I’m Back!

September 19, 2019

It’s been a month since I posted here, so I would like to reassure anybody who’s wondering that I have not fallen off the face of the earth! The above photo was taken three weeks ago at the Northern California state championship. I was going to play tournament chess for the first time in nine […]

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Read the full article →

Learning the Right Lessons

August 11, 2019

Today I went to cheer on two of my students in the Aptos Library Chess Club, Emmy and Ryder, who were playing in their second rated tournament. They are a sister-brother pair. I was very curious to see how they would do, because in their first rated tournament (the state scholastic championship, last March) they […]

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Read the full article →

The Abstract Era

July 27, 2019

It’s been amazing to me to see how double e-pawn openings have changed over the last 10 to 20 years. Once upon a time, White would always press for an advantage, making threats, working toward the pawn break d2-d4, keeping Black on the defensive. Not any more. In the new era, White just chills out. […]

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Read the full article →

Last Computer Game for 2019

July 1, 2019

If January 1 is a good time for resolutions, then July 1 is a good time for semi-resolutions. I’ve decided that it’s time for me to do away with playing chess against the computer, at least for the rest of the year. One thing that crystallized this decision for me was meeting with Gjon Feinstein […]

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Read the full article →

When a Miss Really is as Good as a Mile

June 20, 2019

Last weekend I played in the third round of the PRO Chess League Summer Series, in which the fans of the San Francisco Mechanics squared off against the fans of the St. Louis Arch Bishops. I won both of my games against a player named Typewriter44, and when I finished we had a comfortable-looking 15½ […]

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Read the full article →

How to Win without Thinking

June 9, 2019

The second week of the PRO Summer Chess League went a whole lot better for me, and a whole lot worse for the team. Quick refresher: the summer league is an offshoot of the main (winter) league. One big difference is that fans can participate and score points for their favorite team. Each match consists […]

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Read the full article →

The Three Things I Hate About Online Chess

June 1, 2019

Okay, I admit it, I’m a dinosaur. The whole chess world plays online chess, and I don’t. The last time I played online was maybe 15 years ago. But I thought it might be fun to give it another try, especially in the PRO Chess Summer League, competing as part of a team. I was […]

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Read the full article →

PRO Chess Summer League Begins Tomorrow

May 31, 2019

This is kind of a last-minute post, but if any of my readers are interested in playing in an online summer league, you can sign up now at chess.com to play for the San Francisco Mechanics (or another team of your choice). Here is how it works. Unlike the winter season, the summer season will […]

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Read the full article →

Thirty-Two Stories

May 28, 2019

Once every year I take off my chess player and chess coach hat and put on my chess organizer hat. This weekend I directed an unrated chess tournament for kids at the Aptos Public Library. As always, I got a huge amount of help from the library, which provides the venue and the publicity and […]

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Read the full article →

Checkmate with a King… Almost

May 25, 2019

Maybe I show too many computer chess games in this here blog… but here we go again. I love playing against Shredder, because we get some of the wildest positions I’ve ever seen. This week I was able to threaten one of the rarest moves in chess – checkmate with a king! The ultimate and […]

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →