The Global eBook Middlegame Collaborative

The Global eBook Middlegame Collaborative, today announces its inception.

Phaedrus, and Transformation, have organized themselves as a cooperative effort, to create an eBook generated from the lesser known--but perhaps the most comprehensively useful--of Lazlo Polgar's three books often referred to as Bricks. To do so alone would exhaust most mortals, so we purport to accomplish this by combined and shared efforts upon Polgar's comprehensive book: 'Chess Middlegame, 77 Types in 4,158 Positions'.

Ardent students of systematic chess improvement are invited to join. We only ask for your time, and necessarily of course, confidentiality as to our communications such as email and identities.






















We do not require that you have any chess pedigree as to knowledge or rating or skill, but only readiness to begin in the next month in your weekly contribution of hours and effort. What you will get in the end is the same 4,000+ chessBase cbv file that we all will share and the interpersonal discoveries realized in collaboration in it's best sense.

In the first phase, ten of us will collaborate in creating a powerful chess middlegame study and teaching tool, in each rendering some 320 positions into pgn files, from Polgar's book. Sir Pino has generously offered to join our efforts, which means that we still have room for seven more persons.

The reward will be your possession of a powerful tool suitable for almost a lifetime of chess study. You will be able to do advanced thematic training with all the advantages which eBooks provide such as 'Annotations and Variations', 'Search', and 'Evaluation and testing lines' by chess engines. The printed book offers several disadvantages such as its being out of print and thus extremely costly to furnish; it is also not very easy to handle in being very thick and heavy. Moreover, our eBook will be an improvement upon the original, as it is already well known that the book can either be incomplete or have faulty solutions.

Of course, more needs to be discussed about phase two and phase three, and specifics about what is involved concerning agreements as to confidentiality and use since this is not a commercial venture and is for private use. For more information you can email us at globalmiddlegame@gmail.com.

The Age of Chinese Chess is Coming

Those of you who are already well dialed into the current chess scene, may not need to read this short post.

But for those of you who don't manage to get all the major chess news, it should get our attention that recently the third ranking Chinese GM Wang Yue placed second in a three way tie for first place at the recent first round of the FIDE Grand Prix in Baku.

He did so by beating out the likes of world number seventh, eight, and nineth Mamedyarov, Radjabov, and Svidler, as well as Karjakin at thirteenth, Adams fourteenth, Kamsky fifteenth, Grischuk eighteenth, and Bacrot twenty-third.

He shared the podium with first tie-breaker Gashimov at forty-two and third tie-breaker Magnus Carlsen at fifth in the world. You can be sure that those dudes gave him no breaks.

Back in the qualifier in Elista, in November, at ICC someone fingered a comment, saying: "Who is Wang Yue?" Well, I think that they all know now.



Sorry folks: hard as I try, I cannot get the embed to go directly to the specific video from round four. Instead, go directly to the video either at The Week in Chess or Europe-Echeces.com. Then select the first of the forth round videos: 'ROUND FOUR MUSIC, GAMES AND INTERVIEW' (blue tone to background image). Therein is found the discussion about the Chinese press by the Spanish Grand Master hired by the Chinese who is fluent in Chinese.

Secondly, this week at Sofia, Chinese first Bu Xiangzhi is rubbing elbows with the pedigree of Topolov, Ivanchuk, and Aaronian. This part is not big news. But what is big is that the Chinese press are there, this time, in droves as only the Chinese can. There is an army of reports and photographers, and this is big news in China. China is big and with the Peking Olympics in August, peak oil, and now the sorrowfull earthquake in Sichuan province, it is time we all recognize the Chinese effort in chess. Whether it is too big now, is not for any of us to say.

Did any of you know that the average ranking of the Chinese top ten is now third in the world at FIDE, behind of course Russia and the Ukraine (Israel fourth, with USA sixth)?

