TV Chess Sketch

Maybe you remember the video I posted a while ago, The Master Game from the 80's, aired by BBC. It was a very interesting TV series, with the players commenting their moves, you could listen their thoughts and follow the game. It was a big success back than and it even made it into a TV sketch, as Mark Crowther shares with us on twitter.


Enjoy!

TV Chess

I have recently discovered a brilliant TV Chess series from the 80's, which was aired by the BBC, absolutely wonderful! You can actually listen the players comments, how were they thinking, you can follow the game of course and go back in time, watching a very good quality chess video. Enjoy! 



I will come back with new videos in the future, if I will particularly like one of them. This time I attached the game played between Nigel Short and Tony Miles; if you are interested, you can see all videos from the BBC chess series on this youtube channel.
Good luck in your pursuit of chess excellence!

Paul Merton in a chess video

For the moment we have a lot of clouds in Holland and it's raining, for hours already. To give this day a cheerful tone, I thought to share with you a funny chess video, which I am sure you'll like, even if you are more lucky than me, enjoying the sun under a palm tree:)

Tata Steel Chess - 8th round

A few days ago I was asking you:
TRIVIA:
Do you recognize the position on the board?

We can see the poster everywhere in Wijk aan Zee, it's part of the entire image change. The position was not randomly chosen. It is a beautiful game from 1999

Benidorm - Final Impressions

Back to my Dutch home...snow, cold, strong wind, completely different than Benidorm. And yet, both locations have their own particular beauty. Because I've just returned from Spain and the memories are fresh, I will try to show you why I enjoyed it, besides that I played a Closed Women Tournament:)

All the players!

The final standings are published on Chess-Results. 

As you might know, usually the chess players have no time to see something else, besides the playing hall. I got lucky, I had a free day at the beginning of the tournament and half a day at the end:) To be honest, I didn't expect Benidorm to be so beautiful and now I am looking forward to come back! 
Due to the unique skyline formed by its numerous tall hotels and apartment buildings it is sometimes referred to as the "Manhattan of Spain" or "Beniyork", which is unlike any other on the Costa Blanca (White Coast). Benidorm's initial growth in popularity can be attributed to the package holiday explosion, and continues year round, due to the night-life based around the central concentration of bars and clubs. The large number of free cabaret acts that start around 21 hours and continue into the early hours set Benidorm apart from other similar resorts. The city has a special micro-climate all year round thanks to the mountains which surround the town, no wonder it was so warm in December! (we had 25 degrees!) 
The following video gives you an insight of the Benidorm's atmosphere:



And a few more pictures:

As I said before, spanish people are open, friendly and ready to help you. Thanks to my friend (helloes from Holland!!), I had the chance to try for the first time a special coffee called: "cafe bonbon". Probably we all heard about their famous recipes: paella, gazpacho, horchata, but, as a coffee lover, I never tasted cafe bonbon...always great to experience something new:)

A delicious drink - strong coffee on top of condensed milk!
Although, I am not sure it's on everyone's taste.
It's very sweet but very efficient against a heavy head during your game:)

After a terrible loss against Nicolas Zapata Irene in round 3 (she made an WIM norm, congratulations!), I managed to come back in the tournament and shared the 2nd place. This is the trophy:

Our Hotel: Gran Bali in miniature and my artistic skills:)

Closing Ceremony

In round 4, against Cerrato Torrijos Maria.

And, for the chess lovers, my last game against Deimante Daulyte from Lithuania. An interesting Najdorf battle, which finally ended in a draw.

A tournament has finished...soon the next one will come:)

Grandmasters in Commercials

Chess is so much a part of our culture that chess terms are frequently used metaphorically: stalemate, the "global chessboard," etc. Not surprisingly we can see these motifs in advertising as well. Among certain people, chess has the aura of intellectualism, the "smart" thing to do. (Chessplayers know better.) That image is reflected in the consumer-oriented ads. Advertisers are copy-cats, of course. So as soon as one agency began a campaign with a chess theme, other agencies no doubt quickly followed it. 
However, using a chess player's image is not that popular in advertising. Fortunately, there are a few examples to show to the whole world that asking a chess player to promote a product is not such a bad idea.
Enjoy!


