A Coffee in the Country

Moving out of the city was a refreshing change for myself and Caroline. Not everyone is made up to live in a city, however great that city might be. And Melbourne is a great city! I've lived in a few, and Melbourne is fantastic as cities go. I guess upbringing will play a part in a person's comfort zones, and both Caroline and I grew up in a town environment, moving to cities later in our lives. We've now moved back to a small town surrounded by lush countryside, albeit on the other side of the planet. How things go around...!

Misty view of the Latrobe Valley

For all my talk of not being a city person, I still love a good barista style coffee, and I haven't been disappointed with what I've found in Baw Baw Shire. The Drouin and Warragul areas in the Latrobe Valley have plenty of cafes dotted around, and every small dot on the map has a cafe or bakery. It is too much to try them all, though I'll give it a go! I even lower my expectations when I'm outside of Melbourne, though there is really no need. I guess when you're just an hour's drive away from Melbourne's south east suburbs, some parts of the city are going to filter to country towns (pun intended).

We go over to Warragul quite often, because it is bigger and has more shops and retail outlets and it's only 8 minutes drive. We also have a favourite cafe, Earth Market Cafe. They have a great and varied food menu, catering to many different food needs including gluten free, vegetarian and vegan options. I have a particular liking for porridge at breakfast and Earth Market's is excellent with a strong almond taste, and thick cut oats that you need extra milk with to break up and they serve it with banana or berries. However, check out the posts on their facebook page to see the quality and variety of food served.

Earth Market Cafe

The main reason for going to a cafe is the coffee, and Earth Market serve great coffee. They use Dukes coffee for those of you that like the Prahran hangout, or the Central Melbourne vibe, and my long black comes out full bodied, with a rich crema, and a mellow, slightly sweet, chocolaty/licorice flavour.

The Earth Market Cafe is a really chilled out place to hang out for a coffee. The staff are friendly and aren't hovering around you to see if you have finished your coffee (or to watch you wipe your eyes when you get to a particularly sad part in the book you're reading!). Its central location in Warragul makes Earth Market Cafe an ideal place to start off a days shopping, rest half way, or end up in to relax after shopping.

Pawn Endgames

I saw on the MCC Facebook Page an interesting post by FM Michael Baron. Michael said "I have my own list of greatest endgames" but then directed others to a chessgames site called the Greatest  Ever Chess Endgames. It is important for players of all levels to have some knowledge of endgames and some guiding principles to lead one's play. Theoretical endgames become more important as a player gets stronger, but as in opening study, it is probably better to work on general understanding rather than theoretical knowledge. In this respect, looking at great games where great endgame ideas were played is fantastic advice, that you'd expect from an FM like Michael Baron. When an endgame particularly catches your interest, then deeper investigation can be undertaken with a book like Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual, or Muller's Fundamental Chess Endings.

Here's an interesting endgame that I saw recently. It isn't brilliant, and the players aren't overly famous, but it is still interesting. The game was between Csom-Suttles Indonesia 1982.

White is much better in this position. The d5 rook is dominant, while black's king is a bit intimidated. For instance, white can win a pawn straight off with 1.exd6+ Bxd6 2.Rxf5. However, both players were in the first time control and would have been seeing their clock hand turning toward the flag, so the Hungarian Grand Master decided to head for the pawn ending which he must have considered to be significantly better for him. The game saw all the pieces traded over the next few moves:

1.exd6+ Bxd6 2.Rxd6 Rcxd6 3.Rd1 Kc6 4.Bxd6 Rxd6 5.Rxd6 Kxd6 6.Kf2

A big consideration in endgames is whether it is good to trade into pawn endgames. On the more general theme of trading pieces, it usually isn't good to trade your good pieces for your opponent's less good pieces, so one could argue that generally speaking, white has given away the advantage he held by the comparative strength of his pieces. However, if by simplifying into a pawn ending we guarantee a win, then it is an acceptable thing to do.

The question is whether white can win this? What would be black's best try here to defend?

I'll carry this on tomorrow....

Internet Abuse

The internet is a strange world. As a repository for information it is amazing, and some of the things that can be done and shared online are wonderful. As a chess player, I know that I can now play at any time, day and night where before the internet, I'd have to make the effort to travel to a chess club, possibly once a week. And chess is certainly not the only thing that has benefited from online development. But there are negative sides to the internet too, and I'm not just talking about flagrant criminal activity.

As a minor user of social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, I see people abusing the sites in bizarre ways. Cyber bullying or "trolling" is rife throughout these social media sites, illegal downloading of media is also rife, and internet addiction is becoming more widespread and recognised as a social disorder.

