Tuesday, December 11, 2007

[Chess_General_Discussion] Amazon.com reviews of - How To PLay Chess Like An Animal


from Tim Brennan, Paco Ahlgren and Bruce Bain
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Customer Reviews
How to Play Chess Like an ANIMAL
available ebay books, Amazon.com books, Alibris.com
and www.MothershousePublishing.com
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3 Reviews
5 star: (3)
4 star: (0)
3 star: (0)
2 star: (0)
1 star: (0)

Average Customer Review
(3 customer reviews)
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
If You Want to Start Them Young..., November 28, 2007
By Paco Ahlgren

While my own work is probably not best suited for children, much of it IS set
around the game of chess. And why shouldn't it be? I started playing when I was
six. Yet for all the years I've been involved with the game, I would wager that
if I'd owned a copy of HOW TO PLAY CHESS LIKE AN ANIMAL back then, today I'd
probably be as proficient a player as its authors.

If you've got kids and they're interested in chess, this is the book to give
them. But don't be surprised if you find yourself learning an opening or two
yourself -- and maybe even enjoying the process...

Paco Ahlgren Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
A unique introduction to chess openings for children and adults, November 12,
2007
By Bruce Bain "Semper Fidelis" (Englewood COLORADO)

Life Master Brian Wall and co-author Anthea Carson have produced a unique
introduction to chess openings for children and adults.

I must first say that this book is in LARGE PRINT, which I use in my own
beginner chess lessons. There is nothing that turns off beginners in chess so
much as to see a long series of moves in tiny print, That's like reading a
credit card contract! Well this book says FOOEY to small print!

The book requires no prior knowledge of how to play chess, as the student will
be taken through explanations of piece movements, terminology, and most
importantly, how to Read & Write Algebraic Notation. [How chess moves are
recorded in a game.] This is the key to chess improvement.

The openings introduced are characterized by the animal names associated with
them: Dragon, Alligator, and so forth. Children will be delighted with the
fantastic illustrations which are large and colorful. Some of the unusual
openings are very capable of giving the player an edge in any competition.

The authors encourage students to invent their own unique chess openings and
explore them freely, rather than playing chess by rote memorization.

My impression is that when this first edition will be sold out, [I think it
already is!] a second edition will be soon be in demand, and it will include
additional material not included in the first edition. This is a book whose
theme can be easily expanded into a series of books.

Anthea Carson and Life Master Brian Wall have poured their love into this work,
which is so very unlike the multitude of chess books for children. The novelty
of the presentation places this work in a class of its very own. Co-author
Anthea Carson has two small children of her own, and her son has to his credit
a FIVE-HUNDRED POINT upset just in the past year. It indicates that the mother
knows how to teach chess for sure!

An extensive chess glossary is provided which will enlarge the student's scope
of understanding. This colorful book is nicely priced at just under $20.00 and
I think it is well worth the price.

Mark my words. Public demand for this book will grow in the coming months.

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Great fun! Awesome illustrations!, December 8, 2007
By Timothy Brennan (Colorado Springs, CO United States)

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This book is unlike any other that I have seen in the chess world. The book
introduces the reader to a bunch of chess openings that for the most part have
animal names. I am a tournament chess player - currently around 1740 USCF
rating, and have found myself getting obsessed with some of the openings in
this book, and playing them over the board. While they are not played at a
Grandmaster level, they are certainly playable for class players, and definetly
for children, and are a TREMENDOUS amount of fun!!

The illustrations in this book are amazing. The illustrator is a professional
and the colors are fantastic. Everyone kids, and adults will love the pictures.
Some of the pictures would make nice posters to hang.

This book would make a nice Christmas present for a kid learning the game, or
for someone that likes unusual chess openings. Help other customers find the
most helpful reviews
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Fishing Pole victory over Women's International Master -
I play well against fast players like me-
slow, thoughtful players require much more work.

Information about biki(WIM) (Last disconnected Tue Dec 11 2007 08:59):

rating [need] win loss draw total best
Wild 1734 [6] 2 4 0 6
Loser's 1956 [6] 0 2 0 2
Crazyhouse 1919 [6] 0 1 0 1
Bullet 1735 [8] 30 113 5 148 1794 (07-Feb-2003)
Blitz 2219 22071 28491 3096 53658 2633 (13-Dec-2006)
Standard 1990 [6] 4 2 0 6

1: WIM Biljana Dekic
2: Australia

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.fide.com/ratings/card.php%3Fcode%3D3200493&imgrefurl=http://www.fide.com/ratings/card.phtml%3Fevent%3D3200493&h=100&w=80&sz=3&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=bLPqdZwuOlghsM:&tbnh=82&tbnw=66&prev=/images%3Fq%3DWIM%2BBiljana%2BDekic%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG
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[Event "ICC 3 0"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.12.08"]
[Round "-"]
[White "biki"]
[Black "brianwall"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ICCResult "White resigns"]
[WhiteElo "2253"]
[BlackElo "2393"]
[Opening "Ruy Lopez: Berlin defense, 4.O-O"]
[ECO "C65"]
[NIC "RL.07"]
[Time "18:42:25"]
[TimeControl "180+0"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Ng4!!

