RHP 2008 A basic example of a Phoenix Knight...