Kenilworth Chess Club

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Current Weblogs

The Chess Coroner
John Moldovan’s blog, devoted to post mortem analysis since September 2006, is archived on our site. 

Kenilworth CC Blog
Official Kenilworth CC announcements.

Retired Weblogs

The Kenilworthian
Michael Goeller’s award-winning blog, which ran 2005-2014, is archived on our site.

KCC Minutes
2005 to Jan. 2, 2014. Replaced by the Kenilworth CC Blog.

kibitzersKenilworth Kibitzer
2009-2014. Featured posts by Don Carrelli, Ian Mangion & others.

KCC Tournaments
2013-2017. Featured tournament reports & announcements.

Garden State Chess League

NEW Column

N-PERSON CLUB MEETINGS HAVE RESUMED! Anti-COVID precautions are in effect. Contact KCC President Jack McCorkell for information. (add link: kenilworthchessclub@gmail.com)

Established in 1972, the Kenilworth Chess Club is a fun and active club with both beginner and master chess players. We meet every Thursday night beginning at 8:00 p.m. in the Recreation Center at 575 Kenilworth Boulevard in Kenilworth, New Jersey. Enter through the rear door. The building is easy to find at the corner of 24th Street and less than a mile west of Garden State Parkway Exit 138 (see Directions ). It is to the left of the Kenilworth Municipal Building, which houses the Kenilworth Police. (add link: Directions)

Visitors and new members are always welcome and chess lessons are available. Membership is $15 per year. Membership is not required to play, but some activities (such as our annual Club Championship tournament) are open only to members. Chess sets, boards, and clocks are provided. (add link: Club Championship page)

Most meetings feature casual play and discussion. We also often host lectures, rated and unrated tournaments, Garden State Chess League matches and other chess events. See our club calendar for details. 

Club Championship Page

Event Info 

The 15th Annual Kenilworth Chess Club Championship ran from January 13-April 14, 2005. The event has been held every year since 1991, and it has been won by Scott Massey every year but 1996 and this year, 2005. The event is always a round robin (meaning all participants play each other once) with one game each week played at a time-limit of Game-90 (meaning each player had 90 minutes to make all of his moves, so that games would not last more than 3 hours). Follow the links to the left to see the crosstable, player photos, round-by-round summaries, games (in multiple formats), and photos. (LinK to 2005 Championship Photos Page

Congratulations to our new Kenilworth Chess Club Champion, Steve Stoyko. And congratulations to the under-1800 Champion, Joe Demetrick. They both played some excellent games. 

Second place went to Scott Massey, third place to Mark Kernighan, second-place under-1800 to Geoff McAuliffe, and first under-1600 to Pat Mazillo.

Rules
The following rules governed the play and awarding of prizes:

“Games are to be played with a time limit of 90-minutes per player for the game (so that games should not last more than 3 hours). Rounds begin promptly at 8:30 p.m. every Thursday evening, with pairings finalized by 8:15 p.m. Players are allowed two byes (excused absences) and are charged $5 for each additional absence up to four. Players who miss five rounds are automatically disqualified and forfeit their remaining games, to be recorded as wins for their opponents. Prizes will be awarded for the top three players, the best under-1800, second under-1800, and best under-1600. Any ties for prizes will be decided by a Game-30 playoff. All participants must be club members in good standing or must join the club in order to play. This is an unrated event.” 

Photos from the 2005 Championship

Photos from the 2005 Championship Here are a few photos of the most critical game from the event, pitting the top two contenders, Stoyko and Massey, against each other. The game was a complex King’s Indian Defense (see Stoyko-Massey). 

Stoyko considers his first move while Massey adjusts the clock before the critical game of the tournament on March 24. 
During the final tense seconds, when the rest of the club had gathered around, Stoyko contemplates his move.
After the game, Scott demonstrates how he would have gotten a powerful attack if Steve had taken the Bishop sac. Scott considers his move against Mark Kernighan in the penultimate round on March 31. Steve Stoyko and Mike Goeller record 12….hxg6 and Steve begins calculating 13.dxe5!? which leads to an unclear double-Rook sac if Black grabs the b-pawn with 13….Qxb2! Mark and Scott analyze their completed game into the wee hours. Round 12 play on April 7. The under-1800 winner is yet to be determined, but Geoff McAuliffe (center) and Joe Demetrick (upper-right background) are in the lead. Watching the play from behind the barricade. The final game of Round 12 draws a crowd, especially since the end seems at hand. But who is winning? Will Mark queen his pawn or will Steve deliver mate? The three club masters puzzle over a possible position arising from the drawn game between Goeller and Massey on April 14. That draw gave Steve Stoyko (right) clear first in the championship with 10 points, a half point ahead of perennial champ Scott Massey (left) with 9½. Congratulations Steve!
VP Greg Tomkovich and TD Scott Massey preside over the awards ceremony on May 5, 2005. Second place under-1800 went to Geoff McAuliffe (left). First place under-1800 to Joe Demetrick (right). Third-prize winner Mark Kernighan (left center) accepts his trophy from Greg. And Pat Mazzillo (right) holds his prize as best player under-1600. Scott receives his second-place trophy from Greg.Steve accepts his trophy as the 2005 Kenilworth Chess Club Champion from club VP Greg Tomkovich. Below, Steve tells the story of how the chance cancellation of his Thursday-night Kenilworth poker game brought him to our club again after several years absence, and how he has enjoyed being part of the club this year – especially playing in the club championship (which helped prep him for the US Teams), playing for us in the U.S. Amateur Team tournament (where we won best NJ Team), and analyzing games with us. The 2005 Kenilworth Chess Club Champion, Steve Stoyko. All of the winners. From left, third-place Mark Kernighan; second-place Scott Massey; second under-1800 Geoff McAuliffe; first place Steve Stoyko; first under-1800 Joe Demetrick; and first under-1600 Pat Mazzillo.     Updated 05.06.2005 | Contact Michael Goeller		 
  

FM Steve Stoyko – NM Scott Massey

Round 10 
King’s Indian Defense [E94] 
Kenilworth Chess Club Championship, Kenilworth, NJ USA
March 24, 2005
Annotated by Michael Goeller, based on comments by the participants

1.d4 d6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.e4 Bg7 5.Nf3 0–0 6.Be2 e5 7.0–0 exd4 
More common is 7…Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 leading to the Mar del Plata variation, where the book variations can run to 30 moves or more. Scott realized that Steve would have had an edge in those lines.

8.Nxd4 Re8 9.f3 Nbd7 10.Be3 Nc5 11.b4 Ne6 


Position after 11….Ne6

12.Rc1! 
Getting the Rook off of the vulnerable a1–h8 diagonal and protecting the potentially loose Knight at c3. White also has ambitions of opening the c-file or advancing the c-pawn supported by the Rook. Stoyko points out that 12.Qd2?! is “practically a blunder” due to 12…Nxd4! 13.Bxd4 c5!= with easy equality.

12…Bd7 13.Nb3 
White avoids exchanges and prepares to support his Queenside attack. 

13…b6 
Black fights for control of c5 but creates potential weaknesses on the light squares — especially c6. Now on Nd5 Black will not be able to exchange without opening the c-file by cxd5, giving White tremendous pressure on the critical pawn at c7. 

14.Qd2 Bc6 15.Nd5 Nd7 16.Nd4
White has such a dominant position that he can consider opening up on the Kingside with 16.f4!? (threatening f5) 16…Nef8 17.Bf3 (17.Nd4!?) 17…Bb7 18.a4 and White has gained a lot of space. 

16…Bb7 17.Rfd1 a5 18.a3 axb4 19.axb4 Ra3?! 
Creating potential exchange threats against the Bishop at e3 while considering the idea of doubling on the a-file. But the Rook is soon driven back. Perhaps better 19…Be5! 

a) 20.f4?! Bxd4 21.Bxd4 Nxd4 22.Qxd4 c5! 23.bxc5 bxc5 24.Qd3 Bxd5 25.cxd5 (25.Qxd5 Nf6!) 25…Qe7=

b) 20.Bf2!? c5!

c) 20.Nxe6 fxe6 21.Bg5 Qb8 (21…Nf6 22.Nxf6+ Bxf6 23.Bxf6 Qxf6 24.c5 +=) 22.Ne3!? Qa7!? unclear

20.Bf2 
The immediate 20.Nb5! Rb3!? 21.Rc2 leaves the Rook precariously placed but may be less clear.

20…Ndf8 
Black may have to try something like 20…Be5!? 21.Nb5 Rb3!? Now White ge ts a tremendous queenside initiative with a piece sacrifice that creates powerful passed pawns.


