Submitted by on Mon Sep 7, 2009 2:51pm.
Mike Thomas was gracious enough to give me a ride to direct the tournament at the Barnes & Noble. His lovely daughter, Katie, was with him. 'Gentleman' David Blanton was there upon our arrival, so that was three of the four needed for a quad.... Read more »
Submitted by on Sat Sep 5, 2009 3:41pm.
IM of GM strength Boris Kogan once asked me, "Mike, why do you play chess?" I recall reading the best golfer ever, Bobby Jones was asked why he played golf. While reading the discussion forum on the American Go Assoc website () I came across the t... Read more »
Submitted by on Sat Sep 5, 2009 3:01pm.
There is an interesting thread on the USCF website (www.uschess.org) concerning Membership Retention Data in the USCF ISSUES catagory. Someone recently mentioned how many scholastic players were becoming adult USCF members. I said I had read, some... Read more »
Submitted by on Sat Sep 5, 2009 12:04pm.
There is talk of having GM Vladislav Tkachiev banned from chess for appearing inebriated for his game. The article can be found on the excellent online chess magazine, Are you kidding me?! Give any GM too drunk to play free entry fee and pair him ... Read more »
Submitted by on Sat Sep 5, 2009 12:03pm.
Upon walking up to the front door of USCF HQ in Crossville, Tennessee, one sees inscribed bricks on either side of the walkway. The one I recall most vividly is donated by former Georgia State chess champion, Bob Joiner. Matter of fact, the inscri... Read more »
Submitted by on Wed Sep 2, 2009 12:33pm.
After reading an article in the Tuesday, Sept 1 WSJ entitled, OLDER, WISER, SLOWER by Kevin Helliker ), I received an email from a person who had read my latest and took exception, calling me a "Nattering nabob of negativism!" Shades of Spiro Agn... Read more »
Submitted by on Tue Sep 1, 2009 2:53pm.
I have played at least one USCF rated game in 25 different states, more than any other native born Georgian. The Legendary Georgia Ironman, Tim Brookshear, is catching up to me, but since he was born in the great neighboring state of Tennessee, my... Read more »
Submitted by on Wed Aug 19, 2009 1:11pm.
How has it come to be that a weekend tournament has an odd number of rounds? Since it is a fact that the player with the White pieces has an advantage, it would seem only logical to have an even number of rounds, would it not?Some years ago the ir... Read more »
Submitted by on Tue Aug 18, 2009 1:27pm.
The story goes I was in the back seat of the car continually asking "Why?" which seemed to disconcert my father. His mother said, "Well, Ronald, how else is he going to learn?" The great baseball writer, and thinker, Bill James, made a career out ... Read more »
Submitted by on Thu Aug 13, 2009 12:11pm.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Recently the practice of awarding a 1/2 point for not playing the last round has become prevalent. I do not know how it has come to be, but if there is a right and a wrong, then it is, most assuredly, wrong!I have heard ... Read more »