In The Arena: Ruminations About Competition

I scored 2/4 in the January 4, 2025 Columbus Plus Score tournament. I lost 16 rating points to drop to 1997. This is the eighth time I hav...

Boris Spassky, who reigned as World Chess Champion from 1969-72, passed away today at the age of 88. He is perhaps best known for losing the...

Bob Uecker passed away earlier today, just 10 days before his 91st birthday. Uecker hit just .200 during his six year MLB career, but he mad...

I started the fourth quarter of 2024 with a packed chess weekend. Unfortunately, it was packed with painful losses! I scored 2/4 in the Octo...

Rickey Henderson, MLB's career leader in stolen bases and runs scored who is widely considered the greatest leadoff hitter in MLB histor...

"I might smile, but I ain't no joke."--Dilated Peoples, "Kindness for Weakness"  By defeating Ding Liren in game 14 ...

A toxic combination of PED cheating destroying MLB's once-hallowed record book and "stat gurus" preaching "analytics...

Fernando Valenzuela, who was just 63 years old when he passed away yesterday, is one of the most memorable athletes from my childhood. He ha...

On July 18, 2024, my daughter Rachel and I played in the Cincinnati Chess Club's G/24 Swiss. This event only affected our USCF Quick rat...