by scribe | May 24, 2015 | endings, games, positions
I wrote recently about my new training idea: playing 10-minute games against the computer, with the condition that I can take one “time-out” of unlimited duration during the game to analyze the position better. One of my readers, I forget whether it was...
by scribe | Dec 31, 2014 | current news, games, positions
Well, it’s December 31, a day that gets no respect because everybody is looking toward the new year. But it’s a perfect day for an “odds and ends” blog post, and that’s what I’m doing today. Everything today is either an odd or an...
by scribe | Oct 12, 2014 | current news, games, positions, tournaments
On ABC’s Wide World of Sports, the late broadcaster Jim McKay used to talk about “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” But in chess we have a third possibility, the agony of de-draw. The first seven rounds of the Millionaire Open in Las...
by scribe | Oct 9, 2014 | off-topic, people, ruminations
I just discovered that Shredder lets you see your “rating progress,” just as the USCF does. I don’t know which to be more ashamed of… the fact that I have played more than 200 games against Shredder (that’s a lot of time-wasting, and...
by scribe | Mar 30, 2014 | literature, openings, positions
Back when I wrote my Chess Life article about the Bryntse Gambit (White’s queen sac on move six in the Grand Prix Sicilian, 1. e4 c5 2. f4 d5 3. Nf3 de 4. Ng5 Nf6 5. Bc4 Bg4?! 6. Qxg4!) I described it as an “anti-computer” opening, because very few...
