by scribe | Aug 4, 2010 | current news, endings, games, positions, tournaments
It’s still too early to say much about how the tournament is going — one one round finished out of nine! But Cailen, Thadeus and I were all disappointed in different ways by our first games. I was paired against a class B player named Ken Ivens. Once again...
by scribe | Jun 13, 2010 | games, positions, ruminations
One of my positions in the recent Chicago Open could have reached a position that I think only a computer could play correctly. Yesterday I got together with four friends — Yves Tan, Gjon Feinstein, Cailen Melville, and Thadeus Frei — and we spent at least...
by scribe | May 30, 2010 | current news, games, people, positions, tournaments
 Sam Shankland had a pretty disappointing performance at the U.S. Championship, as he tied for last place and had no wins in nine games. But here at the Chicago Open, he has turned it around. This round he beat Alex Lenderman to move into a tie for first with...
by scribe | May 25, 2010 | current news, positions, tournaments
The U.S. Championship is now over, and the winner is Gata Kamsky. In the four-man playoff, he and Yury Shulman tied with 2-1 scores (each one had one victory — Shulman against Nakamura, and Kamsky against Onischuk). They played a regular time control playoff...
by scribe | Apr 22, 2010 | Chess Lecture, games, positions
My friend Gjon Feinstein, a chess master, is organizing a chess party of sorts this weekend. Everyone is supposed to bring two games: 1) their best-played loss, and 2) a game where they were able to carry out one plan to victory. This was an interesting assignment,...
by scribe | Mar 28, 2010 | Chess Lecture, Chess Life, games, positions, tournaments
The worst kind of self-induced defeat in chess is resigning in a won or drawn position. In my most recent ChessLecture, I talked about a game submitted by Matt Hayes where his opponent fell into exactly this trap. It was especially memorable for Matt because it put...
