Great to hear from you!

Good to hear from you. Hope all is well with you and yours.

Needs more callipygians.

Must be Sunday because I have easy by the commodores in my head. There are some decent covers out there. But the original stands the test of time imo.

https://youtu.be/7XcTyEKSnYg

(EDIT: Sadly I couldn't find a link to the image that worked. Google "The Netflix Effect The Queen's Gambit" and you will eventually find a list of statistics that show much the TV show sparked interest in chess.)

My wife posted this JPG on Facebook and a friend said, "Well, at least it's getting people to take up a constructive hobby".

That made me think, and continues to make me do so.

A few years before I discovered poker, I was obsessed with chess - I paid for lessons, read books, practiced on the internet, analyzed my games, was a member of the Dallas Chess Club etc. I never actually got any good - I routinely got beat by 9-year-old girls with their grandmaster coaches grinning behind them.

I don't feel like I accomplished a darned thing in my 2 or 3 years of playing chess.

Poker, on the other hand, has quantifiably and tangibly changed my life for the positive even though I never really got to the point where I could consistently make money at it. I don't have time to put my thoughts fully into words now, but the new perspectives I have on so many areas of life thanks to 8 years in the poker mindset cannot be simply dismissed.

I don't know, maybe I'm just wasting cyberspace, but I think it's interesting.

P.S. I really enjoyed the Queen's Gambit show. Don't expect it to be family-friendly just because it's about chess.

I think some chess is good for you. But it likely has diminishing benefits on long timelines.

Its a pastime. This summer I got really into golf. Lost 25 lbs in just a few months. My feet are pretty tough right now.

The 8-year-old who lives downstairs from us ( and with whose family we are bubbling) had already taken an interest in chess, and has been playing with my partner. His real passions are videogames and Minecraft, so he likely will not do the work to get good at chess, but if he decides to do so, he's got good connections: his mother used to be a horse in Bill Chen's stable, and so she is two degrees of separation away from Jen Shahade.

I don't know how to play chess -- that is to say, I know the moves of the pieces but have only minimal clue about actual strategy, and I am simply not willing to do the work it would require for me to get halfway-decent at it. I am working hard enough on poker, thank you very much.

We really loved the Netflix adaptation of The Queen's Gambit. The book has been a favorite of mine, and my partner's, for decades, and the TV series nailed it. Walter Tevis has a deep understanding of the game-player's life (he also wrote The Hustler and The Color of Money), and in this book he executed the mastery of writing a book that keeps you reading. Who the hell would have thought you could write a compelling page-turner about the Sicilian Defense, the Queen's Gambit declined, or fianchettoed bishops?

I wish Walter Browne had lived to see this. I miss him.

Cool story! I also like the fictional "The Luzhin Defense" and the biographical "The Queen of Katwe".

One funny complaint I have heard a few times is that some people think it is unrealistic for such a degenerate to excel at chess. Two of the greatest of all time, Alexander Alekhine and Mikhail Tal, were world class degenerates. Alekhine once lost his title because he was showing up to games so drunk that he could barely walk or stay conscious. And Tal was supposed to be a super nice guy who was mostly dysfunctional outside of chess.

I got super addicted to chess in 2016-2018 and have nothing much to show for it other than boosting my rating from 1230 to 1840 USCF. I eventually decided it was time to appreciate my skill and talent at a game (LHE) that actually makes me money.

The Queen's Gambit was amazing. I was so sad when it ended, as I really wanted more. It's awesome that it has sparked a chess boom on top of a chess boom, but I hope these kids don't feel like it's cool to party so hard. Today's top 10 is full of sober types who nonetheless have great personalities and happy lives. Magnus is an infinitely better role model than Beth Harmon.

Degens excel at poker; why not chess?

Just like in chess, the top 10 in poker are super sober focused people.

Chess later in life (post elementary school) is a good brain exercise.

Chess early in life is a good way to become smarter and a better academic I believe.

I've been getting into backgammon lately myself. It's like halfway between poker and chess. It's more tactical and less variance than poker. But it still has plenty of variance which makes it more exciting than chess and not as stressful.

There was a dearth of online options tot play but then backgammongalaxy.com came along and it is a fantastic online implementation of the game. Free, no bullshit gatcha elements (fake gold coins etc) and focused on player improvement. Reminds me of lichess.com or chess.com.

A leo doc sighting! That brings back fond memories.

HB, how's mom holding up?

Well enough, all things considered, thanks for asking. If she makes it through this virus thing I think she's got big, big plans for the Wheel of Fortune slot machine. She's 'up' quite a bit since she's had to stay away.

Freedom is relative.

Sanity is underrated.

Rarely have I felt that I possessed as much of both as I do today. Wheeee.

In other words I just spent a week in the looney bin. Its good to be back.

For real?

Hope you're feeling better.

Yes it was a pretty tight ship. Few girl squabbles but nothing serious.

https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/8...anger-1783116/

very relevant.