[5-December-2002] Olympiad Diary 2002 by Heather Lang

For a different view of the 2002 Olympiad in Bled this Diary, written by Scottish team member Heather Lang, is a must-read! Entertaining and colorful, this diary is packed with information and interesting tidbits. The Scottish women did pretty well, and Ms. Lang finished with 7/10, a very respectible plus score. There are lots of photos, as well.

[4-November-2002] 35th Chess Olympiad, Bled, Slovenia

This site covers what must be the most fascinating of all the world-class OTB events, the biennial Chess Olympiad. If I could choose a single OTB event to attend as an observer, one of these Olympiads would surely be my choice as it would offer a chance to see a huge collection of the elite chess players in the world. This year it is being covered by an excellent web site which allows you to watch all the games in progress. There are slipups now and then along with some occasional delays in moves (and there were problems during the first few days). However, being able to watch your favorite team as the games unfold is fantastic. Just go to the "live" link and click on the link for "live games" and you can choose which matchup to watch, including the women's games. There's also a web cam to give you a flavor of the event on the playing floor. Thanks to Valer-Eugen Demian for suggesting this link. It's possible that the site will remain active for a while, allowing downloading of games and perhaps java replay. The event ends 11-November-2002.

[3-November-2002] World Chess Cup 2002

This site covers the recent FIDE World Cup tournament in India which took place October 9-21, 2002. Though the tournament is over the web site remains, with round by round reports and lots of photos and interviews. I don't know if the site is planned to be a permanent record of this big tournament, but it's definitely worth a visit. I wish all tournaments got this kind of coverage.

[15-October-2002] Chess.FM

This site, in conjunction with the ChessClub site (the Internet Chess Club ... ICC), provides coverage of chess events. Fantastic! I heard of it while watching on-line coverage of the Kramnik vs. Deep Fritz match. It's like a radio broadcast for chess players. Host Tony Rook brings you guest commentary on the featured game. In conjunction with ICC coverage, showing the game positions, you get great coverage of events. When I was listening, National Master Bill Pascal was providing the expert commentary, though occasional calls from others, including some GM's, provided some additional flavor. Check the web site for future events to be covered. I listened to coverage of the game between Khalifman and J. Polgar from the Essent Tournament, Hoogeveen, The Netherlands. When the game ended unexpectedly (GM draw) they switched to another game ... most entertaining. You have to be an ICC member to see the board positions on ICC for some events, but the Kramnik-Deep Fritz game was available for free to guests. Apparently, there is no membership requirement for listening to the audio coverage at this intriguing site. To listen, just click the link at the top of the Chess.FM page. It displays "Off the Air" when not covering an event. If you have any trouble getting to the web site (I experienced problems during the 7th game between Kranmik and Deep Fritz) try going directly to the audio broadcast at http://www.chessworldnews.com/live.asx.

[26-September-2002] Chess Cafe -- Skittles Room

Of course, the Chess Cafe site is well known for excellence. This column is one of the best features. At this writing the specific column is "Russia vs. the Rest of the World" by Yasser Seirawan. I found this to be a particularly good read and suggest you take a look. Seirawan is an excellent writer, of course, and most anything he writes is worth reading. Recently he has been near the center of the OTB chess world and his perspective is extremely interesting. His report on this momentus match involving most of the top players in the world is truly fascinating.

[15-August-2002] Chessville

This is obviously a project in progress but the promise is great. The extensive set of listings in their site map indicates their intention to pack this site with content. I recommend that you check it out and browse around a while. They don't hesitate to send you to another site for good chess material, which is a good sign of their generous nature and intentions to provide useful information to visitors. The target audience is the beginner and intermediate OTB player, but everyone will find material of interest here. There's not much correspondence material (the links don't have a cc section), though you'll find a few cc links in the Playing Sites, Online Leagues, & Correspondence Chess section. They certainly don't ignore cc completely. Newsletters #9 and #10 contained a 2-part article on cc by our friend Steve Ryan titled The "Hidden" Side of Chess: Correspondence Play (archived at the web site at this link) and newsletter #10 had a review of the ICCF web site. There's lots more and the promise of even more to come. They even provide a very nice chess discussion group I recommend visiting. Check out the Chessville Forum. This isn't a comprehensive review, so I suggest that you take a look at the site and make your own conclusions. The people responsible for the site are enthusiastic and anxious to provide a great resource to the chess community so things can only get better.

