Two Landmarks for Mike Splane

Mike Splane, one of my regular readers and the inspiration for countless posts on this blog, has often asked why I often identify my younger opponents as, “John Doe, the #17 14-year-old in the country.” Why don’t I refer to older players like him the same way? Well,...

The New Seventh Samurai

Last year I wrote a post called The Seventh Samurai, in which I talked about the fact that the U.S. had seven people on the list of top 100 juniors (under age 21) in the world. Six of them were players I had heard about, but one name was unfamiliar. Akshat Chandra is...

No Fool Like an Old Fool

The title is a line from a song you wouldn’t know, by a singer you wouldn’t know. It’s a line that came to mind this afternoon, as I was driving home from my latest tournament, the People’s Tournament. There are some tournaments I often play...