by scribe | Jun 5, 2021 | chess clubs, Chess Life, games, off-topic, ruminations, tournaments
In 2007, I had my first and only slight brush with celebrity, when I appeared on national television for the first time. I was interviewed for a new television show called “The Universe,” which aired for four or five season on the History Channel. In the...
by scribe | May 5, 2021 | Chess Lecture, games, off-topic, positions, ruminations
It’s still inspiring to look back at my diary for 2003. So many great things were happening that year. My first book, The Big Splat, or How Our Moon Came to Be, was published in April, and like any first-time author I was alternating between the heights of...
by scribe | Mar 23, 2021 | chess clubs, people, ruminations
Before I go too much farther in my chess chronicle, I should say a little bit about the chess scene in Santa Cruz, which was very lively when I moved here in 1996 and very moribund now. When I moved here, you could play 5-minute chess any day of the week at the Santa...
by scribe | Mar 5, 2021 | chess clubs, off-topic, people, ruminations
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” That’s a line from John Lennon’s song “Beautiful Boy,” released in 1980 on the Double Fantasy album, and it’s always been one of my favorite song...
by scribe | Feb 23, 2021 | endings, games, off-topic, people, ruminations
If you asked me what tournament that I’ve played in was the most fun or the most rewarding, the list would be very short. My first rated tournament. The tournament I played in Russia in 1978. My two North Carolina championships, of course. The 2006 Western...
by scribe | Feb 16, 2021 | endings, games, off-topic, openings, people, ruminations, tournaments
It was the best of time in 1994, and it was the worst of times. I’ll start with the “best,” and then get to the “worst.” At the end of 1993, as I wrote in my last post, I had four good tournaments in a row, and my good fortune continued...
