Challenger is the magazine of the U.S. Braille Chess Association. A 2-year membership in the USBCA is $15.
Table of ContentsWelcome to the May 2008 issue of Challenger, the first e-mail issue. As most of you know, Challenger was previously produced as a cassette magazine. The USBCA Executive Committee decided to convert Challenger to an e-mail magazine because, like it or not, cassettes are going away. They have served us well for many years, but technology marches on. Digital formats are taking over. Later this year, the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) will begin replacing its bulky cassette machines with digital players that play books on flash cards. This will mean no more broken cassettes. Even better, you will be able to navigate within a book, skipping from section to section without hearing chipmunk sounds as you fast forward the tape. This will be a good change for everyone involved.
The United States Chess Championship for Blind Players will be held again this year at the Hampton Inn in Buckhannon, WV. The opening ceremony will be a picnic dinner on Thursday, June 19, with rounds on Friday, June 20, and Saturday, June 21. In previous years, there have been four rounds, two each day. However, if there are additional participants, the number of rounds may increase to five.
A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hampton inn for the tournament. The room rate is $80 per night, the registration fee is $25, and the meals are a total cost of $55. This includes a picnic dinner at the opening ceremony on June 19; two deli-style lunches June 20 and June 21; a dinner on Friday including ham, turkey, or baked steak (two of those three meats) and all the trimmings, and either a chicken barbecue or pizza on Saturday. Breakfasts are included in the room rate.
For more information, contact Richard Varchetto (304) 636-4034 Home (304)614-4034 Cell.
This first digital issue of Challenger contains a wide variety of articles. I want to thank everyone who contributed. At times, being editor of Challenger has been a lonely position. Not anymore.
Below you will find a message from USBCA president Alan Dicey, results ratings and games from our current tournaments as provided by tournament director Richard dinger, a review of a travel chess set by new member and accomplished author Anna Dresner, an article on a well-known rook ending by Uwe Hahnewald, and a look back at 50 years of playing chess by the irrepressible Hugh Pharis.
Your comments and suggestions are welcome. What would you like to see in future issues? Do you have questions about any aspect of playing chess? What would you like to see the USBCA accomplish in the future? Let us hear from you.
Challenger is designed to be easy to read for everyone. Items are numbered, and you can search for the beginning of the next item, since each item is preceded by a line of asterisks.
This issue of Challenger is being sent to current USBCA members and former members. If you are not a member, we invite you to join. You must be an USBCA member to play in our correspondence tournaments. If you do not wish to receive Challenger, just let us know.
Jay Leventhal, EditorI am very proud and delighted to address you from this, our first edition of our Challenger Magazine in electronic format!! The magazine you are reading right now will not disappear when the tape falls apart. It will remain on our website for as long as the USBCA is in existence. If you want to read an article from this issue in 2015, you will be able to find it within seconds. And a chess player who is losing his vision and wondering if he can still play chess who does a Google search for blind chess may stumble upon it and learn what is possible from this very magazine years from now.
I wish to personally thank our USBCA Secretary Jay Leventhal, who has the foresight to understand the value of the Electronic Format and the ability to convince others of its value, and for all his time and efforts in being Editor of our Challenger Magazine.
I recognize that a few of our members do not have computers, and I will introduce a motion to the Board of Executive Officers to have this and all future editions of the Challenger printed in Braille and sent at no cost to those members.
We have made good headway in expanding our group; the USBCA is reaching out to Blind or Visually Impaired people all over the country telling them they indeed can enjoy this wonderful sport of Chess with other Blind people, or on a completely level playing field with sighted people.
We did a Tek Talk Program presentation that reached a lot of Blind people and has the potential to reach many, many more thanks to being archived. We are scheduled to do another Radio Program soon on “It's All about Sports; “The Sports Guy Stephen Guerra is the host. That too will be archived for people who do not catch the show to hear later, even perhaps years from now!
Shortly, we're going to have our own Private USBCA chat room, donated to our group absolutely Free of charge, where OTB play is possible for any computer user at no cost to them, (people without microphones will be able to type in their moves). Because people can type in their moves, OTB play in the chat room will also be accessible to our deaf-blind players (we have two that I know of and should soon have a third, when she finishes her Hadley courses).
