PAUL KERES IS TOO EXPENSIVE

Famous Estonian chess grandmaster Paul Keres has been hardcovered. Four volumes. Four thousand pages. Eight kilograms.

Adams, Jimmy

"Paul Keres"

2024

https://mailchi.mp/newinchess.com/paul-keres-4-volume-set?e=c3c0e02253

As an Estonian chessplayer and an admirer of Paul Keres and his talent, I should be happy. But I am not.

The work is too expensive for me. The retail price is 250 euros, and even the pre-order price of 200 euros is too expensive.

I am also worried about the politicization of chess.

I have seen too many nasty tricks in the attempts to convince the publicity that now, finally, it has been scientifically proven and without reasonable doubt that the Soviet regime blocked Paul Keres from becoming the world champion. Up to outright forgeries.

And now, I have seen too much of how sports, including chess, have been heavily politicized, in the most biased manner, concerning the ongoing Russia/Ukraine war. I have also seen how, in Estonia, during that war, in a hurry, one more movie was made about Paul Keres and the Soviet regime.

Therefore, excuse me, but I will not pay 200 euros to check the quality and objectivity of the four volumes.

I am prepared to pay some money only if I know beforehand that it is not yet another work containing political propaganda and demagoguery.

BLACK TO MOVE

Find the only winning move for Black.

Black to move and win

From the Chesstempo rapid game Paldrick - Nanomaster, I had black pieces.

PAUL KERES DID NOT MAKE IT

In the 1962 game Keres—Benko, Benko made a grave mistake 30...Bb8xg3??, and the following position was on the board (see below). Then, Keres also blundered, and Benko again made a mistake. Finally, Keres still won the game.

Can you win the position after 30...Bxg3??

Keres - Benko 1962. White to move.

If you are not a grandmaster, you may expect that if you do not move the pieces on the board and if you try to spend only 10 minutes on the solution, you will fail somewhere. 

Thus, relax and take it as a correspondence chess position: PUZZLE.

On Chesstempo's tactics section, this puzzle has the number 143468. 

A HINT: After the obvious 31 Qxg3! consider the replies 31...Qd5 and 31...Qe4.

In the present post, the Apronus chess software was used.

I ALSO ABANDON THE CHESS PLATFORM ICC

I shall leave the Internet Chess Club platform.

As some of you may recall, I recently announced my decision to discontinue using the Free Internet Chess Server (FICS) platform.

These two chess platforms are very similar. The main difference is that the FICS is free while the ICC is a paid service. The ICC is pretty expensive. I got it at a discount but only used it for a few months.

The reasons for leaving these chess platforms are also very similar, except that the justification is amplified in the case of the ICC’s paid service.

Why did I cancel my subscription to the ICC?

There is no one to play with

There are too few users on the ICC. Almost everyone prefers to play blitz or bullet, while I like to play rapid or classical games, at least 15 minutes per game.

There are not enough challenges on the ICC, and my challenges have rarely been accepted. I have managed to play only one or two games daily on the ICC. The opponents have almost always been with a lower rating than mine. I already know them by heart and know exactly when someone uses the chess engine during the game.

The chat is unacceptable

While waiting for the game, looking at what is happening in the chats is natural.

Unfortunately, the chat is self-destructive, which allows abuse without leaving a trace.

The abuse is constant and systematic. Always some McCarthyist political instructor, the thought police is present, who distorts what you say, makes personal attacks, presents false accusations and false ascriptions and slanders you in your face.

For example, before my last participation in the discussion, I was suddenly accused—and entirely out of context—that I did not know the definition of “genocide.” Unfortunately, I know the definitions of “genocide” as a philosopher who has written some essays on that matter.

Today, I started the discussion by remarking that it did not look democratic that Putin was elected president of Russia for the fifth time. The political instructor intervened and added that Putin was a murderer, etc. I believe I was pretty neutral and objective. However, when I did not agree with everything he had to say, he accused me of being a supporter of Putin, etc.

Excuse me, but why should I pay money for such a chess platform that upholds direct political propaganda, demagoguery, and slandering where no real discussion is ever possible?

I can get the brainwashing for free every day. So why pay and sponsor unintelligent and immoral propagandists?

It may sound illogical. Unfortunately, it is very logical: 

As a philosopher, I recommend that chess platforms not allow general discussions. Such discussion forums suppress debate and promote pure political propaganda and brainwashing.

The ICC interfaces behave like a spy program

There are various interfaces to the ICC and its outdated web page. 

“Mobialia” is a comfortable interface that can be used on both the ICC and the FICS. Unfortunately, it is not trustworthy. Once, it failed to show me the chessboard and did not allow me to abort the game either. 

“ICC for Windows” is a new interface with rich features. It is the only option I found to change my flag from the US flag to my country’s flag! During the game, you can use the comfortable full-screen mode. It automatically downloads your games to your computer.

Unfortunately, about 20 or 40 of my games have disappeared. It turns out that the ICC maintains only 20 of your last games. I switched to the “ICC for Windows” too late. And even if the ICC keeps all of your games on the server, finding how to access them takes work.

However, the worst thing about the ICC is that my computer’s clipboard is ruined after using “Mobialia” or “ICC for Windows” on the ICC. 

I have checked it: it happens if and only if I play or discuss on the ICC or FICS. At it, “ICC for Windows” is only for the ICC.

I cannot imagine why the clipboard is involved at all. The ICC has not declared it takes over the user’s computer anyway.

Goodbye, chess Gestapo!

So how can I enjoy playing chess if I am afraid that I will be insulted and slandered on the chat or that, after the game, I have to restart my computer or even recover the Windows registries?