It is interesting to see some of the upcoming events, such as the U.S. Masters Open that was held in Estes Park. I also really like the ad for “telephone tournaments”, and to see how HUGE the tournaments were.
January 1984 Colorado Chess Informant
March 1974 Colorado Chess Informant
The May 1974 Colorado Chess Informant features:
Thanks to Scott Massey who loaned me a bunch of his old Colorado Chess Informant Magazines! I am planning on scanning in all of them.
Click on the image to open the magazine in PDF format.
Hey everyone – I have created a new website where I have been focusing most of my attention. That website is http://tacticstime.com
I mostly started TimmyBx.com to teach myself how to use wordpress, create a domain name, host a website, setup google analytics, setup a mailing list, and lots of other things related to running a website – such as fooling with HTML and CSS, how to ftp files to the site, using wordpress plugins and themes, linking into paypal, using google adwords, and amazon affliates, and lots of other things that go on behind the scenes of a website.
It was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot of good stuff.
Then my work started to get really, really busy, and I did not have any spare time to work on the site, or do anything with chess in general.
Now things are a little less crazy work wise, so I have more spare time to devote to this sort of thing.
I decided to just start from scratch with a new website, which is http://tacticstime.com. “Tactics Time” has more of a focused goal than this site ever did, which like I said, was more of a “proof of concept” for me than anything, and place to post some fun chess stuff. I will probably continue to leave this site up and running, since there is a fair amount of useful content here, especially the back issues of the Colorado Chess Informant.
“Tactics Time” is the name of the column that I have written since 2004 for the Colorado Chess Informant magazine. Tactics are my favorite part of chess. Just like some people love to study openings, some people like composed chess problems, some people collect chess books, some people even love chess related postage stamps. I love tactics!
So I am pretty excited about my new website. I put together a product, also called “Tactics Time” that is a huge collection of tactics from games I have collected over the years. I have around 9000 games that I have done analysis on – looking for tactics in the games. I used Fritz 12 and Chessbase 11 to help me with this.
I gathered thousands of tactics from these games. These are real tactics, from real games, from real players like you and me. No “composed problems”. No “endgame studies”. No tactics stolen from other people. No games were just taken out of the chessbase database that anyone can access. Most of those games are from Grandmasters, who are not making the types of tactical mistakes seen every weekend at tournaments, and in millions of games played on the internet.
I also have a newsletter that you can sign up for. I changed the newsletter signup on this site, so that it will sign you up for my tacticstime newsletter. Each newsletter contains a tactics problem for you to work on, along with some interesting factoids which often include stories about the players involved, information about the tournament, or just general chess information related to tactics.
You get several bonuses if you sign up for the newsletter, including a PDF eBook I wrote called “101 Tactical Tips” with lots of advice regarding chess tactics. You will also get a sample database containing 25 chess games, with about 34 tactics problems in them. This will give you an idea of what the full database with over 3000 games is like.
I hope you will support me at the new site, and sign up for my newsletter. My goal is to help you become a stronger and better chess players.
Cheers,
Tim
who the hell is editing this magazine?
I looked at this month’s “ABC’s of Chess”, March 2010 issue, page 17. The following was the first tactical puzzle with black to move:
The category of the puzzle was “trapping”.
I was thinking, “trapping”??
I look at the “solutions” on page 71, and it says “Trapping: The advance 1. … b5 wins the white bishop.”
I am thinking – WTF?
Why not just play 1. … Bxa4+ winning the bishop – with check – and not losing a pawn in the process.
It turns out that 1. … b5 is a DRAW. It costs black a WIN.
Here is the analysis by Fritz 10.
New game
8/1p1k4/2b5/8/B1p5/8/P1K5/8 b – - 0 1
Analysis by Fritz 10:
1. -+ (-19.18): 1…Bxa4+
2. -+ (-4.33): 1…Kc7 2.Kc3 Bxa4 3.Kxc4 b5+ 4.Kc5 Kb7 5.Kb4 Kb6 6.Kc3 Kc5 7.a3
3. -+ (-4.17): 1…Kd6 2.Kc3 Bxa4 3.Kxc4 b5+ 4.Kd4 Bd1 5.Kd3 Kc5 6.Kc3 Bh5 7.a3 Bd1 8.Kb2 Kb6 9.a4 Bxa4
4. -+ (-4.09): 1…b6 2.Bb3 cxb3+ 3.Kxb3 Bd5+ 4.Kb2 Kc6 5.a4 Kc5 6.Kc3 Bc6 7.a5 b5 8.Kb2 b4 9.a6 Bd5
5. = (-0.02): 1…b5 2.Kc3 Kd6 3.Kd4 bxa4 4.Kxc4 Bd7 5.Kc3 Bb5 6.Kb2 Ke7 7.Kb1
6. = (0.00): 1…Ke6 2.Bxc6
I wrote a letter to the editor, letting them know. They have a policy that if they publish your letter, you receive a free copy of “Test, Evaluate and Improve Your Chess”. I will recommend that they give it to the person in charge of editing this column if I do get published.
