A new seven-part serial Marvin J Mavin: Corruption is underway at the Checker Maven site.
Based in Honolulu, Hawai`i, the BobNewell.Net website offers a variety of entertaining and educational material on a range of subjects, from checkers to Emacs to Talmud. Comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome; just contact the Webmaster.
Don't miss The Checker Maven, a weekly checker webzine now in its 22nd year, and which by any measure is the world's most widely read periodical checkers publication specializing in the version of the game as typically played in the UK and America. A major emphasis of The Checker Maven is on unique checker fiction, typically featuring two new stories every month and occasional multi-part serials. Other features include Checker School, Speed Problems, and much more.
Scrambler, a word board game with similarities to that proprietary game we all know so well, is a rewrite of a 1992 Linux-only, ASCII-only text mode game. I've added tons of new features, including GCG output, position analysis, save/restore, and more. Get it here:
http://www.bobnewell.net/filez/scrambler.zip
Now available, the simplest text mode database ever. Get Cheebu here:
http://www.bobnewell.net/filez/cheebu.
My second novel, Hanai has been released in both print and ebook form. It's Jane Austen's Mansfield Park retold in contemporary Hawai`i. What happens when a poor native girl from the Wai`anae Coast is adopted by a wealthy movie-star couple in Kahala? The novel is as much a commentary on class and racial divides as it is a contemporary romance.
I've got a new Jimmy Chan story in the fine anthology Dark Paradise: Mysteries in the Land of Aloha, available from Amazon. This time Jimmy gets in way over his head in a case of international espionage.
My book of checker stories is out and available on CreateSpace and Amazon! Mr. Darcy Plays Draughts, and Other Stories: The Checker Fiction of Bob Newell is a collection of nine novelettes and short stories culled from the pages of The Checker Maven webzine, as well as the all-new title story and an introductory poem. The book would make a great gift for checker fans, Jane Austen buffs, and anyone with an interest in fiction with a unique and unusual theme. This is the world's first and only collection of checker fiction and is sure to please.
Courting Jane, a time-travel romance and my first novel, is available on Amazon in both print and ebook formats. Join Jonathan Kinsey as he crosses two oceans and two centuries in the search for the love of his life, none other than Jane Austen herself.
If you have an interest in Emacs, check out my latest and ongoing series of postings under the title 35 Years of Emacs as linked in the sidebar.
Our scoresheet package, found here, now has Skat scoresheets in addition to the chess, checkers, and go scoresheets.
This form calculates the theoretical probability of winning a game based on ELO ratings. This generally applies to chess but also works for any game with ratings based on the USCF implementation of the ELO system.
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This form calculates the estimated changes in an ELO rating, for a single game, using the exact, not the approximate, USCF formulas. The rating is still estimated, though, because the USCF calculations consider an entire tournament at once, is done in two passes and
requires the complete tournament cross-table.
If an event is half-K, check the appropriate box; likewise if all of your prior tournament games were wins or losses, check the matching box.
This form calculates estimated post-tournament ELO ratings using the exact, not the approximate, USCF formulas. The rating is still estimated, though, because the USCF calculation is done in two passes and requires the complete tournament cross-table.
In the results box, enter your tournament results, game by game, using 'w' for win, "l" for loss, and "d" for draw, and then giving the opponent's rating. Leave a space between each game. So if you won a game against a 1313 player followed by a loss to a 2090 player and a draw with a 1589 player, enter
w1313 l2090 d1589
If the event is half-K, or you played the same opponent more than once, check the appropriate box; likewise if all of your prior tournament games were wins or losses, check the matching box.
Mr. Fred Investments has ceased operations, although the name and its copyright have been retained. Avi Gobbler Publishing, the successor to Avi Gobbler Productions, now operates independently.
All other divisions of Mr. Fred Investments, including Avi Gobbler Consulting and Futrezo Software Solutions, have been closed. The online publications Bungerting Baloner, Waikiki Wanderer, and O`ahu Dining Information, have all been discontinued.
The Checker Maven continues to be published by Avi Gobbler Publishing. Books and other materials previously published by Avi Gobbler Productions or Mr. Fred Investments are now under the aegis of Avi Gobbler Publishing.
Mr. Fred Properties is an internal division of Mr. Fred Investments formed to provide real estate trading and rental management services to the parent company. Mr. Fred Properties is not licensed for service to the public and is not a licensed realty company.
Avi Gobbler Consulting is a division of Mr. Fred Investments. Avi Gobbler Consulting provides high-end information management consulting services on an hourly or engagement basis. Engagements with strategic content are preferred but limited-term tactical engagements will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
The company's principal has more than 30 years of information management and technology experience, including over 20 years at the senior level, and brings an extensive and deep knowledge and background to each consulting engagement.
For further information please write to avigobblerconsulting@bobnewell.net. Serious inquiries only, please.
Mr. Fred Financials is an internal subsidiary of Mr. Fred Investments formed to provide internal financial services to the parent company. No services to the public are provided at this time. Mr. Fred Financials is not a licensed financial services provider or trader.