We have many experienced players willing to share their knowledge with beginners. Perhaps some of them would want to offer workshops in the chat room. These too could easily be recorded and archived.
Since the Challenger Magazine is now in electronic format, when we add it to our website it will help make the site more visible to search engines, always a good thing because It will help people interested in chess and blindness find us. We have a real opportunity to grow.
We have reached out to the International Blind Chess communities and let them know that our nation indeed does also have a Braille Chess Association. We are now playing international Correspondence Matches with BCA's in five different countries: Germany, Ireland, Sweden, South Africa, and England!!!
This brings me to a critical question regarding our organization's future: the question of whether we should have our USBCA become a 501(c) (3) Non-Profit Federal Registered Organization, so we might solicit financial assistance from foundations or large corporations, and send teams abroad to participate in Over-The-Board International Competition with these other Braille Chess Associations, even entering the International Braille Chess Association (IBCA) Olympiad. Also, solicited funding from sponsors could be designated to assist our members who could not otherwise afford it to attend our USBCA Annual OTB Championship Tournament.
Some members think we should remain a small group, playing among ourselves as we have been doing for many years now, and see no reason to seek sponsorships.
We seem to be divided on this issue, and it's vital that we hear from you so we can make the best decision possible. Please post your thoughts on this issue to the list, or email me directly if you would rather not post to the group. It might take quite some exchange of ideas, discussion and time before we can decide which road we want to take, but we need to make that decision.
Our new Board of Executive Officers, which took office in January 2008, got off to a bumpy start working with each other. However, it is only natural that when eight people who all have their own thoughts and opinions on what is best for the organization are suddenly put together that they might start off on a bumpy potholed road to working for the group as a team. I am now very happy to report that after several months of Board of Officers meetings, e-mail messages, and phone calls, we have gotten to know each other and have learned to respect each other’s opinions even when we disagree. We are now off that bumpy pot holed road and driving down a smooth expressway, moving at top speed, working as a team to improve and do our best for the USBCA.
I am very much looking forward to moving our USBCA Forward, and with your help, we can have one of the finest groups of Blind or Visually Impaired Chess Enthusiasts in the World and have a lot of fun at the same time!!!
One last word: please do not forget, if you know a Blind or Visually Impaired person who seems like they could use a great hobby and would like to meet other blind and visually impaired folks, and have a lot of fun in doing so, tell them about "The Gymnastics of the Brain" or "The Martial Arts of the Mind" so they can also feel "The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat", and learn how to play this great Sport of Chess!!!
With Best Regards,Here are results from the 2008 correspondence tournaments as of May 1.
Here are some games from the 2008 tournament.
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 d5 3. e3 c5 4. Be2 Nc6 5. O-O Bg4 6. Nbd2 e6 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. h3 Bh5 9. a3 a5 10. c4 O-O 11. Qa4 Qe7 12. cxd5 exd5 13. Bb5 Rfc8 14. Nh4 Qe6 15. Bd3 Rc7 16. Bf5 Qe7 17. Bc2 d4 18. Nf5 Qd8 19. g4 dxe3 20. fxe3 Ne7 21. Nf3 Nxf5 22. Bxf5 Bg6 23. Bxg6 hxg6 24. Rd1 Qe7 25. Rd3 Bb6 26. Qb3 Rc6 27. Kf1 Qc7 28. Rc3 Ne4 29. Qd5 Nxc3 30. bxc3 Qg3 31. Ra2 Rd8 32. Qe4 Rf6 33. Rf2 Rd1+ 34. Ke2 Rxc1 35. Qe8+ Kh7 36. Ng5+ Kh6 37. Nxf7+ Rxf7 38. Rxf7 Re1+ 39. Kd2 Bxe3+ 40. Kc2 Qg2+ 41. Kb3 Qd5+ 42. c4 Qd3+ 43. Ka4 Qxc4+ 44. Kxa5 b6++
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 d6 5. Nc3 exd5 6. cxd5 g6 7. e4 Bg4 8. Qb3 Qc8 9. Bg5 Nbd7 10. Nd2 h6 11. Be3 Bh5 12. f3 g5 13. g4 Bg6 14. h4 (Too aggressive. It would be better to castle queenside and keep developing. 14...gxh4 15. Rxh4 Ne5 16. Bb5+ Ke7 17. 0-0-0 Bg7 18. Be2 b6 19. Kb1 a6 20. Qxb6 h5 21. g5 Nfd7 22. Qb3 f6 23. Rg1 f5 24. Rf1 fxe4 25. fxe4 Rb8 26. Qa3 Rb4 27. Ka1 Qb7 28. Bxa6?
