by scribe | Oct 23, 2011 | chess clubs, current news, people, tournaments, US Chess League
Two-thirds of the way through the 2011 Western States Open, and the leader is no surprise. Sergei Kudrin is always such a reliable presence at these Reno tournaments that it seemed strange when he wasn’t here in April. (I think he was playing in some other...
by scribe | Oct 21, 2011 | off-topic, ruminations, tournaments
I arrived in Reno last night, and I will be playing in the Western States Open chess tournament beginning about three hours from now. But today I won’t write about chess: I’ll write about something I saw last night that surprised the heck out of me. Last...
by scribe | Aug 29, 2011 | current news, people, tournaments
The FIDE World Chess Cup got started a couple days ago in Khanty-Mansiysk, the little-known Siberian city that has become the de facto world capital of chess in recent years. As usual, it is being held in knockout format. Each round is a mini-match of two games of...
by scribe | Aug 24, 2011 | games, openings, positions, tournaments
I want to show you a game today that is a mystery in more ways than one. Here is Mystery Number One. This game was played about a month ago. One player is a grandmaster who is very active in American chess. The other player is 17 years old, has a provisional USCF...
by scribe | Aug 13, 2011 | chess clubs, people, positions, ruminations, tournaments
Last night I met with Gjon Feinstein, Mike Splane and Dan Burkhard to go over some recent games. Mike and Dan had just finished playing in the seven-round Kolty Chess Club championship. Dan tied for fourth, with three wins and four draws, and he was very eager to show...
by scribe | Aug 3, 2011 | current news, off-topic, people, tournaments
Of course, chess groupies knew that this day would come, but it is still a sad day for all single male chess players (i.e., all male chess players under the age of 30): Elizabeth Vicary has gone and gotten herself married. She is no longer the Elizabeth Vicary that we...
