by scribe | Dec 18, 2018 | current news, people, PRO Chess League, tournaments
I’ve been pretty quiet here lately, but in 2019 that is going to change. First, starting on January 1, I’m planning to play in the Bay Area International. This super-strong tournament features lots of players whom we don’t usually see in these parts,...
by scribe | Jun 17, 2018 | current news, endings, games, people, positions, tournaments
The San Francisco Bay area has been an unbelievable incubator for chess talent since the year 2000 or so, thanks to the hard work by organizers such as Judit Sztaray of Bay Area Chess and teachers like Michael Aigner. One player after another has progressed through...
by scribe | Jul 16, 2017 | current news, endings, people, positions, tournaments
Three years ago I wrote a post called The Seventh Samurai, which was motivated by the fact that I had looked at the list of the 100 top juniors in the world and saw seven Americans on the list. One of the names, Akshat Chandra, was unfamiliar to me then (though quite...
by scribe | Sep 12, 2015 | current news, tournaments
The second day of the World Cup was a pretty bad day for the Americans and a pretty good day for favorites. The top six seeds all advanced to the second round, so the highest-seeded player who has not yet punched his ticket to round two is #7 Alexander Grischuk, who...
by scribe | Sep 11, 2015 | current news, endings, games, people, tournaments
There’s no question in my mind what the game of the day was on the first day of the 2015 FIDE World Cup. But first, let’s review what happened. Even though none of my prognostications can actually go wrong on the very first day, because every player who...
