The DKos Chess Tournament 2009 open thread is now open! Updated standings and results through Round 5 are posted below.
***********************************
DKOS CHESS TOURNAMENT 2009: ROUND 5 (July 21-July 27)
***********************************
Before we get to the matches and such, two things.
I'm posting this diary on behalf of SuperbowlXX, who has gone to a great deal of time and effort to organize, publicize, and manage this tournament. It's a great tribute to his dedication that he has done this with a great deal of grace.
I wanted to put my own stamp on this, though.
Chess is one of the oldest board games known to humans, although not as old as backgammon. While there is some dispute as to whether chess was invented, or developed, in China or in India, most historians of the game seem to agree that the version of chess known to the modern world came out of India. It was developed there as a game of military strategy.
Persian traders brought it home from India, and when Arabs invaded and conquered the Persian empire from 632 - 634, they spread chess throughout the Caliphate, of which Persia was the easternmost part. They called the game shatranj. To the far west and northwest was Europe and Asia Minor. Arab traders probably first carried the game to Italian ports in the late 7th century, possibly first in the form of jewel-encrusted King-pieces.
The Arab invasion of Spain in 711 brought the game to the western side of the continent, and Viking invasions spread the game to the northern reaches of Europe. By the year 1000 it had spread to every part of Europe, northern Africa, and Asia.
Up through this period the game pieces did not move exactly as they do today. The game had developed in India and to some degree still reflected that heritage. The "bishop" was originally an elephant, could move only two spaces diagonally, but could hop over other pieces in its way. There was also no "Queen," since women did not venture onto the battlefield. Instead this piece was the vizier, or adviser to the King. It could move one space diagonally in any direction and was mainly used to protect the king. The rook (originally rukh, meaning chariot) moved as it does today, and the knight remains unchanged across the centuries.
Europeans adapated these pieces to reflect medieval culture, changing the elephant into a Bishop and extending his range, and retaining the moves of the rukh but reshaping the piece to look like the parapet of a castle. The pawn was allowed the option of a second square on the opening move sometime in the late 15th century. Castling and the en passant capture came about at around the same time.
The greatest change, however, came to the King's advisor. He underwent a sex change, becoming a Queen and able to move as a bishop or a rook might. Suddenly the most powerful piece on the board was a woman. The new game was called "new chess," "queen's chess," or "chess of the mad queen," and these are the rules we play by today.
Chess is played in many forms around the world, some of which employ a blend of the modern and ancient forms of the game. In Thailand, maruk is played with the former chariot having been transfo,rmed into a boat, the elephant is a nobleman, the king's assistant is a seed and the foot soldier is a cowry shell. These changes, as with the European version, reflect local culture. Interestingly, the pawns start on the third row.
Chinese xiangqi may look exotic to western eyes, but it still retains the basic chessboard, and the ancient chariot, elephant, advisor, and foot soldiers, with some extra pieces thrown in. In Japan the game of shogi came from China and was adapted to fit cultural norms there.
If you want to know more about the history of chess, the classic work is Harold Murray's A History of Chess.
And now . . . without further ado . . .
UPCOMING MATCHES
White | Black | Match Time | Match Site |
Sharkmeister | i know (Chess Cube username notpaulmorphy) | Thursday, July 23, 2009 08:00 PM ET | ChessCube |
To chess players:
Round 5 will last from now until the evening of Monday, July 27. It is your responsibility to contact your opponent so that you can complete your match before the end of Round 5. When you and your opponent have agreed to a schedule and chess website for your match, enter the information here.
To the community:
If you would like to watch an upcoming match, you will first need to register for an account on the website where the game is taking place, then log in. You can observe the games on Chess.com by opening Live Chess (under the Play tab at the top of the main page) and finding the user of your choice. On FICS, type "observe [INSERT USER'S NAME HERE]" into the command console. On Chess Cube, add the user you're looking for as a friend, click on that user's profile, and observe the game he/she is playing. On Yahoo! Games, you will need to know which room/lounge the user is playing in -- then just enter it and sit at the table.
See more information about using these websites here.
ROUND 5 MATCH-UPS
The match-ups for Round 5 have been selected by the Tournament Director based on the results of Rounds 1-4 and the approximate skill rating of each player. All matches will have a 30-minute time limit per player, 0 bonus time. Every effort is being ensured to maintain color balance. In other words, every player will have ample opportunity to play as both White and Black throughout the tournament.
