The chess world has been very busy this week! The Millionaire Chess Open in Las Vegas is underway, the FIDE Grand Prix rages in Baku, Azerbaijan with everyone’s eyes on the new world #2, Fabiano Caruana and his continued domination on the board. Each of these tournaments have provided some exceptional kibitzing opportunities on Chess.com and Chessbase. I have some reservations about the concept of the Millionaire Chess Open and that is why I have been reluctant to cover it in depth. I might post some thoughts on it later, but for now…on to the amateur stuff.

In OffMyChess.com Land, the chess successes have wavered through successes and failures. This upcoming week will be my first night at the San Antonio Chess Club and I am very excited about it! I was supposed to go two weeks ago, but life got in the way and I had to postpone it until this Thursday. Now, let’s take a look at some of this week’s games…the good, the bad, and the ugly:

Of course, not everything this week was rose pedals and victory dances. The following game demonstrates the depths of despair I experienced in some brutal losses.