Another successful trip around the sun on spaceship Earth.
Thursday, June 11, 2026
My Online Chess Lessons
Today I am finishing a major revision to my online chess lessons that I have worked on for thirty years, with greater emphasis on...
The average club player is very likely to create a weakness in their position within the first dozen moves. Learning to identify and exploit these weaknesses will help you win more games.
This was always one of the major points of my lessons, but I felt that I needed to make this point more clear.
I have rearranged the games, updated the text, and added some new material.
My goal is to help club players of all skill levels reach the next plateau in their chess development, whatever that may be.
https://onethousandpositionstochessmastery.blogspot.com/
The average club player is very likely to create a weakness in their position within the first dozen moves. Learning to identify and exploit these weaknesses will help you win more games.
This was always one of the major points of my lessons, but I felt that I needed to make this point more clear.
I have rearranged the games, updated the text, and added some new material.
My goal is to help club players of all skill levels reach the next plateau in their chess development, whatever that may be.
https://onethousandpositionstochessmastery.blogspot.com/
I am very happy with my changes.
P.S. At the Columbus Chess Club tonight, I am celebrating my birthday by bringing donuts.
Tuesday, June 9, 2026
Can Star Wars ever recapture the same magic?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ksMlL3H5cI
@john2001plus
1 minute ago
Hey Thor,
Bear with me, but I can't help being a bit of a pessimist.
Star Wars was originally about a single war: the Rebellion versus the Empire. That war effectively ended with Return of the Jedi. Technically, the prequels added another conflict, but it was part of the same overarching story. Regardless, that story was finished with ROTJ.
Whereas the first two trilogies focus on the big picture, offshoots such as Andor, The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and The Book of Boba Fett are "smaller" in scope, examining individual characters in more limited settings. I liked all of those shows, but they don't necessarily attract a wide audience. So, when a movie focuses on a similarly "small" story, it can apparently flop as well. It doesn't matter that I liked it; entertaining stories do not necessarily attract a large audience.
I think people want the original characters, but if those characters are recast, will audiences complain about that as well? The ideal time to make a Star Wars sequel may have been in 1990, but that ship has long since sailed.
I hope that, in the future, Disney and Lucasfilm can make entertaining Star Wars movies, preferably with new characters in a new setting. However, how many different space wars are audiences willing to watch? It seems that the original story was finished, and anything new inevitably becomes a completely different story. Star Wars appears to be in an impossible bind: if it makes something too similar to the Original Trilogy, people complain that it is repetitive; if it does something too different, people lose interest.
Best wishes,
John Coffey
@john2001plus
1 minute ago
Hey Thor,
Bear with me, but I can't help being a bit of a pessimist.
Star Wars was originally about a single war: the Rebellion versus the Empire. That war effectively ended with Return of the Jedi. Technically, the prequels added another conflict, but it was part of the same overarching story. Regardless, that story was finished with ROTJ.
Whereas the first two trilogies focus on the big picture, offshoots such as Andor, The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and The Book of Boba Fett are "smaller" in scope, examining individual characters in more limited settings. I liked all of those shows, but they don't necessarily attract a wide audience. So, when a movie focuses on a similarly "small" story, it can apparently flop as well. It doesn't matter that I liked it; entertaining stories do not necessarily attract a large audience.
I think people want the original characters, but if those characters are recast, will audiences complain about that as well? The ideal time to make a Star Wars sequel may have been in 1990, but that ship has long since sailed.
I hope that, in the future, Disney and Lucasfilm can make entertaining Star Wars movies, preferably with new characters in a new setting. However, how many different space wars are audiences willing to watch? It seems that the original story was finished, and anything new inevitably becomes a completely different story. Star Wars appears to be in an impossible bind: if it makes something too similar to the Original Trilogy, people complain that it is repetitive; if it does something too different, people lose interest.
Best wishes,
John Coffey
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