Geronimo Member since May-19-04 · Last seen Sep-30-09 I am an attorney specialising in International Humanitarian Law (a.k.a. "law of war"). I'm presently based in Kenya after living in the Republic of Congo, Chad and the Ivory Coast since 2004. No rating, but I estimate around 1600 - 1650 based on non-match and computer play. I mostly open 1.d4 and enjoy playing the French against 1.e4. It's been hard to find chess players in my line of work (humanitarian agency) and I've had very limited internet access for the past three years. Now that I'm based in a big city I hope to meet other chess players, as I haven't had a person to person match in over a year. Loves: Blackburne, Capablanca, Tal, Ivanchuk, etc. but nobody is "favorite".

Geronimo has kibitzed 676 times to chessgames   [more...]

Jun-25-09 Vassily Ivanchuk    Geronimo: I don't really care about ratings other than as a snapshot of relative strength at a given moment, but whether that moment is a week-long glance or a three year prediction seems arbitrarily defined according to the statistical game you want to play. Regardless, I measure Ivanchuk's      Jun-25-09 Ivanchuk vs Morozevich, 1996    Geronimo: Wow. That's a lot of game. Moves like 20.g4 and 34.Bf7 just kill me. Ivanchuk is one of the most creative forces in contemporary chess, even when his loony antics and time controls get him in trouble.      Jun-25-09 Fischer vs U Geller, 1968    Geronimo: No more comments on the puzzle, which stumped me. But something for <An Englishman> Shades of Stanley Matthews perhaps? (England v. USA 0-1, 1950 World Cup, greatest upset in football history.) Comment at the time: "Maybe those yanks may yet learn to play real football...."      Jun-24-09 Odd Lie    Geronimo: <Sisyphus loved rock 'n roll.> and rock and roll loved syphilis. and sybil loved rolling rock. and and and      May-31-09 Shirov vs Fressinet, 2004    Geronimo: I took a look with my 1600 rating and thought, "Hell, if it was me, I'd castle queenside and hope for the best." :) --with respect to those before me....      May-30-09 ChessBookForum chessforum    Geronimo: Hello <chessbookforum>. Thanks for responding to my post on the game of the day about endgame theory. I estimate my strength about 1600 based on anecdotal evidence. Because of my living situation it's difficult to mosey down to the village chess shop (on Thompson Street!!!) ...      May-30-09 P Nikolic vs Korchnoi, 1987    Geronimo: Thank you <chessbookforum>. I just checked out your page and YOU ROCK!      May-29-09 A Bykhovsky vs D Oltean, 1990    Geronimo: A great puzzle. First move jumps out (the theme of the week, apparently), but after which... too difficult for me. The key for seeing and understanding this puzzle - other than the 25. Rd6!! which I definitely didn't get, was how to exploit the pin on the pawn at f7. The ...      May-27-09 M Apicella vs C Bauer, 2003    Geronimo: Well said <patriot>. I would say something else about today's postion, though, that might add to good thought process - especially for those who were looking for rook sacs or a forcing sequence along the h file. "Looking for forcing moves" may not be enough, as Rc3 is more or      May-23-09 M-Tel Masters (2009)    Geronimo: <Ezzy> Agreed. These are exciting days for chess. It just pains me to see Ivanchuk in freefall. The FIDE fiasco aside, I don't think we've seen the end of him. Maybe he should take a few weeks or a month off to regain his form?

