2008 PRESENT HUNT PRIZES SPONSORED BY:     and Chessgames.com

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The 2007 Present Hunt | The 2008 Present Hunt | The 2009 Present Hunt | The 2010 Present Hunt
The 2011 Present Hunt | The 2012 Present Hunt | The 2013 Present Hunt | The 2014 Present Hunt
The 2015 Present Hunt | The 2016 Present Hunt

RULES FOR THE 2008 HOLIDAY PRESENT HUNT: Each clue below refers to a chess game in our database, and these games contain a banner that you can click on to claim a present. Be the first to find the game and click the banner to claim your prize. We will be adding more clues to this page at random intervals until December 25th, 2008. See our Official Rules to view the prizes and for other important information.

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The 2008 Chessgames Holiday Present Hunt is over. Congratulations to all the winners! Merry Christmas! The Chessgames.com Staff

THESE CLUES WERE SOLVED IN 2008: [click here for short list]

clue #1: prize claimed by TomJobe! SOLUTION:  J Isaev vs Mamedyarov, 2002 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  The symbol is the logo for the Russian Airline Aeroflot. The roman numerals do not imply 177 but rather "C77", the ECO code for the Morphy Defense of the Ruy Lopez. This is one of several games from the Aeroflot Open featuring that opening. clue #2: prize claimed by GMNick! ...b5!   A direct lever action. SOLUTION:  O Barda vs Spassky, 1953 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  Notes by Hans Kmoch from his famous book, Pawn Power in Chess. clue #3: prize claimed by Hesam7! http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=n where n = a3 + b3, and both a and b are two digit prime numbers. SOLUTION:  I Farago vs B Perenyi, 1977 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  733 + 973 = 1415877 clue #4: prize claimed by autolycus! SOLUTION:  V Charushin vs G Timmerman, 1988 PRIZE:  The book World Chess Championship 2008, published by Impala Press COMMENT:  A rebus for Charushin: CHART - T + USHI + N. (The Japanese word for cow is ushi.) clue #5: prize claimed by SwitchingQuylthulg! Black: Check. White: Check. Black: Check. White: Checkmate. SOLUTION:  Anand vs Fritz, 1992 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  This is the only game to our knowledge that ends with a flurry of checks topped off with mate. (Computers happily embrace a series of spite checks when faced with inevitable doom.) clue #6: prize claimed by Touch of Knight! SOLUTION:  Greco vs NN, 1620 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  This game starts with 16 consecutive pawn moves. clue #7: prize claimed by MostlyAverageJoe! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx SOLUTION:  P Castets vs G Andruet, 1991 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  The "x" is the chess symbol for "capture", and this game contains 15 consecutive captures starting with move 20.Qxe8. (If you are curious, the record is 17 consecutive captures in Rudd-Roberson, 2006.) clue #8: prize claimed by Domdaniel! ❒❍❒❒❒  =  Levels of loudness ❍❒❒❒❒  =  They have small shells ❒❒❍❒  =  Layers ❍❒❒❒  =  Aces, sometimes ❒❒❍❒❒❒❒❒❒  =  Dentist's number SOLUTION:  K Khanov vs Tal, 1955 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  The solutions of the mini-clues are: phons, atoms, hens, ones, and novacaine. The circled first letters spell out Hanov. clue #9: prize claimed by PPDParreira! SOLUTION:  J Kleczynski Jr vs Duchamp, 1924 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  The photograph is that of painter and chess enthusiast Marcel Duchamp. It is not known if he employed the apparatus during the game. clue #10: prize claimed by technical draw! Composer loses his composure. SOLUTION:  K Bayer vs Falkbeer, 1853 PRIZE:  A One Year Subscription to New in Chess Magazine COMMENT:  Conrad Bayer was an award winning problemist, but no match for Ernst Falkbeer in his prime. clue #11: prize claimed by Apollo33! 9:17, 2:22, 5:37 SOLUTION:  Spassky vs Fischer, 1960 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  Biblical references: Matthew 9:17, Mark 2:22, and Luke 5:37 all refer to "new wine in old bottles", for example Luke 5:37 reads, "And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish." And in Bobby Fischer's famous book My 60 Memorable Games this game is dubbed "Old Wine in a New Bottle." clue #12: prize claimed by Auguste! SMØC<12 SOLUTION:  Carlsen vs A Orujov, 2002 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  SMØC are the initials of Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen, better known as Magnus Carlsen. The "<12" implies that it was an under-12 championship. clue #13: prize claimed by smitten! 