E-Town FICS

Organized live online chess got it's start for the club last night as four players made a go of it. Stephanie Clayton, Kerry Fatula, Nick Folino, and Bob Lenning met on channel 150 at the Free Internet Chess Server to share a few games. Want to see what it's about? Join us next time for some online chess fun along with any cool beverage that you happen to have in your fridge.

Gimme More Chess!

Can't get enough chess? Don't want to have to drive to get a game? We've got the solution ... Wednesday night chess online with the club!

Starting Wednesday night at 8pm EDT / 7pm CDT, members of the club will gather online to test the idea of meeting weekly on the FICS site. If you don't yet have an account or client software, most of us use BabasChess. We'll organize by meeting on channel 150.

To get set up you'll want to type these commands in the console window:

+ channel 150
set chanoff 0
set echo 0

Then check out your channels tab and try channel 150. We'll use the chat feature in this channel to get organized, match up for games, and arrange to examine and observe games. Games will be played just as live games are played. Your play may be FICS rated if you want.

Want help getting set up? I'll have my netbook at the regular club meeting on Tuesday night to show how it's done; or this Wednesday night at 7pm I will be at Panera Bread with my netbook to help anybody that would like to play. I'll be playing live on FICS from Panera. Bring your laptop with you and I'll see that you get set up. Then you'll be all ready to play on your laptop from home next time. Don't have a laptop or aren't sure about playing online? Just come on down, have a coffee, and see what it's about. Not available to play on Wednesdays? Join in the discussion and help us select new or additional times.

Hope you'll like this new way to enjoy chess with the club. Don't forget our other club opportunities: regular club meetings on Tuesday nights, 2nd Tuesday of the month ratings tournaments, online chess on Chess.com, casual chess and coffee at Panera Bread on Saturday mornings, rated games on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month at El Tapatio, other scheduled tournaments, and now online play on FICS on Wednesday nights. Check out our calendar for the latest. And don't forget to take advantage of the club library too!

Tactics, Tactics, Tactics

OK. I know that you've heard it before: 'tactics, tactics, tactics'. But does it really work? The theory goes this way: most club level games end after one player gains a decisive material advantage. And you've heard the old saying that a chess game is won by the player who made the next to the last mistake. So it seems that it's a mistake that decides a chess game, not a clever tactic. But wait! The mistake that's usually made is walking into a simple tactical shot! And so the saying from Dan Heisman: "basic tactic skills should be used to prevent an opponent’s tactics, not to find winning tactics for oneself!”

So, where do you go to get your tactical skills up to date?

Find out below the fold:

Movin' On Up

We've exchanged links with Chess Cafe! Look down the righthand side of our blog and you'll see a brand new banner link to ChessCafe.com. It's a shortcut to lots of great chess info along with our separate links to their newsfeed. It's also a great place to shop for a new chess set or the latest chess DVD. They've listed our club here (you'll find it listed under blogs). Thanks to Chess Cafe for kindly exchanging links with us.

New (to me!) Chess site

How many times have you bought a Chess book only to be disappointed when you received it? Yesterday I stumbled onto a new chess site while trying to find info on a chess book I have seen advertised. I haven't explored all it has to offer yet; but found the book review section, of the new site to be a very helpful tool that we all could use.

Go to www.chessville.com/ choose "REVIEWS" then "INDEX"; find the book you want and click on it for a review.

I did not waste my money on the book (Black Lion) after reading the review.

Now you have something to do while the "non-nerds" are watching those annoying parades and football games!

My Favorite Blog Site

If you have not checked out Alexandra's Chess Blog you are missing out! She has problems, games, and the latest Chess News. Usually Alexandra's reports are "first hand" from a participant's view point; with chess and human interest blended into her great reports.
Check her out at CHESSBLOG.COM

Gimme More Stuff

Have you browsed the items on the righthand side of our blog? There are all sorts of tidbits there to lead you to more chess. For example, have you tried using TWIC - The Week in Chess (see the box labelled 'Where the Chess Is')? It's a great resource of all the top games played in the world each week. You can download the games as PGN or CBH (Chessbase) files. If you use the latest Chessbase Light 2009 (also listed on the righthand side) or Chessbase 10 or 11, you'll find an option on the Help menu called Get TWIC. Choosing this will automatically download the latest TWIC file(s) to your computer. Just choosing this option every week or two can keep you up to date will all the theory in latest practice. Then make yourself a new blank database and append each TWIC file to create a new collection of all the latest games.

Don't see your favorite chess site listed here? Send it to Bob to get it linked on our blog.

E-Town Chess on Chess.com

A new group was established for us at Chess.com, a popular place to play chess online, especially correspondence-style chess. Four of our club members have already joined to play games. To become a member yourself and join in the fun click here. If you are already a Chess.com member, you can find our group here.


Free online chess!