The October 2003 Colorado Chess Informant features:
The July 2003 Colorado Chess Informant features:
Fred Spell is looking for submissions for the Volunteer of the quarter for the April 2010 Colorado Chess Informant.
Here are the past winners:
2009 – 1st: Liz Wood, 2nd: Dean Brown, 3rd: Randy Reynolds, 4th: Fred Spell.
2010 – 1st: Jerry Maier.
Email Fred at eagleandking@hotmail.com
by Pete Short
If you have not heard, the Denver Chess Club (DCC) has a new playing location. Starting on Tuesday, February 2nd, the DCC will be playing chess in the community room in The International House of Pancakes (IHOP) at 1595 S Colorado Blvd, Denver, (303) 758-1492.
New DCC President Daoud Zupa announced, “It’s official: The Denver Chess Club is relocating (due to rent considerations and declining attendance and in the last few months) to an interim location at the International House of Pancakes at 1595 South Colorado Blvd, Denver where the Management has made available to the club a reasonably sized side room free of charge. Members and guests of the Club are encouraged to make food or beverage purchases in recognition of the generosity shown by the IHOP Management. The Club will continue to meet on Tuesdays from 6 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. at the new site following the last round of the Club Championship on Tuesday, January 26 – our last day at the 1st Avenue Presbyterian Church.” President Zupa went on to thank the Pastor at our former location for the use of his church basement over the last several years in the announcement. No mention was made of the exorbitant monthly fees, the deplorable playing conditions, or the plunger that adorned the only porcelain vessel that is commonly known as the “urinal” in the Men’s Room during the last third of our tenure.
Please check out the announcement on the new DCC web site. Chris Peterson has done an outstanding job as webmaster and the Denver Chess Club site is constantly updated wth new information, standings, announcements, and updates:
http://www.denverchess.com/announcements/?id=14
In preparation for the change in location, here are a few tips to make the transition easier:
1. The motto at The International House of Pancakes is “Come Hungry – Leave Happy”. Like most DCC Members, you may not be used to purchasing food as a token of appreciation for a free place to play. But as Daoud suggested, “Members and Guests are encouraged to make food and beverage purchases in recognition of the generosity shown by the IHOP Management”. In addition to an “all day” fare on the menu – you can always order a large reasonably priced breakfast! To help with the selection and to save time with ordering before the round begins, here is a link to their on-line menu:
http://www.ihop.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=2
And don’t forget, Tuesday, February 23 is National Pancake Day. From 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., IHOP will give you one free short stack (three) of their famous buttermilk pancakes. All they ask is that you consider making a donation to support local children’s hospitals through Children’s Miracle Network, or other local charities.
National Pancake Day is Tuesday, February 23rd!
For those of you unaccustomed to fine dining establishments, the current custom is to tip your wait staff between 18-20% of your bill. With prices starting at $5.99 without a drink, you should plan on bringing an extra $12 to $17 each night. And don’t forget to save enough money for your entry fee as well…
2. Most of you will want to gorge yourself on those delicious pancakes while playing blitz with one another before the round. You can bet that there is going to be a lot of syrup involved in your meal, and you may be concerned that the result may be a “tacky” surface on your vinyl tournament board that may cause you undue delays in moving your pawns off their original squares. After all, paper napkins break down and often just further smear and streak the board without effectively cleaning. Fear not, here is a handy piece of advice – go to Wal-Mart or your local Walgreens and purchase a package of Travel Wet Ones. The packaging is small enough to fit in your chess bag and the wipes are strong enough for the largest stacks of pancakes.
3. The great thing about playing in a restaurant is the fact that they usually have abundant bathroom facilities. And that’s a benefit, because in this case, you will be sharing it with 60-100 other patrons in addition to your chess colleagues. And let’s face it; every one of us will have downed several cups of coffee (a leading diuretic). So if you forget Vice President Shannon Fox’s keys to success (high fiber diet and courtesy flushes), here is a piece of advice that should avoid another embarrassing situation with the “landlord”. Add a personal plunger to your staple of chess equipment. Keep in mind that residential plungers you may have at home will not work on the 20” waste returns on larger toilets in the IHOP. The friendly staff at your local Home Depot or Lowes can point you in the direction of the industrial sized plungers. Mine only cost $7.99 at the Home Depot in Parker. I’ll have it next to my clock, but please remember plungers are personal, so don’t commit the social “faux pas” of asking your opponent to borrow theirs.