33°58'08"N   88°16'07"W SOLUTION:  K J Wicker vs C D Gilliam, 1975 PRIZE:  The Championship Series Chess Set by House of Staunton COMMENT:  The coordinates take you to a small community in Mississippi named Splunge. This odd word is also a nonsense expression used in a skit from Monty Python's Flying Circus, which included Terry Gilliam. clue #14: prize claimed by crawfb5! SOLUTION:  D Gajadin vs B Bongo Akanga Ndjila, 2008 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  The photo is a type of antelope known as The Bongo. clue #15: prize claimed by MostlyAverageJoe! c, for horses SOLUTION:  N Aginian vs A Stiri, 2008 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  The constant c represents the speed of light, which is 186,282.4 miles/second. That equals 1,490,259 furlongs per second, and this is game number 1490259. clue #16: prize claimed by zerowley! SOLUTION:  I Raud vs L Prins, 1937 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  If you flip this upside down and hold it in front of a mirror, it says "rapidruns", which is an anagram for "Raud-Prins". clue #17: prize claimed by SwitchingQuylthulg! ❒❒❒❍❒  =  Solo captor ❒❒❍❒❒  =  Carrollian animal ❒❍❒❒❒❒  =  Smash hit from Switzerland? ❍❒❒❒  =  Gravity powered device ❒❍❒❒❒❒❒  =  Fishy prefix ❒❒❍❒  =  Talc has 1; diamond, 10 SOLUTION:  Alekhine vs E Baasch, 1912 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  The solutions to the mini-clues are: Jabba, snark, hadron, sled, ichthyo-, and mohs. The circled letters spell Baasch. clue #18: prize claimed by savuflorin1983! Time 12:07:25 SOLUTION:  Capablanca vs Gruenfeld, 1925 PRIZE:  The book World Chess Championship 2008, published by Impala Press COMMENT:  Time Magazine on December 7th, 1925 featured J. R. Capablanca on its cover. This is one of several games directly mentioned in the article. clue #19: prize claimed by Apollo33! SOLUTION:  C Dolezal vs M Bitelmajer, 2005 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  The illustration depicts the letter e cut in half. If you take one half of e (the base of natural logarithms ≈ 2.718281828459) you get approximately 1.359141. This is game number 1359141 in our database. clue #20: prize claimed by MostlyAverageJoe! Fat canola tassels. SOLUTION:  A Khasin vs Taimanov, 1997 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  An anagram for "Catalan loses fast." In this 16 mover, Taimanov makes the opening look unsound. clue #21: prize claimed by ericlgame! SOLUTION:  H Clemenz vs F Eisenschmidt, 1862 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  This game ends with all four knights in the position shown. clue #22: prize claimed by biglo! ONE PAWN FOR THE EXCHANGE As a rule, this is a win for the rook, but the practical difficulties are many. Again the central ideas are to gain an entry with the King or Rook and set up an unbalanced Pawn position. The defense must rely chiefly on blockade possibilities. An important point to remember is that with all the pawns on one side the game is drawn. SOLUTION:  Lasker vs Ragozin, 1936 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  Notes by Reuben Fine from his famous endgame treatise Basic Chess Endings. The book continues: "No. 489 (Lasker-Ragosin, Moscow, 1936) illustrates the play for both sides." clue #23: prize claimed by MostlyAverageJoe! SOLUTION:  P Herb vs C Stal, 1997 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  The symbols are signs of the zodiac: Pisces, Aries, Scorpio, Cancer, Aries, Leo, Sagittarius, Taurus, Aries, and Libra. Put the first letters together to spell PASCAL-STAL. clue #24: prize claimed by Domdaniel! ___ Ra ___ alai A little more than ___ SOLUTION:  B Sunjaikin vs R Neprokin, 2001 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  The solutions to the mini-clues are: 1. Sun (Sun Ra was a jazz performer) 2. jai (Jai alai is a game played on a court with a ball and wicker racket) and 3. kin (a quote from Hamlet). Put them together to get Sunjaikin. clue #25: prize claimed by acirce! SOLUTION:  J Mieses vs Alekhine, 1913 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  Those are Semaphore Flags spelling out "OMGP111". The solution is the 111th game in the first volume of On My Greatest Predecessors by Garry Kasparov. clue #26: prize claimed by al wazir! Glance and hail. SOLUTION:  M Peek vs A Greet, 2006 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  A synonym for glance is peek; a synonym for hail is greet. If you want a laugh, check out White's pawn structure after 18.hxg3. clue #27: prize claimed by Jackz! Battle of the Palindromes. SOLUTION:  B Rabar vs B Tot, 1956 PRIZE:  The Championship Series Chess Set by House of Staunton COMMENT:  Both players have palindromic names; i.e., they read the same backwards as forwards. Sorry, no prize for those who uncovered the alternate answers Tot vs Ciric, 1960 and Pap vs Seres, 2005. clue #28: prize claimed by MostlyAverageJoe! SOLUTION:  Marshall vs Capablanca, 1909 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  The game ended in this position, which can be formed by placing together the pieces in the clue. This particular chessboard dissection was invented by Sam Loyd. clue #29: prize claimed by acirce! QF NFVCFKU GQMK V AXCEVG MQAT'N TVELQF DAFQG LGVPM EXYKU IQN MAQTIF FX FIK CQE. SOLUTION:  D Reithel vs E Sneiders, 1964 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  A substitution cypher for "IT STARTED LIKE A NORMAL KING'S GAMBIT UNTIL BLACK MOVED HIS KNIGHT TO THE RIM." The game begins 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 Nh6?! clue #30: prize claimed by aphasia! ❒❒❍❒  =  a weapon, or a toll road ❒❒❒❒❍  =  circular terms, or bones ❍❒❒❒  =  leave of absense, or toss ❒❒❒❍❒  =  stock prices, or arachnids ❒❒❒❒❒❒❒❍  =  periodical, or ammo supply SOLUTION:  vs ,  PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  The definitions of the mini-clues are: pike, radii, pass, ticks, and magazine. The circled letters spell out Kipke. clue #31: prize claimed by alefzero! SOLUTION:  M Al-Modiahki vs B Esen, 2006 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  This game contains 17 consecutive knight moves starting with move 61.Nd3. There are some games that beat this record (e.g., Lehtinen-Sietio, 1996) but they are jokes. clue #32: prize claimed by Kvasir! SOLUTION:  F Vallejo Pons vs Kasparov, 2005 PRIZE:  The book World Chess Championship 2008, published by Impala Press COMMENT:  The graphic is the logo for the record label, "Swan Song Records", which was launched by Led Zeppelin in 1974. Idiomatically, a "swan song" is a shining achievement at the end of one's career. For Garry Kasparov that would be his last professional tournament, Linares 2005. Kasparov tied for first with Veselin Topalov, who went on to become world champion. This game is one of Kasparov's shining brilliancies from that tournament. clue #33: prize claimed by Ironbrain! Mileage rates. SOLUTION:  L Didier vs L Rosen, 1900 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  An anagram for "earliest game", and although this isn't the oldest game of chess recorded, it is the first game ever inserted to our database, ID #1000000. clue #34: prize claimed by sleepyirv! SOLUTION:  C Leotard vs J M Dijon, 1993 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  The photo is a still from the famous commercial from the 1980s, featuring the line "Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?" The solution lies in the fact that Grey Poupon is a dijon mustard. clue #35: prize claimed by Domdaniel! HYFIN SOLUTION:  V Georgiev vs S Smetankin, 2006 PRIZE:  The Championship Series Chess Set by House of Staunton COMMENT:  The letters are elements in the periodic table. H=Hydrogen (atomic number 1). Y=Yttrium (atomic number 39). F=Fluorine (atomic number 9). I=Iodine (atomic number 53). N=Nitrogen (atomic number 7). String the numbers together to get the game ID number, 1399537. clue #36: prize claimed by Ragh! The Sailors' Gambit SOLUTION:  Capablanca vs Lord Dunsany, 1929 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  "The Three Sailors' Gambit" was the title of a chess-related short story, by author and chess player Lord Dunsany. clue #37: prize claimed by Stonehenge! ❒❒❒❒❒  =  100 monkeys ❒❒❒❒❒  =  Nonsense ❒❒❒❒❒❒❒  =  Link together ❒❒❒❒❒❒  =  Homeric singers ❒❒❒❒❒  =  Range ❒❒❒❒❒  =  Faux pas ❒❒❒❒❒  =  Jobs' job ❒❒❒❒❒❒❒  =  Hanukkah gear ❒❒❒❒❒❒❒  =  Dropping acid? ❒❒❒❒❒❒  =  Huggermugger NOTE: None of the squares are highlighted. This is intentional. SOLUTION:  Euwe vs Flohr, 1932 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  