I did spend some time thinking about the flip side of randomness. I believe that synchronicity is on the other side of randomness, in the coin of life. Let’s get started after this random rambling : )

Let me share few chess oriented random ideas today:

* Buy a sleek notebook and make it your chess journal. Record your verbal thoughts in the book
*Watch a chess oriented movie from this list:

https://8cross8.com/chess-oriented-short-films/
https://8cross8.com/chess-movies-cannot-afford-miss/

* Write a thank you note to Mark Crowther for his consistent service in providing TWIC to all of us
* Read a chess player’s Biography
* Solve an endgame study
* Play the guessing game – Take a game of classical players and guess their moves
* Write a thank you note to Asim Pereira for his wonderful Follow Chess App
* Open a chess book closest to you, go to page 109 and solve or study the game mentioned

I came across an interesting study while organizing my databases. I considered this as a sign and the study made its way to this random article about randomness.

Question : Why did a lot of people find this position funny?
Try to be as random as possible in your answers

In the last article, I shared a game played by Van Kampen Robin. Let me go a little further and explain what I do with my random sessions.
While I am in mood for some randomness, I pick a game and study it. Play through the game and try to understand the nuances and critical moments in the game.

I maintain a database that has all the chess stuff related to my random sessions. After studying the game, I make it a point to write about it.
If you want to try this idea and have no clue how to go about it, then ask this powerful question:

1. What is this game offering to me? Or What can I take from this game?

From Van Kampen’s game, I noted the following points:
1. Do not make AUTOMATIC moves.
2. Make an attempt consciously to take a break from the game
3. Simple looking positions are not simple

My friend Randy Alstone a.k.a Sa Kannan is a fan of random moves. (not surprising. He is the one who told me about the book ‘Fooled by Randomness) He is on the verge of popularizing the Alstone attack with his about-to-become-famous Nh3! It might not surprise me if Alstone comes up with ‘Knights on the rim are not always dim’ on his facebook page

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nh3!?

Adding to that, Kannan shared that he drew against M.Kunal by playing an unusual second move:
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Qe7!?

I am sure you might have many stories of your own!

Returning to the study. This is a joke problem because white has no choice but to checkmate Black in six moves!