At War

I'm waiting for white to move. This has been a hard fought battle though my opponent isn't out of the game yet. “Easy, you know, does it, son.”

Ayn Rand Letter to Chess Masters

Ayn Rand's Letter to Boris Spassky, Bobby Fisher.

"Imperfect but fascinating"

Capablanca vs O Bernstein, 1911
(C65) Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense, 34 moves, 1-0

From: Fred Reinfeld. The Immortal Games of Capablanca. Macmillan Publishing Co., New York, 1973.

The 38th Move

What to do next? For starters I shouldn't have advanced my Rook (I'm white) so far. Big mistake. And I'm betting my opponent will move their Knight next. For the chess players out there ... your thoughts? Btw I'm ranked about sixty points higher than my rival.

Madison Chess Pieces Unearthed

Archaeologists at James Madison's country estate say they've unearthed fragments of a chess set they think Madison likely used in matches against another former president, Thomas Jefferson. Full article.

Gracias, Jay.

Beautiful Day

It was a beautiful day. I knocked out 2k words on a new Cash Laramie story I'm calling "The Lawyer" and read some submissions for BEAT to a PULP. And then there was this:


I had been losing when my opponent made an error I capitalized on. Two moves prior to this board, he asked for a draw but I knew I had him and went in for the kill. He resigned. For those who don't play the game, I am white and one move from checkmate.

Beautiful day.

Chess, Cranmer, And Capablanca (With Mankell)

I'm in the middle of a study of Capablanca's most accomplished endgames. Sometimes I think it should be possible to transribe chess moves like music. In which case Capablanca's games would be fugues or enormous masses."

-- From Henning Mankell's BEFORE THE FROST.

After my last chess post, not only did I come across another reference to Capablanca in crime fiction (the marvelous Mankell novel) but I began playing online at RedHotPawn*. My user name is Paladin One and if you're so inclined stop by. Sometimes, I can actually be challenging.

*I'm not a member and am limited to six games.

Chess, Chandler, And Capablanca

It was night. I went home and put my old house clothes on and set the chessmen out and mixed a drink and played over another Capablanca. It went fifty-nine moves. Beautiful cold remorseless chess, almost creepy in its silent implacability.

When it was done I listened at the open window for a while and smelled the night. Then I carried my glass out to the kitchen and rinsed it and filled it with ice water and stood at the sink sipping it and looking at my face in the mirror.

"You and Capablanca'" I said.

-- From Raymond Chandler's, THE HIGH WINDOW (1942)

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Jose Raul Capablanca links:
Bio | The Capablanca chess games | Film footage and photos