CHESS FOR BETTER BRAIN

Chess Builds Better Brains: 18 of the Best iOS Chess Apps to Improve Your Game (And Your Mind)

Posted on March 31, 2013http://seanhamptoncole.wordpress...by Sean Hampton-Cole

 

 

 

 

 

 

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CHESS AND YOUNG MINDS

I love chess. I love what the game does for the brain. Chess isn’t a game for smart people… chess makes you smart. The cerebral battle over the checkered board develops mental acuity and whole-brain thinking . It just takes a little bit of study and a whole lot of practice.

Only a chess player knows the bone-deep thrill of coming up with an astonishing move after a long, deep analysis. Only a wood-pusher understands the deep compliment of having a commentator annotate a move with an exclamation mark. (Oh joy! Oh wonder!) An exceptional move is always a deeply innovative solution to a complex problem.

Chess encourages both logical deduction and creativity, both narrow analysis and the synthesis of multiple variables into an elegant solution. Chess players are intentional and reflective thinkers – capable of startling those in the know with innovative and unusual combinations. No wonder then that it has been touted for so long as an educational tool.

There are numerous studies which show the strong correlation between mental agility and chess. For my money, the correlation is strong enough to prove at least a partial causal relationship. I am so convinced of this that I began a chess programme in our school two years ago. I am still in the process of evaluating the long-term effects of exposing students to chess in an academic context, but so far the results look promising.

CHESS AND THE IPAD

The idevices love education. And the idevices love chess. For reasons I mentioned in a previous post, touching a screen by-passes the usual user-interface devices and provides for a more immediate experience . With chess, tablet devices and touch screen technology provides the closest simulation of the experience of playing a living opponent. This means that the benefits are also more immediately tangible.

The apps which follow can each assist everyone from novices to aspiring masters in honing and developing their chess playing abilities. Chess is not something to be afraid of – anyone can learn, at any age. Whoever you are, the following iOS apps will go a long way towards improving your game… and improving your mind.

Asmaul Husna - Sharifah Khasif (Official Video Original HD)

EYE THE CLOCK

Keeping Eyes on the Clock as Well as the Board

By DYLAN LOEB McCLAIN

Published: June 1, 2013

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Time controls, which require players to make a minimum number of moves in a prescribed amount of time (40 moves in two hours is common), keep games from becoming unreasonably long. But they can cause a player to forfeit if the time limit is exceeded.

Position after 25 … Qc6; click to replay

Competitors can fall into that trap if they are not well prepared in openings. That often tripped upSamuel Reshevsky, an eight-time United States champion, though he once offered this defense: “By playing slowly during the early phases of a game, I am able to grasp the basic requirements of each position.”

“Then, despite being in time pressure, I have no difficulty in finding the best continuation,” he added. “Incidentally, it is an odd fact that more often than not, it is my opponent who gets the jitters when I am compelled to make these hurried moves.”

In an effort to prevent time-related forfeitures, special clocks have been designed to add up to 30 seconds of time to a player’s total after each move. Other clocks provide a grace period, typically 5 or 10 seconds, before they resume counting down. Some tournaments do not use the clocks, and even when they are part of the competition, players can still squander time advantages.

Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine has run into that problem twice in recent months. In theCandidates Matches tournament in London in March, Ivanchuk, who is ranked No. 12 in the world, lost four games by running out of time.

He did it again on May 24 at the Fourth Grand Prix tournament in Thessaloniki, Greece,losing in Round 3 to Leinier Domínguez Perez of Cuba, No. 25. Ivanchuk had built up a slight advantage until Domínguez made a huge blunder in Move 22, after which Ivanchuk’s advantage seemed to be overwhelming. But he lost it as his time ebbed away.

Domínguez’s big mistake was 22 ... Kh8 — the move 22 ... Qa2 would have been better — and Ivanchuk immediately took advantage with 23 Bc7. It would have been a mistake for Domínguez to play 23 ... Rc7 because after 24 Re8 Kh7 25 Qd6, threatening 26 Nf6, White would have been close to checkmate.

But Ivanchuk was in trouble with his time by Move 26, which might have been why he missed playing 26 Be5, when the threats of 27 Qh6 and 27 Qf7 were overwhelming.

Ivanchuk overlooked another beneficial move when he played 31 Bc7. Instead, 31 Ng7 would have led to a winning edge after 31 ... Rd6 32 Qe8 Kh7 33 Nh5 Qe1 34 Qe1. (Black could not take the knight without being mated.)

Ivanchuk’s final blunder was 37 f4. Domínguez could then take Ivanchuk’s knight, and he would have had no compensation for his material deficit.