[10-August-2002] Pawnpusher. - It's Only a Game

This site kept me laughing. I suggest a visit for some good chess humor, though cc isn't mentioned. It starts off with a link to a Kingpin magazine article Chess Beast, complaining about the novelty chess sets that are surely only bought as gifts ... who would buy one for himself? The Chess Metaphor Liberation Organisation" page discusses the (often dreadful) comparisons to chess of everything from croquet to marriage ("Chess is like marriage. You cannot have a mate without a check." - Brian Wood). I remember publishing comments about curling in my APCT chess column ("Curling is like chess on ice"). Are British GM Michael Adams and famous spoonbender Uri Geller really the same guy? Check out Chess Lookalikes and decide for yourself. There are numerous other pages of similar material which appear to be just as humorous. It will only take a few moments for you to recognize this as a British site.

[29-July-2002] Jeremy Silman - International Chess Master

This site was a great discovery! Keep an eye on this one. Silman's gotten off to a good start with a lot of content, including a bunch of book reviews and some nice articles. I didn't find the non-chess items so compelling, but anyone who likes one of my favorite cult classics "Liquid Sky" can't be all bad. Hopefully he'll dress up the site with some Java replay of the games one day. He wrote a new book just for this site! And he claims to have been "... putting in four months worth of fifteen-hour days (seven days a week)" on this new web site. The news section by John Henderson looks worthwhile. I strongly recommend a visit. Don't bother using Netscape 4.7, though.

[14-July-2002] Societa Scacchistica Novarese

The Italian Novara Chess Club has been nice enough to provide an English version of their interesting little chess site (see "English version" link in the left navigation area). Check out their How to Play? link for some interesting chess quizes based on positions reached in club members' games. They also have some web pages dedicated to GM Alexei Dreev.

[26-June-2002] Tiger Chess

As it says, "Not your usual kind of chess site - Tigerchess is the site with bite! It's the official cyberhome of British Grandmaster, Nigel Davies, and you'll find chess, chess and more chess. If you don't like chess, you're in the wrong place - suggest you try here instead." The last update appears to have made in Dec. 2000 but Davies has provided a nice collection of his articles, certainly well worth a look.

[22-June-2002] Chathurangam - India's comprehensive Chess website

Whether you are a fan of GM Viswanathan Anand and GM Krishnan Sasikiran or like to follow the exploits of the 13 year old phenomenon WIM Humpy Koneru (soon to be a WGM!), you'll find much of interest at this excellent site devoted to the chess of India. There are interviews, pictures and other good features. They also cover some international chess news.

I was about to correspond with someone in Chennai when I realized that this Indian town sounded familiar. Indeed, a little checking revealed this to be the home of Anand and many other well-known Indian chess players. I found the page Chennai Champs which led me to the main site. I recommend a visit to this quality site.

[12-June-2002] Chess Archaeology

If you enjoy reading chess history then this is an excellent site for you. Nick Pope has put together some excellent material by the best chess historians to create a unique and interesting site. I particularly suggest visiting the Excavations section of the site, but by all means visit every nook and cranny. My favorite chess historian is John S. Hilbert, and he is well represented. For material focussing on American correspondence chess check out Hilbert's articles at The Campbell Report. Just scan down the list of On the Square articles for his ten different entertaining contributions.

[21-May-2002] Kasparov Chess

From Club Kasparov to the current Kasparov Chess, the offering with Kasparov's name have been worth visiting. Till they layed off most of the help recently the Kasparov site was my favorite non-cc site. Maybe it still is. Even with less free stuff there are still some very interesting articles and interviews featuring Kasparov's friends, some of the most influential and interesting chess people in the world.

I mention this excellent site now because of the fascinating article by USA GM Yasser Seirawan describing his attempts to unify the OTB chess world. I have occasional problems at this site with Netscape, so IE might be the best choice. I apologize for suggesting any site with so many advertising popup windows. It's really amazing. It might be best if you go directly to the page with the article: From a Fresh Start to a New Dawn. It's only part 1, though, so you'll have to check back later for the rest of the story. BTW, as a Chess Journalist of America member I think I'll propose Seirawan for Chess Journalist of the Year. I can't think of anyone who deserves it more.