Position after 21….Ra8

21.Nb5! Ra8 22.Ndxc7!! Nxc7 23.Bxb6 Nfe6 24.Nxd6! 
Also worth considering was 24.Bxc7 Nxc7 25.Nxd6 Rf8 26.c5! (but not 26.Nxb7?! Qxd2 27.Rxd2 Bh6 28.Rcd1 Bxd2 29.Rxd2 Rfb8 30.Nd6 Rxb4 unclear) 


Position after 24.Nxd6

24…Qb8!? 
Scott gives up the exchange, perhaps with the idea of using the b8-h2 diagonal to create some threats against White’s King. Stoyko thought the best try was 24…Re7!? 25.c5! (again if 25.Nxb7?! Qxd2! 26.Rxd2 Bh6! 27.Rcd1 Bxd2 28.Rxd2 Ra1+! 29.Kf2 Na8! 30.Be3 Rxb7 unclear, and it is tough to believe that the pawns are worth a Rook, though Fritz seems to think so) 25…Qb8 26.f4! and White’s attack continues but the position seems more balanced.

25.Nxe8 Nxe8 26.Be3! Be5 27.h3 N8g7 28.b5 Nh5 29.c5 Bh2+ 30.Kf1 
Not 30.Kh1?? Ng3+ 31.Kxh2 Nxe4+winning the Queen. But now Scott uncorks a surprising sacrifice. 


Position after 30.Kf1

30…Bxe4! 
A fascinating idea, which Scott seems to have considered practically desperation , since he played it mostly on intuition. Though White should probably still win, the move creates many chances for him to go wrong. 

31.Ra1?!
This gets White into some troubles, though only in ways that a computer might figure out. After the game, Scott and Steve looked at accepting the Bishop sacrifice by 31.fxe4 Ng3+ 32.Ke1 (32.Kf2?? Nxe4+–+) 32…Nxe4 33.Qd3 Qg3+ 34.Kf1 Qh4!! 35.Bg4 (35.Rd2 Rd8!) 35…Ng3+ 36.Ke1 Ra2!! and Black’s threats look terrible. 


Possible position if Steve takes the Bishop sac,
after 36….Ra2!!

Fritz and Junior suggest a likely draw, however, after 37.Rc2! Ne4+! (37…Rxc2!?) 38.Kf1! (38.g3!? Qxg3+ 39.Kf1 N4xc5! unclear) 38…Ng3+ = with perpetual check. I’m sure it just did not look appealing to Stoyko, who no doubt rejected it intuitively after examining a few lines. 

Steve was therefore correct to decline the sacrifice, but the best way was by pushing his pawns: 31.c6! Ng3+ 32.Ke1 Nxe2 33.Qxe2 Bf5 34.b6! +- and the pawns should triumph here.

In any event, 31.Ra1?! is not best. 


Position after 31.Ra1?!

31…Rxa1?!
Black misses an important finesse in first 31…Ng3+! 32.Ke1 (32.Kf2? Nh1+!! = since 33.Rxh1?? Qg3+ 34.Kf1 Rxa1+ –+) 32…Rxa1 33.Rxa1 Nxe2 34.Qxe2 (34.fxe4? Be5 35.Ra3 N2d4) 34…Qe5 and Black’s initiative seems to be enough for at least a draw: 35.Ra4 (35.Ra3 Nd4 36.Bxd4 Qxd4 37.fxe4 Qb4+ 38.Qd2 Qxa3 39.Qd8+ Kg7 40.Qd4+ =) 35…Nxc5! 36.Bxc5 Bg3+ 37.Kd2 Qb2+ 38.Ke3 Bf4+ 39.Kf2 Bg3+ 40.Ke3 Bf4+ = 

32.Rxa1 Be5 
This position is quite complicated and Black seems to have a lot of counterplay. Worth considering is 32…Qe5!? 33.Ra4!? (33.Rc1 Ng3+ 34.Ke1 (34.Kf2 Nf5 unclear) 34…Bf5 35.Qc3! unclear) 33…Ng3+ 34.Kf2 Nxc5 35.Rc4 Nb7 unclear

33.Ra4 Ng3+ 34.Kf2?!
To guarantee the win, White must play 34.Kg1! Bc3 35.Qd1 Bd5!? (35…Bb7 36.c6 Qe5 37.Qd3) 36.Qxd5! (36.c6?! Qe5!) 36…Nxe2+ 37.Kf2 Qg3+ 38.Kxe2 Qe1+ 39.Kd3 Qd1+ 40.Kc4 Qxa4+ 41.Kxc3 Qa5+!? 42.Kd3 Qxb5+ 43.Kc3± and White’s extra pawn gives him a winning ending.


Position after 34.Kf2?!

34…Bf5? 
The losing move! Hard as it is to believe, Black could likely still equalize with 34…Nxe2! 

a) 35.Qxe2 Bc6! 36.Rb4 (36.bxc6?! Bg3+ 37.Kg1 Qb1+ 38.Qf1 Bh2+ 39.Kxh2 Qxf1 40.Bh6 f6 41.Ra8+ Kf7 42.Ra7+ Ke8 43.Ra8+ =) 36…Nc7!?= 

b) 35.Rxe4 Nc3! 36.Rxe5 Qxe5 37.b6 Na4 38.c6 Nxb6! 39.Bxb6 Qb5! =

35.Qd5! Nxe2 36.Ra8 N2f4 37.Rxb8+ Bxb8 38.Bxf4 Bxf4 39.b6 +- 
and Black lost on time….


Final position after 39.b6!

For pictures of the participants, see the Photos section of the site. 

1–0

2005 players

Players

The twelve participants in the tournament are pictured below. Ratings and rankings are those at the start of the tournament. 


FM Steve Stoyko
2286 
NM Scott Massey
2221 
NM Mark Kernighan
2216 
Michael Goeller
2053 

Dr. Geoff McAuliffe
1780
Robert Pelican
1662 
Michael Wojcio
1657 
Pete Cavaliere
1622

Ted Mann
1547 
Joe Demetrick
1521 
Pat Mazzillo
1450 
Joe Wojcio
UNR 

Photos by Mike Goeller 

Crosstable of the 2005 Kenilworth CC Championship

Crosstable of the 2005 Kenilworth CC Championship 
PlcPlayerRating123456789101112#/11
1Stoyko, Stephen22861111101111110
2Massey, Scott222101½111111119½
3*Kernighan, Mark221600½111111118½
4*Goeller, Michael20530½½½11111118½
6McAuliffe, Geoff1780000½½111½015½
10Pelican, Robert16620000½1½00½0F2½
7Wojcio, Michael1657100000110115
8Cavaliere, Pete162200000½01½114
11Mann, Ted1547000001000012
5Demetrick, Joe15210000½11½1 116
9Mazzillo, Pat140000001½0010 13½
12Wojcio, JoeUNR000001F000001

Above is the final crosstable of the 2005 Kenilworth Chess Club Championship tournament. Color was determined by the chart (with grey indicating that the player had Black and no shading that the player had White). 

Congratulations to our new Kenilworth Chess Club Champion, Steve Stoyko. And congratulations to the under-1800 Champion, Joe Demetrick. They both played some excellent games. 

Second place went to Scott Massey (who had previously won the Championship every year since its inception in 1991, except for 1996 and now 2005), third place to Mark Kernighan*, second-place under-1800 to Geoff McAuliffe, and first under-1600 to Pat Mazillo.

*Note: a Game-30 playoff game was contested between Kernighan and Goeller for sole possession of third place, in accordance with rules determined ahead of time. Kernighan won and therefore was clear third on tie-breaks. 

Chess Blogs

Chess Blogs

“Chess Blogs” (short for “web logs” or online journals) are an increasingly useful source of timely chess information. This page links to blogs kept by our members and by other members of the chess community. Any additions, corrections, or information (especially the names of writers) would be appreciated. 

The Kenilworthian by Michael Goeller
A frequently updated blog that surveys the world of chess from the perspective of the Kenilworth Chess Club and chess in New Jersey. Includes opening analysis, annotated master and amateur games, chess history, and local results. 

The Chess Coroner by John Moldovan
A blog that specializes in post mortem analysis, covering games at the Kenilworth Chess Club, Springfield Chess Club, and the rest of NJ chess.

Kenilworth Kibitzer by Members of the KCC 
A blog for all members of the Kenilworth Chess Club with something to say. Speak to a club officer for an invitation to post.

KCC Minutes and Official Notices by the Officers of the Kenilworth Chess Club 
All club officers are able to post to this blog to keep members up to date about what’s going on and what is planned. 

Other Current Chess Blogs 

Chessbase News from ChessBase
http://www.chessbase.com/ 
Features the most up-to-date news from the world of chess.

Boylston Chess Club Weblog
http://boylston-chess-club.blogspot.com/ 
An excellent and historically important club weblog, with a very extensive and current listing of other chessblogs. This is the center of the chess blogging universe, and I think “DG” has done a lot to promote chess blogging generally. 

