Chess Publishing

Kasparov - Topalov, Wijk aan Zee, 1999

2011-10-26T10:33:00.000-07:00

This may be the best game of Garry Kasparov. I use it to demonstrate some of the possibilities of the Chess Game Viewer. Another example of this game viewer with two chess boards and more NAG symbols can be found here, but it can also be used for puzzles like a mate in two problem.

One of Garry's best games.

Chess

2011-03-06T08:36:00.001-08:00

Chess taken from a very low perspective, Free Creative Common by Μøỳαл_Bгεлл

Dynamic HTML Chess PGN Viewer

2011-02-10T10:46:00.000-08:00

Recently this site was mentioned at Chess Improvement, which made that I had a look at this site and found two examples of the use of a the Dynamic HTML Chess PGN Viewer on a WordPress site. The most interesting example was this game. This looks like a very nice and promising way to publish chess games on a blog, but at first sight there are three rather large disadvantages:

You have to be able to host the pgn, javascript, php and html files on a site.
PHP has to be supported on this site
The use of an iframe to get this done, makes that all the code has to be loaded within each iframe

Summarize: I think that this can not be used on a blogspot/blogger site, but if you host your own WordPress site it may be interesting to further look at this alternative.

It's probably not needed to mention here, but in case you are new and haven't read the previous posts: The BlogSpot Chess Game Viewer from this site can be used on these Blogger/Blogspot sites.

Library chess set

2010-11-27T10:49:00.001-08:00

This photo was taken on March 5, 2008 by Muffet. She wandered into the Young Adult room of the local library. They had a nifty chess set on the table. Since she was the only person in the room, she stopped and took this picture.

All sizes of this photo are available for download under a Creative Commons license.

Chess Game Viewer

2010-10-03T05:19:00.000-07:00

This post demonstrates some of the possibilities of the Chess Game Viewer. It contains two chess boards as well as NAG symbols, comments and variations.

The remaining moves of this game will be shown in the second diagram for which I will use a different background.

Btw the game above is the game Lewis William - Wilson Harry Slater and it was played in 1819.

See the post about the Chess Game and Diagram Viewer and the links in this post if you want to learn how to publish chess games on your own site.

Tower Of London Chess Set

2010-10-01T09:05:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken on September 5, 2009 by DaveKav and published on Flickr. All sizes of this photo are available for download from his photosteam under a Creative Commons license, but some rights are reserved by DaveKav.

This is a very beautiful chess set, but it's so beautiful that it probably prevents me to think about the moves.

Chess Game and Diagram Viewer

2010-05-30T09:51:00.000-07:00

After a search for a suitable chess game viewer which was the initial goal of this website I started to create a new Chess Game Viewer. These efforts have resulted in both a Chess diagram viewer as well as a Chess game viewer.
The code for these viewers is still under development, but both can already be used. A link back to this site is appreciated.

If you want to use these viewers first have a look at how to configure the FEN viewer. If everything works fine then configure the Chess game viewer.
Please note that it isn't necessary to use the coded moves anymore, because the viewer is able to generate them, but you can still use them to improve performance (and for complex games).

The game viewer can be used for chess games, but also for chess puzzles, like a mate in two problem and it is possible to use NAG symbols.
It's also rather easy to configure the viewers. You can use your own chess board images or your own piece set.
It is possible to host everything on your own site even if you use blogspot. The previous two non-photo posts explain how to use the images uploaded by blogspot and how you can include the JavaScript in your own template.

Please have a look at some of the previous posts to get a better idea about the possibilities of these viewers and let me know if you have more unfulfilled wishes.

Start

2010-05-14T10:57:00.000-07:00

A white rook and knight at the starting position (cc) Chess Publishing

How to use images uploaded by Blogspot?

2010-05-11T10:30:00.000-07:00

To become really independent from other sites you may also want to use images of chess pieces that you have uploaded by Blogspot/Blogger and are stored in Picasa.

This can also be done.

Just create a new post. Add all the images that you need to this post and when you are finished save it without publishing. You may publish this post, but there is no need to bother the visitors of your site with a post of these images.
Now you have to edit the JavaScript code and edit the array urlpcs in such a way that it contains the urls to the pieces you have uploaded in the previous step.
In addition you'll have change the JavaScript code in such a way that the variable pcsdir gets the empty string value

There are some disadvantages:

It will not be easy to change the images you use between posts.
It will be more difficult to keep the JavaScript code up to date, but at this site I have done it as a kind of exercise (to check that it really worked).
It's a lot of work

But I still think that it's important that it can be done, even if it's currently not advised to do so. This in combination with including the JavaScript in your theme, makes that your site is running solely on Blogspot.

Wobble Chess Set

2010-05-09T02:42:00.000-07:00

Wobble Chess Set by See-ming Lee
All sizes of this photo are available for download on Flickr under a Creative Commons license

How to include the JavaScript in your own template?

2010-05-08T01:50:00.000-07:00

One of the initial requirements for our Chess Game Viewer was that it shouldn't depend on another site. Of course it is possible to host the JavaScript on your own site and a site like Google sites will be sufficient. However the intention of the original requirement was also that it should be possible to host the needed JavaScript on Blogspot.
It is rather easy to accomplish this.
I assume that you already have configured your site to use the FEN viewer and the Chess Game viewer. Then look for the line in your template that refers to the external JavaScript file.

Let's start by downloading the JavaScript file from this site. After downloading open the downloaded file with Wordpad and copy the following lines at the top of this file.

<script type='text/javascript'>
//<![CDATA[

Next we are going to add the following lines at the end of this file.

//]]>
</script>

And by now we only have to replace the following line in your blogspot theme by the content in our Wordpad editor.

<script src='http://sites.google.com/site/viewchessgame/js/gv.js'
type='text/javascript'/>

Before actually changing your template it will be a good idea to backup your full template.

So now you know what to do to include the necessary code within your template. I only advice you to wait a little longer or to replace the code with the new code in the future, because the Chess Game Viewer is still under development and improving all the time.

Chess pieces

2010-05-01T09:52:00.001-07:00

Some nice chess pieces, (cc) Chess Publishing

Mate in 262

2010-04-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

In addition to the post about the usage of other board images I just wanted to show you this special board. It's a combination of all the standard board images currently available.

It also shows that when you want to create your own board image you are not obliged to create 2x2 squares and you can even design a complete board.

The position, by the way, is really a mate in 262 and the first move of the solution is 1.Kd6.

Chess hat

2010-04-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

I'll hope this hat helps me to find the right moves

A new overview

2010-04-20T11:36:00.000-07:00

An overview of Chess Publishing methods has been published before, but this overview didn't include the ChessFlash PGN viewer of one of the previous posts.
In addition some of the previously discussed Chess Publishing methods just disappeared, which emphasizes the importance of one of the original requirements that it should not be dependent on another site.

Now let's first concentrate on the ChessFlash PGN viewer.

It offers a chess board that shows the position after each move
The moves are also shown
Clicking on a move shows the position on the board after this move
It doesn't offer autoplay
Variations in the moves are possible
It can deal with comments, but the comment at the start of a variation seems to be shown as belonging at the end of the previous move
There is a kind of puzzle mode, but this doesn't show the moves after the right answer is given
It is based on entering PGN
I think that it is not necessary to copy and paste all kind of code. The Quick Publisher can be seen as an additional nice tool. The original requirement "Without the need to copy and paste all kind of code" is probably met
It seems to depend on another site, but it will also be possible to host the player on your own site and a site like Google sites will do. However it will not be possible to limit ourselves to the Blogspot/Picasa combination.
It loads rather slow, especially when you publish more chess games on the same page like you may frequently do on a blog-site). This can partly be solved by means of a show/hide wrapper, but I don't like to hide the content of my posts
A separate PGN viewer is loaded for each chess game.
It doesn't really feel integrated and the moves are always shown at the right side or below the board, but not around the chess board.
The height and width is configurable, but the scrollbar at the right side remains.

