by scribe | Nov 12, 2014 | chess clubs, games, openings, positions
At Mike Splane’s last chess party, the question came up: “Is one bad move enough to lose a game?” Of course the answer is yes, if the move is really, really bad, like hanging a rook or a queen. But in games between more or less experienced players,...
by scribe | Nov 7, 2014 | current news, games, openings, US Chess League
Step aside, MadBum! There’s a new hero in town, and his name is VigPanch! The San Francisco (baseball) Giants have Madison Bumgarner, the hero of the World Series. But the San Francisco (chess) Mechanics have Vignesh Panchanathan, the #4 fourteen-year-old in the...
by scribe | Nov 2, 2014 | Chess Lecture, games, people, positions
A couple posts ago, I said I wouldn’t write any more about my game with Sergei Kudrin because I was planning to record a ChessLecture on it, and I didn’t want to post spoilers to my own lecture. However, an interesting point came up near the end that I...
by scribe | Oct 30, 2014 | games, positions, ruminations
Here’s the finish of one of my games from the recent Western States Open in Reno. It was round three, and I was White against Ganesh Murugappan, the #43 12-year-old in the country. FEN: 6k1/2p1rr1p/P2p4/1PnPpBP1/2n1P3/2B5/4K2R/7R w – – 0 81 Position...
by scribe | Oct 12, 2014 | current news, games, positions, tournaments
On ABC’s Wide World of Sports, the late broadcaster Jim McKay used to talk about “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” But in chess we have a third possibility, the agony of de-draw. The first seven rounds of the Millionaire Open in Las...
by scribe | Sep 24, 2014 | current news, games, openings, positions
It’s extremely thrilling when the World Champion plays your favorite opening. However, it’s somewhat less than thrilling when he loses with it. So it was both exciting and discouraging to read that Magnus Carlsen had played the Bird Variation of the Ruy...