Now Ultra

Life going by at the speed of light

Today I finished my letter of application to Saxion University in the Netherlands. Such an event in and of itself might not be too significant, but in context represents--for me--an enormous accomplishment. Let me please elaborate:

Since February I have been one busy beaver. I have: added another 3,496 or so games to my classic GM game database, often in exhaustive detail or entering games by hand. This necessarily included much checking, since the 1,350 games from AngelFire.com honestly had great benefit while also unfortunately contained many errors (and I do not mean in analysis, but outright wrong or incomprehensible game scores). On Wall Street, we call this a big beta.

I have also been back to CTS, not in huge volume, but always trying to attain 100% each and every session. I am finally in the top 100 their for accuracy at #98 @ 88.33, which is significant seeing how I did my first 10,000 tries at 80.0%. I am pushing to get to 50,000 at 90.00% which is well within my grasp by October or December at the latest. I just had a run of 223 in a row correct, and have now done thousands at 97.0%, often between 1480 and 1520 elo.

















February was significant in far more ways than one: I had the good fortune to make a great friend in Phaedrus. We now have over 2,000 emails between us. No, not all of them were long, but believe you me, some went on for pages. We will be announcing our project probably within a week to ten days, and have only to first finish our effort to see if we can get me to the Netherlands in a teaching capacity. It has been writing, and writing and rewriting.

In our chess project, I wrote a ten page project document to outline our agreements and procedures, and this is in parallel to the GM chess game database, the Academic efforts, and my medical stuff. Phaedrus and I finally got to chat, and we talked for over an hour last night, with his mediating his two sons in Dutch time to time in the background, as Mrs. Phaedrus was getting some much needed rest. This man is a real gem of a man is all I can say for now. Man.

















Bold Imagination, 2001 A Space Odyessy

Unfortunately (please, no one worry, I am in great hands) while having the constitution of a real athlete, my life time of elevated blood pressure has seen a recent jump. Himmm you say? Yes, a new store manager. Let me leave it at that, the sweet man! We of course watch it, but need to make sure that I don't go over THAT edge.

My holistic doc, who is fantastic, had my adrenals checked, and this explains partly why I never tire. I mean the tachometer is up ALL day. I only go to sleep as a decision. He has designed a program for me to go on natural supplements, and aught to ameliorate the prior issue. The neighsayers will all come to roost on this subject, but can only note that my impeccable diet 'doesn't help here', and only reduces the need for sleep or to stop. I prepare all my own food and do it like a Dharma or fine art.






















Amazona vittata, Puertorican parrot fledgling

Also, for depression, I have to stay on track with the diet, too, since he is greatly against antidepresents, saying they only mask symptoms. He also has requested a full blood panel, which we are waiting on, from the mainstream medical or preferred provider loop. I paid out of pocket for the adrenal test, and the gluten intolerance test, and the dairy intolerance test. Damn. I am totally surprised. I have the intolerance to the two latter, and his statement that it was a 30% chance I had the intolerance since I am half German was met with skepticism by me... All my life I could eat anything, but we aren't talking what you can eat but what you should not eat for optimal health as you age and alergies build up...

Long story, I had a horrid rash, and wanted to tear my skin off... and this has been addressed, you get the idea, this is just one part of my life... If only my diet were total crap, this could be a tool, but I am already in the top 99.5% in my diet for white males (married Asian males throw all these stats off). And people who meditate and do yoga, etc, often but not always see this same drop off in sleep, as they live with less screens, and screens rob energy. You take them away, and all you have is what the Dhamapada says: 'long is the night to he who is awake', if you follow.






















No Comment

I have resumed to trade financial markets analytically and quantitatively and of course have built an analytic model of domestic equity markets measuring the standard deviation of sentiment, consolidated with the second derivative of the stock market. The problem has never been the accuracy of my model, but sustaining my use of it, sticking to the discipline of what it says rather than trying to get it to express predictions correctly. It's like instrument flying in clouds.

