Month: March 2019

Nigel Short Hosts Simul in Atlanta

It’s refreshing to see FIDE officials playing chess. After many years of gutless politicians holding the organization hostage in a reign of terror, recently elected FIDE Vice President visited the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Atlanta to host a simul pitting GM Nigel Short against 25 players. The center is run by GM Ben Finegold, who spent many years as the GM-in-residence at the Saint Louis Chess Club (formerly the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis).

Atlanta Chess Players (Credit: Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Atlanta)

Nigel’s willingness to visit so many different chess federations around the world and engage in simuls with players is a welcome change to past FIDE leaders. For more details, check out the Atlanta Chess Club’s Facebook page.

Five Recommended Chess Streamers

Streaming movies, music, video games, and other forms of entertainment is nothing new. Chess, on the other hand, has been relatively slow to catch up to the digital craze until recently with a growing number of channels on Twitch and YouTube showcasing the game. At almost any time throughout the day you can find chess being one of the most viewed activities on Twitch! To me, that’s an impressive feat when the centuries old game is competing for attention with ADHD-generation specific offerings like Fortnite and Apex Legends. So, given that I’ve spent an ever increasing amount of time watching these streamers, I thought I would share five of my favorites.

Grandmaster Benjamin Finegold

Once you know Ben Finegold, it’s impossible to forget Ben Finegold. No matter  how hard you try. He was the GM-in-residence at the Saint Louis Chess Club until 2012. Now he lives in Atlanta, Georgia and runs the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Atlanta. He streams most nights and is incredibly interactive with his audience. Be warned, fair reader! His streams are chess-centered, but they’re peppered with off-the-wall pop culture references and jokes; it’s that special flair that makes his stream one of my personal favorites. Also be prepared to learn a variety of new songs explaining why you should never play Bishop f3 or similar chess references. Check out his Twitch channel here.

Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura

Hikaru Nakamura doesn’t really need an introduction, but I’ll give him one anyway. He’s a four-time US Chess Champion and is one of the most dominant blitz players in history. He does a lot of work with Chess.com, so you’ll often see him playing in blitz tournaments on the site or contributing in various ways to the different streams on ChessTV. Nakamura is a mostly calm and collected player when he’s online. He sings a lot, which adds a nice flair to the broadcast. You’ll also find him taking a break from chess every now and then to play other games, which can liven up the interaction and show the non-chess side that many are not used to. Check out his Twitch channel here.

Grandmaster Eric Hansen (The Chess Brahs)

I have to admit: it was the Chess Brahs who convinced me that chess streaming had finally arrived in full force. The stream is run primarily by Eric Hansen, who is an astonishingly good blitz player along with Grandmasters Robin van Kampen and Aman Hambleton. It was one of the first streams I started watching regularly. Soaked in techno and flashy hair, the Chess Brahs are a highly interactive group stream that alternate between streaming competitions in the Chess Arena as well as game challenges with other streamers like Hikaru Nakamura. One of the things I like the most about Chess Brahs is the moments when Eric Hansen struggles with his games. He can be a very ungraceful loser, which I relate to 100%! I’ve lost a keyboard or two due to losing a game at the last minute, so it’s nice to see the touch of reality and human element in the game. Check out the Chess Brah Twitch channel here.

US Chess Expert Frank Johnson

Chess Coach Frank Johnson is a regular chess streamer who runs the website Chess-Coach.net. Known simply as “Coach” to his viewers and fans, he regularly plays games with his streamers and offers realtime commentary on the games to help his viewers make improvements. He typically has good tunes and a very chilled-out vibe to his stream. You’ll hear catchy phrases like Losing is Learning and True Story that resonate well with someone who is looking to improve their skills at one of the most difficult games ever created. Frank is a warm and entertaining streamer who welcomes newbies and challengers of all skill levels. Every loss is a chance to do better…true story! Check out his Twitch channel here.

Women’s FIDE Master Alexandra Botez

Alexandra Botez is a regular chess streamer who typically plays a mix of her viewers and challenges with other streamers. It was actually a recent stream against International Master Levy Rozman (aka. Gotham Chess) where he played blindfolded against her. The match came down to a single game where Rozman pulled out a last minute victory. I was impressed by the chess along with the interaction with the audience and the fact that she streams regularly with my ultimate chess crush, Anna Rudolf. She plays regularly with her subscribers on Twitch on Sundays. Check out her Twitch channel here.


Honorable Mentions: I wish I had the time or mental energy to keep listing streamers because there are many more out there that are worth checking out. Here are a few that you shouldn’t pass up:

  • IM Anna Rudolf – My chess crush and frequest host/commentator for professional chess.
  • Helmsknight – Canadian player who dominates in bughouse and streamer vs. streamer content.
  • Sara Herman – Colorado-based player who often streams bullet, blitz, and some game analysis.

ChessNoteR Forges A Digital Pathway

Editor’s Note: Purchase your own ChessNoteR for a 10% discounted rate by using the code CAMPFIRECHESS when you checkout. This offer is good until 30 April 2019, so don’t wait!

One of the things I love about chess is how it leverages technology and even drives advancement of new hardware/software or repurposing of old hardware/software. Throughout history, engineers and developers have found ways to incorporate chess into their projects. When new supercomputers are designed, chess gameplay is often the first thing to be implemented as a way of demonstrating the new system’s intelligence. Programs like Deep Blue and Google’s AlphaZero are just a few examples of this push. But what about the everyday chess player sitting in a smokey club trying to decide which Sicilian Defense line to follow? Well, technological advances in the club have also modernized the game. Few people use manual clocks anymore in favor of digital clocks with increment controls and other unique features. And, for a growing number of players, paper scoresheets are being replaced by a growing field of electronic ones.

