Strange Endings

The worst kind of self-induced defeat in chess is resigning in a won or drawn position. In my most recent ChessLecture, I talked about a game submitted by Matt Hayes where his opponent fell into exactly this trap. It was especially memorable for Matt because it put...

Team Mackenzie

Recently Mark Ginsburg had a post in his blog with the USCF ratings of everybody named Ginsburg. It was a pretty strong group, featuring a GM that I had never heard of (Gennady Ginsburg, rated 2527) and a strong Midwestern master (Jeff Ginsburg, rated 2331) in...

In your face

Gjon Feinstein, my friend who makes his living teaching chess, has a great way to get kids over the hump of not wanting to put their pieces next to the opponent’s king, even if it would win the game. He calls it the “in-your-face” checkmate. Today,...