|
< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 111 OF 114 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
| Jul-31-25 | | stone free or die: I'm a little surprised that the map seems to be in B&W - is that true? Still very nice.
<ChessBase> mentions it as well - the graphic showing the map zooms in and our (modern websites just can't sit still after all!) - generating some crazy Moiré patterns on my screen. https://en.chessbase.com/post/first... |
|
Jul-31-25
 | | OhioChessFan: White to play and win
click for larger view |
|
| Aug-01-25 | | stone free or die: <OCF> a good exercise to study, but not exactly easy to write-up. |
|
Aug-02-25
 | | Fusilli: <stone free or die: I'm a little surprised that the map seems to be in B&W - is that true?> It is. Maybe in reference to the black and white nature of the chess board and pieces? More likely, it would have been extraordinarily busy in color, especially because it's not too big, 30 x 50cm, or 19.69 x 27.56 inches. |
|
Aug-02-25
| | Fusilli: <OCF> I'm feeling lazy right now, but I'll take a closer look later. Right now I'm just wondering how black defends against the obvious plan. I guess I need to figure that out first in order to understand why this is a puzzle in the first place. Aging master here, with brain undergoing calcification! |
|
Aug-02-25
| | OhioChessFan: If it seems obvious, you've probably got it. It's a bit surprising White has only one winning first move. I failed to win essentially the same position last year, not seeing the key move. |
|
Aug-03-25
| | Fusilli: <OCF> Well, my first thought was Kb7 wins straightforwardly, doesn't it? And since it seems like the natural move to me, I started to wonder if there was any trick for black. I couldn't find any. Now that you said it's the only move that wins, I see that Ka7 only draws. |
|
Aug-03-25
| | Fusilli: Arggghhh...
Blitz on chess.com
I am black. White just played Ke4-d4.
Black to play. I missed it.
click for larger view |
|
Aug-03-25
| | OhioChessFan: Kf5 was my first instinct and after looking at it, seems best. Not close to winning. |
|
| Aug-04-25 | | areknames: ...b5 should win. Black will then consolidate with a6 and eventually his bishop will find its way to b2 or capture g3. The old good bishop vs bad never, well, gets old. |
|
Aug-04-25
 | | moronovich: -b5 ! must be the first move and white is in a sort of
zugzwang.
The rest looks like more or less plain sailing. |
|
Aug-04-25
| | OhioChessFan: Looked some more and b5 looks winning. |
|
Aug-04-25
| | Fusilli: Hi everyone,
Yes, ...b5 wins. No immediate tactical shot, but it positionally settles it. Black wins. My blitz strategy failed me. Let me elaborate.
I am not fast enough at blitz, so my best play is with 2-second increments. I typically play 3m - 2sec increments. Most of the time, I use more time than my opponent, but I play well. I get <very> low on the clock but rally at the end. In the position I showed, I was down to 19 seconds and my opponent had a minute 45! My opponent had had the upper hand most of the game and I guess he was pissed he was no longer winning (hence he played, fast, his losing king move). I should have kept my nerves of steel, but got nervous I would not survive with my opponent's very fast play, so I played Be7 too fast and missed b5. |
|
| Aug-05-25 | | stone free or die: It's actually instructive to play out ...Kf5 to see why it doesn't work. (Especially where White gets b5 in first) |
|
Aug-16-25
| | Fusilli: Going through Steven Johnson's "The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic – and How it Changed Science, Cities and the Modern World." And loving it. This review on Good Reads made me cracked up at Starbucks. People must have envied my joy: <WARNING: Do not read this review if you are squeamish. Or eating.This book is about cholera, and as a result, the author uses an impressive number of words for @#$%--including excrement, ordure, human waste, and the Victorian euphemism night soil. And @#$%, of course. Johnson explains that a key question in the development of civilization has always been "What are we going to do with all this @#$%?" This book dramatically improved my vocabulary regarding topics related to 1850s London. For instance: miasmatist: someone who believes that bad-smelling air rather than germs or bacteria cause disease (Florence Nightingale was a miasmatist) pure-finder: someone who finds dogshit and sells it to tanners to use in the leathermaking processs toshers: trash-pickers
mudlarks: children who scavenge junk that toshers don't want scavenger classes: pure-finders, toshers, mudlarks, and others in the recycling business rice-water stool: don't ask
Johnson's previous books have been about how the mind works, so Ghost Map is really more about how people map information and adapt to innovations than it is a straightforward history of a particular epidemic. He writes that cholera is "a supremely dark chapter in the book of death" and points out how wrong it is that people are still dying of this preventable, treatable disease. I learned that this is not a good audiobook to listen to when cooking dinner. However, it is a great audiobook to listen to when cleaning. My kitchen and bathrooms have never been more thoroughly disinfected.> |
|
Aug-16-25
| | Fusilli: Pffff... the website here changed the actual word that starts in s and ends in t with the expletive symbols. The actual review has the actual word. |
|
Aug-17-25
 | | offramp: <User: Fusilli>: here's a different type of monstrosity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lant
<"Lant is agèd urine."> How gauche!!
Lant is collected by members of his family.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1782667/
(Matt Lanter.) |
|
Aug-17-25
| | Fusilli: <ooframp> Interesting! Although I never used the word monstrosity. I think we should recycle and reuse everything recyclable and reusable, as long as it makes sense. The disgusting aspect of it is something that, if pressed, we should be able to manage. I am finding the book I mentioned fascinating! |
|
| Aug-18-25 | | stone free or die: RE: Lant
<the whole town was expected to contribute to its supply.> Talk about community! |
|
Sep-03-25
 | | keypusher: < Fusilli: <keypusher> <I am afraid so.> lol
My dad was a lawyer and my family expected me to follow on his footsteps and inherit his practice. But at the time of choosing what to do in college, I wanted something that mixed the study of social issues and statistics, so I went for econ. (Then I got a PhD in demography and ended up being a professor of sociology, so I am a social sciences hybrid.) I do like the law quite a bit though, I have always had lawyer friends, I follow SCOTUS with interest... It may become my profession in my next life! That or third world peasant, we'll see. But you said you work in NYC... Living in TN?> That's funny, a lot of people have told me I should have been a history teacher instead of a lawyer, and they're probably right. I'm not giving the money back, though. Yes, my firm agreed to let me work remotely permanently during 2020, when the whole world lost its mind, as you may remember. I live in fear than sanity will return (to my firm; I've pretty much given up on the world). |
|
Sep-04-25
| | OhioChessFan: Most players would look at this and immediately say, "Impossible." But indeed, White can move and win. 
click for larger view |
|
| Sep-04-25 | | stone free or die: I don't understand, can't the Black pawns just get picked off one-by-one? Is there a Black piece missing?
(Checked with engine - ok, only two pawns need capturing.) |
|
Sep-05-25
| | OhioChessFan: Oh duh I messed up the position. I'll fix it ASAP. |
|
Sep-05-25
| | OhioChessFan: Let's try this again. White to play and win:
click for larger view |
|
Sep-05-25
 | | WannaBe: Well, white have to move the queen, because everyone else is locked in. (Just to state the "Obvious") So, how does white gain an advantage? However small? |
|
 |
|
|
< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 111 OF 114 ·
Later Kibitzing> |
Kibitzing
