I learned this directly from Robert Anton Wilson, who got it from Burroughs. Cut-ups have no truer lineage than this. Both say: edit your gems, cut, cut again. And kill your (verbal) babies.

In addition to its ornamental uses, language also has a communicative function. Some people rate it as being quite important. Others would say that it's pointless to write (what looks like) chess commentary if it's not understood.

I had a friend once who was besotted with difficult poets like Ezra Pound and John Ashbery, and strove to 'make it new' at all times. He never spoke English - just strange cryptic stuff like "Lady Di hi-fi blah blah". People thought he was schizoid, but he wasn't: just a deluded idealist who overdid a good trick.

Two people - just me and his ex - could follow him, and he trailed around after us saying stuff like "In decisive inoculation blah Die". (That means something like "I'm not on drugs", btw.)

Reminds me of you, somewhat. Don't know what became of him, but I suspect he took up human speech in order to function socially. Or get a job, even.

Speak English sometimes and all will be well. Your poetic utterances will even stand out more effectively ...

More important, it isn't really about Goldsby. It's now a function of the way the site is arranged -- the easiest conversations to return to are either ones in which one has participated recently or those which figure prominently in 'recent kibitzing'.

The Kibitzer's Cafe is a joke, generally avoided by intelligent people. Many of us use our forums as social spaces - but some games, like this, have become places to interact, malls, virtual chess clubs - AJ had a role in this development, but it's not about him now.

There is also something very infantile about their behavior ... when a group of people gang up on one person ... say at my daughter's High School ... its called being a bully, and this type of behavior is unilaterally condemned. But here, when one of the group says something entirely out of line, the rest, (like a group of chimps); goes nuts, screaming and hollering, and patting each other on the back. (I could cite several examples, probably the worst involved a post by one abuser which was deleted by the admins of this site.)

Dom - thanks.

One of the problems that exist here is that I sometimes have difficulty telling if someone is really paying me a compliment ... or just being sarcastic. (If you read all of the kibitzing here, you will see at least one example of what I am talking about.)

<perfidious> We actually share a common feeling of frustration when it comes to <CO>.

I used to read his posts, grab a dictionary, a thesaurus, and a pen and a piece of paper and try to unscramble the words. (One day, I spent almost the whole day ... off and on ... trying to make some sense of his posts.) In the end, totally frustrated, I simply gave up.

In a way, I am already following that advice.

Briefly, for like 30-35 years, I ONLY played 1.e4 and headed for the Giuoco Piano. However, after several crushing losses (in the 1990's) to Stephen Muhammad in the GP, I realized my entire opening repertoire was very bad.

Now I play all openings, I am using the top GM's as a model. I spend most of my opening study time nowadays looking at QGD lines and the Ruy Lopez. (And I explore other lines as well.) I will play 1.d4 one game, the next time I am White, I play 1.e4, etc.

Most good players have a favorite defence against e4, to which they've devoted a lot of work. I've been playing the French for over 30 years and feel very comfortable with the positions that arise. People normally have a defence to d4 too, of course, and usually to the English as well.

But with 1.Nf3 you can keep things flexible, transposing into a different line at the best moment.

And the resulting middlegames are full of tactical opportunities, as you demonstrate brilliantly here.

<tpstar: <You strike out, just as you always have. In fact, you have been a part of the "bash A.J." brigade from the very start, I could copy-and-paste dozens of quotes to prove my point.>

You do not want to play this game with me, but you set it off. Let's start with the last two days:

"Now you are living in a fantasy world ... and confusing your ugly mug with the actor's face of your avatar ... you really are a pathetic wretch of a human being."

"What a boor, and I am glad I never took you off my ignore list"

"Certainly, childlishly following someone all over this site and always trying to post some belittling comment behind them, speaks volumes about both <Col. Nortimer>'s motives and his mentality as well."

"Your bias comes through, loud and clear ... and your head is so far up your ... well, don't sneeze ... you just might disappear!"

"<sleepkid> Yawn - just another troll ... for my list."

"IF you had HALF a brain ... and maybe a good engine ... you would see there is nothing wrong with my pawn sack at all."

"<aputz> Like so many people on this site ... apparently, you only open your mouth to change feet."

"Either you are too stupid to grasp this ... or you simply cannot read plain English."

