Greetings from sunny San Diego!

Where the weather is fine, the people are friendly, and I get passed on my morning "run" by octogenarians. It may be time to get in better shape.
My health resolutions aside, I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. I've found that copious amounts of alcohol combined with a Six Feet Under DVD box set makes for a pretty good time. Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas, and a Bountiful Solstice to all.

Perplexed

Re: The $50 billion lost in the Madoff hedge fund fraud -- where on earth did all that money go? Originally I had just assumed it was lost in bad stock investments, but I have been told by someone who used to prosecute these cases regularly that the people who run Ponzi schemes don't typically invest the proceeds, since they want to keep a pool of capital available to pay their "investors." Is this correct? There's no way Madoff could have spent $50 billion on just his own lifestyle, right? If anyone can demystify this situation for me, please do leave a comment.

Exams over, posting can resume

Just as soon as I have something to say...

So Close, And Yet So Far

Well, the US Chess League Championship match did indeed go to a tiebreak, and just like last year, Dallas emerged victorious over Boston. Congratulations to the Dallas Destiny, and to the winning lineup of IM Zivanic, IM Kuljasevic, FM Schneider, and WFM Zorigt! Congratulations also to team manager John Bartholomew, who has put together what is clearly the premiere organization in the USCL.

The match itself got off to a good start, with GM Christiansen offering a dangerous gambit in the Taimanov Sicilian. I'm not sure if this is something he prepared specifically for IM Zivanic, but he quickly proved that White's initiative and pressure against f7 was worth more than Black's two bishops. NM Esserman was the next to finish, with a nice victory over FM Schneider from a Marshall Gambit declined. I have played Schneider myself and know from experience how good he is at defending tough positions, so it was impressive to see Esserman play so precisely to convert his opening advantage. Unfortunately, NM Krasik was already in difficulties against WFM Zorigt, and couldn't save a tough position out of the King's Indian Defense. This left it up to Board 2 and IM Kuljasevic, who was the hero of the night. First he showed nice technique in creating queenside pressure against SM Sammour-Hasbun's Semi-Slav, and then he eliminated all three Boston players he faced in the blitz tiebreaks, sealing the match for Dallas.

So once again we came up just short at the finish line. This would be a proper time to find something inspirational to say, but I can't think of anything at the moment besides tired Red Sox analogies, and those won't do anyone any good. So instead, here's some Vera Lynn.

US Chess League predictions

Ah, the USCL finals are upon us once again. Last year, your Boston Blitz were defeated by the Dallas Destiny, in what was surely the most exciting USCL match ever -- or would have been, had the match not lasted until 2:00 am. This year, the two teams have marched inexorably towards a rematch, and the commissioner has wisely moved the starting time to 3:00 on Saturday, December 6th. My prediction: another drawn match, but this time Boston will prevail on tiebreaks. In Esserman (and his 3000 ICC blitz rating) we trust.

Update: I just remembered that Boston hasn't had a drawn match all year. I'm downgrading myself from a Kreskin to a Criswell.