[21-May-2002] Logical Chess

An interesting site to explore. I particularly recommend Chess Trivia, written either wholey or in large part by Bill Wall. I discovered these pages (or a close replica of them) once while scanning the Internet. The were orphan pages not connected to anything, but they provided much entertainment. Fortunately, they are not connected to a concrete web site.

[9-May-2002] Meetings of I.C.C.F. - (History, Photos, Curiosity)

The Associazione Scacchistica Italiana Giocatori per Corrispondenza (ASIGC) not only received the prestigious Friend of ICCF award for 2001 for their excellent web site but they have also created this wonderful history of the 50 years of ICCF Congresses. If you have photographs or other information that is missing from this record, I encourage you to get in contact with ASIGC. (URL updated on 24.05.2005)

[28-April-2002] Alpine Electronics home page for chess fonts

Many years ago I became acquainted with font designer Steve Smith, whose company Alpine Electronics sold a variety of chess fonts and fonts for many other games. I've use his Linares font to print chess diagrams on my postal chess cards and for other purposes and have been entirely satisfied. Following the untimely death of Steve Smith in 1999 his son Adrian Smith took control of the family business. Though Adrian won't be creating new fonts, he has kept his father's outstanding fonts available, a real service to the chess community. I just discovered this new URL for Alpine Electronics and corrected my regular chess links page.

[23-April-2002] Germany Chess

One of the pleasures of the Internet is finding new stuff. Here's a list of over 150 German chess links, many with their own lists of links. Even if you don't understand a word of the language it can still be very interesting to poke around and see what other people are doing. I like to follow the links on these pages to other sites, which have more links to other sites, which have more links ... etc. Some of the graphics are worth seeing. E.g., check out Jens Arnold's Schachseiten. If you're looking for a good laugh you can try one of the Internet language translators such as Alta Vista (Translate with Babel Fish) or FreeTranslation.com. Of course, you can often figure out roughly what they are saying using these translators.

[21-April-2002] Pennsylvania State Chess Federation (PSCF)

This state chess site is particularly interesting due of it's links to Newsletters of Pennsylvania Chess Clubs. En Passant has been considered one of the best club newsletters for years, and the Delaware Valley Chess newsletter (edited by Neil Brennen) looks to be excellent.

[18-April-2002] Dubai Chess.Com

[1-Apr-2002] Grandmaster Gregory Kaidanov

When a Grandmaster creates a web site it's definitely worth a look. There's not a lot of content here yet but GM Gregory Kaidanov has a site that looks interesting and is sure to grow. His photo gallery is marked "Sorry!! Under Construction!!" If you want to take a peek at a few pictures he's already uploaded to the site just check out images and click on the links listed. I just love sneaking into sites to see what's going on, and this is a trick that often works ("images" is a popular directory name for graphics, though some web sites are protected against this kind of inspection).

He has a small selection of games available for java replay and an indication that he'll be making 855 of his games available for download, but my tricks have failed to turn them up so far. One warning ... watch out for those nasty popup ads that hide behind your other open windows. They can sit back there out of sight chewing up your computer cycles blinking and sparkling away without you being aware of them. Surely the book of Revelations or the writings of the mad monk Rasputin predicted this blight on humanity.

[31-Mar-2002] The Chess Portal

Per-Åke Lindblom (SWE) has created a nice collection of chess links. He claims 700 links at this time, and he has visited each site and provided a short description. This link is to the English version. There is also a Swedish version. This is a great supplement to the giant lists of links where you can expect only sites of some quality to be listed. I intend to scan through this site looking for interesting links I've missed in the past.

[3-Mar-2002] Chess-related Comics

Take a break from the serious side of chess and enjoy some cartoons. Here is a collection of comic strips with a chess theme.

[2-Mar-2002] Pawn Pusher (it's only a game)

A humorous little site that can reward you with a few minutes of entertainment. I particularly recommend Scumbag Tricks and A Guide to AXA-speak. Check out that nice picture of Vincent Price.

[21-Feb-2002] dIMITRI in Las Vegas

GM Dimitri Reinderman of The Netherlands posted his Diary on-line for the FIDE Knockout Championship played in Las Vegas in 1999. I know, this is rather old stuff, but it's still worth a read. This guy is most entertaining.

