ChessCafe Holiday Quiz now up

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Date: 19 Dec 2007 05:10:20
From: Taylor Kingston
Subject: ChessCafe Holiday Quiz now up

The 11th annual ChessCafe Holiday Quiz is now up at:

http://www.chesscafe.com/skittles/skittles.htm

Test your knowledge of chess history and trivia. 25 prizes with a
total retail value of about $3,000 will be awarded. Enjoy!

Date: 21 Jan 2008 20:34:18
From: dgcoulter
Subject: Re: ChessCafe Holiday Quiz now up

On Jan 21, 8:33=A0pm, crawf <[email protected] > wrote:
>
> I'd never begrudge someone a "lucky" find. =A0Serendipity is an
> important part of the process. =A0If you looked for commonalities among
> those who score well on this thing, I think you'd find that
> persistence is a key factor. =A0We're all like a dog worrying a
> bone. :-)
>
> Larry Crawford
> whose girlfriend just threatened to leave her computer at the office
> if I don't stop

Good luck next year.

Date: 21 Jan 2008 18:33:11
From: crawf
Subject: Re: ChessCafe Holiday Quiz now up

On Jan 19, 1:59=A0pm, dgcoulter <[email protected] > wrote:

> As for my luck, Larry Crawford may be chagrined to learn it was my
> inadequate knowledge of chess history that provided the gin between
> 6th and 7th places. I was convnced that the answer to Q33 was Max
> Euwe, but unable to confirm that point. Having access to old Chess
> Reviews, I decided to see if the drawing was included in articles on
> his "1934" match with Alekhine. =A0Leafing through the 1934 "Chess
> Review" I did not find any articles on the match, but much to my
> suprise, the drawing was there and it was of Isaac Kashdan, not Euwe.
> (The irony is that the match I was looking for took place in 1935.)

I'd never begrudge someone a "lucky" find. Serendipity is an
important part of the process. If you looked for commonalities among
those who score well on this thing, I think you'd find that
persistence is a key factor. We're all like a dog worrying a
bone. :-)

Larry Crawford
whose girlfriend just threatened to leave her computer at the office
if I don't stop

Date: 19 Jan 2008 10:59:04
From: dgcoulter
Subject: Re: ChessCafe Holiday Quiz now up

On Jan 19, 8:25=A0am, Taylor Kingston <[email protected] > wrote:
> On Jan 18, 7:12=A0pm, crawf <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > On Jan 16, 8:22=A0am, Taylor Kingston <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > > =A0 The quiz winners and answers are now up:
>
> > >http://www.chesscafe.com/skittles/skittles.htm
>
> > > =A0 I see that Mr. Coulter here took 6th prize with a score of 85, onl=
y
> > > three points behind the winner. Well done!
>
> > I came in 7th, so I found a few more answers since my post just before
> > Christmas. :-) =A0My private goal was to move from 17th last year to the=

> > top 10, but I didn't know if I could do it once I saw the questions.
>
> =A0 Very good! I was trying to make it hard enough that the winning
> score this year would be a record low, but there are some very sharp
> chess history/trivia buffs out there.
>
> > Larry Crawford
> > whose girlfriend has not quite yet fully forgiven him for that
> > "Valentine's Day quiz" joke
>
> =A0 I was amazed to see that at least one contestant claimed to have
> spent at least 100 hours on this year's quiz. That could certainly
> make one's significant other feel like a "chess widow." Please assure
> your lady that I have no intention of doing this more than once per
> year.
> =A0 To read all the positive comments from the contestants, and to see
> people from so many countries(Holland, Denk, Spain, Greece, Poland,
> Germany, Sweden, Israel, Canada, Trinidad, USA etc.) participating was
> very gratifying; it made me feel my work on the quiz was worthwhile.

Thanks for the congratulations. The quiz was quite entertaining and
instructive and I'm sure a lot of hard work on your part. In fact, it
even got my girlfriend, who knows nothing about chess, interested--
when I mentioned this morning to her I had just discovered that a
chess phamplet in my closet turns out to be rare and quite valuable--
she advised--before you sell it--make a copy in case its covered in
next years quiz.

