by scribe | Oct 31, 2009 | Chess Lecture, games, positions, tournaments
And now, back to chess. However, the blog stats make me wonder whether I should post off topic more often. My blog got more than 200 hits on the day that my post about Jorge Cham’s detention went up — even though I had no information to offer other than...
by scribe | Oct 29, 2009 | off-topic
I’m a regular reader of two webcomics, one of which is “Piled Higher and Deeper,” by Jorge Cham. It’s a satirical look at life in academia, mostly focusing on the life of graduate students. “P.H.D.” is a huge cult hit (especially...
by scribe | Oct 28, 2009 | endings, positions, tournaments
I’m going to show you some of the highlights from my Reno tournament, starting with Round 3. I came into this round with a score of ½-1½ and was paired against Walter Shipman. I admire his play a lot — very solid and tough to beat. He plays what Jesse...
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...
by scribe | Oct 25, 2009 | games, people, tournaments
After the first four rounds of the Western States Open, the two biggest stories are upsets and youth. Both of the two top seeds went down to defeat in the first two rounds. In round one, GM Jaan Ehlvest (seeded #2) blundered a piece against veteran master Andrew...
