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Some chessy history….
As I write, there are 43K+ game being played live on lichess. Chess.com averages over 20 million games per day. One report said over 30 million.
A friend sent me an piece about the first “online” chess game.
The first online chess game happened in December 1844 by Efosa Udinmwen
On 26 November 1844, two chess teams faced off while separated by 60 kilometers, as the Washington Chess Club played a team in Baltimore using the newly built electrical telegraph.
Three consulting members played on each side, transmitting moves over the wire. Washington opened with a pawn to the center, and Baltimore mirrored it.
This method allowed a full game without either team being physically present, marking what is considered the first online chess game.
Alfred Vail and Henry Rogers developed a system to assign numbers to each of the 64 squares, converting traditional descriptive notation into numeric codes.
Moves such as “pawn to queen’s bishop’s four” became “11 to 27,” simplifying transmission across the telegraph.
The system logged each play meticulously, including corrections in real time.
Although records of all games are incomplete, some sources report that 686 moves were transmitted without interruption.
Spectators occasionally observed the process, and operators recorded the number of people present.
The telegraph itself was simple, consisting of a battery, a switch, and a magnet.
Despite its apparent simplicity, signals weakened over distance, wires broke, and early equipment often failed, so there was a need for consistent monitoring of the line to ensure accurate reception.
The Baltimore–Washington telegraph ran alongside railroad tracks, and overhead insulated copper wire replaced failed underground attempts.
Despite Congress funding the initial line, practical daily use remained minimal, and most activity consisted of demonstrations and curiosity-driven experiments.
Telegraph chess inspired similar experiments abroad, including matches between London and Gosport in 1845.
White mates in 2
NB: I’ll hold comments with solutions ’till the next day so there won’t be “spoilers” for others.
Later, US grandmaster Bobby Fischer transmitted moves from New York to Havana in 1965 via teletype.
In a promotional game in 1999, Russian grandmaster Garry Kasparov played an online game against “the world.”
Today, the internet has taken telecom chess to fabulous new heights, with one site alone, chess.com, hosting up to 20 million games daily, sometimes pushing server capacities.
Chess is particularly compatible with telecommunications because it can be transmitted as concise, precise information.
Why have technologists taken the opportunity to play chess using so many generations of telecommunications?
This is likely because Chess is popular and inherently suitable for long-distance play.
“There are similarities in thinking processes [between] engineering design, and the sort of puzzle solving that a chess game involves,” says Kazdan of Case Western Reserve.
However, this connection may be one-sided. “Many engineers like chess. I’m not sure many chess players like engineering.”
Here is an article about playing chess using CW (Morse Code) via amateur radio: HAMCHESS. HERE
Meanwhile…
We are going to make the Chaplain Corps great again. pic.twitter.com/xbKZBdbiSR
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) December 17, 2025
CLICK!
SUPPORT CHAPLAINS!
And… yes, it can happen…
?? The French government has declared WAR on Catholic schoolchildren
• Teachers are being questioned by inspectors on whether or not they attend Mass
• Spiritual notebooks of students are being seized and photographed as evidence
• Principals are being pressured into taking… pic.twitter.com/MB8XPdRRQZ— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) December 16, 2025
And…
How to ruin your parish priest’s Christmas? https://t.co/6gLTlpPlLc
— Damian Thompson (@holysmoke) December 16, 2025
If you want to do something nice to promote authentic “walking together” for your parish priest you should get him a case of beer from the wonderful traditional Benedictine monks of Norcia, Italy. They make three kinds of beer and they are all exceptionally good.
And… BTW… Wordle in 4 today.
UPDATE:
In Mumbai right now, there is a team tournament the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League Day 4 at the Royal Opera House. All games are played with 20 minutes for the entire game, with a 2-second increment starting from move 41. Each team as six players, including women and a “junior” born 2003 or after. Total prize fund of $1,000,000.
I just saw my guy Wesley So (2nd board for the upGrad Mumba Masters) defeat the dangerous Arjun Erigasi of the PBG Alaskan Knights. The Mumba Masters are leading so far.
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On the chess problem: there are very few moves to try for White. The one that works is: 1. Rb7. Black can move only his Bishop, and he has to capture White’s Rook, to avoid the threat of mate (2. Rb8++). But after 1. . . . BxR, then 2. PxB+ is mate.
Drinking Together > Walking Together