As for my luck, Larry Crawford may be chagrined to learn it was my
inadequate knowledge of chess history that provided the gin between
6th and 7th places. I was convnced that the answer to Q33 was Max
Euwe, but unable to confirm that point. Having access to old Chess
Reviews, I decided to see if the drawing was included in articles on
his "1934" match with Alekhine. Leafing through the 1934 "Chess
Review" I did not find any articles on the match, but much to my
suprise, the drawing was there and it was of Isaac Kashdan, not Euwe.
(The irony is that the match I was looking for took place in 1935.)

Date: 19 Jan 2008 06:25:20
From: Taylor Kingston
Subject: Re: ChessCafe Holiday Quiz now up

On Jan 18, 7:12=A0pm, crawf <[email protected] > wrote:
> On Jan 16, 8:22=A0am, Taylor Kingston <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > =A0 The quiz winners and answers are now up:
>
> >http://www.chesscafe.com/skittles/skittles.htm
>
> > =A0 I see that Mr. Coulter here took 6th prize with a score of 85, only
> > three points behind the winner. Well done!
>
> I came in 7th, so I found a few more answers since my post just before
> Christmas. :-) =A0My private goal was to move from 17th last year to the
> top 10, but I didn't know if I could do it once I saw the questions.

Very good! I was trying to make it hard enough that the winning
score this year would be a record low, but there are some very sharp
chess history/trivia buffs out there.

> Larry Crawford
> whose girlfriend has not quite yet fully forgiven him for that
> "Valentine's Day quiz" joke

I was amazed to see that at least one contestant claimed to have
spent at least 100 hours on this year's quiz. That could certainly
make one's significant other feel like a "chess widow." Please assure
your lady that I have no intention of doing this more than once per
year.
To read all the positive comments from the contestants, and to see
people from so many countries(Holland, Denk, Spain, Greece, Poland,
Germany, Sweden, Israel, Canada, Trinidad, USA etc.) participating was
very gratifying; it made me feel my work on the quiz was worthwhile.

Date: 18 Jan 2008 16:12:35
From: crawf
Subject: Re: ChessCafe Holiday Quiz now up

On Jan 16, 8:22=A0am, Taylor Kingston <[email protected] > wrote:

> =A0 The quiz winners and answers are now up:
>
> http://www.chesscafe.com/skittles/skittles.htm
>
> =A0 I see that Mr. Coulter here took 6th prize with a score of 85, only
> three points behind the winner. Well done!

I came in 7th, so I found a few more answers since my post just before
Christmas. :-) My private goal was to move from 17th last year to the
top 10, but I didn't know if I could do it once I saw the questions.

The "major" vs "minor" distinction in question 6 was a bit subtle.
The handicap event had everyone from the even tournament except
Blackburne. It also had 15 players vs the 9 in the even. So strength
of field fell off considerably in both after Burn, Pollock, and
Blackburne in the even (Burn actually complained in a letter that it
was essentially a three-man event which turned too heavily on a single
game or two) and Burn and Pollock in the handicap. The prize money
for the even was 12 pounds vs 10 for the handicap.

Buenos Aires was actually on my short list of guesses for the
oubliette question, but I went with something else. Mostly I missed
just my guesses, which is normal for these questions.

I am kicking myself for misreading a question, thinking (stupidly, as
per usual) the linked questions extended out one more question than
they did, which led me astray on both that question and the last
linked question. Still, I have to be pleased with the result,
especially given my rather modest library.

And I managed to do it without breaking into Superman's fortress of
solitude... :-)

Larry Crawford
whose girlfriend has not quite yet fully forgiven him for that
"Valentine's Day quiz" joke

Date: 16 Jan 2008 05:22:34
From: Taylor Kingston
Subject: Re: ChessCafe Holiday Quiz now up

On Jan 8, 8:18=A0am, Taylor Kingston <[email protected] > wrote:
> On Jan 8, 12:47=A0am, dgcoulter <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > On Dec 19 2007, 7:10=A0am, Taylor Kingston <[email protected]>
> > wrote:
>
> > > =A0 The 11th annual ChessCafe Holiday Quiz is now up at:
>
> > > =A0http://www.chesscafe.com/skittles/skittles.htm
>
> > > =A0 Test your knowledge ofchesshistory and trivia. 25 prizes with a
> > > total retail value of about $3,000 will be awarded. Enjoy!
>
> > Mr. Kingson, is there a penalty for guessing on the quiz--i.e.
> > deduction of points if you put in a wrong answer.
>
> =A0 No, no such penalty. You are scored simply on the point total of
> your correct answers.
>
> > btw, I just experienced a jaw-dropping piece of luck tonight and found
> > an answer to one of the questions that I should never have gotten.
> > Hopefully its enough to get me a prize.
>
> =A0 Best of luck.