[14-Feb-2002] New in Chess Game Downloads

New in Chess is an excellent magazine published eight times a year. You can always count on a good selection of quality games. Buy the magazine and then go to this web page and download all the games (available for each issue for the last 2+ years, without the commentary, of course). For those of you who like to analyze games using a database program this is a great service. Downloads are available in three formats: NicBase, ChessBase and PGN. I would suggest using IE since the HTML on this page must have been generated by a Microsoft product. I.e., the HTML is such that it displays OK with IE but has problems with Netscape. Funny how this keeps happening.

[31-Jan-2002] Bobby Fischer

[25-Jan-2002] Chess on Stamps

[24-Jan-2002] Chandler Cornered (The Chess Column that is slightly different)

Thanks again to Zack Gonzales for this tip. The title says it all. This is a truly remarkable collection of articles. Here a gnat may drink and an elephant may bathe ... or something like that. Check out that crazy "hit counter" at the top of the page.

[20-Jan-2002] http://www.crosswinds.net/~ossimitz/book.htm

G. Ossimitz has collected a large number of ChessBase (CBH) databases here that correspond to popular chess books. If you want to read one of the books listed here and be able to view the games in CB without needing to enter the moves yourself, then you can download a zipped database from this site. While there you can check out his home page for other features by clicking on the "Home" link at the top or going directly there by clicking here. The home page has some error that IE handles OK but Netscape users are advised to avoid the home page ... my version 4.73 goes bananas and redirects me to another page. You will have to look fast to see anything of the home page! Sorry to report that this site has those stupid popup advertising windows, as well.

[19-Jan-2002] Mr. T vs. Deep Blue

Thanks to Zack Gonzales for this tip. As he says, "This is so bad it's good." For those who like me are Mr. T fans you might want to check out the following collection of links: Mr. T vs. Everything

[19-Jan-2002] 2001 – The Director's Cut (ChessBase)

2001 is proclaimed a bad year and this page rewrites the history for that year! This is a most amusing page. While there why not click on the "Home" link at the top and check out the excellent German ChessBase site (it's in English).

[14-Jan-2002] Match BALTIJOS LYGA club - GANDALF

This page is at the Rebel site and will report on the upcoming 4-board match between the Baltijos Lyga club and the Gandalf 5.0 computer engine. Our friend and ICCF IM-elect Kenneth Frey of Mexico will play board 2. This correspondence match to test the capabilities of this version of the Gandalf engine is due to start on 15 Jan 2002. You'll probably find it interesting to click on the Rebel Home page link. All four games will be carried "live".

[3-Jan-2002] ICCF Jubilee Congress in Rimini (2001)

This site contains links to reports and photographs of the ICCF Jubilee Congress held in Rimini, Italy in September 2001. If you attended the Congress these reports and photos will bring back fond memories, no doubt. If you didn't attend, this will give you a good flavor of this annual ICCF meeting and introduce you to many of the shakers and movers within ICCF. Just added: links to the photos taken by IM Raymond Boger of Norway, who was there to pick up his IM medal and certificate. While there, you can also read the reports from the previous two Congresses in 2000 in Daytona Beach, Florida (USA) and 1999 in Thun, Switzerland.

[26-Dec-2001] Raymond Boger (NOR) - 5th NATT, Board 1

IM Raymond Boger of Norway (ICCF 2488) is posting his games of the 5th North Atlantic Team Tournament, Board 1 "live" along with a crosstable, official results, and photos and short biographies of his opponents (in English) ... very nice! Java replay is available for his games. TCCMB regulars will probably note some familiar names in the crosstable, including our friend IM John Mousessian.

[18-Dec-2001] Interesting Logic Problem

The Donkey (or is it a horse?) must move like a Knight. It's rather like a Knight's Tour, but the interactive graphics make it fun.

[16-Dec-2001] Homepage of Sergey Tiviakov

[8-Dec-2001] WGM Alexandra Kosteniuk

I mentioned this site a month ago, but it's worth taking another look to see how they're reacting to WGM Alexandra Kosteniuk reaching the finals (vs. Chen Zhu of China) of the FIDE Knockout World Championship (women) in Moscow. You'll miss some material using Netscape, so IE is recommended. You can check out the games there by going to 2001/2002 World Chess Championships, clicking "Continue" at the bottom, and then clicking on "View Games Online" in the top navigation bar (or try clicking here).

