The Fewer the Merrier?

May 18, 2015

I wrote this post on Saturday but had a problem with my website that kept me from posting it until now. This year’s Aptos Library Chess Club tournament was a smashing success in every way but one. We didn’t have as big a turnout as we did in 2014 (31 players) or in 2013 (37 […]

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Humor 2. Reason 1. Rage 0.

May 13, 2015

This is a mostly off-topic post, but it starts in chess club. At the Aptos Library Chess Club yesterday, a gray-haired woman comes in and starts talking with me. “Oh, I didn’t realize there was a chess club here!” she said. For a little while we chat about the history of the chess club, and […]

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A Fascinating Experiment

May 11, 2015

In my last post I complained about the futility of playing against computers. I got some excellent comments, one of which inspired me to try a new experiment. I decided to play a 10-minute game against Shredder where I get one “time-out” per game. The idea is that I would play until I reached an […]

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Ghosts

May 8, 2015

I hate computers, I hate speed chess, and I especially hate myself for playing speed chess against computers. And here’s why… Position after 33. … g6. White to move. FEN: 1R3b1r/4nk2/p2pNpp1/P1pP2PP/4P3/q1N1Q1K1/8/8 w – – 0 1 While you think about what you would play in the position, I’ll tell you the back story. Last weekend […]

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Winging It

May 4, 2015

While most of my games from the speed chess tournament yesterday were pretty forgettable, I did have one highlight, which was my win over International Master Vladimir Mezentsev. It’s very far from a masterpiece, in fact it’s more like a blunderfest — but hey, it’s a win over a titled player. Even if it’s only […]

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Ray Schutt Memorial

May 3, 2015

Today I played in a chess tournament with a difference — the 9th Annual Ray Schutt Memorial at the Mechanics Institute. It’s been a long time since I went to a tournament and just had fun. The Schutt Memorial is a blitz tournament, 4 minutes per game with a 2-second time increment. There’s no pressure […]

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Matrimony Strikes Again!

April 27, 2015

What did we ever do before the Internet? Today (4/27/2015) I ate my breakfast, opened up my daily Facebook, and there was a picture of a very happy-looking Jesse Kraai at a wedding, which appeared to be his own. This photo is from Salman Azhar, who was apparently sitting in the second row: Although the […]

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Four Queens… and Three

April 25, 2015

Today I happened to watch a pretty amazing bullet game online. The players were identified as Kozakov versus Bah. I think Kozakov is probably grandmaster Mikhail Kazakov of Ukraine, whose name sometimes seems to be spelled Kozakov. According to one comment I read on the Internet, “Bah” is the nom de guerre of international master Vincent Rothuis of […]

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Introducing Daisy Sue!

April 18, 2015

I’ve got to go off-topic today because my household just grew by one, which doesn’t happen every day! Allow me to introduce Kay’s and my new puppy, Daisy Sue. We got Daisy from the Santa Cruz Animal Shelter, where Kay and I both volunteer. Technically we haven’t adopted her yet; we’re waiting to see how […]

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SAT’s, Ratings, and Scholar Chessplayers

April 15, 2015

I wondered recently whether anyone has ever gotten both a 2400 (perfect) SAT score and a 2400 (not perfect, but pretty darn good) chess rating. This isn’t the same thing exactly, but I ran across an interesting discussion at reddit.com: Would you rather have a 2400 chess rating or a 2400 SAT score? Before I […]

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