by scribe | Jan 24, 2014 | chess clubs, games, positions
Today I happened to be looking back in one of my old diaries, and discovered an entry about something I had completely forgotten. September 26, 1979: Today I played my first game with a chess calculator, which is owned by a guy named Robin whom I know. I am very...
by scribe | Jan 22, 2014 | chess clubs, off-topic, ruminations
Yesterday at the Aptos Chess Club one of the kids asked me, “So what do you do for a job?” In 17 years, it’s the first time I’ve ever gotten that question! One reason, I think, is that kids are pretty self-centered, and they don’t have a...
by scribe | Jan 13, 2014 | current news, literature, off-topic
Today the New York Times Numberplay blog features a card game that I co-invented, along with a mathematical problem: What is the best strategy? Here are the rules for “Stern-Mackenzie One-Round War.” The game requires three people, one of whom serves only...
by scribe | Jan 11, 2014 | current news, ruminations, tournaments
The ratings for the Bay Area International chess tournament were posted on the USCF website today, and I discovered something quite surprising. Here is a list of the players with established USCF ratings (this excludes, for example, the Chinese players) who had the...
by scribe | Jan 9, 2014 | chess clubs, Chess Lecture, current news, openings, people, tournaments
The Bay Area International is now in the books, and it ended in a similar way to the North American Open the preceding week: with a huge logjam of people at the top. Six people — grandmasters Anton Kovalyov, Wei Yi, Sam Shankland, Bartlomiej Macieja, Daniel...