28...Qc7 29. Be2 Qb7 30. Nd1 Ra8 31. Qc3 Rba4 32. Bc4 Bh8
33. Bb3 Rb4 34. Bf4 c4 35. Bc2 Nd3 36. Bxd6+ Kxd6 37. Nxc4+ Rxc4 38. Qxd3 Ne5 39. Qd2 Rxc2 40. Qxc2 Qa6 41. b3 Qxf1 42. Kb1 Qe1 43. Rf4 Ra5 44. Qc1 Rc5 45. Nc3 Qxc1+ 46. Kxc1 Nd3+ 47. Kd2 Nxf4 48. 0-1
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Bd3 cxd4 7. cxd4 Bd7 8. Bc2 Bb4+ 9. Nc3 Nge7 10. O-O O-O 11. Ne2 Ng6 12. a3 Be7 13. b4 a5 14. Rb1 axb4 15. axb4 Rfc8 16. Bd2 Nxb4 17. Ne1 Ra5 18. Bd3 Ba4 19. Bc2 Qb5 20. Nc3 Bxc2 21. Nxc2 Qb6 22. Nxd5 Rxd5 23. Bxb4 Rb5 24. Bxe7 Nxe7 25. Rxb5 Qxb5 26. Ne3 Nd5 27. Qd2 Qc6 28. Rb1 b5 29. Qb2 Nxe3 30. fxe3 Qe4 31. Qxb5 Qxe3+ 32. Kf1 Qxd4 33. Qb8 Qc4+ 34. Kg1 h6 35. Qb2 Qe4 36. Qb7 Rc1+ 37. resigns.
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. e3 d5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Bd3 Bg4 6. Nbd2 e6 7. 0-0 Bd6 8. Qa4 c4 9. Bb1 a6 10. Re1 b5 11. Qd1 Qc7 12. h3 Bh5 13. e4 Be7 14. e5 Nd7 15. Nf1 b4 16. Ng3 Bg6 17. Ng5 Bxb1 18. Rxb1 h6 19. Nf3 Qa5 20. a3 bxa3 21. bxa3 0-0 22. Qc2 Rfb8 23. Nd2 Rxb1 24. Nxb1 Nxd4 25. Qd1 Nc6 26. Bf4
26...Rb8 27. Qg4 Ncxe5 28. Bxe5 Nxe5 29. Qf4 Bd6 30. Nh5 Qb6 31. Rf1 Qxb1 32. g4 Qd3 33. Kg2 Rb2 34. Re1 Ng6 35. Qxd6 Nh4+ 36. Kg1 Qxh3 37. 0-1
I just purchased the Travel Chess Set for the Blind or Those with Low Vision sold for $22.95 plus shipping by MaxiAids (www.maxiaids.com, phone 1-800-522-6294, TTY 1-800-281-3555). It arrived yesterday, and all I've had time to do with it is play through someone else's game, so I don't have a lot of experience with it yet. But I hope what I have learned will be of use to anyone looking for a very portable chess set.
My first reaction when I opened the box was, "It's cute!" and nothing has changed that impression. It is quite small — 4 1/4 by 8 7/8 inches and about an inch thick when folded--which is about the size of a thick paperback, but a little longer. I can put it in my purse, though my purse is the kind you can wear as a small backpack and has room for granola bars and other things needed to keep a small child going.
The board is made of wood. I'm not sure how sturdy it is, but I imagine it will hold up for quite a while. It has a metal clasp in the center of one of the long sides to hold it shut when you fold it, and the pieces fit inside. The hinges are inside, so they are underneath when the board is open. The black squares are raised above the white ones, so identifying them is no problem. Identifying some of the squares where the two halves of the board meet could be a little tricky because though the frame is smooth all the way around when the board is unfolded, for whatever reason, at one end the white squares on one half are flush with the black squares on the other. However, the black squares are smoother than the white squares, so that and the context of the board should help.