So I think that the ChessFlash PGN viewer is a nice addition and I consider it as being better than Chesspublisher and Chesspastebin and the Chess Viewer Applet, but I still prefer the LT-PGN Editor and Viewer and certainly our own Blogspot Game Viewer, that has become a lot easier to use without the need for adding the coded moves.

Of course there may be other requirements (like selecting another chess set or board image) and some of the requirements above may not be important for your site so the order of chess game viewers may be different for you. It's rather easy to test them for yourself. Please share your findings in the comments.

Chess Ring

2010-04-19T10:47:00.001-07:00

I felt a bit creative today

ChessFlash PGN Viewer

2010-04-18T01:48:00.000-07:00

I have tried the ChessFlash PGN Viewer as you can see in this post. I still have to write a post about my findings and compare this chess publishing method with the other alternatives.

The original PGN with some formatting and color added for easier viewing:

[Event ""]
[Site ""]
[Date "2003.03.02"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Kasparov Garry"]
[Black "Kramnik Vladimir"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2847"]
[BlackElo "2807"]
[ECO "C88"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5

{The Ruy Lopez or Spanish opening}

3...a6 4.Ba4 Nf6

{Morphy Defence}

5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O

( {Another frequently played alternative is} 7...d6 {most of the time followed by} 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 12.Nbd2 {like in the 2000 game Kasparov - Piket which continued with} 12...Bd7 ( {but most of the time} 12...cxd4 ( {or} 12...Nc6 13.d5 ) 13.cxd4 {is played} ) 13.Nf1 cxd4 14.cxd4 Rac8 15.Ne3 Nc6 16.d5 Nb4 17.Bb1 a5 18.a3 Na6 19.b4 Ra8 20.Bd2 Rfc8 21.Bd3 Qb7 22.g4 g6 23.Nf1 axb4 24.axb4 Bd8 25.Ng3 Nc7 26.Qe2 Rxa1 27.Rxa1 Ra8 28.Qe1 Nfe8 29.Qc1 Ng7 30.Rxa8 Qxa8 31.Bh6 Nce8 32.Qb2 Qa4 33.Kg2 Bb6 34.Bc2 Qa7 35.Bd3 Qa4 36.Ne2 Nc7 37.Nxe5 dxe5 38.Qxe5 Nce8 39.Bxg7 Qd1 40.Bh6 Qxd3 41.Qe7 Ng7 42.Ng3 Qc2 43.Qf6 Nf5 44.Qxb6 Nh4+ 45.Kh2 Nf3+ 46.Kg2 Nh4+ 47.Kh2 Nf3+ 48.Kg2 Nh4+ 49.Kh2 {1/2-1/2} )

8.h3 Bb7 9.d3 d6 10.a3 Nb8 11.Nbd2 Nbd7 12.Nf1 Re8 13.Ba2 c6 14.Ng3 Bf8 15.Nf5 d5 16.d4 c5 17.dxc5 Nxc5 18.exd5 e4 19.N3d4 Bxd5 20.Bxd5 Qxd5 21.Bg5 Nfd7 22.Qg4 Ne5 23.Qg3 Ne6 24.Rad1 Nxg5 25.Qxg5 Qb7 26.Ng3 Nc4 27.Ndf5 Re6 28.b3 Nxa3 29.Rxe4 Rxe4 30.Nxe4 Qxe4 31.Nh6+ Kh8 32.Nxf7+ Kg8 33.Nh6+ Kh8 1/2-1/2

Chess players

2010-04-17T10:22:00.001-07:00

A small group of people intently watch a chess game unfold on the streets of Beijing.
All sizes of this picture are available on the photostream of Image Zen under a Creative Commons license.

Other chess pieces

2010-04-17T00:56:00.000-07:00

It is rather easy to use another set of chess pieces with this JavaScript Chess Game Viewer. In the next diagram I have used the Linares set, but you can use each of the Palview Chess sets, by just directing the pdir variable to the right location.
The easiest way to do this for the linares set is by adding the following line

pdir=vdir+'linares/';

but instead of linares you can also use: kingdom, alpha, boldlinares, leipzig, tilburg or merida.

If you want to use the same chess set all the time just add this line to your template. If you want to use it for a single board in a post then add it to the post.
Currently it isn't possible to use different chess sets for re-playable games on a single page, but it will be rather easy to implement this functionality if there is a real need for this. For static boards (by means of the FEN Viewer) each board already can use it's own chess set.

Linares on a blue chess board

Some other combinations can be found on the ViewChessGame site.

Chess sculpture

2010-04-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

Chess by Sanctu, cc

Using another board image

2010-04-11T10:59:00.000-07:00

It is possible to use another board image, by just assigning the location of this image to the brdimg variable.

This is demonstrated in the following example game between Alexander Mc Donnell and Louis Charles Mahe de la Bourdonnais, that has been played in 1834.

In the example above I have used brdimg=pcsdir+'wood29.jpg';
instead of wood29.jpg you may prefer to use another board image like:

blue29.jpg
borderline29.gif
cowderoy29.jpg
gray29.jpg
graystone29.jpg
green29.jpg
ivorygreen29.jpg
lightestgray29.jpg
lightgray29.jpg
marblebrown29.jpg
rob29.jpg
sepia29.jpg
slatebrown29.jpg
wood29.jpg

but it is rather easy to create you own background image and just point brdimg to this url.

Two more attention points:

If you always want to use another board image then add this javascript statement to your template.
If you only want to use it for one board then don't forget to set it back at the end of the javascript code in the post

Luxembourg, October 2009

2010-04-07T10:35:00.000-07:00

Luxembourg Chess, October 2009
by gwenael.piaser
All sizes of this photo are available for download on Flickr under a Creative Commons license.

NAG symbols

2010-04-02T07:34:00.000-07:00

New functionality

From now on it will be possible to use NAG symbols (Numeric Annotation Glyphs) like $1 and $15 in the chess game viewer, because these symbols have recently been added. Below you can find an example.
Please note the text that becomes visible when you place your mouse above one of the less trivial symbols.

The code used above is:
<script language='JavaScript'>Game('','',''1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 c6 {The Philidor Counterattack of the Bishop\'s Opening} 3.Qe2 d6 4.c3 f5 5.d3 Nf6 6.exf5 Bxf5 7.d4 $6 {<br />}( {I just have to show some NAG symbols and I think that} 7.Nf3 $1 {is a far better move.} ) {<br />} 7...e4 $1 $15 8.Bg5 d5 9.Bb3 Bd6 10.Nd2 Nbd7 11.h3 $6 h6 12.Be3 Qe7 13.f4 h5 14.c4 a6 $6 15.cxd5 $6 cxd5 16.Qf2 O-O 17.Ne2 b5 18.O-O Nb6 19.Ng3 g6 $10 20.Rac1 Nc4 21.Nxf5 gxf5 22.Qg3+ Qg7 23.Qxg7+ Kxg7 24.Bxc4 bxc4 $154 {A NAG symbol related to the bishops} 25.g3 Rab8 26.b3 Ba3 27.Rc2 cxb3 28.axb3 Rfc8 29.Rxc8 Rxc8 30.Ra1 Bb4 31.Rxa6 Rc3 32.Kf2 Rd3 33.Ra2 Bxd2 34.Rxd2 Rxb3 35.Rc2 h4 36.Rc7+ Kg6 37.gxh4 $158 {Have a look at the pawn structure} 37...Nh5 38.Rd7 Nxf4 39.Bxf4 Rf3+ 40.Kg2 Rxf4 41.Rxd5 Rf3 42.Rd8 Rd3 43.d5 f4 44.d6 Rd2+ 45.Kf1 Kf7 $15 46.h5 e3 47.h6 $4 $19 f3 $3 0-1',1,4);</script>

Chess Clocks

2010-03-27T03:10:00.000-07:00

Chess clocks

New functionality

2010-03-09T09:24:00.000-08:00

This blog started as a search for a good chess publishing method for Blogspot and other sites and now seems to end up as the home of a new chess publishing method, called the Blogspot Chess Game Viewer.
This method meets all original requirements, but now I know that I even have more wishes, so I am going to continue the development of this viewer. However I am still interested in alternative methods, because the main goal is still to find the ultimate chess publishing method. Earlier I have written this overview of Chess Publishing methods.