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Nov-12-07    dzechiel: Thanks for leaving the note on my forum. I see the places that you have been recently, but where did you start from? And what is your line of work? Nov-12-07    Geronimo: I work for an international humanitarian organisation. Twice I've been lucky to find a chess player of similar strength while on mission. These days I have access to internet during one week-end per month. When not on mission I live in Switzerland, though I'm originally from the U.S. Nov-12-07    timhortons: are you a doctor?how is chess viewed in chad? do they have strong professional players there that people could look up too? Nov-27-07    Geronimo: Nope, I'm not a doctor. Both of my chess partners on mission have been other "expats". There must be some Chadian chess players, but I didn't meet any. My job requires that I spend time in rather remote (and war-torn) areas, rather than the capital cities, where one would be more likely to find any chess culture. Lately I've been studying much more than playing, as my only chess parnter is an 1800 strength Mephisto handheld.... Jul-17-08    YouRang: I always thought that cg.com should have a MAD Alfred E. Newman avatar. I just found out that they did, and you got it. Good pick. :-) Jul-17-08    Travis Bickle: Geronimo I have to tell you I think your avatar is great! ; ) Aug-31-08    ravel5184: <Geronimo> What's up with your forum? Only 6 kibitzes? (well 7 now). Sep-01-08    Geronimo: Well I'm not the strongest player here, <ravel5184> and I post sort of sporatically. If I'm known on this site its for patzery posts and the occasional bon mot, but I love chess! It keeps me (relatively) sane. You are welcome to my forum any time. Sep-06-08    whiteshark: Where is the tooth gap of <Alfred E. Newman> coming from? Sep-12-08    Geronimo: Who's Alfred E. Newman? I thought that was Ponomariov!!! Sep-12-08    Open Defence: you were close.. its Silvio Danailov Sep-14-08    whiteshark: Whosoever. It the tooth gap real? Sep-19-08    Geronimo: Geronimo: There are competing theories about the toothgap, <whiteshark>. Some say that I lost it when attempting to remove a billiard ball from my mouth without using my tongue. Others claim that the tooth was removed in a lower Slobovian initiation ritual (all male children at age 25 undergo ritual orthodonture). Still others claim that it is in fact no toothgap so much as the positive absence of tooth when viewed as a the dialectical negation of toothliness. I personally believe it is simply a piece of kielbasa left over from lunch. Aftwer awll, wat is the twooth anyway. What... me worry? Sep-19-08    deerslayer888: Geronimo.. You are probably descended from the legendary yet mysterious cult of the look at mes... they were a proud arrogant people.. Upon discovering that polished shell could reflect fairly well , their wondrous stature and glory... they decided that they must see themselves forever!!!!!! they fashioned a special bone handle which was extremely thin that protruded from their mouth through the tooth gap especially suited for the purpose. this handle held a mirror aboutr 6 to 10 inches away from the great arrogant ones.. they would just stare at themeselves all day... Eventually all descendants were born with this gap. Just thought you might be interested... Sep-19-08    deerslayer888: whiteshark!! are you ok... Did you know that I wanted to call my son Hark.. Iwould say .."hark get me the shovel... Hark get me the hoe".. but it ddidn't work that way. I kept saying "Hark!hark...get me the shovel... or Hark Hark... getme the home... People thought I was a goose.... Sep-20-08    whiteshark: <Geronimo> Thanks for the complete solution! But isn't there always a hidden secret behind every lucid explanation waiting for it's revealment? And I thought it was a calcium deficiency in your early childhood diet. :D Sep-20-08    whiteshark: <888> You could do worse... and always have! :D Mar-08-09    whiteshark: <Geronimo> I didn't know that. --> http://escapetheokiezone.com/upload... Any elucidations from your side? :D Mar-09-09    Geronimo: <whiteshark>. Oh my. Not good, must consider changing icon. Couldn't be. Heavens, no. Oh dear. What... me worry? Mar-20-09    whiteshark: update: http://www.fcfilesever.com/Bilder/p... May-30-09    ChessBookForum: <Geronimo> Here are two examples from the de la Villa book: hms123 chessforum and hms123 chessforum The book is not an encyclopedia. It explains things, has you work through certain positions, gives you principles, and is perfect for someone at your level. Once you work through it (which won't take that long relatively speaking) you will be ready to tackle any of the advanced books. Our experience with endgame books (and we have a lot of them) is that they are dry and hard to digest in anything but small pieces. The de la Villa book is a real change of pace from anything else we've seen. Feel free to stop by anytime and ask more questions. May-30-09    ChessBookForum: <Geronimo> Thanks for the kind words about the forum. if you ever run across a book that you really like (in whatever language), just post a brief review at the <ChessBookForum> along with a little bit of information about it. All books and instructional material are fair game--from beginners to advanced. Relevant discussion is always welcome. Oct-31-09    timhortons: its good your based in a big city now, at least with internet connection. your work is really a sacrifice, ask anybody around if they can lived a life with out internet connection. Oct-31-09    Travis Bickle: Hey Geronimo how ya doin man? Ya look good!		Save 20% on New in Chess Magazine

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