The tradition of chess

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perezoso

The tradition of chess

Post by perezoso » February 7th, 2005, 5:43 pm

Leon Trotsky, VI Lenin, Lewis Carroll, Bertrand Russell, Ezra Pound, Andre Breton, Nabakov--these men may have all differed widely in terms of philosophy or politics, but there was one thing these thinkers and many other intellectuals had in common: they were avid chess players. Chess crosses party lines. And chess is also featured in many literary works ( Through the Looking Glass a great example). That is not to say that one must be a decent chess player to be an authentic writer or poet, but it certainly can't hurt.

e4


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Lenin and Gorki take time from the Revolution to push some pawns

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mousey1
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Post by mousey1 » February 7th, 2005, 8:21 pm

So.....

conversely.....

does this mean that I, writer/poet that I am(I use the term loosely, gag gag) may become a master chess player? Hunh Hunh does it?(Rubbing hands together) I'd like to be able to play the fine game of chess, this theory would give me a leg up, a leg over. I'm not much of a strategist tho, this is one of my many downfalls.

perezoso

Post by perezoso » February 7th, 2005, 8:26 pm

Not knowing you or your cognitive abilities, I would not venture a definite opinion at present, but I do tend towards to the null set on that, hon. Learn the notation tho and try some games online.

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Doreen Peri
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Post by Doreen Peri » February 7th, 2005, 8:41 pm

I love chess!

I used to play religiously.

I was pretty good, too.

(for a female.. hahaha)

I haven't played a game for a while.

That must be why my writing sucks.

heh

Thanks for helping me figure this out, perezo!

I was stumped! :mrgreen:

perezoso

Post by perezoso » February 7th, 2005, 8:50 pm

There are some excellent female chess players; for instance, the Polgar sisters--hungarian or yugoslavian I think-- play at tournament level.

http://www.polgarchess.com/polgarchess/ ... QfbHV3Hra9

IF one has the time, chess is, or can be, a decent mind-strengthening activity. And I do think the conceptual skills are related to writing and creativity. .

hester_prynne

Post by hester_prynne » February 7th, 2005, 9:02 pm

Female, male...either gender has equal capacity for chess prowess I would imagine......anyways

Me, I never have had much opportunity to learn how to play chess, no chess mentors, dog gammit.......
I'd love to learn.

How did you learn to play?

H 8)

perezoso

Post by perezoso » February 7th, 2005, 9:18 pm

I was taught when I was about 9-10

played quite a bit in high school, some in college (picked up some tricks there), online now and then...i'm not a master but decent.

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Doreen Peri
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Post by Doreen Peri » February 7th, 2005, 9:40 pm

I was joking with the female comment. ;) No, I wasn't joking that I was a female. :D

I used to work at a club in DC where two ranked chess players used to come in and play each other. I'd try to play them sometimes, but they were way more accomplished than I was. Both of them could mate me in 10 moves or less. It was embarrassing.

But, for the most part, other than playing with them, I could play a pretty good game. I still love the game. I should play more often. When my son stops by, we play. But the games are short even when I'm not playing regularly. He needs more practice.

My dad taught me and my sisters to play when we were very young. I think I was about 7 or 8 when I learned how the pieces move. I did the same for my kids. I drew a diagram... cheat sheet... to show them how the pieces moved. They'd use it, at first, when playing their first games. It helped them a lot.

I just asked my 12-year-old daughter, "How old were you when I taught you how to play chess?" and she said she was somewhere between 5 and 7. Geesh. I didn't realize she was that young!

You're right, perez ...... It's a good game to learn. It's good for the mind to think strategically like that.

My dad stopped playing with us at a certain point. We never could understand why. I was in my 20's and I decided to ask him. I missed playing chess with him, I said. Why did he stop playing with us?

He answered, "You're kidding, right?" and I said, No, I very much wanted to know. "I couldn't win any more," he said.

hehe

And I thought when he used to knock the board by accident that it was really an accident. Geesh.

You say you play chess online, p?

Where?

(I love Scrabble and tried that online, but those people cheat! They use words that aren't real! I didn't like that much. What's the point?)

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mousey1
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Post by mousey1 » February 8th, 2005, 12:46 pm

Having never played, would we call chess a stressful or a relaxing pasttime? I like to win so might find it stressful :shock: .

