Sunday, June 18, 2006

Chess Life Redesign-Follow Up

Many thanks to all of those who left comments on my Chess Life Redesign post. It managed to be my first post (to the best of my knowledge) mentioned elsewhere on the net at the Boylston Chess Club Weblog. On a similiar note, my blog is linked at All the King's Men.

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Chess Life Redesign

Chess Life has a new look! Perhaps, they decided the old format was too stale for the times. There is quite the contrast between the old design and the new. They've upped the ante with a flashier presentation likely designed to make it easier on the eyes. The old format, despite being kind of bland, never really bothered me much though. Being a hardcore chess enthusiast, content takes precedence over style for me. I'm sad to see Larry Evans column disappear but it's my hope that we'll get to see it online. Speaking of which, I've got mixed feelings about the shift of more content to the net. We do live in an age where net access is becoming increasingly widespread but those without a taste for the web would be left out in this change. Not that it's possible for the USCF to completely please everyone but accommodations for those without a net connection could be made. Two versions of Chess Life could be published with one retaining more content in print form. Of course, there's the issue of increased costs and thus USCF dues (not really knowledgeable on how the current revenue is spent or whether it's mostly spent in a good way) but offering two deals with any extra costs added in could solve that. Anyway, that's my take.

What's yours?

Update: It's a shame to see David L. Brown's Key Kracker's column disappear.