Ponterotto's Psychobiography of Fischer

The paperback arrived today from Amazon.uk, less than a week after ordering it. Total cost with shipping is about $43. Excellent is not superlative enough a word to describe the analysis and readability of this work. The Author's Note, Preface and Acknowledgments really demonstrate the seriousness and thoroughness of his research into Fishcher's mental state and its development. The shocker to me was the actual cooperation afforded to the author by the FBI answering Freedom of Information Act requests and even arranging for him to be given permission to publish an early FBI photo of his mother found in the file. 

For anyone interested in what made/allowed Fischer to rise to chess greatness only to sink in to an abyss of illness, you can't not have this book in your library.

http://www.amazon.com/Psychobiography-Bobby-Fischer-Joseph-G/dp/0398087423/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1430340385&sr=8-1&keywords=ponterotto+fischer

Chess and Math Champ--Mathematical Kangaroo

Allison is a good chess player too. I played White against here in Burlington and had her even according to the computer until a "senior moment" struck and I made a major blunder. Congratulations to her on her maths competition success!! See below for details.

Mathematical Kangaroo is the most participated international scholastic mathematical competition. The goal of this contest is to introduce students from Grade 1 through Grade 12 to the challenges of mathematics and to test their logical reasoning and analytical thinking. Conceived by educators in Australia and France in 1980-s, by now Mathematical Kangaroo encompasses more than 6 million students from more than 50 countries. This contest is presently held in 38 U.S. states and 9 Canadian provinces. In 2015, young Canadians took part in this contest in English and French in the following cities: Calgary, Charlottetown, Chicoutimi, Coquitlam, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Guelph, Halifax, Kelowna, Lethbridge, London, Montréal, Mississauga, North Bay, North York, Orillia, Ottawa, Red Lake, Regina, Rimouski, Saint John, Scarborough, Sherbrooke, St. Catharines, St. John's, Sudbury, Sydney, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Vancouver, Waterloo, and Winnipeg.

The final results and the national / regional honour rolls were published today. I am proud to announce that Allison Tsypin, taking part inMathematical Kangaroo for the first time this year, became the absolute champion in the "Elementary Grade 6" division. Allison has achieved the perfect score and won the title "First in Canada" and the Montréal Gold Medal.

        http://kangaroo.math.ca/index.php?kn_mod=results&year=2015&local=true&grade=0&city=Montreal

Might It Be Cataracts??!!

Such a putz I can be playing chess. How did I manage to not see the hanging Knight on move 14? So it goes. A fun game anyway! Come out and play chess on Tuesday evenings, 6 to 10, at NEK Vapor in Lyndonville, VT. It looks like we will be moving to The Grindstone Cafe in the near future. Stay tuned.........

[Event "Lyndonville Chess Club"]
[Site "NEK Vapor"]
[Date "2015.04.28"]
[Round ""]
[White "Mike Chadburn"]
[Black "Brian, Lafferty"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "4-28-2015"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Qc2 Ne7 6. e3 d5 7. Bd2 c6 8. c5
Ng6 9. Bd3 O-O 10. a3 Bxc3 11. Bxc3 Ne4 12. Bxe4 dxe4 13. Qxe4 Qd5 14. Ng5 Qxe4
15. Nxe4 f5 16. Nd6 f4 17. O-O f3 18. g3 Bd7 19. Nxb7 Ne7 20. e4 Rab8 21. Nd6
Nc8 22. Nxc8 Rbxc8 23. Bd2 Rce8 24. Bf4 Bc8 25. Rfe1 Ba6 26. Re3 Be2 27. b4 Rd8
28. Be5 Rd7 29. Rb1 a6 30. a4 Ra7 31. Rb2 Rfa8 32. h4 a5 33. b5 cxb5 34. axb5
a4 35. b6 Ra6 36. b7 Re8 1-0

Evening Chess At The Grindstone Cafe, Lyndonville VT??

It may be happening. The Lyndonville Chess Club that meets at the NEK Vapor shop is in discussion with the Grindstone Cafe owners and Grindstone Denizens for use of the Grindstone's space to meet and play chess in on Tuesday evenings. This has the potential to raise significantly the awareness level of chess in Lyndonville and environs given the cafe's location on Depot Street in the heart of Lyndonville's business district. There are several of us retirees who already play during the day in The Grindstone. Expanding play there is a natural progression.

I've spoken with one of the cafe owners, Kim from Green Mountain Books. She is totally positive about chess at the Grindstone. We will likely need two or three regular volunteers to see to opening and closing for chess activity...........so, please volunteer!! I have.

Wesley So Ties With Caruna for 3rd/4th at Shamkir

A good result, though not what Wesley was looking for. Still, he did gain a few rating points and performed at a 2811 level. Carlsen, who won, performed at a 2981 level! Good to see Anand finishing a clear second.
http://en.chessbase.com/post/shamkir-final-round-undisputed-winner

Kasparov Trounces Short in St. Louis--The St. J. Parallel

Not even close, but Nigel shows his class with grace in defeat.
http://en.chessbase.com/post/battle-of-the-legends-2-2

And I know the feeling. There's a new blitz player coming to prison chess in St. J. who is unbeatable at five minutes for me. Must take him to NYC's Washinton Square Park when he's paroled. :-)

New Series of Well Funded Grandmaster Tournaments Unveiled

Should make for some really good chess. But, will the series become self-supporting and last beyond the funding of Gary and Rex..................? Let's hope so.
Info at
http://en.chessbase.com/post/new-million-dollar-grand-chess-tour-announced