by scribe | Jun 2, 2022 | current news, games, openings, tournaments
During the pandemic I wrote a long retrospective of my chess career, in which I analyzed one game from each of my 50 years of tournament chess. Actually, I had to make a couple of exceptions, because there were two years when I didn’t play any games and a couple...
by scribe | Mar 12, 2022 | games, positions
First, let me say that the title of this post is not literally true. However, it’s something that I like to tell my students, and it’s not as far-fetched as it seems. It’s intended to correct a very harmful mindset that starts affecting players as...
by scribe | Feb 13, 2022 | chess clubs, endings, games, people, positions
The headline says it all! Yesterday, my student Atlee (~1500) scored his first draw against me in our weekly training game. I knew this was going to happen eventually, and I wondered what it would take for Atlee to draw or win. The short version: I blundered a piece...
by scribe | Feb 1, 2022 | chess clubs, games, positions
As I mentioned before, I’ve been playing a training game each week with one of my students from the Aptos Library Chess Club, Atlee, who is about a 1500-strength player (I’m guessing). The games follow an interesting pattern. I win, I teach Atlee a lesson,...
by scribe | Jan 16, 2022 | chess clubs, games, openings
When you play the move 1. d4 as White, you’re generally saying that you want the game to be a sumo match rather than a sword fight. You’re tired of all the sharp tactics of 1. e4, whether it’s the Sicilian Defense or the open games. You want to just...
by scribe | Jan 12, 2022 | current news, games, openings, people
Last weekend Gjon Feinstein and I met up for not only our first live chess games of the year, but our first since the pandemic began. Back in the long-gone days B. P. (before pandemic) we used to meet very frequently, at least once every two weeks. Times have sure...
