Don't use the Ignore feature. Ever.>

Well, it's a handy way to avoid pseudo-intellectual pretenders.

I'd like to back <Domdaniel>'s suggestion that <...maybe you should have a link to the Karpov-Korchnoi 1974 match in Moscow, which effectively decided the title?>

That final candidates match was a hard fought 24-game match (won by 12.5-11.5 by Karpov, naturally), which was of course twice as long as our present day world championship matches. Even the quarter finals and semi finals were longer than our modern day world championship matches: http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/737....

Man, no wonder I failed bowling in college. I bet I missed that question on the final exam.

Why don't we call it "rolling" anyway? Would make sense to me.

I mean, look at curling. If you can stand to. Olympic sport my eye!

Who's curling and what are they curling? I can curl a bicep or a beer bottle. Europeans and their stupid games. Try football, you losers! There's a real sport! Not like darts, soccer, or snooker! Loser games for losers!

Has the <PARSER> been improved?

In the old days, the following itemized list would have been jumbled together; today it is properly rendered.

Thanks

---

<EPHIPHANY>

A whole family of parameterized <VISUALIZATIONS>:

Moreover, the suggestion of <1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6> is far too pedestrian for a thematic. The point of a thematic is to force players to investigate openings that are presumed by many to be unsound: the openings that we would never expect to see played in a normal event. We don't believe that those moves meet that criteria, even if you tack on <3.Nc3 c5>.

On the other hand if we use a stem game such as Kasparov vs Nunn, 1982 we could go perhaps as deeply as <1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.f4>. While many players regard White as distinctly better in that position, some Benoni adherents will claim that Nunn's problems came only later: perhaps 9...Na6!? could be improved. Plus there is the wildly complicated 8...Nbd7!? variation.

Another classic stem-game for thematics is the Immortal Draw Hamppe vs Meitner, 1872. There, play could begin after 3...Bxf2+ (or perhaps after 4.Kxf2 to save time).

While we're naming odd openings, there are probably are a few people still itching for a rematch against that St. George Defense which achieved a draw in our very first Team Game: Chessgames Challenge: Team White vs Team Black, 2006.

We appreciate the Benoni debate and if that's where the interest lies, so be it. Perhaps the best and most fair approach would be to have a round of nominations for openings, and then a round of voting. In the end you'll be choosing among a long list that would include not just the Benoni / Taimanov, but also the King's Gambit (or Muzio gambit), the Cochrane Gambit, the Perenyi Gambit, the Traxler Variation, the Diemer-Duhm gambit, the Halloween Attack, the Immortal Draw variation, just to name a few.

In principle a thematic game should demand a rematch with colors reversed; only in that way can you neutralize the injustice of forcing people to play unsound moves. Possibly the two games could be conducted concurrently.

Can we please have a forum for the <2011 SAINT LOUIS INVITATIONAL>?

Thanks

TWIC COVERAGE -> http://www.chess.co.uk/twic/chessne...

Since computers will be allowed, the thematic opening shouldn't be one in which the compensation for "unsoundess" is strictly tactical. Something like the Muzio Gambit would make it too easy for the team accepting the gambit to avoid the traps normal humans would miss.

Instead, it should feature an opening where immediate material or positional gains are compensated for by long-term positional and attacking possibilites. Classic examples would be the Benko Gambit or the Poison Pawn Sicilian, though there are probably plenty of currently popular lines with this characteristic.

A King's Gambit Accepted might also be interesting, as it can be approached positionally as well as tactically.

As for the Benoni ... well, I thought you were talking about unsound lines. But it's an interesting possibility; since both sides have their trumps, there would plenty of tension in the position. And I would allow the Taimanov. My experience is that Black loses in that line tactically more often than positionally, so the computer should help.

I have sent an email, but thought it might also help to post here that we have a new <Rinus Award> winner for contributions to the World Game against GM Akobian. thanks.

World Thematic Tournament (ICCF) Ben Oni <1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5> starts 1. November 2011.

Also, the Modern Benoni <1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6> is a common theme.

<hms123> Thanks and congratulations to karpkasp.