Waldo's corner

This is my latest game with the internet tyros and I did much better than the last one, playing with the black pieces, my opponent resigned after move 21. The game was a Queen's Pawn Opening (Chigorin Variation)  In general, the  Chigorin variation  of the  Queen's Pawn  openings is defined by 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Nf6, and the most important move afterwards is Bf4 (although my opponent did not play that) It went like this: 1. d4 d5  2.Nc3 Nf6 3. a3 (a move questioned by the book as Bg5, transitioning into the Versov is thought to be the best response) I answered with: Nc6 (c5 is said to be best response) 4.f3 (Bg5 is said to be best) e5 (e6 ttb best) 5.e3? (dxe5 is considered best) g6? (bd6 thought to be best) 6. g3?  (dxe5 ttb best) exd4 (Bg7 ttb best) 7.exd4  Bd6? (Bg7 ttb best) 8. Nge2 Qe7? (h6 best) 9. Bh6? (Bg5 ttb best) a5? (a6 is ttb best) 10. Bg7? (Qd2 ttb best) Rg8 11. Bh6 Be6 12. h4? (Qd2 ttb best) Nh5 13. g4? (Kf2 ttb best) Ng3 14. This is what the comp

In these days of COVID-19 most of us have been sidelined, SIP, quarantined, whatever you wish to call it and the world wide web is a tool to connect us all now more than ever before. Until further notice, a lot of our interactions happen behind masked faces and in a social distanced world. Seriously, how do board games or even chess tournaments happen now in an intimate setting? The answer is, that it is almost impossible to social distance while sitting across another person challenging them to a game of chess....this is where correspondence chess and other tools come into play. Personally I have been playing on and off games with my friend and former president of the Citrus College Chess Club since 2014 when I left to work in Texas. I have been back in California since late 2016, albeit I currently reside up north, but if you have stumbled upon this old blog by accident, through Google or whatever organic means are out there, welcome and let's discuss some of the fine points o