Chess-boxing is a trendy new hybrid sport involving alternating rounds of chess and boxing. The creative idea has attracted much attention in Europe. It is excellent that a byproduct of the new sport is to create more awareness of normal chess and hopefully this will lead to more sponsorship for chess events around the world.
Click here to learn more about the mechanics of chess-boxing.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Chess Questions
I have created a new page for Frequently Asked Chess Questions. I will add to this question bank over time.
I have already compiled two common questions:
Why is chess so attractive?
When I was taking a look at the demographics for my YouTube channel, I assumed that most people who watched my videos were probably teenagers. I was surprised to find that, by a large margin, most people who watched my videos were aged 35-44. Perhaps this is the age that one comes back to board games which they didn't feel were interesting earlier in their lives!
People have an attraction to chess for a variety of different reasons. Hence, everybody has their own answer to this question. In many cases, I believe the desire to win plays a large part. The feeling of a good win is more satisfying than winning in almost any other primitive battle. It is also a fun pastime, and an enjoyable way to make and spend time with friends...
Why do so few women play chess?
I don't think anyone really knows the answer to this question, but the reason generally put forward is social conditioning, as women are less aggressive by nature. Perhaps also, men tend to be more obsessive and women are far too sensible to persist in playing a board game, unless they can reach the world elite.
With the knowledge that less than 5% of chess players are women, I think it is easy to explain why there are so few women in the list of top chess players...
Click here to see the full article "Frequently Asked Chess Questions".
I have already compiled two common questions:
Why is chess so attractive?
When I was taking a look at the demographics for my YouTube channel, I assumed that most people who watched my videos were probably teenagers. I was surprised to find that, by a large margin, most people who watched my videos were aged 35-44. Perhaps this is the age that one comes back to board games which they didn't feel were interesting earlier in their lives!
People have an attraction to chess for a variety of different reasons. Hence, everybody has their own answer to this question. In many cases, I believe the desire to win plays a large part. The feeling of a good win is more satisfying than winning in almost any other primitive battle. It is also a fun pastime, and an enjoyable way to make and spend time with friends...
Why do so few women play chess?
I don't think anyone really knows the answer to this question, but the reason generally put forward is social conditioning, as women are less aggressive by nature. Perhaps also, men tend to be more obsessive and women are far too sensible to persist in playing a board game, unless they can reach the world elite.
With the knowledge that less than 5% of chess players are women, I think it is easy to explain why there are so few women in the list of top chess players...
Click here to see the full article "Frequently Asked Chess Questions".
Saturday, June 5, 2010
New Free Multi-Processor Rybka Version
With the release of the new Deep Rybka 4 (which can be purchased commercially), the Rybka team also released a multi-processor version for free download. The previous free version was Rybka 2.2n2, and we can now add Rybka 2.3.2a to the list. This engine is slightly stronger according to the CEGT rating list, with a rating of 2980. Originally, the single processor version of 2.3.2a was available via a highly obscure method, but the multi-processor version was not. Now both versions are downloadable from the Official Rybka website. You can find a discussion of the old Rybka 2.2n2 in my Free Chess Programs article.
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