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Chess on the Go

  • batgirl
  • | Jul 23, 2011
  • | 5301 views
  • | 16 comments

 

MCC_book.jpg

I know of very few chess players who do not like puzzles. I can't think of a more enjoyable way to pass a few random minutes here or there than in sharpening my tactical sense trying to solve some poser.  One problem, though, is that unless I plan way ahead and, additionally, have the means to tote some heavy tome, those random minutes that might be spent in such a pleasurable pursuit generally are spend twiddling my thumbs.

Kenn E. Thompson and Dwight K. Weaver have just produced a book, really an effort of love more than a commercial endeavor, called "Memphis Chess Club - A History of Problems." The book contains 500 problems and many fully games from the ultra-rich history of the MCC. 

However, besides the physical book, there is an app for iPhones, iPads and iPods, containing the 500 problems only (which, according to the developer, Shawn E. Gano, who offers it at a phenomenally nominal cost of just $.99, "includes 500 interactive puzzles ranging from mate in 2 moves all the way to mate in 26 moves! The object is to finish each puzzle by forcing a checkmate in a given number of moves."). 

So, for less than a dollar (or 5 for a penny), if you have the equipment, you can have 500 chess problems at your fingertips to help fill those random free minutes productively. 

Comments


  • 17 months ago

    ilikeflags

    Shawn E. Gano is a cheater and a hack
  • 18 months ago

    Chesskider

    Think so

  • 20 months ago

    Elubas

    Is this an advertisement?

  • 22 months ago

    fmarti

    Thank you

  • 22 months ago

    kennthompson

    ORDER ONLINE DIRECT FROM THE MEMPHIS CHESS CLUB!

    In response to lemonslol and fmarti, you can now buy the book online at:

    http://www.memphischess.com/Memphis-Chess-Club-History-of-Problems.html

    Price includes shipping costs. Please, include full address on PayPal order.

     

    Many of the problems in this book come from the game of club players.

    Problem No. 145

    Knight, Kevin (1881) - Brownlow, Samuel (1728)
    □ White to move. Mate in 5.
    06/05/2011

    This is an index of players in this book and their problems.  Full PGN game moves are also provided in the book.  Have you ever wanted to know how the players got to this position?

