Category Archives: Chess

En Passant VIII

Posted on April 28, 2023 by Persiflage

Coffee in Hyde Park: I had the misfortune of being stuck in down town Hyde Park needing a coffee without access to a car. I started at Sip and Savour where I ordered a cortado. They did not know what … Continue reading →

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Vale instantchess.com

Posted on February 27, 2020 by Persiflage

One of the few time wasting activities I still indulge in is speed chess. (1 minute per player for the entire game is the slowest time control I play online.) There are a number of excellent free online sites available, … Continue reading →

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Me versus Magnus

Posted on April 2, 2017 by Persiflage

I’ve recently been distracting myself with the new Magnus Carlsen “app,” a free chess app for the iPhone whose distinguishing feature is that it tries to play “like” Magnus did at various ages. It does seem like a very tricky … Continue reading →

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What is my Kasparov Number?

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Persiflage

This has been a fun week in sport, what with England slaughtered at the Gabbatoir and Anand sliced up by Carlsen’s endgame magic. The latter games were fascinating if not necessarily exciting per se; consisting more of slow grinds rather … Continue reading →

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Gerookte paling op de Albert Cuypmarkt

Posted on July 22, 2013 by Persiflage

My mother grew up in, as she would affectionately say, the rat infested slums of Amsterdam (complete with tales of giant rats crawling inside the toilet bowl and sleeping two to a bed). I finally had the chance to visit … Continue reading →

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Winning the Chocolate

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Persiflage

Once a month, there is an (unrated) round robin blitz tournament at the Evanston chess club. The time controls are set on five minutes (a little slow for me, I usually play one minute games online), but it’s nice to … Continue reading →

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