Fishing Pole, the bait

5. h3 h5!!

Fishing Pole, the rod

6. c3 a6 7. Ba4 Bc5 8. d4 Ba7!!

Hyper-Pole, The Peekaboo bishop

9. Bxc6 dxc6!

To activate the c8-bishop

10. dxe5 Qxd1!!

Stronger than 10 ... Bf2+ 11 Kh1 Q:d1 12 R:d1
which I usually play ( 12 ... Bg3!! )

11. Rxd1! Nxf2!! 12. Rd4 Bxd4! 13. cxd4! Nxe4! 14.Nc3! Nxc3!

I am up the exchange and a pawn-

All trades are good when you are winning-
GM Dzindzichashvili

15. bxc3! Be6! 16. Ba3 O-O-O 17. Kf2 Bd5 18. Nd2 f6! 19. exf6! gxf6!
20. c4! Bf7! 21. Nf3 Bxc4! 22. Be7! Rd5 23. Bxf6! Rf8! 24. Be5 c5
25. Rc1! b5! 26. Bg7 Rf7! 27. Bh6! cxd4! 28. a4! c5! 29. axb5! axb5!
30. Ra1 Kb7 31. Kg3 Rdf5! 32. Re1! Bd5! 33. Ne5 Re7 34. Bf4 c4
35. Rb1 Rfxe5 36. Bxe5 Rxe5! 37. Kf4 Re4+! 38. Kf5 Kc6 39. g4 hxg4
40. hxg4! c3 41. g5 c2 42. Rc1 d3! 43. g6 Rc4! 44. g7 b4
45. Rg1! b3 46. Ke5 b2

{White resigns} 0-1

I like playing Biljana on ICC -
we always have fun, lively matches.
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[Event "ICC 3 0"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.12.08"]
[Round "-"]
[White "biki"]
[Black "brianwall"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ICCResult "White resigns"]
[WhiteElo "2253"]
[BlackElo "2393"]
[Opening "Ruy Lopez: Berlin defense, 4.O-O"]
[ECO "C65"]
[NIC "RL.07"]
[Time "18:42:25"]
[TimeControl "180+0"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Ng4 5. h3 h5 6. c3 a6 7. Ba4 Bc5 8. d4
Ba7 9. Bxc6 dxc6 10. dxe5 Qxd1 11. Rxd1 Nxf2 12. Rd4 Bxd4 13. cxd4 Nxe4 14.
Nc3 Nxc3 15. bxc3 Be6 16. Ba3 O-O-O 17. Kf2 Bd5 18. Nd2 f6 19. exf6 gxf6 20.
c4 Bf7 21. Nf3 Bxc4 22. Be7 Rd5 23. Bxf6 Rf8 24. Be5 c5 25. Rc1 b5 26. Bg7
Rf7 27. Bh6 cxd4 28. a4 c5 29. axb5 axb5 30. Ra1 Kb7 31. Kg3 Rdf5 32. Re1
Bd5 33. Ne5 Re7 34. Bf4 c4 35. Rb1 Rfxe5 36. Bxe5 Rxe5 37. Kf4 Re4+ 38. Kf5
Kc6 39. g4 hxg4 40. hxg4 c3 41. g5 c2 42. Rc1 d3 43. g6 Rc4 44. g7 b4 45.
Rg1 b3 46. Ke5 b2 {White resigns} 0-1
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[Chess_General_Discussion] Interview with GM Koneru Humpy

We have recently interviewed Grandmaster Koneru Humpy on www.LatestChess.com . She crossed 2600 ELO rating in October 2007 FIDE rating list, presently she is at number two in the world for women chess.

In this interview, she talks about the importance of encouragement and support from family, role of parents. She considers Hou Youifan of China as the best upcoming player who can possibly match with Judith Polgar.

Link for the interview -
http://latestchess.com/showInterview.php?id=7
I hope you would enjoy reading the interview with interesting snaps of Konery Humpy.

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