After reading the revolutionary “How to Win Chess Almost Every Time” on Wikihow I’m reduced to tears dropping down upon a keyboard. I’ve been writing to you for six months, on chess topics ranging from the Stygian to the sunny, but … Continue reading
Isaac Newton accomplished quite a bit. He was an inventor, though of course no one truly needs some of the more highbrow stuff – either this Calculus, or the one with numbers and symbols. He was also a theoretician who happened upon … Continue reading
A great many chess games end without displays of brilliancy. These unmemorable struggles get filed in the back of our brains where we put irrelevant data. Today I recalled the difference between a eukaryote and a prokaryote, after someone walking … Continue reading
The United States Chess Federation’s rating system has built-in rating floors. These prevent sandbagging, intentionally dropping your rating to play against lower-rated opposition, and also help preserve chess dignity. Without floors you could jeopardize a rating you worked your whole … Continue reading
I’m not sure if Whose Line is it Anyway? is featured on British television but it’s worth finding some archived footage of the American version starring Colin Mochrie. You gave us The Office so it’s the least we can do. … Continue reading
I played the Two Knights in an online game earlier this evening. It seems I’d forgotten all about the sharp Traxler Counterattack! Hardly anyone ever plays it but maybe they should! This write-up is for black but shouldn’t be too … Continue reading
Space, as it rolls and tumbles away between him and his native soil, proves to have powers normally ascribed only to time; from hour to hour, space brings about changes very like those time produces, yet surpassing them in certain … Continue reading
This is a thirty minute game in which I’m playing white. I am going through some of my old games to see how my analysis now compares to my analysis then. It seems to be a mixed bag. I make … Continue reading
Here is an unrated chess game I played against a player, “QuantumMan” on Chess.com. I play him regularly and score just over 40% in our games. We engaged in a a friendly debate about the value of efficiency in choosing … Continue reading
Over the weekend the vultures got into the palace by pecking through the screens on the balcony windows and the flapping of their wings stirred up the stagnant time inside, and at dawn on Monday the city awoke out of … Continue reading