Chess House

Dennis Grecco builds chess table for grandkids

story by: Krista Bjorn

Dennis Grecco's home is Grand Central for his friends and family, especially his grandchildren, Max (3) and Logan (6).

With the arrival of summer, Dennis wanted to build a table that would be a focal point for gatherings and playing games. He built a large one to accommodate the adults, but decided a second one specifically for the kids was in order.

"The natural thing was to add a chessboard to that table," Dennis said. "I told Logan about it and he told me to add 'at least two boards.'  Smart kid!"



The kids already had a small round table in the backyard with an umbrella in the center, but the umbrella greatly reduced the usable space. Dennis decided on a 5' x 2' rectangular table so he could use available dimensional lumber and maximize precious yard space.

"There is nothing like the love for a grandchild, period!" said Dennis. "I built them the table for several reasons.  Of course I love them and I wanted them to have something other than a DS or computer games to play."

Dennis is a self-described "computer freak myself" so understands the draw of electronic games. "But I wanted them to have a chessboard (or two) in front of their faces," he said. "I want them to use their minds in a different way and to play a game that challenges them in a different way than video games.  Chess is a socially 'upscale' game so to speak and learning to play is a lifelong attraction."

After the table was built, Dennis wanted chess pieces that were special for each grandkid, and turned to ChessHouse. He chose the 3 3/4" colored chess pieces.

Finally the day came when he showed the new table and chess sets to Max and Logan. "The kids went crazy when they saw it," Dennis said. "Then I gave them the red and blue chess pieces and they flipped!"

He is thrilled with how the table turned out.

"The table is perfect for anything," he said. "It has already served as a nice size at backyard parties for the kids and it doesn't need a cloth to cover it up!  The beauty is the chessboards themselves.  The kids roll out paper and color, paint or play with toys on the table.  Not having an umbrella maximizes the space and the 5' x 2' size is perfect.  I had no problem with 8 kids eating at the table.  Clean-up is a snap, then the kids can play chess or checkers or tic-tac-toe."

The total cost of the table, legs, hardware, tile, tile adhesive, grout, stain and wood sealer was probably around $250 and it took about 8 hours to build. Dennis thinks it was worth every penny and man hour.

"The table is much more durable than anything you can buy and it will be a center piece for any kid that sees it,"  he said. "It's really not hard.  It's a great project that will last for a very long time and one that everyone, young and old, will appreciate. Combine the set with several favorite chess piece colors from www.chesshouse.com and you have a winner."

Dennis's Directions for building A Chess Table:

1. I was able to use one sheet of exterior 3/4" plywood cut lengthwise in half to give me two pieces measuring 8' x 2.'   Cost was $34.99.

2. I cut the two plywood pieces to 5' so I ended up with two pieces that were 5' long and 2' wide.  I face glued and secured with screws.

3. Since I was going to tile the table, I needed to use cement or backer board which comes in 5' x 3' pieces.  I trimmed the cement board was trimmed to 2' wide.  I then glued and secured the cement board with screws over the two plywood pieces.  In essence, I had a triple layer sandwich.  This was the base for the tile.  Cost of cement or backer board was about $7.99. I purchased four 12" x 12" checkerboard tiles on a mesh.  There were 36 tiles per sheet so you need to cut a second 12" x 12" tile and add it to the sides and bottom so you end up with 64 squares for each chessboard.   Cost was about $9.99 per sheet or $40.00.

4. With the few extra tiles left over, I added 9 tiles in the center for tic-tac-toe.  I purposely left out the hole for the umbrella with the intention of using a free-standing umbrella with a heavy base.  No extra cost.

5.I bought enough almost solid coordinating tile to fit around the chessboards to act as the background.  The chessboards are the feature here so fancy tile should be avoided.  I believe the tiles were 18" x 18" and I paid only about $5.99 per tile for ten tiles.  Total cost was $60.00.

6. Dry fit all the tile on the cement board, cut to size, then remove and apply adhesive for the tile.  Let it dry, then grout and clean tiles.  

7. I originally used wooden legs, but later opted for two T-shaped adjustable legs from IKEA.  The top section that attaches to the table bottom is 23" so it's a perfect fit across and it has a large rectangular base for stability.  The adjustable legs go from 23" to 29." tall.   Cost was about $15.00 each or $30.00 total.

8. Make sure the underside is treated with a wood sealer or a thin layer of backer board.  I edged table with exterior grade wood and mixed a blue stain.  It may look painted, but it's actually stain.  I stained 6 old wood chairs to match.

9. Enjoy! The table is 5' x 2' x 25" high.

VIDEO: How to Configure Fischer, Bronstein, and Normal Delays on Chronos Chess Clocks (I or II)

These Fischer and Bronstein modes have been hard to understand, let alone find on the Chronos chess clock. This video shows how to find the modes and explains what they mean.

