Monday, December 31, 2007

Chess Blogger Oscar Award & Acknowledgement





















As many of you know, there are various awards for year end for various books and persons in chess, such as the British Chess Association Book of the Year Award, chessCafe's Chessbook of the Year Award, or even the Chess Oscar, done by vote of chess journilists.

In all seriousness, I hereby propose a Chess Blogger Oscar Award for 2007. My first vote is to Blue Devil Knight, with Temposchlucker as runner up. While I am at moments really tempted to make tempo's my first vote, nevertheless BDK realized such a significant improvement in his chess, made such a large effort as former secretary knight, and generated such formidable masses of quality posts--all while navigating myriads of comments at other blogs--that it is really very, very hard not to put him in the top spotlight this time, still with hearty appreciations to tempo's extensive efforts, great practical inteligence, and ample floods of smart narative there, too. Two great chess blogs. Then the third category: best new blog. I was going to make Houston Chess or now named as Glenn Wilson Chess the best new blog, but now see--in checking as suspected might have been the case--that his blog is much older. So lets acknowledge Glenn for surfacing fresh and strong and bold [0].



















[1] [2]

I do wish also to thank several persons: temposclucker for his unselfish help many times such as assisting me in getting started at FICS, directing me to Babachess for use there [3], and with chess publishing, to name but a few. BDK for encouraging me privately when I was really depressed, for his marvelous stewardship as Secretary Knight, and for BDK's and Mrs. BDK's help in assisting me in making a FAQ button. To Grandpatzer for being the best quiet blogger. To Robert Pearson or Wahrheit for always being kind, and cheerfull and fair and evenhanded. To chess relearner for his abiding friendship. To Samuraichess for having the best sort of human character and continued and renewed efforts as Secretary Knight.

To Mark Weeks for his efforts in oversight at about.com in promoting chessblogging and measuring activity among chessbloggers. To chessloser for his good cheer and infectious honesty about himself. To ReAssembler, Derek Slatter, for being so smart and constant and catholically broad, including--but well beyond--chess. To LiquidEgg for being so scintillatingly and brilliantly alive as well as truly inventive. To wormwood for being superior to everyone else--takes the pressure off me!

To likeForests, all the same things as Robert Pearson and chessLoser, but all the more: his decency, his chess craft, his singleminded devotion to chess truth, his being a solid family man. To Loomis for showing pure chess at its level best. To blunderprone for his mighty broad shoulders, supporting all the human hearts of the world on them alone. To David Glickman or Boyleston Chess Club for his ceaseless honest and fair chess blogging, and so elegantly presented while he does it, in a never ending cornucopia of community. To ivan or Getting to 2000 for his effort in now creating the real possibility of transparency of skill, evidenced by blogger profiles.
















Please forgive me if I forgot something or somebody, but these are persons who have all touched my life--in one way or another--materially and morally. Happy New Year to all of you, and may god bless you in the New Year, and may your chess vibrate with vital tactical energy or sit calmy in postional resolve with crystal clear solidity.

Please make a comment or two, and, in so doing, cast your vote and we can hopefully tally this up in a few weeks, as I gather your much appreciated responses and votes. Thank you.

Warmest, dk [4]

[0] de facto, in adding this qualifier: 'Chess Blogger Award for 2007', yes, it does mean that I:
a. to stick around and continue and,
b. next year really hope to be able to repeat the process if there are no objections.

[1] I don't know if this picture fits todays essay, but chess friend gambiitti of Finland at FICS has insisted that I show women with dark hair, and solemly promised to do so at my next post, no matter what, so here it is!

[2] addendum on New Years Day: new promises. I was sincerely concerned Polly (aka Castling Queenside) might experience my blog as sexist, so promise to rebalance things at my next post. I hope that I don't create a problem, since I cannot know what everyone likes, but will try. At least some men will like the photo, and those persons I cannot calculate entirely for either. :)

[3] I absolutely hate how physically unstable Babachess is and find it totally chagrinning, but am still enormously appreciative of temposchluckers right suggestion, at the right time, and thus giving me a fresh outlet outside ICC, since even the best place isn't really always the best at all times, when we--just--want to go wild in private (before I let others know my handle there).

[4] This is the last post for awhile with white women. I just did a big search on handsome men, Shamans, striking Afro-American men, lesbian women, and have too many new photos to work in! See what you did to me Polly?? Nevertheless, my coefficient of image on freaks and borderline persons will not be diminished.

18 Comments:

Blogger Robert Pearson said...

Here's to you, dk, for all the thoughtful pleasure you have give to so many this year.

Happy 2008!!!

Mon Dec 31, 05:31:00 PM PST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

ha, now that's a real woman in the first pic. more!

