To Exchange or Not to Exchange?

February 13, 2014

The title is a question that comes up in every single chess game. While we tend to pay more attention in our studies to brilliant tactics — sacrifices, forks, pins, removal of the guard, etc. — many games are won or lost by the humble skill of exchanging wisely. Here are a couple recent games […]

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It’s only speed chess…

February 5, 2014

… But some speed chess games stick with you more than others. I just found out via Facebook that there’s a video on YouTube of a 5-minute game that Vinay Bhat played against Magnus Carlsen during the latter’s visit to the Bay Area on January 14. Check it out: I especially like the way that […]

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A Tactical Cornucopia

January 24, 2014

Today I happened to be looking back in one of my old diaries, and discovered an entry about something I had completely forgotten. September 26, 1979: Today I played my first game with a chess calculator, which is owned by a guy named Robin whom I know. I am very unimpressed. That is, I am […]

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The Big Splat: A Fond Look Back, and Lessons Learned

January 22, 2014

Yesterday at the Aptos Chess Club one of the kids asked me, “So what do you do for a job?” In 17 years, it’s the first time I’ve ever gotten that question! One reason, I think, is that kids are pretty self-centered, and they don’t have a lot of curiosity about what the adults in […]

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Easy card game, hard math problem

January 13, 2014

Today the New York Times Numberplay blog features a card game that I co-invented, along with a mathematical problem: What is the best strategy? Here are the rules for “Stern-Mackenzie One-Round War.” The game requires three people, one of whom serves only as the dealer. The dealer has a deck of 2N cards numbered one […]

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Silly rating stuff

January 11, 2014

The ratings for the Bay Area International chess tournament were posted on the USCF website today, and I discovered something quite surprising. Here is a list of the players with established USCF ratings (this excludes, for example, the Chinese players) who had the largest rating gains for the tournament. Bartlomiej Macieja +45 points (2559 -> […]

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Bay Area International Results

January 9, 2014

The Bay Area International is now in the books, and it ended in a similar way to the North American Open the preceding week: with a huge logjam of people at the top. Six people — grandmasters Anton Kovalyov, Wei Yi, Sam Shankland, Bartlomiej Macieja, Daniel Naroditsky, and international master Darwin Yang — tied for […]

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Epic Battle

January 7, 2014

Well, it seems to happen to me once in every tournament: a marathon battle of nerves that ends up being the last game in the round to finish. So last night it was no surprise when I played a 93-move epic battle against Damir Studen that ended up in a draw. In the immediate aftermath […]

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Human Being or Human Chessing?

January 6, 2014

We’re now entering the “European” phase of the Bay Area International, with just one game a day for the last three rounds. (It’s a week-long tournament, with 1 game the first day, 2 the second, then 1-2-1-1-1.) This is almost the first time that I have ever played in a tournament with one game per […]

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Killing Me Softly

January 5, 2014

Well, I knew going into this tournament that there would be good moments and bad moments. Today had both of them. In the morning round I finally won my first game, a thrilling if imperfect battle against Bela Evans. I was really pumped about that (you’ll see why below). But in the evening round several […]

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