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 21, 2014 | Chess Lecture, current news, games, openings, positions, tournaments
Did you ever have a charmed day? A day when everything works out right? Well, that was Easter Sunday for me. First, when Kay and I went out for lunch, I ordered a slice of carrot cake and got two! Well, one and a half. The woman behind the counter cut off a piece that...
by scribe | Mar 30, 2014 | literature, openings, positions
Back when I wrote my Chess Life article about the Bryntse Gambit (White’s queen sac on move six in the Grand Prix Sicilian, 1. e4 c5 2. f4 d5 3. Nf3 de 4. Ng5 Nf6 5. Bc4 Bg4?! 6. Qxg4!) I described it as an “anti-computer” opening, because very few...
by scribe | Mar 9, 2014 | games, openings, positions, tournaments
Continuing my series of posts of favorite games from the Santa Cruz Cup… The third Santa Cruz Cup, in 2005, was a really weird one for me. I finished first, but only because of unbelievable blunders by my two main rivals, Ilan Benjamin and Juande Perea....
by scribe | Mar 7, 2014 | games, openings, positions, tournaments
At Mike Splane’s last chess party, about two weeks ago, I was excited to see two people who have been almost absent from the Santa Cruz chess scene for six years: Eric Fingal and Juan Diego (Juande) Perea. In Eric’s case the reason for his absence was...
by scribe | Mar 3, 2014 | games, openings, positions, Uncategorized
A “tabiyah” is an opening position that arises when both sides play their “most natural” moves, or a position that can arise from a multitude of different move orders. In many cases it is arrived by mutual consent, although this doesn’t...
