by scribe | Jan 9, 2010 | Chess Life, people, tournaments
Happy new year! I can’t believe that a week has already gone by and I haven’t watered my blog yet this year. (You know, blogs need care and watering, just like plants …) As I result I have lots of little odds and ends to write about. My main news is...
by scribe | Dec 1, 2009 | Chess Lecture, people, positions, tournaments
The CalChess State Championship may be over, but just like a tasty Thanksgiving dinner, it keeps on giving! I will write at least two more blog posts about it. One thing that I enjoyed about this weekend’s tournament was having a chance to catch up with my old...
by scribe | Nov 29, 2009 | people, tournaments, US Chess League
Your record 19-game winning streak is in jeopardy! Thadeus Frei, a 16-year-old player from Santa Cruz, went 6-0 in the class B section of the CalChess State Championship this weekend. He also won 5 games in a row in his last tournament, so he is now riding an 11-game...
by scribe | Nov 28, 2009 | games, people, tournaments
Back in the old days of the Cold War, Mad magazine use to have a great cartoon called “Spy vs. Spy.” (Maybe they still do — I haven’t looked at Mad for about 30 years.) The cartoon chronicled the never-ending escapades of two spies, the White...
by scribe | Nov 25, 2009 | Chess Lecture, games, people, tournaments
Yesterday Jesse Kraai gave his usual excellent ChessLecture, which this time was called “The Panda Loses to Wang Hao in the First Round of the World Cup.” It was about his friend/housemate/training partner Josh Friedel, who qualified to play in the 2009...
by scribe | Oct 26, 2009 | Chess Lecture, Chess Life, people, tournaments
I don’t know what it is, but something about Reno seems to bring out my best chess. Is it the thin mountain air? Or is it the gambling, risk-taking spirit that pervades the place? Anyway, all of my best results in recent years have come there: 2005 Far West...
