Phony Benoni Member since Feb-10-06 · Last seen Jun-11-22 Greetings, O Seeker After Knowledge! You have arrived in Dearborn, Michigan (whether you like it or not), and are reading words of wisdom from a player rated 2938--plus or minus 1000 points. However, I've retired from serious play--not that I ever took playing chess all that seriously. You only have to look at my games to see that. These days I pursue the simple pleasures of finding games that are bizarre or just plain funny. I'd rather enjoy a game than analyze it. For the record, my name is David Moody. This probably means nothing to you unless you're a longtime player from Michigan, though it's possible that if you attended any US Opens from 1975-1999 we might have crossed paths. Lucky you. If you know me at all, you'll realize that most of my remarks are meant to be humorous. I do this deliberately, so that if my analysis stinks to High Heaven I can always say that I was just joking. As you can undoubtedly tell from my sparkling wit, I'm a librarian in my spare time. Even worse, I'm a cataloger, which means I keep log books for cattle. Also, I'm not one of those extroverts who sit at the Reference Desk and help you with research. Instead, I spend all day staring at a computer screen updating and maintaining information in the library's catalog. The general public thinks Reference Librarians are dull. Reference Librarians think Catalogers are dull. My greatest achievement in chess, other than tricking you into reading this, was probably mating with king, bishop and knight against king in a tournament game. I have to admit that this happened after an adjournment, and that I booked up like crazy before resuming. By the way, the fact I have had adjourned games shows you I've been around too long. My funniest moment occurred when I finally got a chance to pull off a smothered mate in actual play. You know, 1.Nf7+ Kg8 2.Nh6+ Kh8 3.Qg8+ Rxg8 4.Nf7#. When I played the climactic queen check my opponent looked at the board in shocked disbelief and said, "But that's not mate! I can take the queen!" Finally, I must confess that I once played a positional move, back around 1982. I'll try not to let that happen again.

Phony Benoni has kibitzed 18634 times to chessgames   [more...]

Jun-11-22 M Blau vs Keres, 1959    Phony Benoni: Not a good recommendation for the DERLD. Out of 59 moves, White makes only three in Black's half of the board. And two of those conist of 3.Bb5 and 6.Bxc6.      Jun-11-22 chessgames.com chessforum    Phony Benoni: Er, it's back. Karpov vs Timman, 1988      Jun-10-22 Orlo Milo Rolo   Phony Benoni: Marco!      Jun-10-22 Lilienthal vs Bondarevsky, 1947   Phony Benoni: Another one for you King Hunters. Black's monarch travels fron g8 to b8, then takes the Great Circle Route back to h3 before calling it a day.      Jun-10-22 GrahamClayton chessforum    Phony Benoni: <GrahamClayton> I've posted a question for you at L T Magee vs J Holland, 1948      Jun-10-22 L T Magee vs E L Holland, 1948    Phony Benoni: <GrahamClayton> The source you cite, <Chess Review, May 1948, p. 24>, gives Black's name as <E Holland> "Chess Life" (June 5, 1948, p. 1) has a table of results giving <E L Holland>. That form also appears in USCF rating supplements for a player fro ...      Jun-09-22 Biographer Bistro    Phony Benoni: SkinnVer Here Among the Fold?      Jun-09-22 Flohr vs Bondarevsky, 1947    Phony Benoni: Black's bishop makes me think of Godzilla emerging from the depths of the ocean to wreak havoc. However, in the end it's his Two Little Friends who steal the show. Well, maybe not so litt.      Jun-06-22 W Ritson-Morry vs G T Crown, 1947   Phony Benoni: it was the last round. Rison-Morry was mired in last place. These things happen.      Jun-06-22 W Adams vs M Kagan, 1947   Phony Benoni: Some more informztion. The game was published in <Chess Review>, March 1948, p. 23. Black's name is given as "M Kagan", and the location as "Massachusetts". There is no other game data, but I think we can now safely assume Black is <Milton Kagan>. Earlier in the ...