"Do you realize how totally uninformed and pathetic this makes you sound? Admit you were wrong, get a hobby ... and maybe a life to go with it."

"Then you ARE as ignorant as you sound"

"<kk loser> At least you are consistent ... as are the rest of your troop ..."

"<perp> Add coward to 'has been'"

"<KK LOser> Shut up already, punk."

"<perp> You are a loser."

"Your avatar is all wrong, it should be a little girl with her <under-garments> showing "

"Filthy coward ... we both know I would kill you "

"<Col. Puke> For a pig - who lives in filth and garbage - you oughta know trash when you see it."

"Now - go get a life of your own"

"Apparently Shaw is "all washed up," as we used to say. A relic, a thing of the past, etc. (I was going to let you slide, but your continued tirade on my pages ... well, you brought this on yourself, in fact, you begged for it.)"

*****

Everything here is from 9/20/11 and 9/21/11. This is completely unacceptable for an adult posting on a Moderated site. I have no idea why you get such special treatment.

Let me know how many HUNDREDS more you would like to read again.>

I left off my analysis (previously) with Black's last move of 18...Qf6; I felt (at the time) that the position was roughly equal.

<<NOTE: I am using Fritz 12, and then checking things with Houdini 1.5, so I don't think I will miss anything.>>

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Actually, my last move was 18.f4!, and then Black played 18...Qf6. Before I move on, I think it would be fair to (briefly) investigate what would happen if Black had tried to accept my gambit.

[ 18.f4!, and now I have stated it would have been bad for Black to capture, however the reader is entitled to proof.

Much worse was: </= 18...gxf3?!;
As I had already indicated, I was sure it was bad for Black to open up the position before his King is taken out of the center. 19.Nxf3 Qxe3+?;
This is a bad mistake, opening the e-file while the Black King is still in the center is close to suicide.

(Better was: 19...Qf6; 20.Nh4 Bh7; 21.g3, " " - Fritz 12)

20.Bf2 Qh6;
According to the machine, this is best.

(Much worse would be: </= 20...Qf4?; 21.Re1+ Be7▢; 22.Bg3 Qh6; 23.Bxb8 Nxb8; 24.Qc5, )

21.Re1+ Kd8; 22.Re6 Kc7; 23.Nh4 Rbg8; 24.Rae1 Qf4; 25.Nxg6! Qxh2+; 26.Kf1, " " - Fritz 12.

Of course, these are all machine moves, there is no guarantee how much of this I would have actually found during the game ... ]

Now back to the actual game, I will remind you (again) of the position.

click for larger view

Here I felt the position was about equal ... maybe I was a little worse.

19.b4!,

This was part of my plan, and I was going to stick to it. Its also part of a "minority attack," and a proven way of handling these types of positions.

Fritz prefers 19.Nb3, but that was not the way that I intended to play this position.

[Possibly best was: 19.Nb3, - Fritz 12. ]

The position after 19.b4!

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This is just playing and enjoying chess. Why does have to show such hate for others?>

In the last section, we looked at the game through White's 19th move, here is the current position.

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19...a6 ;
I fully expected this move, I did not think a good player would let me get in b4-b5, without having to work a little for it first.

Below is the position after 19...a6.

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20.Nb3,

Continuing my plan ... which also involved getting a Knight to its outpost. (This is part of the four basic principles of the middlegame that I teach to all my students. http://www.ajschess.com/lifemastera...)

The engines confirm that 20.Nb3 is White's best move here.

[ I also considered playing: 20.Rdb1,
with the idea of a3-a4, and then b4-b5.
However, I did not think I was ready
for the position to be opened up just
yet, first I needed to get my pieces
to better squares. ]

20...Qe6!?;

Double-minded ... Black thinks to take my KP ... he was better off ignoring it, as he did the first time.

During the game, I was thinking that (if I were Black): I would run my KRP down to h3. I also remember thinking that the machine would find something much better ...

[Best was: 20...h4!, "~" (unclear) - Fritz 12. ]

This is the position after 20...Qe6.

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21.Nc5!,

The machine agrees that this is the best move for White ... of course I have to be prepared to (temporarily) give away a Pawn, and be sure I won't lose ...

[ Less convincing was: 21.a4 h4, "=" ]

21...Qf7!?;
This looks like a reasonable move, however, the machine brands it as a mistake. ('?') Its not a blunder, just places Black's pieces on some unfortunate squares.

