by scribe | Jun 16, 2014 | off-topic, ruminations
… I’m back! Sorry about the two weeks with no posts (and the four weeks with not very many posts). I don’t really have an excuse, but I do have an explanation. First there was my 25th anniversary trip to Hawaii. Kay and I went to the Big Island,...
by scribe | May 6, 2014 | endings, openings, ruminations
Two so-called “problems” that some people have with chess: (1) Too many draws. (2) A confusing stalemate rule. Note: I didn’t say that these are problems for me. I’m happy with chess the way it is. Nevertheless, some people aren’t and it...
by scribe | Apr 25, 2014 | current news, people, ruminations, tournaments
It seems like forever since my rating has been over 2200. How long has it been, exactly? Well, take a look at this graph. The last time I was over 2200 was after the World Open in 1995, before I even moved to California. For the longest time my rating just seemed to...
by scribe | Apr 13, 2014 | Chess Lecture, off-topic, people, ruminations, tournaments
This week I recorded a ChessLecture that should come out in a month or so, called “How to Tell When the Moment is Right.” The question I was looking at in the lecture is, how do you tell when it’s time to calculate detailed variations, and how do you...
by scribe | Mar 29, 2014 | current news, ruminations, tournaments
As most of my readers probably know already, Viswanathan Anand, the former world champion who was dethroned last year by Magnus Carlsen, has earned a rematch with Carlsen by winning the Candidates in dominating fashion. The tournament isn’t even over yet, but...
by scribe | Feb 26, 2014 | chess clubs, positions, ruminations
Yesterday I was thinking over possible lessons for my kids at the Aptos Library Chess Club, and I thought, “Why not ask them about this position?” FEN:rnbqkbnr/8/pppppppp/8/2BPPB2/2N2N2/PPP1QPPP/R4RK1 w kq – 0 1 This is not a position any readers of...
