Have I invented a new game?

 I know this blog has been somewhat moribund recently, and I'd like to say I'm taking steps to fix this (Narrator: No such steps are being taken). But every now and then I do think of something to post

 I was toying with the idea of a dice game, and came up with an easy but possibly tricky version. It can teach kids about probability and decision make, but at the risk of turning them into degenerate gamblers.

 Two player game. Each player has one dice which they roll. At the start of the game they put $1 into the pot. The player with the higher number wins , but ... The loser can pay another $1 for a second roll. If they beat the winners first roll, they win the pot (ie $3) but if they tie or are still lower on the 2nd roll, they lose ($3). If the initial roll is tied, then the players add another $1 to the pot each (bringing the pot to $4 for the next roll). If they player declines the 2nd roll, they automatically lose.

Simple rules I hope, and something that can be easily played (if you have lots of $1 coins).

Where the trickiness lies is in when you should 'buy' the 2nd roll if you lose. If you lose to a 6, then buying a 2nd roll is a waste of time (as ties still lose the 2nd time around). But if you lose to a 2 (because you rolled a 1) then you probably should buy, as you have a 2/3 chance of winning. But the middle numbers become a little bit harder to judge. And secondly, is your decision affected by the size of the pot (eg you've tied 2 rolls in a row, so the pot is now $6 rather than $2).

I fed all this into an AI, just to check the math. It described this as an example of 'option pricing' (ie what should I pay for an expected return) but did not find any examples of this game existing elsewhere (noting it is AI and therefore is probably wrong)  

There are also possible variants - One is a gamblers ruin  version, where after each tie the pot is doubled (rather than increased by $2). Another is a turn limited game, where you play a fixed number of rounds (say 6 to 10). Does your decision change the closer you get to the finish of the game?

One big swindle

 At some point in my life I will probably play every mainline chess opening, either by design or accident (e.g. I once played a French Defence as black through a move order trick). The Benoni Defence looks to be the next cab of the rank, and I have been looking at a number of top level games. It is less popular at the top level these days, but serves as a succesful weapon at the lower levels. This may be due to the fact that Black requires tactical resources to overcome the openings positional defects, or as John Nunn says , the Benoni is "one big swindle"

 

Spassky,Boris Vasilievich - Fischer,Robert James (2785) [A77]
World-ch27 Fischer-Spassky +7-3=11 Reykjavik (3), 16.07.1972

When in Rome

I'm currently visiting Rome, on my way back home from the 2026 World Youth Championship. Looking at the modern chess history of the city , it doesn't quite have the track record of other European capitals. The was a time in the 1980's when it held a sequence of strong Round Robin events, attracting a number of strong GM's. But since then the strongest events seem to Italian Championship's, or open swiss events. 

But from one of those strong RR events , a game which probably should have a saying attached to it "When in Rome, don't do this" 

Kortschnoj,Viktor Lvovich (2650) - Makropoulos,Georgios (2485) [A34]
Rome Rome, 1981

2026 ANU Open - 31st July, 1st & 2nd August

 

2026 ANU Open

ANU Open/Minor 2026
31st July (Fri), 1st August (Sat), 2nd August (Sun)
ACF Rated and FIDE rated*
Floor 4, Marie Reay Teaching Centre, University Ave, ANU, ACT
Time control: 60m + 30s

Open and Under 1600 sections (Both FIDE Rated)
6 round swiss (Round 1 Friday 31st July 7pm, Rd 2 10am Sat 1st Aug, Rd 3 2pm, Rd 4 6pm, Rd 5 10am Sun 2nd Aug, Rd 6 2pm)

$4000 prize pool ($1200 1st prize Open, $600 1st Minor)
(* Games involving players FIDE 2400+ will not be rated as per FIDE Rating regulations. )

Friday 31 July 2026 7:00 PM - Sunday 2 August 2026 6:00 PM (UTC+10)

Location

Room 2.02 Marie Reay Teaching Centre
University Ave, Acton ACT 2600

Registration: https://www.trybooking.com/DNNUX 

You never need to know it , until you need to know it

 The dreaded K+B+N v K caught another victim at the World Under 18 Championship. Gor every player who has practiced this ending until they can checkmate in their sleep, there are probably 999 players who have either practiced it once, or 'will get to it later'. And for most players, you will never be on either side of this ending over your entire chess career. Until it becomes important ...

 

Breuil,Tristan (2296) - Soojay,Jorah (2100) [C02]
World Youth Champ 2026 Open 18 Montesilvano (3.35), 17.06.2026

How I spent my day off

 Yesterday was a rest day at the 2026 World Youth Chess Championship. So I took advantage of this to go and visit a country I have always wanted to see. San Marino. Even since I was a child, I found the idea of a country inside another country fascinating. But when I got older I developed another connection to the country, through chess.

Since I started representing PNG at chess Olympiads, way back in 2000, PNG have played San Marion a 6 times, and another 2 times prior to that. Over the course of 8 matches PNG holds a narrow 4.5-3.5 lead.  My contribution has been less than stellar, with 3 draws and a loss.

The country, completely surrounded by Italy, was founded in 301CE  and is considered the oldest republic still in existence.  After a 3.5 hour bus round to get there, we had a guided tour of the castles located at the top of the mountain, before heading of to do our own exploring. Despite the heat, and the steep climbs, it matched my expectations, especially the idea I had of it from my childhood. Located on the top of a mountain peak, it certainly looked to be an ideal defensive position against medieval armies. Lots of walls, fortresses, cliffs and cobblestones to traverse or observe, left me exhausted by the end of the day.  

Another 3.5 hours back in the bus, before getting ready for the 2nd half of the tournament. 

World Rapid and Blitz Teams - Day 4

 The 4th day of the World Rapid and Blitz Teams Championship was for the Blitz portion of the event. Unlike the Rapid (which was held as a swiss) the Blitz saw the teams assigned to 4 pools of 12, with a RR played to determine who qualified for the KO finals (top 4 going through from each pool).

The Street Chess Canberra teams ended up in an interesting pool, with 3 teams that had played in the Rapid competition, and 4 teams who finished at the top end of the Rapid. Their final result of 9th (out of 12th) was a very good result, in part due to beating teams they probably should have won against in the Rapid.

But the real highlight was probably in a match they lost, where they took 2 points of the winners of the Rapid, Dragon Chilling. Their opponents  wheeled out Ding Liren on Bd 1, and they had 5 GM's on the top 5 boards. Street Chess were outrated by 600 points on most if the boards, only losing 4-2 was a fantastic result. Wins for Matt Radisich and CM Ryan Lane delivered a result that was one of the big surprises on the tournament.

 

Lane,Ryan (1956) - Ju,Wenjun (2458) [B33]
FIDE WRBTC 2026, Hong Kong,(6.4), 20.06.2026