Daily again I am working my way through the last of Reinfeld's 1001 Sacrifices and Combinations, and if any of you have never been to the torture chamber, I can recommend it unconditionally.

Lastly, if any of you have made it this far, I am committed by myself to write on post daily at my integrative blog, The System of the System. Yes, I do have some ego here at chess improvement, but there comments are not critical. I write for myself [1]. I try hard to conceive these in no particular order, but, believe you me, I have a 'plan' [2].















Daily I write a short post, such as on Risk, Grace, Exploration, Results, Cost, Acceptance, Learning, Energy, and Feeling. Tonight after this post, and checking in on the start of the tension filled final round of the FIDE Grand Prix in Baku in a few minutes, I must finish my post on Distribution, and in the days ahead will write: Completion, Sexuality, and Information.

I know that I need to really work on being less superficial and I ask for everyone's forgiveness. :)
May god bless you all. Love to all beings, Love dk
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1. Now I know how Wormwood must feel ( *wait a second, no one knows how he feels, but I can *caugh* just imagine what he must... ).

2. Yes, yes, it is Polly's turn indeed. Previously I was able to pester Samurai Pawn, Robert Pearson (aka Wahrheit), and even finally got to chessLoser (aka hardcore pawnography), and never without controversy.

Polly, what is your plan and if you have one, are you serious about it, or is it just the desire to wish to have a plan? Plans are nice, but it is the implementation of them where the rubber meets the road. A plan must be challenging enough to galvinize our actions into concrete daily steps, but not so large as to inhibit the flow of enjoyment and discovery.

Phaedrus (aka Chess Vision) has also been asked, but he has so much chess rank, that my rub is more in getting him to concretize and formalize his plan than to improve his chess. He has welcomed my penchant for planning with great aplomb.

According to a very recent email from Temposchlucker (cf. comment today on spacejunk), I have hijacked Phaedrus, which is probably true, but then again, Phaedrus I know for a fact holds him in the highest regards. Soon I can give him back! Our plan is to... 'wait, wait, we must do one last little thing, then....' (DK).

Superheros

If Grandmasters are the big heros of chess to the denesins of chess, then surely supergrandmasters are the superheros of chess. Did any of you see Rabjabov in his chessvibes video, in his powerfull win against Kamsky at the end of round nine at the FIDE Grand Prix?

It is hard not to see him as having great affectation, but really, this is the way he is. All these guys are smart, but this guy is a fucking genius. What, is English like his third language, but listen to him go! Links here. Sixth video down from the top. Of course, there are many many videos round by round, but THIS is the round to see.



You folks ever try holding your breath for 3 minutes and 4 seconds? Try 17:04 minutes. Insane.

You also really get to see the folks as they are. For example, Adams chess rank is beyond question, but again and again you get to see him shirk from the camera. This is not a big man, as a man, I mean only. And, quite the contrary, just listen to Svidler (forth video from the top). This guy is a man's man. No wimp at all. Perfect English. Just imagine that. All those cricket scores do sink in. Sardonic but authentic enough.

Hear his response at the end. OMG. As they say in the (USA) south: "not dumb'. This guy is speaking in a second language and uses words I don't use, such as 'far fetched'. Brain cells multiplicity. Or is that, rather, superabundance??

BTW: tonight, two hundred in a row correct at CTS. The key, to borrow a question from temposchlucker, intra email communication, pm PST tonight: 'Relaxation while calculating all posibilities', even if I somehow 'imagine that it is obvious" Trust me, the stuff you think is obvious is NOT and the the surety that what is obvious is, in fact, NOT obvious allows you to score 100% in lieu of 97 or 94%.

More latter. Lots more about job prosect, finally the announcement about the 'project with leading chess blogger' next week likely, and finish of 5.231 Classic GM Game Database. Gave my email to an African American woman tonight, in 'the store": Opening line: "You are beautiful from the inside out". Man oh man.