Closed for Business

What do you do when the pawn structure is all jammed up? Sacrifice to open it up, I guess.


 

All-Day Preschool at Ray

Do you need all-day preschool in Hyde Park? Check out the preschool program at William H. Ray Elementary School. 

Ron Washington: A Chicago Institution

Michael’s Still Got It

At 48, Michael Jordan can still dunk.

Quote of the Day

“I'm sick of begging members of the Senate, even those among them who have been my friends for years, to move two inches in the right direction. I'm tired of complaining. And I'm too old to bite my tongue and mute my words out of politeness and respectfulness for politicians who tell me in private that they share my views about the practices and policies that demean our teachers and threaten the survival of our public schools, but then refuse to stand up and denounce these policies in public.”

Jonathan Kozol, on why he’ll be in the streets of Washington at the end of this month.

Thank goodness he's still around.

Save Our Schools, Washington, D.C., July 30.

It’s Poverty, Stupid

More evidence, as if any were needed, that the main impediment to educational achievement is poverty, a problem for which, I hardly need add, there is no political will whatsoever to discuss much less solve. Things are getting worse, unemployment is high—structurally, permanently, very likely—and the disparities of income and wealth are growing. Meanwhile, the problem isn’t even on the agenda of either party. No wonder the so-called school reformers want to blame teachers for everything.

More from Professor Marder here and here.

Storm of the Century

We were among more than 800,000 people in the Chicago area who lost power today after a thunderstorm that lasted about 20 minutes but did more damage than any storm in at least 13 years. We're among the lucky ones: our lights are back on. Some people may have to wait days.

In our area the Kenwood neighborhood around President Obama's house seems to have taken the worst of it.

Endgame

There were plenty of blunders on both sides of this G/5 blitz game, but fortunately my worthy opponent made more of then than I did. Mate in 70something.

Chess on the 4th

Hyde Park woodpushers: For the Nth year in a row we'll have chess in Nichols Park during the 4th of July festivities on Monday. We'll be near the 54th Street cul de sac, where the chess tables used to be before they fell prey to vandalism. Come by and play a game or two. And bring the kids.

Bethany Pickens at Millennium Park

Bethany will be at Millenium Park, the Pritzker Pavilion, tomorrow night at 6:30. Here's a sample of what we'll here. Bethany gets her solo about fives minutes in.



Part 2:

True Guitar Hero

Some jazz, some blues

And this one, too, just because I love that Les Paul goldtop:

Is This What Plato & Aristotle Fed Their Felines?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not in favor of undue government interference in private enterprise, but shouldn’t somebody stop a cat food company from positioning its product as “classic pate”—on the grounds that it constitutes a criminal insult to public intelligence?

Oops

Sometimes when you blunder away a piece you lose the thread and your game falls apart. To wit: 25. Rh3. Been there. White loses on time, but it was all over anyway.

Nichols Park Sunday Concert Series 2010

Sundays, 4-6 PM, North Fountain – 53rd Street, Kimbark & Kenwood, Chicago

L.V. Banks and His Swinging Blues Band
July 11

Willy White (blues)
July 18

Jimmy Ellis Quartet (jazz)
July 25

Walter Scott (blues)
August 1

To Be Determined
August 8

Vance Kelly and the Backstreet Blues Band
August 15

Akasha (reggae, rock)
August 22

Billy Flynn (blues)
August 29

To Be Determined
September 5

Rosen Draws Robson in St. Louis

Photo: Betsy Dynako

Congratulations to NM Eric Rosen of the Chicago Blaze, who drew wunderkind GM Ray Robson in the first round of the U.S. Junior Closed Championship now taking place in St. Louis, alongside the U.S. Women’s Championship. Take a look at this exciting game, with strong threats on both sides of the board.

Since I’m not competent to comment on chess at this level or any other for that matter, let’s get the annotation from the press release of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis, which is hosting both the junior and women’s tournaments:

“In a match-up that featured the greatest rating differential in the tournament, Robson (2613) took on NM Eric Rosen (2209). Rosen did not let the 404-point difference faze him.

“’It was a hard pairing, playing Ray in the first round,’ Rosen said. ‘It’s always good to play the strongest player to get them out of the way.’

“Early on, Robson used more than 10 minutes on 9…Nc5. ‘I think I used way too much time in
the opening,’ he said.

“Robson said it was a complicated position in the middlegame that led him even deeper into time trouble.

“’I was doing fine up until I blundered [37…] Kh7,’ he said.

“This allowed Rosen to fork Robson’s rook and queen, winning the rook and putting pressure on the defending champion. Robson managed to advance his a-pawn down the board and, after a series of rook checks by Rosen, the two agreed to a draw.”

See Bill Brock's commentary as well.

Nick Carr on Colbert

Read his new book. Because he's right.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Nicholas Carr
www.colbertnation.com
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Hatfields & McCoys Still At It?

In the great tradition of herd journalism, The Wall Street Journal has followed this blog and covered a story that we brought you more than two years ago. It appears that The Great Thompson Street Chess Feud, the long-simmering conflict between two neighboring Greenwich Village chess shops, continues despite a change of ownership in one of them.

Where can I get one of those “I [heart] Chess” buttons?

Foggy, Foggy Night

This was the scene in Nichols Park last night as Chicago was engulfed in a blanket of fog that lasted for an uncommonly long time—well into this morning, in fact. My family transformed it into works of art. Photos by Jane Averill; art direction, digital enhancement, and layout by Michael Panelas.

Paging Watson and Crick

Here’s something new: an attractive public parking garage. I don’t know if these photos do justice to the new structure at the northeast corner of Clark and Kinzie in Chicago, but it is kind of cool looking. The double helix, I assume, is an allusion to the ramps that take you up the floors of the garage, not to DNA, but I could be wrong.

Your Moment of Zen

What do you suppose is going through the mind of writer Zadie Smith as she finds herself in the midst of this earnest male entourage—of chess players?

What’s that empty bag of popcorn doing on the table with all those formally attired champagne drinkers? Why does that glass (or candle holder?) control the center of the board? And are we to infer from the way Ms. Smith has casually brushed aside several of the White pieces with her purse that they are playing some hitherto unknown chess variant in which moves are made with sartorial accessories?

What’s going on here? And who are these yahoos?