What’s next?

I appreciate all the people who have visited my blog in the last couple of weeks, to read my translations of grandmaster Sergei Shipov’s comments on the recently concluded world championship match. Yesterday was another near-record-setting day, with 742 hits. (Only the first day of my Shipov translations had more hits, with 770.)

I hope that some of you will keep reading my blog, now that you know about it! Of course, it isn’t every day that a world championship comes along. Typically I write about events that are of more personal or local interest, and I leave the international news for others … but it varies a lot. You never know what I might write about next, because I don’t know!

This month is going to be a rich one for news. The next thing coming up on my calendar is an ultra-local event: the Aptos Public Library chess tournament for kids, which I organize once a year. (My only foray into chess event directing.) It looks as if we’ll have a good turnout, because more than 20 kids have signed up already, and we had great attendance at the chess club yesterday, the last club meeting before the tournament. The tournament will be on Saturday, and you can read all about it here — the only place on the Internet you can read about it! — probably on Sunday. (By the way, this is a non-rated event; most of the kids do not yet know how to keep score and use a chess clock.)

Of course, the U.S. Chess Championship is getting started in two days in St. Louis, with a brand-new format this year that is designed to produce the most exciting and decisive games at the end. Here is the official website, which at the moment has a promotional video that is quite funny! Hikaru Nakamura and Gata Kamsky are both participating and are, of course, the favorites, but I will be rooting for the three participants from the San Francisco area — Jesse Kraai, Vinay Bhat, and Sam Shankland. I also expect a strong showing from the younger contingent: 15-year-old Ray Robson, 18-year-old Robert Hess, and 18-year-old Sam Shankland. Hess shocked everyone by finishing second last year. Why couldn’t one of the youngsters do even better this year? If a 17-year-old can be champion of India (2009) and France (2008), why can’t we have a teenaged national champion, too?

So here is my bold prediction: ROBSON, HESS OR SHANKLAND WILL WIN THE 2010 U.S. CHAMPIONSHIP.

Now you’ll have to come back to my blog, just to see if I have to eat my words!

Finally, at the end of May I will get back into action myself. I have signed up to play in the Chicago Open, and if possible I will post some commentary, games and photos from that event. I can’t promise that my games will be as exciting as Topalov versus Anand, but they might at least be somewhat more comprehensible to the average chess player.  😎

So … lots of things to look forward to! Also, don’t forget to check out my lectures (as well as the other lectures by superb teachers like GM Jesse Kraai and GM Eugene Perelshteyn) at www.chesslecture.com. I plan to record another “Learn From Your Fellow Amateurs” video within the next week or two.

I would like to close with a little trivia quiz, just for fun.

1. Who are the current champions of India and Bulgaria? (Hint: Their names are not Anand and Topalov.)
2. Of the three youngest participants in this year’s U.S. championship (Robert Hess, Ray Robson, and Sam Shankland), which one does not at this moment (5/12/2010) have an article about him on Wikipedia?
3. Which five participants in the U.S. championship did Jennifer and Greg Shahade “forget” to mention in the promotional video? (I’m guessing that they didn’t actually forget — the video was probably made before the list was finalized.)
4. My lifetime record against the people playing in this year’s U.S. championship is 2-7. Which one of them did I beat (twice)? (This should be easy for regular readers of this blog.)