Columns | January 15, 2010 18:15  Time travel in chess  Time
travel in chessHow would you fare as a chessplayer being
transported back in time? Would your contemporary theoretical
opening knowledge pay off? Would your understanding of modern
ideas in chess strategy trump older concepts about chess?  These
questions came into my head as I read a recent article on the
Aardvarchaeology Scienceblog called The Fear of Time Travel.
Consider:  First, imagine that you're dropped into a foreign
city with only the clothes you wear. No wallet, no hand bag, no
money, no cell phone, no identification. Pretty scary, huh? But
still, most of us would get out of the situation fairly easily.
We would find the embassy of our country of origin, or if it
were in another city, contact the local police and ask to use
their phone. A few days later we would be home.  That's not the
scary scenario I rehearse. Imagine that you're dropped into the
city you live in with only the clothes you wear. No wallet, no
hand bag, no money, no cell