This brings me to today’s topic: electronic scoresheets and a dangerous new contender. My regular friends and readers know that I’ve used the Plycounter electronic scoresheet for years and even did a review several years ago. It’s a small touchscreen device that uses a stylus to move the pieces. It’s been an OK device that, honestly, hasn’t held up as well over the years as I had originally hoped. That’s why I’m pleased that I was fortunate enough to get my hands on an emerging device called the ChessNoteR.

Re-purposed Technology

DISCLAIMER: Black Mirror Studio graciously provided me with a ChessNoteR to test and review.

As you can see, the ChessNoteR (pictured above) looks a lot like a cell phone. Well, that’s because it is a re-purposed cell phone! The ChessNoteR I tested is a Motorola Nexus 6 cell phone running a custom flavor of Android OS called ChessNoteR OS. While the device still bears the mark of its previous life as a cell phone, it immediately boots into its custom OS that only runs the ChessNoteR app and its support services. I found the interface to be relatively easy to set up. Upon booting, it enters into a default setup wizard that enables a user to connect to WiFi and input their own user information. You can opt out of the WiFi settings, but you’ll lose some of the more interesting features if you do. On that note, WiFi access has been one of the biggest hurdles for electronic devices being certified by US Chess. Access to telecommunications services is forbidden during official tournaments, so that has squashed the hopes of many iPhone and Android apps of being certified for tournament play.

ChessNoteR is the first device to find a way around this. At its core, it’s an Android app, but it owns the device. So, you cannot run any additional apps and you cannot run the notation app with WiFi enabled. It’s this feature that gives ChessNoteR the leverage it needed to become certified. I’ll get into the software next, but I wanted to note that it comes with two different delivery methods. The first option is to buy a pre-configured device from the website. The second option is to buy your own used Motorola Nexus 6 and ship it to the company and they will load the software onto the phone and configure it for a much cheaper price.

Exploring the Software

The core of ChessNoteR is its software. As I said, you can buy a pre-configured device or ship your own to the company for configuration. So, what about the software? Well, I must say that I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen so far of the software. The interface is very clean and user friendly. You can tell that the designer has put a lot of work into it. There are options for inputting your rating and demographic information which auto populates on scoresheets and in the exportable PGN files (sweet).

Once you start a new game, the device disables it’s WiFi service and you cannot exit the game without ending the game. This prevents a user from exiting their game and using it to reference any other information that might be stored on the device during a tournament. You’ll also find that you can drag the pieces to any point on the board. This is an important part of certification through US Chess because restricting piece movement would be a form of electronic coaching. For example, you could actually play 1.e6 on the device and it would properly annotate the move.

The notation interface also enables you to change the board colors to better suit you if blue and white (the default scheme) are not your preferred colors. Typically I change the board colors to match my favorite color scheme which matches that of Chess.com’s default dark green scheme. However, I enjoyed the blue and white design of the ChessNoteR app, so I left it alone.

Next Generation Feature Set

Sure, it’s cool to have your games in electronic format on a hand held device, but what good is the device in the world of tournaments and real chess? Well, this device seems to have that covered as well. ChessNoteR enables a user to export games in multiple formats.

  • First, you can export the games in the traditional PGN format for use with Chessbase and other desktop (or mobile) database applications. Plycounter also does this, but it requires installation of a third party application. ChessNoteR takes advantage of built in hardware support through the Nexus device to export the game.
  • Second, you can export the games on a professionally designed scoresheet with signatures that are ready for submission to a TD. When a game is complete, the user and opponents sign their scoresheet using the touch screen. Those signatures are exported on the scoresheet in PDF format via WiFi transfer using integrated Dropbox functionality! So there’s no need to connect to a TD’s computer. Just connect to their WiFi and submit your game to be officially logged electronically.

I’m a big Chromecast and video streaming user, so I was pleased to see that ChessNoteR supports wireless video casting, which allows you to cast your game to a device using a device compatible with Android video casting. This is great for reviewing games with a coach or for those times when your chess study demands 4K high definition. ChessNoteR does not support Chromecast itself, but instead supports some built-in protocols in smart TVs from Samsung, LG, and others through standard Android OS protocols.

These are nice features that bring the convenience of digital scoresheets and notation to the tabletop chess world with a minimum amount of hassle. The controls and features are intuitive enough that anyone who uses a cell phone or tablet should have no problems using it.

Final Thoughts

I’ve been using my Plycounter for almost five years and it’s certainly taken a beating. The screen is showing significant signs of wear and overall the device feels much more cumbersome than it did when I first reviewed it. I was extremely excited to have an opportunity to test out the ChessNoteR and I am very pleased with it. The screen is much larger and more responsive than anything you’ll find on the market today.

The only thing that I don’t like is how the device comes stamped with the giant Nexus logo on the back. There’s a small label on the device with a QR code for certification data, but the logo bothers me for some reason. In no way does that affect the device operation. Instead, it effects my OCD tendencies more. This can be fixed with a simple skin or decal from a place like SkinIt or DecalGirl.

Bottom line? You won’t find a better device for the price for digitally tracking your tournament games. Check out the ChessNoteR on their official website. You can also find a large selection of videos on the ChessNoteR official YouTube Channel that demonstrate the various device features and how to use them.

RATING: ♟ ♟ ♟ ♟ ♟


ADDENDUM: I didn’t realize how out of it I’ve been lately. In researching this article and doing the review/evaluation of this device, I realized that Plycounter ceased operations in February 2018 and the Monroi Personal Chess Manager is not available for purchase on their website.

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