First, let me give you a little history about the evolution of this blog and its possible direction.
I am not only a chess player, I am a chess fan, and I like to read about chess, especially news. Since I was no longer active in the playing circuit, especially internationally, I always had to surf the web to find out how my friends were doing in various tournaments.
In the US, chess news at one time was slow to come by. Chess Life is good for a certain aspect, but not for current news. So I suggested to the Executive Board a few years ago to improve the USCF website so chess news can be introduced in a more efficient manner. They looked at me like I was from out of space. I was asked if I was crazy to suggest something as outrageous as this and there is absolutely no budget for it.
Then I suggested the idea of me giving the USCF the news content for free. They thought I was crazy again, saying that there is no budget to have someone updating the website.
So I decided to do the news myself through a weekly chess newsletter. After one issue, I discovered the concept of blogging through my friend Amy B. So that was how this blog started two and a half years ago.
The original plan of this blog was only to offer chess news. Then the idea of offering free daily chess puzzles came up. Next was sharing chess pictures, artwork, information, and other things of sort. The latest addition is the chess forum (www.ChessDiscussion.com).
After a while, since chess players and events are so under promoted, I decided to promote every positive thing that has to do with chess for free, from players, tournaments, organizers to cities, etc. I do not believe in standing still. I think there’s still room for improvement.
While I was in Mexico City for the World Championship, more ideas came about. I was approached by various major chess companies to expand the scope of this blog to make it even better.
Right now, there are only 2 people handling this blog, my husband and I. But this may change. Some of these companies offered to help us make this blog better and more efficient by offering a lot more contents, game analysis, news and information from around the world, and perhaps even a playing zone and / or video lectures.
I am in discussion right now with some of these companies to find ways to improve this blog. The daily puzzles, my personal blogging and everything you see now will remain the same. We are just discussing to find ways to improve things. Suggestions are welcome and thank you for supporting this blog and my effort to bring chess to another level of popularity.
I always have liked this blog. The puzzles/problems were welcome addition. Please don’t change it too much.
as long as all the contents are free, that’s fine.
Susan and Paul, I voted for you but this shocks me. You are on the board of the USCF now. You should be bringing these sponsors to the USCF. What happened years ago is history. This is now and you should be helping the USCF, not competing with it for sponsors.
Susan, I love this blog. Being a crazy chess fan from India (where we don’t get a lot of chess coverage), this Blog is every chess fans dream. Keep it rocking.
Anon 7:15, would you care to reveal your indentity so everyone can be sure that you voted for them? Where did Susan say anything about sponsors? And how does this not help the USCF? This is chess promotion. Perhaps the other board members should read the USCF mission once in a while?
Thanks for all the work you have done on this blog. I check it daily, and appreciate the prolific amount of chess stuff here. I hope you can make changes that free up your time for USCF work while still keeping the blog informative… 🙂
Kep it up Susan. I read your Blog everyday.
As a reader, it’s been very hard to get a single take on what this blog is supposed to be. Everything seems fragmented.
Most significantly, the “comment space” is really confusing, as the sheer number of articles means there is no time to discuss anything in-depth before the post is shoved off the front page.
Combined with the fact that you do not provide solutions for the puzzles, this can be very bewildering.
Some suggestions from the top of my head (meaning they may or may not be worth anything): 1) Use sections rather than labels to make it easier to navigate to present and past chess puzzles 2) Make a feature where you enter the solution along with the puzzle, and have it so that the solution will only be visible after n days.
Susan, please provide solutions. Not just to the chess puzzles, but also to general questions that you pose (e.g. who was the grey-haired VIP in the photo in the World Chess Championship). This is my one and only complaint about your blog – very frustrating without solutions.
Collaborating anon. 6:44:00 ‘s pledge. He had asked Susan to please not change the blog too much.
Thanks for your courage anon.person and let me elaborate your honest and true pledge:
I read this blog a lot. I like its intimacy and I like that you Susan and rarely Paul, deliver the content. It gives me a good feeling and I am worried about your plans to give others do the managing of the blog. It is going to be something totally different and all the intimacy and friendliness that a small and underdog spirit place brings is in jeopardy.
If I want to play online or talk to anon. chess fans I can go to Fics or ICC or play chess. I don’t need another server like that. I want to hear your voice Susan and not others. Think a lot before you make this change. I am grieving it already since I know nothing stands still and changes are bound to happen. Goodbye to the good old days; I guess you are growing Susan and I cannot change that – its nature. So good luck is the wise thing to wish you but as wisdom is not my strong trait, I am mourning the end of the days of innocence.
If someone will say I am being egotist and selfish. I am. But I am honest too.
Anyway I trust Susan knows what she is doing. I hope I can find myself in the new format. Chess discussions- the new site, – for instance is not exactly my cup of tea and I rarely enter there although I tried it and have registered.
For me this news is not happy news I am anxious about it.
Hope my anxiety will prove in vain.
best wishes
Abie
The blog has felt like a community of familiar monikers talking about chess and whatever else interests Susan. I hope this part remains unchanged.
