Chess and the Maiden
I really must get a chess-related avatar. I want a good chess-related avatar and then a good Picard avatar and a good tryzub avatar and then I'll be happy. (And I promise the title of this post will be the worst pun I will ever make... or will it?)
Anyway. Pike and Chekov and Chess make a good combination, as you know - a great combination for a fic. Pike and Chekov and Chess and Me should therefore be excellent because I possess many of the attributes of a chess fan. I find it intriguing. Maybe it's in the blood. I mean, a load of top chess players are Russian, right? And some of them are Ukrainian, and even though no-one in my family has shown any aptitude for chess to my knowledge, something must have tricked down through the genes, yes?
Actually... no. It was my father who purchased a copy of Learn Chess Fast! by Sammy Reshevsky, the book which introduced me to the sport of people who can't afford to race horses. What am I saying? It's fun! I genuinely enjoy a game, when I get the chance to play. Problem is, I'm not a great player. I'm not a bad player. I just don't actually know anyone who's beyond the "Whoa! Aren't knight moves cool?" stage and not at the "I've been playing since I was three and have competed in - and WON! - many local competitions" stage, so I'm rarely in a position to play a game that could go either way. So I've decided to teach myself using Chessmaster 9000. I used to own Chessmaster 5000 or something - a fine program, I must say, except it didn't offer you a chess puzzle on startup and it didn't offer you a wide variety of eight-year-olds to thrash mercilessly.
What Chessmaster 9000 also does is allow you to pit famous chess players (OK, simulations of their styles) against each other. I've been doing this in my recent downtime and, um, I find it a lot of fun. I mean, I've been cheerleading it. Cheerleadering chess, just like it Zanna, Don't!. Spassky wins against Tarrasch; Reshevsky fell to Steinitz. Polgar and Reshevsky drew. Oh, it doesn't sound very exciting, but I suppose you had to be there.
Furthermore, you can make your own chess-playing personalities. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Yes, you are. I constructed a Chekov player - based on Boris Spassky (attacking), but tweaked to be a little more jejune - and a Pike player - based on Anatoly Karpov (defensive and thoughtful), but tweaked to be a little more defensive and to spend time pondering. I mean, I can't have them be average chess players, can I? Chekov has to idolise a Russian chess player, and it may as well be the Leningrad-born Boris Spassky (and not just because I have a soft spot for a guy who got punished for losing to someone from the degenerate West in 1972). It's all part of characterisation, given that I am currently writing what you might call chess porn. No actual sex, just lavish descriptions of the ol' war game. Right now I'm running a Chekov vs. Pike match, blitz chess timing, and from all the games I've played with the personalities they appear to be pretty well-balanced. Just the way I wanted it.
(Hey, you know what I said about Parental Bonuses on the 26th December, regarding kids' films? This is going to be a chess fans' bonus.)
Well, I'm feeling pretty happy and confident about this work. My imagination is proving fertile, possibly due to massive quantities of coffee and chocolate-covered almonds, and boy am I stoked from watching all this computer chess.
Now all I need to do is think up a suitable title and I will be happy.
Anyway. Pike and Chekov and Chess make a good combination, as you know - a great combination for a fic. Pike and Chekov and Chess and Me should therefore be excellent because I possess many of the attributes of a chess fan. I find it intriguing. Maybe it's in the blood. I mean, a load of top chess players are Russian, right? And some of them are Ukrainian, and even though no-one in my family has shown any aptitude for chess to my knowledge, something must have tricked down through the genes, yes?
Actually... no. It was my father who purchased a copy of Learn Chess Fast! by Sammy Reshevsky, the book which introduced me to the sport of people who can't afford to race horses. What am I saying? It's fun! I genuinely enjoy a game, when I get the chance to play. Problem is, I'm not a great player. I'm not a bad player. I just don't actually know anyone who's beyond the "Whoa! Aren't knight moves cool?" stage and not at the "I've been playing since I was three and have competed in - and WON! - many local competitions" stage, so I'm rarely in a position to play a game that could go either way. So I've decided to teach myself using Chessmaster 9000. I used to own Chessmaster 5000 or something - a fine program, I must say, except it didn't offer you a chess puzzle on startup and it didn't offer you a wide variety of eight-year-olds to thrash mercilessly.
What Chessmaster 9000 also does is allow you to pit famous chess players (OK, simulations of their styles) against each other. I've been doing this in my recent downtime and, um, I find it a lot of fun. I mean, I've been cheerleading it. Cheerleadering chess, just like it Zanna, Don't!. Spassky wins against Tarrasch; Reshevsky fell to Steinitz. Polgar and Reshevsky drew. Oh, it doesn't sound very exciting, but I suppose you had to be there.
Furthermore, you can make your own chess-playing personalities. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Yes, you are. I constructed a Chekov player - based on Boris Spassky (attacking), but tweaked to be a little more jejune - and a Pike player - based on Anatoly Karpov (defensive and thoughtful), but tweaked to be a little more defensive and to spend time pondering. I mean, I can't have them be average chess players, can I? Chekov has to idolise a Russian chess player, and it may as well be the Leningrad-born Boris Spassky (and not just because I have a soft spot for a guy who got punished for losing to someone from the degenerate West in 1972). It's all part of characterisation, given that I am currently writing what you might call chess porn. No actual sex, just lavish descriptions of the ol' war game. Right now I'm running a Chekov vs. Pike match, blitz chess timing, and from all the games I've played with the personalities they appear to be pretty well-balanced. Just the way I wanted it.
(Hey, you know what I said about Parental Bonuses on the 26th December, regarding kids' films? This is going to be a chess fans' bonus.)
Well, I'm feeling pretty happy and confident about this work. My imagination is proving fertile, possibly due to massive quantities of coffee and chocolate-covered almonds, and boy am I stoked from watching all this computer chess.
Now all I need to do is think up a suitable title and I will be happy.