The winners of our competition, The Weekend Congress at 3pm on Friday 21 November, will win a Luxury Chess Set
Here is the Sign up Link with Mind Sports International
Good Luck !!
Norway is a country that has long been known for their prowess in winter sports, but the European nation has experienced little success in the world of competitive chess; until recently that is. With the famous win in the World Chess Championship by Magnus Carlsen last month, the game has blossomed in popularity throughout the Scandinavian country, as their 23-year-old chess prodigy has finally claimed the ultimate title in the game, and is poised to dominate the sport for the foreseeable future.
The Regency Chess Company was delighted to receive an invitation to the opening ceremony for the 2013 world chess London candidates tournament. The event took place last week on Thursday March 14th. Regency Chess Company founder Julian Deverell attended as did Darren Whiteman, the freelance web designer responsible for our Industry leading website.
It is with plenty of regret that we have to write that today, Sunday the ninth of December, we were advised of the passing of Sir Patrick Moore. Patrick needs no introduction, he is a familiar face and personality to many generations. His accomplishments in life dwarf that of most celebrities. His most famous achievements related to Astronomy where he pioneered, presented, developed and promoted the world of amateur star gazing.
Patrick died at the age of eighty nine but he was active and working almost until the end. His enthusiasm never ran out, he was still star gazing and sharing his knowledge with others. When you read his entry on wikipedia you will be amazed at how active and prolific Patrick was throughout his life. From playing music with Einstein to being the chairman of a Conservative fringe political party, an RAF bomber navigator, a teacher, world famous broadcaster and TV personality. To many he was one of the last remaining traditionalists, an Englishman through and through.
He was a keen chess player, often playing multiple games in a day. In his later years he complained how his arthritis prevented him from playing chess, he kept knocking the pieces over. His request for an over sized pegged chess set fell on deaf ears until the Astronomy students from King Edwards School in Bath decided that even if such an item didn’t exist, he would have one. We at the Regency Chess Company and the boys from the School created the set which he used regularly until his death.
Patrick shared his birthday (March 4th) with Regency Chess Company owner and founder Julian Deverell. He will be sorely missed by us all.
A shocking development in the ongoing saga of the Russian show trial is the arrest and beating of one of the worlds most respected intellectuals, Gary Kasparov. Kasparov is a long serving pro democracy leader and campaigner who was attending the trial today, Friday the 17th of August.
The Trial Of ‘Pussy Riot’ has been featuring strongly in the news lately. A controversial feminist punk band who had created a music video that the Russian authorities found offensive. They have spent months in custody awaiting trial and today were sentenced to two years in prison for their ‘crimes’ against the state.
The whole sorry saga opens up a huge debate on the state of Russian politics and their stance on human rights. Some commentators have stated that we are seeing a return to the old Russian ways.
There is little doubt that the chess world will be rocked by the news that one of our greatest champions has been arrested in this way, lets hope and pray for a sensible resolution.
Useful links:-
It’s been said that chess is 99% tactics. Whether that is true is a matter of debate. Nevertheless, if you fail to see the tactical possibilities on the chess board you will most likely lose the game. The great thing is that studying tactics and combinations is fun! Combinations are a big part of what gives chess its artistic flair. So now that we know tactics are important how do we get better at them? Here I’ll outline a simple but effective plan of study.
1) Solve Chess Diagrams Every Day. Get a book of chess problems and combinations that is on the market. Practice solving the problems for around 30 minutes a day. Try to work through the problems slowly. Don’t rush; make sure you see why the move you are making wins. Visualize the series of moves to the end, which brings us to…
2) Work to Improve Your Visualization Skills. Try closing your eyes and visualizing the board. Try mentally dividing the board into parts. Is e4 a white square or a dark square? What about d4? Don’t worry if it’s difficult at first, just keep practicing.
3) Analyze Your Games. Look for spots where you had trouble and analyze them afterwards. Try to remember how you were thinking at that time. If you made a mistake try to think why you chose that particular move. Did you not see what your opponent was threatening? Were you just so caught up with your own moves that you had a blind spot? These are common errors that chess players make.
4) Study Games from Great Tactical Players. Pick a player with a highly tactical style, maybe Alexander Alekhine or Gary Kasparov. Play over and study their games.
Try sticking with this study plan long term. Thirty minutes each day is over 180 hours a year you will have spent improving your tactics!