by scribe | Apr 8, 2008 | Chess Lecture, endings, games, openings, tournaments
For ChessLecture fans, I have some good news, or at least interesting news. As I mentioned earlier, GM Jesse Kraai — the winner of the U.S. Championship Qualifier — offered to take a look at my games from this tournament and pick one as the topic for one...
by scribe | Apr 6, 2008 | games, openings, positions, tournaments
So far I have had time to thoroughly analyze only two of my games from the U.S. Championship Qualifier, and I’m part way through the third. I had an unusual number (by my standards) of very interesting and competitive games, and I think that I will eventually...
by scribe | Mar 29, 2008 | Chess Lecture, endings, games, literature, people, tournaments
A quick update between rounds… I won in both round three and round four, so I now have a score of 2-2 and feel as if I’m back in the tournament. When I told my wife last night about my nervousness with this funny time control, she said, “Why? It...
by scribe | Mar 28, 2008 | games, people, tournaments
The U.S. Championship Qualifier got under way today. The final turnout was 104 people, with 10 grandmasters. The top-rated player in the tournament is Julio Becerra. There were no big surprises yet that I know of, but we did have our first mini-controversy. In the...
by scribe | Mar 25, 2008 | Chess Lecture, Chess Life, games, tournaments
I was just playing over one of David Vigorito’s games in the recently concluded Foxwoods Open, and darned if he didn’t pull out the Hook and Ladder Trick! That makes him the second ChessLecturer I know of to make use of it. (The first one was Jesse Kraai,...
by scribe | Mar 21, 2008 | chess clubs, games, openings, ruminations
Last night, about five minutes before I left for chess club, I was talking with my wife, and I needed a word that means “a self-contradictory phrase.” I opened my mouth… and nothing came out! I couldn’t believe it. I knew that there is such a...
