The Center Square

Just a couple of quick notes. First, this past Sunday (November 11th) the Star-Ledger ran an interesting profile of the Verona, New Jersey author Kurt Landsberger (William Steinitz, Chess Champion. A Biography of the Bohemian Caesar.) The piece focused mainly on his new work about his experiences as a translator in the United States Army stationed at the German prisoner of war camp in Trinidad, Colorado, and only mentions his Steinitz work in passing. (It turns out that Steinitz is Landsberger's great-great uncle.) Like many men and women of his generation (he is 86 years old), having survived the Holocaust, ending up here in America, Landsberger has lead a rich and colorful life, and this piece gives the reader an intersting glimpse into his world.

A few observations on using the MonRoi Personal Chess Manager. I am not sure that purchasing this device was a very wise idea - especially given that it has little or no means of really improving my game (except, perhaps, that uploading my games to the computer is easier, so I have no excuse now for not cataloging these games for quick and easy study). But, I don't play golf and I don't have a penchant for fancy cars, so I purchased a personal chess manager. (I did manage to get a reasonable discount on site at the U.S. Open as an end-of-tournament incentive.) Anyway...the device is quite simple to use. With the stylus the user can simply touch the piece he or she wants to move and then simply touches the destination square to complete the transaction. Quite simple. It is a little unwieldy when it comes to entering the setup information at the beginning of each game using the stylus (it doesn't have a keyboard), but this is not a major drawback. I was a bit disappointed too that the device doesn't cable directly to the computer for uploading. You first upload the games to the tiny chiplike SunDisk - the type used in digital cameras - then remove this disk and read from it in order to upload to your computer. You'll need a reader for the SunDisk if your computer doesn't have one (about $20), which connects to your computer through a standard USB cable. Once you get used to the device it is quite easy to use. Beware, those of you who simply must record your moves before making them over-the-board. It is against the current USCF rules for the use of this device to do so, for the obvious reason that it would allow you to visualize the board position (albeit one ply!) before you commit it on the board. Finally, if you do use the device remember to keep it charged! It was a bit of a problem when my device ran out of power when I was playing in the final round of the recent New Jersey Open and - struggling as I generally do with the clock - I had the distraction of having to scramble to find a scoresheet and a writing utensil! If anyone is interested in a demonstration please let me know.