The solutions of the mini-clues are: Capes, hokum, entwine, sirens, stove, gaffe, Apple, menorah, etching, and secret. The first letters of each word spells "chessgames", which is intended to help you confirm your answers. The solution is found in the 4th column, which reads "Euwe v Flohr". clue #38: prize claimed by Kvasir! r`/B|<4 0\/\/|\|Z (r4Ph7`/ SOLUTION:  Crafty vs Rybka, 2006 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  "Leet speak" (hacker-styled typing) for "Rybka beats Crafty." (Literally, "Rybka ownz Craphty.") clue #39: prize claimed by Archives! A Top 10 Game. SOLUTION:  Kasparov vs D Letterman, 1989 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  David Letterman is famous for his "Top Ten List" featured on the CBS Late Show. clue #40: prize claimed by Buddy Revell! http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=n where n =      (the year the game was played) x      (planets in the solar system) x      (The Poisoner's Poison) SOLUTION:  A Ostrovskiy vs Y Kruppa, 2003 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  The game was played in 2003, there are 8 planets in the solar system (N.B., Pluto was demoted in 2006), and the atomic number of thallium (nicknamed "The Poisoner's Poison") is 81. And 2003 x 8 x 81 = 1297944, which is the game ID number. clue #41: prize claimed by Crowaholic! Battle of the Anagrams. SOLUTION:  Balashov vs Shabalov, 1985 PRIZE:  A One Year Subscription to New in Chess Magazine COMMENT:  Balashov is an anagram of Shabalov. Sorry, no prize for the alternate answers, Vasic vs Savic, 2002 or Kopal vs Polak, 2005. clue #42: prize claimed by wienke7! DOMINATED A Q SOLUTION:  Y Schwartz vs S J Szpisjak, 2000 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  "DOMINATED A Q" might imply "dominated a queen", which Schwartz certianly did, but it's also poker lingo--and Ylon Schwartz is a professional poker player. clue #43: prize claimed by SwitchingQuylthulg! SOLUTION:  Lasker vs NN, 1903 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  This game ends with the checkmate shown. clue #44: prize claimed by amadeus! G2 + V2 SOLUTION:  G Giorgadze vs V Vepkhvishvili, 1985 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  The initials of the players are GG (G2) and VV (V2). clue #45: prize claimed by mikedressner! SOLUTION:  M White vs L Day, 1980 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  This is the phrase "BLACK BEATS WHITE." written in the popular symbol-font Zapf Dingbats. In the game, Black (Lawrence Day) beats White (Michael White). clue #46: prize claimed by dzechiel! Upcoming Game of the Day for December 24, 2008.     HINT #1: With creativity, this clue is solvable.     HINT #2: The title of the game is a pun.     HINT #3: To make the pun work, we used diminutive forms of the names. (e.g. Robert -> Bob) SOLUTION:  C Blodig vs E Kuenzner, 1987 PRIZE:  A One Year Subscription to New in Chess Magazine COMMENT:  The pun is (or will be) Chris Mess Eve. clue #47: prize claimed by TheaN! Grand radon gas. SOLUTION:  C Guizar vs D Simic, 1999 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  An anagram for "Dragan's Dragon", an appropriate title for this game. Here Dragan Simic plays the Sicilian Dragon defense. clue #48: prize claimed by aphasia! http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=n where n=5516342. SOLUTION:  M Bab vs F Duz-Khotimirsky, 1911 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  5516342 is the game ID number, in octal (base 8). In our familiar base 10 number system, that is 1481954. clue #49: prize claimed by Domdaniel! After 7...Ne5? White was salivating. SOLUTION:  M Pavlov vs D Dragos, 1987 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  A play on the name Pavlov. clue #50: prize claimed by mack! Beaten by a tramp. SOLUTION:  N Banks vs Marshall, 1926 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  A reference to Morphy's famous (albeit perhaps apocryphal) quote, "Checkers is for tramps." Newell Banks was the world checkers champion. clue #51: prize claimed by percyblakeney! Prisoner imprisoned. SOLUTION:  C Bloodgood vs M Haack, 1975 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  Claude Frizzel Bloodgood was in prison for murder during this game, in which his queen becomes trapped. clue #52: prize claimed by Frank Castle! ❍❒❒❒❒❒  =  It could be silver ❒❒❒❍  =  Pulpit of old ❒❒❍❒❒❒❒  =  Wicked things ❒❒❍❒❒❒  =  To heap