[6-Dec-2001] The Chesshaven

An interesting little site with some charm. Click on the "Play the Computer" link and you can play the computer. Check his selection of essential chess books. The "Learn to play chess" link can teach a beginner how the pieces move (how often does someone ask for a resource like this?), that is, if you don't gag at the graphic crawling baby. There's a guide to software downloads that looks useful, some lists of resources for webmasters, and lots of pictures of female chess players snagged from other sites (Sam Sloan would be proud). There's other stuff so take a quick look. I noted some oddities in layout when using Netscape.

[29-Nov-2001] Man vs. Machine

This odd little site was apparently set up by the Brain Games people for the Kramnik vs. Fritz match to be played in Bahrain some day (now scheduled for the "first quarter 2002." There's a little information about the match and some truly awful color combinations. They reported on the Anand first game loss in Moscow (see the "News" section) and displayed a B&W (or rather coral, according to my wife) picture of Anand (I think). I clicked on a link to see the game and was pleasantly surprised to see a much nicer looking page, only to then realize I had gone to the ChessBase Germany site. Check it out, if for no other reason than to view those incredibly colors. For old geezers like me I recommend using a magnifying glass as well.

[25-Nov-2001] ChessReviews.Com

If you want to read reviews of chess software you'll want to check out this site. It covers chess databases, playing programs, opening CD's, and other software.

[23-Nov-2001] My Chess Page (Wilfried Braakhuis)

This is the personal web page of Wilfried Braakhuis (ICCF 2311) of The Netherlands. It's always fun to check out these personal pages created by real chess enthusiasts. He gives a number of his games, including a win over our friend IM John Knudsen. Check out that cute little popup you get when you click on the link to his site!

[17-Nov-2001] Ramiras Chess & Music & Things

The personal web site of SIM Arild Haugen (2555) of Norway. He has posted a number of games you can play over (using ChessBase8.0 java replay), including the 25th ICCF World Championship (Semifinal Section 1). Some games are finished, some are live coverage of on-going games. Check out that semi-final and you'll recognize some familiar names, such as Steve Ham (USA) and Herbert Bellmann (GER), who has his own web site and live game coverage.

[11-Nov-2001] Alex Yermolinsky's webpage

Alex Yermolinsky's webpage was the first one listed on this page. Now I suggest that you read Yermo's latest two Diary entries, June 2001 and July 2001. They make for some very interesting reading (Yermo never pulls any punches). He also says, "August entry, 'What You Saw in NIC And What Was Left Off' (still working on this one...)" so I suggest you keep a weather eye out for his next update.

[10-Nov-2001] NetChessNews

This looks like a very interesting Australian OTB site with lots of international news and other features. Check out that picture of Akopian ... the caption reads, "Jumping for joy: Effusive GM Vladimir Akopian fights to contain his delight." The webmaster obviously has a sense of humor! Check the "Latest" link for Australian newspaper chess columns and the GAMES link for a huge collection of games available for viewing with a Java viewer. You may think we have problems on TCCMB, but they took their Chat facility (bulletin board) off-line due to abuse.

[8-Nov-2001] WGM Alexandra Kosteniuk

Here you'll find out about Russia's young WGM Alexandra Kosteniuk. Check out her biography, poetry and pictures ... you'll note she isn't camera shy! The HTML link leads to the English version but watch the Flash version first. Most things work in Netscape but I noticed the text didn't show on the Fan Club page (use IE). Whoa! ... is that the official FIDE uniform she's wearing on the Fan Club page? For an independent interview see CHESS GODDESSES - Women in Chess web site

[6-Nov-2001] The Chesshaven

You'll find lots of interesting features at this neat little site, from how to play the game to a great list of free chess downloads. There's even a cute little playing program if you care for a quick game.

[1-Nov-2001] Ukrainian Chess Online

A nice little site presenting Ukrainian chess (in English). They are rightly proud of their recent victory in the World Team Championship. They have a page dedicated to their last-round win over Russia.

[28-Oct-2001] Exeter Chess Club: Chess Quotes

There is a very nice and enjoyable collection of chess quotes here. Don't miss Chess and Life from Vladimir Nabokov's The Defence.

[26-Oct-2001] Chess Watch

Check out this interesting feature at the Kasparov web site that inspired this page of "Sites of Note." It's an interesting concept that has led me to some very interesting web pages.