FISCHER.  After a player has made his move, a specified time increment is added to his clock. Time can be accumulated, so if the player moves within the delay period, his remaining time actually increases. For example, if the delay time is five seconds, and a player has four seconds left on his clock, as soon as his opponent moves, he receives the increment and has nine seconds to make a move.  This variant prevents the player who is in time-trouble to take advantage of the extra-time.

BRONSTEIN. With the Bronstein timing method, the increment is always added after the move. But unlike Fischer, not always the maximum increment is added. If a player expends more than the specified increment, then the entire increment is added to the player's clock. But if a player has moved faster than the time increment, only the exact amount of time expended by the player is added. For example, if the delay is five seconds, the player has ten seconds left in his clock before his turn and during his turn he spends three seconds, after he presses the clock button to indicate the end of his turn, his clock increases by only three seconds (not five).

SIMPLE DELAY. When it becomes a player's turn to move, the clock waits for the delay period before starting to subtract from the player's remaining time. For example, if the delay is five seconds, the clock waits for five seconds before counting down. The time is not accumulated. If the player moves within the delay period, no time is subtracted from his remaining time. This time control is similar to a Bronstein with time added before the move.

Best medicine in Mesa pediatrician's bag may be a chess set

Diagnosed with a life-changing disease, Alyssa Schreiner was spending the first winter break of her college years in a hospital instead of celebrating the holidays at her Tempe home.

She needed a distraction, and pediatrician Norm Saba provided one.

Though the 19-year-old had outgrown her pediatrician, Saba, a family friend, looked in on her at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa each day during the five-week period when she was hospitalized, released and hospitalized again.

"He would come into my room to visit me before he went to check on his patients (in the hospital's pediatrics department)," says Schreiner, now 20 and a University of Arizona transfer student. "One day he brought in a chessboard and gave me his phone number and said, 'We're going to play chess.' "

From her hospital bed, she sent her moves to Saba via text message, and he responded with his in between seeing patients at his Mesa office.

Sometimes, the best medicine in Saba's bag is a simple chess set. It's a remedy he has seen succeed time after time, and Shreiner, too, felt the healing effect with every texted move.

"It was a really hard time for me," she says. "I was just diagnosed with Crohn's (a chronic gastrointestinal disease) and had to go into surgery, and I couldn't go back to my college in Colorado. But playing chess with Norm kept me active and kept my spirits up. He always put a smile on my face."

Strong body, strong mind

The doctor, 56, encourages kids he treats at his office to take up the game. And he plays it bedside with patients at what is now Cardon Children's Medical Center, a separate facility on the Banner Desert campus.

On rounds at the hospital, Saba carries a magnetic chess set in his pocket. Unfolded, the board is 3 by 6 inches. When patients feel up to a game, he sets everything out on a table in their room, an invitation to set aside health worries for a while. A few moves usually are enough for his pajama-clad opponents, and then it's on to check on another patient.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/arizonaliving/articles/2010/08/24/20100824chessdoc0824.html#ixzz0xehTNUki

Best medicine in Mesa pediatrician's bag may be a chess set.

What is the best chess software to learn chess?

The best chess software to learn chess depends on the learner's level of knowledge. But there is some straightforward advice to make a good choice on what chess software to use.

If you are new to chess, start with carefully choosing a chess software program that covers the rules, basic strategies and tactics in depth. There are plenty of good programs to choose from later that will help you build this initial knowledge.

You should have chess software that

1. Teaches you all the rules and more.

2. Let's you play against the computer and practice what you learn

Surprisingly it's hard to find a chess software program that does both well. So it's usually best to find two separate programs that complement each other. This way you'll maximize your learning experience as well as your playing experience.

A clever combination of training and playing software will yield the best results. Here's some advice.

First of all, the chess playing software.

One of the newest, most feature-rich, and straightforward chess software programs is Rybka 4 with the ChessBase interface (this interface is more user friendly than some). Rybka 4 has a unique advantage. It plays like a human. What that means is you have a much more natural feel to the game and don't get the same repetitive stuff you'll find in many free chess softwares.

Rybka 4, released in 2010, was also a breakthrough in sheer playing power - sure, unnecessary for beginners, but still cool. And you can always customize it's playing levels and strength to your liking.

Another key reason a chess software like Rybka 4 could be one of your best choices is that it's not only a fun way to explore playing chess with your PC with all kinds of visual enhancements, 3D views, unique chess sets, and more, your playing experience is enhanced by access to one of the largest online playing sites for a year. You can choose a game of as fast or as slow as you want, against high level players or beginners - people just like you, worldwide. The online chess playing experience here is amazing.

My favorite way to play chess at home is hooking up my electronic wood chessboard, the DGT e-board with Rybka 4 on the Notebook computer, for some livingroom coffeetable chess action against Internet players. 30 minute games are great with this setup.

