chessgames.com
Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players · Kibitzing
 
Chessgames.com User Profile Chessforum

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.

Chessgames.com Full Member

   Phony Benoni has kibitzed 18635 times to chessgames   [more...]
   Jun-11-22 M Blau vs Keres, 1959 (replies)
 
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 (replies)
 
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 (replies)
 
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 (replies)
 
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 (replies)
 
Phony Benoni: SkinnVer Here Among the Fold?
 
   Jun-09-22 Flohr vs Bondarevsky, 1947 (replies)
 
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 ...
 
(replies) indicates a reply to the comment.

Living in the Past

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 197 OF 914 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Jul-14-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: Looks like a bad year for incumbents, even at the All-Star Game.

Anyone catch Valverde's performance in the ninth inning? After years of riding the roller coaster with Todd Jones and Fernando Rodney, that's the sort of thing we're seeing now in Detroit. It's a weird feeling.

Jul-14-10  Jim Bartle: The announcers on my channel were Rick Sutcliffe and Gary Thorne. Sutcliffe was saying it's a good thing pitchers don't bat in the AL, or Valverde would spend a lot of time in the dirt with that little hop and spin he does after a strikeout.

Sutcliffe was laughing, but you could tell he didn't like it. He said Jeter and some of the AL players were stifling laughter and making a lot of comments.

Jul-14-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: I'm not a fan of overcelebrating, and getting pumped up over each out is a bit much for my taste. But in this case, I think the other teams are taking it too personally. Valverde's celebrations look like an internal reaction, not a personal triumph over a specific person. If he was making it personal by doing something like finger-pointing, that would be different.

Or maybe I'm just being a hometown rooter.

If a person is looking for trouble, they'll find some even if they have to create it themselves. I imagine if he just stood there without emotion, they'd be mad because he was acting as though striking them out was no big deal.

Sutcliffe, by the way, needs to go in for a 3,000 broadcast cliché overhaul. Valverde pitched in the NL for seven years before coming to the Tigers, and didn't get broken of the habit. Of course, as a closer he had only two at-bats in those seven years, so that old bromide didn't apply anyway.

Jul-14-10  Jim Bartle: Sutcliffe is in fact a master of the cliche and overreaction to every little thing on the field. He's very pleasant overall, but his overpraising of ever tiny, obvious thing gets old fast.

He's also one of those guys (with plenty of company) who judges the quality of every pitch by result. If a guy swings and misses, what a great pitch! If a guy hits the exact same pitch, it was a fat one, left out over the plate.

Jul-15-10  playground player: <Phony Benoni> Sorry, PB, but your opinion in this matter doesn't count--you were obviously contaminated by Mark Fidrych and his antics on the mound.

I don't remember--did The Bird pitch in an All-Star game? And if he did, did he confer with the baseball while on the mound?

Jul-15-10  Jim Bartle: Fidrych talked to the ball, but I don't think he celebrated after a strikeout. (Of course, K's were few and far between for him.) Does anybody remember the time Graig Nettles stepped out against the Bird and started talking to his bat? Pointed to the rightfield stands and motioned with his hand where the bat needed to send the ball.
Jul-15-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: <playground player> Fidrych was just goofy. It wasn't like he was trying to intimidate or show any one up; he was what he was, and I think the other teams understood that. Or maybe I'm just being unduly partial again!

Fidrych started the All-Star game that year, with his usual antics. Fans would have been disappointed otherwise. Indeed, other clubs began asking the Tigers to change their rotation so that Fidrych would pitch in their stadiums.

The Nettles story supposedly ended with him striking out and saying, "Stupid Japanese bat. Doesn't understand a word of English."

Jul-15-10  Deus Ex Alekhina: Phony, do have any mention of a Global World Series, Sept 1957, played at Briggs Stadium in your voluminous volumes? I can find scant reference while searching the internet. My father took me & my sister & we sat right next to the Japanese dugout & the Japs were surprisingly the crowd favorites against the Americans. As I remember, the Japanese won when an American home run was for some reason disallowed (maybe it was caught for an out - but the Americans rounded the bases & the score was posted, then reversed with no explanation). My older sister gestured to one player, asking him to autograph her program - and then he disappeared into the dugout, then came out after a few minutes with the entire team having autographed in a circular manner as if the rays of the rising sun. The Japanese flag! Sweet.
Jul-15-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: There's some information at http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm... . Down near the bottom, we find:

<In 1957 Paul was invited to join the national champion Sinton (TX) Oilers team representing the United States in the third annual (and final) Global World Series, a round-robin competition matching non-professional baseball teams from eight countries on four continents. The tournament was the creation of Milwaukee industrialist (and Paul's team's sponsor) Dick Falk and former baseball commissioner Happy Chandler.

"Dick Falk was ahead of his time," Paul declares. "He used to say, 'We all don't speak the same language, but baseball is something we all understand.'"

The 1957 games were played in Detroit's Briggs Stadium. The US team was the prohibitive favorite. Led by Paul's two triples and former New York Giant Clint Hartung's winning RBI single, the Oilers won their opening game against Colombia in 10 innings. Japan surprised the hosts, though, and defeated the United States, 3-2, and won the tournament.

"The reason we lost," Paul explains, "is our pitcher was running and missed third base. It cost us a run." The only consolation for Paul was that he was named Outstanding Outfielder in the series.>

This is very incomplete. The tournament used a double elimination format, so the United States was not eliminated until they lost 8-0 a few days later to Canada. The Canadians played the Japanese in the final, losing 4-2 in ten innings.

