by scribe | Oct 30, 2008 | Chess Lecture, games, people
As many of you know, the world championship has ended, and Viswanathan Anand has finally left no doubt in anybody’s mind who the champion is, with a convincing 6.5-4.5 victory over Vladimir Kramnik. Kramnik at least made a fight of it, with a...
by scribe | Oct 21, 2008 | Chess Lecture, endings, games, tournaments
In my last post I promised to show you the endgame from my last-round game at the Western States Open. It was the last game in the entire tournament to finish, and by winning this game I managed to tie for second place under 2300. In this endgame miracle, I somehow...
by scribe | Oct 20, 2008 | endings, games, tournaments
Many years ago there was a cartoon in The New Yorker that shows a frumpy old housewife with permed hair, standing in a house that is the epitome of depressing: a bare light bulb dangling from the ceiling, a flea-bitten dog, a bald husband with a t-shirt and a beer...
by scribe | Oct 18, 2008 | games, people, tournaments
While Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik are battling it out for world supremacy in chess, 245 chess players have come to Reno with a more modest goal — supremacy in the Western U.S. This is a very modest turnout by the usual standards of the Western States...
by scribe | Oct 5, 2008 | Chess Lecture, games, openings
As promised, I’m continuing with my secret home analysis of the “Homo Erectus Variation” of the Caro-Kann Defense. I’ve named it this way in honor of Michael Goeller’s “Caveman Variation,” 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf6 4. h4....
by scribe | Sep 29, 2008 | games, openings, positions
We continue today with more analysis of my crazy move, 4. g4!? in the Caro-Kann. (See Grob It While You Kann for the beginning of the series.) To refresh your memory, the line begins 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. g4!? I don’t know if this variation has a name....