The main drawback of the first version of the Blogspot Chess Game Viewer was probably the use of the coded moves. In the latest versions these coded moves aren't necessary anymore and the coded moves are generated by the JavaScript itself, but at the moment there are still some known limitations with this coded moves generation.
In addition there is a (large) wishlist for new functionality, but I invite you to add more wishes in the comments on this post.

The biggest chess in the world!

2010-02-19T10:49:00.000-08:00

FiDi Chess by andrius.v
All sizes of this photo are available for download under a Creative Commons license

A published game without coded moves

2010-02-16T05:49:00.000-08:00

At first sight the next game is just another example of a game published with the Blogspot Chess game Viewer, but this time I left the coded moves out. This became possible, because I have added a coded moves generator to the JavaScript code. However there are still some known issues.

The code used above is:
<SCRIPT language='JavaScript' type='text/javascript'>Game('','','1.e4 c5 2.f4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Bb5+ Nc6 5.e5 a6 6.Bxc6+ bxc6 7.d3 Be7 8.c3 Nh6 9.O-O a5 10.d4 a4 11.Be3 Nf5 12.Qe2 c4 13.Qf2 Rb8 14.Bc1 Rb5 15.Nbd2 c5 16.Re1 h6 17.Nf1 cxd4 18.cxd4 g6 19.Ne3 Rg8 20.Nxf5 gxf5 21.Qc2 Bd7 22.Bd2 Bb4 23.Bc3 Rg4 24.Qd2 Qe7 25.h3 Rg7 26.Qf2 a3 27.Bxb4 Qxb4 28.bxa3 Qxa3 29.Rab1 Qc3 30.Rxb5 Bxb5 31.Rb1 Kd7 32.Rxb5 Qc1+ 33.Ne1 c3 34.Kh2 h5 35.Nd3 Qd1 36.Nb4 Qd2 37.Qf1 Qxd4 38.Rb7+ Kc8 39.Rb8+ Kc7 40.Na6+ Kd7 41.Qb5+ Ke7 42.Qb7# 1-0',1,5);</SCRIPT>

Gnomes playing chess

2010-02-14T23:59:00.000-08:00

Gnomes Playing Chess in a Graveyard by Tony the Misfit
All sizes of this photo are available for download at his photostream under a Creative Commons license.

The code for the mate in two problem

2010-02-11T05:03:00.000-08:00

As promised the used code in the Mate in two post.

<SCRIPT language='JavaScript' type='text/javascript'>
Game('8/p7/1N3K2/Qn3N2/2P1kp2/p3p3/2P1B2b/4n3 1',
'W_@@GP@DXRQ@_QAAXbQ@\\RAAXiQ@_CAA{qQ@_qAA{lQ@sjAA{jQ@qjAE{uQ@aXAE_?@A',
'{A mate in two problem. It is White\'s turn to move.
<br /><br />}1.Qa4
 axb6 {<br /><br /> &nbsp;  &nbsp;  &nbsp;}( 1...Nd6 2.Qc6# )
 {<br /> &nbsp;  &nbsp;  &nbsp;}( 1...Nd4 2.Nd6# ) {<br />
 &nbsp;  &nbsp;  &nbsp;}( 1...Nc3 2.Qe8# ) {<br /> &nbsp;
  &nbsp;  &nbsp;}( 1...Nxc2 2.Qxc2# ) {<br /> &nbsp;  &nbsp; 
 &nbsp;}( 1...Nf3 2.Bd3# ) {<br /> &nbsp;  &nbsp;  &nbsp;}( 
1...Nd3 2.cxd3# ) {<br /> &nbsp;  &nbsp;  &nbsp;}( 1...Ng2 2.cxb5#
 ){<br /><br />}2.Qa8# 1-0',1,1,5,"Mate in two");</SCRIPT>

Most of the arguments of the Game function have been explained before. The last two arguments indicate the number of attempts (5) and the initial text below the chess board (Mate in two).

Chess from above

2010-02-08T10:58:00.000-08:00

Chess by by NguyenDai available for download under a Creative Commons license.

An interesting perspective.

Mate in two

2010-02-07T04:44:00.000-08:00

The Blogspot Chess Game Viewer can also be used to display chess puzzles of which the solution has to remain hidden as long as the right answer hasn't been given.

As an example a Mate in two problem. After five attempts or after making the right move the solution will become visible. You can make a move by clicking at a piece followed by clicking the target square.

The code in this post used to display this mate in two diagram will be shown in a couple of days.

Check Mate

2010-02-02T08:59:00.000-08:00

Chess mate, Tel Aviv 2006 by Ran Z
All sizes of this photo are available for download at his photo stream under a Creative Commons license.

Chess Gadgets

2010-01-31T07:33:00.000-08:00

The previous posts showed that it is possible to publish chess games on a blogspot/blogger site. Last week I received a request to help in creating some gadgets with the same purpose. These can be used to publish chess games on a site that is hosted on Google sites (and some other web sites).
The combined efforts (of me and the admin of lessons.chessteacherlessons.com) have resulted in two gadgets that are demonstrated on this Chess Gadgets page.

I still prefer the publishing method for the Blogspot sites, partly because of the limitations, but it's a nice alternative.

Pillsbury - Lasker (1896)

2010-01-23T07:39:00.000-08:00

Chess Game by Bending Light (cc)

According to the description this chess position is taken from a game between H. N. Pillsbury (White) and Dr. E. Lasker from the Nuremberg Tournament, July 29, 1896.

Study example

2010-01-15T10:03:00.000-08:00

As requested by Oblomov a study example (in which the initial move number is larger than 1). The code needed for this example can be found in the post about Using more than one chess board.

Btw I like this study especially the part in which promoting to a queen results in a draw.

Design Chess

2009-11-09T04:46:00.000-08:00

Chess pieces created by the Spanish designer Jaime Hayon for The Tournament, a centrepiece of the 2009 London Design Festival at Trafalgar Square by Victius.

Using more than one chess board

2009-11-08T02:42:00.001-08:00

This post demonstrates the use of two chess boards in an article about chess which may be useful when you want to publish a game with a lot of comments and/or variations.

Champagne Chess

2009-11-07T02:02:00.000-08:00

Chess with champagne by Mukumbura on Flickr.

A beautiful chess picture by Mukumbura. He experimented with different backgrounds and lighting, here sunlight and flash bounced off a mirror.

Smothered Mate

2009-11-06T10:11:00.000-08:00

This post is intended as a demonstration of the Chess Game Viewer that we have configured in the previous posts. I have used some different styles to show that you can change the lay-out and the colour of the fonts.

Smothered mate!

The code of Smothered Mate

2009-11-05T02:30:00.000-08:00

Below you can find the code that is used in the post of the Smothered Mate. I have added some line breaks to make it more readable, but it is supposed to be one line.
You can also see that an empty string can be used to indicate the initial position of the board if this corresponds to the normal starting position.

