I’m so glad I got around to finishing this guide since it is one that has been hanging around in the back of my head for quite some time. Now found in the main menu at the ChessandPoker.com homepage…….the Peg Solitaire guide!! If you’ve ever come across this puzzle, and really who hasn’t at this point (except that when I asked my wife to read the guide she said “huh? what kind of game is Peg Solitaire”…hmmmph) then you’ll secretly be thanking me for providing the optimal 18-move solution in an easy to memorize format when you come across it again. I used to play the puzzle game during dinner outings at Pizza Hut and it was very frustrating to constantly have it waiting for me at the table, unsolved and very satisfied with itself. But then I grew up, made a popular website and exposed it’s secret solution to over a million ChessandPoker.com visitors a year.

Bwaa haa haaaaaaaa.

F’n puzzles. Enjoy :)

We’ve partnered with Amazon.com to launch the Chess and Poker Shopping Center! I think it’s very cool to be able to shop for all the items I’m searching the web for right here on the ChessandPoker.com site. Browse some of our favorite selections and the full Amazon.com catalog, which is one of the most comprehensive collections of merchandise available anywhere. Amazon.com is one of the industry’s most highly regarded ecommerce sites and we’re happy to work with them now and into the future. So visit and shop, I know I will!

Check it out here: http://www.chessandpoker.com/shopping-center.html

Nigel Short recently won a Chess game by default after raising a formal complaint against his opponent Ivan Cheparinov, who had refused to shake his hand at the start of their tournament game. Short reportedly offered a “traditional” handshake to Cheparinov, who had arrived late, as he took his seat at the board. Cheparinov ignored it for whatever reason. So the next time he raised his head up Short again stuck out his hand, apparently unable to take the hint the first time. This time his opponent just shrugged and went back to studying the board. Short immediately raised a complaint to the tournament arbiter who, after consulting the FIDE website and listening to the persistant objections from Short, was forced to forfeit the win to Nigel.

GIVE. ME. A. BREAK. This is what Chess has been reduced to. These are the people representing the game I love at it’s highest levels. Our nerdy elite would rather throw a tantrum about a handshake than play a game of Chess. After the commotion Cheparinov reportedly had even agreed to go ahead and shake hands with the giant 4-year-old but Short told reporters, “It was clearly a calculated insult” and restated that the offense had already been committed. Amazingly, instead of sending both of them to separate sides of the sofa he actually defaulted Cheparinov’s score to a loss.

Actual complaints, such as someone secretly using a computer for analysis or making some type of move error, I could understand. But to whine about a friggin’ handshake? Give Nigel a binky and let’s PLAY CHESS. It’s more like dungeons and dragons with these guys, who are adults lest we forget. Haha! You didn’t equip your magic shield, I get your soul power and now I can save the princess!! Grow up. If you came to nitpick over every conceivable rule instead of playing Chess go be an accountant (no offense to accountants btw). I propose a new rule concerning the handshake: the next time someone complains that their opponent isn’t playing by the rules by refusing to shake hands, immediately give them the prerequisite wedgie and ridicule they so rightly deserve.

Where is Garry Kasparov, and can we start a petition to bring him back?

There’s a good thread in our forums about this topic.

The world-famous American Grandmaster, and one of the best all-time Chess players, Bobby Fischer has died at the age of 64 from a serious but unspecified illness in Reykjavik. While in recent years Fischer was known for his shocking activities away from the Chess board, including racist radio ramblings and wild conspiracy theories targeted against the United States, the games he played will stand the test of time as some of the most purely-brilliant displays of Chess understanding and talent to have ever been played.

The clarity and power of Fischer’s moves swept away even the most decorated Chess competitors of his time (including Petrosian and Spassky) and remain beautiful time-capsules of great Chess play today. I’d prefer to focus on the Chess of Bobby Fischer and let that be his legacy. A troubled but ultimately legendary Chess star, Bobby Fischer’s contribution to Chess will surely be his most remembered fingerprint on the game he once so truly loved.

After receiving several emails as to why we removed the Blackjack and Jacks or Better Video Poker strategy guides from our main site the decision was clear: bring ‘em back and make them even better than they were before! Located in the strategy guide list on our home page you can now once again select the detailed guides for these gaming favorites, now optimized and streamlined into an even more powerful and easier to learn format. We also appreciate hearing from everyone, so take notice that we listen and respond whenever you speak up. Enjoy!