    1. Acers, Jude 49
    2. Albonetti, Chris 6, 466
    3. Appleberry, Marty 30, 130, 497
    4. Aristorenas, Juan 220
    5. Ballepu, Prashanth 108
    6. Bandy, Greg 424
    7. Barnes, Ronnie 64, 126
    8. Bartlett, Riley 110, 288
    9. Barton, Mike 217, 303, 349
    10. Baudendistel, Jeff 35, 58, 110, 170, 234, 445, 474, 495
    11. Beasy, Robert 291
    12. Beatty, Jalen 213
    13. Beatty, Jonathan 93, 218, 264, 419, 446
    14. Beatty, Mark 67, 172, 338
    15. Bell, John 246
    16. Benjamin, Joel 263
    17. Berry, G 309
    18. Berryhill, Jansen 248
    19. Berryhill, Jordan 68, 372
    20. Berryhill, Joseph 8, 153, 225, 361
    21. Bhagwat, Nagaraj 345
    22. Bhatt, Sohail 31, 400
    23. Bhattacharjee, Sourav 68, 81, 169, 337, 391
    24. Bick, John 99
    25. Biggs, Teiraney 109
    26. Bloodgood, Claude F. 24, 144
    27. Bloom, Leonard 406
    28. Bogle, Allan 3, 38, 83, 98, 108, 109, 112, 113, 124, 129, 147, 168, 202, 254, 255, 256, 307, 320, 324, 347,
    360, 448
    29. Bonin, Jay 310
    30. Bonvissuto, Vincent 249
    31. Boughter, Joseph 51, 179
    32. Brazell, Barry 92, 107, 167, 306, 380, 412, 420
    33. Browne, Walter 328
    34. Brownlow, Samuel 146, 359
    35. Bulington, Ellen 175
    36. Bunch, John 29, 200, 292, 380, 427
    37. Burnett, Ron 287
    38. Burris, Dave 30
    39. Bussom, Andrew 151, 152, 163, 200, 332, 379
    40. Butler, Patrick 77, 333, 477
    41. Cao, Kevin 389
    42. Carrillo, Oscar 255
    43. Challa, Abhilash 299, 305
    44. Cherukuri, Uday 12, 34, 76
    45. Childers, Scott 27, 137, 444
    46. Chowdhury, Rafi 7, 78, 128, 224, 237, 262, 358, 368, 396, 443, 462, 498
    47. Christiansen, Larry 494
    48. Clement, William 8
    49. Cohen, Howard 479
    50. Cole, Ronnie 1, 167, 191
    51. Coleman, Patrick 6, 166, 254, 270, 321, 383, 442
    52. Collins, Michael 150
    53. Cooper, Charles 289
    54. Councell, James 199, 304
    55. Coveyou, Robert 404, 454
    56. Craycroft, John 204, 223, 253, 338, 357, 424, 453
    57. Croft, Jonathan 336
    58. Cummings, Dennis 287
    59. Davis, Dakotah 325, 498
    60. Davis, Jerry 303
    61. Davison, Edgar 21, 55, 56, 77, 79, 149, 159, 165, 187, 219, 230, 249, 259, 269, 288, 367, 428, 429, 441, 452,
    456, 463, 466, 467, 474
    62. De Firmain, Nick 5
    63. DeFirmian 164
    64. Du, Justin 58, 212
    65. Dudas, J. 458
    66. Duggan, Jenny 28, 54, 168, 363
    67. DuPlantier, Don 87
    68. Durr, Jonathan 356
    69. Dutta, Suryabrata 141
    70. Eberth, Z. 458
    71. Edwards, Lee 132
    72. Evans, B. 144
    73. Fedorowicz, John 164
    74. Feist 57
    75. Fischer, Robert James 86, 104, 280, 295, 309, 330, 373, 411
    76. Ford, Jay 4, 155
    77. Freeman, Tyler 131, 161, 228, 395, 492
    78. Friedman, Max 272, 302, 304, 387
    79. Fritz, Roland 57
    80. Frye, Stephen 385
    81. Gallagher, James 394
    82. Gardner, Victor 190
    83. Gaskey, Rex 355
    84. Gazulapalli, Anoop 106
    85. Gibbs, Tanton 227, 371, 415, 478
