Checkmate!: Art

Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts

Monday, July 4, 2011

Marvelous Monday - Quote

Avoid the crowd. Do your own thinking independently. Be the chess player, not the chess piece.

Ralph Charell

Friday, July 1, 2011

Happy Canada Day!

What a great country! Keep supporting Canadian chess :)

Image designed using CorelDRAW

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Twisted Tuesday - Artsy Stuff/Funny Pics

Hey Everyone!

Chess art is a Wacky Wednesday topic, but it's raining out here in T.O. (again) and photos always cheer me up :) I decided to switch the Tuesday & Wednesday topics for this week, so that I could share these with you today.

PART I: Chess art...or at least my attempts at it...

1. My first attempt at graphic design using CorelDRAW. It's a lot harder than it looks!

2. What can I say? Chess is cool!

3. Chess cat teaching birds how to play. You may question the irony of it, or how good a coach the cat could be if it holds the pencil the wrong way around, but hey, it was past midnight when I drew this!

PART II: Summer baking

I went on my usual baking craze this year. These are just a few of my creations...

1. A brownie that's too cute to eat.

2. A cupcake that's too cute to eat.

3. More cupcakes that are too cute to eat, and happen to look like checks.

4. Fudge that is NOT too cute to eat. Alright, guys, now you can dig in!

PART III: Bits and pieces from the CITL Festival

1. An "Activities" sign unintentionally made the perfect spot for kids to test out pens (notice the pen marks).

2. Mickey Mouse made his appearance on this sign.

3. This sign didn't actually get used but I think it's quite retro :)

4. Someone submitted this cute answer without a name. I love how kids write "pawn" as "pond". Chess kids are awesome.

5. The CITL t-shirt design, by Lennart, is stunning. I think I'll use it again to promote CITL in WLU's chess club. FM Hans Jung mentioned the nearby Waterloo Library as a potential opportunity if we get enough volunteers.

PART IV: A gift for mom's birthday

1. This is not chess-related, but I spent three days making it! Anything that takes three days of my time deserves a place on my blog!

2. Mom's reaction to finding out I spent three days hiding out with a latch hook.

3. Caught with nowhere to turn.

PART V: Random

1. Garfield is great...just thought I'd mention that.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Marvelous Monday - Joke!

Why don't chess kings like bad weather?

Answer: You wouldn't want pawn storms coming at you either!

Image above: http://www.toonpool.com/cartoons/Chess_53391

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Wacky Wednesday - Chess Art

These shoes look awesome! Check out this pair, and a few other excellent pieces of chess art at http://alchessmist-chess-art.blogspot.com/

Related blog: http://alchessmist.blogspot.com/

There are also some great art & videos at http://chessaleeinlondon.wordpress.com/chess-humour-art/. I especially like the 'Chess Simul and More' video!!!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Chess and Art

Sofia Polgar is a great chess player and artist!

Visit her website: http://www.sofiapolgar.com/

This one's my favourite:

More Chess Stuff (in Recent News)

Jason Cao: http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_south/saanichnews/news/106869408.html, http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_south/saanichnews/news/Saanich_golden_boy_comes_home_as_world_chess_champ.html

Scarborough Chess Club:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/nov/09/ronan-bennett-daniel-king-chess

Chess Boxing: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6203243,00.html, http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ac-7094360

Hitler played chess? http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/guywalters/100062776/hitler-and-zippy/

Survivor for chess fanatics: http://www.tvfanatic.com/2010/11/survivor-review-company-will-be-arriving/

Scotland Elementary School introduces chess for kindergarten students: http://ridgefield.patch.com/articles/scotland-school-to-offer-chess-classes-to-kindergartners

"The game of football is just a more physical version of a chess match (unless you're an extremely intense chess master)." http://bleacherreport.com/articles/511843-michigan-state-vs-purdue-chess-match-or-football-game

Guardian Chess Book of the Year

(The Attacking Manual, Volume 2, by Jacob Aagaard): http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/nov/09/ronan-bennett-daniel-king-chess

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Halloween Prep in Eight Easy Steps!

ARE YOU READY FOR HALLOWEEN...

..."CHECKMATE" STYLE????

STEP 1: WARM UP YOUR BRAIN.

Halloween arcade games http://halloweenarcade.com/

(yes, in this game, I was the witch...can't you tell by my gleaming smile?)

STEP 2: PRACTICE CHESS AGAINST A COMPUTER.

Halloween chess game http://www.gamesforwork.com/games/play-11305-Halloween_Chess-Flash_Game

(you have to be patient, it takes a minute or two to load)

Such an adorable set, but 100% fearless! How many times do you get to play Halloween chess against the Sicilian?

Strange - I seem to see things better with the Halloween set...guess that's a sign I'm out of practice. It helps that my "opponent" likes moving the "witch" (queen) out early.

STEP 3: LEARN A NEW OPENING.

The Halloween Gambit...scary...

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nxe5 wowwwww

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roz1YeJjvUY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Knights_Game,_Halloween_Gambit

http://www.chessville.com/uco/Halloween_Gambit/Part_1.htm

"Austrian Jakob Steffen, played the gambit with his crafty clone "Brause" in thousands of chess games on the ICC-server between 1993 and 1998. He achieved a performance of over 70 %."

http://www.chessexchange.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2904

STEP 4: REFUEL.

Impressive! Now who wants the purple hand (I still have my doubts of its edibility)?

http://worldsbestcookingmenu.blogspot.com/2009/10/halloween-chess-cake.html

STEP 5: CHOOSE YOUR SET.

Wooden halloween pieces. Amazing! After seeing these, I don't think I'll ever carve wood again.

http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/1359/cat/external.php

STEP 6: CHOOSE YOUR OPPONENT.

A pawn dressed up as a knight - priceless!

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/fun-with-chess/early-halloween-drawing-i-made-for-chesscom?lc=1

STEP 7: REALIZE YOU CAN'T ORGANIZE A GAME AGAINST A PAWN ON A FANCY WOODEN SET AND DECIDE TO RESORT BACK TO TOURNAMENTS.

How about Chess 'n Math's Halloween Tournament (tomorrow)? - sounds like fun!

http://members4.boardhost.com/chess-math/msg/1286430732.html

...to celebrate, I even designed a witching/wizarding hat for Kiril!

STEP 8: PAT YOURSELF ON THE BACK AND ENJOY THE SATISFACTION OF FIGURING OUT WHY CHESS PLAYERS SPEND THEIR WEEKENDS IN TOURNAMENTS ...WHAT A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY :)

NOW THAT'S HOW WE "CHECKMATE"!

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BONUS STEP:

TRICK OR TREAT UNDER ONE CONDITION...YOU MUST SAVE SOME FOR ME! AFTERALL, ADVICE DOESN'T COME CHEAP.

p.s. I like caramels and chocolates :)

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Also see my costume idea posts:

http://checkmateupdate.blogspot.com/2010/09/best-dressed.html

http://checkmateupdate.blogspot.com/2009/10/halloween-costumes-anyone.html

Monday, October 4, 2010

Hazel's Jokes!

When is perpetual check a good thing?
Answer: When T.A.s are grading midterms!
*cross fingers*

(for all of you who thought to yourself "A perpetual check is good when you're losing or need a draw", I think you forgot to read the title of this post!)

The lovely image above, and more jokes, can be found on ChessBase:

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4168