Susan Polgar Chess Forum by GM Susan Polgar
http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/ 
A frequently updated blog by one of the most valuable promoters of chess in the U.S. Covers scholastic, women’s, and world chess news. Also features a daily puzzle. The fun design and frequent kid-friendly cartoons make it a great vehicle for promoting chess for young people, but the content is directed at a general chess readership. 

The Daily Dirt Chess Blog by Mig Greengard
http://www.chessninja.com/dailydirt/ 
A blog devoted to major chess happenings and world chess events. Since it is by far the most popular chess blog around, the comments are often as interesting as the blog itself. 

Chess Vibes (English) by Peter Doggers
High level gossip and commentary on recent major chess events. This blog is like the Daily Dirt with a more European perspective. First-rate material.

The Chess Mind by NM Dennis Monokroussos 
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/ 
Very high level commentary on very current games and events by a 2300-rated master. Formerly Dennis M’s Chess Site. Excellent. I especially like his annotations to recent GM games presented in java applet form.

Jim West on Chess by NM Jim West
http://jimwestonchess.blogspot.com/
Jim uses his site to reprint many of his great articles on opening analysis (especially of the Philidor Counter Gambit) from issues of the excellent Atlantic Chess News, to annotate recent games from NJ players, and to comment on various chess-related things. An excellent blog with frequent updates.

Confessions of a Chess Novice by Eric Thomson (a.k.a. Blue Devil Knight)
http://chessconfessions.blogspot.com/ 
“The trials and tribulations of an F-class Player…” Lots of intelligent and interesting commentary on the author’s quest for chess improvement. The best chess self-improvement blog. 

Greenpoint Chess and Go Club by Jeffrey
http://greenpointchess.org/
Blog of the Brooklyn club with frequent updates and puzzles for lower rated players. 

Scholastic Chess Gateway by Steve Goldberg
http://www.scholasticchess.blogspot.com/
An excellent source for U.S. scholastic chess info and discussion. Very timely and frequently updated. 

The Knights from the Castle Kinmbark by Tom Panelas
http://raychess.blogspot.com/index.html
A local site devoted to scholastic chess in the Chicago area, but well-maintained and interesting.

Streatham & Brixton Chess Club by Tom Chivers, et. al.
http://streathambrixtonchess.blogspot.com/  
An excellent, frequently updated, and very current blog from the popular London club. 

The Closet Grandmaster from Australia
http://closetgrandmaster.blogspot.com/
This site just started a month or two ago, but it has quickly become one of my favorites. It features very frequent (twice daily) updates of Australia-area tournament news, links to news items, and occasional first-hand reports and games. 

Chess Notes by Edward Winter
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/
The great chess historian’s web log of recent archival discoveries. Features excellent historical photos and book references.

Open Chess Diary by Tim Krabbe 
http://www.xs4all.nl/~timkr/chess2/diary.htm 
This long-standing and well written blog by noted author Tim Krabbe features his collection of discoveries and off-beat “world chess records” (from longest game without a capture to unusual under-promotions). It’s a must-visit site, rich in content and excellent writing. See also his main page titled Chess Curiosities.

Shakmaty Bereolos by FM Peter Bereolos 
http://www.knology.net/~bereolos/ 
Excellent blog of the Tennessee master, full of analysis of his recent games and instructional commentary on endings (including corrections of various published endgame analysis).

Chess Blog for Girls by GM Susan Polgar
http://www.polgargirls.blogspot.com/ 
A blog devoted to chess among young women, especially in events sponsored by the author’s group or affiliates.

International Master Ben Finegold by IM Ben Finegold
http://www.gmbenfinegold.blogspot.com/
A good new entry into the blogosphere by future GM Finegold, mostly traking his play in Chicago FIDE events.

Atomic Patzer by Thomas Stanics
A great new blog by a fellow New Jersey amateur. 

Begin Chess: Chess for Beginners
A blog that tries to meet the needs of people just learning the game. 

The Patzer’s Tale by Paul Gorman
http://www.paulgorman.org/blogger/patzer/
A very well-written blog by a smart, questioning mind. His recent posts about looking for Shane (author of SCID) are interesting.

Chess: Chess News, Chess Links, Chess Book Reviews & Chess Adventures by Carlos Hemmers
http://hemmers.blogspot.com/
The subtitle more or less sums up its content, and this is certainly an ambitious and interesting effort to generate good chess content. Worth a visit.

Tactics Tactics Tactics!? Two Class C Players Adventure in Improving Their Chess Game by Methods Recommended by Michael De La Maza by Sancho Pawnza
http://sanchopawnza.blogspot.com/
The title says it all. Another writer who is making excellent progress by working through the Convekta program advocated by the man from La Maza and keeping careful records of his progress and that of his friend. He also offers good advice on using other programs to improve. The blog is getting better and better. 

Self Flagellation to the Goddess Caissa: In the Tradition of (Don) Man de la Maza and Sancho Pawnza, another Man’s Journey to Escape the Land of Class D Rated Chess Using the Techniques of Michael De La Maza by Pale Morning Dun
http://discipledelamaza.blogspot.com/ 
A great tribute to the Quixotean (or Pythonesque) group of questers, followers of La Maza’s methods of chess improvement. Focuses exclusively on the writer’s games and experiences with trying to improve as a player. Well done, if a bit narrowly focused.

OnlineChess.ca Weblog by Chessmith
http://onlinechess.bravejournal.com/index.php
Links, games, and commentary – from Canada.

J’Adoube…the Off-Center Knight by Jim
http://megaskins.blogspot.com/
The struggles of an improving player are laid bare to the world in a very amusing writing style. Most recent posts feature his attempts to work through Convekta’s CT-ART program in preparation for Minnesota. Much improved. 

BlueEyedRook : My quest for Chess understanding… get ready for a long, bumpy and (quite likely) never-ending ride! by Blue-Eyed Rook (Washington, D.C.)
http://blueeyedrook.blogspot.com/
A De la Mazan (though perhaps unallied) with comments on openings, including the French, King’s Gambit, and Philidor. Strictly e-pawn. 

Chess Nonsense by Paul Salsido
http://simnonsense.blogspot.com/ 
At least he has the right attitude…and an excellent sense of design.

King of the Spill: …a chess only blog tracking one player’s attempt to not suck so bad by King of the Spill
http://kingofthespill.blogspot.com/
Discussion of his tactical training, book reviews, and some interesting mini-essays. His “Fundamental Checkmates” page is definitely worth the visit.

King’s Gambit by Toni
http://kingsgambit.blogspot.com/ 
A good blog featuring well-annotated games illustrated by ChessPad diagrams. “Blog dedicated to chess games and tactics, learning chess, analyzing games, kibitzing etc.” Features good amateur discussion of openings and frequent problems to solve. 

Der Alter Goniff by Correspondence Master Edward Gaillard
http://altergoniff.blogspot.com/
Gaillard is trying to get back into over-the-board chess, where he once held a master rating. A fun and useful site, with explanations of technical web-building info, Gaillard’s games, some mini-essays, book reviews and links. The title is Yiddish for “old swindler.” Warning: best not viewed via dial-up modem or with an old browser.

The Chess Underground by NM Pete Karagianis
http://transplant.dyndns.org/pc/ 
One of the better long-running chess blogs, with intelligent commentary and occasional essays or well-annotated games. 

Sarah’s Chess Journal: The History and the Culture of Chess by Sarah 
http://batgirl.atspace.com/archives.html 
She’s back. An eclectic collection of commentary — from girls in chess, to history, to games. Formerly at http://chessgrrl.bravejournal.com/.

Pawn in the Game by Jens Madsen
http://pawninthegame.modblog.com
“The notebook of a chess enthusiast.” A blog with a unique design, a rich variety of content, and more interactive content than most. Features a forum, chat, and frequent visitor comments. Madsen has an unpublished rating of 2300. Because of frequent server downtime, he may eventually move the blog elsewhere.

Phorku’s Chess Blog by Phorku
http://phorku.blogspot.com/
A new knight who does a good job of documenting his travails toward chess improvement. 

Dread Pirate Josh: A One-Eyed Knight’s Battles with Chess by Dread Pirate Josh
http://dreadpiratejosh.blogspot.com/
“Ahrrrr, and avast ye tactics lubbers. We’ll find that treasure yet.” One of the better la Maza-inspired blogs, featuring links to the writer’s games in java-applet form. Too bad he is ending it. 

An Experiment in Rapid Chess Improvement: Record of my experience in undertaking Michael de la Maza’s “Rapid Chess Improvement” program
by Chris “Fussy Lizard” (Austin, TX)
http://fussylizard.blogspot.com/
An interesting blog. But Chris’s writings on amateur astronomy are even better. 