<SCRIPT language='JavaScript' type='text/javascript'>
Game('','sc@@K[@@}l@@@Q@@|a@@DY@@qi@@JR@@ETA@rbA@[bADibADY`AB{}@prbA@[bADibADY`ABET@@rb@@[b@Dib@DYP@@vn@@Tc@@|{@@RZ@@aZ@@BZ@@xi@@ZB@@{c@BQK@@zs@@AS@@A\\A@y]@@BR@@]K@@CK@@bZ@@FB@Dl]@@IQ@@]S@@LS@DcS@BRS@@sS@BKD@@ZR@@BC@@S\\@BDE@@ic@@CD@@\\S@BEF@@c]@@Pt@BDtA@}v@@?C@D]L@BFE@@LV@BEF@@SE@BDE@@VL@A',
'1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 {<p>The Giuoco Piano Variation of the 
Italian Opening. This often results in rather boring games, but this 
game has an interesting ending.</p>} 4.c3 d6 {<p><i>}( 4...Nf6 
5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ {is played more frequently}){</i></p>} 5.O-O 
( {<i>Just like} 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ {</i>}){<br /><br />} 
5...Nf6 6.d4 exd4 7.cxd4 Bb6 8.h3 Nxe4 9.Re1 d5 10.Bxd5 Qxd5 11.Nc3 
Qd8 +/- 12.Rxe4+ Ne7 13.Qe2 Be6 ( 13...Bf5! ) 14.Bg5 Qd6?! +- 
15.Bxe7!! {<font color="red">and now Black is in trouble!</font>
<br /><br />} 15...Kxe7 16.d5 Rhd8 17.Ng5 c6 18.Nxe6 fxe6 
19.Rxe6+ Qxe6 20.Qxe6+ Kf8 21.d6 Re8 22.Qf5+ Kg8 23.Ne4 Rf8 
24.Qe6+ Kh8 25.Ng5 Bxf2+ ( 25...Rxf2 {would have been better, 
but not enough to share the point} ) 26.Kh2 Rae8? {<br /><br />
and now it\'s a Mate in four.} 27.Nf7+! Kg8 28.Nh6+ Kh8 29.Qg8+ 
Rxg8 30.Nf7# 1-0',1,6);</SCRIPT><NOSCRIPT>An example 
game of the Blogspot Chess Game Viewer</NOSCRIPT>Smothered mate!

Chinese Chess Set

2009-11-01T09:12:00.000-08:00

A Chinese chess set by ๑۩۞۩๑~OTH~๑۩۞۩๑ on Flickr
All sizes of this photo are available for download under a Creative Commons license.

How to configure the chess game viewer?

2009-10-31T08:05:00.000-07:00

This post explains how you can adapt your template in order to use the Chess Game Viewer, but first configure and try the FEN-viewer.

If the FEN-viewer is working fine we start to configure the chess game viewer.
Go to Layout » Edit html
and make a backup of your template

Then find something like

]]></b:skin>
</head>
<body>

We are going to add some lines above and below this, but also adding an onLoad statement to the body tag.

#pc1 {position:absolute; visibility:hidden; cursor:hand;}
.qzs {position:relative; visibility:hidden;}

]]></b:skin>
</head>
<body onLoad='InitSys();'>
 <div id='pc1' onClick='DropPc(cg)'>
 <img name='dpc'
  src='http://sites.google.com/site/viewchessgame/pcs/i.gif'/>
</div>

And (after saving your template) the configuration part is finished.

Let's try it by adding the following code to a post.

<SCRIPT language='JavaScript' 
type='text/javascript'>
Game('rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR 1',
'sc@@K[@@z^@@@Q@@|a@@ET@@^L@A',
'1.e4 e5 2.Qh5 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Qxf7# 1-0',
1,6);</SCRIPT>

This is the Scholar's Mate.

The arguments for the Game function are similar to the Fen2Page function. At the moment we still have to add the coded moves (that can be copied from the file generated by Palview). The last optional argument indicates the initial position that has to be shown, because the starting position of the chess board isn't very informative.

Night Chess

2009-10-19T12:05:00.000-07:00

Night Chess by Wiccked
All sizes of this photo are available for download under a Creative Commons license

How to configure the FEN viewer?

2009-10-15T10:52:00.000-07:00

I'm going to explain how you can publish re-playable chess games on your blogspot blog without the need to use another external site. This will be done in some different steps, which will enable you to detect possible problems as early as possible (without having done a lot of work).

This first step will enable you to use the FEN viewer.

First, Go to Layout » Edit html
and make a backup of your template

Now we look for the line with the title tag. This is probably something like <title><data:blog.pageTitle/></title> and copy the following lines just before this line.

<script src='http://sites.google.com/site/viewchessgame/js/gv.js'
type='text/javascript'/>

Next you have to add the following lines to the css part

.board img{margin:0;padding:0;border:0;background:none transparent}
.board table,tr{margin:0;line-height:9px}

If you don't know where to add it an appropriate place is probably just before the line

]]></b:skin>

And now the configuration part is finished (after you have saved your template) and you are able to use the FEN-viewer in your posts, just like in the post about displaying a diagram and about the improved blogspot FEN viewer.
Use the edit html to insert this kind of code in a post. The used code (in your post) for this last mentioned diagram with the letters, figures and Black to move indication is

<script language="JavaScript">
Fen2Page('rnbqk2r/ppp2pp1/5n1p/3p2B1/1b1P4/2N5/PPQ1PPPP/R3KBNR',2,1);
</script>

The first argument is the FEN code of the diagram that has to be displayed
The second optional argument (0, 1 or 2) indicates if the White/Black-to-move indication has to be shown. No move indication: 0, White to move: 1 and Black to move:2
The third optional argument indicates if the figures and letters have to be shown.

The code mentioned above results in:

Overview of Chess Publishing Methods

2009-10-06T10:43:00.000-07:00

This blog is in fact an overview of all kind of Chess Publishing Methods. This post tries to give a short overview of my personal opinions about these methods.

Chesspastebin
Chesspastebin is based on JsPGNViewer, which can also be used if you are able to include the jsPgnViewer.js in your webpage.
The jsPgnViewer library takes the PGN of the chess game and parses it on the fly, which makes this JavaScript code very interesting.

The main disadvantages are:

It runs within an iframe on another site
There is an additional scrollbar, which makes that you have to scroll to see all the moves
Sometimes the games seem to disappear making that you have to publish them again

Chesspublisher

Chesspublisher creates a nice replayable diagram, but the result is limited to a diagram with some buttons. The main drawbacks of Chesspublisher are:

the lack of clickable moves and the fact that it is impossible to add variations.
and it also runs within an iframe like almost all chess publishing methods
In addition you have to genertate the diagram on their site

Chess Publisher 2

Chess Publisher 2 was an improved version of the original Chesspublisher, but not available anymore. This emphasizes that you can't really depend on other sites for the publishing of your chess games.

HTML Code Generator for Blogs

Quite another method to publish chess games on your blog is by means of the HTML Code Generator for Blogs, The method to publish chess games is described very well on their site and it can also be used for puzzles.

Some of the disadvantages

Fixed width and very limited possibilities to configure, like having a fixed width
Comments and variations are hidden
This method uses Java which takes a rather long time to load
The code runs and is dependatn on an external site.

LT-PGN Editor and Viewer

The LT-PGN Editor and Viewer is another rather nice method to publish chess games. There is no need to visit a site in order to convert your games or to generate the diagrams. You just have to add an iframe in your post with the url and the pgn data.

Some disadvantages:

Uses external site
The method uses iframes which makes that the viewer code is loaded for each game to be published

All files are available to run them on your own host.

