by scribe | Jan 6, 2015 | current news, games, positions, ruminations, tournaments
It’s an age-old question: is chess truly just a game of skill, or is there luck involved too? Here is perhaps the most crucial position I faced in the New Year Championship tournament last weekend. It’s round five, and I’m playing back against Ivan...
by scribe | Jan 5, 2015 | current news, ruminations, tournaments
Back when I first joined the USCF, in 1972, you had to wait months to find out your new rating after you played in a tournament. Nowadays, if the tournament directors do their job quickly enough, you can find out overnight. In fact, Michael Aigner found out even...
by scribe | Jan 4, 2015 | current news, people, tournaments
The New Year Championship has just wrapped up, and the victor in a runaway was the Chinese grandmaster, Xiangzhi Bu, who beat IM Andrey Gorovets in the last round to finish with a score of 5½ out of 6. There was a four-way tie for second at 4½ points, including the...
by scribe | Jan 3, 2015 | current news, games, people, positions
This weekend I am playing in my first tournament of 2015, appropriately called the New Year Championship (as always, expertly organized by Bay Area Chess). For a local tournament it’s got a super-strong top section, with something like four 2500 players. The...