Druss Blog by Druss
http://mgdrussblog.blogspot.com/
A chess improvement blog with weekly posts. 

ChessUp.net
They have a great program for making chess diagrams and they have a blog.

Chess Strategy
A blog that features annotated games with a focus on middlegame strategy.

Aspiring Grandmaster by Rosemund Holder (a.k.a. Guruchess)
http://guruchess.blogspot.com/ 
A chess improvement blog from Barbados of a 1300-player looking to more than double her rating. She recently won the Ladies National Championship of Barbados.

And Then There Was Chess by Edwin “Dutch Defence” Meyer
http://www.lrci.blogspot.com/
Formerly “Less Rapid Chess Improvement.” A Knight Errant with the same quest but from Amsterdam (hence the nickname “Dutch Defence”). Also keeps My Chess Notebook chess blog and some others. 

Robert Pearson’s Chess Blog by Robert Pearson
http://rlpchessblog.blogspot.com/
A new blog by a former A-player rediscovering the game after many years. 

Chess Collector 
http://chesscollector.canalblog.com/
A fun French blog that publishes many photos from old films.

The Chess Circuit by Adam Raoof (FIDE Organizer)
http://chesscircuit.blogspot.com/ 
Commentary and news on the British Grand Prix, with excellent photography.

FIDE Chess in Chicago by Sevan A. Muradian
http://www.fidechessinchicago.blogspot.com/
A blog devoted to organizing FIDE tournaments in Chicago, connected to the FIDE Chess in Chicago website.

Central Oregon Chess Journal by Sean Tobin
http://cocjournal.blogspot.com/
A 1900-player’s musings on the Oregon chess scene, with games, pictures, and wider reflections. 

Renaissance Knights Town Crier: Chess News Journal
http://rkightsnews.blogspot.com/
The frequently updated club news for the excellent Renaissance Knights Community Chess Club website. 

Windward Chess Club Forum by Frank Alejandro
http://hawaiichess.blogspot.com/
An interesting window into chess in Hawaii and at the Windward Chess Club.

Delaware Chess Weblog: Check Out the Delaware Chess Scene! by Tom “Doc” Fleetwood
http://delawarechess.org/wordpress/
Features useful news of the Delaware state chess scene plus national news.

Nigeria Chess Players Forum by Nigeria Chess Players
http://nigerianchessplayers.blogspot.com/
Filled with news about chess in Nigeria, this blog does not shy away from controversy. An interesting read even for outsiders.

Jim Eade’s Chess Journal by FM Jim Eade
http://journals.aol.com/jimeade/JimEadesWeblog/ 
Weekly postings offer current links to chess news from a Life and FIDE Master.

Online Chess Blog by Satish Talim 
http://satishtalim.blogspot.com/2005/05/chess-bloggers-index.html 
Useful info from a 1400-rated Indian player. See also his meta-blog of Chess Bloggers and his Chess BlogsLens at Squidoo. Satish has done a lot to help organize the chess blogging community, especially by starting the chessblog tag. He seems distracted by work of late. 

Scacchierando by Stefano Bellincampi
http://www.scacchierando.net/dblog/
A new Italian language blog with some good photos. 

Sjakkforum
http://sjakkforum.com/sjakkblogg/
A Norwegian entry into the blogosphere, featuring tactical exercises.

Shabanovsky vs. Bloggers by GM Jean Luc Chabanon
http://shabanovskyvsbloggers.blogspot.com/
Sort of “Chabanon versus the blogosphere.” Join the fun. 

Bitácora de un ajedrecista by Marcelo Jorquera
http://jorquerino.blogspot.com/
A Spanish-language blog from Chile with some nice classic images and more philosophy than actual games.

Schachblätter by Stefan Kalhorn and Carsten Herrmann 
http://schachblaetter.de/
Interesting German-language chess blog with good German links.

En Passant Schachblog by Meisterecke
http://www.sgmerzig.de/blog/
German-language blog.

Ajedrez por Sertal by Sertal
http://sertal.blogspot.com/
Spanish-language Chilean blog with current news coverage.

Steve Learns Chess by Steve Eddins
http://www.eddins.net/steve/chess/
A great self-improvement blog by a very committed 1400-player.

Slugfest by Clint Ballard
http://www.blog.slugfest.org/
The blog devoted to promoting Slugfest.org and its anti-draw concept.

Coffeehouse Chess Monster by Lee Gordon Seebach
http://leegordonseebach.blogspot.com/ 
A Master painter’s thoughts on chess. Timely, well-written, and engaging. 

PlasticBishop.com Blog by Stephen Robson
http://plasticbishop.blogspot.com/
Blog by the developer of the Plastic Bishop play site details his programming and chess travails.

Qxh7# by Qxh7#
http://qxh7.blogspot.com/
A fun and interesting self-improvement blog with good screenshots and links. The author invites you to play him online, and if you take him up on it I suggest you castle queenside or watch that h7 square.

Globular’s Chess Blog by Globular
http://globularchess.blogspot.com/
A Boston-area 1600-player’s recently revived blog featuring his games and general commentary. 

The Buzzbeez by Mike Magnan
http://thebuzzbeez.blogspot.com/ 
New blog by the chess cartoon artist who has provided his fun, scholastic-player friendly images to the Susan Polgar blog.

Royal Lopez Chess Club by Royal Lopez
http://royalchess.blogspot.com/
New blog serving youth chess education in Meath, Ireland.

Just Chess by Mark Stockwell
http://justchess.blogspot.com/
A Londoner shares his chessboard adventures (with lots of annotations). 

Bill Wall’s Chess Blog by Bill Wall http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lab/7378/blog.htm 
A blog mostly devoted to Mr. Wall’s gigantic website and to his games on the web. Also available through Google’s cache. Not frequently updated. 

Patzer’s Progress by Anthony Toohey
http://www.thetooheys.com/patzer/ 
The “musings and blog” of a developing player.

Chess Pundit by The Christopher (Houston)
http://chesspundit.blogspot.com/ 
An excellent discussion of the writer’s recent games and thoughts, with good use of diagrams.

Caissa’s Confabulations by Qaundoman
http://wolfganguschess.blogspot.com/
Some have depicted this as the “anti-De-La-Maza-blog” due to one entry that drew lots of feedback, but it’s mostly devoted to B-level games. Offers some excellent games with gambit lines and good annotations.

Blog of a Chess Nut by The Chess Nut  
http://thechessnut.blogspot.com/
Australian blog with coverage of national and world chess events. 

Chess Moves by tanc
http://chessmoves.blogspot.com/
New Australian blog with good design.

World of Chess by Bob (Nashville)
http://worldofchess.blogspot.com/ 
Weekly postings related to current world chess events. 

Undernetchess
http://www.undernetchess.org/blog/
A chessblog devoted mostly to scholastic chess, which bills itself mysteriously as “The chess channel of the undernet.”

Adam’s Chess Blog by Various Writers (including J. Horner)
http://www.lv426.org.uk/blog/
This blog actually appears to be an open-authored endeavor. Lately it has featured postings by someone interested in computer chess programs. 

Wholesale Chess News by WholesaleChess
http://www.wholesalechess.com/news/
“New products, reviews, feedback and daily news from Wholesale Chess!”

The Chess House by Raphael Neff 
http://blog.chesshouse.com/ 
A fun place to find out about new chess products, from a man interested in selling them to you from his online Chess House store. 

Chess Reviews.com by Bob Pawlak 
http://www.chessreviews.com/
Reviews of chess software. A bit too commercial. 

Chess Assistance.com by Convekta 
http://www.chessassistance.com/
A blog from Convekta (the people who brought you CT-ART) to help customers access information and new offerings.

The Chess Fanatic by Ram
http://chessfanatic.blogspot.com/  
A fan’s blog with lots of interesting blurbs on books and websites.

Chess Maniac 
http://www.chessmaniac.com/index.php
An impressive blog, fronting a play server and other offerings. Or is it a big site with a blog front end?

Chess Strategies by James Wilson
http://chessstrategies.blogspot.com/
A blog designed to market lessons. 

Riley’s Chess Blog by Riley D. 
http://www.daytonchessclub.com/1-Riley’sChessBlog.htm 
A blog for the Dayton Chess Club.

Adventures in Georgia Tournament Chess by Chris Kilgore
http://chriskilgore.blogspot.com/
Lots of “borrowed” images decorate this rising candidate-Expert’s blog, which offers personal commentary on his travails.

Chess by Alberto Dominguez
http://mychess.blogspot.com/
Features the author’s games, often against his wife, and recent games copied from online sources.

Chess Game in Colour by coulourchess
http://colourchess.blogspot.com/ 
More an art site with a chess theme than a chess site, really. But it is interesting nonetheless. 

