How I Got Here, and What Comes Next

First, let me make a promise: This will be the last post in which I write the number 2203. I am sure that some readers are getting bored of it by now. However, I do want to write one more entry about how I got my rating over 2200 after these many years, because I know...

My Browne Story

Well, I was going to finish my coverage of the National Open by showing you part of my last-round game… but then the news came yesterday that blew all of those plans to smithereens. Walter Browne, the six-time U.S. Champion, has died. Browne gave a 25-board...

Dana 1, Father Time 0

This weekend, at the National Open in Las Vegas, I finally returned to the chess Valhalla: a rating of 2200, the minimum (and only) requirement to be a National Master. Never mind that I’ve been rated 2200 before. Never mind that I am already, in fact, a Life...

Trump Cards (in Chess!)

Although there are no cards in chess, and no “luck of the draw,” trump cards definitely do exist. A trump card in chess is a dangerous threat that you keep in reserve to play at the right moment — often in combination with another trump card....