Adapted version LT-PGN Viewer

An adapted version can be created that even has some more advantages. An example of this can be found in Some traps in the Sicilian game, but I used Google Pages to host the files which will probably be discontinued in the future.
The method can still be used on another host.

This adapted version fulfilled most of my requirements and I even thought that the Mission to find the right chess publishing method was accomplished, but I still had to do some experiments with chess puzzles and the method was still dependant on another site.
The originals requirements/wishes also stated that it should all be integrated within the blogspot template. Therefore the search continued.

Blogspot Chess Diagram Viewer

If you only want to display a chess diagram it can rather easy be accomplished by JavaScript that you include in your blogspot template as you can see in this improved version post.

Blogspot Chess Game Viewer

I also am convinced that it is rather easy to add replayable games based on a combination of Palview and the method I used to display the diagrams. You already can see some of the experiments with this method (see the two previous posts) and I will explain it in more detail later, but at the moment the code is still changing every day.

Mate in three

2009-10-05T10:58:00.000-07:00

The moves above will be shown as soon as you make the correct move or after three wrong attempts. You can make a move by clicking at a piece followed by clicking the target square.

This mate in three diagram is only used as an experiment of this new chess publishing method.

Kramnik - Kasparov, SuperGM 2003

2009-10-02T07:20:00.000-07:00

It seems to work rather well, but let me know in the comments if you experience some difficulties.

The Real World

2009-09-30T09:37:00.000-07:00

NYC - Battery Park City: Nelson A. Rockefeller Park - The Real World by wallyg

Improved version of blogspot PGN Viewer

2009-09-13T08:53:00.000-07:00

I have added a White circle at the upper right corner to indicate that it's White's turn to move. The circle will be black if it's Black's turn to move. I also added some figures and letters at the sides of the board. Both indications are optional.

All the needed JavaScript is still incorporated within the blogger/blogspot template.

This is still a static diagram, but I am going to extend it to a complete game viewer.

Chess cake

2009-09-06T02:41:00.000-07:00

To celebrate the new start, we would like to have some chess cake.

Chess cake by clarescupcakes.co.uk on Flickr

Displaying a diagram

2009-09-04T06:51:00.000-07:00

Looking back at all the Chess Publishing possibilities that we have evaluated in the past they all have one major disadvantage in common: they depend on files on other sites. With some of the discussed methods these files could be our own, which assures that they probably don't disappear without our knowledge.

Therefore the requirement that the method to publish chess games has to be incorporated within the template is a raher important one.

The initial position. At first sight this may look like a picture, but it is in fact a function that creates the diagram based on a FEN-string.

The used code in the post itself is:

<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">Fen2Page ('rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/ PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR');< /script>

In addition I have added some alternative content in case JavaScript was disabled.

I am going to use this as a starting point to develop something that makes it possible to publish chess games on blogspot without the need for other hosts.

A new start

2009-09-02T10:03:00.000-07:00

A nice chess set, (cc) striatic on Flickr

I have moved this site to its new home (ChessPublishing.blogspot.com) and have changed the theme. It's time for a new start and I am going to continue my search for a real good method to publish chess games on blogspot/blogger.

HTML Code Generator for Blogs

2009-02-15T00:39:00.000-08:00

Another possibility to publish chess games on your blog.
In this post I have used the HTML Code Generator for Blogs from the Chess Web Publishing blog as mentioned in the comments on one of the previous posts.

In order to make this work you also have to plugin the extension in your template as described in "How to publish a chess game on your blog".

I have replaced the interactive chessboard with a picture end of august 2009, because this method prevented me to test other chess publishing methods.

Next to move 2...e6 a red A was visible. This indicates that an annotation has been made for this move. The annotation became visible after I selected this move.

If you try to use this chess publishing method and vistit the site by means of Internet Explorer you may experience a problem on the right side (Black's moves are not visible anymore), but this may be solved in the future.

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From Pages to Sites

2009-02-11T10:38:00.000-08:00

Google is no longer accepting new sign-ups for Page Creator because they have shifted their focus to Google Sites
Google sites offers many of the capabilities of Page Creator, but seems to miss storage of HTML and JavaScript files.
This means that one of the most interesting ways to publish chess games (as used in the post about some of the traps in the Sicilian Defence) had disappeared, though you may use another (free) site for your JavaScript files.

Maybe I have to learn how to write a chess viewer gadget, but since the original problem with the LT-PGN-Viewer had been fixed you may also use the LT-PGN-Viewer as demonstrated in this post about this PGN viewer.

Alekhine - Capablanca 1927

2008-07-13T05:25:00.000-07:00

The 34th game of the 1927 world chess championship match between Alekhine and Capablanca is a classic example of the technique to win by placing a rook behind the own passed pawn. The game is shown as a demonstration of the LT-PGN-Viewer.

Update April 2010
This method to publish chess games doesn't work anymore. For demonstration purposes the following screendump is shown.

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. e3 c6 6. a3 Be7 7. Nf3 O-O 8. Bd3 dxc4 9. Bxc4 Nd5 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. Ne4 N5f6 12. Ng3 c5 13. O-O Nb6 14. Ba2 cxd4 15. Nxd4 g6 16. Rc1 Bd7 17. Qe2 Rac8 18. e4 e5 19. Nf3 Kg7 20. h3 h6 21. Qd2 Be6 22. Bxe6 Qxe6 23. Qa5 Nc4 24. Qxa7 Nxb2 25. Rxc8 Rxc8 26. Qxb7 Nc4 27. Qb4 Ra8 28. Ra1 Qc6 29. a4 Nxe4 30. Nxe5 Qd6 31. Qxc4 Qxe5 32. Re1 Nd6 33. Qc1 Qf6 34. Ne4 Nxe4 35. Rxe4 Rb8 36. Re2 Ra8 37. Ra2 Ra5 38. Qc7 Qa6 39. Qc3+ Kh7 40. Rd2 Qb6 41. Rd7 Qb1+ 42. Kh2 Qb8+ 43. g3 Rf5 44. Qd4 Qf8 45. Rd5 Rf3 46. h4 Qh8 47. Qb6 Qa1 48. Kg2 Rf6 49. Qd4 Qxd4 50. Rxd4 Kg7 51. a5 Ra6 52. Rd5 Rf6 53. Rd4 Ra6 54. Ra4 Kf6 55. Kf3 Ke5 56. Ke3 h5 57. Kd3 Kd5 58. Kc3 Kc5 59. Ra2 Kb5 60. Kb3 Kc5 61. Kc3 Kb5 62. Kd4 Rd6+ 63. Ke5 Re6+ 64. Kf4 Ka6 65. Kg5 Re5+ 66. Kh6 Rf5 67. f4 Rc5 68. Ra3 Rc7 69. Kg7 Rd7 70. f5 gxf5 71. Kh6 f4 72. gxf4 Rd5 73. Kg7 Rf5 74. Ra4 Kb5 75. Re4 Ka6 76. Kh6 Rxa5 77. Re5 Ra1 78. Kxh5 Rg1 79. Rg5 Rh1 80. Rf5 Kb6 81. Rxf7 Kc6 82. Re7 1-0

How to use the LT-PGN-Viewer

2008-06-20T10:18:00.000-07:00

Some people have asked me how to use the LT-PGN-viewer on their blog site as I have done in the post about the LT-PGN viewer and editor. It turned out that showing the code that was used in this post made it clear. The code I have used in that post is:

<iframe src='http://www.lutanho.net/pgn/ltpgnboard.html?Init=&ApplyPgnMoveText=1.e4 g6 {The modern defense}<|br> 2.Nf3 (2.d4 {is played more often.})<|br><|br> 2...Bg7 3.Bc4 d6 4.O-O Nf6 5.Nc3 O-O 6.d4 c5 7.dxc5 dxc5 8.Be3 Nc6 9.Bxc5 Qxd1 10.Raxd1 Nd7 11.Ba3 Bxc3 12.bxc3 Nf6 13.Rfe1 Rd8 14.Rxd8+ Nxd8 15.Bxe7 Be6 16.Bxe6 fxe6 17.Bxf6 Nc6 18.Nd4 Rf8 19.Nxc6 Rxf6 20.Nxa7 e5 21.Nb5 Rc6 22.h3 Rc5 23.Nd6 Rxc3 24.h4 1-0 &SetBGColor=FFFFFF&SetImagePath=cases27|&eval=AddText(%22<|td><td><B>Modern defense example<|B><BR><BR>%22+GetHTMLMoveText(0,0,1))' width='550' height='355' frameborder='0'></iframe>

Please note that the moves were not visible when viewing the page in FireFox as mentioned in the problem with FireFox post. This has been solved in the posts that I have published this year by creating an addtional html page. An example of this method can be found in the post Some traps in the Sicilian game.

