by scribe | Jul 14, 2011 | Chess Lecture, current news, people
This is just a very short entry, to tell all readers of this blog that they are required to click here and read the continuation of Bryan Smith’s travelogue in Europe. His series, “A Traveling Chess Player,” is the best writing ever on chess.com....
by scribe | Jul 8, 2011 | current news, off-topic
Going off-topic again today… I have been a sports fan for my whole life, but I have only ever had one conversation with a professional athlete. It happened when I was at a meeting in Baltimore in 2003. I didn’t have anyone to eat dinner with, so I went to...
by scribe | Jul 6, 2011 | games, openings, positions
This must be Computer Chess Month for me, because I’m going to write my third entry in a row about that topic. This afternoon I played another interesting … no, change that, mind-bending game against Shredder 12. This one I lost on time, but I had kind of...
by scribe | Jul 3, 2011 | Chess Life, endings, positions
Well, this is really nothing to get excited about, but last night I finally won against Shredder 12 (full strength) on my Mac. The conditions were game in 10 minutes, with no time increment. You might say, “Wait a minute! Aren’t you the guy who wrote an...
by scribe | Jul 2, 2011 | current news, tournaments
According to an article at ChessVibes, the International Computer Games Association has disqualified Rybka from the present and all future World Computer Chess Championships, and has also voided its world titles from 2007-2010. The reason is that Rybka was deemed, by...
by scribe | Jun 28, 2011 | Chess Lecture, people, US Chess League
Last weekend I had an opportunity to attend a class for masters (and a few experts) that was led by grandmaster Varuzhan Akobian. Akobian was teaching kids at the Berkeley Chess School last week, and my friend Robin Cunningham, who also works at the Berkeley Chess...
by scribe | Jun 19, 2011 | Chess Lecture, current news, games, openings
Many of you have probably already seen the game from earlier this month where Viswanathan Anand destroyed Alexei Shirov (as Black!) in 17 moves. However, I feel as if I should say something about it because it is an ultra-rare appearance in top-level chess of an...
by scribe | Jun 10, 2011 | games, positions
Today I’m going to write about yet another team chess game. This is one that I played last night, playing Black with Thadeus Frei against Cailen Melville and Gjon Feinstein. We were using new experimental rules. The time control was 7 minutes for both sides, and...
by scribe | Jun 5, 2011 | games, people, tournaments
This afternoon Mike Splane hosted his second chess salon. (Well, he called it a party but I like the word “salon,” which calls to mind an image of erudite people gathered in a nineteenth-century drawing room, puffing pipes as they discuss Serious Issues.)...
by scribe | Jun 4, 2011 | current news, literature, people
If any of you are interested in seeing chess on television, you might want to tune into the documentary “Bobby Fischer Versus The World,” which will be airing on HBO on Monday, at 9:00 Eastern time and Pacific time. I have not seen it — only the...