There's a lot more information on the Canadian team, which featured a young Ron Fairly. Here's a few pictures:

http://www.attheplate.com/wcbl/1957...

And a full account from the Canadian side, including the exciting playoff series that sent them to Detroit:

http://www.attheplate.com/wcbl/1957...

By the way, I'm pretty sure it's a different Ernie Nevers.

As for more information on the actual Japan - United States game, well, still looking. Odd how whenever the U.S. loses, the information seems to disappear.

Jul-16-10  A.G. Argent: Uh-oh. Eldrick bogied the first two holes, fairly easy holes at that. +2 after three. He could be in trouble. Making the cut could be an issue. Pretty windy there, though. Actually suspended play this morning for a while because of the windier than usual conditions.
Jul-16-10  playground player: <Phony Benoni> Greg Nettles had an unusual relationship with his bats. In his first season with the Yanks (1973, if memory serves), he tore up the league in April... until suddenly the top of the bat fell off and all these little super-balls rolled out. Good thing for Greg he had absolutely no idea who could've tampered with his bat.
Jul-16-10  Deus Ex Alekhina: <PB> Thanks - the explanation that the pitcher, while running, missed the bag might be the reason a 3 run home run was disallowed for the American team.
Jul-17-10  Jim Bartle: I'm watching some of the British Open and just saw something you see a lot in recreational rounds, but not often in pro tournaments.

A guy had a really terrible hole (lost ball, shots in the deep rough, picking up the ball which was in play), and afterward the camera caught him looking back and pointing to the spots of his shots and counting: one there, two, three over there. Probably made a lot of hackers feel better.

I think he had a 9.

And how about this? The young guy McIlroy who started with a 63 and followed it unbelievably with an 80, had a 69 today. That takes a lot more mental strength than I have.

Jul-17-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: Or a lot less wind. They may have to move the British Open to a dome to equalize the conditions.
Jul-18-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  WannaBe: Oh, baseball gurus (yeah, all of you guys and gals), do you know, of any player(s), that have stopped short of taking a base, just so he can get the cycle?

E.g. stopping at first when he could have easily gotten a double, because he was a single away from a cycle?

Jul-18-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: <WannaBe> Here's a contemporary report of this happening to Jeff Frye of the Blue Jays. No doubt, this is just one instance of many:

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2001...

Here's the box score from Retrosheet:

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/...

Note that the Blue Jays were ahead 11-2 at the time. I would certainly hope so. Pulling such a stunt with the game still in the balance should not be tolerated.

In my opinion, the same applies to trying for an extra base to get the cycle, though that would be more justifiable.

Jul-18-10  Jim Bartle: Say you had a homer, a single, and a double. You hit a ball over the wall. How do you get a triple?

Can you just miss home plate and not come back to touch? Does that give you a triple?

Jul-18-10  Travis Bickle: <Phony Benoni: Or a lot less wind. They may have to move the British Open to a dome to equalize the conditions.> Yes a dome would also be very effective in late December & January when sub below zero temps & snowfall could impact the golf. ; P
Jul-18-10  Travis Bickle: <Jim Bartle: Say you had a homer, a single, and a double. You hit a ball over the wall. How do you get a triple?

Can you just miss home plate and not come back to touch? Does that give you a triple?> I'd call that an out. Marked as a homerun and failure to touch home plate.

Jul-18-10  Jim Bartle: "Yes a dome would also be very effective in late December & January when sub below zero temps & snowfall could impact the golf. ; P"

Just change to a brightly-colored ball. What's the big deal?

Jul-18-10  A.G. Argent: Triples are hard enough in general and it's gotta be on-average, anyway, the pretty rapid guys that get 'em but Friday, ex-Giant (sorry, Jim) Bengie Molina (after hitting a grand salaam for his homer) gets his triple to attain the Cycle and he's got the hops of a sumo wrestler. But they're always dramatic and great fun.
Jul-18-10  Jim Bartle: Bengie Molina hit a triple? Must have hit the wall and bounced away from the outfielder.
Jul-18-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: <JB> If the batter hits the ball over the fence and doesn't touch a base (either deliberately or by mistake), he can be called out on appeal by the other team. In such a case, he would get credit for the last base touched, so that would be a cheap way of getting a triple.

A similar instance occurred in Harvey Haddix's near perfect game. Joe Adcock hit a home run, but passed Hank Aaron on the base paths. He had touched second base at the time, so he received credit for a double.

Next time you see highlights of a walk off home run, tune out to the celebration and look for the home plate umpire. I can guarantee you he'll be watching to be sure the plate is touched.

Jul-18-10
Premium Chessgames Member
  Phony Benoni: This is not a slow motion replay:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp...

<"Pigs have flown in Boston, Massachusetts!">

Jul-18-10  Travis Bickle: Phony I dedicate this clip to your forum! ; P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWoD...

Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 914)
search thread:   
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 197 OF 914 ·  Later Kibitzing>

NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion.

Please observe our posting guidelines:

  1. No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language.
  2. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts.
  3. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members.
  4. Nothing in violation of United States law.
  5. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members.
  6. No trolling.
  7. The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited.
  8. Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers.

Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times.

Blow the Whistle

See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator.


NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific user only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors.
All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration.

You are not logged in to chessgames.com.
If you need an account, register now;
it's quick, anonymous, and free!
If you already have an account, click here to sign-in.

View another user profile:
   
Home | About | Login | Logout | F.A.Q. | Profile | Preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | Biographer's Bistro | New Kibitzing | Chessforums | Tournament Index | Player Directory | Notable Games | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Store | Privacy Notice | Contact Us

Copyright 2001-2025, Chessgames Services LLC