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Jan-15-11
 | | Annie K.: <The dummy? Something to do with the insanity rate, I think. Maybe the premise was sound, but out by a decade or so.> As the greatest Hungarian comedian, Hofi Géza, said in one of his skits: 'This here is the Closed Ward. Really, I closed it myself.' |
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Jan-15-11
 | | Domdaniel: <Annie> Quite a synchro-jinx city, that, eh? I believe Hungarian comedy transcended mere humour centuries ago. It's not about being funny. It's about being broken in an interesting way. Which is funny, really. I took the quick draw option wot is the prerogative of the higher rated player, as White, in the 3rd game of the day. With luck, I'll still have some functioning braincells in the morning. On the other hand, I'm on 2.5/4, having played nobody who should normally detain me for long. Chess is too hard.
The venue is something called the Food Science building, a modernist edifice which I can see from my front door. But, as it's the weekend, both the front gate and the side door are locked and chained. So I have to walk in a giant loop and approach from the far side. In heavy rain. Last night I tried to climb a ten foot fence to escape the place. Luckily I chickened out when balanced on top of it, as I was about to kill myself. Or break myself in an interesting way, at least. |
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Jan-15-11
| | Annie K.: Uh, don't do that. Sheesh, <I> stopped climbing fences about 20 years ago, young man. :p Think you might write a paragraph or two on the email front? ;) Good luck for tomorrow. |
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| Jan-15-11 | | theodor: dear Dome, happy new year. as far as I'm concerned, I am thankful to just dont have trubbles! because I had have enough last year! I opened a discussion of the 'creation' in one els's forum, but now posted it in my forum to dont bore anybody. please, if you comment, dont take in consideration only one proposition, like in my post for byorhitms. thanks |
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Jan-15-11
| | Domdaniel: <Annie> Thank you, m'dear, I'll try. It may depend on whether my delusion of being a capable chessplayer is as fragile as my delusion of being a gentleman cat burglar. - A *cat* burglar? Oh noes, kitty has eight spare lives, unlike this ageing fence-sitter. |
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Jan-16-11
| | Domdaniel: It all turned out well in the end. There was an awkward moment off the board at 9:28 on Sunday morning, when I arrived to find *all* entrances locked and a bunch of chessplayers milling around. So, naturally, I found a way in, and led a bunch of teenagers over a wall and around a fence ... the adults waited five minutes for a security man with keys. Then I drew comfortably as Black -- French Tarrasch, 3.Nd2 c5 -- against a 2050-rated junior international. His father, rated almost exactly 1000 points lower, had scalped me in the 1st round. Funny game, chess. And I won the last game -- with an actual checkmate on move 21 -- to finish on 4/6. I'd even have got a prize, but somebody beat me on tiebreak. Rating-wise, I doubt whether my 3 wins and 2 draws make up for the points lost in the 1st round, but the margin isn't too big. And it's good to finally win a last-round game. I may try this again. The wall-climbing and checkmating aspects, in particular, are most enjoyable. :) |
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Jan-16-11
| | Annie K.: Heheheh. My dear, you are incorrigible, did I tell you that already? I did. But you're kinda cute this way. Mostly... depends, yanno. ;) Heh. Major congrats on the good finish and having fun and adventures. Good for you! :D Here it's nothing special... the other night, while closing up at work, I surprised a burglar trying to break into the neighboring office. He ran away, and the next day everybody wanted to hear all about it, so it's just business as usual. ;p Trivia. Glad to hear you've been having a good time, sweet. :) PS - your LOLspeak has improved impressively, as well. ;) PPS - I can has email nao? =) |
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Jan-17-11
| | Domdaniel: <theodor> And a happy year to you, too. I must say that I've never observed a 'creation', but if I ever feel the need to talk about one, I'll know where to go. |
