CATFISH DAYS! Yup, that’s a catfish! What does that have to do with chess or learning about chess, or anything else that I normally write about? Why, if you live in or near Minnesota, and it’s July, then it has everything to do with chess. T...
Ok, so it's that time of year. You know, when everyone is asking what your resolutions are for next year. What big things are we going to achieve? Over the years I've made lots of resolutions. But I've kept very few of them. Why? Largely I th...
Ouch!! Tough lesson learned yesterday at the hands of a player one class ahead of me at the club. Of course the resignation was entirely premature. But I could not find Qa4. I just didn't see it. My computer evaluates the position as 0.04 in fa...
One of the frequent comments we hear from more advanced players is that those of us trying to improve below the master level should avoid studying openings. They comment that it is not a productive use of our time, that memorizing lines that never...
Yup, that's me standing between the legendary chess.com IM contingent at the Chicago Open. Danny and David were kind enough to invite me along to celebrate David Petty's (aka PinkHamster) fantastic victory. We chatted about chess, the world champi...
