Xtreme Chess

The worlds of chess and reality television have collided. "Xtreme Chess Championships," which was created by Women's Grandmaster Jennifer Shahade, her brother International Master Greg Shahade, and Daniel Meirmon, features eight young American chess talents competing in a knockout competition. You can read more about it and watch the first two episodes here. You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter; they do not appear to have an official website.

It's hard to know how to feel about this program. On the one hand, any publicity is good publicity, and there may well be people out there for whom this is an attractive first exposure to chess. On the other hand, the production quality and "performances" (I hesitate to say "acting," although the heavily scripted nature of reality television is an open secret) are of such a low caliber that I couldn't help but cringe repeatedly while watching it.

In the end, I just don't think chess and the medium of the television program are well-suited for each other. You can add celebrity commentators or reduce the time control, but in the end, chess can be played rapidly but must be savored at length. I do not mean to discourage anyone from enjoying "Xtreme Chess Championships," and indeed I hope that a great many people find it appealing. I fear, however, that the problem of how to market chess to the general public has not yet been solved.

Cell phone ban?

Back in December, the National Transportation Safety Board issued a recommendation calling for a nationwide ban on the use of all cell phones while driving (emergency calls would be exempt). This is a nonbinding recommendation, and it is up to legislative bodies to actually adopt any portion of this proposal. Whatever the proximal effect of this action, though, the NTSB raises interesting and difficult questions about how to respond to the recent explosion of mobile technology in light of the overriding social interest in maintaining safe roadways.

Various states and municipalities have already issued bans on using certain kinds of mobile technology while driving. New York, for instance, prohibits hand-held cell phone use while behind the wheel (hands-free devices like Bluetooth headsets are permitted) and Massachusetts does not allow teenagers to text while driving. The NTSB is suggesting a much broader action, though, and the theory makes sense. Being distracted by mobile devices is deceptively debilitating as far as your ability to safely operate a motor vehicle is concerned. Whether you're texting, dialing, or playing Angry Birds, distraction is distraction. It seems to me that if you're going to ban one distracting activity because it poses a safety risk, then you should probably ban them all.

The overall gravitation nationwide does seem to be in this direction. Some insurance companies, for instance, have recently begun imposing fines for drivers of emergency vehicles caught texting while driving (existing laws generally exclude emergency services personnel from device-use-while-driving restrictions). And as public awareness of the dangers of distracted driving continues to rise, it's unclear what shape the next wave of responses will take. Will states adopt policies similar to what the NTSB is recommending (or strengthen existing laws)? Or will people simply self-police and stop using their mobile devices while driving? Both?

Back from hiatus

It's been a busy 2012 so far! I'm looking forward to having more time to write in this space, however. Of the several projects that have been keeping me busy lately, one of the most exciting has been helping to restart the Christ Redeemer Church blog, "The Kingdom Perspective." Pastor Don Willeman is in the middle of a series of posts on sin and grace; check it out at http://christredeemerchurch.org/wordpress/

I've also been keeping busy with the U.S. Chess Federation's Electronic Knights correspondence chess tournament. The Electronic Knights is the email equivalent of the Golden Knights correspondence chess tournament, which is the national correspondence chess championship. The tournament is broken down into seven-player sections and you must score 4.5 points out of 6 to advance to the semi-finals. In an interesting twist, you are allowed to enter the tournament up to ten times (paying the entry fee again each time, of course). The more sections you enter, the higher your chances of being able to advance to a semi-final section. Right now I am playing in two sections, and I'm having a blast.

Finally, I'm not one to get extremely excited over industry award shows; I stopped watching the Oscars years ago, and I don't think I've ever watched the Grammys (as for the Tonys ... I couldn't even tell you if they were televised or not). But watching the Beach Boys reunite to sing "Good Vibrations" tonight was awesome!