Especially in the 19th or early 20th century. The band has Liszt and Louis Armstrong and Jimi Hendrix ("Like the ballroom in St Patrick's cathedral, there was none in those trousers"). The ladies' tentlike dresses could sleep a regiment, and many have done.

Counts and countesses play counting games. The band plays 'I got dem ole man river Danube blues'. Walter the Softy waltzes with Lafayette, the notorious transectite. The Black Death stalks in elegantly, Steinitz in a frilly dress on his arm ...

Better stop now, or I'll start riffing about the <bell of the ball> and <the balls of the belles>.

But that's an udder story.

As for <Dom sneers at things>, fair enough. Although it depends what you mean by 'things'. I *try* not to sneer at anything that might sneer back.

Last time I was both 'young' and 'bearded' was 1981, and I don't think <mack> would admit to even *existing* back then.

I saw Black's last chance in a flash: a rook sac to exchange queens and promote the b-pawn: after 76.Kh3 the move played, ...Qxf3+, leads to stalemate. Fritz suggests a King move for Black. But 76... Rh1+ 77.Bxh1 Qg4+ 78.Qxg4 fxg4+ 79.Kxg4 b3 does the trick.

Could be some candidates here:

My own record with draws is patchy. I had seven in one tournament once, against strong opposition - but that was in the 1980s when I was harder to beat.

In recent months I've thrown away draws, eg by putting my queen en prise in a level position, while 7 minutes to 2 ahead on the clock, and lost on time with a perpetual on the board. And I've accepted draw offers while winning. I don't usually offer a draw myself unless it can be demonstrated on the board in some way ... this finicky rectitude costs me points. No guile. Sigh.

But I really like these little known draws from the depths of the database. I think we've all been guilty of checking out the decisive games and skipping the draws, with the assumption they'll be boring.

Of course I could only encounter GMs online at this point, since there are none at my club, but that whole post is a great composition. :D

<Your understanding of 'temporary' rings a big bell.>

Thought it might. ;)

<How do you *do* that? Horowitz-Pavey is *exactly* what I had in mind.>

OK, will do. I've removed that particular hypothesis from the (extremely large, eats terabytes for breakfast) mental file labelled 'things suspected or intuited'. Under 'normal' circumstances, most of my current worldview -- Weltanschauung du jour -- is in there.

I've moved it to a much smaller folder: <Pythagoras' Theorem, Fool's mate, the infinitude of prime numbers, the Riemann hypothesis, and other stuff proven beyond reasonable doubt>.

Fools Mate. Has anyone written a country song with that title? I've heard 'Fools Never Learn' and 'Fools Rush In' but this beats 'em hollow.

I'll add it to my C&W repertoire, along with

<The sign
is an ill-named thing
it'll bring you down ...>

and

<Monosodium glutamate
It's easy to say
But I can't read the labels
Since you went away ...>

Sigh.

And I'm in quite a good mood, actually, if a mood can ever be said to be good. Non-sentience is bliss, knowledge is inertia, and all that.

Fifty is just Ell's Bells, as the crossword guy might say. It's that imminent 52nd concerns me now ... will I have to play my last card? The Jack of hearts, than whom no actor anywhere was better than, though not necessarily at acting.

It's cool. Found a couple of Jokers up my sleeves. Hyeugh. Hyeugh.

I wouldn't have bothered that addle headed pratt in the first place about his grammar except for the irony of him getting all huffy and "intellectual" to <cormier>- a friend of mine- based solely on the fact that <cormier> is a believing Christian.

Plus Mr. Pratt referred to my posts on the <Granand Piano v. Top Loaf> page as "childish" based solely on the fact that they were indeed "childish."

The nerve of some people.

That <Potter> picture is indeed upsetting. There is something intrinsically insidious about Kitsch art, particularly "hobbitish" art.

Squirm. But not a *bad* squirm, as these things go. OK, G-men, you're gonna havta come in and get me ...

I must be getting old -- I find myself occasionally agreeing with RT. Well, for three or four words at a time, until he explodes.

I found a chess magazine sitting under that female GM person, if you see what I mean. Albeit a Danish chess magazine.

What's up with that? Is it thanks to their traditional zero tolerance immigration policy?

"Some children have been behaving very childishly!"

HAHAHAHAH

heh

Did you know Mozart was very talented?