From a blogging perspective, I try to keep this blog positive, I write it for myself because I enjoy writing, and hope that some others enjoy reading it. I don't seek to make anything out of it, I don't make a big effort to publicise it outside of my close network of friends and acquaintances, and I try my best to link to, or credit, as much as possible so each blog post of mine will hopefully lead some readers to a new site.

Yesterday I was scrolling through some internet sites, linked to one, and saw a photograph that I knew Caroline had taken. I didn't recognise the site, and didn't see a credit to Caroline's name, so I asked her whether the site owner had asked permission to use the image. Caroline had not given permission, whereas I have just asked permission and it has been granted :)

"Alone in a Crowd" by Caroline Gorka (redbubble)

When I search for this image using the google image search function, it comes up with about 70 pages that use this image. Caroline has uploaded this picture to certain sites, such as Redbubble and Artists Lane which act as onlne galleries and sell materials on behalf of the contributors. But well over half the sites using this picture have not asked permission to do so, and are not attributing the creator of the images they are using.

This brings me to the dodgy subject of copyright and fair use of materials. Apparently, the photo above is subject to copyright once it has been taken and for someone like me to use it, I would need to gain the permission of the creator of the image before posting it. An exception to the rule is called "fair use" and this applies to use of an image that doesn't interfere with the owner's rights. A good example of this has been used on this blog before, where I talk about a book I've read and download a photo from a site such as Goodreads, or Amazon of the book cover. From an etiquette point of view, I would still link to the site where I took the image from and attribute the site in a caption, or footnote. However, this still would not be anything to do with copyright of material. I found a pretty good site which explains these issues in layman's terms.

All the sites I have been to about these issues give the same advice:

"when in doubt, assume it’s subject to copyright and don’t use it without the appropriate permission."

A Day of Rest

Currently my only day off is a Sunday, and I'm even doing an early morning lesson on a Sunday, so my weekend starts about 10 am Sunday morning and lasts till I go to bed. No matter, this state of affairs will right itself at some stage, and I can't really complain about the work. However, it means that Sundays will be chess free days until I have another day off (ok, I know that's a bit ambitious, so I'll aim for a half day).

So what do I do on a chess free day, beside twiddling my thumbs, or sweating and hyperventilating because there is something missing from my life? I couldn't really get on with too much today as the weather was abysmal, so there was no day trip into the country. However, sitting around the house isn't an option, so Caroline and I went out for lunch and then found ourselves at the South Melbourne Market. I'm going to reminisce for a bit here, so if that irritates you, then skip to the next paragraph. I first went to the South Melbourne Market about 8 years ago, and thought it was shabby and uninteresting. There was a lack of selection, and the quality of the produce I felt was pretty poor. I can't really remember what time of year I went, as that may have contributed to the bad impression I got. However, I was lucky enough to try the South Melbourne Market again a few years later, and in that time there had been a transformation, with many new stalls with interesting produce, and even the food stuffs seemed to be more varied and of a better quality than I'd thought when I first went there. Now I enjoy wandering around the market, with my favourite stalls probably being the hemp clothing stall, and the specialist potato stall.

I have thought about this quite a bit today, I mean the fact that we get comfortable with our way of life and then don't like to push the boundaries, or leave our comfort zone. But life, to me, is all about trying new things and complacency is something to be avoided. I'm not saying routine is bad, but life would be very dull if one didn't try new things, or retrying things to see how they've changed. I suppose as an expat I've experienced a huge change to my life, but one thing I have not experienced is being a parent. Don't get me wrong, I have no regrets on that score, but my brother's, wife's daughter had a baby yesterday back in the UK and I wish Sam, and her family much happiness.

Because of this, I've spent a fair bit of time checking and rechecking my Facebook account today, to keep up to date with events back in the UK. It really is amazing how technology has allowed me to keep in touch with my family, seeing their pictures and reading their daily trials and triumphs from across the globe. The internet has certainly made the World a smaller place in terms of communication. I must admit, that I do have a regret this year, and it's not being able to get back to the UK to see my niece's wedding which will be happening in August. But by the power of webcam, I've been invited to the wedding, and I will most definitely be attending. (I just have to convince Vanya to rearrange her wedding for 4 am GMT which is a better time for us in Australia!)

Did you ever have a book that you intended to read but never quite got round to it? Or an author perhaps? For me it was Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I once even had a book out of the library, 100 Years of Solitude, but for one reason or another, didn't even open the book before returning it. It is a shame that it took his recent death to remind me that here was an author who I'd wanted to read for many years, but never had. Today I bought 'Love in the Time of Cholera' which I will start soon after I finish this blog post. (Here's a nice tribute about him on the Huffington Post) I also bought Dan Brown's 'Inferno' which takes me back to when I first came to Australia, a bit over 9 years ago. I took a Cathay Pacific flight from Heathrow to Melbourne via Hong Kong, and on that flight I read 'The Da Vinci Code', or at least most of it!


