"Membership in the family of God is neither inconsequential or something to be casually ignored. The church is God's agenda for the world. Jesus said, "I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it." The church is indestructable and will exist for eternity. It will outlive this universe, and so will your role in it."
- Rick Warren
Saturday, March 10, 2007
For those of you who can remember the early days, we're bringing back a blast from the past: Thinklings Chess!.
This is a private chess-club for the Thinklings. It is like correspondence chess, in that a player ponders the board, makes his or her move, and then their opponent is informed via email that a move has been made and they can then log on and make their own move.
As I said, it's private, but if you want to play (and if we know you as a friend of the Thinklings) we can set you up with an account on Thinklings, which gets you an account in the club. Your Thinklings privileges will be pretty limited, but upcoming versions of Bloo will bring some coolness to non-posting members of this blog.
So, if you're interested, you can email me at hi@hi.com, except that instead of the first "hi" use the word "bill", and instead of the second "hi", use the word "outofthebloo" (I hate email harvesting spambots, can you tell?). I'll let you know when and if you're setup.
I'm currently playing the inaugural game against Bird (while I sit here doing my taxes). He's going to crush me, but it's worth it. It's good to have Thinklings Chess back up and running.
Trackbacks:
Trackback URL: http://thinklings.org/bloo.trackback.php/3706.
Comments on ""The board is set. The pieces are moving."":
3. Maripat
- 03/10/2007 1:00 pm CST
Oh! Oh! Oh! Can I play? What if I'm not really good? Can I still play? My email (wink wink) is yellow@gatorade.net, where yellow is maripatsparks and gatorade is comcast. 
4. blest
- 03/10/2007 2:12 pm CST
I'm not all that good... But I might wanna play once in awhile. Um - can Daniel (my nine year old) play the occasional game? He would be MOST thrilled. And he's pretty good!
7. ThunderBird
- 03/10/2007 5:07 pm CST
I was busy with a birthday party. I'll get busy crushing Billboy again.
13. De
- 03/11/2007 3:28 pm CDT
Jen,
I've emailed you twice, but maybe my emails are not getting through for some reason? Let me know
17. blest
- 03/15/2007 7:54 am CDT
You know...this would be more fun if one's opponent moved more than once every 16-36 HOURS. Especially when he/she is IN CHECK.
(bws stands tapping foot impatiently)
18. blest
- 03/15/2007 7:55 am CDT
What do you mean "teach" you, Scott? Do you really not know how to play - or are you actually a very sarcastic grandmaster?
20. blest
- 03/15/2007 10:44 am CDT
????!!!!! Oh Snap! Come to find out I didn't get the email from the chess thing and thought you still hadn't moved! And I hadn't gotten the invite from Scott to play...whom you'll notice did NOT answer my question so I may be the lamb to the slaughter now...
Maripat, I bow in abject apology. Also...you're in check again. ;-p
Scott, I await your move with fear and trembling.
23. blest
- 03/15/2007 7:07 pm CDT
Oh I see...you're cheating on me, Maripat! But then, I have taken up with Scott on the side - so I guess we're even.
(boy does this not sound good)
Anyway...I'm getting the "It's your move" emails now - and Maripat is not. So Maripat - if you see this, it's your move!! And you too, Scott, for that matter! What, you people have a life or somethin?!
24. Maripat
- 03/15/2007 7:37 pm CDT
Oh I see...you're cheating on me, Maripat! But then, I have taken up with Scott on the side
LOL!
27. Maripat
- 03/15/2007 11:59 pm CDT
Hey! Who wants to play chess with me tomorrow? Just to give you an idea of the quality of chess I play, Blest and I took 43 turns to come to an end.
28. Maripat
- 03/16/2007 9:47 am CDT
So I can see that everyone is properly afraid of my wicked chess skills! Come on y'all, who wants to play chess?
29. De
- 03/16/2007 10:41 am CDT
I'm in, Maripat - I'll setup a game (I'll be black)
Can't guarantee I'll be the quickest mover, what with a day job and all, but I'll try to keep things going. . .
30. Maripat
- 03/16/2007 10:49 am CDT
Hey - No time constraints here. But dang! I was hoping someone a little less talented would have taken me up on it - you've gotta go easy on me De, in order not to deflate my ego!
White goes first, right? Why don't you go first so I don't embarass myself with my first move.
32. Maripat
- 03/16/2007 10:54 am CDT
Gah! I can't believe I misspelled embarrass up there. I can't abide poor spelling!
33. De
- 03/16/2007 11:15 am CDT
"I was hoping someone a little less talented would have taken me up on it"
My chess skills apply a large vacuum. I'm sure you'll be fine . . .
35. The Ancient Mariner
- 03/19/2007 8:41 pm CDT
Maripat, sorry I hit the "Move" button too soon--thanks for the game, and for inviting me to play.
36. Maripat
- 03/19/2007 10:43 pm CDT
No problem AM. I didn't have a chance. I'm hoping that I'll learn something and get better. The only person I've beat so far is Blest and that's just because she made some mistakes. Otherwise she would have killed me too!