Matgala by Matgala
http://matgala.blogspot.com/
Chess blog featuring chess analysis and commentary, in English and Catalan. The writer is also interested in math and science, so some postings and links relate to those subjects as well. Takes a while to load due to advertising and extra content.

Jose Ribeiro Chess Blog by Jose Henrique Ribeiro
http://joseribeirochess.blogspot.com/
A mostly Spanish site devoted mostly to beautiful chess sets and boards (with nice photos).

Hot Rock Teamchess Team by Fernando Baptista 
http://thehotrock.blog.com/
“The home of The Rock Complex, a group of people playing chess on team competition over the internet.” A good concept but no content.

India Chess 
http://indiangm.blogspot.com/
A blog devoted to chess in India and to the great Indian GMs Anand and Sasikiran.

Chess of Andre Villares by André Luiz Villares Monteiro
http://chessofandremonteiro.blogspot.com/
Mostly Spanish language entry featuring recent games by the author. He occasionally uses broken English, but it is the broken PGN notation that is a bigger problem for readers. 

En Passant by Antone Roundy
http://chesshounds.com/en-passant/
A new but interesting-looking blog. Let’s see how it develops. 

Fooblog by Foobob
http://foobobfooblog.blogspot.com/  
A new entry with some promising first content. 

Eric Schiller Chess by FM Eric Schiller
http://www.ericschiller.com/schiller/chess.htm
Recent results and articles from the prolific chess writer. 

Chess Strategies : A Blog for anyone interested in Chess Moves and News, Chess Strategies, Chess Games, Chess Tips, Chess Tutorial, or even just how to play Chess! by Chaddo 
http://chess-strategies.blogspot.com/
An e-mail / blog course on chess strategy and opening play. 

The Chess Wanderer by Pawn Sensei
http://pawnsensei.blogspot.com/
Very current blog devoted to the Knights Errant and their doings / postings.

Improve Your Chess or Die Trying by Celtic Death (a.k.a. Brett Helm)
http://www.celticdeath.blogspot.com/
The adventures of an Indiana amateur of the La Maza mould, featuring his games and conversations with some of the other Knights Errant. 

Patzer’s Mind: Yet Another Chess Improvement Blog by bahus
http://patzersmind.blogspot.com/
The title does little justice to this excellent blog, which features some very well-annotated games and commentary on the writer’s training methods.

Chess Improvement by Effort (hatchoe) by Temposchlucker
http://temposchlucker.blogspot.com/
Another knight’s tale, complete with hours at the computer’s mental gymnasium.

Chess Training for Improvement by Generalkaia
http://generalkaia.blogspot.com/ 
Another La Maza blog. This one counts the days. 

Pomaranch Captain by Pomaranch Captain (RomaLavrn)
http://pomaranch.blogspot.com/  
A FICS afficianado of the La Maza stripe.

Knightwiz by Knightwiz
http://knightwiz.blogspot.com/ 
Another quester of the La Maza model. 

Takchess Chess Improvement by Jim Wuorio (takchess)
http://takchess.blogspot.com/  
A “yesman” of the La Manza mode (“tak” in Polish means “yes”), who also follows the teachings of Dan Heisman.

Mousetrapper by Mousetrapper
http://mousetrapper.blogspot.com/ 
Another Knight Errant — this one from Switzerland. It is a worldwide phenomenon.

The Maza Path to Chess Mastery by Javamanissa
http://javamanissa.blogspot.com/
A new Knight who should proofread his posts.

C’s Chess by C
http://cschess.blogspot.com/
Book reviews and tournament adventures.

Consultation Game
http://chesspics.blogspot.com/ 
The title describes the site exactly: “The diagrams show the moves played in a consultation game between the gameknot team the 64squares and their team member chees.”

Faith Hope Love Chess Clan by XT4JC
http://fhlcc.blogspot.com/
While waiting for the return of the King, they are playing chess. Features good chess anecdotes.

Chess Talk by Andrew Ooi
http://chesstalk.blogspot.com/ 
An amateur blog that makes interesting use of new web technologies. “A chess amatuer sharing his experience over the chess board in hopes in will benefit others like himself. Using audio, podcast and video to illustrate games and ideas.” 

Chess Cat by MyMillion
http://chess-cat.blogspot.com/ 
“Can an impulsive and forgetful baby boomer learn to think logically by playing chess? Will every game end in a sickening blood bath or will I eventually triumph? We’ll just see, won’t we.”

Rapid chess improvement (Hibernia Chapter) by St. Patzer
http://rapidchessimprovement.blogspot.com/
For those who think the other Knights Errant are simply not Irish enough…this is the blog for you. “St. Patzer, patron saint to all those who suck at chess is using the De La Maza approach to improve his sinful ELO. His journey of personal enlightenment is illuminated with snippets of sound advice from fellow ‘Errant Knights’. The fable continues ….”

funkyfantom by funkyantom
http://funkyfantom.blogspot.com/
A good self-ironizing Knights Errant blog featuring the author’s games in java applet form (though the applet seems to interfere with the formatting).

30 Day Tactics Blitz: 500 Tactics 5 Times in 30 Days by Smith-Morra
http://tacticsblitz.blogspot.com/
A new and infrequent blog by a knight errant wanna-be.

Smith-Morra Fanatics: 1.e4 c5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3!? by Smith-Morra
http://smithmorra.blogspot.com/
A collection of Smith-Morra’s Smth-Morra games with no useful links to other Smith-Morra stuff on the web (at least not yet).

Ajedrez Ateneo by Guillermo Gomez (?)
http://ajedrezateneo.blogspot.com/
“Un blog de Ajedrez. Un blog de Albacete. Un blog del Club Ateneo. Un blog para reunirnos a todos e informarnos del Ajedrez en Albacete” (Guillermo Gomez, 2005) Mostly club results and info, in Spanish.

And Then There Was Chess by Edwin “DutchDefence” Meyer
http://www.lrci.blogspot.com/
A La Maza mode blog with the author’s online games in java applet form. His subtitle reads: “A weblog (formerly known as “Less Rapid Chess Improvement”) of my efforts to try and master the game of chess a little. Oh, and ocasionally i’ll let you in on some of my other hobbies as well :)”

The Knights’ Defense: Tactics: The Countergambit by Montse of Ghent
http://crystalleaf.blogspot.com/
A La Maza self-improvement blog and Knight Errant.

Hooked to Chess by Dark_Knight, The Hooked Knight
http://dark-knightt.blogspot.com/
New but abandoned effort by Knight-Errant wanna-be.

1.E4 NF6 by Robyourcontent
http://e4nf6.blogspot.com/
An Indian chess plagiarist and pirate who deserves no traffic.

Chess for the Average Player by Silicon Pawn
http://chess1500.blogspot.com/
A new entry that promises reviews of books and software.

The Knight’s Defense by Montse
http://crystalleaf.blogspot.com/
Still another new Knight, this one from Ghent (a place that once bred real knights). 

Jaced on Chess
http://jaced.com/blog/?cat=15
One category of a multi-subject blog.

Maverick Philosopher: Chess by William F. Vallicella
A philosopher’s chess blog, or a chess player’s philosophy blog on occasion.

One Good Move by Norm Jenson
http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/
Mostly political reflections by an occasional chess player.

Ugly Chart by Ugly Chart
http://www.uglychart.com/
A blog devoted to picking stocks by a guy with an obsession with free cell and chess (and some other things). More stocks than chess.

Kansas John’s Xanga Site by “Kansas” John Yowan 
http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=KansasJohn5
A young player’s journal of hanging out with friends and playing chess.

Vox Clamantis in Deserto by Brandon
http://vcod.blogspot.com/
A college student’s personal journal with occasional commentary on chess. 

What Just Happened: Pictures (and Text) from Our Life in Montclair
http://picturethis.topicalweb.com/
Pictures and commentary from a parent living in New Jersey who has a chess-playing son and other family members. Lots of photos — but chess is not the only thing on their minds.

Cameron Reilly: Chess by Cameron Reilly
http://reilly.typepad.com/cameronreilly/chess/ 
He plays occasionally… 

Chess Improvement Efforts by Vibi
http://vvchess.blogspot.com/ 
A personal improvement journal (of the private type–more for the author than the audience). 

Mike Serovey on Chess by Mike Serovey
http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/blog/index.php
A blog devoted to his ICC games, mostly. Last I visited there seemed to be technical difficulties. It may still be active. 

Armand Rousso’s Blog by Armand Rousso
http://www.armandroussoblog.com/ 
Makes you wonder how many other billionaire financiers have blogs? This one has sponsored international chess.

Shahmat: Iranian Chess Player’s Network
http://www.shahmat.com/Kashkool/Kmain.htm
We strive to be complete and international in our listings, you see… I have no clue what this is though. 

