If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.
Policy / Politique
The fee for tournament organizers advertising on ChessTalk is $20/event or $100/yearly unlimited for the year.
Les frais d'inscription des organisateurs de tournoi sur ChessTalk sont de 20 $/événement ou de 100 $/année illimitée.
You can etransfer to Henry Lam at chesstalkforum at gmail dot com
Transfér à Henry Lam à chesstalkforum@gmail.com
Dark Knight / Le Chevalier Noir
General Guidelines
---- Nous avons besoin d'un traduction français!
Some Basics
1. Under Board "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQs) there are 3 sections dealing with General Forum Usage, User Profile Features, and Reading and Posting Messages. These deal with everything from Avatars to Your Notifications. Most general technical questions are covered there. Here is a link to the FAQs. https://forum.chesstalk.com/help
2. Consider using the SEARCH button if you are looking for information. You may find your question has already been answered in a previous thread.
3. If you've looked for an answer to a question, and not found one, then you should consider asking your question in a new thread. For example, there have already been questions and discussion regarding: how to do chess diagrams (FENs); crosstables that line up properly; and the numerous little “glitches” that every new site will have.
4. Read pinned or sticky threads, like this one, if they look important. This applies especially to newcomers.
5. Read the thread you're posting in before you post. There are a variety of ways to look at a thread. These are covered under “Display Modes”.
6. Thread titles: please provide some details in your thread title. This is useful for a number of reasons. It helps ChessTalk members to quickly skim the threads. It prevents duplication of threads. And so on.
7. Unnecessary thread proliferation (e.g., deliberately creating a new thread that duplicates existing discussion) is discouraged. Look to see if a thread on your topic may have already been started and, if so, consider adding your contribution to the pre-existing thread. However, starting new threads to explore side-issues that are not relevant to the original subject is strongly encouraged. A single thread on the Canadian Open, with hundreds of posts on multiple sub-topics, is no better than a dozen threads on the Open covering only a few topics. Use your good judgment when starting a new thread.
8. If and/or when sub-forums are created, please make sure to create threads in the proper place.
Debate
9. Give an opinion and back it up with a reason. Throwaway comments such as "Game X pwnz because my friend and I think so!" could be considered pointless at best, and inflammatory at worst.
10. Try to give your own opinions, not simply those copied and pasted from reviews or opinions of your friends.
Unacceptable behavior and warnings
11. In registering here at ChessTalk please note that the same or similar rules apply here as applied at the previous Boardhost message board. In particular, the following content is not permitted to appear in any messages:
* Racism
* Hatred
* Harassment
* Adult content
* Obscene material
* Nudity or pornography
* Material that infringes intellectual property or other proprietary rights of any party
* Material the posting of which is tortious or violates a contractual or fiduciary obligation you or we owe to another party
* Piracy, hacking, viruses, worms, or warez
* Spam
* Any illegal content
* unapproved Commercial banner advertisements or revenue-generating links
* Any link to or any images from a site containing any material outlined in these restrictions
* Any material deemed offensive or inappropriate by the Board staff
12. Users are welcome to challenge other points of view and opinions, but should do so respectfully. Personal attacks on others will not be tolerated. Posts and threads with unacceptable content can be closed or deleted altogether. Furthermore, a range of sanctions are possible - from a simple warning to a temporary or even a permanent banning from ChessTalk.
Helping to Moderate
13. 'Report' links (an exclamation mark inside a triangle) can be found in many places throughout the board. These links allow users to alert the board staff to anything which is offensive, objectionable or illegal. Please consider using this feature if the need arises.
Advice for free
14. You should exercise the same caution with Private Messages as you would with any public posting.
In 1986, GM Kevin Spraggett gave a lecture and simultaneous exhibition in Victoria BC. Here are some random quotes from that lecture, which I have just found in an old file box:
"The influence of fashion is very strong in chess."
"Many inaccuracies can be explained by the player thinking he is better when he isn't."
"Moves do not make sense in isolation -- only when they are joined with other moves."
"The tournament winner is usually the most objective player, not necessarily the best player."
"I believe that it is only in relatively clear positions that you can speak of a 'best' move."
"Creative players can often find new, more objective evaluations and plans in previously discarded lines by being very logical and practical, and thinking out what the true effects of a move are, and also checking to see if the feared plan is actually decisive."
'If you're going to attack, you must have it prepared first. It's a bad sign if you have to manoeuvre after making a bayonet stab."
Someone hopefully can dig up the old (1980s?) CFC Bulletin article that gives Spraggett's exact wording concerning his opinion that until you're 2300, all that you're doing is learning the rudiments of chess.
Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Murphy's law, by Edward A. Murphy Jr., USAF, Aerospace Engineer
Reminds me of those GMs that imply everyone below 1800 or so is a 'beginner'...
I recall someone noting that Nigel Short witnessed game(s) between such players not that long ago, and he remarked that he had forgotten that chess was played like this.
Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Murphy's law, by Edward A. Murphy Jr., USAF, Aerospace Engineer
Thanks to Dan Scoones for digging this up. At that time, GM Kevin Spraggett had just become a Grandmaster, in conjunction with his qualification for the World Championship cycle in 1985, and the first-ever appearance by a Canadian at a Candidates tournament (Montpellier 1985). Seems almost like another lifetime ago now, with all the changes that have taken place in chess since. But Kevin is still playing actively and successfully today; that is one thing that has NOT changed! :) Another thing that has not changed is that millions of people are still chasing the magic of playing their best chess! :)
Replying to Stephen Wright's post: I had never heard this idea before, that New York 1889 was the first 'Candidates' event, and that Nicholas MacLeod was a participant. Perhaps Stephen can tell us more about this event, which was, in fact, 'long ago!'
Really?? I would like to know which book... I haven't really read much if any of his work!
I've done a quick look for the quote I vaguely remembered and came up with the following:
Originally posted by J.R.R. Tolkien
By some curious chance one morning long ago in the quiet of the world, when there was less noise and more green, and the hobbits were still numerous and prosperous, and Bilbo Baggins was standing at his door after breakfast smoking an enormous long wooden pipe that reached nearly down to his woolly toes (neatly brushed) - Gandalf came by. Gandalf!
The Hobbit or There and Back Again (Revised Edition), Ballantine Books, NY, 1973, p. 17
... which is not quite right. I am thinking that perhaps the quote is from A.A. Milne's "Winnie the Pooh". Will investigate.
Last edited by Nigel Hanrahan; Thursday, 17th October, 2013, 12:26 PM.
Reason: bibliographical information
Dogs will bark, but the caravan of chess moves on.
Comment