Chess in Israel

Tomorrow is the last day we need to punch in at work before summer vacation officially starts. Yesterday I visited a student at the hospital who had jumped or fallen off a roof at night, had broken bones in three parts of his body, and will be spending his summer vacation undergoing surgeries and rehab. If Trump's MOA with the Iranians holds, my summer will be spent visiting two countries, the first of which is a chess superpower with fifteen clubs in the capital city alone and more GMs per capita than any country not a microstate. In this afternoon's game Chess.com matched me with one director777, rated 1637 out of Ukraine. On move twenty-two I blundered a full rook because I hallucinated White's king moving to a light square. It was mentally devastating: another loss to a 1600+ opponent would call into question the validity of my Rapid rating milestone. But I knew the onus was on opponent to convert his advantage and if I could keep pressure on his uncastled king whil...

It's graduation day at our school. The students that I taught for six years have become adults. Their speeches invoked the struggles of the past that made them who they are today and those of the future that they'll have to overcome in order to become who they want to be. I joined Lichess in February 2022, closed above 2500 on Puzzles in May 2024, and only crossed 2600 this morning. As struggles go, reaching 2600 was more of a challenge than crossing 1600 on Chess.com Rapid or 1700 on Lichess Blitz. Some puzzles conclude too soon, others go on for too long. Some are instructive, others are an exercise in brute calculation. Some puzzles have a clear idea at their core, others are unfairly nuanced. Some are rewarding, others are disappointing. My least favorite puzzles are of the king-and-pawns endgame variety. Solving them requires holding in memory multiple branches of a decision tree simultaneously and calculating each branch six or seven moves deep. This report examines th...

It being a Saturday, I should not have been at school today, but circumstances were such that I was in the area and the school was open. Wedensday's milestone win, given my opponent's sub-1600 rating and awful time management, left an unsatisfied taste in my mouth. The coast was clear, i.e. I was alone and could bring my A-game, and shortly after one o'clock I settled in for a ten-minute Rapid. In this afternoon's game Chess.com matched me with one HardcoreHenrik, rated 1588 out of Poland. It was a Classical Nimzo-Indian that developed into a middlegame where I was down two pawns but had compensation in the form of two rooks on the seventh. The Nimzo-Indian is a sharp opening that I am endeavoring to master as Black and here got a taste of as White. Until opponent blundered his rook on move 39, it was a challenging and volatile game. At 1633, I have a cushion to absorb a loss without busting 1600 should I attempt a push to 1700. Position 1: White to move Assign...

If someone were to examine the games that got me from 1500 to 1600, they might reach the conclusion that I and my opponents always play chess tired, on weak wifi or surrounded by distractions. Even to me it feels as though reaching 1400 demanded more grit and consistency than the games I played recently. For this afternoon's game , Chess.com matched me against one HenriqueIncio, rated 1574 out of Angola. It took me thirty seconds to make the first three moves because the school's computer was lagging, and from there the opening developed into a Samisch King's Indian. Then it was opponent's turn to lag -- 0:20 for move 6, 1:20 for move 10, 3:28 for move 12. On move 13 I had nine minutes left to opponent's three and a half. It was an anticlimactic milestone, but in a way it was also recompense for my loss two games prior. Position 1: White to move Assigned the White pieces I opened 1.d4 , and Black's 1...Nf6 suggested he would defend with the Nimzo-Indian...

The school year is winding down. Regular classes ended last week, and all that's left are two weeks of final exams. Since it's only at school that I can bring my A-game, that leaves me roughly two weeks to hit 1600 on Chess.com Rapid. Failing in that endeavor and going through the summer still sub-1600 would be a disappointment. For this afternoon's game Chess.com matched me against one Nihad_Karimli, rated 1549 out of Azerbaijan. It was a game I was hesitant to play on account of a mosquito having disturbed my sleep at night, but everyone had left the school and I was feeling confident. We played five moves of theory a-la the Steinitz Variation of the Classical French, and on move fourteen opponent blundered his queen to a skewer. A move later he resigned, and for the third time I am a win away from 1600. Position 1: Black to move Assigned the Black pieces, I replied to White's 1.e4 with the French 1...e6 . The game continued 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 and as always ...