by scribe | Feb 24, 2020 | chess clubs, current news, positions, tournaments
At last week’s U.S. Amateur Team West tournament, one game stood out for me as the most important. It was the fourth round of the tournament, and the Kolty Club team went into the round with two wins and a surprise defeat in round three. We were paired against...
by scribe | Feb 18, 2020 | chess clubs, current news, endings, games, tournaments
First, an update on the U.S. Amateur Team West championship results. In my last post I knew that we had tied for second but I didn’t know for sure how the tiebreaks worked out. Now I can tell you that we in fact finished third, which is great! Third place gets...
by scribe | Feb 17, 2020 | chess clubs, current news, positions, tournaments
Harry Potter fans will already know what the headline refers to. For everyone else, whenever Harry Potter used the Marauders’ Map, he was supposed to swear solemnly that he was up to no good, and when he was done with he was supposed to say, “Mischief...
by scribe | Feb 16, 2020 | chess clubs, current news, positions, tournaments
This weekend I’m playing in the U.S. Amateur Team West (USATW) tournament, which for the first time is being sponsored by the Mechanics Institute and run by one of the Bay Area’s finest directors, Judit Sztaray. Judit was with Bay Area Chess for a long...
by scribe | Feb 13, 2020 | chess clubs, games, positions, ruminations
I’ve got lots of candidates for the worst game ever played against the computer, but this morning I played one that has to be near the top of the list. I went from much better to checkmated in the span of six moves! I was White, Fritz 17 was Black, it was set at...
by scribe | Jan 18, 2020 | chess clubs, current news, off-topic
Somewhat belatedly, this is my first post of 2020, so I wish a happy New Year to all of you who are (like me) about two weeks behind. The main explanation for the absence of new posts is that I spent ten days in Hawaii! For vacation? You might wonder. No, in fact I...
