Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Free Software for Small Swiss Tournaments

The current version can be freely used for any chess tournament with not more than 30 players. Here are a couple of screenshots of a small Swiss tournament I created using Vega.

Crosstable
 
Performance Rating

 

Sevilla is a tournament management program for various games and sports with two players or teams competing per match. Originally it was designed for Chess and other sports with a maximum of three results (win, draw, loss) but now it supports minor scores. This makes Sevilla now a perfect competition manager for Football, Basketball, Chess team and most other leagues, too. Sevilla runs on Microsoft Windows based systems. It was tested on Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Friday, December 20, 2013

Chess Openings Wizard Express

     This program is the successor to the original Bookup and it  is supposed to help you learn opening theory as well as build your own opening repertoire.   You can also analyze games with its engine. E-books about specific openings, defenses, middlegames, endgames and tactics complied by Grandmasters are also available.
     Basically Chess Openings Wizard is a positional database. This is different from a game database in that it stores each position and finds transpositions and this is what makes it good for keeping track of opening theory.
     You can:
* Sample opening e-books
* You can search all your PGN games simultaneously.
* Positional trees show evaluations of all your games
* You can also compare your internet games to all your theory
* Create and export clear .bmp diagrams of any position
     If you play Internet games, with Chess Openings Wizard you can save your game to your game database and then import the game into your repertoire and it will show you where the new move was played. There is also a professional version Program. You can try it for free from Bookup.
     The free version includes (for the first 30 days) some of the features of the registered Express version. That said, programs like Shredder, Fritz and Aquarium have similar features so basically, all this program does is to help you organize and analyze your opening preparation.



Personally, I think Chess Assistant is the better buy and version 14 is now out. You can compare features of both CA versions HERE.



If you are an average player and looking for FREE then ChessBase Light can still be found for free download. This old (2009) program can be useful but it is limited to 8,000 games per database. Within the 8,000 games barrier there is no limit to save, copy, convert, annotate, print, search, analyze, merge and classify games. Available at Chess Kit.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Grandmaster Preparation: Positional Play by Jacob Aagard


 
The Grandmaster Preparation series is designed for the ambitious. All of the books in the series are workbooks. The chapters consist of short introductions to specific themes followed by dozens of illustrative problems to solve. Positional Play is different in that it is a training plan for improving positional awareness based on three questions:

(1) Where are the weaknesses?
(2) Which is the worst-placed piece?
(3) What is your opponent’s idea?

The first chapters in the book take up these questions starting with illustrative analyses of the questions. Then there follows problems for the reader to solve. The book concludes with 150 problems and detailed solutions. The themes are mixed...no hints as to what you a looking for!  When it comes to the positional themes, the solutions are very clear and complete but there is one caveat: sometimes things that are clear to strong players aren’t to those of us with lesser abilities and on occasion the author assumes things will be equally clear to his readers also. Sometimes he leaves you to work through small tactical problems on your own...probably not all bad though! What that means is you will have to do some serious work. Recommended to players over 1800; maybe somewhat lower if you want to put in some effort.

Game Table w Reversible Game Board




You deserve it!
Reversible game board, all game pieces, cards and cribbage are included. Single drawer for game pieces has brass finish hardware. Curved legs and fine details add interest and visual appeal. Sophistication meets fun and function with this stunning piece. Reversible game board inset top lets you switch easily between games. * Selected solid woods and choice cherry veneers. Reversible game board inset top, one side chess and checkers and the other backgammon. All game pieces provided including cribbage and cards. Drawer with antique brass finished hardware . 29 in. W x 22.5 in. D x 31 in. H

Amazon Deals on Laptops

Cyber deals with low prices and sales on laptops and tablets Some deals are in limited supply, and all will go quickly--but don't worry if you miss one, because we'll keep adding new ones. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our daily deals e-mails so you don't miss a thing.



Non-Chess Books

Tactics

Software and Openings