Run-DMSteve

  • World Chess Championship, Game 12: Not chess, Mr. Spock. Poker.

    I once worked at an ad agency with an artistic gentleman who brought more flair to his life than everyone working for Paper Mate. J5 was never at a loss for something to say. If he was at a loss, he would fall back on a Swiss army knife catchphrase, good for the…

  • World Chess Championship, Game 11: “Chess is 90% mental and the other half is physical”

    Today’s game between defending champion Magnus Carlsen, playing white, and Fabiano Caruana was a draw, the 11th straight. There’s one game left before the tie-breaker round (if necessary). I’m not going to discuss today’s game except to say the champ didn’t show us much. I’ve seen more action from our dog after another pitched battle with…

  • World Chess Championship, Game 10: To boldly go where no hip young chess bro has gone before

    Magnus Carlsen and Fabriano Caruana took serious chances in today’s game. At one point, U.S. Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura said Carlsen was about to go “true caveman” against Caruana’s king. “I don’t see how this could possibly be drawn,” he said. It was. The players mixed sulfur, potassium nitrate, and charcoal…

  • World Chess Championship, Game 9: The pawn must go on

    Yesterday, during a five-on-a-side game of football, Magnus Carlsen and an opposing player cracked skulls. Their own. The men suffered cuts and bruises but no concussions and finished their game. The other guy was a Norwegian journalist. Insert your own joke about the fake news media here, I’m tired of making these things…

  • World Chess Championship, Game 8: Can’t anyone here play this game?

    Today is the 130th anniversary of the birth of my favorite chess player, the Cuban José Raúl Capablanca (1888-1942). Happy birthday, old man! Capa was so talented, so natural a player, so calm under stress, that he could play a clear, elegant game while going over Niagra Falls inside a barrel.…