37. blest
- 03/20/2007 7:31 am CDT
I just want to proudly say that my boy scored his first win yesterday. (This was after he got his first emphatic loss - handed to him on a platter by Jared)
I also want to say that I hate playing white. So thanks ever so much to all three of my current opponents for sticking me with it. Perhaps I'll get over my chess racism soon.
38. The Ancient Mariner
- 03/20/2007 10:57 am CDT
blest--I think it's mostly supposed to be polite to let the person you're inviting go first. If you want, I'll be happy to play white against you.
Maripat--I'm glad you're not annoyed. It's worth noting, you should remember that trick I pulled--it's kind of a well-known one, and so it's one to watch for.
39. Maripat
- 03/20/2007 12:44 pm CDT
I just want to proudly say that my boy scored his first win yesterday
Yeah, he kicked my posterior! Glad I could have a hand in his education yesterday Blest!
Maripat--I'm glad you're not annoyed. It's worth noting, you should remember that trick I pulled--it's kind of a well-known one, and so it's one to watch for.
AM - the problem here is that I have NO IDEA what it was that you pulled on me! This is hard for me since I can't watch what my opponent is doing so in the meantime I forget where the pieces were when I last moved!
40. Scott
- 03/20/2007 1:43 pm CDT
That's why judicious use of the history viewer is called for. I frequently look at the last three moves. As my hair gets more silvery like I tend to forget things.
41. Scott
- 03/20/2007 1:45 pm CDT
Also regarding whiteness and challenges, I am a cad. I have not remembered the face of my father and apologize deeply to my valiant opponents.
42. blest
- 03/20/2007 2:03 pm CDT
Well hey - it's not like I expected people to know of my deep-seated anti-white tendencies. I probably need to go into rehab for it anyway. ;-p
AM, I'm currently playing Bill, Scott, and ChadVader - but once one or two are over, I'll be happy to let you whup up on my poor head.
Oh oh oh...if only we had Thinklings Scrabble.
43. The Ancient Mariner
- 03/20/2007 3:47 pm CDT
Oh oh oh...if only we had Thinklings Scrabble.
That sounds like fun. De, in your spare time . . . ? :)
I wish, though, that I'd stop hitting the "Move" button too soon when I mean to comment--I just did that again, this time to ChadVader, and it makes me feel like a clod.
44. Maripat
- 03/20/2007 5:24 pm CDT
AM - speaking of ChadVader - thanks for crushing my son in his first game of Thinkling's Chess ;-p
47. Maripat
- 03/20/2007 7:48 pm CDT
Eric - Do you know who Chad Vader is?
Bill/Jen - What's up? Did y'all fall off the edge of the earth or what?
48. blest
- 03/20/2007 7:57 pm CDT
And here I just thought your son's name was Chad.
I watched one of those videos...you'll be getting my therapy bill.
;-)
49. Maripat
- 03/20/2007 8:12 pm CDT
And here I just thought your son's name was Chad. lol
My favorite episode is #2.
50. De
- 03/20/2007 8:52 pm CDT
"Bill/Jen - What's up? Did y'all fall off the edge of the earth or what?"
I've been travelling all day. Just got to an internet connection (and it's a dialup - ugh).
Will move soon.
51. The Ancient Mariner
- 03/20/2007 10:28 pm CDT
I did say I was sorry. My dad always cleaned me and my brother out at Monopoly, and chess, and anything else we played . . . I'm programmed. FWIW, if he wants a rematch, I think it's good odds he beats me the second time around--he just needed to keep my queen away from his king.
52. Maripat
- 03/21/2007 7:26 am CDT
AM - Sometimes I hate these comboxes. You do realize I was just joking on you, right? He will of course want a rematch, but I'm telling you right now - don't make it easy for him, he's too old to be given a win in anything.
MP
53. blest
- 03/21/2007 7:45 am CDT
And nobody take it easy on my boy, either! He struggles enough with pride as it is. He doesn't need unearned victories puffing him up! Besides, one learns more from losses.
54. The Ancient Mariner
- 03/21/2007 8:32 am CDT
AM - Sometimes I hate these comboxes. You do realize I was just joking on you, right? He will of course want a rematch, but I'm telling you right now - don't make it easy for him, he's too old to be given a win in anything.
I was hoping, but I wasn't quite sure. (I don't know how old he actually is, after all.) Don't mind me, I'm just a little twitchy at the moment--our elders are in "blame everything on the pastor" mode, so it's easy to see criticism where none is present. Thanks, though.
55. Maripat
- 03/21/2007 9:19 am CDT
I don't know how old he actually is, after all
AM - He's 14, but Blest has a point. Doesn't really matter how old he is because the kids aren't going to learn how to play better if they think they "won" but actually were handed the game. The last thing Nick or any of my kids needs is undeserved "self esteem" Ugh!
56. Maripat
- 03/21/2007 9:27 am CDT
our elders are in "blame everything on the pastor" mode
AM - sorry to hear that. As a lay person I often don't realize the politics that pastors and priests have to deal with every day. It's a shame that even the Church is subject to these distractions.
Count me in, please!
