by scribe | Sep 1, 2021 | chess clubs, games, literature, tournaments
As the finish line of my retrospective approaches, we’re going to put on a “finishing kick” and cover three years in one post. The reason is that I have almost no games to show you from the years 2016 to 2018. I played in only one tournament, with 5...
by scribe | Aug 22, 2021 | endings, games, people, ruminations
I want to thank the people who wrote to me here or by e-mail or on Facebook after Mike Splane’s death. In this blog, I’ve been privileged to have the opportunity to steal — oops, um, er, I mean “write about” — many of his ideas....
by scribe | Aug 12, 2021 | current news, literature, people, ruminations
Last night I received a very unexpected e-mail from Ken Case, one of the regulars at Mike Splane’s chess parties. Ken said that Mike has passed away. Mike has been in poor health for at least the last two or three years. The source of some but not all of his...
by scribe | Jul 4, 2021 | endings, games, tournaments
We’re on the home stretch now! For so long the games in this rear-view mirror have been so old that it seems almost as if they were played by a different person. But now we’re up to the year 2011, which doesn’t seem like that long ago. As I mentioned...
by scribe | Jun 26, 2021 | games, openings, tournaments
In 2010, according to the USCF online database, my rating hit its lowest point ever. At the 2010 CalChess Labor Day Classic (the northern California state championship) I withdrew after four rounds with a score of 0.5-3.5, culminating in a loss against a player rated...