Tue Jan 01, 07:24:00 AM PST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Happy new year, DK! I hope 2008 will bring many more posts from you!

My Oscar vote is for BDK, honoring his relentless struggle through the circles.

Tue Jan 01, 11:17:00 AM PST  
Blogger Edukator said...

It has taken me awhile to get through the blogs...but clearly I'm a better person for it and appreciate what you have done with this blog! The chess blogsphere is much larger and more dynamic than I previously imagined.

Tue Jan 01, 01:58:00 PM PST  
Blogger transformation said...

Scurius:
------------
thank you for comming by. very nice for me!

i respectfully submit, his Oscar aught to have nothing to do with relentless struggle with the circles,

and two dozen or more of us in these circles (as in area of endeavor) have done equal or more effort as far as QUANTITY (for example: wormwood, 45,000 tries at CTS and mine 28,000 there since August 06 alone, not including 1,100 CT-Art 3.0, viewing 400 GM games since July of 2007, etc but perhaps we can agree instead, to be clear, that

it would be or is for not only his effort but clear, open, and broad writing and sharing ABOUT the cirlces, if you follow?

this is not an award for chess effort, but sharing about that effort here or at wordpress, etc.

but as far as relentless effort goes, this is not unprecidented or unique.

he also has helped armies of other chess players and, again, inquired about it, writen about it, improved vastly from a start at zero.

this is why he gets my first vote, as you do!

thank you!

warmest, dk

Tue Jan 01, 02:35:00 PM PST  
Blogger Blue Devil Knight said...

DK: Thanks for the note. It's a great community of people climbing Mt Caissa together in the blogosphere. I am truly lucky that my blog got such helpful comments from so many players that had been where I was in my climb.

The first five days of my break from the game, I actually missed blogging and fellow bloggers more than chess itself!

Tue Jan 01, 03:17:00 PM PST  
Blogger transformation said...

BDK: greetings. what you did and what you do are truly great and noteworthy. it is important to not cease to reiterate that you not only did it with yourself, but with others.

in the gurdjieff system, this is called 'second line work', or work with others. first line work, is work on yourself. third line work is work for The Work.

in martial arts or Karate specifically, you dont get to be shichi-dan or 7th degree blackbelt by strength or speed in executing amazing sequences of movements or by mastery of moves alone--but by teaching. this is you.

you are a leader. being a leader means as that leader advances, he or she does so by or while advancing others.

thank you for making our area much better and finding a worthy successor, as tempo also did and as perhaps one far off day samuraiChess will do also.

warmly, dk

Tue Jan 01, 04:07:00 PM PST  
Blogger Temposchlucker said...

I can fully endorse a first place for BDK. He has done the greatest job for the cohesy of our little chess community by socialising.

Looking at my own blog I have experienced revelation after revelation. But I'm not sure if my way of writing about the nuts and bolts of chess has always assigned all revelations to my Dear Readers, due to dryness and uncrystallized thoughts. As a matter a fact it's a miracle my blog still has readers. So I'm more than happy with a second place.

I would put your blog on the third place my friend. You added emotion and love to the community, which are rare commodities these days.

Samurai pawn gets a fourth place since he has the difficult task to keep things together and needs every encouragement he can get.

Glenn gets a fifth place since he combines headstrong opinions with an open mind.

There are more worth mentioning, but I suspect others to do that.

Tue Jan 01, 05:37:00 PM PST  
Blogger Polly said...

Regarding note #2. I don't feel your blog is sexist by posting pictures of beautiful and scantily clad women. I can look at such women and admire their nice bodies and think to myself "I was born to the wrong set of parents."

Regarding #4, don't blame me!! LOL

These two notes are hardly an uproar unless you are getting comments via email from NOW.

I enjoy reading your blog, and I think you were spot on in your choice of BDK.

BDK: We miss you already. Don't rest on your laurels.

Tue Jan 01, 08:26:00 PM PST  
Blogger Glenn Wilson said...

I agree with the first choice of BDK. He has done so much and shared so much. He is how I learned about the Knights Errant and he has been an inspiration to many.

If Polly had been blogging all year I would have to consider her for the top spot. She is very active at tournament chess and does a wonderful job of sharing her experiences through the great writing on her blog.

Wed Jan 02, 02:33:00 AM PST  
Blogger tanch said...

have a great new year, dk.

i think BDK, DK and likesforests and many of the wonderful people as mentioned by DK on his blog have done much to keep the small chess blogosphere alive.

if i were to pick one, i choose BDK, closely followed by DK and chessloser.

hoping to see all of you around for the year 2008. 3 cheers and looking forward to another year of chess madness. :)

Wed Jan 02, 03:36:00 AM PST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's hard not to consider BDK as worthy as the Oscar winner. And a difficult decision, but I'll go with chessloser as honorable mention (or perhaps best new blog).

