by scribe | Sep 8, 2014 | games, openings, positions, ruminations, tournaments
Since the last time I wrote, my problems have gotten even worse. My Internet connection has not been working since last Friday. Our working hypothesis is that it’s a problem with the modem and it will be resolved when we get our new modem on Wednesday. I sure...
by scribe | Sep 4, 2014 | Chess Lecture, games, positions, tournaments
Usually when I write about games I have recently played, I show you most or all of the game and have several diagrams along the way. This time I’m going to do something different. I played six games in my tournament from last weekend, and I’m going to show...
by scribe | Aug 26, 2014 | chess clubs, games, positions, ruminations
At Mike Splane’s chess party I showed a game I played against Paul Richter (a teen-aged expert and soon-to-be master, with a rating around 2180) that I’m also planning to give a ChessLecture on. The game had a beautiful finish, but I also had a curious...
by scribe | Aug 1, 2014 | current news, people, positions, tournaments
A few years ago, Santa Cruz seemed to have more good players hiding in the woodwork than any other city its size. But this week, one of them has come out of hiding in a big way! I refer to James Tarjan, a grandmaster and frequent contender for the U.S. championship...
by scribe | Jul 28, 2014 | current news, games, positions
After my epic fail yesterday against Josiah Stearman… number two 10-year-old in the country Josiah Stearman, that is… I just had to go over the game and see what I did wrong. It’s actually a very complicated question. But let’s get to the...
by scribe | Jul 23, 2014 | games, openings, positions
Lately I’ve been playing more frequently against the computer program Shredder, with a purpose. After my last tournament I had a feeling that I was not getting enough practice in winning superior positions. In fact, playing against Shredder set at its maximum...