This is a pretty interesting game. White, played by Robert Chen, is a 1600-something player and appears to be pretty solid. The time control was 40/2 plus an hour for sudden death. The evaluation is even for a good portion … Continue reading
It’s good to be back in Virginia; after having played the World Open. I can say with, what John McLaughlin called “complete metaphysical certainty” that I will never play a tournament like that again. It was full of sandbaggers and … Continue reading
I just finished reading The Human Stain by Philip Roth. Two years before the millennium, sex scandals rocked President Clinton’s White House as, closer to home, Coleman Silk’s academic career suffered from the withering attack of morality pundits. Now, if you … Continue reading
You should read this piece by Atul Gawande, a surgeon who somehow finds time to write for The New Yorker, yet if I didn’t have tags on my shirts I promise they’d be worn backwards. Gawande’s seminal commencement address, delivered last month, pertains … Continue reading
Every tournament player is familiar with the theoretical difficulties of the Ruy Lopez. Due to the sheer volume of preparation necessary, white occasionally runs into a system with which he is unfamiliar. White can easily transpose to quieter lines, usually … Continue reading
I grew up an only child but I always wanted a little brother or sister; somebody to protect, and only occasionally browbeat into doing my chores. If there’s a scrawny kid brother on the chessboard it’s the b-pawn. In the … Continue reading
I’m reading Vladimir Vukovic’s Art of Attack in Chess and I love this highly-instructive guide. I’m not through the entire thing, but it does something I haven’t seen yet. It tells you how to gain an initiative. For instance, the author … Continue reading
In the reality of our lives we are much more than any one thing that we do. We may lay bricks under the hot sun by day, but come alive in front of a canvas each night. Every one of … Continue reading
I’m taking a little vacation to the City of Brotherly Love. On July 4th, with any luck, I’ll be celebrating my independence from the worst run of chess I’ve ever played. In the spirit of a wonderful holiday, I declare … Continue reading
I have just returned from my first tournament in some time; I now know how bears must feel after hibernation, having the world-weary sense that the universe is very different, though its problems inexplicably remain the same. I had not … Continue reading