(with apologies to EBB) How do I lose to thee? Let me count the ways. I lose to thee by selection of a candidate move I didn't take time to calculate, or to prove its refutation, just hoping for the best. I lose to thee as if I was playing...
It's hard to believe more than a year has passed since the last Portland Fall Open. I had such a good time last year (despite a rather mediocre result in the open section) I made sure to schedule a return trip, and this time I did things a littl...
What happens when you say you're going to train for a tournament? In other words when you say you're going to try to do better than last time, since I can't imagine training to do worse. I guess you might be wary of a large foot in your mouth whil...
I've played in the Washington Open the past two years, twice in the u1800 section with even results. In 2017 my performance rating was about 1450, and in 2018 1650, but on the ground in Washington I'm not sure there's much of a difference in playi...
I don't recall what turned me on to the Wing Gambit (for this article I'm talking about lines in the Sicilian rather than Evans). I think it was either Ken at the Armory or possibly Ron from the SCC, both of whom play some sharp lines. I'm pretty ...
Like a prime time news show we're actually live with a delay, though it's three months rather than 7 seconds...this is slow chess after all. Back in December over the holidays I was in New York City as I usually am, and for the last couple of year...
Recently I've been playing a lot of 3 2 blitz...that's sort of a joke because in the last three years I've played over 9000 games of blitz. Even so, recently I've been playing a lot of blitz and have felt particularly frustrated as I've lost a str...
I've always been a little jealous of our UK and European city club hopping chess brothers and sisters, with many local clubs within pawn chucking distance of each other. Here in the Northwest it seems like getting to another club involves Oregon T...
The 2016 Seafair Open was my first tournament; that week it occurred my first as a member of the USCF and the Washington Chess Federation. I see the Seafair Open as marking my scacchic year and the occasion, as I've written before, for an annual s...
Going into the President's Cup at the Seattle Chess Club this past weekend I was feeling good. My last two tournament performance ratings were 100+ points over my OTB rating, in my last two open section tournaments I scored 2/5 and 3/7, and my che...
Due to a mix of my affinity for complications and general lack of chess skill I often end up with knotty positions where my pieces can't go anywhere. Was it Tal who said you must lead your opponent into a dark wood where the path out is only wide ...
Nearly a year has gone by since my first tournament. Aha, I thought, time for a retrospective. July to July, my scacchic year. Looking over the list of games in my database I even thought I had a clever title for this blog post. However when I loo...
In my endless quest to avoid 1. e4 e5 I've been playing the Caro-Kann, and for whatever reason I enjoy the positions that result, despite the fact that I lose in most of those positions. But since losing is fun (tm) I've started to explore the Car...
While many promote chess for its educational and edificatory benefits, I've always been impressed with its ability to completely cloud the mind and suspend judgement in relatively simple situations, as we will see in the following game. Skip to mo...
Since for some reason I don't like e5 as black -- which I should analyze at some point. Do I think it's too boring? Do I not like symmetrical positions? Are there chess psychologists? I suppose all chess players perform self-analysis. Anyway, sinc...
A couple of weeks ago I played in my second tournament, the Seattle Fall Open. I played some bad games, and some semi-bad games, and some semi-good games. The observant reader might ask if the last two are the same kind of game. Luckily for everyo...
While it's fresh in my mind I'm going to record my thoughts on the Seafair Open 2016, my first tournament, which ended today, to give me something to look back on. Though my Dad taught me to play when I was a kid I don't think I had any idea tha...
