Karpov Interview With Europe Echecs.

Europe Echecs Website.

Palview – Software to Display PGN Chess Games.

Good Monday everyone. A few weeks ago, I ran across the web page of Steve Eddins. What immediately captured my attention was the nice clean javascript game viewer he was using. It’s called Palview, and is actually one of 3 programs by Andrew Templeton and Eric Bentzen that allow you to take a chess game stored in PGN format and convert it into an Html/JavaScript page for viewing on a website.

I’ve only started experimenting with it in my spare time, but it looks like a promising solution to posting and replaying games on Pecial’s Chess Page.

Chess on a Kiddie Car.

Warning: Out of the Ether does not recommend the Sicilian while driving. Please play responsibly.

Chess on a River Raft.

In the spirit of playing chess on a roller coaster, be prepared for chills and thrills as we now watch chess being played on the River Rampage at Dollywood.

Chess Isn’t Really That Hard to Enjoy.

See? I knew all this opening and end game study was a waste of time. Fritz or Rybka don’t stand a chance against this little girl. This demonstrates a recurring theme at Out of the Ether – that you don’t have to be a grandmaster… or even good… to enjoy the game.
Warning: There is an excessive amount of cuteness in this video.

USCF Election Results.

The executive board election for the U.S. Chess federation is now over. As I expected, the USCF web site makes no mention of the results on the main page, or anywhere else, as far as I can tell (as of 7 am est). Also as expected, the Susan Polgar Chess Blog has up to date information. Here are the results -

• Susan Polgar – 3004 votes
• Bauer – 2325 votes
• Truong – 2056 votes
• Berry – 2026 votes

More information can be found Here.

Update 7-27, 11am est: Results story has been posted on USCF web site.

Harry Potter and the Goofy Glasses.

In my previous life, when I was a rake and a young man, I was a bench and field service technician. I did component level repair of electronics used in the cable and satellite TV industry. I did the troubleshooting and replacement of very small components – transistors, integrated circuits, resistors, capacitors, etc. I had very keen eyesight – I could place circuit boards a few inches from my face and solder without any trouble.

My partner in the business, who was older than me, would hand me the jobs that required threading magnet wire through ferrite toroid cores multiple times to build matching transformers. I would thread them with the precision of a surgeon. I wouldn’t brag about it, but I probably exuded a smug confidence with my ability.

Over these years people would say to me, “That will all change when you hit forty.” I did not realize how true that statement would become. Within months of my 40th birthday, I noticed that I was starting to place things farther away from me on the workbench. Later on, when my now ex-wife and I made one of our forays down to Pigeon Forge, Tn, to visit the outlet malls, I picked up a cheap set of reading glasses, and noticed that they made reading a much more pleasant activity (I do a lot of reading). I hadn’t realized how much my eyesight had changed until I put those glasses on. Still later, I found a little higher quality (but still inexpensive) pair.

The whole process seemed to take around 7-9 months before it stabilized at where it’s at now. I’m probably kidding myself – since the life events that occurred to me in 2005 (business/job of 20 years closed it’s doors, divorce after a 20 year marriage, and involvement in a horrific traffic accident that I was saved from only by the grace of God), my eyesight has degraded a little more, but not much. I can open a typical type sized hardback book (like the Harry Potter book 6 that my niece has graciously invited me to read while she’s at summer camp), and I have to hold it 16-18 inches from my face to clearly read it without glasses. After an hour or so of reading, I can move it in a little closer, to around 12 inches. I do this thinking that I can exercise my eyesight back into shape, but it’s just not going to work, according to others I’ve consulted with who have worn glasses for many years.

I find that nice bright light helps. That sounds obvious, I know, but I have become a big fan of lumens. I find the florescent curly-cue bulbs with the equivalent luminosity of a 100 watt incandescent are great to read by. They tend to “yellow out” a bit when they get older (and no, I don’t smoke), so I change my reading lamps out every 6 months or so, and use the older bulbs for other things. Not to mention that they use much less electricity, and seem to last forever. Direct sunlight is the best to read by, as I did this past weekend reading Ralph Keyes “The Courage to Write” outside while the youngest niece devoured her new Harry Potter Book.

Huge LCD computer monitors are great. Unfortunately, for now I am relegated to using an older 17″ CRT unit, but hey, it’s better than those 14 inch tortures I used to sit in front of. Tiger Direct has occasional deals on 19 to 21 inch widescreen LCDs, and I’ll probably order one of those as soon as I can swing it. I find myself spending more time these days in front of the monitor, writing this blog, as well as other projects. I think it would be a worthwhile investment. And Fritz would look awesome on one of those, too!

So what’s my point? There are many others who suffer much poorer eyesight than mine. I’m not complaining about it. I know it’s part of getting older. It’s just something I wanted to document. I’m so thankful for the eyesight that I still have. And if you are reading this without glasses, you have sharp vision, and you’re about to hit the 40 mark, don’t freak out. It may not even happen to you. If it already has, and you’re reading this, then you will probably agree that this font is way too tiny. So here’s my geek hint for you – assuming you’re using Firefox as your web browser, hold down Ctrl while spinning your mouse wheel. This will increase/decrease the text size to your liking. Might even work with internet explorer too… but I’m not sure.

But I guess my point is that we’re all getting older, and we change. Some of us go through huge changes in mid-life. Some changes we won’t like. But I’m a firm believer that we’re not given any challenge that He doesn’t feel is too great. So we learn, we adapt, and transform into something better than we were the day before. Some of us write about it.

It’s all a part of coming out of the ether.

Kids and Soldiers Play Chess in Iraq.

Anyone know exactly what the differences in their rules are?

Warning: Although it’s quick and almost unnoticeable, there is some cursing in this video by the soldier. My assumption is that the kids do not understand English …Rich

Chess Sets – Part 5.

This Chess set was given to me for Christmas in 1979. It is a ceramic set that was hand made by my step-mother. I keep each piece individually wrapped, and they are stored in the original box that they came in on Christmas morning. The lid still bears the date that I wrote down that day 28 years ago, when I was 16 years old.

I can’t remember ever playing a game with these pieces. I would have been too nervous about them becoming damaged if one was dropped, or if they collided with each other. But I have set them up on a board and admired them from time to time. When I took these photos a couple weeks ago, it was the first time they’ve seen light since 1989 or 1990. They are now resting peacefully again in their box.

I’m not sure how unique they are, but that doesn’t matter. They are special to me. Hope you enjoy looking at them half as much as I do.

Note: A closeup of one of the pawns was used for Saturdays post.

Saturday Morning Post – You’ve Noticed.

To the hundred or so daily visitors to this page (heh.)… You have noticed that there’s a distinct lack of annotated games here, or discussions of tactics and “strateegery”. I’m doing this on purpose to show that anyone can enjoy chess without having to work at it. Right now I’m just enjoying reading about it, playing the occasional blitz game, and living in the moment, so to speak, with Chess. Although this may change as time goes by, I think the topics presented so far have been well received by my readers, so I’ll leave it as it is.

I didn’t start this blog a year ago with the intention of focusing on my re-discovery of the game, but that seems to be what it has developed into. It was started as an exercise in writing and editing. Richard Rhodes’ Knickerbocker rule of writing (not to be confused with the baseball rule) states that you must “First apply ass to chair”. So that’s what this blog forces me to do. Don’t be surprised if you see an occasional rant, a non-chess related book or movie review, or a post about hiking, or freelance writing. But since I have led several of you down the chess path, I promise to keep steering in that direction.

I welcome any suggestions or criticisms. I want to see your web log – post URLs. What are you working on? Let me know.