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Update:
The problem with FireFox has been solved by the programmer as you can see in the original post.

Mission accomplished

2008-04-02T11:36:00.001-07:00

I suppose that my search for a way to publish chess games on a blogspot site has been successful as you can see in the previous posts. The mission has been (at least partly) accomplished.

Now the solution meets the following requirements:

A chess board that shows the position after each move
The moves are shown
Clicking on a move shows the position on the board after this move
Autoplay
It should be able to add variations
Comments between the moves are possible
Based on entering PGN-like moves
Without the need to copy and paste all kind of code
And not depending on the site of another person or company.

At the moment I haven't looked at the following wishlist

A possibility to hide the moves (= solution) for puzzles
Everything integrated within a single blogspot template

The original requirements can be found in this older post.

Some traps in the Sicilian game

2008-03-29T06:06:00.001-07:00

This post shows some of the traps in the Sicilian opening and may be useful by itself, but the main purpose of this post is to give a demonstration of the possibilities of publishing chess games on a blogspot site.

Update April 2010
The method stopped working and the post has been replaced by some images taken from a screendump from the original post.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 ( 2...Nf6 3.Nc3 e6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4 6.e5 Nd5 7.Bd2 Nxc3 8.bxc3 Bf8 9.Bd3 d6 10.Qe2 Nd7?? 11.Nxe6 Qb6 12.Nc7+ 1-0 )( 2...e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Be3 Nf6 6.Nd2 d5 7.e5 Nfd7 8.f4 Nc6 9.c3 g5? 10.Nxe6 fxe6 11.Qh5+ Ke7 12.f5 Nf6? {makes it even worse} 13.Bc5+ 1-0) 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 (4.c3 dxc3 5.Nxc3 e6 6.Bc4 Qc7 7.O-O Nf6 8.Qe2 Ng4 {Black sets a trap. This is not a good move, but if White continues with} 9.Bb3?? {the game is over and out} 9...Nd4 0-1 ) 4...e6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.g3 a6 7.Bg2 b5?! 8.O-O Bb7 9.Re1 d6 10.a4 b4? 11.Nd5 exd5 12.Nxc6 dxe4?! 13.Bxe4 Ne7 14.Qf3 f5 15.Bd5 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 ( 4.c3 dxc3 5.Nxc3 Nf6 6.Bc4 Nc6 7.e5 Nxe5? 8.Nxe5 dxe5? ( 8...e6 {is not without problems, but at least better} ) 9.Bxf7+ 1-0 ) 4...Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 ( 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 b5 8.O-O Be7 9.Qf3 Bd7? 10.e5 dxe5 11.Nxe6 e4 ( 11...Bxe6 12.Qxa8 {is probably best} ) 12.Nxg7+ Kf8 13.Nxe4 Bc6 14.Bh6 Bxe4 15.Nh5+ 1-0 ) ( 6.g3 b5 7.Bg2 Bb7 8.O-O Nbd7 9.Re1 e6 10.e5 Bxg2 11.exf6 Bb7 12.fxg7 Bxg7 13.Nf5 Bf8? 14.Rxe6+ 1-0 ) 6...e6 7.f4 Nbd7 8.Qf3 Qc7 9.O-O-O b5 10.Bd3 Bb7 11.Rhe1 h6 12.Qh3 O-O-O 13.Bxf6 Nxf6 14.Nd5 Qa5? {may be at nice move at first sight, but look what happens to the queen} 15.Nb3! Qxe1 ( 15...Qa4 {can not be played because of} 16.Nb6+ ) ( {and} 15...Qxa2 {meets} 16.Nc3 ) 16.Rxe1 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.h4 Bg7 7.Be2 O-O 8.h5 Nbd7 9.hxg6 hxg6 10.Bh6 Bxh6 11.Rxh6 Kg7?! 12.Qd2 Rh8?? {mate in 6} 13.Nf5+ Kg8 14.Rxh8+ Kxh8 15.Qh6+ Kg8 16.Qg7%23 1-0

Magnus Carlsen

2008-02-10T04:22:00.000-08:00

As a kind of follow-up on the previous post Aronian and Carlsen became the co-winners of the Corus tournament. On the Magnus Carlsen Chess site the game of the previous post is described in the following way.

As white, Anand sacked a pawn against Kramnik and the latter avoided repetition of moves only to be allow Anand a ferocious attack against the black king. However, Kramnik defended brilliantly and after Anand missed Rd1 and gave up his bishop instead, his advantage disappeared. With queens off the board, a draw was agreed in the rook + 4 pawns versus rook + bishop + 1 pawn ending, and the winners press conference could begin.

A nice blog about the adventures of the youngest chess grandmaster in the world.

Anand-Kramnik (Corus Chess 2008)

2008-02-10T03:06:00.000-08:00

Another example game:

This is the game Anand-Kramnik which was the game in GM-A that took the longest time to finish. Around move 45 it seemed that Anand was winning. Kramnik’s king got more and more into trouble, and Anand could take two pawns on the queenside, but he missed 51.Rd1!, the move suggested by Fritz.
If Anand had won this game he would also have been the winner of the tournament.

Update April 2010
This game publishing method stooped working and the content of the post is replaced by an image of the original screendump.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Bf4 O-O 8. Qd2 Nd7 9. O-O-O Nc5 10. Be3 Re8 11. Bc4 Be6 12. Bxe6 Nxe6 13. h4 Qd7 14. Qd5 Qc6 15. Qf5 Qc4 16. Kb1 g6 17. Qh3 h5 18. Nd2 Qe2 19. Rde1 Qg4 20. Qh2 d5 21. f3 Qa4 22. g4 Bd6 23. Qf2 hxg4 24. fxg4 Qxg4 25. Reg1 Qh5 26. Nf3 Re7 27. Bg5 Ree8 28. Be3 Re7 29. Bg5 Rd7 30. Nd4 Nxd4 31. Qxd4 Bf8 32. Qe3 c6 33. Qh3 Rd6 34. Bf4 Re6 35. Rg5 Qh8 36. h5 Rae8 37. Bd2 Bc5 38. Rg3 Re2 39. Kc1 Qg7 40. a3 Bd6 41. Rgg1 Bc5 42. Rg3 Bd6 43. Rg4 R8e6 44. hxg6 Rxg6 45. Rxg6 fxg6 46. Be3 Qe5 47. Qh7+ Kf8 48. Bd2 Qf6 49. Qxb7 Rh2 50. Re1 Qf2 51. Kb1 Qxd2 52. Rf1+ Kg8 53. Qf7+ Kh8 54. Qxg6 Qg2 55. Qe8+ Qg8 56. Qxc6 Bf8 57. Qa8 Bc5 58. Qxg8+ Kxg8 59. Rf5 Rd2 60. c4 Kg7 61. b4 Be7 1/2-1/2

The Lolli Attack with 7...f6

2008-01-15T09:54:00.000-08:00

This is just an example game (taken with permission from the WordPress Chess Teaching blog) of another way to publish chess games with the LT-PGN viewer that probably also is working in Firefox.
I'll describe this method in more detail later, if needed.