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Jan-17-11
| | Domdaniel: <Annie> I spent *years* honing my skills at urban mountaineering aka cat-burglary. I never actually stole stuff, of course, but I was very good at climbing drainpipes, squeezing through small windows, shimmying across 3rd floor ledges, etc. It got to the point where people living nearby who locked themselves out would ask for my assistance, and I usually managed to break into their houses for them. I suspect that walls and fences may have slightly different connotations in your part of the world. Here, there's no real risk of gunfire. I was good at non-urban rock-climbing too, once upon a time. All you need is strong fingers, low body weight, long limbs and an absence of nerves. And I still prefer to climb an obstacle rather than take the long way round. *Nao*? Ono. Noa. Soon, mebbe, OK? |
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Jan-17-11
| | Annie K.: OK... I <can> just keep skirting the box, of course... and sit here in the dark... ;p <All you need is strong fingers, low body weight, long limbs and an absence of nerves.> Well, and certain <lacks>. A lack of asthma should help. Also, a lack of certain frontal appendages that tend to interfere with one's balance and get in the way. :p Oh, and I wanna see that 21-move checkmate game of yours - upload it, or at least post it here? :) |
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Jan-17-11
| | Domdaniel: <Annie> Oh, it's not remotely uploadable. It wasn't even my quickest win - I had a shorter win with the Winawer. I find that if I complicate things beyond the grasp of either player, then somebody usually cracks. And it's only sometimes me. I played horribly in that last game, tempting my opponent to lash out with what proved to be sui-mate. As follows: [Event "Mulcahy"]
[Site "Cork"]
[Date "2011.01.16"]
[Round "6"]
[White "McCarthy, Gerry"]
[Black "W---, M"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E06"]
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 Bf5 4.c4 e6 5.O-O Be7 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Nc3 c6 8.d4 O-O 9.Nh4 [a sideline of the Catalan; 9...Be6 is normally played, but there's nothing wrong with ...Bg4] 9...Bg4 10.h3 Be6 11.Kh2 Re8 12.Nf3 Nbd7 13.Qd3 Nb6 14.b3 Bd6 15.Ne5 g5 16.f4 g4 17.f5 gxh3 18.fxe6 Bxe5 19.exf7+ Kxf7 20.Qxh7+ Kf8 21.Bh6# 1-0 He'd forgotten about my Bishop on c1.
People think that openings like the French, Reti, Neo-Grunfeld etc are slow and dull, but I seem to create mayhem with 'em. Dunno why. |
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Jan-17-11
| | Annie K.: Owwwch. :s
OK, how about rounds 2-5, then? :) |
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Jan-17-11
| | Domdaniel: Since you ask so sweetly, here's the Winawer. All of 19 moves, but bear in mind that the complexities began quite early and consumed a lot of both players' time. White made too many defensive moves before his final error. [Event "Mulcahy"]
[Site "Cork"]
[Date "2011.01.15"]
[Round "3"]
[White "K--, A"]
[Black "McCarthy, Gerry"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C15"]
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 dxe4 6.Qg4 Nf6 7.Qxg7 Rg8 8.Qh6 Rg6 9.Qh4 c5 10.Ne2 Nbd7 11.g3 cxd4 12.cxd4 Qc7 13.c3 b6 14.Bg2 Ba6 15.Bd2 O-O-O 16.h3 e5 17.Bxe4 Nxe4 18.Qxe4 Qc4
19.O-O Qxe2 0-1
My best game was probably this draw, another French, against a 2050-rated junior international. We had one win apiece from previous games. [Event "Mulcahy"]
[Site "Cork"]
[Date "2011.01.16"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Doyle, Hugh"]
[Black "McCarthy, Gerry"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C07"]
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 a6
[a useful little move - I don't know why it hasn't been played more often. It leaves White in a quandary: maybe 6.Bd3 is best. As played, a knight is misplaced and never really recovers.] 6.N4b3 Nc6 7.Bd3 Nf6 8.Qe2 Nb4 9.O-O Nxd3 10.Qxd3 Bd6 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Ne4 Be7 13.c4 Nf6 14.Qxd8+ Bxd8 15.Nd6+ Ke7 16.c5 b6 17.Be3 Nd5 18.Bd4 f6
19.f3 e5 20.Nxc8+ Rxc8 21.Bf2 Bc7 22.a3 Rhd8 23.Rac1 Nf4 24.Rc2 Nd3
25.cxb6 Bd6!
(25... Bxb6? is a trap: 26.Bxb6 Rxc2 27.Bxd8+ Kxd8 28.Rd1 wins a piece) 26.Rd2 Nxf2 27.Rfxf2 Rb8 28.Rd3 Rxb6
... and he offered a draw. 1/2-1/2 |
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Jan-17-11
| | Annie K.: Heh - thx!