Ivanchuk forfeited after Move 39 because he ran out of time.

A version of this article appeared in print on June 2, 2013, on page A17 of the New York edition with the headline: Keeping Eyes on the Clock As Well as the Board.

CHEATS WILL BE LOSERS

Player Suspected of Cheating Is Suspended for 4 Months

By DYLAN LOEB McCLAIN

Published: July 13, 2013

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The Bulgarian player many people suspect of cheating in tournaments over the past year — though the accusations have never been proved — has been suspended from playing for four months by his national federation.

Position after 16 … Ra6; click to replay

The player, Borislav Ivanov, was punished after he did not show up for a Bulgarian Chess Federation test of his skills at the board. The federation, which said most of Ivanov’s moves in recent tournaments had matched those of the leading computer chess programs, also wanted him to take a polygraph test.

Ivanov has been a controversial figure among Bulgarian chess players, many of whom have been boycotting tournaments in which he participated.

In his last tournament, in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria, in early May, the organizers changed the rules to deny a prize to any competitors who won three or more games because their opponents refused to play. Three of Ivanov’s opponents forfeited, and although he finished at the top of the standings, he went home empty-handed.

Ivanov has received the most attention as chess federation officials around the world havefocused on cheating, but the crackdown continues, involving even the youngest of players. Last month, a 12-year-old Russian was expelled from a tournament in Bulgaria when he was discovered using a computer program on his cellphone during a game.

Part of what has convinced top players that Ivanov, a master, was cheating was the way he behaved at the board. Axel Rombaldoni, who became a grandmaster just after the tournament in Veliko Tarnovo, lost there to Ivanov in Round 7. In an interview published on Chessbase.com, he said he knew of Ivanov’s reputation but did not want to forfeit.

Rombaldoni said Ivanov played quickly and did not seem to take much time to think. Kiril Georgiev, this year’s Bulgarian champion, also mentioned Ivanov’s speed after he lost to him in April at the Second Memorial Bogomil Andonov tournament in Kyustendil, Bulgaria.

“From the start of our game until the very end, it was obvious to me that Ivanov was not behaving as a chess player usually does,” Rombaldoni said. “He was looking at the board, the clock, his score sheet, but he never calculated moves and variations.”

Rombaldoni said that Ivanov’s eighth move was unusual, but that it was the top choice of computer programs he consulted after the game.

After his 16th move, Rombaldoni offered Ivanov a draw. “He said nothing, but just made a face, as if suggesting that it was completely winning for him and my draw offer was unreasonable,” Rombaldoni said.

“I believe that it is possible for a very strong player to match top engine moves at a high rate in one, two or even three separate games,” he said. “But it’s impossible in every single game.”

A version of this article appeared in print on July 14, 2013, on page A22 of the New York edition with the headline: Player Suspected of Cheating Is Suspended for 4 Months.

Chess moves are life moves: Zuma - SouthAfrica.info

Chess moves are life moves: Zuma - SouthAfrica.info

haze it away 1

How to protect your body against the haze

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Wednesday, Jun 19, 2013
The Straits Times
By Shefali Srinivas

SINGAPORE - Even a little haze can harm the body over the long term.

A healthy immune system is probably the best antidote against haze-related health problems, according to naturopathic health principles.

Breathing problems stem from the minute particles of ash found in the haze here. Meteorologists call these particles PM10, although the PSI readings also take into account five other pollutants.

Breathing in too much PM10 increases the risk of heart attacks and heart failure, lung cancer and strokes. It can also make people more susceptible to viral and bacterial infections.

Most healthy people may experience mild eye irritation, sore throat or cough from the pollutants.

While it can seem impossible to keep healthy when the air one breathes is itself hazardous, a few simple measures can help beef up the body's innate protective systems, said Dr Sharita Rowbottom, a United Kingdom-qualified naturopath . Her first suggestion is to drink a little more water than usual, to help the kidneys flush out the toxins absorbed through the skin and lungs.

She also advises cutting down on coffee and alcohol, which promote fluid loss and leach nutrients from the body.

The body makes excess mucus in reaction to infections such as coughs, colds and the flu. But excess mucus is produced also when an allergic reaction causes the lining of the airways to become inflamed.

So in such times, it might be useful to restrict foods that promote mucus production. Dr Rowbottom names dairy products as foods to avoid.

Drinking plenty of water will also help thin the mucus so that it moves more easily.

14 health tips to beat the haze

Click on thumbnail to view. Story continues after photos.
(Photos: Various sources)

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