Update April 2010
This chess publishing method stopped working and the content of this post has been replaced by some original screendumps.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.d4 exd4 7.O-O f6 8.Nc3 dxc3 9.Bxd5 fxg5 10.Re1+ Be7 11.Bxg5 cxb2 12.Bxc6+ bxc6 13.Qxd8+ Kxd8 14.Bxe7+ { as in Freytag Walter - Rosner Dirk, 2003} 14...Ke8 15.Ba3+ Kf7 16.Re7+ Kf6 17.Rb1 Rd8 18.Rxc7 Be6 19.Be7+ Ke5 20.Bxd8 Rxd8 21.f4+ Kxf4 22.Rxc6 Bd5 23.Rc5 Be4 24.Rb5 Bxc2 25.Rf1+ Ke3 26.Rxb2 Rd2 27.Rf3+ Kd4 28.Rf7 Kc3 29.Rbb7 Be4 30.Rfc7+ Kd4 31.Rd7+ 1-0

LT-PGN Firefox problem

2007-12-17T10:21:00.000-08:00

It turned out that the moves in the previous post aren't visible within Firefox, so we have to adapt some things before we can use this method.

But I still think that this alternative looks very promising.

Update:
The problem has been solved as you can see in the previous posts.

LT-PGN Editor and Viewer

2007-12-16T08:42:00.000-08:00

Instead of using ChessPasteBin it is possible to use the LT-PGN-Viewer directly. In this example post I pass the commands via url to http://www.lutanho.net/pgn/ltpgnboard.html.
We are in control of the kind of chess pieces, the background color and the lay-out of the moves, comments and variations.

Update:
But there seems to be a problem with Firefox. See the next post.

Update 2:
The problem has been solved by the programmer of the LT-PGN-VIEWER. See his comments below this post.

2.Nf3 (2.d4 {is played more often.})<|br><|br> 2...Bg7 3.Bc4 d6 4.O-O Nf6 5.Nc3 O-O 6.d4 c5 7.dxc5 dxc5 8.Be3 Nc6 9.Bxc5 Qxd1 10.Raxd1 Nd7 11.Ba3 Bxc3 12.bxc3 Nf6 13.Rfe1 Rd8 14.Rxd8+ Nxd8 15.Bxe7 Be6 16.Bxe6 fxe6 17.Bxf6 Nc6 18.Nd4 Rf8 19.Nxc6 Rxf6 20.Nxa7 e5 21.Nb5 Rc6 22.h3 Rc5 23.Nd6 Rxc3 24.h4 1-0 &SetBGColor=FFFFFF&SetImagePath=cases27|&eval=AddText(%22<|td>Modern defense example<|B>

%22+GetHTMLMoveText(0,0,1))' width='490' height='355' frameborder='0'>

Publishing chess games (again)

2007-12-03T12:08:00.000-08:00
I am still looking for a better way to publish chess games on blogsites.
Some progress has been made since my initial post about this subject, but you haven't seen much about this.
One of the problems with blogspot is the lack of a possibility to use php or at least to upload javascript files, but now I have some ideas about dealing with this without getting dependent on other people's sites.

Chess Publisher 2

2007-09-16T04:57:00.000-07:00
There is a new version of Chess publisher. It is still a FREE Chess PGN viewer, but it seems that you now have to register before you can use it.

One of the problems with Chess Publisher was the need to press the ‘Replay Game‘ button first. Now a new version of Chess Publisher has been written in which they have removed the ‘Replay Game’ button to make it more “user friendly”.

Another change is that if the move text is very long it will now ‘wrap under’ the board. In the older version the space under the diagram is just blank.
I think that these improvements are rather important and this is now my new favorite. Even the variations went rather well, but the lay-out of the moves may need some improvement.

Update Januari 2010
Chess Publisher 2 as well as the complete Chesspublisher site isn't available anymore and I haven't made a screendump of this post to show you.

Chesspastebin

2007-08-19T10:58:00.000-07:00
On ChessPasteBin a tool can be found to share chess games. The tool is based on JsPGNViewer, which can also be used if you are able to include the jsPgnViewer.js in your webpage.

The game is the same game as in the previous post, but now the moves are click-able and the comments can be added. However we still are unable to show the variations and some copying and pasting as well as a dependency on another website is involved.

Update september 2009
The game has disappeared so I decided to upload the game again, but to use an image taken from a screen-dump instead of the original iframe.

Chesspublisher

2007-08-18T10:35:00.000-07:00
This game between Howard Staunton and Elijah Williams is very illustrative of the importance of the different kind of oppositions in chess. As you will see Staunton has lost the game, but you have to know that the virtual opposition was something nobody was aware of in 1851. Without these kind of guidelines it is very difficult to play this kind of endgame the right way.

I use this game as an example of the possibilities to publish Chess games on a blog site. This time I have used Chess Publisher.

The main drawbacks are the lack of clickable moves and the fact that It is impossible to add the winning variations. Compare this post with the Staunton - Williams post on Chess Teaching.

[Event "London m6"]
[Site "London"]
[Date "1851.??.??"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Howard Staunton"]
[Black "Elijah Williams"]
[Result "0-1"]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bd3 Bd6 6.O-O O-O 7.Bg5 Bg4 8.c3 c5 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Nbd2 Nbd7 11.Qc2 Qc7 12.Bh4 Bd6 13.Bg3 Nc5 14.Nd4 Bxg3 15.fxg3 Nxd3 16.Qxd3 Rfe8 17.Rae1 Bh5 18.Qb5 a6 19.Qa4 b5 20.Rxe8+ Nxe8 21.Nxb5 Qc6 22.Qh4 axb5 23.Qxh5 Nf6 24.Qe5 Qb6+ 25.Kh1 Rxa2 26.Qf5 Qe6 27.Qb1 Ra8 28.Qd3 Qc6 29.Qf5 Qe6 30.Qd3 Qc6 31.Nf3 Qc4 32.Qd1 Re8 33.Nd4 b4 34.Nf5 Re6 35.Qf3 bxc3 36.bxc3 Qe4 37.h3 Qxf3 38.gxf3 Re2 39.Nd4 Rd2 40.g4 g6 41.Ra1 Nd7 42.Ra8+ Kg7 43.Rd8 Ne5 44.Rxd5? Nxf3 45.Nxf3 Rxd5 46.Kg2 Rc5 47.Kg3 Rxc3 48.h4 h5 49.g5 f6 50.Kf4 Rxf3+ 51.Kxf3 fxg5 52.hxg5 Kf7 53.Ke3 Ke6 54.Ke4 Kd6 55.Kd4 Kc6 56.Ke5 Kc5 57.Kf6 h4 58.Kxg6 h3 59.Kf7 h2 60.g6 h1=Q 61.g7 Qd5+ 62.Kf8 Qf5+ 63.Ke8 Qg6+ 64.Kf8 Qf6+ 65.Kg8 Kd6 66.Kh7 Qf7 67.Kh8 Qh5+ 68.Kg8 Ke6 0-1

Chesstempo tactics

2007-07-16T01:50:00.000-07:00
Chesstempo.com seems to be a rather new site and they are offering a rather nice PGN viewer. However I was unable to use it on this blog site, because you need to upload the PGN-file first. But I liked the way the pieces were moving very much.

On the mentioned website a Chess Tactics page can be found, which seems to use the same PGN viewer to solve tactics puzzles. This is somewhat similar to the more familiar Chess Tactics Server.