Warning: Small Residential Plungers will not work at the IHOP
Solution: The Industrial-sized Plunger – “A chess player’s friend”
Looking forward to seeing you all at the IHOP on Tuesday Nights….. Remember – Come Hungry!
Check out “Clogs and Plungers – The unhappy story of the Denver Chess Club”:
Pete Short was inspired by both Randy Reynolds’ chess cartoon, and his opponent using his non USCF approved chess computer program to keep track of his notation at the Denver Chess Club on Tuesday Jan 12, 2010. Pete could tell his opponent was not actually using the engine in his computer when his opponent dropped a pawn and the exchange in the opening! Click on the image for the full sized version 
Thanks Pete!!
October 2009 Colorado Chess Informant
Features
Congrats to the winners!
Daoud Zupa DCC Pres.
Shannon Fox Vice Pres.
Paul Kullback Treasurer
Joe Aragon Secretary
I just had an opponent on Redhotpawn.com tell me “Play well……..but not THAT well.” which is pretty funny. It made me think of different comments people make when starting a game of chess.
My favorite of all time is Dan Avery’s “Let’s have fun”. It is original and kind of silly, but I think Dan actually means it. I remember one time LaMoyne was making signs for the boards and he made one for Dan that said “Let’s have fun, on board one”.
I personally like to say “Good Luck <Person’s name>”. This seems like the most normal and natural thing to say. It also follows Dale Carnegie’s rule that everyones favorite word in the world is their first name. It seems like some people don’t say “Good Luck”, because they don’t actually want their opponent to have good luck. I can understand this. I don’t literally want my opponent to get lucky, but it is a polite thing to say. Some people might say there is no luck in chess, but I think that there is.
In one of my games over the weekend at the 5th Al Ufer Memorial I accidently touched the wrong piece. I had an obvious response, but I started day dreaming about the future position where my king would be in check, and where I would move it to. I touched my king for a brief nanosecond in a trance like daze, and realized oh sh*t! I actually moved the piece I wanted to move (my bishop) to see if my opponent would call me on it. He did. I immediately resigned, because I was going to lose a piece, and was so mad at myself for spacing out like that. Did my opponent get lucky? Perhaps.
Some people say “Let’s have a good game”. This seems a little long winded to me. And they probably don’t mean it, any more than they would mean “Good Luck”. They most likely would be happy to win the game with a fools mate, which would not be a good game, but would give them a full point.
Some people don’t actually say anything, and just stick out their hand, and maybe nod their head. This is acceptable to me. Some people just kind of mumble something. Some people (especially kids) give a really weak handshake. I am not sure how many people wouldn’t bother to shake my hand if I didn’t stick it out first.
I have had a couple people make lame attempts at jokes that are along the lines of “I actually hope you lose, but I will try to be funny about”. I rarely find these humorous. They normally come from the socially awkward wierdos that give chess a bad name in the first place.
Anyway – my recommendation – stick with “Good Luck”
Chris Peterson created a new (and much needed) website for the Denver Chess Club at http://www.denverchess.com Nice work Chris! It has been years since the DCC had a decent website (back in the Brad Johnson days).
Here are some notes about the site that Chris posted on facebook
There will be a dynamic display of announcements and events. An administrator will be able to add announcements and events in a simple non-computer-savvy way. Announcements will be kept indefinitely and stored in an archive. Events will be deleted 1 day after the event date. The purpose of these is to allow admins who are technologically challenged to update the site’s information. This will allow for rapid updates to the site instead of having to email the webmaster to re-design the site every time an update is wanted.
There will be a database of games played at the DCC or at DCC sponsored events. This, similar to the colorado-chess.com’s feature, will allow visitors access to games. The games are currently displayed only in PGN format but there are prospects of a javascript chess game viewer. There is also a search feature that will allow you to find games with specific details. Such as player’s last names, rating ranges, ECO, tournaments, and more.
A database containing non-vital member information (including name, rating, uscf id, and membership expiration) will make it easy for tournament directors to quickly see if someone is a member or not. A happy side-effect of this is a 5-digit DCC id, much like the USCF’s 8-digit id. The membership list will be displayed on the site, and will be constantly updated when a player renews their membership (the rating displayed here does not update automatically at this time). When a visitor to the site clicks on a member’s name they will be redirected to a page with statistics. This page will give more detailed information as well as a list of games, matching their last name.
First you will see a list of tournaments in our database, starting with the most recent. Once you click on a tournament’s id (which is a 5-digit number like the DCC membership id) you will be taken to the tournament’s crosstables. The crosstables are stored in a database and are reconstructed every time the page is visited. This means that, like every other feature, the tournament’s information can be added by anyone who is a site administrator, making updates to the site easy to do regularly. The tournament’s crosstables will feature links to games from each player during that round (if a game is available) as well as links to a player’s USCF page (giving detailed player information).
