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The variant flavours of chess

The setting was Druids Head pub. The occasion was a club night. The twist was Fisher Random Chess. What is Fisher Random Chess (a.k.a Chess960)? According to chess folk lore, the mighty Bobby fisher, having crushed all competition was disenchanted with conventional chess. Specifically, the same old openings that seasoned players memorise, and for the most part continue to play year after year. He instead opted to play and advocate a chess variant where the pieces on the back ranks start on unfamiliar squares, therefore producing a much spicier affair. Sea food Us chess heads rely on our favourite opening(s) to get us to a familiar, advantageous position in the middle game. But when are favorite pieces start the game in strange places (as they do in Fisher Random Chess), your tried and tested openings are of little use. Fisher Random Chess can transform even the mightiest chess club, chess boss into a fish out of water. And on this occasion there was much flapping as w...
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Chess apps and die hard habits

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As any chess lover/ proselytizer should, I prefer and recommend that chess be played mano a mano, live in the flesh – rather than over the internet. But, in reality, a ready and willing opponent, can be hard to find. It's understandable therefore that nowadays most chess gets played on a glowing screen. Truth be told, I also play most of my chess on my phone, and were it not for the convenience and accessibility afforded by chess apps, the noble game would likely have stayed as only a feature of my childhood. Thankfully, chess apps breathed new life into my love affair with chess; allowing me to go toe to toe with opponents all over the globe without so much as having to leave the comfort of my toilet seat. And therein lies a sticky problem.  In the past, to play chess with a human being, you either had to be diligent in your arrangements. Otherwise, you simply had to go along with the schedule of your local club. Nowadays, however, anytime we get the itch, us...
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