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...
by scribe | Dec 30, 2013 | current news, people, ruminations
Just over a year ago, Magnus Carlsen made his first appearance in the Bay Area, an (apparently) hastily arranged and under-promoted event that left chess players wishing for more. Well, our wish has come true. Magnus is coming to Silicon Valley in January, and he has...
by scribe | Dec 26, 2013 | current news, ruminations, tournaments
In one week the Bay Area International will start, and if this isn’t the most fantastic tournament ever held in this area, I don’t know what is. It will have 68 players, including 15 Grandmasters and 19 International Masters. In other words, half of the...
by scribe | Dec 13, 2013 | current news, people
It’s pretty cool when I am surfing a website that has nothing whatsoever to do with chess, and up pops an article that’s not only about chess but about somebody I know! I wrote about Luke Harmon-Vellotti here back in 2008, when I managed to defeat him in a...
by scribe | Dec 3, 2013 | current news, games, positions
Today I’d like to show you one of my two time-pressure meltdowns from last weekend. This was the worst one, because it caused me to lose a game that I should have drawn and maybe even could have won. And as is often the case, the seeds of my defeat were planted...
by scribe | Dec 2, 2013 | current news, people, tournaments
This weekend I played in the California Class Warfare Tournament, and for me it was a forgettable weekend. I started out well enough, with a half-point bye in round one and a win with Black in round two. However, after that my old nemesis, time pressure, returned. I...
