Rainy Sunday

This weekend we had an abrupt change in the weather in Santa Cruz. After zero inches of rain so far this fall, the heavens opened and we had three straight days of downpour. The only thing to do was stay inside and play chess, so Gjon Feinstein and I met up with Eric...

Return to Action

I’m back! Not only back to writing my blog, but back to actually playing tournament chess. Last night I played my first tournament game in 10 months, at the Kolty Chess Club Championship in Campbell, California. I’m not exactly sure why it’s taken me so long to try...

Weaknesses

Lately I have been going through a book called “It’s Your Move!” by Chris Ward with some of my chess club students. I like the concept of this book very much. It consists of 150 positions from grandmaster games, in which students are supposed to come up with the best...

Endgame Workshop

Yesterday’s chess party at Mike Splane’s house turned into an endgame workshop, because both Mike Arne and Paulo Santanna came prepared with some beautiful positions. Ironically, both of them went to Spain this summer but they didn’t play in the same events. Mike Arne...