up ❒❒❍  =  First lady? ❒❒❒❍❒❒❒  =  Iron Mike's nemesis ❒❒❒❍❒  =  Quicksilver SOLUTION:  I Nikolic vs G Arsovic, 1989 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  The solutions to the mini-clues are: lining, ambo, candles, aggest, Eve, Smyslov, and azoth. The circled letters spell "longest". While this is not the longest game in the database, for many years it was the longest recorded game played under normal tournament conditions. clue #53: prize claimed by SwitchingQuylthulg! AK vs VK SOLUTION:  Khalifman vs Kotronias, 1993 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  Maybe you thought it was Karpov and Korchnoi, but these are never that easy. clue #54: prize claimed by dakgootje! He beats an amateur with his own gambit. SOLUTION:  E Diemer vs NN, 1949 PRIZE:  The book World Chess Championship 2008, published by Impala Press COMMENT:  Emil Joseph Diemer beats that perennial amateur NN with the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. clue #55: prize claimed by Domdaniel! Valiant "Big Mat" Realties SOLUTION:  Polerio vs G da Cutri, 1590 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  Valiant is an anagram of Latvian, while "Big Mat" is an anagram of "gambit", and realties is an anagram of earliest. This is probably the earliest Latvian Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5?!) in the database. clue #56: prize claimed by sleepyirv! Some people call me Maurice. SOLUTION:  S C Miller vs M Dougherty, 2002 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  A phrase from the song The Joker by the Steve Miller Band. clue #57: prize claimed by sleepyirv! Kasparov beats AK. SOLUTION:  S Kasparov vs A Al-Khateeb, 2000 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  The red herring is that it's not Garry Kasparov but the lesser known Belarusian grandmaster, Sergey Kasparov. clue #58: prize claimed by ToTheKings! "One of the most poetical chess compositions that has ever been devised in practical play." SOLUTION:  Paulsen vs Morphy, 1857 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  Said by Wilhelm Steinitz of this game. clue #59: prize claimed by Stonehenge! The doctor's gift. SOLUTION:  T Palmer vs R Present, 1986 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  Play on the name Present, this game features longtime Chessgames contributor Dr. Tony Palmer. It was played a few days after Christmas. clue #60: prize claimed by aphasia! 1 2 3 4 5 1  ❒ ❒ ❒ ❒ ❒ 2  ❒ ❒ ❒ ❒ ❒ 3  ❒ ❒ ❒ ❒ ❒ 4  ❒ ❒ ❒ ❒ ❒ 5  ❒ ❒ ❒ ❒ ❒            Across: Round numbers? Anoint Bride or groom, for example Tree resin incense The player with the black pieces    Down: The player with the white pieces _____ Gay Gunlock Town near San Francisco Decoration on a letter SOLUTION:  Z Andriasian vs I Nataf, 2007 PRIZE:  A One Year Subscription to New in Chess Magazine COMMENT:  The solution to the acrostic is: Z E R O S A N E L E V O W E R E L E M I N A T A F clue #61: prize claimed by cu8sfan! At Christmas I no more desire a rose Than wish a snow in May's new-fangled mirth; But like of each thing that in season grows. SOLUTION:  W Grimshaw vs A Love, 1886 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  A quote from Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost which is also the title given to the Chessgames game of the day on March 22, 2008. clue #62: prize claimed by sleepyirv! SOLUTION:  J Nogueiras vs M Gongora, 2001 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  Incredibly, Jesus Nogueiras achieved mate with only a king and a knight. This was the 2005 Christmas Day pun, dubbed "Wholly Knight." clue #63: prize claimed by Buddy Revell! Rejected Christmas pun: "______ Other Reindeer" (This game features a prominent grandmaster losing to a relative unknown.) SOLUTION:  K Spraggett vs O Brendel, 1986 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  Canada's Kevin Spragget became a GM in 1985, but German IM Oliver Brendel made him look like a beginner. The rejected pun would have been "Oliver Other Reindeer". Now you know why it was rejected. clue #64: prize claimed by Pi Guy! Deck the halls with boughs of folly.     HINT #1: WHAT DO SANTA'S EARMUFFS KEEP WARM?     HINT #2: THE GAME BEGINS 1.d4 SOLUTION:  M Djerkovic vs Z Zvan, 2001 PRIZE:  A Four Month Free Subscription to Chessgames.com COMMENT:  This game features the rare opening Santasiere's Folly, which usually begins 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.b4!?