    86. Gibson, Graham 2, 286
    87. Gillbreath, Thomas 53
    88. Gilley, Mark 73, 123
    89. Gray, Donny 205, 221
    90. Green, J. 66
    91. Gupta, Saagar 376
    92. Gutting, Edward 53
    93. Hall, Kenneth 17
    94. Hamelrath, Ed 10, 440, 442, 457, 464
    95. Harbert 127
    96. Harbert, Carlos 413, 430, 476
    97. Hardy, Ned 160
    98. Hargett, Paul 75
    99. Harvey, Ron 3, 52, 92, 189, 440
    100. Hauke, Rudolf 422
    101. Hawks, Joseph 445
    102. Hayman, Peter 76
    103. Hellwig, Hannah 74
    104. Hellwig, Luke 379
    105. Hendrix, Jackson 16
    106. Herbers, Charles 60, 61, 73, 91, 199, 236, 378, 422, 471, 494
    107. Hilliard, Chistopher 51
    108. Hisaw, Jerry 152
    109. Holt, Chandler 435
    110. Holyfield, Robert 469
    111. Hood, Greg 50, 496
    112. Horobetz, Graham 13, 18, 20, 22, 25, 26, 90, 93, 115, 126, 141, 149, 158, 170, 183, 184, 192, 194, 215, 218, 221,
    222, 226, 235, 243, 250, 260, 261, 267, 268, 282, 317, 321, 322, 331, 335, 348, 352, 367, 369,
    376, 377, 387, 408, 421, 436, 439, 451, 468, 470, 473, 480, 484
    113. Hortillosa, Andres 41, 224
    114. Houston, Garrett 286
    115. Howe, Laurence J. 23
    116. Hurt, John 47, 48, 49, 70, 72, 84, 89, 133, 136, 143, 198, 240, 278, 301, 318, 334, 354, 364, 393, 394, 416,
    454, 469, 497
    117. Ilderton, Robert 285, 482
    118. Ingram, Elartrice 88
    119. Ingram, Maurice 125
    120. Inoue, Satoru 399
    121. Isabel, Charles 140, 161
    122. Ishee, Jennifer 439
    123. Jackson, Mark 1, 37, 134, 153, 420, 487
    124. Jackson, Nathaniel 156
    125. Jacobs 308
    126. Jacobs, John 432
    127. Jaeger, Terry 298, 300
    128. Jafari, Kamron 181
    129. James, Wendell 125, 148, 252, 284, 297, 299, 455, 484
    130. Jamison, George 244
    131. Jamshed, Musa 473
    132. Jennings, John 381, 392
    133. Jewell, Ted 220
    134. Johanasen, David V. 138
    135. Johnson, Daniel 333
    136. Jones, David 27
    137. Jones, Joe 393
    138. Justice, David 45, 443
    139. Kaffka, Harold 499
    140. Keita , Falilou 450
    141. Kernell, David 124, 129, 234, 449
    142. Knight, Kevin 26, 74, 146, 273
    143. Knowles, Chase 25, 43, 85, 140, 147, 247, 258, 264, 267, 320, 332, 359, 407, 426, 431, 438, 468, 485, 486
    144. Kogan, Boris 173
    145. Kohl, Richard 159, 391
    146. Kormick, Korey 336
    147. Kouch, Joshua 245
    148. Kouch, Justin 283
    149. Kovalic, Jeff 46, 52, 128, 269, 315, 319, 337, 351, 352, 366, 410, 421, 485, 491
    150. Kuroda, Paul 374
    151. Lahde, Peter 87, 123
    152. Langford, James 489
    153. Lanni, Nick 214
    154. Larson, Gerald 197
    155. Lasker, Emanuel 186, 386, 423
    156. Leggett, Chuck 215
    157. Leow, Joshua 67, 431
    158. Levine, Benjamin 187, 316, 410
    159. Lewis, R. 24
    160. Lillis, Austin 183
    161. Lindley, Lance 477
    162. Linxwiler, Paul 281, 500
    163. Liu, Tian Lin 488
    164. Loda 201
    165. Lowrey, Chris 298
