Good point. My last three games at the weekend hinged on exchange sacs - the ones I made and the one I chickened out of. Some, like the position in my FEN, aren't really sacrifices at all: a knight on an outpost like e4 in conjunction with a passed pawn on c6 is simply worth more than a rook. And the beauty of the extra pawn(s) is you get a won ending if the opponent tries to return the exchange.

Maybe he means his hispanic neighbour, but I doubt it. And the song in question opens with the line "Looking for a friend, looking everywhere" -- which suggests the poster hasn't been looking hard enough. Whether one thinks son-of-god or palestinian-preacher whose legend got inflated over 2000 years, the man had some good ideas, such as 'Love thy neighbour'.

Or love thy neighbour even if he spells it 'nabor'.

This is the crunch position in my 5th round game with Keogh, the joint tournament winner. It may be interesting enough to upload after all, but here's a sneak preview:

click for larger view

Position after 23.exd4 Nc2, White (me) to play.

From a complex position where each player had an advanced knight, there has just been a flurry of exchanges. As White, I'd exchanged Queens on b4, exchanged bishop for knight on f6 (forcing ...gxf6) and finally played exd4. If he'd recaptured with the pawn he'd have four isolated pawn islands and I'd have much the better ending. So he played the Zwischenzug Nb4-c2, reaching the diagram with white to play.

I spent about ten minutes looking at 24.d5. He can take the rook, but then we get lines like 24.d5 Nxa1 25.dxe6 Nc2 26.e7 Rfe8 27.Nd6 Rb8 28.Nxe8 (or 28.Rc1 Rxe7 29.Rxc2 Rd7 30.Nf5) ... all with clear advantage to white. Essentially, he has to return the exchange or end up with rook against bishop and knight, and in some lines I can even hold onto the pawn on e7 without regaining the exchange.

After the game he indicated that he'd probably have played 25...fxe6 26.Rxa1. White is better here too, but I somehow convinced myself that he could quickly infiltrate my position with his active rooks.

So I chickened out, and eventually, reluctantly, played the horrible 24.Rac1. My a-pawn soon fell, and his active pieces soon invaded anyway -- and after ...Nxd4 I didn't even have the consolation of shattering his pawns. The rest of the game was downhill squirming by me.

Pure psychology. I'd won in the previous round with an exchange sac, and here was a stronger - if more complex - one. But I saw spectres, hallucinations, because I feared my opponent. Fritz (and my opponent) confirmed that 24.d5 was correct.

And 'Red Indians' were invented by imperialist warmongers to train their children in, uh, imperialist warmongery.

I'll try to look "Light" up if you recommend it. :)

The only Harrison I've read so far was Harry Harrison - West of Eden. Interesting stuff. I noted at the time also a similarity of theme (genetic engineering of plants and animals for utility) to a much less-known little novel by the name of "Copernick's Rebellion" by Leo Frankowski, which was published at approximately the same time.

The concept was also "borrowed" later by (or rather <for>) the "Neanderthals" of Robert Sawyer's "Neanderthal Parallax" series. No credits for either of the originals given anywhere, of course. :\ But then, the same series featured also a fairly exact replica of Frank Herbert's "shield" idea from Dune (defensive energy field that deflects high-speed impacts, while letting slower ones through), and many other such little idea thefts.