[Photo: Flickr - andhub]

Canadian GM Mark Bluvshtein is heading south for the winter, well for part of it anyway. There's no mention yet on the official site, however news comes via the Austrailian Chess Federation Newsletter [Number 390 in the email today is not posted at the Website yet] that Canadian GM Mark Bluvshtein is a confirmed enty in the upcoming Austrailian Open Championships. The open goes from December 28th to January 9th and is being hosted by the Southern Cross Club located in Tuggeranong, Canberra.

Spent some TV time over the weekend watching the Skate Canada International from Victoria. American skater Johnny Weir's short program costume caught my eye. He skates to a piece of music that I later learned is called "King of Chess" by Silent Nick.  In the photo above you can clearly see the  outline of the Knight silhouette on the front of the costume and the theme continues onto the back with a similar outline of a Rook [if my memory is correct, which it sometimes isn't, but that's another story].

Weir just introduced the new short program last month, so it's likely to be in his performances for the rest of the skating season like the upcoming World Championships in Tokyo next March.

Seems like Grandmaster Alex Baburin is in a generous mood this weekend. I logged-on this morning to find not one, not two, but three -- count 'em -- three recent issues of Chess Today in my email. GM Baburin's Chess Today is a daily email newsletter with all the latest from the world of chess, some great analysis and challenging "Test Yourself!" puzzles featuring positions from current games.

As Alex says in a subsequent email, "If these samples won't persuade some of you guys to subscribe, I don't know what will! ".

There are a couple of ways to get Chess Today into your in-box.If you are a keener, every issue is available by subscription.  As an alternative there's periodic free trial, this is the one I use because, frankly, I just would not have the time to read the daily edition [sorry Alex].

You can see more samples here.

To join the free trial click here.

To subscribe, visit this page. 

The new ICCF ratings for players in the Canadian Correspondence Chess Association [CCCA] have been posted. I'm on the list for the first time at something other than a provisional ranking, a result of playing in the 2006 edition of the BC Correspondence Chess Championship. So for now, I'm rated 1896. This will change soon, since I'm planning to play in the 2007 BC Championship.

The top ranked player on the list is GM Wolfram Schon at 2685. You can follow Wolfram's games at his homepage here.

A note in the email this morning from Slugfest organizer Clint Ballard. Fan voting is still on for the best game of last weekend's GM Slugfest.

Canada's Jonathan Berry looks like odds-on favorite for taking home a share of the $1000 US prize up for grabs. Berry had two wins with the Black pieces [scoring 3 points under Slugfest rules] against IM's Friedel and Pruess.

My pick was the Friedel - Berry matchup.

See all the games and vote for your favourite at Slugfest Chess

The folks over at brainwashcafe certainly know a good thing when they see it! The OnlineChess.ca Weblog is the recipient of the brainwashcafe editor's choice award. You can find the listing on their list of 10 Best Blogs for a Smarter You [That's me right there at number 4!]. My humble thanks to Yasser and everyone at team brainwash.

Mark Weeks at About.com Chess is featuring an opening tutorial on the Caro-Kann Defence, 1.e4 c6...



The Caro-Kann is "considered one of Black's most solid responses to 1.e4." and it becomes White's job to create winning chances.

Read the full article, featuring all the main lines, here. Also [Warning: Shameless Self Promotion] check out the introduction on the Chess Openings page on my main site.

Stephen Wright published BC Chess Federation Bulletin Number 104 last week with an update on the 2006 BC Correspondence Chess Championship which is nearing completion.

                                                
1 Bristol, Mike                              5.5/6
2 Sladek, Vaclav                          5.0/6
3 Azmitia Pardo, Eduardo            5.0/6
4 Schwarz, Heiner                       4.5/7
5 Smith, Sid                                 2.0/9
6 Johal, Amarjot                         0.0/10

As Stephen points out, first place is still very much in contention. There's no doubt that I'll finish in 5th place.

The Bulletin features 3 highlight games from the tournament. It goes without saying that none of my games made the highlights. However, I did enjoy the play against some very challenging opponents.

Here's a link to the cross-table and pgn game scores.

Registration is underway for the 2007 edition. For more information email Vas Sladek

I'm up for the challenge and planning to enter.

In today's edition of the Globe and Mail, Jonathan Berry annotates a game between Wayne Hynes and Vaclav Sladek. The game is from the first round of the 2005 Canadian Correspondence Chess Championship which Hynes went on to win.

Here's the diagram position.


[Diagram: White to move]

The match was played on the ICCF Web-Chess server.

Here's a link to the full cross-table and the pgn game files.

And here's one to more info about correspondence chess in Canada. 

Are they chess pieces or are they building blocks? How about both! Chessblocks are described as "a futuristic functional and updated chess set design". The design of each of the pieces is intended to give an intuitive understanding of the basics and movements of chess pieces and what is described as "Perhaps the most appealing aspect of the Chessblocks is that they serve the double duty of building blocks". Double the fun! Two toys in one!

I must say that even though I have not played a game with Chessblocks yet, the geometric design of the pieces is certainly one of the most appealing I've seen in a while. I'm not a big fan of themed chess sets and tend to find, as I think most players do, that standard Staunton style pieces are best for serious play. But, who knows, maybe Chessblocks will catch on? You can even build your own Chessblocks with some paper and glue - might be a good winter project?