by scribe | Nov 7, 2011 | off-topic, people, ruminations
A few weeks ago I got a wonderful surprise in my e-mail. A reader named Edson José Cortiano, who lives in Brazil, sent me several chess cartoons that he has drawn, and he has given me permission to post them in my blog. I have to apologize that my blog is not ideally...
by scribe | Nov 3, 2011 | games, off-topic, openings, people, ruminations
One of my stranger quirks is that I have kept a diary for most of my life. My parents gave me my very first diary on Christmas in 1963, when I was five years old, but I didn’t stick with it for very long. They tried again, giving me a five-year diary when I was...
by scribe | Oct 23, 2011 | chess clubs, current news, people, tournaments, US Chess League
Two-thirds of the way through the 2011 Western States Open, and the leader is no surprise. Sergei Kudrin is always such a reliable presence at these Reno tournaments that it seemed strange when he wasn’t here in April. (I think he was playing in some other...
by scribe | Oct 9, 2011 | games, openings, people, positions
Yesterday I got together with Cole Ryan (see my post from last week) and Gjon Feinstein for some game analysis and speed chess. We played 8-minute games with lots of analysis between, so we only had time for five games, which went more or less as you would predict....
by scribe | Oct 2, 2011 | games, people, positions
As I said in my last post, I’m determined to post more often here in October than I did in September. Even if it means writing about blitz games! Yesterday I met with Cole Ryan, whom I had not played with in two or three years. I’ve known him since he was...
by scribe | Aug 29, 2011 | current news, people, tournaments
The FIDE World Chess Cup got started a couple days ago in Khanty-Mansiysk, the little-known Siberian city that has become the de facto world capital of chess in recent years. As usual, it is being held in knockout format. Each round is a mini-match of two games of...
