Much as I predicted... the enigmatic <FroggieFarben> WAS in fact interested in your information...

Although he appears to be "fronting" for some mysterious "uncle.."

This affair is most curious.

You have the secret agent, the evil villain , the henchman....but no beautiful bond girl?

Nope, none whatsoever.

I based my theory on a glance at Golombek's book of the Fischer-Spassky match, with an intro by Arthur Koestler. Didn't he write "The Case of the Midwife Toad"? Wheels within wheels.

It's quite clear that Koestler is freely paraphrasing when he attributes "come out, chicken" to Slater. It was 1972 after all, and the spirit of gonzo journalism stalked the land.

You might enjoy Z Bogut vs Grischuk, 2008 as a good reminder that the cynical attempt to play for a draw with the Exchange line does not guarantee success.

Team White vs Team Black, 2008 which just ended was a rather original game in the Winawer (Black playing on the K-side!); I think moves 17-19 by Black make quite a Nimzowitschian impression. I don't suppose you'd care to read all the 450 combined pages of kibitzing... but you might be interested in some of the earlier kibitzing at the opening stage, especially when our team was debating whether to play the SWARM.

I never once considered the "eye angle."

I was only thinking of <Two Years Before the Mast> by Richard Henry Dana Jr., and how I kept waiting for the next scene where they were going to lash someone.

I'll have a large pint of plain, please.

And keep them coming!!

<"Croak" she cried,
Old man died,
The note he left was signed "<<<Old Father Ted,>>>"

It seems he's drowned,

Selling, England, by the pound...>

BTW lads did you see that <Matt> reposted a hilarious parody of Gilbert and Sullivan "He is an Englishman", written by <Boomie>, over in <Nigel Short's> forum?

I wonder if <Nigel> appreciated it.

Do you think he likes Gilbert and Sullivan?

Does he still think of himself as an Englishman?

I only ask because the three of us are from three different former English colonies. (New Zealand, Canada, and - heh- Ireland)

Bloody Poms... down with Oliver Cromwell!!

"When you're taking a leak
And some terrifying Greek
Checks the bathroom for hidden floozies
She says she's your wife
And you can't, on your life
Recall who you stashed in jacuzzis..."

or

And then there's this:

<Though it may seem quite incongruous And it makes so little sense to us.
She is an English Fan.
Yes she is an English Fan.

Though at times she's a bit mannish.
She would never play the Spanish.
'Cause she is an English Fan.
Yes she is an English fan.

Neither Russian, French or Catalan
because she always wants to get her man.
So she is an English Fan.
Yes she is an English fan.>

*Mannish* Say quoi? We'll have to amend that line. 'Clannish' won't do either. So maybe just

<Though she sometimes comes out swingin' It's a Reversed Scheveningen ...>

In a small town in Germany sat a pale Slav
Going "My Meran, My Meran, My Meran"
So I said to him "Vladimir, go to the lav
With your Meran, your Meran, your Meran".

Darkest of night
With the pawns shining bright
There's a set goin' strong
Lotta things goin' on
The man of the hour
Has an air of great power
The dudes have envied him for so long

(Chorus)
Oooh, Super Slav
You're gonna make your fortune by what you grab
But if you lose, don't ask no questions coz you didnt know the Slav The only game you know is the pawn grab
Ah-ha-ha

It turns out to be some kind of transdimensional being from a universe where space is discrete rather than continuous. The narrator's Coleridgean mind-state and the geometry of chess offers a brief entry to our universe.

Great story: I think I suggested the quote to <mack> for his collection of tangential chess quotes.

"My lips are sealed, sir. Wouldn't dream of mentioning that you were ever here in my humble little patch of spacetime. You can count on my discretion, sir."