User Profile: Phony Benoni

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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.

>> Click here to see Phony Benoni's game collections.

   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 ...

indicates a reply to the comment.

Living in the Past

< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 682 OF 914 · Later Kibitzing>
Jun-17-15		OhioChessFan: <Penguin> I was wondering how I missed that and went to have a look. To my surprise, I'd been there a short 7 years ago although I have zero memory of having done so.

Jun-17-15		WannaBe: Cards have started internal investigation into the hackin' allegation: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/1... So far, no one's come out & start singin' like a Red Bird. =))

Jun-17-15		WannaBe: How bad is it for the Phillies? They left the (bullpen) phone off the hook! http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-b...

Jun-17-15		Jim Bartle: The bullpen phone is such a quaint anachronism.

Jun-17-15		WannaBe: I am surprised no one was on the top of the dugout with two flags and sending semaphore to the bullpen. A la shades of "Naked Gun".

Jun-17-15		Phony Benoni: That's why pitchers almost always pitched complete games in the early days. No bullpen phones!

Jun-17-15		Penguincw: Very nice to see the Indians turn a joke into a donation. :) http://m.mlb.com/news/article/13127...

Jun-17-15		Travis Bickle: Yo Phony The Cubs wanted to help Detroit out by pounding the Indians tonight 17-0! ; P

Jun-17-15		WannaBe: I am not going to comment for at least two more innings (SF @ Seattle)

Jun-18-15		Phony Benoni: Thanks, Travis! Tigers doing to best to reciprocate against the Reds, but it's a tough one.

Jun-18-15		WannaBe: Some Truly Useless Information (TUI): http://espn.go.com/blog/jayson-star... But I did learn, that Ty Cobb made 3 (career) pitching appearances!!

Jun-18-15		Jim Bartle: Jayson Stark is an outstanding writer. He knows how to use odd statistics to make a story interesting.

Jun-18-15		WannaBe: Ted Williams, Foxx, Musial all have pitched!? (Last tidbit) http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/1...

Jun-18-15		Jim Bartle: I'll bet you'll find a lot of position players were pitchers in college. I think Dave Kingman pitched for USC, and Bob Boone pitched for Stanford.

Jun-18-15		Phony Benoni: What happened a lot, I believe, was that at the youngest levels the most talented kid became the pitcher. On the other hand, I wonder if Bob Buhl or Ron Herbel were position players at any time in their lives.

Jun-18-15		Jim Bartle: Definitely. In the same way the best players were typically shortstops in high school, American Legion, etc. and moved to other positions as they moved up in professional baseball. Mantle and Aaron both started as shortstop.

Jun-19-15		keypusher: <WannaBe> Thanks for that, but I was a little puzzled by this entry. <Rocky Colavito's throwing arm was legendary during his career as a major league right fielder and that throwing ability seemed to translate to the pitching mound, too. Early in his career, Colavito was called on to relieve Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm in the second game of a doubleheader and proved quite competent in his three scoreless innings of work. But it was Colavito's outing a decade later that is even more memorable.> Why? What did he do? Mr. Stark doesn't tell us. But the internet comes to the rescue: http://itsaboutthemoney.net/archive...

Jun-19-15		Jim Bartle: My friends and I talked a lot about Rocky Colavito in the late 60s/early 60s. Mainly because he was hitting 40 home runs a year and looked like the classic athlete, but also because of his tremendous arm. One of the things we always heard was, "He could be a pitcher if necessary." Stark refers to the number of runners Colavito threw out in his career. I don't think there is a more unreliable statistic in baseball, as every outfield assist is due to a decision by a baserunner to take an extra base. So it's possible the outfielder with the best arm might not have a single assist, and a bumbler with no arm like Lonnie Smith might have quite a few (because runners always try to take a base against him). Of course it doesn't happen to that extreme, but total number of assists isn't all that revealing a stat taken by itself.

Jun-19-15		Phony Benoni: <keypusher> Believe me, I didn't need no Internet to remember that game. I was watching it on television! http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/... The best explanation for Colavito's use lies in what happened two nights previously: http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/... I don't know which is more impressive, Hiller's four-hit complete game shutout or McDaniel's 7 perfect innings of relief. And note that this was the second game of a doubleheader. The American League had a 1 AM curfew in those days. ----- I think infielders generally make better emergency pitchers than otufielders, regardless of arm strength. It's a matter of control. An outfielder's throw can be off by several feet and still be effective. Infielders has less room for error.

Jun-19-15		Jim Bartle: When I watch videos of games from the past, I'm surprised at how many seemingly obvious points, things which became news afterward, are never mentioned. The famous play in game seven seven of the 1991 Series where Lonnie Smith didn't score from first on the double, fooled by the Twins infielders? Not mentioned. Norm Cash batting with a table leg against Nolan Ryan? Not mentioned (at least in one I saw.) In the 1972 Rose Bowl a Stanford player tried to run out a missed field goal and was hit on the two, and driven back into the end zone. Refs called a safety, a ridiculous call. Not a peep from the announcers. (One was the dimwitted Curt Gowdy, so not really a surprise.) Announcers just didn't seem to pay close attention or didn't want ot rock the boat. Today every little thing is analyzed, perhaps overanalyzed. Yesterday I was watching the Oakland-Houston playoff game from 1980. The OIlers QB was Kenny Stabler, who of course had been the Oakland QB up to that year. Houston's offense permitted Oakland to sack Stabler over and over. He was defenseless. But the Raider guys always tackled him up by the shoulders and pulled him down. They never gave him big hit, and didn't hit him after he threw. After a play whistled dead where Matuszak tackled Stabler, the two sat on the ground talking for about 15 seconds. It couldn't have been more obvious. Not a word from the announcers.

Jun-19-15		Penguincw: Dodgers win 1-0 on a walk-off balk yesterday (only team in at least 42 seasons to score their only run on a balk in a 1-0 victory)! http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...

Jun-19-15		Phony Benoni: A balk-off?

Jun-19-15		Phony Benoni: I posted this on the Stumpers page a couple of years ago, where it was ignored. Perhaps that should have told me something. <You could argue there is no limit to the number of hits a team can get in an inning without scoring, since the inning can always be washed out due to weather. But here's another one for you. A team's leadoff hitter comes to the plate in all nine innings. What is the fewest number of runs his team can score?> I bring this up mainly because I just thought of a second, and perhaps simpler scenario that leads to the same answer.

Jun-19-15		WannaBe: 3 runs an inning?

Jun-19-15		WannaBe: Well, now... I just read the question a bit more carefully. <... A team's leadoff hitter comes to the plate in all nine innings. What is...> It did not say the leadoff hitter led off each inning! Hence, could/would the answer of 27 (3 x 9 innings) be wrong(??), if: Inning #1: Lead off batter (Of course, Duh!!!) Inning #2: Lead off batter was the second batter or third batter, or fourth batter? In such scenario, the lead off batter would have 2 at-bats in inning #1, which is not clearly stated/asked in the question. I automatically assumed the batter only have one at-bat per inning. =) If the lead off batter is the fourth to hit in inning #2, the team could score runs. And have the lead off batter hit in inning #3 but not score in inning #3. This would mean more runs were scored in inning #1 & #2. But would the average still be 3 runs per inning??? Hmmmmmm.

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