Science and Technology: two AMD commercials  with Viswanathan Anand! (Advanced Micro Devices - founded in 1969 and based in Sunnyvale, California, AMD is an innovative technology company in computing and graphics solutions).






Commercial for Alta Vista - a web search engine, with Garry Kasparov!



Next: the famous Pepsi commercial with Garry Kasparov! I can't stop laughing everytime I watch it:)



The next two videos: Société Générale Expressbank with Veselin Topalov!






Viktor Korchnoi, the former challenger for the world championship, who is well known for his anger when he loses, did this funny advertisement for milk: 



And now, the most recent one: Magnus Carlsen and G-Star! The following video is not exactly a commercial, but an advertising for the match - Carlsen against the World, which took place on 10th September 2010 in Manhattan. Nevertheless, it is great to see more and more chess players being asked to become the image of a product.




Last but not least, a Woman chess player: Alexandra Kosteniuk, appeared in billboards in Moscow for LG computers!



These are the videos I found and wanted to share with you. If you know others than the ones presented above, feel free to contact us!
The Dutch version of this article can be found on Schaaksite.nl .

Chess Simul

Preparing to go to Wolvega, for Remco Heite Tournament. I will play in the Open (rapid) and Erwin in the invitation group. First prize in the GM's Group is a horse! Until me next report, enjoy the following video:

Robots taking over the Chess World?!

Chess Player's prototype: nerd or smart?!

I was wondering...how are we, chess players, seen by the people from outside of the chess world? What is the chess player's prototype?! Are we seen as nerds, wearing glasses and speaking our own weird chess language?! Or, on the contrary, we are the lucky owners of a high IQ, with great intelligence and deep understanding of life in general?!
So far, I faced both opinions. Let's see how Chess' Image is used in Publicity.


NEGATIVE PUBLICITY:
"See what happens to someone who spends too much time without human interaction." - www.meetup.com



Advertising - Geico: Insurance Company. Making fun of chess: watch carefully and you will see two light square bishops for White!  Can soccer announcer, Andres Cantor, make ANY sport exciting??? Take a look at this GEICO commercial and find out how exciting chess can be:



Sport: Here we have some cool guys discussing baseball mathematics, caught in the act by their nerdy classmates, chess players, who get a rare opportunity to reverse their roles at school. 



POSITIVE PUBLICITY:
News and Politics: 80's Recruiting Commercial for the United States Marine Corps.



Sport: TNT commercial for the NBA playoffs. Features Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce, Joe Johnson, Dwight Howard, Deron Williams, Kevin Garnett and many more.




The following video is a trailer for the book CHESS RUMBLE by G. Neri and Jesse Joshua Watson (2007).

Chess Rumble provides a gripping and moving account of an eleven-year old boy's struggles with living in poverty in a single-parent household after the death of his sister. Plagued by feelings of rage and provoked by his younger brothers' antics and the taunts of his classmate, Marcus uses his fists as a coping device. Of course fighting makes his problems worse to the point where he risks getting kicked out of school and having to leave home. 

His bleak situation changes for the better when the school principal introduces Marcus to a chess master who has a program at the school that encourages troubled youth to fight their battles on the chessboard. Marcus does not take to the chess master or the program right away, but a particularly nasty fight and a visit to his sister's gravesite convince him to give the chess master another chance. Based on real inner-city enrichment programs that teach kids how to play chess, this book shows how a unique social program can help children to develop new skills, meet new people, and begin to overcome disadvantaged economic circumstances. This fast-paced and intriguing book is bound to hold the attention of most young readers as they get a good dose of important lessons in economics, sociology, and social policy. 




Advertising: Classic Ad - the legend of man who invented chess...



Advertising: Food




Where lies the truth? If we find out the answer to this question, maybe we will be able to promote chess in a better way!

CHESS (Musical)

Chess is a musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, formerly of ABBA. The story involves a romantic triangle between two top players, an American and a Russian, in a world chess championship, and a woman who manages one and falls in love with the other; all in the context of a Cold War struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, during which both countries wanted to win international chess tournaments for propaganda purposes. Underneath you can see a shorter version, from Chess - The Musical UK Tour.




You can browse the songs lyrics of the Chess Musical here! You will also find the lyrics of the following hit:


"One Night in Bangkok" is a song originally sung by Murray Head on the 1984 concept album for the musical CHESS.





