Sunday, February 28, 2010

2010 Vancouver Winter Games

Personally I really enjoyed these games. The level of competition and overall spirit of all the events were amazing. Vancouver did an outstanding job as host to this international event, so many props to all the people who invested time, resources, and energy in British Columbia (and across the nation) to help make these winter games one of the best ever! I also have to tip my hat to CTV. They did an amazing job covering the games, better than any other network in our history.

That being said, however, it was heartbreaking that Nodar Kumaritashvili, a Georgian athlete, died in his training run. The very thought of an Olympic athlete dying never crosses anyone's mind, and when that tragic accident took place it was a very sad moment. I know that people from all over the world felt horrible, and everyone's heart goes out to Nodar's family, friends, and the Georgian team and nation.

Another downside to the Olympic experience was the Canadian media. Just before the end of the first week I heard nothing but anti- "Own the Podium" references on cable television and talk radio. To those unfamiliar with the Canadian "Own the Podium" initiative, it's basically a catch-phrase for supporting athletes financially. I believe Canada spent around 117 million over the past several years to bolster the support of our Olympic athletes to help them train and prepare for the games. Historically, Canada has spent very little supporting Olympic athletes, so the "Own the Podium" program was the first of its kind in Canada.

Early into the games, when some Canadian athletes didn't perform as well as the media had hoped they would, they began to question the worthiness of the "Own the Podium" program. The general theme they were tossing around indirectly, and sometimes directly, was that the program was a waste of money. Of course, what this basically boiled down to was the Canadian media jumped ship on their own athletes. If you're going to say it's not worth investing money on your athletes, what you're also saying is that you don't find them, or their cause, worthy enough to spend money on. You can't just do the athletes lip service and call it a day.

However, the good news is that our athletes didn't back down, didn't get disheartened, and continued to give their very best. In the end, they broke the all time record for gold medals won in any winter Olympic games with 14 of those beauties and achieved third overall in the total medal count standings. For a nation with a population a tenth of a size of the United States, this is an outstanding accomplishment! Now those in the media that were against the "Own the Podium" program will be doing a complete 180, and I am sure we will hear tons of good things about the worthiness of the program for a long time to come. Welcome back on board Canadian media, although I am sure many didn't miss you anyway.

Nonetheless, the games were amazing and what a finish! To have the Canadian men win hockey gold in such a dramatic fashion was a storybook ending to a very entertaining and memorable winter Olympics. Canada has definitely raised the bar for hosting the Games, and that has caused a swell of pride across the nation!

Top 3 Nations

1. United States 9 Gold - 15 Silver - 13 Bronze
*New all time total medal count record with 37 total

2. Germany 10 Gold - 13 Silver - 7 Bronze

3, Canada 14 Gold - 7 Silver - 5 Bronze
*New all time gold medal total record with 14

For full final standings, visit the official website of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games.

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Live Tsunami Feed

?Free TV Show from Ustream

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Chess Snapshot Analysis 2 - Can you find any improvements?

Here's an unrated game I played as white against the 2. ... E6 Sicilian. What improvements could black have made (or white)?



jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

My First Post (New Contributer - David)

This game was between myself David and a friend of mine I was playing with the white pieces.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

We are the World For Haiti - Official Video



To donate $10 dollars to Haiti relief efforts with the Red Cross through your cell phone, follow this step:

Text "haiti" to 90999

So far millions of dollars have been donated this way for Haiti relief efforts, surpassing the entire amount gathered through cell phone donations in 2009.

Source: American Red Cross Twitter Page

Friday, February 19, 2010

Chess Snapshot Analysis - Can you find any improvements?

I thought it would be fun once and awhile to post up a game and ask for snapshot analysis. If you think you see any improvements, jot them down in the comment section and then check them out with your engines to see if you're right. Feel free to post for both sides of the board.



jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Chess Movie: The Story of I.S.318

CHESS MOVIE (working title) from Rescued Media on Vimeo.



jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Sicilian Defence Dragon Variation - Yugoslav Attack: New Annotated Chess Opening with Computer Practice on www.jrobichess.com



I have added an annotated opening for the Sicilian Defence Dragon Variation with computer practice and Grandmaster examples on the main site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

One of Great Britain's strongest grandmasters John Emms notes that "I can safely say that the Yugoslav Attack is the ultimate test of the Dragon. White quickly develops his queenside and castles long before turning his attentions to an all-out assault on the black king. To the untrained eye, this attack can look both awesome and unnerving"

That being said, black has more than enough tools within the Dragon lines to equalize and have solid winning chances. As always, all resources and training materials on http://www.jrobichess.com are free for everyone to use to improve their game. You can find the new opening practice and exploration for the Yugoslav attack in the "Chess Opening Study with Computer Practice" section of my site.

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Chess reduces the chance of getting Alzheimers by 60 to 75 Percent



For the article on how chess greatly reduces the chance of getting Alzheimers by 60-75% click here. Spread the word around and get all your friends and relatives pushing the pieces on the 64 square battlefield!

jrobichess makes chess videos and has a chess blog along with a personal chess site at http://www.jrobichess.com.