So THAT explains it

The Streatham Brixton Chess Blog picked out some highlights from a Carlsen interview in the G-Star newspaper.

There are a few funny quotes from Magnus: I'm not very good at smiling - when I smile I make some strange gesture instead, he says.

Today's The Day!

In a little under four hours, Magnus Carlsen will be playing against a few top GMs and the rest of the world online. If you haven't already, check out the match site. I played a bit of the test run earlier this morning, and it was pretty fun.

One interesting thing I noticed was that voting options seemed to be limited to the suggestions of the 3 GMs. This should help the world avoid massive blunders. I'll likely be voting with Nakamura. He's probably the best in the world as the time control gets more aggressive, and with a minute per move, it's not exactly blitz but it will be quick enough to play to his strengths in that respect.

I'm kind of concerned that the world will make a mistake by not following up with a critical plan, in favor of a superficially "better" move that loses. For example, we have to lock down the queen side to prevent counter-play before launching a winning king side offensive. But that requires 3 pawn moves to close the position, and it is a subtle concept. The world may be tempted to start its attack prematurely, and become vulnerable.

That's just pure speculation, though. I really have no idea how it will play out. I'm just hoping for a good game!

(and secretly hoping Magnus beats us)

50 Chess Blogs

Dennis Monokroussos blogs about a list he found of 50 chess blogs. I'll update my blogroll after combing through them a bit.

Well, I've been lazy. I haven't been keeping to my plan of review and study. I've played more games in the past week or so than I can realistically go over in a reasonable time frame. I noticed that at the same time, I was starting to fall into some old habits. Moving too quickly, not looking at the whole board, and just generally not playing to the level of knowledge and skill I have developed.

So I decided to take a break from playing for a bit. After finishing up my turn based games, I'll recommit myself to the plan I outlined but never stuck to. I withdrew from the first round of a tournament that had just started, not really realizing that my rating would drop 50 points when I forfeited my games. Back below 1200. :(

While it sucks to have to take such drastic measures, my long term development as a player requires some discipline.