by scribe | Feb 13, 2014 | games, ruminations
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...
by scribe | Feb 5, 2014 | current news, games, people
… 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....
by scribe | Jan 24, 2014 | chess clubs, games, positions
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...
by scribe | Jan 7, 2014 | current news, games, tournaments
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...
by scribe | Jan 5, 2014 | current news, games, positions, tournaments
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...
by scribe | Jan 3, 2014 | current news, games, positions, tournaments
After three rounds of the Bay Area International, I have one loss and two draws. The loss was against John Bryant in round 1, not too surprising as he is over 2400 FIDE. The two draws were against masters in the 2200 range, Leon Piasetski and Hayk Manvelyan. In the...
