by scribe | Mar 11, 2020 | current news, off-topic, people, ruminations, tournaments
“Without a plan, you are lost.” This is something that my college Russian teacher (who was also a chess player) once told me. He was a spy during World War II, and he said that once he was on a train when the police came on and started checking...
by scribe | Mar 4, 2020 | current news, PRO Chess League, tournaments
This week the playoffs got started in the PRO Chess League. As I wrote a couple weeks ago, the California Unicorns had a strong finish to the regular season and just barely sneaked past the New York Marshalls for third place in the Western Division. Ordinarily you...
by scribe | Feb 24, 2020 | chess clubs, current news, positions, tournaments
At last week’s U.S. Amateur Team West tournament, one game stood out for me as the most important. It was the fourth round of the tournament, and the Kolty Club team went into the round with two wins and a surprise defeat in round three. We were paired against...
by scribe | Feb 18, 2020 | chess clubs, current news, endings, games, tournaments
First, an update on the U.S. Amateur Team West championship results. In my last post I knew that we had tied for second but I didn’t know for sure how the tiebreaks worked out. Now I can tell you that we in fact finished third, which is great! Third place gets...
by scribe | Feb 17, 2020 | chess clubs, current news, positions, tournaments
Harry Potter fans will already know what the headline refers to. For everyone else, whenever Harry Potter used the Marauders’ Map, he was supposed to swear solemnly that he was up to no good, and when he was done with he was supposed to say, “Mischief...
by scribe | Feb 16, 2020 | chess clubs, current news, positions, tournaments
This weekend I’m playing in the U.S. Amateur Team West (USATW) tournament, which for the first time is being sponsored by the Mechanics Institute and run by one of the Bay Area’s finest directors, Judit Sztaray. Judit was with Bay Area Chess for a long...