Chess the Game
http://chessthegame.com/blog/
As opposed to “chess the movie” perhaps? Light-weight entries surrounded by ads.

Brighton Chess Club Weblog
http://brightonchess.co.uk/weblog/
Featues info on Brighton chess and ICC games by the author. Not to be confused with the BCC Weblog(though I hardly see how you could). 

Chess Dude by Amazing fact of the day
http://chessdude.blogspot.com/
Recent post on news and events.

Blogs No Longer Maintained

Chess for Blood by Patrick
A well-written and well-designed blog with a consistent point of view (announced by its title). One of my favorites.

Chess News and Events by Goran Urosevic 
http://chesslodge.blogspot.com/
“The purpose of this blog is to provide chess news and atricles. You`ll be able to find reports on the biggest chess events and tournaments and improve your game with our free courses.” A very timely news-oriented blog with good content and links. 

Jon Edwards’s Chess Blog by Corr. GM Jon Edwards 
http://www.queensac.com/chessblogintro.html  
A great “classic” weblog featuring interesting links and annotated games, from the correspondence champ and New Jersey resident. It has not been updated in over a year, but if you go through the archives you’ll find lots of interesting stuff.

The Yermo Diary by GM Alex Yermolinski http://web.archive.org/web/20020202022210/www.concentric.net/~yermo/diary.html
This is really a brave and challenging GM blog that sticks a few fingers in the eye of the chess establishment and tells it like it is. I am glad that the chess archive exists to preserve things like this.

ChessWatch from Chess fm (ICC) 
http://chess.fm/chesswatch.php 
An excellent daily news ticker, with links to articles on the web. 

Man de la Maza by Don (and Randy)
http://mandelamaza.blogspot.com/ 
A tremendously influential blog in the world of amateur chess development. Its author(s) recently retired from the field, but its followers are still active on the quixotic quest.

GMI Shabanovsky by IGM Jean Luc Chabanon
http://chabanon.blogspot.com/
An eclectic collection of photographs (both current and historical) and commentary on chess happenings. Check out Chabanon’s FIDE card. Chabanon’s “multi-blog” is a developing project to which he comes back from time to time. 

Chess Report by GM Jean Luc Chabanon and Alexandra Wilson
http://chessreport.blogspot.com/
A collection of games, positions, photos (both historical and contemporary), and various things European-chess-related. In English. The first entry describes the site as follows: “Chess Report is a kind of webzine written by a chess grand master (translation by miss AW). There you will not find all the chess news. I am still playing & coaching. But I will try to show you the chesslife in my travel & in the world. Portraits, analysis, report under the expert eye.”

Take the Rook by GM Jean Luc Chabanon and Alexandra Wilson
http://taketherook.blogspot.com/
It is difficult to distinguish this site from the one above. 

Echec et mat by GM Jean Luc Chabanon and GM Eloi Relange
http://echecetmat.blogspot.com/
A French-language blog with some interesting insider pictures and info from the major European tourney tour. Not recently updated.

Mooggy by GM Jean Luc Chabanon
http://mooggy.blogspot.com/
Inspired by artist and chessplayer Marcel Duchamps, the site allows the French GM to express his artistic side in only an occasionally chess-related way. Very mod. Or hyper-mod, man. 

Maurice’s Blog at Generation Chess by GM Maurice Ashley
http://www.generationchess.com/blog.html 
The blog of the famous African-American GM, chess teacher, TV commentator, and tournament organizer. I think he is too busy to post.

Kyle’s Chess Spot by Kyle Askine
http://chessspot.blogspot.com/
A Knight who almost made it into the big money.

GM Robert Fontaine by GM Robert Fontaine 
http://robfontaine.blogspot.com/
A 75-year-old French GM kept a blog for two months.

Chess Morph
http://www.chessmorph.com/
An interesting blog with commentary on recent GM games, computer programs, and new books. 

Chess by Michalis Kaloumenos
http://www.playchess.de/blogs/chess/  
A blog and puzzle collection by Michalis Kaloumenos. Use the links along the right side to discover the buried content and archives. Fun for some. 

PlayChess Diary by Thomas Stahl
http://www.playchess.de/blogs/diary/
German chess diary with links.

Modblog by Derek880
http://derek880.modblog.com/ 
This blog features some very well annotated games, both by the author and classic games. Good stuff. Hope he returns to it again.

Chess Boxing by Nicholas Mercador
http://www.chessboxing.com/ 
A defunct but interesting 2004 blog devoted only partly to the “chess boxing” phenomenon.

2004 Boylston Chess Club Championship by David Glickman
http://2004-bcc-championship.blogspot.com/
A wonderfully complete presentation of a club championship tournament. This was DG’s introduction to blogging, which led him to start the popular Boylston Chess Club Weblog, which some consider the center of the chessblog universe.

Art of Chess 
http://artofchess.squarespace.com/
The main page features short notes about chess news items. The more interesting content includes an introduction to basic openings, links to themed chess sets, and links to classic articles (including the full text of Bobby Fischer’s “Bust to the King’s Gambit”–which I assume is still under copyright and therefore reproduced here illegally, so get it while you can).

2005 U.S. Chessmaster Championship ChampBlog
http://www.uschesschampionship.com/news/champblog.htm
They set up a computer at the championship and lured everyone to make an entry and post their picture. Not a bad “stunt” to help promote the championship, but it could have been so much more.

Magnifichess Chess Blog by Andis Kaulins 
http://magnifichess.blogspot.com/ 
Not much content, but an early blogging effort and therefore frequently linked to by others. 

Super Friends by Eric Muhr
http://sfchess.blogspot.com/ 
Contains some interesting info, but some is taken from other sites.

On Board for Chess
http://journals.aol.com/betteruscf/OnBoardforChess/ 
A USCF Board member contemplates ways of improving the organization.

In Honor of Nezhmetdinov by Nezha
http://mrnezhmetdinov.blogspot.com/
A Knight Errant with a hero complex — though he has chosen well, of course. Then he picked up the guitar again is my guess… 

Sonja’s Chess Journey
http://www.livejournal.com/users/chessgirl/
Two months of thoughts by a young Canadian woman interested in getting back into chess, at which she excelled as a kid. She gets lots of comments and often responds, sharing a very nice picture.

Bill’s Correspondence Chess Diary by William Je… 
http://journals.aol.com/williamje/BillsCorrespondenceChessDiary/ 
A devoted Golden Knights player shares his thoughts and games. 

Blog do Xadrez (Chess Blog) 
http://xadrezdiario.blogspot.com/ 
Collects chess news items from around the world, in Spanish and English. Not frequently updated and no original content. 

Becoming a Chess Master by Edward
http://chessmaster.blogspot.com/
A Californian B-player’s quest to make the big 2200–but apparently an abandoned quest. 

65th Square by Fatboy
http://65thsquare.blogspot.com/  
One of the Knights Errant who got distracted from the quest by more serious matters.

32 Pieces of My Mind: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of One Guy’s Attempt to Learn How to Play Chessby Chessguy (North Carolina) 
http://32pieces.blogspot.com/
An abandoned effort with mostly losing games by the author. 

Desperate Measures by Desperate Measures
http://chessdm.blogspot.com/  
I believe this knight has abandoned the quest as well.

The Musings of a Desperate Chessplayer by Jason, the Orange Knight
http://orangeknight.blogspot.com/
Short-lived and abandoned effort by a Knight Errant.

Bungalow Bill by William Schulte (Illinois) 
http://heybungalowbill.blogspot.com/
Postings mostly focus on the author’s high school chess team.

Chess Spectator by Ng Bayan
http://chess-spectator.blogspot.com/ 
Chess improvement advice from a coach, along with commentaries on internet chess stories.

Chess Learning by PT
http://learningchess.blogspot.com/ 
Thinks a lot about how to think in chess.

The Paradoxical Knight: Zeon’s Chess Blog by Thomas Larsen 
http://www.paradoxic.dk/chessblog/
A new entry into the “chess improvement journal” genre of chessblogs. Best known lately for his worldwide map of the La Maza “Knights Errant” chess improvement phenomenon. 

Maza for Endgame: One Class A Player’s Adventure in Improving His Chess Game by a Modified Method of Michael De La Maza, with Endgame Studies! by Vic
http://endgamemaza.blogspot.com/ 
At least he is doing something different — and posting some interesting positions.

Chess and Choir by Princess Errant Margriet 
http://koorpret.blogspot.com/ 
A female Knight Errant. You can tell because she uses a pink background.

Harmless’s Quest to Become Not So Harmless at Chess by Harmless64
http://harmless64.blogspot.com/ 
Another Knight Errant. 

A Dragon’s Quest: A Chessplayer’s Quest for the Holy Grail by Silverdragon
http://adragonsquest.blogspot.com/
An English-writing Swede’s Dragon-themed daily tracker of his tactics training.

