The dollar is sucking!
 

I was thinking about getting a chess database(Chessbase) for 50 pounds. I checked the conversion and today thats $100. Two or three years ago it was something like $1.35/45.:nope: Errr!

After enduring years of teasing from my American colleagues, our dollar is predicted by some to equal or exceed the USD by the end of the year :p

Going to the US next year to see a bunch of ball games, for a change I won't take a butt-kicking on the exchange.
RDP

Might have to catch a flight across the pond for a bit of Christmas shopping later this year. :)

I guess being $11T in debt, and the fact it has doubled in the last 6 years, doesn't make for strong currency?:doh: :shifty: :D

The first time I went to Canada was summer 2002, and I have been back several times since then, most recently a few weeks ago, and the exchange rate for the US is now officially pittiful. Good for Canada, bad for us. The pound, the Euro and all sorts of currency are skyrocketing over the dollar, if anything that should get the United States interested in doing something about the debt.:roll:

A Digimemo is still too expensive to buy in the States and have shipped over here though :nope:
If anyone knows where I can get one at a good price ..

When I was a kid one Pound was equal to about five Dollars.

Didn't know you were in chess that seriously, Brad! :D What is your precise need?

The exchange rate was worse in March. Since the 5th of March the rate of exchange has been closing in relation to the GBP. In fact today was the best day since 05 MAR.


The graph:
http://www.x-rates.com/d/GBP/USD/graph120.html

I was wrong again. I guess this is the reason.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...wKA&refer=news

I just started teaching myself and am getting into it pretty much. I have MC10 and Fritz Deluxe is coming. If I'd have gotten the database it would have been an impulse buy because I suffer from "If I'm into it I must have everything that goes with it" whole hog disease. Drives my wife nuts. But $100 for a database put me into price shock.:)

Well the reason it was so good for Americans for a while was because during the 90s the Federal Liberals under the economic leadership of then Finance Minister Paul Martin artificially depressed the Canadian dollar so as to facilitate much easier paying off of that disgusting Reaganesque debt accrued by that bastard Mulroney.

Now that the Liberals are out and that that debt (the last one anyway) is gone they can let the Loonie be its old self again. That the Loonie once exceeded the US Dollar at one point is something that seems to be forgotten.

Woo hoo! Excellent news for once! it is about time our US dollar dropped off the face of the planet! It might hurt me some in the short term (I have many digits in Canadian dollars, so don't think I will hurt that much), but it will jump start our economy!

This is the exact thing we have been complaining to China about - the low value of the Chinese currency! Now it is our turn to take this world back over with force!

-S :up: :up: :up:

PS.Hahahahaha! you are so funny! Do you think for a second the US Gov will pay $1 per every $1 on that debt? It is on a 40 year cycle of $.05 on the dollar! That was set back in the 1940's! So expect the US Gov to actually pay out 600 billion or less.

Our Pacific Peso (Australian Dollar) has reached record high's against the U.S. This is wonderful if you want to buy a car or whitegoods, but bad if you are an exporter.:cry: The only thing keeping Australia going deeper in debt is the boom in metals.

Hey maybe the low dollar will get some of our manufacturing jobs back.

The chessprogram Fritz and others from Chessbase) include databases of usually 1- 1.5 million played matches. It should fit your needs, but at less then one third of the price for the chessbase database starter kit version 9. The interface (as I just have written in another chess-ralated thread) is superb.

Price for new Fritz 10 in Germany is 40-50 euro. You could as well buy some older version of it or another chessbase-engine, and eventually buy it for a price in the one-digit range (in Germany at last, availability of these softwares in the Us seems to be a bit limited, what surprises me).

http://cgi.ebay.com/FRITZ-10-CHESS-S...QQcmdZViewItem


http://www.amazon.com/ChessCentral-H...3445128&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Junior-10-Cham...3445128&sr=8-5


If I could be of help, let me know.

I don't think its gonna get that low. I mean... think Rhode Island will ever be able to challenge the one dollar a day wage?;)

I got the Fritz 10. Thanks for the link. Don't really know why, but it was a good deal. I'd like to get Junior 10 at some time.

Why?

If you wish to collect the top titles, I would recommend Rybka (download), and Hiarcs 11 (since version 11 also only downloadable).

If you want to do engine matches, get Hiarcs. Fritz and hiarcs are nicely contrasting in playing styels.

If you think about playing strength, forget it, you do not need more than one of these top engines to suit your needs in personally playing the CPU. They all will kill oyu if you let them loose without artifical brakes or handicaps in your favour.

Look here:

Ah, it's currently down, but remember this link:
http://web.telia.com/~u85924109/ssdf/list.htm

It's the Swedish SSDF computer engine ranking list. They have a DOS list as well on that site, listing all board computers and programs since the mid-80s.

Hiarcs homepage:
http://www.hiarcs.com/

Rybka:
http://www.rybkachess.com/index.php

I personally use Hiarcs 10 engine with Fritz 9 GUI and stopped collecting engines.

You said you are currently learning chess. You probably already found the link yourself, but to be safe:
http://chessbaseusa.sectorlink.org/DesktopDefault.aspx

Check their training software.