As with most adaptive chess sets, each square has a hole in the center, and the pieces have pegs on the bottom that fit in the holes. Some pieces fit tightly, while others are quite loose. I think the tight-fitting pieces will wear away the holes a bit, making for a looser fit over time.
While the board is small, it doesn't feel overly cramped to me. In fact, during the game I played through, I found the small size an advantage for quickly locating pieces.
The pieces are made of plastic, and I am less happy with them than I am with the board. The most annoying feature is that the white pieces have bumps instead of the black ones, which, of course, is the opposite of how the sets from the RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind People) are identified. I can imagine that this could lead to mistakes, particularly if I were under pressure. It's the sort of thing that would be fine most of the time but might be an issue every so often.
In addition, many of the pieces aren't as distinctive as in other sets. The pawns are a bit shorter than the pieces, but all the pieces are close to the same height. The knights are the most distinctive pieces; they look like print 7s on pedestals. The pawns and bishops look similar to one another, except that the bishops are a little more like balls on top of discs, while the pawns have a smaller top over a more flared pedestal. My husband said the bishops look like toadstools, and that's a reasonable description. The rooks look like towers and have four points on top; you can think of them as being at the northern, southern, eastern and western edges (the white rooks have an additional point in the middle). The queens are a similar shape, but they taper near the top. They have four or five points (depending on their color) in the same locations as the rooks, but because of the tapering, the points are much closer together. The kings are fairly distinctive; they have flat tops (except for the point in the middle of the white one), and they get wider near the top instead of tapering like the queens. Someone who has difficulty with manual dexterity might have some trouble distinguishing the pieces, but I've gotten used to them more quickly than I thought I would. I can pick up any piece and tell what it is now without trouble.
In short, while I doubt this will ever be my favorite chess set, I think it will be quite serviceable when I want something portable or if I need an extra board in a pinch.
Before I start with the presentation about rook endings, the Lucena position, let me first introduce myself. My name is Uwe, I am 30 years old and I moved from Germany to Toronto in April to do some volunteer work with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and the World Blind Union. I have played chess since my childhood. I learned this wonderful game during a project week in my school. Since that time I played some OTB tournaments and I'm planning to do this in the future too. But now let's switch over to the rook endings.
To study endings in general is one of the most important things when you want to improve your chess skills. Rook endings might be played most often when you look on the boards during the tournaments. That's why I want to present one of the important rook ending positions, the Lucena position. Maybe some of you studied this position before. Here's the notation. I will use the following symbols K for the King, R forr the Rook and P for the Pawn in this article. The plus sign after a move means check. Please set up your board like this:
As you can see we're talking about King + Rook against King + Rook + Pawn. The winning plan for white is to push the pawn to the 8th rank for a queen. But how can white achieve that?
Let's first consider what will happen if white tries to play 1. Kg7. Black answers with 1. ... Rg2+. After 2. Kf6 Rf2+ white has to move back with his king to g7 or g6 to protect his pawn. This is not the right way for white to proceed successfully. The king and the pawn need the help of the rook. White has two main things to arrange. To keep the opponent king away from the pawn and moving out the king from f8.
If the black king moves to e6 white just plays 2. Ke8 and the job is done.
The black king has to move to the C-file. Let's say c7. Once again 1. Rd1+ Kc7. The first part is done, keeping the opponent’s king away from the pawn! Now the second part.
Why? White can only move his king out from f8 when he can bring his rook between his king and the opponent’s rook. This method is called "Building A Bridge"! Let's see what's happening after 2. Rd4.
2. ... Rh2 3. Kg7 Rg2+ 4. Kf6 Rf2+ 5. Kg6 (not Kg7) 5. ... Rg2+ 6. Kf5 Rf2+ 7. Rf4.
That's it! White built the bridge and will push the pawn to f8 easily now. Of course this works also if white starts moving with king to e7 instead of g7.
This building the bridge idea works on the B-, C-, D-, E-, F- and G-files, but not on the A- and H-files. Because the white king on a8 or h8 can't move out of the corner without being check by the opponent’s rook.