Monash University Chess Association
http://monashchess.blogspot.com/ 
Good but infrequently updated site for the University club.

Views of a Patzer by Kannan Ramanathan
http://mettupatti.blogspot.com/
An Indian blogger’s reflections. He’s getting married, so likely will be lost to the chess blogosphere very soon.

A Patzer’s Quest by Fraktal
http://patzerquest.blogspot.com/
“A chess amateur’s path towards that elusive chess greatness. Patzer to patzer.” A chess improvement blog with good links and advice. Guess the quest came to an end. 

Yet Another Patzer by a Patzer from Argentina
http://yetanotherpatzer.blogspot.com/
Abandoned chess improvement blog. 

Bryan’s Chess World by Bryan Castro
http://www.geocities.com/kidlat121/chess/
A journal with links to articles he has written–some very good–on practical play and concentration. 

The Road to Chess Mastery by Stuart Graham
http://journals.aol.com/whereisyourmind/TheRoadtoChessMastery/ 
A short-lived summer 2004 journal likely inspired by reading the Yermo book. 

Chess Obsession by Kale and Kevin Knowles
http://chessobsession.blogspot.com/
It’s worthwhile slogging through the archives of this blog, which are quite rich with material.

Viking Sword: A Knight in Quest of Completing the 7 Circles of La Maza by Viking Sword 
http://vikingsword.blogspot.com/ 
Another knight on the La Maza quest for chess improvement.

Aidan’s Gambit: In Pursuit of Chess Mastery by Aidan
http://www.aidansgambit.com/snipsnap/space/martin 
An independent blog of the la Maza mode. 

Sarah’s Chess Log: All Chess, All the Time by Sarah Cohen
http://sbchess.rediffblogs.com/
An abandoned effort by an editor at About.com. 

The Openings by Alan DeNiro
http://theopenings.blogspot.com/
A sometimes funny series of poems titled after each of the standard chess openings.

Houston Chess by Glenn Wilson
http://glennwilson.com/chess/
“Houston, we have a problem…” I couldn’t resist, since this seems to be an abandoned effort.

Amateur’s Notebook by Kevin Taylor
http://chess.kevinptaylor.com/
Could not access, but found it listed.

Begin Chess: Chess for Beginners
http://www.dotbuzz.com/ 
A good collection of materials for beginners, with a focus on tactics. Updated regularly. 

To Drag Out of the Marsh the Hippopotamus: Oh, What a Difficult Job It Was to Become a Strong Chess Player by Scitcat
http://scitcat.blogspot.com/ 
Publishes games by the Knights Errant. 

Chess Blog: A Blog of My Chess Studies by Peter Dove
http://www.soleyphotos.com/chessblog/ 
A new self-improvement blog by a 1700-player who favors the French Defense. MIA. 

Extreme Chess Federation by Admiral Lime Guy
http://www.limeflavored.com/site/index_ie.htm
I must have come along in the middle…. A blog supporting the seemingly crazy quest to establish a “lime flavored” chess network with exteme taste. 

Other Listings and Information on Chess Blogs 

Boylston Chess Club Weblog by David Glickman 
http://boylston-chess-club.blogspot.com/ 
One of the best and most current listings of chess blogs.

Chess Blogs at About.com by Mark Weeks and Sarah Cohen 
http://chess.about.com/od/chessblogs/
Readers are invited to post chess blogs they know. All are posted in a series of forums, kept quite current.

Technorati Blog Finder: chess
http://www.technorati.com/blogs/chess
Technorati’s beta listing of chess-related blogs. It needs some adjusting, since it lists some non-chess blogs and alphabatizes blogs beginning with “The” under “T,” but it is a useful list. Less useful of late is their Tag: Chess, which is not universally adopted and too often used by spammers or idiots.

Blogshares:chess
http://blogshares.com/industries.php?id=1342
Blogshares is set up parallel to the stock market as a way of valuing sites. The “chess industry” is tracked here. You can also search Bloglines for Chess, but it yields mixed results.

Chess Blogs at the Chess Wiki
http://www.drpribut.com/mwiki/index.php?title=Chess_Blogs
A reader-edited site listing “chess blogs.”

Chess Blogs at Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess_blogs
A reader-edited listing and discussion of “chess blogs.” Well, they don’t allow in “Knights Errant,” but it seems they accept “chess blogs.” Give them time…

About Blogging Generally

Why You Blog by Susan Schaibly 

How to Write a Better Weblog by Dennis Mahoney 

A Blogger Manifesto and The Blogging Revolution by Andrew Sullivan

The Tipping Blog by John Hiler

Into the Blogosphere, edited by Laura Gurak, et. al. 

“Bloggers: A Portrait of the Internet’s New Storytellers” (see PDF ), by the Pew Internet Research 

Updated 09.17.2006 | Contact Michael Goeller

Articles

A History of the Kenilworth Chess Club
by Michael David Wojcio
(posted June 8, 2005)

Anand – Topalov Webliography

New Jersey Knockouts 2009 Coverage

New Jersey Knockouts 2008 
Coverage of the home team in the US Chess League, with annotated games:

New Jersey Knockouts 2007 
Coverage of the home team in the US Chess League, with annotated games:

Profiles

Consultation games

Essays & Reviews 
Essays and Book Reviews by our members are invited for this section.

Lectures
Games and ideas presented in master lectures. 

Tournaments

Games from the 2008 NJ Open

Two Brilliancies from the 2nd NJ Futurity (plus other games)

2006 NJ Open
(September 2-4, 2006)
Blog coverage of the event can be found here, here, here, here, here, and here. 

2007 Club Championship
(January – March 2007) 

2006 Club Championship
(January 12 – March 9, 2006)

2006 G/30 

2008 US Amateur Teams East Coverage

2007 US Amateur Teams East Coverage

2006 US Amateur Teams East
(February 18-21, 2006) 
The Kenilworth Chess Club sent two teams to the annual USATE tournament, with the A-Team finishing a respectable 21st out of 272 teams. Read blog coverage here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. 

2005 Kenilworth Classic Rated G-30
(October 21-28, 2005)
Rounds 1 and 2
Rounds 3 and 4 
Pictures from Day One and Day Two

2005 Club Championship
(January 13 – April 14, 2005)
Over half of the games from the championship, complete with notes and available in multiple formats (including HTML, PGN, Text file, Word, PDF, and on a Java-board you can play through online). Some of the better games include:

2005 U.S. Amateur Teams East 
The Kenilworth Chess Club A team won “Best NJ Team,” and several other players from the club competed. Pictures, files, and links are posted online. 

Team Matches

Best Games
Annotated “best” games from club members. 

History
Articles and photos from the past. 

Lake Hopatcong 1923 and 1926 
Articles and photos from the historic NJ tournaments. 

Favorite Books
All club members are invited to submit an annotated list of their favorite chess books. 

Kenilworth Chess Club Quarterly
A quarterly collection of all games posted to The Kenilworthian chess blog.

Instruction

Annotated Games 
Selected annotated games from our archives. 

Opening Articles 
Theory and analysis from our members.

Middlegame
Articles and puzzles on strategic and tactical themes. 

Endings
Articles and puzzles on the endgame.

We welcome member contributions of favorite books, games, opening analysis, remembrances, and anything else that would interest our members and other chessplayers. Please send submissions or ideas to our webmaster, Michael Goeller at michael.goeller@rutgers.edu. Materials prepared as PGN files are most desirable.