SOME GENERAL TIPS AND HINTS:

1. This list is designed to provide some helpful hints and tips to win the contest. See the Official Rules for complete information.
2. Bookmark this page and check back frequently. You never know when the next clue might appear, and as soon as it does, the race is on.
3. Some clues involve initials. E.g., the clue "B.F. vs B.S." might refer to Bobby Fischer vs Boris Spassky.
4. Some clues draw upon popular chess literature and anecdotes.
5. Not all clues will narrow the field down to a single game; some clues may refer to more than one possible game. Some clues are very hard exactly because they are very vague. For clues like these, you'll simply have to search through the possible games and hope that you get lucky.
6. Some clues are anagrams. For example, if a clue was "Apply Humor 1850" then you might want to look at Paul Morphy games from 1850. ("Apply Humor" is an anagram of "Paul Morphy".)
7. Some clues are puns, similar to what you might find on our Game of the Day. The Game of the Day Archive might come in handy, even though it only goes back one year.
8. For some clues, a knowledge of chess players and chess history is helpful--but there are also references to literature, language, pop culture, mathematics, and the arts.
9. Many clues are intentionally misleading, in the spirit of crossword puzzles.
10. Sometimes a clue will be very hard, and then a subsequent clue will make a reference designed to act as a hint for the earlier very hard clue. So if everybody is stuck on a real stumper, pay careful attention to the new clues being released.
11. We promise that we will never insert hints into the HTML of the pages. This includes the filenames and "alt text" that we choose for our graphics. Don't bother investigating those details, because we assure you that it will never help.
12. Don't ask the chessgames administrators for any clarification of the meanings of clues. Some of them are designed to be confusing and ambiguous; we will refuse to clarify their meaning. However, we sometimes offer additional hints to clues which go unsolved for a long period of time.
13. To give everybody a fair chance, there is a limit of five (5) prizes per member. If you are skilled enough to win 5 prizes you'll have to stop playing until next year.
14. If you are trying to solve a clue for which the solution is a seven-digit game ID number, be aware that the valid range of game ID's goes from 1,000,000 to (approx.) 1,500,000. So you don't have to examine all 10 million numbers, "only" half a million.
15. It is possible to design software that downloads thousands of games in bulk to scan the HTML pages for prize graphics. This is regarded as cheating. We have measures in place designed to detect and prevent this. Anybody caught using these methods will be disqualified, and the prizes will not be awarded but instead returned to the prize pool.
16. Chessgames.com will be the most important site to use for all clues, but being skilled with Google.com can also help a lot. Some of the clues will involve anagrams, for which the Internet Anagram Server is an indispensable resource. For questions of history, art, mathematics, or a number of other subjects that our clues reference, Wikipedia will surely come in handy. Having a good dictionary will also be an asset.
17. Since many clues refer to player names, our Player Directory will be a valuable tool. When searching for players by name, it's probably best to use the Advanced Search on the homepage.
18. This contest would not exist were it not for the generous contributions of our sponsors. Whether or not you win, you should take a minute to visit their websites and see the fine publications and merchandise they have to offer.
19. These hints are not inclusive; some types of clues might not be described herein. You're on your own--good luck!