    166. Mac Hack 6, Greenblatt 139, 280, 295, 373
    167. Maclin, Philip 2, 91, 107, 163, 188, 191, 353, 378, 409, 412, 481
    168. Madden, Michael 481
    169. Maddox, John 122, 389, 390, 397
    170. Magouyrk, Darryl Keith 19, 56, 154, 182, 297, 305, 342, 347
    171. Magouyrk, Keith 196
    172. Mah, Evan 9, 59, 238, 360
    173. Mah, Galvin 202
    174. Mahoney, D.J. 32
    175. Maneclang, Anthony 34, 36, 78, 97, 106, 204, 340, 343, 362, 413, 450
    176. Maneclang, Elliot 258, 405
    177. Maneclang, Matthew 33, 111, 237
    178. Mangone, Mark 119
    179. Marella, Diva 60, 290, 355, 398
    180. Marsh, Corey 194
    181. Marsh, Matthew 184
    182. Marshall, Frank 186, 386, 423
    183. Matthews, Brent 239
    184. McCarver, Dan 35, 36, 37, 54, 166, 291, 306, 363
    185. McDade, Christopher 328
    186. McGee, Daniel 10
    187. McGregor, Austin 322
    188. McKee, Daniel 79
    189. Meacham, Marc 38
    190. Merrill, Sanford 192
    191. Middleton 308
    192. Minor, Ron 32, 72, 173, 189, 205, 239
    193. Mitchell, James 185, 354
    194. Mitchell, R O. 86, 94, 104, 330, 411
    195. Momic, Milan 364
    196. Morgan, Phillip 95
    197. Mueller 416
    198. Nathani, Ashish 253, 323
    199. Neitzel, Bill 496
    200. Newcomb, Maria 444
    201. Newsom, Gary 349, 482
    202. Nilsson, Roy 121
    203. Olsen, Tommy 70
    204. Orgain, Bill 105
    205. Orrick, Robert 350
    206. Palanisamy, Dilip 207
    207. Palatnik, Semyon 96, 263, 310, 370, 432
    208. Parvathareddy, Rohith 11, 223, 259, 451, 459, 487
    209. Paxton, Emmanuel 145, 213
    210. Paxton, Shimera 196
    211. Persiani, Jeffrey 346
    212. Petty, Kirk 447
    213. Piekortz, Roland 174, 242
    214. Pillai, Sathyan 12, 127, 356
    215. Polk, J. Stanton 382
    216. Polk, Stan 97
    217. Polk, William 460
    218. Popov 96
    219. Pylant, Gary 13, 101, 112, 118, 193, 207, 208, 228, 240, 241, 311, 314, 335, 340, 342, 343, 344, 398, 409,
    433, 434, 455, 460, 461, 492, 500
    220. Quintrell, Oran 61, 150, 271, 283, 493
    221. Rachels, Stuart 114
    222. Rackley, James 65, 301
    223. Rajesh, Arjun 80, 270
    224. Randallson, Arthur 195
    225. Rangon, Manish 232
    226. Ransan, Suresh 375
    227. Rasberry, Michael 471
    228. Ravindran, Pranava 329
    229. Reddy, Nishit 39, 381
    230. Regan 5
    231. Rice, Keith 102, 225, 292, 353, 357, 399
    232. Robbins, Russell 39
    233. Roberts, Jimmy 465
    234. Robertson, Michael 251, 279, 317, 390, 407
    235. Robinson, Malcolm 14, 62
    236. Rose, Eric 80
    237. Rotz, Randy 121, 341
    238. Sahasrabudhe, Anish 233
    239. Salter, Josh 43
    240. Salzgeber, Kyle 7, 90, 177, 209, 312, 324, 341, 358, 395
    241. Salzgeber, Michael 111, 155, 162, 425, 461
    242. Sana, Mariano 251
    243. Sansom, Mike 14, 29, 148, 174, 232, 400
    244. Sathyan, Deepak 162
    245. Sathyan, Vineet 113, 323
    246. Schafer, Jacob 4, 274, 479
    247. Schoumacher, Robert 242
    248. Scrivener, R.S. 401
    249. Seals, Jesse 100