And for the chess learning software...

Here's my secret. You don't have to spend a lot of money on your first chess training PC software. A simple, yet comprehensive program like TASC Chess CD 2 will give you literally 50 hours+ of training for a fraction of the time and money you could spend scouring the internet for a chess program.

This software is simple, and packed with quality instruction. The software was produced years ago, and is getting very good results with those that still know about it. It's a quick, easy install from the CD. It saves your scores and progress. If you already understand the rules of chess, you'd still learn quite a bit by skipping section 1 and going into steps 2-5 on the CD.

This software doesn't just teach the rules though; it will advance you into a fairly strong beginner or lower intermediate level if you dedicate some time and attention to it and practice what you learn.

Once you have the basics down there are some good ways to improve Tactics, Strategies, or other specific areas of your game. I mention Tactics first because it usually pays off the quickest and is a good area to spend time next. Using chess software to advance far beyond the basics is a topic for a separate article.

A lot can be learned by playing chess as well as studying, and with the multitude of robust chess software programs for the PC, not to mention online chess playing sites, you'll have plenty of opportunities to challenge human or computer and sharpen your game by playing.

Play over-the-board games whenever you get the chance and play against opponents that are better than you. Every loss teaches more than a win.

See ChessHouse's page on best chess software for learning for more details on this software.

Chess and marketing

Eleviv, XanGo's herbal supplement claims it boosts energy, well being, and intellectual performance, but those that know how blindfold chess is correctly played, may claim the product has added powers.

In blindfold chess, the person sits on a chair while the assistant makes the called out moves.

It can only ask... is she really blindfolded? 

Well done nonetheless XanGo :-)

Have you heard of or used this product? Has it improved your chess game?

new Rybka 4 chess software for playing and improving at chess

For years Rybka has been the uncontested number one in computer chess and since its great breakthrough in 2006 the program has won with remarkable regularity one world title after the other.

Programmer Vasik Rajlich has developed a new version which is even better: Rybka 4 plays more aggressively and more tactically. During the last two years the engine has been improved in almost all areas. One major theme has been the understanding of the attack on the king.

The new Rybka 4 is more precise and reliable. Search function are more quick and efficient and the evaluation function delivers even more spot-on judgments. As for the playing style, Rybka 4 logically continues the development of the past few years.

Thanks to further development in the tactical area too, the new Rybka 4 will be indispensable for all those who work and analyse with chess engines. Rybka 4 is delivered with the new user-friendly Fritz 12 interface and contains a database of 1.5 million games and includes CLASSIC membership for playchess.com for one year.

Get your copy of Rybka 4 now at ChessHouse.

System requirements:

Minimum: Pentium III 1 GHz, 512 MB RAM, Windows Vista, XP (Service Pack 3), DirectX9 graphics card with 256 MB RAM, DVD-ROM drive, Windows-Media Player 9, internet access (playchess.com, updates and activation).

Recommended: PC Intel Core 2 Quad, 2.4 GHz, 3 GB RAM, Windows Vista or Windows 7, DirectX10 graphics card (or compatible) with 512 MB RAM or more, 100% DirectX10 compatible, sound card, Windows Media Player 11, DVD ROM drive and internet access (playchess.com, updates and activation).

The activation of the program requires internet access.

Grandma's woodworking talents keep her sharp and delight grandson

It's not every Grandma who can make a mahogany and walnut chessbox for their grandson's birthday, but that's just what 65-year-old Diane Ogle did for her grandson Caleb this spring. 

“Who said grandmas have one foot in the grave!,” Diane said. “Besides wood working, I play golf 4 to 5 times a week, bowl 2 times a week, fly fish in the summer months and spend lots of time with my seven grandchildren.”

When Caleb's parents gave him Large Crusades Chess Set Pieces for Christmas, they privately contacted Diane to make him a chessboard.

“My daughter knows how I love to make sawdust in my shop,” Diane said. “I made a board for him of walnut and mahogany. They were so thrilled with the board that they asked if I could make a box to store everything for him for his birthday.”

As she began work on the chess box, she realized that she needed an insert to hold the beautiful pieces and contacted the ChessHouse.

“They were kind enough to send me the insert for my grandson's chess pieces so I was able to build the chess chest for Caleb,” Diane said.

All her hard work paid off with a very happy grandson.

“I think he was pretty blown away,” she said. “As much as a nine year old can be blown away with something 'DeeDee' made for him!”

Diane first got interested in woodworking by watching her father. “My father was a hobby-woodworker and I always enjoyed watching him the shop,” she said.

One of her first major endeavors was making a baby cradle for each of her seven grandchildren.

“Currently I am deciding on a piece of furniture that I can build for each one of them for a wedding gift,” Diane said. “I have many years before anyone gets married . The youngest one in not even three!”