BDK's invaluable contribution to the chess blog world has already been noted by others.

chessloser's writing is always entertaining, with the perfect recipe of humor, storytelling, and self-deprecation.

I suppose it would have been awkward to throw your own name in the hat. :D I love the variety you and Derek add to the chess blog mix.

It's really hard to say "Blog X is my favorite" (yes, I've asked myself this question), just because everyone provides something a little different. Kinda like food.

@Polly: You always have the option of posting beefcake pictures if you were so inclined. Although the list of us who would enjoy those is very short.

Wed Jan 02, 06:49:00 AM PST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Happy New Year to you my friend, good luck on all you endeavors. as for chess blog oscars, i would vote for you (honestly, i'm not just being cute here) in the "epic, make you think, documentary" type category. BDK would get my vote for all the reasons you mentioned.

Wed Jan 02, 07:23:00 AM PST  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

happy new year! i wish you luck on all your endeavors! as for the chessblog oscars, i would vote for you (seriously, i'm not being cute here) in the "epic, make you think, chess documentary" category, and i would vote for BDK for the reasons you mentioned.

Wed Jan 02, 07:25:00 AM PST  
Blogger Robert Pearson said...

I vote for BDK for Best Picture, but we need categories I think, just like Hollywood we can spread the honors around and make everyone feel good!

Best Producer--Tempo!

Best Actress--Polly!

Best Art Direction--dk!

Best Comedy--chessloser!

and so on...I'm sure the commentariat will have other witty categories.

Wed Jan 02, 08:51:00 AM PST  
Blogger phorku said...

Howdy DK,

I ran across 'The Fountainhead' in the bookstore while doing my xmas shopping this year and picked it up since you recommended it.

It is a fascinating book that I have trouble putting down. I am about half way through it. It is a pretty deep book with the psychology and other elements. It goes along well with my current non-chess studies even though it is fiction.

I still haven't figured out exactly what the author's point is yet but it is very interesting, entertaining and thought provoking.

I was wondering what you thought of it especially considering you were an architect.

Thanks for mentioning to me.

Wed Jan 02, 12:54:00 PM PST  
Blogger transformation said...

Chess Blogger Oscar et. al:
-----------------------------
it is pretty clear that BDK gets the Oscar, now it is just a question of readers creating other categories, so lets let it flow... more latter.

Porku:
------------------------------
in life, somehow some stuff we aught to do never quite hits us, and stuff we never imagined comes to roost, if not completely engulf our life.

i never read The Fountainhead. instead, i totally embraced Nietzsche in my youth, most assiduously, carrying him everywhere i went like born again folks carry 'the good book'. of course, i read schopenhauer before, also with great ador and extensively. this hit me like lightning at age 17, when i got an apartment in New York, all wet behind the ears.

Atlas Shrugged was gifted to me by two dear friends 23 years ago. i respect Ann Rand, and have tried to read it, and i mean this not to pull your chain, but somehow felt exhausted with each small attempt.

years latter, maybe 18 years latter, i really tried, and each time just collapsed. it is near me now, near my treasured chess library, next to Hagakure, Reinhold Messner's All Fourteen 8,000 (meter peaks), Please Understand Me (for rereading, long story), and Dr. John Macks book on Alien Abduction (with the Real John Macks business card inside from before he left Morgan Stanley as President and Chief Operating Officer, only to return to great fanfare as CEO in the face of the subprime fiasco) by the Harvard MD Dr. John Mack, the other one!

It sits near there, and i wish to finish it, but am stuck at John Galt Speaks, pages 740 or so, is it? ... my copy is fallnig apart, and my ritual is to retape it. i must somehow finish it and cannot quit but its not there for me now!

i never read Frank Lloyd Wrights Autobiography, nor as i wished the The Autobiography of Ansel Adams (great photographer). i did closely study Le Corbusier's Oeve Complee as a martial artist repeatedly does front kicks and blocks...

i believe in inner strenght and deep resolve, but would first read Swami Rudrananda, or Muktananda or Chetanananda.

i also like Ringers books on success. if only i had listened better! Robert Pearson has also read all of Ringer, who is the best. i do love Napolean Hill on Abundance, less about money and more realising your dreams with great focus and reSolve.

thank you Porku, always nice when you visit, you passionate man!

warmest, dk

Wed Jan 02, 09:33:00 PM PST  
Blogger wormwood said...

haven't really been reading blogs the last 6 months, so I won't say anything about that. but I will say one thing: gambiitti is right!! :)

Sat Jan 05, 08:43:00 AM PST  

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