So I guess I'm saying in this post that 'new' is good, but so is 'familiar'. Finding the right balance for each of us, is the key to happiness. I'll be writing more non chess posts on Sundays, and hopefully giving my opinion about some coffee which I haven't written about for a while. That reminds me, it's a while since I've been to some really good cafe's that I must try again, and then there are plenty out there that I haven't tried, though my regular haunts are pretty good.

A Typical Wednesday

My work as a chess coach sees me mainly driving from school to school running hour long sessions of coaching and playing for kids. I also do some more advanced coaching, and try to write a little bit as well, and of course try to keep up with chess news and look at some games and ideas. During the week I have some time between lessons to relax, or work, or do whatever I feel like doing. I always have reading material with me ("Life After Life" by Kate Atkinson, "The String Diaries" by Stephen Lloyd Jones, and the latest  New in Chess Magazine), and a laptop with mobile internet access.

So besides my work admin site, and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, I have dropped into a sort of routine about which sites I look at on a regular basis. I follow chess news mainly through TWIC, though I sometimes go to other sites if there looks to be a story of interest. I also seek opinions on chess forums in both Australia and England (I must branch out a bit here, and start looking at some more forum sites). Today, I learned from the Australian Chesschat forum the sad news of the death of Peter Parr. I had never met Peter but his role in Australian chess is legendary, as an arbiter, organiser, mentor, chess shop owner and a player. Memories of Peter Parr, and tributes from chess players who knew him can be found here.

RIP Peter Parr (image from CDS)

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It's currently a typical Melbourne winter's day. There is a fairly strong breeze blowing, and rain is coming in showers. Funnily enough, the day started in a completely different manner, with sunshine and what felt to me like a surprisingly early sunrise. Needless to say that Melbourne is famous for it's 4 seasons in a day. My main concern is whether the rain will be coming down when I'm outside or inside. So far I've been pretty lucky this winter, as I have mostly seemed to avoid the rain. That luck has to run out sometime I guess! Talking about 'unlucky', GM Cori of Peru will definitely be feeling aggrieved being eliminated from the World Cup. Cori was involved in a potential big upset against Radjabov after finishing 1-1 in the Rapid games and taking the match to a blitz play off. Cori claims he thought the start time of the next round was 6.50, when in fact it was 6.15. After seeing players taking their seats online, he rushed to the playing hall, arriving 2 minutes late for the start of the game, and was forfeited. This seems incredibly harsh to me, especially as there were no written notices as to when the start time of rounds were to be. While the decision may have followed the letter of the law, it seems that the processes involved were rather sloppy, and this certainly needs tightening up, by organisers and FIDE.

I am somewhat luckier than Mr. Cori, as the rain has stopped just as I walk to head to my next class. Will the weather be as kind to me on the walk back?

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Well luck has stayed with me today, and I've been inside when it's been raining, though we're only half way through the day. Driving between jobs can be somewhat monotonous and I often fill the time listening to music, like I guess a lot of drivers do. But sometimes I just like to think either about the lessons that I'm to present, or chess in general, or anything else that comes to mind. Today, 2 subjects have been buzzing round my mind in spare moments. One is what I genuinely feel about the 'zero tolerance' rule that cost GM Cori his game, and the other is coffee!

I actually quite like the fact that a player can be forfeited if he isn't ready to start at the allotted time. If chess wants to be recognised as a professional game/sport then I think setting professional standards of organisation and behaviour is reasonable. Of course, the case involving GM Cori was anything but professional. A minimum expectancy from the organisers should be prior written instructions as to when rounds are to be played. In this case it was a verbal instruction given to players after the stress of having already played in a 2 game rapid match. The more I consider this, the more I personally don't think that this case was handled fairly and I have a definite sympathy with Cori.

Quite another issue is applying the zero tolerance rule to all events, and this touches on how different levels of events are treated. I'm sure if FIDE could get their way, then all FIDE rated events would have an automatic forfeit rule for players not present at the start of a playing session. But at the amateur level this is really not realistic. Take for instance, the FIDE rated tournament currently being played at the MCC, the Malitis Memorial. Players are travelling to the club after work on a Monday, through traffic which can sometimes be heavy and it cannot be expected that they would get to the venue for the start time of 7.15 pm every week. In fact. some players even let the arbiter know if they will be late in an act of courtesy to the club and their opponent. Thankfully, tournament organisers currently have the discretionary ability to state their own forfeit time for a game, and the MCC uses a 30 minute period of grace for a player to arrive after the start of the playing session. If a player has trouble with this, then postponements, and late starts (with the agreement of an opponent) are possible.

