Kasparov vs. Karpov 25th Anniversary Match

This match is significant, even symbolic, for several reasons. For one, it shows how chess has gone down in popularity after these so many years. Yahoo! didn't even consider it worthy of an article, featuring it only as several pictures in its Yahoo! In Photos section. Next, Googling the event will land you in several regional internet news agency like this one, not really big at all considering the event. Well, Chess.com actually featured it in its site (click on the pic, which is also from the site). But even so, its article as well as those of other sites that cared enough to feature it casts an atmosphere of chess not being able to live up to its potential to become truly popular, then and much more now.

What does the future holds for chess? Will it be relegated to the ranks of classics, held in high esteem, but never really something worth of wide coverage and exposure? Will somebody in the future be able to crack the code to bring it back (if it ever was) into the mainstream, embraced as the ultimate among intellectual games, and considered as equal with its counterparts in the physical arena?

We can only hope. Read More......

StarCraft II going beta!

Now, what has this got to do with chess? Well, if your regular OTB meetings experience a decline in attendance especially in the teens bracket, you may have a suspect here. Or this is simply just one of those things that one can get excited with side by side with chess.

Blizzard is set to give beta test accounts a few weeks from now. You can find the full mechanics on how to get one on their FAQ site (click pic to get there).

After all this long time of anticipation, I already got myself confused about what this new StarCraft is going to be about. But given my experience with the original StarCraft, it's understandable why the excitement hasn't abated still. This is one of those games that you hardly think would disappoint. You have to hand it to Blizzard to maintain the excitement of the followers of this game after all this time. Quality does pay big time.

Excuse me while I try to get myself a beta account...

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War of the Machines

No, it's not another movie review. This is about games that computers play. You read that right. The International Computer Games Association (click pic to get to the site) started out as the International Computer Chess Association, which holds regular championship events for computer vs. computer matches. It has been renamed in 2002 as ICGA, and now caters to other computer games and game artificial intelligence. It hosts the World Computer Chess Championship, as well as the Computer Olympiad. ICGA fosters relationships with the fields of Computer Science, Commerce, and Game organizations throughout the world.

There's something awkwardly eerie when you consider more closely the idea of two programs, slugging it out on a game of chess, checkers, or backgammon. It also has deeper repercussions than one would normally consider at first. What computer developers will learn from developing these programs can have day-to-day applications. As I see it, a computer vs. computer game will fete the developers ability to develop a better database of moves and a means to evaluate the best possible move in the shortest possible time. And since the human mind is arguably the best computer still, what if you design these game computers the way we are designed, providing them a sort of "freedom" that will allow them to "discover" new tactics and plans. Do we have a Sonny or a VICKI (from I, Robot) in the making?

Check out ICGA today! Read More......

Chess, Music, and Martial Arts

Good things comes in threes. And what chess federations stand for is no exception. The Hip-Hop Chess Federation goes by the same trilogy of ideals. One look at their website (click pic for the link) will quickly give you the impression they are reputable enough that they gather considerable attention in major news outfits. And I really like the logo. It says a great deal about fusing chess and hip-hop. But I sure wish they have some correspondence or live chess game area in their website so people could have a hands-on playing with them.

I say, whatever gets people in the game and get them out of a not-so-good alternative, I am all for it!
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