That Winawer game... that's not ouch. Not MERELY ouch. More like OUCH^10! White must have been kicking himself, hard, all the way home, and probably hasn't stopped yet. Way to go! ;)
The French game is not familiar ground to me, since I invariably play the Advance variation (where btw I have found that a fairly early ...a5 can be really inconvenient for White, since I usually try to cramp Black's Queenside attack with an a3 & b4 advance, which doesn't work well after a timely ...a5 - maybe that's why ...a6 isn't played much?), but it does look quite good. You could upload that one. :) |
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| Jan-17-11 | | hms123: <Dom> Here's a game: A Kosten vs Speelman, 1991 with <...a6>. I think the move is recommended in some other lines of the French. I didn't find many games with it in the Tarrasch. |
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| Jan-17-11 | | hms123: <Dom> Good games, BTW. Thanks for sharing them. |
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| Jan-17-11 | | theodor: <Domdaniel: <theodor> And a happy year to you, too.> thanks |
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| Jan-17-11 | | hms123: <Annie> Does anyone play the <Fort Knox> against you to prevent the Advance Variation of the French? If so, how has that gone? |
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Jan-17-11
| | Annie K.: <hms> I'm not really "booked up" on the French - I know how to play most of the popular early variations, from experience, having developed my own - apparently playable - pet responses, but I wouldn't know what they are called. If you'll give me the line, I'll try to remember what I play against it. |
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| Jan-17-11 | | hms123: <Annie> I got a move ahead of myself. The Advance precludes the Ft Knox. Here it is though:
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bd7 * |
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Jan-17-11
| | Annie K.: Ah, yes. White can play the Advance here instead of 3.Nd2 if s/he prefers, as I do. I like cramping Black's Kside with e5, and I've mostly learned how to survive the attacks coming from the Qside. ;) I don't really understand why White would prefer this variation. To me it looks like a weaker center, and Black more ready to go on the attack. White's early Knight out can be kicked back easily, there has been no real support prepared for it, nor has Black as yet presented it any targets within reach to exchange off for, while Black's Bishops look more solid and menacing. Not what I'd go for. |
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Jan-17-11
| | Domdaniel: <Annie & hms> Thanks for tuning in. As you can see, I like playing against the 3.Nc3 and 3.Nd2 lines of the French. I have a huge plus score with the Winawer; not so great with the Tarrasch, partly because the only ones playing 3.Nd2 now tend to be rather strong players, and partly because I've experimented with many different responses to it (3...b6 was good enough to draw with Tony Miles, but I wouldn't chance it now; and I've gone right off both 3...Nf6 and 3...dxe4; but both 3...c5 and 3...a6 seem to suit me). I learned the French in the 1970s by playing it in a correspondence tournament and scoring 100% with it (I *did* lose one game with black, to a 1.d4 player). I looked up moves as I went along, using Pachman's book on Semi-Open Games as my main guide. One of those games went 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 dxe4 6.Qg4 etc -- a line that I didn't encounter again until this weekend. Luckily, memory holds onto stuff from 35 years ago more readily than recent events. Must be those teen hormones. These days, both 3.Nc3 and 3.Nd2 are rare. I meet the Advance or the (yuck) Exchange more often. I can win against the Exchange, but with that open e-file it just isn't a proper French -- more like a Petrov in drag. I've acquired two recent books on the Advance, in an effort to broaden my repertoire against it. It's harder for black to drum up the sort of mayhem that I thrive on -- it's complex, but strategically clear-cut. I like positions where nobody knows what's going on. |
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Jan-17-11
| | Domdaniel: Also, as can be seen from the first game I posted, I really need to do something about my White openings. Playing 1.Nf3, fianchettoing a random Bishop, and sidling into a Catalan or a Nimzo-Larsen or a Neo-Grunfeld (this weekend's triad, as it happens) just isn't good enough. I almost played the London System with d4 and Bf4, but the urge to fianchetto was too strong. ;) |
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Jan-18-11
| | Domdaniel: This tournament was won by IM Alex Lopez with 6/6. I had chances against him in two games a couple of years back, but he beat me more smoothly the 3rd time. He's just too strong for me now. But I heard him during a postmortem explaining to a young opponent that you can't just decide to attack, you have to act according to the dictates of the position. If the position says "Banzai!", then off you go -- but if the position says "Uh-oh" then attacking is foolhardy. In other words -- I'm paraphrasing -- *The position is your friend*. Some friends are neat and organized (I'm told) and some are messy and chaotic. Exasperating, incorrigible, but defiantly charming, with a broken rose in their snaggly teeth. C'est la vie en Rrose Selavy. |
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| Jan-18-11 | | hms123: <Dom> What are the two books on the Advance? As I think I mentioned once, I used to play the McCutcheon all of the time. It gives that same Winawer pawn center that you like. I, too, liked to lay lines that were not so well known, but that kept changing on me. Bummer. |
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