Online chess community where you can play chess, learn strategies and tactics, read chess news, see book reviews, find rules & tips, get free downloads, and more! http://www.chess.com/ 2007 Chess.com Lisa Lane won her first US Woman's Chess Championship in 1959, amazingly only two years after being introduced to chess. Although most authorities agree that by today's standards, she would be around an expert level, women's competitive chess...http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/lisaSun, 01 Nov 2009 19:35:25 -0800http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/lisa (originally published on my website in Aug. 2007) A dear friend of mine sent me a scan of a page from a WWII era issue of Chess Review depicting an article called Skeletons in the Chess Closet by Clyde Hall. Normally, I prefer text to a scan, ...http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/chumleysThu, 29 Oct 2009 18:42:31 -0700http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/chumleys I was looking up something about Ignatz Kolisch, which led me to Wiki, which led me to the Wiki discussion page on Kolisch, the type of page I read quite often.  Much of the page dealt with the proper spelling or form of his first name (is it Ig...http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/kolisch-againTue, 27 Oct 2009 08:40:32 -0700http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/kolisch-again In 1974  The Righteous Brothers, Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield, recorded a song called "Rock and Roll Heaven" (written by Alan O'Day)  that imagines the kind of band Heaven might host comprised of the great musicians who dwell there. While the...http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/chess-in-hadesSun, 25 Oct 2009 07:57:58 -0700http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/chess-in-hadesNo, this posting is not about Ben Franklin's famous essay on the values of chess, but rather about a recent minor confrontation I had with fellow chess.com member, shannz, who took exception to the idea that I published 19th century public domain ...http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/the-morals-of-chessThu, 22 Oct 2009 20:43:11 -0700http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/the-morals-of-chess         Sir William Jones (image from wiki) was an eighteenth century intellectual and founder of the Asiatic Society in Calcutta. He was a lawyer, a judge and a noted philologist who specialized in ancient India. He was also an amateur ch...http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/caiumlssa2Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:24:19 -0700http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/caiumlssa2 CHESS RESORTS "Simpson's."By Charles Tomlinson, F. R. S., &c.              The lights extinguished, closed is the Divan              And weary Simpson and his wearier man              Seek home and smili...http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/chess-resorts-simpsonsSun, 18 Oct 2009 05:32:39 -0700http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/chess-resorts-simpsons I like 4/0 time control, I really do. But I wonder if liking it and having a knack for it are in any way related.  I miss so many things I shouldn't miss - and usually, though not always, see them right after I move and I almost always end a gam...http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/how-to-miss-mate-in-1Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:26:34 -0700http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/how-to-miss-mate-in-1 Everyone who knows me is aware that I only play blitz.  So, it should be apparent that the re-introduction of Live Chess would be a feature in which I take personal interest. After the long 20 hours downtime we experienced recently, I was very ...http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/live-chess-re-visitedTue, 13 Oct 2009 18:35:58 -0700http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/live-chess-re-visited My friend, Deb, found this great article on Rosa Bradford Jefferson and Luella Mackenzie. Even after many months of searching, this is the first time I've seen Rosa Jefferson clearly. American Chess Bulletin, January 1908 Woman's Sphere in t...http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/women-of-the-great-unknownMon, 12 Oct 2009 12:17:58 -0700http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/women-of-the-great-unknown Die Schachspieler and The Morphy Anecdote,  Pt. I - the background In 1888 there was an ongoing controversy over a Paul Morphy anecdote provided by Gilbert R. Frith (I had written on this anecdote in Paul Morphy - Back in New Orleans).  The ...http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/die-schachspieler-and-the-morphy-anecdoteThu, 08 Oct 2009 19:18:06 -0700http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/die-schachspieler-and-the-morphy-anecdote Gilbert R. Frith wrote an essay for the Columbia Chess Journal describing an incident in which Morphy offered to, and succeeded at, playing for "Man" in Retzsch's painting (below) and saving his seemingly lost game against Satan for which his sou...http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/die-schachspieler-and-the-morphy-anecdote-pt-iiThu, 08 Oct 2009 19:17:52 -0700http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/die-schachspieler-and-the-morphy-anecdote-pt-ii    A few days ago I read an article by the nineteenth century chess commentator,  Charles Tomlinson, in which he used some sketches of chessmen to illustrate his text. Each picture was credited to "Flaxman."  I was unfamiliar with the name so...http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/flaxmanWed, 07 Oct 2009 15:09:13 -0700http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/flaxman After the Great Tournament of 1851, there were some going-ons that were worth noting, as Kling and Horwitz did below:   Matches played at the St. George's Chess Club:-No. 1.-The match between Mr. Stanuton and Major Jacnisch has terminated in...http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/after-the-ballTue, 06 Oct 2009 19:27:07 -0700http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/after-the-ball from the New York Times, March 2, 1907Women to Play for Chess Honors.   Mrs. Charles P. Frey of Newark N. J. and Mrs. S. R. Burgess of St. Louis will begin their match for the women's chess championship of the United States in the parlor of the...http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/a-woman-champMon, 05 Oct 2009 17:19:05 -0700http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/a-woman-champ In this facinating obituary of Louis Paulsen, Wiliam Steinitz gave full credit to Paulsen for his developmental ideas as well a deserved praise for his chess pioneering.  ________________________________________________ " Herr Louis Paulsen,...http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/steinitz-on-paulsenFri, 02 Oct 2009 13:18:48 -0700http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/steinitz-on-paulsen The Chess Player's Chronicle1st APRIL 1879. THE LATE PROFESSOR ANDERSSEN.      Very deep and general regret has been excited in London Chess circles by the unexpected announcement of the death, at Breslau on the 14th of March, of this renow...http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/professor-anderssenWed, 30 Sep 2009 17:49:16 -0700http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/professor-anderssen Leaders of European Chess. TASSILO VON HEYDEBRAND UND DER LASA.American Chess Magazine 1898 One of the most imposing figures of modern chess is the great German bibliophile and author, Baron Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa, who has just com...http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/vd-lasaMon, 28 Sep 2009 18:44:21 -0700http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/vd-lasa   THE BERLIN PLEIADS. Chess did not flourish at Berlin in the early part of the century. The Napoleonic times were too politically sad-the expression is Von der Lasa's-and after the great national uprising still too stern and serious for men t...http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/the-berlin-pleiadesSat, 26 Sep 2009 20:52:19 -0700http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/the-berlin-pleiades Recently, Rod Edwards, who developed the EDO historical rating system, and who supplied my readers with the awesome games and problems of the enigmatic "Judy,"  informed me of the access to the historic archives of the Victoria, British Columbi...http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/a-tough-taskFri, 25 Sep 2009 21:28:07 -0700http://blog.chess.com/batgirl/a-tough-task