Chess in Israel

Today's loss, while avoidable, hardly came as a surprise. Because of the war, the appointment I was supposed to have with my surgeon last Monday got postponed to yesterday, but when I showed up at the hospital yesterday they told me there was a scheduling mixup and to return next Monday. Moments before I planned to sit down and log into Chess.com an air raid siren went off, and that came on the heels of a frustrating morning of Zoom classes. For today's game Chess.com matched me with one mrpk87, rated 1619 out of Bangladesh. mrpk, the highest-rated opponent I've faced to date, blundered a pawn in the opening and was down to -3.77 on move 26, but then I blundered a rook and my position for the rest of the game was hopeless. I'm not discouraged by the loss, however, nor do I feel a need to avenge it with a tilt followup. There's no rush. My wartime record stands at 3-0-2, and Zoom classes are expected to continue for at least another week. Position 1: Black to...

It is day eleven of the war with Iran and the Iranians are reportedly firing missiles armed with cluster warheads at us. In Jerusalem air raid sirens sounded sporadically throughout the day, and the shock waves of distant explosions rattled the windows like the pounding of battering rams. Classes continue to be held on Zoom, and I resumed my chess streak after skipping yesterday on account of fatigue. In today's game Chess.com matched me with one Ransalhariri, rated 1499 out of Sweden. Against his Double Fianchetto Variation of the King's Indian Defense I played the Samisch Variation. Ransal put up more of a fight than the last two opponents but failed to capitalize when I hung a bish midway through the game and ultimately fell to checkmate. The win has put me four points shy of a 1600 rating and improved my wartime record to 3-0-1. Position 1: White to move Assigned the white pieces, I opened 1.d4 , and Black's reply of 1...g6 suggested I would be facing the Kin...

Could the war be winding down? Today was the first day since it started that none of my Zoom classes was interrupted by an air raid siren. There were also no sirens overnight in Jerusalem, such that I awoke in the morning feeling fresh and rested. My last class ended at 13:40, and shortly after two o'clock I sat at a computer in the staff room for game three of my streak. In today's game Chess.com paired me with one PramodKadyan, rated 1562 out of India. It was a Queen's Gambit Accepted, and I hung a pawn on move six -- but Pramod missed it and played poorly thereafter. The scariest moment came around move 27 when a teacher came to talk to me about her experience Zooming from school and I had to split my attention between her and the game. Fortunately, Black's position was hopeless by then and my moves effectively played themselves. Current streak record: 2-0-1. Move 6: Black missed my hung pawn Assigned the white pieces, I opened 1.d4 , and after 1...d5 2.c4 dx...

Yesterday should have been day two of my chess streak, but it was Shushan Purim. I had been up since 4:30 in the morning, and there were events in my neighborhood throughout the afternoon and evening. Leading up to today's game, I had gotten more than enough sleep overnight and the takeaways from Tuesday's loss were still fresh in my mind. In today's game Chess.com matched me with one AlkanasAlsakr, rated 1507 out of Germany. Already on move 10 I was up a piece and a pawn, and on move 19 Alkanas abandoned the game. There is little that's instructive about the win, other than it featured the dubious Perseus Gambit. I document it here more for the sake of protocol than anything else. Current streak record: 1-0-1. Black to move Assigned the black pieces, I replied to White's 1.e4 with 1...e6 , after which the game continued 2.Nf3 d5 . Then came 3.d4 , and I correctly chopped with 3...dxe4 . White continued 4.Ng5 , attacking my e4-pawn, and I correctly defende...

Today was day one of my school's transition to remote learning. For reasons of convenience, whenever our classes shift to Zoom, I walk to school and Zoom from there. Seeing as this war is likely to drag on and in an endeavor to turn crisis into opportunity, I am committing to playing and thoroughly analyzing a rated Rapid game every day after I'm done teaching. My hope is that by the time the war ends, my chess level will have improved to the point where I can start thinking of 1600 as a realistic target. Today's game was against one GHayrumyan, rated 1522 out of Armenia. On move two I was already cursing my opponent for playing a loony opening, even though I knew it to be better for me. When all was said and done, GH emerged the winner. Chess.com's Game Review slapped me with an accuracy score of 48.1 -- the lowest I can remember getting for a game. There was a time when a loss like today's would haunt me or lead to a tilt spiral, but now I welcome it as a nece...

At eight o'clock this morning 200 Israeli warplanes began striking targets in Iran as part of Operation Roaring Lion. A couple hours later Iran retaliated with missiles into Israel, setting off air raid sirens throughout the country. It is unclear if the war will last days or weeks, but it is already resulting in school cancellations and other disruptions. We still have internet, however, and that means I can still play chess; and today I played a Blitz game on Lichess that I feel merits analysis. Opponent was one Arariboia, rated 1613 out of Brazil. Our game was casual and featured multiple lead changes. I resigned after thirty-eight moves, but as late as move 34 the engine indicates I had a winning position. Position 1: White to move Assigned the white pieces, I opened 1.d4 and Black replied 1...d5 . After 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 we were in a standard Queen's Gambit Declined position, whereupon Black played the annoying 4...Nbd7 and the game continued 5.e3 c6 6.Nf3...