English Opening: Jeruchess OTB

-
Amir Afsai v. Liron Jeruchess 2026-06-21

Check back soon....

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Game analysis a-la Noel Studer (Studer method 01)

-
Image
What is the greatest impediment to chess improvement? In my case, it is ego. After a win, my ego wants to stare through the screen at my opponent and laugh in his face; after a loss, it wants to smash and curse and retreat into a corner. That attitude is inimical to improvement. What is conducive to improvement is composure, a forward-looking mindset that approaches each game played not as a gladiator fight to the death but as a learning opportunity. In November 2025 GM Noel Studer released a YouTube video titled "How to Analyze Your Chess Games." In it he stressed the importance of reviewing one's games with the goal of identifying key mistakes and learning from them. In pursuing that goal, however, Studer cautions against blind reliance on chess engines that act like human coaches, instead proposing a more thorough and growth-oriented self-analysis method that involves the evaluation bar, the engine's lines and a specific set of questions. Studer's method...
Continue reading »

Milestone: 1500 on Chess.com Rapid

-
Image
Prior to this afternoon, 31 December 2025, my last Rapid game on Chess.com was in April. Opponent in that game blundered mate in one on move thirteen, and my rating rose to an all-time high of 1497. Part of the reason for my reluctance to play since then was environmental in nature, namely the absence of reliable wifi and of sufficient energy, but another part was insecurity. What changed today was being alone at work and fully alert. And, it being the last day of 2025, the risk of a loss was offset by the prospect of entering 2026 having finally crossed the 1500 mark. Chess.com paired me with one jafarkarimi706, rated 1497 out of Iran, and after seven moves the game was over. jafar blundered his queen, conceded the game, and my rating soared to 1539. After 3...e5 , 4.Nf3 or 4.d5 ? Despite its brevity, there were two instructive moments in the game. Assigned the white pieces, I opened with 1.d4 , and after 1...d5 2.c4 dxc4 we were in Queen's Gambit Accepted territory. I c...
Continue reading »

Chess simul: Zedekiah's Cave, Jerusalem

-
Image
Zedekiah's Cave is Jerusalem's ultimate hidden gem. Inconspicuous from the outside, its interior is a vast network of interconnecting chambers, a spring and ancient limestone blocks made all the more impressive by colorful atmospheric lighting. During the Second Temple period the site was a quarry for stones used in Jerusalem's construction, and since the nineteenth century it has served as a ceremonial hall for local Freemasons. Yesterday it was the site of a simultaneous chess exhibition where forty players gathered to take on Grandmaster Nitzan Steinberg . My first experience at a chess simul was in September 2024. Jerusalem hosted Israel's largest ever such event at Safra Square, and I played against GM Alexander Zlatin. That game was a Chigorin French Defense, and I not only held my own for most of it but had winning chances twice before carelessly blundering away my advantage. Yesterday's game was a Steinitz French, and this time opponent had the upper ha...
Continue reading »