What I do for fun

Music:

I play chess competitively. Recently I played in some tournaments at the Mechanics Institute Chess Club in San Francisco, the oldest chess club in the US (founded in 1854!). My current USCF rating, and to provide some perspective, the distribution of USCF ratings.
Garry Kasparov is clearly the strongest player in history. Some hilarious cartoons illustrating his phenomenal performance at the Hoogovens, Wijk aan Zee tournament in 1999. However, as evidenced at the recent Linares 2004 tournament, he seems to have started declining. He's still the player to beat, but managed to ruin several winning positions by making simple (for him) errors that never would have happened at his peak.

I like playing go (weiqi in Chinese) although I'm not very good. The nature of the game is very different from chess: the pace is slower and it's a more 'static' game. As a result, there's a much heavier emphasis on long term strategy.
The UC Berkeley campus go club is very well hidden. They don't do much publicity and seem to almost not want to be found. The atmosphere is pretty friendly though.

I enjoy playing tennis. I grew up a few minutes away from Kooyong, where they used to hold the Australian Open until they switched from grass to Rebound Ace.
At her peak, Martina Hingis was by far the most fascinating player to watch. Unlike all her rivals, her major weapon was not any spectacular shot, but her omniscient tactical sense on the court. At her best, it was like watching a combination of chess and tennis, she anticipated everything and was always at right place at the right time.

Last modified March 14, 2004