She is delighted that Caleb not only loved his board and chest, but is also taking an interest in wood-working.

“He is very interested in working in my shop when he comes to visit,” Diane said. “The last time he was here he really enjoyed his supervised use of my Delta Scroll saw. He gave me the best compliment a few weeks ago. He asked if he could spend a week with me so we could make the combination lofted bed and student desk that he was designing! Sure am glad I like woodworking more than sewing or knitting. Don't think I could muster much interest from him in those areas!!”

"en passant" in chess: why the move was invented and how it's played

The move en passant is both interesting and perplexing to beginners. The move was originally invented in 1561, and officially accepted to the rulebook in 1880 according to wikipedia.

"en passant" means "in passing".

The rule of en passant says that when a pawn moves two squares on one turn, the very next move an adjacent pawn may capture that pawn as if it had only moved one square.

The move was invented to prevent players from locking up the chessboard with pawns. In the diagram below, black moves his pawn 2-squares, and past the white pawn.

If the en passant rule didn't exist, players could end up with positions like this!

That would create very boring games!  I remember when I first started playing chess, this happened a few times until I learned this very unique rule.

Elliott Neff wonderfully explains the history and reasoning for this move in his Knight Level DVD along with many other important topics in this second in a series of chess training DVDs.

Chess Book Review: Dangerous Weapons: The Sicilian

Review by Brian Todd, instructor at Chess4Life

Dangerous Weapons: The Sicilian, by John Emms

As a devoted Sicilian disciple I am constantly looking for new ideas in this well-trodden opening, so I was quite pleased when Everyman Chess published this book in 2006.  John Emms and Richard Palliser provide a huge repository of off-beat ideas in most of the major variations of the open Sicilian and even introduce a few ideas that history has forgotten.  I first want to emphasize that these ideas are exclusively for lines in the open Sicilian, so Alapin and Rossolimo/Moscow or Closed Sicilian fans won't find any thing to whet their appetites.  Secondly, this book is not just for players of the black pieces, as more than half of the chapters are for White!

What is great about this book is that it contains 300 pages of ideas little explored but clearly explained and elaborated. Divided into 14 chapters, the authors stay true to their qualifications of moves that are highly ambitious, create complex positions and sharp lines in sometimes resurrected lines from the annals of chess history.

After going through this book for the past few years, with computer assistance and many blitz and correspondence games, I have assimilated many of these ideas into my repertoire.  As surprise weapons these ideas are second to none in effectiveness, however, the soundness of all of the lines are not guaranteed.  In fact, my favorite weapon in the book carries the author disclaimer that if Black wants to play the line in tournaments, an improvement has to be found, otherwise Black is fighting for a draw!  Of course this was borne out by computer analysis and the line is probably just bad, but this is dependent on extremely accurate play by White.

Other lines in the book are totally solid and just fun to play.  I have developed quite an affinity for the O'Kelly Variation due to this book and also the Kan and Lowenthal chapters are filled with great ideas that are surprising, but also fully playable in a tournament setting.  In closing, this is a great book for any Sicilian player from either side and will give you many years of learning pleasure.

How to set 40 in 2 1/2hr, game in 1 hr time control with Chronos Chess Clock

This Chronos setting example will give you a better grasp of how the clock works overall, while giving you one of the most common time controls needed in tournament play.

How do you set 40 moves in 2.5 hours / game in 1 hour?

First, this means that the first 40 moves must be played in 2 1/2 hours. If that player makes 40 moves within that time, then 1 hour is added for the remainder of the game.

Use mode SD-2 or DL-SD2 (with delay).

You should also save it as a preset once you set them, so the next time you can access them much faster than the initial setup.

Here's how to find, set, and then save this time control on the Chronos Chess Clock.

Turn on the clock with the both play buttons pressed. Click the red button about 27 or 31 times to find SD-2 or DL-SD2 respectively. If you press it too many times, "long press" the red button to go back on at a time.

When you see either mode, press the play button on that side.

For DL-SD2 (right side), you will see 1:30:00. Now long press the red button to edit times. Make the changes you want, in this case to 2:30:00 on each side. Press the red button to see delay of 0:05. Modify as you please. Continuing pressing the red button until you see "COPY to 0". Change the 0 to 1 or higher (presets 1 to 12). I recommend 1 to 4. They are the easiest to access.

When you're ready to save the preset, hold down the red button to save. A double beep indicates you're ready.

Here's why saving the mode as a preset was a good idea.

With the clock off, I can access this preset with 2 button presses. Since I saved mine as preset 2, pressing the red button twice to turn on the clock brings it up instantly.

That's just one way to set the Chronos chess clock of the many hundreds of options available.

It's the most versatile and reliable timer.

If you want more information on the SD-1 and DL-SD2 modes, see pages 37 and 39 of the manual for explanation.