by scribe | Nov 15, 2014 | endings, positions
A couple days ago I read this in Wikipedia’s entry called Chess endgame: Queen and bishop versus two rooks. This was thought to be a draw [before computer tablebases — DM] but the queen and bishop usually win. It takes up to 84 moves. This got me curious....
by scribe | Nov 12, 2014 | chess clubs, games, openings, positions
At Mike Splane’s last chess party, the question came up: “Is one bad move enough to lose a game?” Of course the answer is yes, if the move is really, really bad, like hanging a rook or a queen. But in games between more or less experienced players,...
by scribe | Nov 10, 2014 | off-topic, positions, ruminations
You can have your Stockfish, your Rybka, your Houdini. I’ve got...
by scribe | Nov 2, 2014 | Chess Lecture, games, people, positions
A couple posts ago, I said I wouldn’t write any more about my game with Sergei Kudrin because I was planning to record a ChessLecture on it, and I didn’t want to post spoilers to my own lecture. However, an interesting point came up near the end that I...
by scribe | Oct 30, 2014 | games, positions, ruminations
Here’s the finish of one of my games from the recent Western States Open in Reno. It was round three, and I was White against Ganesh Murugappan, the #43 12-year-old in the country. FEN: 6k1/2p1rr1p/P2p4/1PnPpBP1/2n1P3/2B5/4K2R/7R w – – 0 81 Position...
by scribe | Oct 19, 2014 | Chess Lecture, current news, positions, tournaments
What a finish to the Western States Open! In the last round, I almost… Beat my first grandmaster (a bucket list item) Tied for first in an open tournament, for the first time in 20 years Scored another historic victory with the Bryntse Gambit Got my rating back...
