#1099 USATE PGN File

Today's MegaBase update (#11 for 2013) contains 302 games from last month's USATE. To download them, in zipped PGN, click here.

#1098 Stoyko To Lecture On The Semi-Slav

FIDE Master Steve Stoyko will be presenting part 1 of his Semi-Slav Defense lecture tomorrow night, at the Kenilworth Chess Club.

Anand's brilliant Tata Steel win over Aronian, the Latvian Variation and other lines will be covered during the 2-part series, which concludes March 28th.

Admission is $5.

#1097 My New Polish Chess Set

Back in December 2003, on my second visit the Scotch Plains Chess Club, I had the pleasure of playing 3 games, with Mark Doroba (who has since passed away), on an exquisite Polish chess set and have longed for one ever since.

Well, at last month's USATE in Parsippany, after a first round loss to NM Tod Chasin, I walked over to the equipment store and was very pleased to see a similar set for sale.

The board didn't have the dark-square and border engravings that Mark's set did but the pieces were exactly the same and that was good enough for me.