“…certain people do improve their chess. In the main though these people are smaller than grown-ups. Children seem to have no problem improving their chess and I do not believe that this is due to a greater capacity for hard work. The key is that adults become stubborn. They refuse to keep their minds open [...]

… on the tournament with the BAP scoring system. (OK so it took me a while to find the event.)
As I suspected, the points favored Black dramatically, as Black outscored White 52-36 during the 6-round event. The actual game results worked out to +18-15=7 for White, meaning our earlier estimate of White and Black splitting [...]

Just what I needed to hear.
First let me say I like Susan Polgar and think she’s got a good heart and sincerely wants to improve things in the USCF. While I’ve met the rest of her slate, the only other member I have any personal knowledge of is Randy Bauer, and probably the best way [...]

The fact that a chess game might have no winner is not a hindrance to its being televised. Boxing allows for draws, and it has no problem being televised. It’s not the fact they can occur, but rather the frequency with which they occur that causes the problem.
This is why I tend to think the [...]

Over on The Chess Mind there has been some discussion of the BAP point system and other means for promoting chess. In the discussion Clint Ballard proposed 6 points for Chess on TV. Dennis Monokroussos has since closed his blog, so I couldn’t add my two cents to the discussion there, so I pick it [...]

We’ve watched with enjoyment and amusement the argument between Jacob Aagard and John Watson, and along the way we’ve learned a thing or six. But in all the dust the two have kicked up, the fact that they’re not always arguing, but instead telling each other the same thing using different words, may get lost [...]

I’ve been getting that question in my classes quite often. Most of the time, the player is just wanting me to validate a choice already made. The question I always ask back is, “What are you wanting?”
One-trick pony openings like the Stonewall, the Colle, the Torre, etc., are good openings, and I’ve taught them many [...]

The previous story about the BDG is part of a much larger piece I should really write sometime. The reason I was doing the computer work on the BDG is because nearly every book ever written about it (or even just mentioning it) is either wrong, dishonest, or both.
Since I realize this is a bit [...]

“Thus the computer doth make cowards of us all.” So might William Shakespeare write if he were to view the current chess scene. We sit down with our silicon friend to select strategies and openings, and we close doors.
Our friend sits beside us, looking over our shoulder, and he makes comments on our move selection. [...]

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and research lately on the idea of teaching chess, and I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that there are few things more generally useless to the developing player than books written by GMs. There are a few exceptions to this rule, but the exceptions are very few indeed.
As [...]