The quiz winners and answers are now up:

http://www.chesscafe.com/skittles/skittles.htm

I see that Mr. Coulter here took 6th prize with a score of 85, only
three points behind the winner. Well done!

Date: 08 Jan 2008 05:18:21
From: Taylor Kingston
Subject: Re: ChessCafe Holiday Quiz now up

On Jan 8, 12:47=A0am, dgcoulter <[email protected] > wrote:
> On Dec 19 2007, 7:10=A0am, Taylor Kingston <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> > =A0 The 11th annual ChessCafe Holiday Quiz is now up at:
>
> > =A0http://www.chesscafe.com/skittles/skittles.htm
>
> > =A0 Test your knowledge ofchesshistory and trivia. 25 prizes with a
> > total retail value of about $3,000 will be awarded. Enjoy!
>
> Mr. Kingson, is there a penalty for guessing on the quiz--i.e.
> deduction of points if you put in a wrong answer.

No, no such penalty. You are scored simply on the point total of
your correct answers.

> btw, I just experienced a jaw-dropping piece of luck tonight and found
> an answer to one of the questions that I should never have gotten.
> Hopefully its enough to get me a prize.

Best of luck.

Date: 07 Jan 2008 21:47:07
From: dgcoulter
Subject: Re: ChessCafe Holiday Quiz now up

On Dec 19 2007, 7:10=A0am, Taylor Kingston <[email protected] >
wrote:
> =A0 The 11th annual ChessCafe Holiday Quiz is now up at:
>
> =A0http://www.chesscafe.com/skittles/skittles.htm
>
> =A0 Test your knowledge ofchesshistory and trivia. 25 prizes with a
> total retail value of about $3,000 will be awarded. Enjoy!

Mr. Kingson, is there a penalty for guessing on the quiz--i.e.
deduction of points if you put in a wrong answer.

btw, I just experienced a jaw-dropping piece of luck tonight and found
an answer to one of the questions that I should never have gotten.
Hopefully its enough to get me a prize.

Date: 23 Dec 2007 16:28:30
From: Taylor Kingston
Subject: Re: ChessCafe Holiday Quiz now up

On Dec 23, 7:08=A0pm, crawf <[email protected] > wrote:
>
> People are really sending in entries this early? =A0I keep chipping away
> at it until I run out of time. =A0You never know when you might stumble
> across another answer or two. =A0In fact, I think I found one more since
> posting that message yesterday. :-)
>

No, I was just referring to the fact that most entrants do not win
any prize, so to win anything is noteworthy. I don't know how many
entries have been sent so far this year, if any. I compose most of the
questions, but I don't check the entries. I do recall that last year
someone sent in an answer form within the first 24-48 hours, but he
scored poorly. There are always those that value speed over
thoroughness, but they seldom do well.

Date: 23 Dec 2007 16:08:13
From: crawf
Subject: Re: ChessCafe Holiday Quiz now up

On Dec 23, 10:34=A0am, Taylor Kingston <[email protected] > wrote:
> On Dec 22, 10:51=A0pm, crawf <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > On Dec 19, 8:10=A0am, Taylor Kingston <[email protected]> wrote:

[snip]

> > Either this year is tougher than last or my sources are not quite as
> > good. =A0
>
> =A0 I tried deliberately to make it tougher this year, using many more
> pictures. It was getting too easy to find answers just by simple
> internet searches. For example in the last few years web-sites have
> sprouted up listing all FIDE Olympiad results, and matching pseudonyms
> to real names. Those were two themes I had often used in past quizzes,
> but now they're just "google gimmes." But when the questions are based
> on pictures, the contestants must have at least some idea of who is in
> the picture, before they can google the guy.