Anyway I may try it. Anything to keep the mind limber is not a waste of time. I suppose one could learn online, never thought of that. As for actually playing I rather like the idea of sitting across from my opponent, steely eyed and determined, an ornate board shining and gleaming before me, cigar in one hand, glass of port in t'other. Perhaps a crackling fire. It's all in the atmosphere. Sitting eye to eye with a monitor..ech..don't sound so appealing.

But, yes, I may attempt to teach myself, scrounge up a playing partner. I've always wanted to.

As for my cognitive abilities? Ya, jury's still out on that one. :)

I'm all for exercising the gray matter. Mental flaccidity, akin to couch-potato brain, not good. It may be too late tho, I may suffer an aneurism from the strain, the mental calisthenics. :(

:shock: Doreen!!!!!!!! You're female!!!!!!!! :shock:

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Chess!

Post by Maple Leaf Up » May 2nd, 2005, 1:27 pm

New to the forum.

Sifting through.

Stumbled upon chess thread.

Hmm, I like chess. Let's have a peek.

Thought I'd offer some famous, or perhaps not so famous, chess quotations that I nick'd off the internet for snacks:

"Chess problems demand from the composer the same virtues that characterize all worthwile art: originality, invention, conciseness, harmony, complexity, and splendid insincerity." - Vladimir Nabkov

"Poor Capablanca! Thou wert a brilliant technician, but no philosopher. Thou wert not capable of believing that in chess, another style could be victorious than the absolutely correct one."
- Max Euwe

"Without error there can be no brilliancy." - Emanuel Lasker

"I am still a victim of Chess. It has all the beauty of art and much
more. It cannot be commercialized. Chess is much
purer than art in its social position." - Marcel Duchamp

"In the perfect Chess combination as in a first-rate short story, the
whole plot and counter-plot should lead up to a striking finale,
the interest not being allayed until the very last moment." - Yates and Winter

"I feel as if I were a piece in a game of Chess, when my
opponent says of it: That piece cannot be moved." - Soren Kierkegaard

"Man is a frivolous, a specious creature, and like a Chess player, cares more for the process of attaining his goal than for the goal itself." - Dostoyevsky

"You know, comrade Pachman, I don't enjoy being a Minister,
I would rather play Chess like you, or make a revolution in Venezula." - Che Guevara

"There is no remorse like the remorse of Chess." - H. G. Wells

"Chess is a sea in which a gnat may drink and an elephant may bathe." - Hindu proverb

Serve with strong, hot coffee ... ?
Drinking Far Too Much, Copulating Too Little.

To avoid criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.

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Post by stilltrucking » May 29th, 2006, 11:09 pm

Notice this is an old old string, I was just feeling nostalgic for perezoso.

Crazy Jack son of Crazy Mike.

He taught me to play when I was about five or six. I can't remember the exact date.
He would play me with his back to the board. He had the whole board in his mind. I would tell him where I moved and he would call out his move. He could visualize where all the pieces were. He played Bobby Fischer to a draw.
In round 1 of the 1956 US Amateur Championship, Fischer drew with Michael Tilles.
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/ ... ischer.htm

"Play the whole board he used to tell me" And visualize each piece with vectors of force radiating out from it.

He was drinking tea (always in a glass) Reaching for a sugar cube while distracted he dropped his rook into the glass. Then he could not find it and accused me of losing it. I was too scared to tell him where it was. He would walk around with his glasses pushed up on his forehead while looking for his glasses. I was too scared of him to tell him where they were. He would accuse me of "stabbing him in the back." I think he saw that look in my eyes.

Yeah I can't play chess anymore.
Last edited by stilltrucking on January 25th, 2008, 4:48 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by e_dog » May 30th, 2006, 4:25 am

Playing Chess with Death. a theme of great film and not so great, alike, Bergman's first masterpiece The Seventh Seal, and Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey.
I don't think 'Therefore, I am.' Therefore, I am.

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Post by jimboloco » June 21st, 2006, 8:36 am

perezozo's better half
a brilliant star
no doubt
i confess
am checkmated
sub-pawn
rooked
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[color=darkcyan]i'm on a survival mission
yo ho ho an a bottle of rum om[/color]

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