by scribe | Mar 4, 2017 | current news, endings, games, people, positions
Yesterday I found out on Facebook that Walter Shipman had died. I guess it’s not too much of a surprise, as he was 87 years old, but he is one of those few people who seem determined to keep on going forever. Somehow that plan never seems to work, but he gave it...
by scribe | Mar 2, 2017 | games, openings, positions, ruminations
Here’s a position that I got to against the computer. What do you think about it? What is White’s plan? Should he attack on the kingside or the queenside or the center? Should he go fast or go slow? Position after 14. … b5. White to move. FEN:...
by scribe | Feb 13, 2017 | current news, games, off-topic, people, positions, ruminations
In honor of our new “alternative facts” universe, I decided to delete my chess rating against Shredder (the computer program) and start over with no rating. After 925 games against it, I was unsatisfied with the fact that my rating had gone below 2000. It...
by scribe | Jan 18, 2017 | games, openings, positions
Yesterday I wasted a ton of time playing against Shredder on my computer, and losing game after game… Finally I “dumbed the computer down” to a rating of 1977 just so that I would have a chance to win. And what do you know? I got a chance to play...
by scribe | Oct 9, 2016 | games, openings, positions
One of my favorite ChessLectures ever was called “Double Queen Sacrifices,” in which I talked about the ultra-rare games where one player sacrificed a queen twice in the same game. Many chess players don’t even sacrifice two queens in their whole...
by scribe | Oct 2, 2016 | games, positions
To be or not to be? To play e5 or f5? These are the great dilemmas in life. A few weeks ago I wrote about a game I played with Shredder where I had to make a decision between e5 and f5 at a crucial point (although as Gjon Feinstein pointed out, d4 was also really...