There are definitely 2 tiers to chess competition, and even if we all play under one rating system, FIDE have to understand that local club players have different needs to the top professionals. Getting sponsorship and full recognition at the top level is a different issue to getting a large number of bodies to play chess at lower levels, but both are equally important for their own reasons.

I'm the Expresso (from a meme site)

Coffee is a different subject that I have daily thoughts about. In fact, I may have a mild addiction to coffee, and I usually have 1 or 2 coffee's a day. We're not talking about instant coffee here, but the real thing. My preference is simply black coffee, either in short or long form. I don't take milk or sugar preferring the genuine taste of the coffee. Or at least, I hope to enjoy the taste of the coffee, though they aren't always great. I usually pick up a take away on my way to my first class in the morning. This class will be at 8 am each morning so an early pick me up int he form of a coffee is much needed. I tend to pick my coffee up from the Artful Dodger in Elsternwick which serves a very good coffee, strong and full bodied, but with s slightly sweet flavour. After that I tend to find somewhere to sit and have a coffee at some stage during the day. Today I was in the bayside suburb of Black Rock and had a pretty decent long black in Jacques, along with a tasty almond croissant.

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Well, I'm sitting at home in the evening after a miraculous day of missing rain showers and staying dry. I suppose I should really apologise for going on about the weather, but I believe it has something to do with my English upbringing. With rain always around the corner, the English are weather obsessed, and if it's not too wet, then it must be too hot, or too cold, or too dry, or just "not quite right", or "about to deteriorate". Looking back on my day, I can say there were some real highlights. Starting a new book is always a risky thing, but "The String Diaries" has completely gripped me. It has the potential to be one of the best thrillers I've ever read (not that I'm particularly well read in that genre).

(Goodreads)

The other notable moment was when I was showing some of the kids I teach pictures of top chess players from my New in Chess Magazine. Comments included "Wow, he's just a kid" (on Carlsen), "Who's that old guy?" (on Gelfand, depressingly younger than me!) and "He looks weird" (on Ivanchuk). Sometimes it's a challenge working with kids, but there are times when it brings a smile to your face!

By the way, just 33 days before my holiday!!

How Amazing is Social Media?

So, I'm a bit of a technophobe, and fairly reluctant to try new gadgets, but I have to say that I'm completely blown away recently by the power of the internet. I'm currently following live feeds on Twitter and the BBC news site over the shock announcement that the Pope is to resign. Now as a non Catholic, I'm not going to make comment on this turn of events, but it is a momentous piece of news. In fact Pope Benedict will be the first Pope to resign in office since Gregory XII in 1415. I am now an avid follower of Twitter, and when I'm online I will have a tab with it running while I do other things. Besides following various chess tweeters, and some authors and book sites, it is the news that mainly interests me, and I find the BBC coverage usually very good. I always have an alternative site news running so as to get a second opinion, though this second site changes. Currently I am following Sky News, but I think I'll change soon.

My main point of contact with others online is through Facebook, and I've found it an invaluable tool for following the progress of my family back in the UK, and for promoting chess and this blog. I must admit that I'm not too bothered about the number of 'friends' I have, or interests I follow. I guess we all use these social media tools for our own ends.

But personally I find the most useful thing about the internet is the way it has made following chess so easy. There are some sites which I regularly follow and have done for a very long time. Top of the list are my favourite 2 sites, The Week in Chess (TWIC) and the Chess Cafe. TWIC is a chess news site while Chess Cafe offers regular articles on all aspects of the game. I use TWIC as my main portal for watching live games. On the site there is a live chess game page, and links to other live games happening around the world.  In fact, watching live games online is one of my favourite chess activities. My local chess club, the Melbourne Chess Club (MCC) has a digital board and I've been watching a game tonight which has been broadcast live. I see the game has just finished but I'm guessing the result has been put in wrong, as it looks as if white has forced mate rather than the game being a draw.

I also like to follow blogs. Some I have been looking at for a long time, while I like to try new ones out for a bit. My blogroll to the right of the page shows blogs I follow as do the links underneath. Some of these are updated more often than others and I've found a few more to follow. Kevin Spraggett's blog is excellent for chess. Spraggett is a Canadian GM and his chess posts are great reading material whether they are about parts of the game itself, or commentary about chess politics or culture. I also want to follow Denis Monokrousos' site as that also has a great deal of chess content. I'll be adding these 2 sites to the blogroll and following them for the next couple of months, at least until the end of the London Candidates.