The Chess Wanderer

"Les pions sont l´âme du jeu" Francois-André Philidor, 1749

Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Awesome gift


My Dad's friend gave me this marble set today. He said his niece gave it to him, as a gift, three years ago. Since he doesn't play chess he decided to give it to someone who does. I was floored when he gave it to me. Now to find something to store it in besides the box it came in. Does anyone have any suggestions? This is my first marble set.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Artful Checkmates

Got through the first chapter in "The Art of the Checkmate". It's a really good book so far. But you know what? I say that about almost every book that I start but don't finish. I'm familiar with the checkmates that they have shown so far but it's really interesting to see the complete game that led up to the mate and where the mistakes were. Gives me a better view of how not to play. Did I mention that I'm addicted to Master Games? There is just something exciting about watching two greats using all their brainpower against each other.

I haven't gotten around to playing a real game in a while. Other things have taken up my tim. For instance, I am currently writing this from a townhouse in Tahoe. It's nice and cold up here. Lake Donner is just beautiful. My Dad and I drove around it today and the scenery is just breathtaking. We are planning on doing the same for Lake Tahoe. We visited the Donner musem too.