by scribe | Dec 26, 2019 | current news, endings, positions
In my last pre-Christmas post I wrote about the game Magnus Carlsen – Levon Aronian, in which Carlsen played a beautiful rook sacrifice that enabled him to promote a pawn. However, when all was said and done he still found himself in a fiendishly difficult endgame to...
by scribe | Sep 21, 2017 | current news, endings, literature, positions, tournaments
Watching the World Cup is just like watching a master class in endgames! We’ve already had three matches decided by very difficult K+R versus K+B endgames, with equal pawns on both sides. Today, in the semifinal round, the masters decided to teach us a class in...
by scribe | Sep 30, 2014 | endings, positions
I know that games played against my computer aren’t the most interesting topic in the world, but recently I had an endgame against Shredder that blew my mind. I learned something new and I think you will, too. Let’s start on move 88, when the computer...
by scribe | Jun 3, 2013 | literature, ruminations
Last August I wrote a post called My First Chess Set/Board/Clock. But for some reason I didn’t think of writing the obvious sequel, about my first chess books. What does a player’s first chess book say about him or her? What kind of impact does it have on...
by scribe | Aug 19, 2009 | endings, games, literature, people, positions, tournaments
Back in April I posted an entry called “Chicken!” (part 1) that began telling the story of a game I played with a master named Rich Jackson in the 1987 North Carolina Championship. This particular tournament was one of the highlights of my chess career, as...