“Grandmaster” Beau

This weekend a circle in my life closed, in a very strange way. One of my Facebook friends posted a link to an obituary of his former next-door neighbor in Atlanta, a man he lived next to for six years but never really knew. The one thing that jumped out at me was...

The Cup and the Fly

A fly is buzzing around your table and generally making a nuisance of himself. What is the best tool for getting him to leave you alone? (A) A flyswatter (B) A machine gun (C) A cup The answer is (C). A flyswatter won’t work, unless he is unusually slow or you...

Failure Modes

In my latest Matrix Chess game against the computer I failed in an interesting way that actually involved winning the game. See what you think. Position after 15. Nb5. Black to move. FEN: rn1qk2r/pp4p1/3bb1P1/1N1p1p2/3Pp2p/5P1P/PPP1N1K1/R1BQ1R2 b kq – 0 15...

Matrix Chess IV

For those who haven’t been following, “Matrix chess” is my name for a training technique where I play a blitz (10-minute) game against the computer but I am allowed to take a time out at one point in the game for as long as I want. It gets its name...

My Browne Story

Well, I was going to finish my coverage of the National Open by showing you part of my last-round game… but then the news came yesterday that blew all of those plans to smithereens. Walter Browne, the six-time U.S. Champion, has died. Browne gave a 25-board...

Trump Cards (in Chess!)

Although there are no cards in chess, and no “luck of the draw,” trump cards definitely do exist. A trump card in chess is a dangerous threat that you keep in reserve to play at the right moment — often in combination with another trump card....