Yeah, I would imagine it's quite a balancing act to not have too many
gimmies but also not to put it completely out of reach of anyone
without access to extensive libraries.

> > I've only got about 30% so far. =A0Last year I won a book. =A0
>
> =A0 Then you've done better than the great majority of entrants. I
> salute you, sir.

People are really sending in entries this early? I keep chipping away
at it until I run out of time. You never know when you might stumble
across another answer or two. In fact, I think I found one more since
posting that message yesterday. :-)

> > Oh
> > well, I will continue to soldier on, whacking and sighing, sighing and
> > whacking, until deadline. =A0Of course there's always plan B of sneaking=

> > across town in the dead of night and...
>
> > Larry Crawford
> > who lives about 5 miles from ChessCafe's office
>
> =A0 Wouldn't do you any good. The answers aren't kept there, but in
> Superman's Fortress of Solitude.

I knew that kyptonite would come in handy some day...

Larry Crawford

Date: 23 Dec 2007 07:34:54
From: Taylor Kingston
Subject: Re: ChessCafe Holiday Quiz now up

On Dec 22, 10:51=A0pm, crawf <[email protected] > wrote:
> On Dec 19, 8:10=A0am, Taylor Kingston <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > =A0 The 11th annual ChessCafe Holiday Quiz is now up at:
>
> > =A0http://www.chesscafe.com/skittles/skittles.htm
>
> > =A0 Test your knowledge of chess history and trivia. 25 prizes with a
> > total retail value of about $3,000 will be awarded. Enjoy!
>
> Either this year is tougher than last or my sources are not quite as
> good. =A0

I tried deliberately to make it tougher this year, using many more
pictures. It was getting too easy to find answers just by simple
internet searches. For example in the last few years web-sites have
sprouted up listing all FIDE Olympiad results, and matching pseudonyms
to real names. Those were two themes I had often used in past quizzes,
but now they're just "google gimmes." But when the questions are based
on pictures, the contestants must have at least some idea of who is in
the picture, before they can google the guy.

> I've only got about 30% so far. =A0Last year I won a book. =A0

Then you've done better than the great majority of entrants. I
salute you, sir.

> Oh
> well, I will continue to soldier on, whacking and sighing, sighing and
> whacking, until deadline. =A0Of course there's always plan B of sneaking
> across town in the dead of night and...
>
> Larry Crawford
> who lives about 5 miles from ChessCafe's office

Wouldn't do you any good. The answers aren't kept there, but in
Superman's Fortress of Solitude.

Date: 22 Dec 2007 19:51:32
From: crawf
Subject: Re: ChessCafe Holiday Quiz now up

On Dec 19, 8:10=A0am, Taylor Kingston <[email protected] > wrote:
> =A0 The 11th annual ChessCafe Holiday Quiz is now up at:
>
> =A0http://www.chesscafe.com/skittles/skittles.htm
>
> =A0 Test your knowledge of chess history and trivia. 25 prizes with a
> total retail value of about $3,000 will be awarded. Enjoy!

Either this year is tougher than last or my sources are not quite as
good. I've only got about 30% so far. Last year I won a book. Oh
well, I will continue to soldier on, whacking and sighing, sighing and
whacking, until deadline. Of course there's always plan B of sneaking
across town in the dead of night and...

Larry Crawford
who lives about 5 miles from ChessCafe's office

Date: 20 Dec 2007 11:55:24
From: Taylor Kingston
Subject: Re: ChessCafe Holiday Quiz now up

Date: 20 Dec 2007 11:22:28
From: Offramp
Subject: Re: ChessCafe Holiday Quiz now up

On Dec 20, 2:54 pm, Taylor Kingston <[email protected] > wrote:
> On Dec 20, 9:41 am, Anders Thulin <[email protected]>
> wrote:

> > Taylor Kingston wrote:
> > > On Dec 20, 1:53 am, Offramp <[email protected]> wrote:
> > >> "Identify the author of and the publication in which this quote
> > >> appeared."
>
> > >> Oh dear! "Identify the author of this quote and the publication in
> > >> which it appeared" or "Identify the author of this quote and the
> > >> publication it appeared in."
>
> > > I did not write that particular question, but it looks perfectly
> > > correct to me. "author of" and "publication in which" both refer to
> > > "this quote."
>
> > Not really: I had to reread the original question before I was sure I
> > understood it, as I didn't find what 'of' referred to. That is nested
> > inside the clause 'in which this quote appeared', and that's not seem to
> > be the King's English. I lack the terminology to dissect the phrase
> > appropriately, but the parallellism between 'the author of' and 'the
> > publiction in which' should be maintained, and it is not.
>
> > The second suggestion for improvement is much better, but I suspect
> > there may be an obsolete fear of ending a sentence with a preposition
> > that makes it seem unacceptable.
>
> > But I'm dangerously close to being off topic.
> > --
> > Anders Thulin anders*thulin.name http://www.anders.thulin.name/
>
> Feel free to write Hanon Russell and suggest a rewording, if you
> consider it that important. Personally, I had no trouble understanding
> the sentence as it is currently written. My aim in starting this
> thread was not to argue about grammatical pecadilloes, but to invite
> rgcm readers to join in the fun of the quiz. I have a lot of fun
> coming up with most of the questions each year, and I want to share
> that with chess-lovers here who might not be regular ChessCafe.com
> readers.

You are being overly defensive.
The question is comprehensible but is not grammatically correct. It
reminds me of a notice on a London bus, "Do not speak to or distract
the driver's attention."
Not the same, but similar.
"Identify the author of and the publication in which this quote
appeared."
It's Hanon Russell's fault, is it? I'll try to contact him....

Date: 20 Dec 2007 06:54:47
From: Taylor Kingston
Subject: Re: ChessCafe Holiday Quiz now up

On Dec 20, 9:41 am, Anders Thulin <[email protected] >
wrote:
> Taylor Kingston wrote:
> > On Dec 20, 1:53 am, Offramp <[email protected]> wrote:
> >> "Identify the author of and the publication in which this quote
> >> appeared."
>
> >> Oh dear! "Identify the author of this quote and the publication in
> >> which it appeared" or "Identify the author of this quote and the
> >> publication it appeared in."
>
> > I did not write that particular question, but it looks perfectly
> > correct to me. "author of" and "publication in which" both refer to
> > "this quote."
>
> Not really: I had to reread the original question before I was sure I
> understood it, as I didn't find what 'of' referred to. That is nested
> inside the clause 'in which this quote appeared', and that's not seem to
> be the King's English. I lack the terminology to dissect the phrase
> appropriately, but the parallellism between 'the author of' and 'the
> publiction in which' should be maintained, and it is not.
>
> The second suggestion for improvement is much better, but I suspect
> there may be an obsolete fear of ending a sentence with a preposition
> that makes it seem unacceptable.
>
> But I'm dangerously close to being off topic.
> --
> Anders Thulin anders*thulin.name http://www.anders.thulin.name/

Feel free to write Hanon Russell and suggest a rewording, if you
consider it that important. Personally, I had no trouble understanding
the sentence as it is currently written. My aim in starting this
thread was not to argue about grammatical pecadilloes, but to invite
rgcm readers to join in the fun of the quiz. I have a lot of fun
coming up with most of the questions each year, and I want to share
that with chess-lovers here who might not be regular ChessCafe.com
readers.

Date: 20 Dec 2007 05:22:50
From: Taylor Kingston
Subject: Re: ChessCafe Holiday Quiz now up

On Dec 20, 1:53 am, Offramp <[email protected] > wrote:
> On Dec 19, 1:10 pm, Taylor Kingston <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > The 11th annual ChessCafe Holiday Quiz is now up at:
>
> > http://www.chesscafe.com/skittles/skittles.htm
>
> > Test your knowledge of chess history and trivia. 25 prizes with a
> > total retail value of about $3,000 will be awarded. Enjoy!
>
> "Identify the author of and the publication in which this quote
> appeared."
>
> Oh dear! "Identify the author of this quote and the publication in
> which it appeared" or "Identify the author of this quote and the
> publication it appeared in."

I did not write that particular question, but it looks perfectly
correct to me. "author of" and "publication in which" both refer to
"this quote." In other words, "Identify the author of this quote, and
the publication in which this quote appeared."