Links

Daily Dose The following web sites are regularly updated and therefore worth visiting daily, weekly, or monthly as indicated…. Listed in order of frequency with stars to emphasize the highest quality content. See also the links to Blogs. ChessBase 
Probably the best place to get a daily update of important chess happenings around the world.Daily Dirt Chess Blog
Mig Greengard’s daily chess musings, with excellent links and interesting discussion. This and the ChessBase link above often reflect (or determine) the hottest topics in chess news at the moment.Chess at Google News
A search of chess news articles on the web. See also Topix.net Chess, among others. Daily Telegraph
Daily column by Malcolm Pein, features current news and games without annotations. May require registration. See also the Telegraph Chess Club. Chess Publishing.com Forum
One of the more high-traffic and content-rich forums, especially strong in openings. Openings for Amateurs 
A well-monitored discussion of openings. Though it seems to have begun with a focus on chess in the state of New Jersey, it attracts responders from all over the world and is far from provincial. It’s an open forum that does not require registration to read, so check it out.Avler Chess Forum
A filtered version of the rec.games.chess message board (which gets tons of spam), with the same extensive and valuable archives. Also available through Chess Banter. Chess Cafe
A chess magazine with a rotating series of articles and columns updated on at least a weekly basis. Some features are updated more frequently.Chess Notes by Edward Winter (now at Chess History)
The great chess historian (semi-emeritus) shares his findings in a series of articles, formerly at Chess Cafe. If you are into chess history, you’ll want to check back here often.Chessville.com
Features frequent new articles. I also think their Forum is one of the more active and interesting sites for chess discussion.The Chess Oracle – Chess News from Around the World
John Sharp’s British-focused chess news and links. The short-hand references on the site take some getting used to, but there are few better pages for accessing recent info, news, and PGN files. Also at http://www.thechessoracle.com.About Chess
Beware pop-up ads! Since Mark Weeks took over this part of the About.com site, the content here is much improved, though generally geared toward beginners. The forum is well-managed and monitored. There are still those dreadful pop-up ads (unless your browser blocks them). For players beginner to about 1500 rating, though, this is a fairly good site and worth visiting.TWIC: The Week in Chess
A great place to find recent games and news, with at least weekly updates.Net Chess News
Updated weekly, with a game of the week feature. Easy navigation to all the most recent games and downloads.Harmen Jonkman’s Chess Tournament Calendar
A running calendar of events, with prize information, links to the organizers’ websites, and contact info. Designed for players on the circuit, but useful for the rest of us folks just following along.JeremySilman.com/chess
Frequently updated with new articles and reviews.Chess Curiosities
Author Tim Krabbe’s blog and collection of discoveries and off-beat “world records” (from longest game without a capture to unusual under-promotions) in chess. This is a must-visit site.The Washington Post 
Requires registration the first time. The fantastic weekly column by Lubomir Kavalek is really worth reading. This is probably the last great newspaper chess column. Archive also available. Los Angeles Times
Jack Peters’s timely chess column is quite good. Not Kavalek, but pretty close. Chess Pro
Excellent Russian-language website with great current tournament coverage (often with annotated games the following day).e3 e5 (English) 
Excellent tournament coverage and annotated games.InforChess
Great Spanish-language site with good tournament coverage and annotated games. Convekta
Excellent tournament news with annotated games. Saturday Telegraph
Weekly articles by David Norwood. See also the Telegraph Chess Club.Australian Chess Columns 
Weekly column by Ian Rogers is especially worth the visit.TimesOnline
Weekly column by Raymond Keene. Generally an annotated game from years gone by.New York Times Chess Column 
This long-running weekly column by GM Robert Byrne has been on a steep decline in recent years, especially as compared to the excellent and timely work of Jack Peters and Lubomir Kavalek. The news is old and the annotations are dull. The Times used to be excellent and even had columns twice a week way back when. I hope Byrne picks a successor soon so that the Times doesn’t drop chess altogether.The Scotsman
No longer updated column by John Henderson. According to Mig, you can still read Henderson in The Scotsman paper’s games section, available online with registration.Sunday Telegraph
Now defunct but thoroughly excellent weekly column by Nigel Short.Alexandra Kosteniuk
Frequent updates, games, and photos of the beautiful Russian GM. Worth a weekly visit.On the Square
Monthly by-lined articles written for the Campbell Report and usually focused on Correspondence Chess. See also the Campbell Report Archive and Hard Chess (the latter no longer updated).ChessMix.com
British commercial site with recent games, news, links, calendar, and e-shop. A slick and new version of the classic TWIC. Very well done. Worth a look every 10 days to download their games file at least. Chess Today
Billed as the first daily chess newspaper. By subscription, but you can check out monthly sample issues and some free content online.FIDE
Frequent official postings, especially on the World Championship cycle (where you will find the most up-to-date news possible).U.S. Chess Online
Occasional updates.Hellas Chess Club Chess Portal
An excellent Greek site with frequent updates of chess news.Chess Siberia
Scroll down for the links to content and news.Russian Chess
A great site with strong content, especially annotated games. British Chess Magazine
A good portal for news with lots of other useful content, especially recent book reviews (accessible through the Magazine area).Pakistan Chess Player
Frequently updated.Chathurangum
An interesting Indian chess site. Australian Chess News
A weekly column with game to play on the web. Part of the Australian Chess Federation site. The Chess Drum
African chess news with frequent updates. Very well done and a valuable addition to news and information on the net. Chess South Africa
A good news site with an SA focus.Chess Tigers
An interesting German site with lots of news.ChessGate
An interesting German site.Schach
A good German site that seems to be in touch with what is going on in German and European chess.Schachgemeinschaft
I must confess, I can’t read much here. But it does have some interesting articles in English and lots of content.Schachbund
A Swiss site with lots of content.Schackcentralen
Swedish chess site, rich in content and information. Austrian Chess Federation
Features updated news and very good links. Also an archive to Austrian games. Click the link for English language.Ajedrez Siglo 21
Good Spanish language news site. Ajedrez-de-Estilo
Mixed English/Spanish site with opening columns and some tournament news.Peon de Rey
A Spanish-language site with good and current content. Some requires registration.BS Chess by Bystrov Sergey (English version)
Russian international chess news and downloads.Sakk Portal Magyar
The Hungarians take chess seriously, but it’s tough to read. Echiquier-Nicois
The French international daily chess newspaper online.Latest Headlines – chess from furl
A great list of headlines from online magazines and newspapers, but hardly the “latest” or even recent. Tag:Chess from del.icio.us
Another list of recently updated chess materials tagged “chess,” but not as good as Technorati’s. 
Updated 01.30.2006 | Contact Michael Goeller

Club Info

Club Information The Kenilworth Chess Club meets every Thursday night beginning at 8:00 p.m. in the Recreation Center at 575 Kenilworth Boulevard in Kenilworth, NJ (at the corner of 24th Street and right next door to the Administration Building – see Directions for details.) Enter through the rear door. Membership fees for 2020 are $15, with discounts for students, juniors (<18), seniors (65+) and for membership after June 1. Visitors and new members are always welcome and membership is not required to visit or play. Club Officers & TrusteesPresidentjack mckorkell
Jack McCorkell
Treasurer & TDgeoff mcauliffe
Dr. Geoff McAuliffe
Trustee (3 Years)joe renna
Joe Renna
Trustee (1 year)pat mazzillo
Pat Mazzillo
V.P. & Secretarydave lazarus
Dave Lazarus
Webmasterjohn moldovan
John Moldovan
Trustee (3 Years)greg tomkovich
Greg Tomkovich
Club MembersNM Mauricio Camejo
Ted Cross
Joseph Dovydaitis
Peter Engelhardt
Neil Friedlander
Paul Gottlieb
LM Mark Kernighan
LM Scott Massey
James Morrison
Howard Osterman

Luis Ruales
Ed Selling
Lou Sturniolo
Greg Tomkovich
Humberto Vargas
Andy Wolman

Other Information Club ConstitutionDirections to the Club  Updated 03-04-2020 | Contact Jack McCorkell		 
  
Calendar

alendar – 2021CLUB MEETINGS RESUME ON NOVEMBER 11! Anti-COVID precautions will be in effect. Contact KCC President Jack McCorkell for information.You can find past calendars online for 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 20172018 2019 and 2020.Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | DecJanuaryJanuary 7 – Closed.January 14 – Closed.January 21 – Closed.January 28 – Closed.FebruaryFebruary 4 – Closed.February 11 – Closed.February 18 – Closed.February 25 – Closed.MarchMarch 4 – Closed.March 11 – Closed.March 18 – Closed.March 25 – Closed.AprilApril 1 – Closed.April 8 – Closed.April 15 – Closed.April 22 – Closed.April 29 – Closed.MayMay 6 – Closed.May 13 – Closed.May 20 – Closed.May 27 – Closed.JuneJune 3 – Closed.June 10 – Closed.June 17 – Closed.June 24 – Closed.JulyJuly 1 – Closed.July 8 – Closed.July 15 – Closed.July 22 – Closed.July 29 – Closed.AugustAugust 5 – Closed.August 12 – Closed.August 19 – Closed.August 26 – Closed.SeptemberSeptember 2 – Closed.September 9 – Closed.September 16 – Closed.September 23 – Closed.September 30 – Closed.OctoberOctober 7 – Closed.October 14 – Closed.October 21 – Closed.October 28 – Closed.NovemberNovember 4 – Closed.CLUB MEETINGS RESUME ON NOVEMBER 11! Anti-COVID precautions will be in effect. Contact KCC President Jack McCorkell for information.November 11 – Casual Chess.November 18 – Welcome Back Swiss, Round 1 (G/40+5, non-rated, EF & prizes TBA)November 25 – NO MEETING. Closed for Thanksgiving.DecemberDecember 2 – Welcome Back Swiss, Round 2.December 9 – Welcome Back Swiss, Round 3.December 16 – Annual Business Meeting.December 23 – Holiday Party.December 30 – Holiday Blitz tournament. (G/5)Updated 12.29.2021 | Contact The Kenilworth Chess Club 
  
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