Both links may be worth visiting if you want to train some tactics, but the ultimate PGN-viewer has not been found yet.

Daily updated chess puzzle

2007-07-05T10:39:00.000-07:00
In my search for ways to publish chess games on a blog I came across Shredderchess.
Shredderchess.com offers a possibility to add daily updated chess puzzles on a chess page.
This results in the following diagram.

I think it looks rather nice, but I prefer to add my own chess puzzles and the internal frame is depending on another site.
The search continues.

New Fide rating

2007-07-03T08:48:00.000-07:00
The new FIDE rating list has been published.

The list with the top 100 players only contains Grandmasters with the exception of number 78 on this list: Vladimir Afromeev, with only the title FIDE Master. This is rather remarkable, since you should have at least a rating of 2624 to be on this top 100 list.

Who is this Mr.Afromeev, whose birth year is listed as 1954?
I have found him in Chess Today of 3 september 2001:
It seems that he is a local businessmen from Tula (city about 120 km from Moscow) who has decided first to get and then to raise his Elo. That guy - Mr. Vladimir Afromeev - has been so successful in his
fraud, that he now has an international rating of 2520! I call it a fraud,
because many know that the some of the tournaments, which he 'organised' never took place, while in some others certain players threw points at Mr. Afromeev.
By the way, at some point Mr. Afromeev decided that his personal driver
should have Elo rating too. (who wants un-rated drivers nowadays?!). Now that guy has a rating in excess of 2440. Mr. Afromeev is even claimed to have said that if he wanted, his cat would get a rating like that too!
But now I know something about Mr. Afromeev I'm curious about the rating of his driver and his cat.

Publishing of chess games

2007-06-29T10:52:00.000-07:00
I am currently looking for a way to publish chess games on this blog.
There are some tools that may be helpful, but at the moment I haven't found a way that enables all my wishes.
Probably other chess bloggers are also facing this difficulty of posting Chess games on their blog.

My wish list:
A chess board that shows the position after each move
The moves also have to be shown
Clicking on a move shows the position on the board after this move
Autoplay
Variations in the moves have to be possible
Comments between the moves
A possibility to hide the moves (= solution) for puzzles
Based on entering PGN
Without the need to copy and paste all kind of code
And only depending on my own blog site
I probably even have more wishes and will let you know if something has been found that almost fulfills my needs.

Gorenjo 2007

2007-06-23T08:37:00.000-07:00
Gorenje 2007 has ended

In the last round Michael Roiz and Suat Atalik drew after 14 moves. This left them tied on the first place in the final crosstable. Two of the other games also ended in a quick draw, within 8 and 10 moves. Therefore only two serious games were played in this last round of the tournament.

Roiz - Atalik (Gerenje 2007, round 9)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Bb7 10. d4 Re8 11. Ng5 Rf8 12. Nf3 Re8 13. Ng5 Rf8 14. Nf3 1/2-1/2

Roiz ended on the first place after the tiebreak.

Final Standings:
1. GM Roiz Michael 2616 ISR 6.5 (First after tiebreak)
1. GM Atalik Suat 2584 TUR 6.5
3. GM Karpov Anatoly 2668 RUS 5.5
4. GM Ivanisevic Ivan 2614 SRB 5.0
4. GM Nikolic Predrag 2631 BIH 5.0
6. GM Georgiev Kiril 2653 BUL 4.5
7. GM Damljanovic Branko 2585 SRB 4.0
8. IM Stojanovic Mihajlo 2588 SRB 3.0
9. GM Iordachescu Viorel 2587 MDA 2.5
9. GM Pavasovic Dusko 2567 SLO 2.5

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Gorenje 2007 (Round 5)

2007-06-18T10:30:00.000-07:00
Chessdom is covering the Valjevo Chess Event:
Three players leading after the fantastic round with four decided
games
Atalik scores first win ever against Nikolic. Roiz tactically outplayed
Stojanovic and Karpov forced Iodrachescu to give up after the threats on the
back-rank. Damljanovic played perfect Rook endgame to beat Pavasovic.

Damljanovic B. (2585) - Pavasovic D. (2567)

1.c4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 Nc6 6.Qa4 Nd7 7.Qxc4 Nb6 8.Qd3 e5 9.Nxe5 Nb4 10.Qc3 Qxd4 11.O-O Qxc3 12.Nxc3 Bd6 13.Nf3 c6 14.Ne4 Be7 15.Bf4 O-O 16.Rfc1 N4d5 17.Bd2 Re8 18.Nd4 Nf6 19.Nc5 Bxc5 20.Rxc5 Ne4 21.Rc2 Nxd2 22.Rxd2 Rd8 23.Rdd1 Be6 24.f4 Nc4 25.Nxe6 fxe6 26.Kf2 Kf7 27.b3 Nb6 28.e4 Ke7 29.Ke3 a5 30.Bf1 Rd7 31.Be2 Rad8 32.Rxd7+ Nxd7 33.Rc1 Ra8 34.h4 h6 35.h5 Rd8 36.Rc4 Ra8 37.Rc1 Rd8 38.Rd1 Ra8 39.Rb1 Ra7 40.a3 Ra8 41.Bf3 Nb6 42.Rc1 Nd7 43.e5 Nb6 44.g4 Rd8 45.Rc5 Ra8 46.Rc1 Rd8 47.Be4 Nd5+ 48.Bxd5 Rxd5

This is the start of this very interesting Rook endgame.
White certainly has the best possibilities, but it is not easy to win the game.

49.a4 Kd7 50.Rg1 Ke7 51.Rb1 b5 52.Rc1 Kd7 53.Rc3 bxa4 54.bxa4 c5 55.Rb3 Kc6 56.Rb8 Rd7 57.Rc8+ Kd5 58.Ra8 Kc4 59.f5 Rd3+ 60.Kf2 Rd2+ 61.Kg3 Rd3+ 62.Kh4 exf5 63.e6 Re3 64.gxf5 Kb4 65.Rg8 c4 66.Rxg7 c3 67.Rc7 Kb3 68.e7 c2 69.f6 Kb2 70.Rxc2+ Kxc2 71.f7 Rxe7 72.f8=Q Re4+ 73.Kg3 Rxa4 74.Qxh6 1-0

ChessLoser's Blog

2007-06-17T09:01:00.000-07:00
Chess Blogs are a very useful source of chess information. Most of these blogs are from chess players that are working actively on chess improvement and are writing about their successes and failures. Some are very serious, while other blogs are very humorous.
One of the most humorous blogs is the one from Chess Loser. It is called hardcore pawnography.
A quote of a part from one of these articles will make this clear.

I'm just like Tal, only I lose
as i study and play, i notice how my style is evolving and changing, and i notice my style is a lot like GM Tal, with his crazy cavalier attitude, his macho bravado laden sacrifices, his almost wreckless, “i don’t give a fuck” attitude. the only difference, really, between him and me is, he knew what he was doing, he calculated and analized and had a plan, and he won the majority of his games, where as i have the wreckless sacrificing down pat, the bravado, but i don’t back any of it up with sound play or a halfway decent plan, i often fail to see the consequences of my moves, and then i lose miserably. but, every once in a while, i catch someone on a bad day, and it works out for me, like in this game here.

Chess Lessons

2007-06-16T03:29:00.000-07:00
This site is not about chess lessons, but about publishing chess games on blog sites. On the Wordpress Chess Teaching site a lot of chess lessons can be found. At the moment there are more than 50 chess tutorials on almost all the stages of the game and for all levels of play on this Chess Teaching site. You can get a quick overview by looking at their chess lessons index page, but you can also start at this introduction post and follow all the chess lessons by means of the next chess lesson link.