by scribe | Apr 24, 2011 | current news, people, positions, tournaments
The last round of the Reno Far West Open featured some great fighting chess, a nice change of pace from the drawfests that one often sees in the last round of big-money Swiss system tournaments. Both of the games on the top two boards were decisive. On board two,...
by scribe | Jan 26, 2011 | chess clubs, games, people
Steven Zierk’s appearance at the Aptos Library chess club yesterday went very smoothly, and I think it was a hit with the kids. We ended up with a crowd of about 60 people, so the room was full to capacity but not beyond. I really liked the energy and excitement...
by scribe | Aug 4, 2010 | current news, endings, games, positions, tournaments
It’s still too early to say much about how the tournament is going — one one round finished out of nine! But Cailen, Thadeus and I were all disappointed in different ways by our first games. I was paired against a class B player named Ken Ivens. Once again...
by scribe | Dec 29, 2009 | Chess Lecture, ruminations, US Chess League
Today I had the chance to do something I almost never do, except at tournaments — spend the whole day thinking about chess. That’s one of the nice benefits of the holiday season, when there are no deadlines pressing on me. Mostly I was getting my thoughts...
by scribe | Feb 1, 2009 | openings
A couple days ago I got a comment on my post “Bird by Bird, Part 3B,” which raised a very interesting question. In the variation that runs 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 4. Nxd4 ed 5. O-O g6 6. d3 Bg7 7. f4 c6 8. Ba4 d5 9. ed Qxd5 10. Re1+ Ne7 11. Bb3 the...