Adventures in Reno

April 20, 2014

So far, after five rounds in Reno, I have an even score of 2½-2½. So far, all of my five games have been quite interesting and tactical. Michael Aigner remarked that he has trouble even telling who is ahead in material in my positions, let alone who stands better! Well, he was joking of course, […]

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Fireworks by the River

April 19, 2014

After I finished my evening game in the second round of the Larry Evans Memorial, I went outside and was surprised to see some fireworks going off in the distance. Apparently this is a somewhat regular event in Reno. Anyway, it was a good metaphor for the two games I played yesterday, because they both […]

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Calm Before the Storm

April 17, 2014

Round zero is complete here in Reno, and everybody is still tied with 0 points out of 0! The main job on Thursday is just to get here, which was no problem this year because the weather was beautiful. I picked up a passenger en route. Yes, that’s Jesse Kraai (photo taken by my wife), […]

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Calculation and Conceptualization

April 13, 2014

This week I recorded a ChessLecture that should come out in a month or so, called “How to Tell When the Moment is Right.” The question I was looking at in the lecture is, how do you tell when it’s time to calculate detailed variations, and how do you tell when you shouldn’t calculate variations […]

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“How a Master Eats an Expert”

April 5, 2014

At Mike Splane’s most recent chess party, Craig Mar showed us a really nice game he played years ago. Even though he doesn’t play tournament chess any more, he is a really good teacher and the games he shows us are usually as relevant as they were when he played them. This time he told […]

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0.00ooops!

March 30, 2014

Back when I wrote my Chess Life article about the Bryntse Gambit (White’s queen sac on move six in the Grand Prix Sicilian, 1. e4 c5 2. f4 d5 3. Nf3 de 4. Ng5 Nf6 5. Bc4 Bg4?! 6. Qxg4!) I described it as an “anti-computer” opening, because very few human players have the gumption […]

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Anand Earns a Rematch

March 29, 2014

As most of my readers probably know already, Viswanathan Anand, the former world champion who was dethroned last year by Magnus Carlsen, has earned a rematch with Carlsen by winning the Candidates in dominating fashion. The tournament isn’t even over yet, but with one round to go Anand has already clinched first place! Even more […]

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Newspaper article + hyperbolic chessboard

March 24, 2014

Today the Santa Cruz Sentinel had an article about me! Amazingly, there wasn’t a single thing about the article that was embarrassing or cringe-worthy. That is a credit to the writer, Bonnie Horgos. She had a lot of things to cover — chess, hula, science writing, animal care, bomb scares — all in 600 words […]

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Mobility Recovery After Pelvic Fracture (Dog Video!)

March 17, 2014

Going off-topic today… For four years, Kay and I have been foster caregivers for kittens for the local animal shelter. We call ourselves the Mackenzie Finishing School for Felines. However, we usually have a hiatus between December and April, because cats just seem not to have kittens then. We’re dog people too, so this year […]

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Two Milestones

March 12, 2014

I’d like to send congratulations to two Bay Area players who scored impressive recent accomplishments. First, Daniel Naroditsky was recently named the winner of the 2014 Samford Fellowship, which is more than just a scholarship — it’s a living wage that lets talented young players focus on nothing but chess (if they want) for a […]

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