New look coming up soon! I just need to find the time...but it is on the agenda! Looking forward to share more with you in the near future!

Winning isn't everything but losing is nothing

I started to agree with Edmar Mednis on that...I have been told so many times that a loss is actually good, that you learn most of it, that you cannot become stronger if you don't taste the pain of defeat - of course I cannot question that. And yet, if winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?! Why do we even go as far as placing bets when our favorite players are competing in hopes that we can experience their joy vicariously when they win on the go? Besides, don't know if you feel the same way as I do, but I guess it's quite a common emotion: a won game doesn't fully compensate for a loss. I suppose this comes from our burning desire to always win and when that happens, we think: "yes of course, it's normal. I've been working hard for it so I deserve it". This attitude leads to a perfidious result, that we actually don't trully enjoy our glorious moments. On the contrary, when a big zero appears on the tournament table, negative emotions start to bitch up the whole thing.

Chess city break in Flanders!

If you would like to travel, but feel unequal to learning at least one international language for the purpose, then play chess;) The ideal substitute for English, Spanish etc. at last has been found!
For our family, last weekend was a perfect opportunity to employ the reliable speech of chess without danger of going astray, in...Oostende! 
Probably it would have taken us some time to reach this Flemish city if it wouldn't have been the universal language of chess. Even if Erwin was busy for a couple of hours with his simul, the reason for our city break, it doesn't mean we didn't enjoy every single bit of it! And you can see for yourself the upside of playing chess further on:

Sun and chess on the Bulgarian coast!

The Golden Sands tournament, held between 4th - 12th of June on Bulgarian seacoast, finished yeasterday, having as a sole winner the Chinese GM: Lu Shanglei, (born in '95)! The 7.5 points which the winner squeezed out of 9 games are even more impressive if we think about the rather tough starting list of the event: I could count more than 45 GM's and plenty of IM's, all fighting for the 6000 Euro first prize! I forgot since an Open tournament was as rough as this one but I guess it's fully justified by the generous prize fund which the organizers put at stake: more than 50000 Euro! 224 players attended the tournament, trying to get a prize or/and as much sun as the Bulgarian seaside resort had to offer:) Do you think you got what it takes to become a winner? Let's test that theory out by playing some free online tournaments. Online casinos are a great place to start with, and besides chess, you can test your skill at other challenging casino games, such as blackjack. Let the https://www.blackjacktwo.com/Online_Blackjack_Probabilities.html site guide you and help you out in the beginning.
As for our family, it could have been better, it could have been worse. But we did enjoy the whole experience! While we are now waiting for our bus to come and bring us back to Romania, I decided to  choose some pictures for you, to make a general impression on the tournament we just had.

Finding order in chaos

I don't know about you but I've always been quite skeptical about the utility of solving mate in two problems. I am not talking about the simple ones but about these crazy positions, where a total mess is present on the board, with a lot of pieces. It looks as if you just opened your chess box and all the pieces fell randomly on the black&white squares - 'fire on board'!

Chess: the metaphorical way

I don't like to argue, unless it's a constructive activity of course. A disagreement can bring insights into a certain subject much more than if you just think about it on your own.
Such an experience I had recently, regarding the popularity of chess terms in daily speaking. My position was that chess is by far more frequently used in metaphoric expressions than other sports for example. But because this was more of a hunch than an organized thought, I couldn't convince my interlocutor.
So here it is:

Chessity

I have never liked computer games. To me it easily becomes boring, repetitive and painful for both my eyes and my back. So why bother?!

Unfortunately, nowadays we cannot really survive in chess without a computer. We have to check our lines, we have to ask the 'genius' for the best continuation and so forth. I am trying as much as I can to move the pieces on the board, to check the books I have on my shelves, but at times...my concentration is out the window. This is happening especially when I am training alone and I become tired to ask myself questions, give the response and keep my discipline in place for many hours to come. If only it would be a little bit more entertaining, a little bit more fun - I could work for days in a row! That was my opinion until i discovered this amazing site that changed my perspective on computer games forever. On this site i discovered the best games that kept me entertained and engaged for hours on end. Not only that, but i managed to win a few times and those real money prizes really added up.

Well, good news! Computer is not always an enemy for chess but an ally, if used properly. And because lately I have been literally 'obsessed' by a new way of improving my chess skills, with the help of a chess website, I see myself morally obliged to share this new discovery with you!