I like the puzzles. Adding the difficulty level was okay, but rarely in a game do I get the benefit of knowing whether the best continuation is easy or difficult to find. I set up every puzzle Susan publishes to train myself on recognizing quickly the themes they present. I think Susan should post a solution (or provide a hint) only if the readers fail miserably, which is rare.
Most of what I learn about current and upcoming events in chess comes from this blog. I think it should be a true web log (hence “blog”), that is, a journal of Susan’s activities, interests, and thoughts. The additional ideas Susan has presented sound like a larger, labor-intensive project suitable for a web site, which I would visit with interest, but please don’t lose the character of what we have here.
jcheyne
Board members of a nonprofit organization owe a fiduciary duty to that organization.
Bill Goichberg has difficulty understanding this concept; it would appear he’s not the only one….
All the best..let it turn out to be good for chess…
merge the blog with the uscf
Susan, you are doing excellent job with your blog, I visit it on a daily basis. I believe if you expand it with more analysis, and make it more readable (e.g., make a special pictures section, so that we can read the rest of your blogs) is a good thing. I do not understand nor care for the USCF problems as I do not live in the US, and I am sure that many of your readers/blog visitors come from all over the world. If the USCF does not have the money or interests in chess promotion, and you have what it takes to do that, go for it. Just do not make it too commercial. The best of luck!!!
This blog will remain the same. It will not change. However, the idea is to expand to other parts where chess enthusiasts can get even more chess coverage, news and analysis.
I have offered the USCF many times my expertise with the web, blog, forum and general promotion, all at no charge. The answer was no.
Best wishes,
Susan Polgar
Keep trying, please.
Susan, when did you make such an offer of assistance to the USCF since becoming an Executive Board member? The is not record in the BINFO of any such offer or an motion relating to one.
Susan You are the Best.
Remember always follow your heart. Somewhere deep inside you there is the real Susan. Always listen to the real Susan and your life will expand far beyond your wildest imagination. The real Susan will always give you the correct answers and the correct path to follow. Your success will always be assured when you follow the the silent voice, the knowing that comes from deep inside of you.
Peace and Love
You are the Best
I vote to keep the blog as it is.
We don’t need another “playing zone.”
my sugggestion: Take money for access to this blog, make it an pay per read blog.
Hi Susan,
I’ve been reading your blog on an almost daily basis for more than a year now. I really appreciate the current news you post. (as you pointed out, stories in Chess Life are typically 2 – 3 months behind)
I also enjoy the puzzles.
Yours, Eric
These is one of most interesting blog about chess, that a I’see in the web.
Your coverage on WCC was wonderfull, and I desired you go ahead.
I would like to see more on chess every day.
This blog is not only American, it’s wide open and you should go forward with your plan. I can’t see anybody else with strength to do it. Recently, I saw interview with marketing specialist Alisa Maric on Chessdom.com and I agree that we need something like global chess news website. You should check it, this is something that supports your idea. Even during the latest WCC, I was looking for many different sources in order to get whole picture. It’s wasting of time; I want to know everything with one click at one place. In this century, even for chess world, I guess it’s not too much.
Hi there.One suggestion.. I’ve always searched internet for some chess knowledge and hit upon some good sites like chessville and polgar chess blog. I would like you to add on some chess knowledge in your blog. Chess lovers love some good annotated games and openings. Or maybe some articles on planning etc..
this is a good blog, and you need to get a proper content management system like Joomla or Drupal
Anyway, whatever you do … please don’t charge for it ! 😛
I am another fan who reads
your blog everyday.
Thank you for the great job.
And don’t get burnt out for
over-working.
A minor suggestion: Can you
create a chess board on the
blog? When we read your puzzle etc, it is handy to have one onthe screen where
we can move the pieces around.
Thanks.
Can something be done with ICC and the blog ?
If the USCF is still denying your ideas, what was the point of joining the USCF board?
Susan,
Been reading and enjoying this blog for more than a year, lately less frequently.
The reason is that the number of pictures grew with time, and the web page takes longer to load. To us with slow internet connections, this is a problem.
I suggest that the older material get links sooner, and moved off the main page. The contents on the main page will therefore be less, and will load quicker.
Apart from this small stone in my shoe, I enjoy the blog, and know that whatever changes you make, it will still be worthwhile to visit here.
Kind regards,
Chris Els
Susan and Paul,
Like others, I have been viewing this blog for a long time and I also find it personal and not commercial in nature. It expands on the art of chess and the people that practice the art in a very effective way. It is unique in that it communicates interesting chess information by a world champion. There may be few that would share in this way in any profession.
Follow your hearts and minds and I look forward to what the future holds.
We are truly blessed to have somewhat personal access to two like you that do so much for chess.
Mark
Interesting point Bill, however, in Goichberg’s case, and now Susan’s it is likely that the justice system weighs it the much lesser of two evils: on one hand you could strain the fiduciary letter of the law, on the other hand, you lose the USCF.