IP: Chess course on the Internet (Chronicle of Higher

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

From: Timothy Finin <finin () cs umbc edu>




This story in the Chronicle of Higher Education doesn't contain much
information, but it describes an ongoing experiment in Internet-based
education at UMBC that is working well.  CSEE Professor Alan Sherman
(sherman () cs umbc edu) has organized a course taught by International
Grandmaster Ilya Smirin (FIDE 2630) on the advanced theory and practice
of chess.  It is aimed at the serious tournament player who would like to
improve his or her game and offers a unique opportunity for students to
learn from one of the world's best chess players (who also happends to be
an undergraduate COmputer Science major here at UMBC).


In addition to having a live class of students, the course is offered
over closed circuit TV and the Internet.  About 50 student from around
the world are participating via the Internet using technologies including
MBONE, the web, the Internet Chess Club, special chess-clients, and
email. More information is available at <http://www.cs.umbc.edu/chess/>.


Tim



--


The Chronicle of Higher Education
Date: December 1, 1995
Section: Information Technology
Page: A35
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ON THE INTERNET


College Chess Club Offers Lessons With New Technologies


By David L. Wilson


A college chess club is offering lessons to much of the world using a
number of technologies.  Students of the game can take a non-credit,
continuing-education course from Grandmaster Ilya Smirin, a sophomore
majoring in computer science at the University of Maryland Baltimore
County.


The lectures are available in many forms, including video recordings
broadcast on the Multicast Backbone, or MBONE. The MBONE is an
experimental means of transmitting moving images over the Internet and
other networks. At present, only a few thousand people have access to the
MBONE, which usually delivers somewhat grainy, jerky images. It can
deliver images faster, but at a cost of slowing down things considerably
for other users on the network.


Alan T. Sherman, an associate professor of computer science at Maryland
and faculty adviser to the chess club, says the chess course does not
require the high-quality visuals that other distance-learning
applications might need. "With chess, conveying the board position
conveys a lot of the information you're trying to get out," he says. "It
doesn't require a lot of fidelity, a lot of subtleties."


Users also can study with the grandmaster by using an Internet tool
called telnet and the following address: chess.lm.com 5000. Guests can
watch, but full access to the service costs $40 a year. Members can use
the service to play chess against one another.


The classes are available as well with a World-Wide Web browsing tool and
the following Uniform Resource Locator: http://umbc.edu/chess/.  They are
also available on videotapes for $29.95 each, or $19.95 each in a set of
12.  The 22 students who attend the class in person every Wednesday night
pay $345. Otherwise, students can take the course via the Internet at no
charge.


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Copyright (c) 1995 by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inc.
http://chronicle.com
Title: College Chess Club Offers Lessons With New Technologies
Published: 95/12/01