    250. Senn, Randall 9
    251. Sernel, Kenner 271
    252. Sernel, Ragan 122, 135
    253. Serotta, Andrew 94
    254. Sharpe, Weston 483
    255. Shirley, Pete 365
    256. Sichel, David 15, 18, 81, 172, 175, 176, 178, 182, 190, 209, 216, 226, 257, 272, 313, 326, 345, 348, 429
    257. Sims, Carlos 15, 46, 63, 99, 156, 169, 171, 177, 233, 243, 252, 260, 261, 273, 300, 382, 385, 403, 414, 433,
    449, 457, 470, 486
    258. Smith, Aaron 41, 63, 115, 116, 120, 181, 219, 229, 257, 268, 290, 339, 366, 397, 414, 452, 462, 463
    259. Smith, Agene 134, 392
    260. Smith, Jack 40, 132, 133, 231, 293, 327, 344, 374, 434
    261. Smith, Ken 160, 214
    262. Smith, Mahlon 114, 475
    263. Smith, Michael 40
    264. Sood, Harry 16, 33
    265. Sorensen, Andy 82, 331, 408
    266. Sprague, Jack 244
    267. Staton, Joseph C. 71
    268. Stearns, Bruce 48, 293
    269. Stevens, E. 180
    270. Storms , Daniel 313
    271. Stratton, Kent 437
    272. Strout, Douglas 117
    273. Swami, Gurukumar 256
    274. Sytnytsky, Oleksandr 11, 31, 44, 83, 88, 98, 118, 135, 176, 178, 203, 241, 262, 275, 276, 282, 307, 312, 315, 351,
    368, 369, 372, 418, 419, 426, 464, 490, 493
    275. Taylor, Caleb 42, 188
    276. Taylor, Famous C. 103, 206, 210, 227, 388, 417
    277. Taylor, Jared 17, 42
    278. Thayer, Peter 95
    279. Thomas, Kenny 89, 136, 142, 285
    280. Thompson, Guy 265, 266
    281. Thompson, Kenn E. 21, 22, 23, 66, 69, 71, 103, 131, 138, 139, 171, 180, 185, 203, 206, 210, 230, 248, 279, 289,
    294, 316, 371, 388, 406, 415, 417, 435, 447, 465, 467, 478, 480, 488, 489, 499
    282. Timmel, J. 278
    283. Timofte, Alexandra 69, 265, 266, 296
    284. Tomes, Keith 50
    285. Tomlinson, Darryl 28
    286. Towery, William 157, 211
    287. Trevino, Jose 495
    288. Turnbow, Christopher 119, 284
    289. Turner, Kenneth 55, 59, 64, 116, 137, 197, 222, 229, 236, 238, 245, 247, 250, 274, 319, 329, 339, 362, 384, 418,
    425, 430, 436, 437, 446, 459, 472, 476, 483, 491
    290. Van Doren, Jonathan 179, 375
    291. Vancil, Aaron 100, 235
    292. Vaughn, Stan 231
    293. Vaux, Bryan 157
    294. Ventura 201
    295. Vibbert, Sean 277
    296. Vick, James R. 294
    297. Vix, Vernon 143
    298. Vogt, Nathan 165, 396, 402, 428, 472
    299. Wade, Jonathan 45, 246, 314, 427
    300. Weaks, Hunter 75
    301. Weaver, Dwight 19, 20, 82, 101, 105, 120, 145, 154, 158, 193, 195, 211, 217, 275, 281, 296, 311, 325, 326, 346,
    377, 402, 405, 438, 448, 456, 490
    302. Weaver, Mike 350
    303. Whedbee, Richard 151
    304. Wheeler, Jerry 370, 441
    305. Whitaker, Norman 365
    306. Williams, Jordana 276
    307. Wolff, Joshua 403
    308. Wright, James 47, 65, 84, 130, 142, 198, 318, 327, 334, 401, 404, 475
    309. Wu, Allen 302
    310. Wu, James 277, 383, 384
    311. Yanamandra, Siva 44, 85, 216
    312. York, Johnny 62, 102, 453
    313. Zamora, Alexis 117, 212
    314. Zarshenas, John 208
    315. Zuo, Daniel 361

