A Reflective Time at the Chess Club-The Third Kansas City Open

Site Of Chess Tournament

It's becoming hard to view myself as a genuinely independent commentator on Riverside tournaments since I can't ever discover operational errors! I just may not be looking hard enough though and this is only my second report on a tourney there so I've got ample opportunity for criticism in the future. This event did spark a whirlwind of reflective thoughts on the nature of the chessic struggle and it's peculiarities that made it quite the topsy turvey time. I walked away from it pondering the limitless capacity for improvement that marks our royal game that's been acknowleged by folks with incredible chessic talent like the infamous Alexander Alekhine....

"In the precisely enunciated,beautifully modulated dicton of the day,the interviewer asks whether Alekhine does not by now know all of the combinations in chess. His voice high-pitched and heavily accented,Alekhine replies, "Oh no, believe me, a lifetime is not enough to learn everything about chess."

-Bobby Fischer Goes to War: How the Soviets Lost the Most Extraordinary Chess Match of All Time by David Edmonds and John Eidinow on pgs. 70-71

It seems like there's always something you can work on to improve your chess whether it's curing a lack of concentration at the board or trying to supercharge your attacking prowess. I was reminded of this when I fell into the Noah's Ark Trap in quite the bizarre incident since I took my time on the fatal move but blundered away a piece anyway.

Here's a link for folks who aren't in the know on what the Noah's Ark Trap is.

It might be apt to put a chessic spin on Thomas Jefferson, and say that eternal vigilance is the price of victory in our timeless game. A consistency of alertness has to be maintained in the face of the countless unrelated thoughts that may be swirling in your head.