Friday, March 11, 2022

Interesting Endgame

Play chess online

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Mate in 3 chess problem from the Netflix series "The Queen's Gambit".



I have not yet watched the Netflix series, "The Queen's Gambit", but in episode 6 this composed chess problem was presented to the character Beth Harmon to solve. White to play and mate in 3 moves. I saw it on a youtube video. Almost every chess game in that show has been analyzed extensively on youtube.

Composed mate in 3 problems can be quite difficult to solve, but I've solved this one faster than any composed mate in 3 that I have solved before. Like 20 seconds. The Black pieces have few moves available making the puzzle easier. I asked myself, what would happen if the Black King ran away to h6 or f8, or what if the Black King just ended up on its original square?

Some really difficult composed chess problems have taken me 30 to 60 minutes to solve. I have a knack for Mate in 2 problems, but Mate in 3's can be exponentially more complicated.

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Thursday, July 9, 2020

Reminder: Chess online tonight!

On Thursdays, for at least a few weeks, I will be available from 5 to 9 EST to play online at this page on chess .com:  https://www.chess.com/club/columbus-chess-club

This is a page that you can join.

We usually get between 2 to 5 players.  I suggest trying to rotate players.  You can use the "Members" link to see who is online and challenge them.  It is helpful to become friends with other members so as to see their games and more easily challenge them.

I hope that everyone is healthy and safe.

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Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Anniversaries.

I first went to the Columbus Chess Club 44 years ago *today*. The club started in either 1972 or 1973.

Yesterday, at the Greenwood Chess Club, we celebrated our 4th anniversary.

Best wishes,

John Coffey