Blogger and Blog News
The blog isn't shutting down, but this is a very busy week for me, plus I'm feeling a bit stale with blogging and would also like to enjoy the upcoming Tal Memorial from a purely fan-based perspective. That was the original point behind the foundation of this blog back in 2005, to write about what interested me, as a fan. Even back then I was doing tournament reports - and was just about the only person doing them, certainly with any rigor, at least in English - but that wasn't what drove me as a blogger.
So: if I want to blog on something in the near future, I will; if not, then not. But I'm taking a break from the tournament commentary treadmill, especially now that it's just one big tournament after another. (When I started there was Wijk aan Zee, then Linares, then the Amber rapid & blind, then nothing major until Dortmund in the summer, and that was it for major tournaments!)
As for my back, I feel more or less human again, more or less like my old self. My back is weaker and more vulnerable than it was, but hopefully continued exercise will take care of that and will eventually leave me in better shape than before. I remain deeply grateful to all of you who offered your support in various ways during the first weeks after the injury; it is for people like you, many of whom never comment but are faithful readers all the same, that I am especially happy to write.
Reader Comments (11)
"if I want to blog ..."
Great. Imo that's the only way to maintain the exceptional high quality of your blog (and yes, I'm referring to the comment that annoyed you some time ago).
I'm also happy to read about your recovery. As I'm someone with a vulnerable back as well I'll give you an unasked advice: be careful when subjecting it to forces. Lifting up heavy things may save time, but also may ruin your back.
[DM: Thanks, and no worries about lifting heavy things. The memory of the pain in late March remains quite fresh, and my daily back exercise routine is a good reminder as well.]
I may be in the minority but I enjoyed your blog more when you blogged about what interested you at the moment, a puzzle here, a great game there, etc. I hope this signifies a return to those days.
Hi Dennis,
perhaps you should think about finding some people to help you on your blog - "The Chess Minds". Nigel Davies did the same and seems like it works for him
all the best for you!
Andreas
Delighted to hear your back is feeling better! As for you what you plan to blog about....I agree, blog about what catches your interest. There are other places to get good tournament reports (although none better than yours). Perhaps you could draw our attention to an interesting endgame that pops up in one of the majors--I always enjoyed working through the puzzles you published, and I would enjoy seeing them again.
FWIW I'm on roughly the same page as Brian. There are lots of chess news sites out there, so when I come here it's primarily in hopes of reading about chess-related things that captured your interest: great games, puzzles, opening traps, historical curiosities, reactions to other authors' postings, or anything along those lines.
Of course I've enjoyed your tournament coverage, but I don't think you should feel obligated to stay on the current-events treadmill. I'd personally be more intrigued by (for example) your analysis of a wild game you discovered from the 1960s, or the ethical and practical pros and cons of resignation in a lost position (even though I disagree with you on that one), or an anecdote about how Mikhail Tal wrestled Hulk Hogan into submission after losing a blitz game to him (OK, I made that one up).
Enjoy the Tal Memorial! I love your blog, Dennis, but I can imagine how much work it is when there are so many events going on one after the other. It can be hard for me to keep up, just as a more casual fan. Glad your back is feeling at least somewhat better.
Glad to hear everything is going in the right direction with your health!
Hopefully after a little break from regular blogging you'll again get bit by the blogging bug! Sometimes a little break is just what's needed to re-motivate you and remove that stale feeling.
As always, everything you've done, and are going to do, is much appreciated! Great blog!
Dennis,
I've enjoyed your blog for a long time and have only posted a few times recently. I agree with Brian in an earlier post that your comments on specific games or things of interest in the chess world were the best part of your blog. Tournament reports are great but something that is available on other sites while your comments on things of interest in the chess world are more unique to your site.
Good to hear the back is healing. I look forward to seeing more posts in the future.
As a few of the above people have stated or implied.......it's quality that mainly counts on a blog, not quantity. So if one wants to
run a post on, say, Nakamura's recent surgery on an ingrown toenail just for the sake of "posting something for that day", then
something's obviously wrong. Keep up the good writing, Dennis !
In the meantime, you're certainly not the only one looking forward to the Tal Memorial.......especially as to see if Carlsen can snag first place and thus send another "warning" to Anand (who's also playing).
Indeed---I should really write an essay I've had in mind, playing on the worst-of-times/best-of-times meme: not only have there been a feast of supertourneys, but the chess games in them have been dynamic (while still registering high in my model for accuracy) and great to follow. My CPUs can barely keep up, so I can understand how a human analyzer feels about it :-).
You're still doing a great job catching aspects of the games that I don't see elsewhere and haven't caught myself---as in some of the Thessaloniki reports---and I'm glad you will continue ad-libidum.
The word-verification on the last one was "uroptdo your"---so I'm glad to hear about your back that you're up to do your posts...