[19-Oct-2001] Seagaard - Chess Reviews

A nice chess review site. You can even sign up for email notifications when a new review is added.

[17-Oct-2001] Online World Chess

Bessel Kok has created a new organization to conduct a major online chess tournament starting in January 2002. The top 32 competitors will then compete with 31 top Grandmasters (plus a surprise GM ... I wonder who) for big money prizes. They expect thousands of players to participate. You can read about it here. It's worth the visit just to see the cool graphic of chess pieces covering the world.

[16-Oct-2001] The Seventh Rank - The Personal Chess Page of Harold Bearce

This site by Harold Bearce contains a lot of useful chess links plus a collection of Chess Stories. Harold is performing a real service presenting this collection of chess writing, and he's encouraging people to use their talents. Way to go, Harold!

[10-Oct-2001] Randy Bauer's Revealing Reviews

Randy Bauer is well known for his excellent chess book reviews. You'll find many useful and entertaining reviews at his personal site. Also, be sure not to miss his excellent article Playing To Win With "Your" Defense (labeled "Chess Tips" in his left navigation bar).

[9-Oct-2001] Tim Krabbé's Chess Curiosities

At the suggestion of Wim van Vugt I am listing this unique and interesting site of the Dutch chess journalist Tim Krabbé. You may prefer to start at his Home Page ... just click on the "English" link at the top to see the English version. There's some interesting stuff here!

[28-Sept-2001] Online Comics

Take a little break from the serious business of tournament chess and check out some comics! I think you'll enjoy Scott McCloud's My Obsession with Chess.

[25-Sept-2001] Chess Siberia

This sensational little site could become one of your favorites. I particularly enjoyed the Old newspapers section with English translations of "64" during the late 1930's. There's old tournament reports and lots of java-replay of games. The Best Players and games of the month is also excellent. There is also a Russian version.

[23-Sept-2001] Jon Levitt's Chess Pages

This English GM has created an eclectic site well worth a visit. He has a number of features which clearly show that he plays chess because he loves and appreciates it. There are some nice pictures, too. Be sure not to miss the photo of Tony Miles, tea lady. You might also want to consider adopting a new secret weapon, the Clarendon Court opening.

[20-Sept-2001] Tales of 1001 Knights

This is a wonderful site that truly reflects the love of chess by webmaster S.F.Strahan. There are hundreds of games to play over using the Chess Tutor(tm) Java player, some essays on players with more games, an archive of GM Baburin's "Coffee Break Chess" and other interesting features. Don't miss the articles by guest columnist ChessChick. With articles like "Will A WonderBra Improve Your Rating?" who can resist checking them out? You may want to read my interview of ChessChickwhile you're at it.

[19-Sept-2001] WGM Anjelina Belakovskaia

The site of several-time USA Women's Champion WGM Anjelina Belakovskaia. This is one of those light sites that could be fun to check out once. See her resume, NY University class schedule, and some photos. Many of the photo links appear faulty (no picture) but there are some classy pictures on her pages. And the "Pictures" page has a working "Bahamas" link! This brings back memories of the Sports Illustratedcoverage of USA Champion Lisa Lane in 1959.

[17-Sept-2001] La Mecca Chess Encyclopedia

Lots of interesting stuff at this site. "Today in the History" gives some interesting information for the current date, there's an "International Chess Events" listing, a good set of links and a lot of chess facts under the heading "Who, When and Where." I even spotted an ICCF Congress announcement from Pedro Hegoburu under "Last News." There's lots more, too.

[14-Sept-2001] The Retrograde Analysis Corner

If retrograde chess problems sound interesting, check out this neat site. You may also find the German language site at http://janko.at/Schach/ of interest. The problem that initially caused me to add this site to my chess links is shown in my APCT column for November 1995 ... check it out, it's an excellent challenge!

[13-Sept-2001] Official Jaan Ehlvest website

[11-Sept-2001] ICCF Jubilee Congress web site

The ICCF Jubilee Congress in Rimini, Italy is coming up soon (22-28 September 2001). You can follow it and view reports and pictures from the previous two congresses at this special site. Pedro Hegoburu's first Pre-Congress Report is already posted.