Enough for this article now! I hope I could help you a little bit to understand the ideas behind the Lucena position. Finally, you find a game from the year 1941 between Botvinnik and Boleslavsky below. The comments in between are not from me. In this game the Lucena position appears at the end. When you're playing tournaments and you're not afraid to enter the ending you will sometimes have the possibility to create this position.
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. exd5 exd5 5. Bb5+ Nc6 6. Ngf3 Bd6 7. O-O Nge7 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. Nb3 Bb6 10. Be3 Bxe3 11. Bxc6+ bxc6
(11... Nxc6 12. Re1 d4 13. fxe3 (13. Nbxd4 {wins a pawn, Botvinnik missed this}) 13... dxe3 14. Rxe3+ Be6)
12. fxe3 O-O 13. Qd2 Qb6 14. Qc3 Rb8
{Temporarily preventing the occupation of c5. White in his turn immediately insures the possibility of Nc5}
15. Rab1 Re8 16. Rfe1
{This move in the Nimzowitsch style - "overprotection" of the e-pawn throws away a good 50% of White's advantage} (16. Nc5 Nf5 17. Rfe1)
16...Ng6{The correct plan. In conjunction with ... Bg4 Black gains the central e5 square for his Knight}
17. Nc5 Bg4 18. Nd4
({It was hardly possible to play} 18. b4 Bxf3 19. Nd7 Qc7 20. Nxb8 Nh4)
18... Ne5 19. b4 Rbd8 20. e4
{White chooses another plan, leading to lively combinational play, but less in accordane with the nature of the position. By exchanging the e-pawn White opens up the e-file for pressure on the adverse knight. But on the other hand, Black gets counterplay on the d-file.}
(20. Nde6 Bxe6 21. Qxe5 {The struggle would have been simplified, but White would also have firmly established himself on dark squares})
20... dxe4 (20... f6
{reinforcing the Knight. The exchange at e4 aids the development of White's initiative})
21. Rxe4 a5{This move is very risky, of course, as it allows the sortie Qg3 with an attack on two pieces}
22. a3 (22. Qg3 Rxd4 (22... axb4 23. Rxe5) (22... f6 23. Rxg4 Nxg4 24.Qxg4 h5 (24... axb4 25. Nde6) 25. Qf4 (25. Qxh5 Re5) 25... axb4 26. Nde6 Qb5
{So Kotov's comment, in the special issue No. 9 of "64", to the 22nd move of this game, in which he states that 22. Qb3 leads to a win for White is without much justification})
23. Rxd4 axb4 24. Qc3 22... axb4 23. axb4 f6 24. Rbe1 Kh8
({Black has his last chance to consolidate the position with} 24... Bh5 {taking advantage of the fact that Nde6 is impossible} 25. -- Bf7 {The Bishop at f7 would have covered e6 and protected the Rook on e8. The last-mentioned circumstances is important because of the possible opening of the e-file})
25. Kh1 Bd7{Leads to the loss of a pawn but Black is already in great difficulties. It is difficult for Black to defend himself against 26. Ph3 followed by Nf3} (25... Bh5 26. Nde6 Rb8 27. Rxe5 fxe5 28. Qxe5) (25... -- 26. h3 Bd7 27. Nf3)
26. Nxd7 Rxd7 27. Qxc6 Qd8{Black's game is lost, but the struggle is not without interest}
28. Nf3 Rc7 29. Nxe5 fxe5{Now comes a combination which leads to a won Rook and pawn endgame}
(29... Rxc6 30. Nf7+ Kg8 31. Nxd8 Rxd8 32. c4 f5 33. Rf4) 30. Qxe8+ Qxe8 31. Rxe5 Qg8 32. Re8 Rxc2 33. Rxg8+ Kxg8 34. Rb1 $1 Kf7 35. b5
{White ties up the adverse King and Rook with the passed pawn and strengthens the position of his own King}
35... Ke6 36. b6 Rc8 37. h3({Also possible is} 37. Kg1) (37. b7 Rb8 38. Kg1 Kd6 39. Kf2 Kc7 40. Kg3 Rxb7 41. Rxb7+ Kxb7 42. Kf4 Kc6 43. Ke5 Kd7 {Probable draw})
37... Rb8 38. Kh2 Kd5 39. Kg3 Kc6 40. Kg4 Kb7{The rest of the game is simple exploitation of advantage}
40... Rb7 41. Re1 Rg8 42. Re6 Ka6 43. Kg5 Kb7 44. h4 Ka6 45. h5 Kb7 46. g4 Ka6 47. Kh4 Kb7 48. h6 gxh6 49. Rxh6 Rg7
{Now h6 is won for the King and the Black pawn is doomed}
50. Kh5 Ka6{Speeds up the loss of the pawn}
51. Rc6 Re7 52. Rc7 Re5+ 53. g5 Kxb6 54. Rxh7 Kc6
{The "struggle" could have been abandoned now}
55. Kh6 Kd6 56. g6 Re1 57. Rf7 Ke6 58. Rf2 Ra1 59. g7 Rh1+ 60. Kg6 Rg1+ 61. Kh7 Rh1+ 62. Kg8 Ke7 63. Re2+ Kd7 64. Re4
{Building the "bridge"}
64... Rh2 65. Kf7 {Black resigned} 65... Rf2+ 66. Kg6 Rg2+ 67. Kf6 Rf2+ 68. Kg5 Rg2+ 69. Rg4 {This is the idea behind white's 64.Re4!} 1-0