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Living in the Past

< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 402 OF 914 ·  Later Kibitzing> Jul-31-12    Jim Bartle: Just watched Michael Phelps come in second in the 200 Butterfly, even though he led the whole way and his body was ahead of the winner's at the end. Seems the butterfly, since both arms go up and back together, is susceptible to the fluke of where the arms are at the end. The Frenchman (sorry, no name) was at the point of arms outstretched, while Phelps had his arms at his side. The other choice for Phelps would have been to coast in and not take another stroke. But I think he tried that last time and it cost him the race as well. Jul-31-12    Phony Benoni: Well, Phelps has had enough flukes go his way. Remember that one-hundredth of a second gold medal? He might have done better not to come back; there's no doubt he's lost his edge. And the team might be better without him. Jul-31-12    Jim Bartle: True. It just seems strange that in swimming the person who's actually ahead can come in second just because of the mechanics of the stroke. All I can think of about Phelps is that once again he's worked incredibly hard for four more years when he had nothing left to prove. These swimmers train harder than seems possible. Jul-31-12    hms123: <Jim Bartle> The same thing can happen in horse racing. When it is really close, the horse's noses change leads in time with the rhythm of the running of the two horses. It's just luck which nose crosses the line first. Jul-31-12    WannaBe: I wonder if it's 'legal' for a sprinter to touch/break the tape with their hand(s) instead of their chest. And would a more buxom gal have an advantage... Jul-31-12    Jim Bartle: There's no tape any more (too bad), but it's the head or torso that counts, I think. Jul-31-12    Phony Benoni: Torso, according to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprint... I think the "double Photocell" may refer to one on each side of the athlete. A hand might trip one cell, but not both. Jul-31-12    WannaBe: Potential no-hitter alert, Pit-Chi, A.J. Burnett for Pittsburgh. Jul-31-12    WannaBe: There goes the no-no... Jul-31-12    Phony Benoni: <WannaBe> Since you seem to be interested, here is kibitz #10,000: Karpov vs Korchnoi, 1978 Aug-01-12    SwitchingQuylthulg: There are still tapes sometimes in American meets, but even then they don't factor in anywhere when it comes to determining the winner :) Aug-01-12    WannaBe: Jose Canseco filed for bankruptcy in NV. Aug-01-12    WannaBe: Very funny article. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20... Aug-01-12    Phony Benoni: I imagine that the problem was not that they weren't giving 100% in the preliminary round. If that was the criterion for disqualification, would Michael Phelps have any medals at all? No, it was just that they were so blatant about it, and after being warned. A better way would have been to show up late blaming traffic or other problems, get forfeited, angrily appeal, then accept the final decision with good grace. The rules of competition need to be looked at here. If players can improve their chances for a gold medal by losing, why wouldn't they? And anyone who has ever rooted for a NFL or NBA team to lose to get a better draft pick can't really make the "noble" and "moral" argument either. Set it up so that prelimnary results count toward the final score, and throwing matches may not be such a good strategy. I can understand their action, but I don't know if it's a good idea for psychological reasons. First, deliberately tanking can instill a mindset of losing; it's not always easy to turn it back on. Secondly, by trying to exclude a superior team from the Finals, they are demonstrating a fear of the other team. Admitting a lack of confidence can't be a good attitude to have. Aug-01-12    WannaBe: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/olympi... Aug-01-12    Jim Bartle: In the badminton cases, officials said the pairs were clearly hoping to win in order to get a lower seeding, since they thought that would give them an easier opponent in the next round. But the rules are also at fault, as you say, PB. They shouldn't create any situation where losing is beneficial. (Playing intentional ties in the last game of a preliminary round of the World Cup when it meant both teams would advance. That problem's been solved.) In the NBA there are cases where losing may seem to be the thing to do, and not just for draft position. (And the lottery took away a lot of the incentive there, since worst record doesn't autormatically get the first pick.) What can happen, for example, is that the team with the #3 record is considered much better than the #2 team, for whatever reason. Since #7 plays #2 and #6 plays #3, that creates an incentive to try to end up with the #7 spot rather than #6. Aug-01-12    WannaBe: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8... Bring back Co-Ed-Beer Softball!!! CSI Box Score, No idea, the only Doyle I knew, was Alexander, the only Mann I knew, was Manfred, and James Thrope, and Toney. I have to get the answer at the bottom of the article. Aug-01-12    Jim Bartle: CSI Box Score: Merkle gives me the era, and I see Thorpe on the other team, so that's probably Jim, an Olympic hero. Otherwise, one team had a no-hitter, the other a two-hitter. That's got to be pretty rare. Aug-02-12    Phony Benoni: As soon as I saw "Thorpe", I knew it just about had to be this game: http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/... One book I read to pieces was "My Greatest Day in Baseball", in which players recounted their most memorable games. James "Hippo" Vaughn described this one. In the 10th, after Kopf got the first hit, he worked his way over to third base with two outs. Thorpe hit a weak dribbler down the third base line. Vaughn fielded it, but knew he had no chance to get Thorpe at first and shoveled it home instead. The ball got to the plate in time, but the catcher was so surprised by the play that he dropped it. The run scored, and that was that. Aug-02-12    Jim Bartle: Did Vaughn call it a walk-off dribbler? And I guess Hippo was actually a decent fielder. Aug-02-12    Phony Benoni: No walk-off; it was the top of the inning. Aug-02-12    Jim Bartle: The Dodgers have cut Bobby Abreu. I guess he just can't play the outfield any more. This could be the end of a very good career, though maybe he could catch on as a DH in the American League or a pinch-hitter for a contender. Aug-02-12    WannaBe: <Jim Bartle> He was with Angels earlier this year before LAA let him go and LAD picked him up. Aug-02-12    WannaBe: Unbelievable, Cy Young is pitching for the Mets against the Giants (B. Zito) later. Aug-02-12    WannaBe: Sour grape? Sore losers? Conspiracy theory? http://sports.yahoo.com/news/olympi... Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 914) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 402 OF 914 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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