by scribe | Apr 29, 2018 | current news, people, tournaments
All in a day’s work for Sam Shankland: Wins his sixth game in the U.S. Championship against no losses. Wins his last three in a row, when even a single draw would have dropped him into a tie for first. Finishes a half point ahead of Fabiano Caruana, who will...
by scribe | Apr 28, 2018 | current news, people, ruminations, tournaments
In the spring of 2006, I organized a team of mostly Santa Cruz players to compete in the East Bay Chess League (also known as “Liga”). My team, called “Eight is Enough,” had two masters alternating on top board — Robin Cunningham, with...
by scribe | Sep 3, 2017 | games, openings, people, positions
In 2014, GM James Tarjan returned to tournament chess after an absence of three decades, and I wrote a post about him called Rip Van Winkle Returns. Last week a friend’s Facebook post reminded me of another, less well-known “Rip Van Winkle” chess...
by scribe | Apr 8, 2017 | Chess Life, current news, endings, games, positions
In my last entry I wrote about how exciting it is to win a game that you were just hoping to draw. The outcome of this year’s U.S. Championship might end up being determined by just such a game. Round nine. Varuzhan Akobian versus Fabiano Caruana. Akobian...
by scribe | Apr 18, 2011 | current news, positions, tournaments
My alert correspondent, Jim Krooskos, spotted an occurrence of the Hook and Ladder Trick in the first round of the U.S. Women’s Championship (currently taking place in St. Louis). Here’s the position. Defending champion Irina Krush was White, and Sabina...