The lyrics sarcastically juxtapose the city and its night life with the game of chess. Whereas the chorus - sung by Swedish artist Anders Glenmark extoll Bangkok's reputation, the verses - a rap by Murray Head - denounce the city, including its muddy old river and its "reclining Buddha", and instead praises the intellectual purity of chess, e.g. "the queens we use would not excite you". The lyrics also mention actor Yul Brynner, who famously played the King of Siam in "The King and I". The "Tyrolean spa" mentioned early in the song refers to Merano in Italy, the site of the earlier events of the musical.

Solution from last week's Trivia! UPDATED with Videos

The question was: What do Kasparov, Karpov, Korchnoi and Capablanca have in common, besides chess?
I think this time it was not an easy task to find the answer:) Unfortuantely Capablanca's name starts with a "C" and not with a "K":) But for sure, after you will see the solution, you will be curious for more. Here's why:


Answer: Besides being famous chess players, they all have been actors as well!


1. Kasparov: was a guest in the TV series: "WEBNATION", episode 8, season 1, in 2007.
2. Karpov: played his own role, as Anatoly Karpov, in the movie "ZUGZWANG", drama, 1989. I couldn't find  the storyline on IMDB. On www.movies.yahoo.com I found the following review: After falling in with a sinister group of people which include gangsters and gamblers, a former pianist loses his wife and child and ends up taking the rap for a murder he didn't commit. 





3. Korchnoi: "GROSSMEYSTER" drama, 1972. Summary: Chess Grandmaster Sergei Khlebnikov is a highly talented and unusual person, living in the 1970s Soviet Union. His is obsessed with making a beautiful game. But his emotional and irrational way is the reason why he never won a major competition. At last his moment comes and he wins the Tournament of Contenders for the World Championship. Next he has to play against the World Champion...


Also, all three of them were present in the russian documentary: "VREMYA LYUBIT I VREMYA NENAVIDET", 1994. Unfortunately I don't speak russian and I couldn't find an english review. 


4. Capablanca: was a world champion also on the screen: "SHAKHMATNAYA GORYACHKA" (1925). In English it is translated as "Chess Fever". The movie is a short comedy. Storyline: With an international chess tournament in progress, a young man becomes completely obsessed with the game. His fiancée has no interest in it, and becomes frustrated and depressed by his neglect of her, but wherever she goes she finds that she cannot escape chess. On the brink of giving up, she meets the world champion, Capablanca himself, with interesting results. Underneath you can see the video, it's really good!





I should also mention the movie: "SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISCHER" comedy/drama 1993, where GM Joel Benjamin, GM Roman Dzindzichasvili and IM Kamran Shirazi played their own role as chess players. 
Storyline: Josh Waitzkin is just a typical American boy interested in baseball when one day he challenges his father at chess and wins. Showing unusual precocity at the outdoor matches at Washington Square in New York City, he quickly makes friends with a hustler named Vinnie who teaches him speed chess. Josh's parents hire a renowned chess coach, Bruce, who teaches Josh the usefulness of measured planning. Along the way Josh becomes tired of Bruce's system and chess in general and purposely throws a match, leaving the prospects of winning a national championship in serious jeopardy.


You have now some ideas for a Movie Night:) As about me, I know what I will watch next time:) 

Chess Video - part 3

Claymation of the chess game Roesch - Willi Schlage (Hamburg, 1910).



The position after 13...Bh3, and the ones that follow, were used in Stanley Kubrick's movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" for the game between Frank Poole and the HAL-9000 Super Computer.

Chess Video - part 2

Probably almost everyone knows this chess video made by Pixar, which shows how chess can be our happiness and bitterness at the same time. It reminded me also what Vlastimil Hort used to say: "I believe that Chess possesses a magic that is also a help in advanced age. A rheumatic knee is forgotten during a game of Chess and other events can seem quite unimportant in comparison with a catastrophe on the chessboard".

Chess Video

This chess video, called: "Entry - IMPOSTOR!", is an IRTC animation made by Bernard Hatt. I liked the special effects, sound, motion and i will search for more later on:) It shows, once again, that chess can be used as a great source of inspiration in different fields. And, as Sytze Faber said: "We must make sure that Chess will not be like a dead language, very interesting, but for a very small group".