Date: 21 Dec 2007 15:22:05
From: David Richerby
Subject: Re: ChessCafe Holiday Quiz now up

Taylor Kingston <[email protected] > wrote:
>On Dec 20, 1:53 am, Offramp <[email protected]> wrote:
>> "Identify the author of and the publication in which this quote
>> appeared."
>
> I did not write that particular question, but it looks perfectly
> correct to me.

It's a bit of an anacoluthon. One would naturally expand a sentence
such as `He was the owner and operator of the vehicle' as `He was the
owner of the vehicle and he was the operator of the vehicle.' By the
same method, the above sentence would become `Identify the author of
this quote appeared and identify the publication in which this quote
appeared.'

It's clunky but eminently comprehensible.

Dave.

--
David Richerby Psychotic Dictator (TM): it's like a
www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~davidr/ totalitarian leader but it wants to
kill you!

Date: 21 Dec 2007 10:14:30
From: Kenneth Sloan
Subject: Re: ChessCafe Holiday Quiz now up

David Richerby wrote:
> Taylor Kingston <[email protected]> wrote:
>> On Dec 20, 1:53 am, Offramp <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> "Identify the author of and the publication in which this quote
>>> appeared."
>> I did not write that particular question, but it looks perfectly
>> correct to me.
>
> It's a bit of an anacoluthon. One would naturally expand a sentence
> such as `He was the owner and operator of the vehicle' as `He was the
> owner of the vehicle and he was the operator of the vehicle.' By the
> same method, the above sentence would become `Identify the author of
> this quote appeared and identify the publication in which this quote
> appeared.'
>
> It's clunky but eminently comprehensible.
>
>
> Dave.
>

What does "Identify the author of this quote appeared" mean, in English?

--
Kenneth Sloan [email protected]
Computer and Information Sciences +1-205-932-2213
University of Alabama at Birmingham FAX +1-205-934-5473
Birmingham, AL 35294-1170 http://KennethRSloan.com/

Date: 22 Dec 2007 12:37:43
From: David Richerby
Subject: Re: ChessCafe Holiday Quiz now up

Kenneth Sloan <[email protected] > wrote:
> What does "Identify the author of this quote appeared" mean, in
> English?

An actual human being would strangely find it quite easy to read a
sentence with a few spurious words added towards.

Dave.

--
David Richerby Erotic Dangerous Flower (TM): it's
www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~davidr/ like a flower but it could explode at
any minute and it's genuinely erotic!

Date: 20 Dec 2007 14:41:58
From: Anders Thulin
Subject: Re: ChessCafe Holiday Quiz now up

Taylor Kingston wrote:
> On Dec 20, 1:53 am, Offramp <[email protected]> wrote:

>> "Identify the author of and the publication in which this quote
>> appeared."
>>
>> Oh dear! "Identify the author of this quote and the publication in
>> which it appeared" or "Identify the author of this quote and the
>> publication it appeared in."
>
> I did not write that particular question, but it looks perfectly
> correct to me. "author of" and "publication in which" both refer to
> "this quote."

Not really: I had to reread the original question before I was sure I
understood it, as I didn't find what 'of' referred to. That is nested
inside the clause 'in which this quote appeared', and that's not seem to
be the King's English. I lack the terminology to dissect the phrase
appropriately, but the parallellism between 'the author of' and 'the
publiction in which' should be maintained, and it is not.

The second suggestion for improvement is much better, but I suspect
there may be an obsolete fear of ending a sentence with a preposition
that makes it seem unacceptable.

But I'm dangerously close to being off topic.
--
Anders Thulin anders*thulin.name http://www.anders.thulin.name/

Date: 19 Dec 2007 22:53:45
From: Offramp
Subject: Re: ChessCafe Holiday Quiz now up

On Dec 19, 1:10 pm, Taylor Kingston <[email protected] > wrote:
> The 11th annual ChessCafe Holiday Quiz is now up at:
>
> http://www.chesscafe.com/skittles/skittles.htm
>
> Test your knowledge of chess history and trivia. 25 prizes with a
> total retail value of about $3,000 will be awarded. Enjoy!

"Identify the author of and the publication in which this quote
appeared."

Oh dear! "Identify the author of this quote and the publication in
which it appeared" or "Identify the author of this quote and the
publication it appeared in."