*****************Chess nut? That's right! A play on words, if you please from the Christmas song made popular by Mel Torme: "chestnuts roasting on an open fire." And believe me, since 1955 I've really been roasted more than not in the hundreds of games I've played since then!
As children, most of us may have been exposed to the book Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll in which, I think, the girl travels through all of her adventures on a gigantic chess board, encountering such characters as the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire cat, and who all else. But what does that have to do with the game itself? You tell me! I don't know!
My first real encounter with the game was in 1955 when I received a chess game from my parents for Christmas. And my older brother who had played in college, taught me the basic moves then, comparing it to two generals who commanded their armies--move out, attack, retreat, flank, sacrifice, bluff, and well, you know the procedures.
That particular board, even though some of the holes are slightly worn now, is still possibly my favorite board, measuring ten by ten inches with that one inch around the border, leaving each of the squares to be one inch. It has a non-skid bottom and is about half an inch thick. The pieces are about three quarters of an inch high--the Merrick board, I think it is called. It was sold at that time by the American Foundation for the Blind, and before their having discontinued dealing in such products, I was able to obtain a second box of the game pieces.
How many kids I may have taught the basics of the game, just as my brother had taught me, is hard to say. But I am sure that many of them fell in love with the game too. Three vivid remembrances: Bruce, my thirteen-year-old neighbor hung out at our house because, like me, he loved music. Bright! intelligent! after teaching him the game and using several practice games, from then on, I could never beat him.
Thinking that he might have been watching my tracing possible moves, I dared him to do it blindfolded. Well! Humiliation! and at my own kitchen table!
The father of another boy videoed his son playing me blindfolded after having taught him the game. Mr. Rucker said: "Hugh, you may be a better teacher than a player." And that is in his tape library somewhere forty years later.
And then my utter humiliation at the hands of my own eight-year-old son, Alan! After learning the game and several practice rounds, that young scamp added to my too many losses. That was as late as 1984. Even now, I can't beat him! Time to take action! Something is definitely wrong!
According to Bob Rathbun, chess instructor at Hadley School for the Blind, the school had offered a chess course earlier than when he came on the scene. But seemingly the study material was not all that good, and Bob took over the course in 1999. Hence, the first five students to complete the current course in 1999-2000 were Debbie McKenzie, Cliff Smales, Jim Riley, Bill Rivera and myself. Cliff and Jim are out of action at present. But who knows? They may swing back into action before too long.
As for me? I thoroughly enjoy the game even after more than fifty years, more than likely having lost twice as many as I ever won. But not until I took the chess course, to hopefully boost my confidence, did I know how to score games. Confidence? Well, the story is still the same! But sooner or later, my skills must assert themselves and maybe I'll move a few rungs higher on the USBCA ladder.
For those who know the game even now, you couldn't go wrong in signing up for the Hadley chess course. Who knows? You might even learn something you may not have known. Upon successfully completing the course with a final exam playing Bob himself, you get to keep the game board which is furnished with the course, but there are also the invaluable study materials themselves and a two-year membership in USBCA. Who knows then? You might join the parade of those even now who love to watch me squirm.
End of Challenger.