Berkeley International, round six

by | Dec 20, 2008 | tournaments

I’m going to give the ol’ blog a little bit of a rest today, and not do any detailed analysis of the games from round six of the Berkeley International 2008 tournament. That’s not because there weren’t any deserving games. Au contraire! Both of...

Five’s a crowd

by | Dec 19, 2008 | games, positions, ruminations, tournaments

The Berkeley International 2008 reached the halfway point yesterday, and it’s still a wide-open race for first place. As one might have guessed, Izoria and Kacheishvili played a quick draw (only 11 moves). Three other players have joined them in a five-way...

Pruess parties like it’s 1899

by | Dec 18, 2008 | Chess Lecture, games, positions, tournaments

OMG, will someone please tell this guy which century it is? In round two of the Berkeley International 2008, David Pruess channeled Harry Nelson Pillsbury, circa 1899, with his brilliant 15. Bxh7! combination against Jesse Kraai. But not satisfied with that, in round...

A shot from Bhat

by | Dec 17, 2008 | games, positions, tournaments

Day three of the Berkeley International 2008 saw the grandmasters finally flexing their muscles a little bit. Two of the early surprises, Marc Esserman and Dale Haessel, were taken down by their GM opponents, Izoria and Sharavdorj. Grandmasters Josh Friedel and Vinay...