by scribe | Jan 20, 2015 | current news, endings, people, positions, tournaments
I did not go to the Golden State Open in Dublin, California, last weekend. I have a lot of work this month and couldn’t prepare properly for a chess tournament. But I wish I had! It looks as if it was a great tournament, although not quite as loaded with strong...
by scribe | Jan 6, 2015 | current news, games, positions, ruminations, tournaments
It’s an age-old question: is chess truly just a game of skill, or is there luck involved too? Here is perhaps the most crucial position I faced in the New Year Championship tournament last weekend. It’s round five, and I’m playing back against Ivan...
by scribe | Jan 3, 2015 | current news, games, people, positions
This weekend I am playing in my first tournament of 2015, appropriately called the New Year Championship (as always, expertly organized by Bay Area Chess). For a local tournament it’s got a super-strong top section, with something like four 2500 players. The...
by scribe | Dec 31, 2014 | current news, games, positions
Well, it’s December 31, a day that gets no respect because everybody is looking toward the new year. But it’s a perfect day for an “odds and ends” blog post, and that’s what I’m doing today. Everything today is either an odd or an...
by scribe | Dec 22, 2014 | chess clubs, games, positions
In a comment on my most recent post, Hal Bogner used the delightful sobriquet “high-class abacus” to describe chess computers. Quoth Hal: “What’s with this worship of high-class abacus evaluations of positions in which their evaluations are in...
by scribe | Dec 19, 2014 | chess clubs, games, people, positions
Doing something is always better than doing nothing, right? Don’t our chess teachers tell us always to have a plan? At Mike Splane’s latest chess party, we looked at a game that will have you seriously questioning that wisdom. The game was Miles-Huebner,...