[7-Sept-2001] The Personal Webpage of The Tays

Visit with our friend Junior Tay of Singapore. You can read some of his articles, see some nice pictures of Junior Tay and his family, and even get acquainted with his dog Scottie. Oh, oh, how did I fail to publish that article "The main line ... anyone?"

[4-Sept-2001] Chess Lab

This site offers the chance to search a large database for those games you can't find in your database. The search page is at: the Search Page.

[2-Sept-2001] Exeter Chess Club: Chess Quotes

This is a wonderful collection of chess-related quotes that will entertain you. This page is part of the Exeter Chess Club Homepage

[30-Aug-2001] Ed's ever-growing Chess Page!

Edward D. Collins' personal web page contains quite a variety of entertaining features from cartoons and puzzles to discussions of Internet chess and U.S. Master Eliot Hearst's famous glossary of chess terms.

[29-Aug-2001] The Stuy Town Chess Club

"I have never had the satisfaction of beating a completely healthy opponent." - Amos Burn.
This is just one of the marvelous quotes on the Chess Tips page compiled by John W. Collins at this interesting club web site.

[23-Aug-2001] CLIFF YABLONSKI HATES YOU

Not finding enough abuse on the "Live" cc coverage threads on TCCMB? Try this site for an extra dose of abuse. No chess content, but lots of insults. Warning ... don't go here if you object to "colorful" language (or massive amounts of abuse). And don't blame me if you really hate this site.

[18-Aug-2001] AJEDREZ DEMOCRATICO (Democratic Chess)

This site represents the World Players' Council (WPC) and its president Valery Salov. Articles like The Moral Bankruptcy of Yasser Seirawan: his correspondence with Salov and Another Democracy Hater? Mark Crowther Spurns Peaceful Dialogue provide some "interesting" reading.

[15-Aug-2001] The ninth Lost Boys Chess Tournament

The Lost Boys company does chess on the Internet as well as anyone. Check out this tournament site to see their work. Click on "Games" in the left-hand navigation column for a game viewer. Don't miss the spectacular Rook sacrifice Dennis de Vreugt used to defeat Mikhail Gurevich in round 3. Oh, oh, I couldn't get the game viewer to work in Netscape ... better use IE.

[14-Aug-2001] Chess Tests: Bizarre Positions

The name says it all at this site created by Valentin Albillo. Thanks to Zack Gonzales for pointing out this site. Sorry about the yucky popup windows.

[13-Aug-2001] Alex Yermolinsky's webpage

Alex Yermolinsky's webpage was previously called YERMO CHESS ACADEMY when he was trying to make money with his site. Now he's on the staff of the famous Mechanics' Institute Chess Club in San Francisco and he's really let his hair down! I was checking it out during my lunch break at work and people must have wondered why I was laughing so hard.

I always enjoyed Yermo's Diary, which he has retained from his old site. I can recommend reading all his old entries. He also has an entertaining Player of the Quarter Award. But read what he says about that:

"With this decision made, I would like to reserve the right of changing the P in PQA from Player to Politician, Pervert, Publisher, Philosopher - whichever is appropriate. I can also, if the need arises, substitute for the P. Say, when I decide to honor the Moron of the Quarter. The way things have been going in the chessworld there's a fair chance it'll happen."

Under the heading Yermo's Disclaimer, where he describes his abrasive style of expression, he says, "Don't like it? Go somewhere else. Go visit the Chess Superstore and buy a Karpov video. Or a Krush Swimsuit video."

Discussing Karpov he says,

"Yeah, but for Karpov.... With his time finished 10 years ago, the former hero of all Soviet working people, from the mines of Astana to the wineries of Cisinau, from the beaches of Yurmala to the mountains of Bishkek, still soldiers on. He tries to keep a straight face, he pretends to be busy, he plays teenage girls in exhibition matches. Just a dead man walking."

Referring to GM Nukhim Rashkovski's objection to being nicknamed "Nuke'em" by Pierre Sobakkin Yermo says,

Nukhim says that instead of this rather offensive-sounding nickname people should call him "Papa", paying tribute to the years of coaching and his vast experience in life, in general. Well, if he insists..., but I'd suggest "Papa Roach", to better reflect his character traits.

I've reported on some of his better jibes here, but don't worry ... there are plenty more gems to dig up at Yermo's fascinating web site. I recommend you visit ... just tell him Franklin "The Freak" sent you.