[ Black self-destructs after: </= 21...Qxe3+?; 22.Bf2 Qxf4; 23.Re1+ Kf7;

(Of course not: </= 23...Kd8??; 24.Ne6+, forking Blacks's King and Queen. " ")

24.g3 Qh6; 25.Nxd7, & White has won a piece.

I thought that Black had to play: 21...Bxc5T; 22.bxc5 h4; 23.Rab1, " " but the machine and I agree that White is much better here.

Or Black could have played: 21...Qf6; 22.a4, " " when White is only a little better. ]

Thi is the position after 21...Qf7.

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Paradoxically - I suppose this is what Nimzo meant - moves that appear mysterious can be more constructive than directly aggressive ones. A classic case is White's e4 in the Catalan, which can lead to a lifeless position if played too soon (we discussed ideas like this in the Pogo game, if you recall).

I always say, half-seriously, that e4 is too strong a move to waste in the opening ... but it makes a great lever for blowing open the position around move 25.

With this in mind, you probably played this opening too passively. I don't like 3.e3 -- why not 3.c4 at once? But after 5 moves, a well known Slav-type structure is reached. You play 6.Be2, which is slow. 6.Bd3 has been played more often. But best, maybe, is 6.Nh4 ... when 6.Nh4 Be4 7.f3 Bg6 8.Qb3 Qc7 9.Bd2 Nbd7 10.Rc1 has been played many times:

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White has a nice game here. Tactics based on the c-file and b7 are starting to surface (one reason I prefer to fianchetto the LSB on g2 in such positions). And there's no rush to play Nxg6, though it's an option.

As it goes, Black is equal or slightly better by move 9, having developed rapidly and well. His problem is his King: it's not going to be safe anywhere when the game opens.

As you later demonstrate in some style.

BTW, I can't figure out why Fritz prefers the anti-positional Nb3 on move 18/19. 19.b4 is much more thematic, and Nb3 could follow. My best guess is that, in the engine's evaluation, White needs to clear the 2nd rank for the Queen, to defend against Black's kingside attack. But 19.b4 followed by f4(!) is its 2nd choice, and Nb3 seems to lose favor at deeper ply.

After 20...Qe6? (a pointless attack on e3 - he should go for the king with 20...h4) White is better. But he probably wasn't expecting anything as drastic as 22.Nxb7!

The Zwischenzug 28.Rac1! is another gem. After 28...Kd6 29.Qg5 Black could have tried 29...Bg7, aiming to trap the Queen with ...Bf6 and ...Rh8. But 30.e4 blows everything to bits.

<As you later demonstrate in some style.>>>>>>>>

Thanks! And here you show a Master's understanding of the position ... Black's major problem IS his King's position, and I was obviously playing for this.

<<BTW, I can't figure out why Fritz prefers the anti-positional Nb3 on move 18/19.>>

Me neither. I did a deep-position analysis, as well as letting it just run for about 2 hours one day on this position. In both instances Nb3 won out, and this was true with Houdini as well. This just highlights a major factor affecting chess engines. In his last match with the computer, Kramnik was outplaying the mass of microchips almost all of the time, he simply could not overcome the computer's tactics. (The machine doesn't lose hope and blunder like a human, it can wear you out with its tactics and the ability to always find the best line of defense. <D2009> has continually shown this aspect of "engine chess" when he makes his posts on the POTD's.)

There is no doubt in my mind that the "minority attack" is the correct way for White to proceed. At least for now, humans hold an edge in strategy ... this is why I am dumbfounded when "The World" won't vote for a move that is clearly good, simply because it loses a few thousandths of a point in the evals ... but I might be opening another can of worms here that is better left undisturbed.

<<The Zwischenzug 28.Rac1! is another gem. After 28...Kd6 29.Qg5 Black could have tried 29...Bg7, aiming to trap the Queen with ...Bf6 and ...Rh8. But 30.e4 blows everything to bits.

<Great move, e4. At the right time. And I like this game a lot.>>

Again, thanks for the input. When you do it like this, I don't think anyone can take offense to these type of comments.

This is just playing and enjoying chess. Why does have to show such hate for others?>>

[King of Nothing
Member since Sep-04-11 · Last seen Sep-26-11 no bio]

Its pretty simple logic, he rejoined this website (with an axe to grind) ... just about the same time another notorious <person> departed ...