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Greetings! Spring is now upon is, and woodpushers everywhere are gearing up for the slew of summer tournaments that make the warmest months the best time to get back to the board. Due to work commitments I probably won't be playing as actively as ... | Read More
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"The blunders are all there on the board, waiting to be made." - Savielly Tartakower
I recently played a rather captivating game. It was an engaging theoretical battle that featured unusual tactics, a fine king hunt, measured attacks, and inspir... | Read More
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Greetings from Iceland! I'm back in this lovely country as a participant in the Reykjavik Open, which has just concluded. I'm staying on a few more days as well to participate in the Icelandic Team Championship (for Godinn-Matar).
The ... | Read More
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The February 2013 FIDE rating list is out, and Magnus Carlsen - the "Mozart of Chess" - once again reigns supreme among the world elite with an otherwordly, record-smashing (his own!) ELO of 2872:
Carlsen is so dominant that he could hand the ... | Read More
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Happy New Year to all!
The London Eye
I was in London, England for the London Chess Classic, Dec. 1-10. This will go down in history as the event where Magnus Carlsen became the highest rated player of all time at 2861 FIDE, eclipsing Garry K... | Read More
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(WARNING: Lots of pictures ahead!)
From Nov. 6-19 I was in Maribor, Slovenia for the 2012 World Youth Chess Championship (WYCC). The World Youth is an annual 11-round event with multiple age categories: U-8, U-10, U-12, U-16, and U-18, with bot... | Read More
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I had a frightfully poor tournament at the SPICE Cup Open held in St. Louis, MO, October 16-21. I dropped 25 USCF points and about 20 FIDE points in a tough field (12 GMs, 12 IMs out of 42-players); easily my worst tournament in many, many years.... | Read More
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Earlier this month I played in the Noel Skelton Open (Sep. 1-2) in Plymouth, MN. This is a new tournament sponsored by the tournament's namesake: Mr. Noel Skelton. Noel is a USCF expert and businessman who wanted to do something unique to support... | Read More
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Wow, is fall already right around the corner? Summer seemed incredibly short, and I don't even have to worry about returning to school (unlike many of my students)!
I've had a really nice last month or so (pretty much non-stop chess), and below i... | Read More
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Ah, the summer chess camp. Often misinterpreted as a threat ("You better be good this summer or I'm sending you away to chess camp") or a punchline ("Oh, you had a blast at adventure camp? Well, I had the time of my life at CHESS CAMP!), insiders ... | Read More