WHITE | vs. | BLACK | WINNER |
---|
Abelian | vs. | cschess | . |
louisedkos | vs. | MakeChessNotWar | . |
PsiFighter37 | vs. | Cobbler | . |
mquander | vs. | Albanius | . |
Sharkmeister | vs. | i know | . |
M31 | vs. | vets74 | . |
TeacherRyan | vs. | wmorriss | . |
PedsNeuro | vs. | brendanm98 | . |
Andrew Lazarus | vs. | Kimball | . |
high5 | vs. | sharris0512 | . |
dnta | vs. | Dvd Avins | . |
papicek | vs. | FWIW | . |
cmorrison | vs. | Marcion | . |
stlbucket | vs. | black2thefuture | . |
BaxKen | vs. | Anderson Republican | . |
Twin Planets | vs. | ben masel | . |
RickMassimo | vs. | spider441 | . |
dov12348 | vs. | rhutcheson | . |
Gangster Octopus | vs. | DoomsdayShark | . |
FightingRegistrar | vs. | Jumpin J | . |
ferrisbueller | vs. | Grey Paladin | . |
ZaBlanc | vs. | Robert Naiman | . |
Melanchthon | vs. | PinkFreud | . |
nargel | vs. | Dbug | . |
Bill White | vs. | jerseycorn | . |
cskendrick | vs. | Thutmose V | . |
ericledford | vs. | Seneca Doane | . |
Keith Pickering | vs. | SuperBowlXX | . |
writerkirk | vs. | mnguy66 | . |
hanswall | vs. | Mo | . |
AndrewMC | vs. | foodmetaphors | . |
Spud1 | vs. | DeadB0y | . |
thereisnospoon | vs. | Dan Morris | . |
RageKage | vs. | BTP | . |
dissonantharmony | vs. | kto9 | . |
debedb | vs. | bgblcklab1 | . |
Geenius at Wrok | vs. | ActivistGuy | . |
Ignacio Magaloni | vs. | Free Radical | . |
TheCid | vs. | lostboyjim | . |
LaughingPlanet | vs. | ThyrsiodB | . |
hekebolos | vs. | dpinzow | . |
Elvis Vader | vs. | zamrzla | . |
musicalhair | vs. | mconvente | . |
Chicagoa | vs. | Odysseus | . |
dmet | vs. | vescis | . |
eztempo | vs. | Guy Fawkes | . |
USArmyParatrooper | vs. | Blue Wind | . |
Pym | vs. | Joffan | . |
drache | vs. | Celtic Merlin | . |
DynamicUno | vs. | JeffLieber | . |
Blue Intrigue | vs. | terrapin station84 | . |
Unlabled | vs. | neilliebus | . |
rmonroe | vs. | cartwrightdale | . |
Something the Dog Said | vs. | Jimdotz | . |
mattc129 | vs. | Kevin in Long Beach | . |
STANDINGS
Note: Standings are sorted first by points, then by alphabetical order. Color balance is included.
Player | Points | # Matches | # White | # Black |
---|
Abelian | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Albanius | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Cobbler | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
cschess | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
i know | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
louisedkos | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
MakeChessNotWar | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
mquander | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
PsiFighter37 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Sharkmeister | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
vets74 | 3.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
wmorriss | 3.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Anderson Republican | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Andrew Lazarus | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
BaxKen | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
black2thefuture | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
brendanm98 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
cmorrison | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
dnta | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Dvd Avins | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
FWIW | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
high5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Kimball | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
M31 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Marcion | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
montrealdan | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
papicek | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
PedsNeuro | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
sharris0512 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
stlbucket | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
TeacherRyan | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
ben masel | 2.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
DoomsdayShark | 2.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
dov12348 | 2.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
FightingRegistrar | 2.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Gangster Octopus | 2.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Jumpin J | 2.5 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
rhutcheson | 2.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
RickMassimo | 2.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
spider441 | 2.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Twin Planets | 2.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
ActivistGuy | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
AndrewMC | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
bgblcklab1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Bill White | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
BTP | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
cavebird | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
cskendrick | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Dan Morris | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Dbug | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
DeadB0y | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
debedb | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
dissonantharmony | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
ericledford | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
evilstorm | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
ferrisbueller | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
foodmetaphors | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Geenius at Wrok | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
Grey Paladin | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
hanswall | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
jerseycorn | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Keith Pickering | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
kto9 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Melanchthon | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
mnguy66 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Mo | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
nargel | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
PinkFreud | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
RageKage | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Robert Naiman | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Seneca Doane | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Spud1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
SuperBowlXX | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
thereisnospoon | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Thutmose V | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
writerkirk | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
ZaBlanc | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Free Radical | 1.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
hekebolos | 1.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
LaughingPlanet | 1.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
lostboyjim | 1.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Blue Wind | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Celtic Merlin | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Chicagoa | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
dmet | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
dpinzow | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
drache | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
DynamicUno | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
eddiem86 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Elvis Vader | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
eztempo | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Guy Fawkes | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Ignacio Magaloni | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
JeffLieber | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Joffan | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
KStreetProjector | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
mconvente | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
musicalhair | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Odysseus | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Pym | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 |
rteeter | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
TheCid | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
ThyrsiodB | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
USArmyParatrooper | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
vescis | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
zamrzla | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
aaraujo | 0.5 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
cartwrightdale | 0.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
terrapin station84 | 0.5 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Unlabled | 0.5 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
ajsuited | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Blue Intrigue | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Crawdaddy | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
filmgeek83 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Jimdotz | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
kentuckydave | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Kevin in Long Beach | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
KillerKoala | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
lexington1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
matador | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
mattc129 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
neilliebus | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Patch Adam | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
rmonroe | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
sjohntucson | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Something the Dog Said | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Uncle Cosmo | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
valislav stein | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
KEY:
Points = 1 point for a win, 0 points for a loss, 0.5 points for a draw.
# White = Number of times played as White.
# Black = Number of times played as Black.
# Matches = Number of matches played.