The Russians define chess as "an art in the form of a game." I define it as "a frustrating time-sink." Whether these two are mutually exclusive is unknown. Nonetheless, I have sunk a lot of time into this art, and some of the results are available below. So, choose from the following thrilling and adventurous chess-related items:

• My First Time, an account of my meteoric rise to Master level at my first official chess tournament.

• Exposed! Photos of climactic moments from great chess trysts.

• More to come!