Chess by Shelby Lyman on September 5, 2015 – 12:01 AM For both the novice and master, the seemingly eccentric knight poses special difficulties. For the beginner, especially a child, explanations of how the “horse” moves are often befuddling....
Chess was used to train young princes
Shelby Lyman on Chess: Instrument of Survival Sunday, August 16, 2015 (Published in print: Sunday, August 16, 2015) Yuri Averbach, a former Soviet champion and the world’s oldest grandmaster at 93, is also a chess historian. Assuming that chess...
Lyman on Chess: Who’s White, Who’s Black?
Shelby Lyman on Chess: Who’s White, Who’s Black? Column c2244 Sunday, August 2, 2015 (Published in print: Sunday, August 2, 2015) The usual association of chess with war seems inevitable. Generals and leaders, including Napoleon, Robert E. Lee and...
The Pieces Are the Thing
Shelby Lyman on Chess: The Pieces Are the Thing Column c2243 for release July 20 Sunday, July 26, 2015 (Published in print: Sunday, July 26, 2015) For kids, chess sets are no-brainers. They’ll play with anything that’s available, whether...
Mankind’s hegemony doomed by computers
Chess by Shelby Lyman on July 11, 2015 – 12:01 AM Once the modern computer entered the realm of chess, mankind’s hegemony was doomed. Before computers, there existed the Turk, a so-called automaton propelled by a mysterious mechanism which...
Chess and War
Chess by Shelby Lyman on July 4, 2015 – 12:01 AM Monarchs and military leaders – Peter the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte and Robert E. Lee among them – have shown an affinity for the board game called chess. It...
A Calculating Machine
Shelby Lyman on Chess: A Calculating Machine Sunday, June 7, 2015 (Published in print: Sunday, June 7, 2015) For Sammy Reshevsky, a former child prodigy like his nemesis Bobby Fischer, the loss of the American title to Fischer in...
Sammy the Great Legend
Shelby Lyman on Chess: Sammy the Great Sunday, May 31, 2015 (Published in print: Sunday, May 31, 2015) A historic prodigy himself, Samuel “Sammy” Reshevsky ruled the American chess scene until Bobby Fischer won the U.S. championship in 1958...
Male Chauvinist Beliefs
Shelby Lyman on Chess: Vive la Difference Sunday, May 24, 2015 (Published in print: Sunday, May 24, 2015) Not everyone will agree with the notion that women’s brains are wired differently, as recently put forth by English grandmaster Nigel...
Pawn-in-Mouth Disease
Shelby Lyman on Chess: Pawn-in-Mouth Disease Sunday, May 17, 2015 (Published in print: Sunday, May 17, 2015) Nigel Short, the usually witty and insightful English grandmaster, plunged off a very high cliff into a very dark void beset with...