Right now the overall design of the site is fairly rough. Keeping faithful to the old site I went with a lilac color theme (it is actually based on an old Armani ad so its not too…feminine). I created a new logo for the site which hopefully will become the norm. I also added a few images simply for the aesthetics of the site’s functionality.
All in all I think the site will be a great improvement over the last site and hopefully will help shepherd some new visitors. As soon as I get the site 100% finished and we decide on a domain name and the server provisions the site will be launched in the first alpha version. Let me know what you think.
This time of year the newspapers and websites are all full of “Top Ten” lists for the past year, and even the past decade. Here is a list of top ten stories for Colorado Chess for 2009. Let me know if there are any that I forgot!
10. RedHotPawn.com Colorado Chess group. The only play on the internet that I do is on this site. http://www.redhotpawn.com/club/home.php?clubid=221.
“SapanRinpoche” formed the group. We have our own tournaments now, and a forum that contains funny posts, such as one by Pete Short complaining the Dean Brown is moving too slowly in his games – lol :-)
9. Klaus Johnson moves out of Colorado. Klaus did a tremendous job for Colorado Chess, serving as President, and organizer of many events. He brought the Boulder Chess Scene back to life, and had a lot of fresh new ideas such as a monthly President’s newsletter and the correspondance championship. His presence will be missed.
8. Lee Lahti’s G/29 tournaments. Although I have never played in any of Lee’s events, I think the idea is fantastic, and I like how he keeps track of tour points, and allows people who want to play fast chess without affecting their regular rating an option. Having it during the week is a good idea, as is changing the locations. Lee also does great writeups of his events. Nice work Lee!
7. Liz Wood organizes monthly Pueblo tournaments. Liz has helped fill a void in the tournament schedule with her near monthly Pueblo tournaments. The tournaments are great because they are all CO Tour events, allow you to get in a lot of games in one day (5 round G/30), the location is great (right in the heart of downtown Pueblo) and always well organized, with a reasonable entry fee.
6. Air Force academy gives Dean Brown the boot. This is significant because it will result in about 60 fewer days that one can play rated chess in the Colorado Springs area for both weekly Thursday night chess and Saturday quads. The playing site was really nice, great location (on the North side of Colorado Springs for people coming from the North), plenty of space, etc.
5. More Colorado Chess on the web. There were lots of ways to get Colorado Chess news on the internet this year, including this blog, Paul Anderson’s and Brian Wall’s newsletters, various yahoo groups, facebook groups, etc. People like Chris Peterson and Anthea Carson made YouTube videos that were fun to watch.
4. Tyler Hughes competes in the US Chess Championship. This was a huge honor for Tyler, which he earned from winning the 2008 US Chess Cadet tournament. Tyler played quite well, including a bone crushing victory over GM Boris Gulko. Nice work Tyler! You made Colorado proud! More information here: http://www.saintlouischessclub.org/US-Championship-2009
3. 2009 Colorado Correspondance tournament. Klaus Johnson came up with this idea, and 2009 was the first year for it. I think that the tournament was a great success, and 2010 should be even better. It brought a lot of new people (myself included) into the world of USCF rated correspondance chess.
2. Fred Spell takes over as editor of the Colorado Chess Informant. 2009 saw three different editors of the magazine, myself, Randy Reynolds and Fred. Fred did a great job on the Oct 2009 issue, and I am looking forward to the Jan 2010 issue. Finding a qualified and enthusiastic person to do the magazine is not easy, and having Fred doing it is great news for Colorado Chess.
1. Joel Williams dies. This was a real shame. I had just seen Joel the month before at the World Open in Philly where he did quite well. Joel was still quite young. Joel was a regular on the 16th Street Mall Chess scene, and often would travel out of state to big money tournaments that Bill Goichberg would run. Here is the link to Joel’s Obituary in the Denver Post: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/denverpost/obituary.aspx?n=joel-a-williams&pid=130542918. RIP.
Ft Collins chess player, and all around great guy, Randy Reynolds got hooked on the Rage comic meme after I posted this link on my facebook page: http://digg.com/d318YSu Randy created this comic. I would love to see more Rage chess related comics! Nice work Randy!!
The 2003 Colorado Chess Informant features:
per Dean Brown’s facebook status:
Due to USAF Academy policy considerations, the USAFA Thursday tournaments and the monthly Quads are no longer being held 
. New Community Center management says that “professional” tournaments may not be held in USAF Academy facilities. Since we offered prizes ($50 a Quad), that means us. Shucks, that was a nice venue to enjoy play!
Excited cadets - no more "Professional" Chess Players!
