| Apr-19-03 | | Bears092: White has 2.5 more wins than black here. Any openings with similar (or better) percentages for white? |
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| Apr-19-03 | | ksadler: Benoni, Classical, 9...a6, 10.a4 (A74) for one...I'll keep looking (although there are just a handful of games in that line) |
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| Jan-20-07 | | DutchDunce: Anyone know why 4...dxc4 constitutes a QGD Vienna, rather than simply a transposed QGA? I assume there's some technical nuance that distinguishes the two openings, but I don't know what it is. |
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Jan-20-07
 | | paulalbert: <DutchDunce> I think it only becomes a Vienna after White plays 5. e4. Paul Albert |
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| Dec-17-16 | | Monocle: Why does anyone play 4... Be7 and allow 5.Bf4 when they could play the Ragozin instead? The 5.Bf4 QGD just looks miserable for black. |
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| Nov-02-20 | | PGNSubmitter: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danafe... |
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Nov-02-20
 | | Check It Out: I've watched three episodes of The Queen's Gambit. So far I like it. It's obvious that they tried to get the chess right, all the positions make sense, they reference Sicilian side-lines, name-check Jose Capablanca, and reference the MCO many times. I think they have Kasparov consulting, he knows a thing or two about the game. |
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Nov-02-20
 | | saffuna: I've watched the first four episodes. It's very good, with lots of nice surprises. There are some cringeworthy moments as always in chess movies (talking during a game, telling a player to resign? a player offering a draw, then resigning without another move?), but more good moments. The games are realistic, all taken from master games.though they play too fast for classical chess. My favorite moment so far was the girl Beth finding her first book of master games in the school library, a book of Capablanca's best games. She doesn't even know there are grandmasters, and she marvels at all the games in the book. The first time she sees a chess magazine is an issue of Chess Review, with US champion Benny Watts on the cover. I actually looked up Watts in the database, not sure if he was real or fictional. agadmator has replayed some of the games from the show on his youtube channel, in particular Nezhmetdinov vs Kasparian, 1955 |
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Nov-03-20
| | saffuna: There are few draws in the series, which is dramatic but not realistic. And no post mortems at the board, which seems strange. On the other hand, the games are very well presented. The orphanage scenes are well done. It's not a great place, but neither is it horrible as they often are in movies. |
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| Nov-06-20 | | technical draw: I enjoyed the series too. I figured it was a female Bobby Fischer story. There are a lot of parallels. Same background with absent father and intrusive mother. I know quite a bit about psychiatric medicine and there is no such pill as Xanzolam. It's probably just a combination of Xanax, the brand name, and the generic Alprazolam. And I doubt there will be jars of it in an orphanage. Her alcoholism portrayal is pretty accurate but her recovery is not. I myself couldn't play in a tournament without downing a few beers because of my nerves. All in all a good series and I loved it when they played "Venus" by Shocking Blue. |
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Nov-06-20
| | saffuna: <I enjoyed the series too. I figured it was a female Bobby Fischer story. There are a lot of parallels. Same background with absent father and intrusive mother.> Yes, I thought of that. Same drive, self-total confidence, a loner. Same time period. I do wish (this is through episode five) that they had shown, once or twice at least, either Beth or her opponent struggling over a move for several minutes. Every move is made relatively quickly. |
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Nov-06-20
 | | keypusher: < saffuna: <I enjoyed the series too. I figured it was a female Bobby Fischer story. There are a lot of parallels. Same background with absent father and intrusive mother.>
Yes, I thought of that. Same drive, self-total confidence, a loner. Same time period. I do wish (this is through episode five) that they had shown, once or twice at least, either Beth or her opponent <struggling over a move for several minutes>. Every move is made relatively quickly.> <struggling over a move for several minutes> So, like, several minutes of someone staring at a chessboard? I can't believe Hollywood didn't make you a director! |
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Nov-06-20
| | saffuna: <So, like, several minutes of someone staring at a chessboard?> Clint Eastwood and Lee van Cleef made careers of just staring. Though not at a chessboard. |
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Nov-06-20
| | Check It Out: Yeah but that was back in the day of cinematic long shots. Nowadays a shot is lucky to last more than a few seconds. |
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Nov-06-20
| | saffuna: Haven't been to a Morgan Freeman movie lately, I guess. How long did Russell Crowe stand and look at his opponent in "Gladiator"? Plus there are imaginative ways to indicate time passing: the moving clock (an old staple), or pieces moving around the board in different variations, as was done once with move one. |
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Nov-06-20
| | keypusher: <How long did Russell Crowe stand and look at his opponent in "Gladiator"?> https://assets.sbnation.com/assets/... <Plus there are imaginative ways to indicate time passing: the moving clock (an old staple), or pieces moving around the board in different variations, as was done once with move one.> You are right, of course. |
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Nov-06-20
| | saffuna: <Yeah but that was back in the day of cinematic long shots. Nowadays a shot is lucky to last more than a few seconds.> I absolutely agree. I generally dislike quick cuts. Recently I read about and saw this fight between Gregory Peck and Charlton Heston in "The Big Country." Much of it filmed from hundreds of yards awzy, and very effectively. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2iUko... |
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Nov-07-20
| | Check It Out: <keypusher> Absolutely, there are ways to make time pass cinematically (even in these days of super fast cuts,) and yes, <saffuna>, they could have done more of that this series. I mean, what, do they think all we play is blitz these days? ;) I think I'm at episode 5 now.
<I generally dislike quick cuts.> Definitely over used. Occasionally, sure, but movies these days can be dizzingly fast. |
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Nov-11-20
| | Check It Out: Finally finished the series. If you haven't watched it yet, it is a fine story and tribute to chess. |
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Nov-13-20
| | saffuna: The final game is very well staged. And a player is shown in a long think , using the moves-on-the-imaginary-board technique effectively again. The game is analyzed here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIM..., a very exciting and tactical game that follows Ivanchuk vs Wolff, 1993 through the first 36 moves. The ending is totally impractical, could never have happened in 1968, but was still great. |
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Nov-13-20
| | saffuna: The series has plenty of weaknesses, but overall is very good. For me the outstanding moment by far is when she first finds "Capablanca's Best Games" in the school library, the first book of games she's seen. |
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Kibitzing