     

    1 Bobby Fischer won the U.S. Chess Championship, played in New York City from December 15, 1963 to January 2, 1964, with a perfect score of 11 wins. He spent the rest of the year touring the United States playing many simultaneous exhibitions. Less than half of these exhibitions are recorded. It was reported that the young Bobby Fischer played 15 boards in an unscheduled simultaneous exhibition in Memphis. The event took place in the Peabody Hotel. Records show that Fischer played simultaneous exhibitions in New Orleans on March 26, Houston on March 28, and Little Rock on March 29. Fischer played in Kansas the following week.

     

    139. This game took place at the Computer Science Building at Ole Miss. The contest was dubbed "Man vs Machine." Joe Sentef, a master from Pennsylvania, played first board, and his game against the computer was a draw. Kenn E. Thompson, from Arkansas, played second board, and announced mate in 5 on the 14th move by white in his game against the computer. It was a great day of publicity for the Ole Miss Chess Club.  The computer was a DEC PDP-10 (Digital Equipment Corporation Programmable Data Processor) mainframe running under the TOPS-10 (Timesharing / Total OPerating System). The chess engine was called MAC-HAC. It was written by Richard D. Greenblatt. Mac Hack was also known as the Greenblatt Chess Program. The program was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Mac Hack VI was the first chess program to play in human tournament conditions, the first to be granted a chess rating, and the first to win against a person in tournament play. The name comes from Project Mac ("Multi-Level Access Computer" or "Machine-Aided Cognition"). It was first developed on a DEC PDP-6. Greenblatt was inspired to write Mac Hack after reading MIT Artificial Intelligence Memo 41 while visiting Stanford University
    in 1965. Mac Hack became an honary member of the Massachusetts State Chess Association, and the United States Chess Federation. It played in eighteen tournaments and hundreds of complete games. In 1966 the program was rated 1243 when it lost in the Massachusetts Amateur Championship. In 1967, the program played in four tournaments, winning three games, losing twelve, and drawing three. In 1967 Mac Hack VI defeated a person with a USCF rating of 1510 in game 3, tournament 2 of the Massachusetts State Championship.

    In 1977, Bobby Fischer played three games in Cambridge against the MIT Greenblatt computer program, winning each game. (These games have been included in this study.)

  • 22 months ago

    magic-yak

    all this is well and good but whose winning the endgame on the cover? is it the old man or white?? does white have a rook? what opening did this come from?

  • 22 months ago

    HamTheKiller

    Haha. There are dozens of my friends in this book!

     

    Nice job Kenn!

  • 22 months ago

    madief2003

    thx

  • 22 months ago

    jwalexander

    Great cover illustration.

  • 22 months ago

    jhb701

    It is in the ipad app store now! Great stuff!
  • 22 months ago

    kennthompson

    The book store recently went through a buy-out and name change. It was previously known as Davis-Kidd Booksellers in Memphis and Jackson, TN.  Their new website is under construction.

    ISBN 978-1-60458-804-0
    9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
    11 12 13 14 15

    Front Cover illustration by Judith Collins, Old Man Playing Chess.

    The book will later be available on-line through the Memhis Chess Club at www.memphischess.com

    The book contains problems from some of the Lasker/Marshall World Championship games played in Memphis, problems from a few games played by members of the Memphis Chess Club against Bobby Fischer in Little Rock on the 1964 simultaneous tour, and hundreds of problems from games of club players. U.S. Junior Championships played in Memphis are also represented in the book. It is interesting to discover and study complex problems from the games of amateurs.  This is a book of chess problems, history of chess games and players in Memphis, and even history of Memphis, TN.

    Problem No. 52

    Harvey, Ron (1898) - Kovalic, Jeff (1857)
    □ White to move. Mate in 3.
    02/08/2008

    Problem Rating: ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

    "Some of the problems are easy to solve, but document the history of games played in the Memphis Chess Club; many of the problems are very challenging; and a few of the problems are practically impossible to solve."

    QR Codes are used in the book to carry you to various websites, including the Memphis Chess Club, art galleries, support, and the web app.

    "When I looked at my own game entry, I noticed the depth to which you have gone to provide these solutions. It`s absolutely brilliant! I never imagined that there might be a forced mate in my game with GM Walter Browne. I had the outline of a conclusion in my mind, but certainly no conception of a forced win. I think this is an absolutely fantastic work!  The more I examine your work, the more impressed I become,"   Christopher McDade (Korea).

  • 22 months ago

    batgirl

    The book can be purchased (as of Tuesday, July 26) from:

    The Booksellers at Laurelwood
    387 Perkins Rd. Extended
    Memphis, TN 38117
    901-683-9801
    Fax: 901-683-7746

    Call or fax the order.  The ISBN is 9781604588040, Title and authors as above.

    Address any online Inquiries to:
    Eddie Burton
    General Manager
    EBurton@DKBKS.com

  • 22 months ago

    waverunner

    great info

  • 22 months ago

    fmarti

    Can we buy it online?

    Thanks for the information

  • 22 months ago

    jhb701

    Oooh! I just bought this for 99 cents. Thanks, BatGirl!

  • 22 months ago

    lemonslol

    can I buy the book online?

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