eternaloptimist Member since Jan-23-08 I am a Christian & have been a foreign missionary to China, Spain, Morocco & Mexico. I learned to play chess when I was 9 years old in 4th grade in elementary school when my homeroom teacher taught my homeroom class how to play it. Ever since she taught me how to play it, it has been my favorite game. Now 46 years later, I'm still playing it! My style (positional) was heavily influenced by Anatoly Karpov & Salomon Flohr . When I first started studying chess books in my teens, I studied collections of their games. Karpov has been my favorite player ever since then. <Tournaments<>><:I haven't played in a tournament since '03 in Denver, where I saw many GMs, IMs & lower rated masters (GMs: a 15 yr old Naka [who became a GM that same yr before this tourney...the U. S.' youngest-ever GM at that time!], Shabalov, Stripunsky, Ibragimov & Browne just to name a few players)...tourney results: http://www.chesstour.com/elm03r.htm I met Patrick Wolff (2-time U. S. Chess Champion: '92 & '95) in New Orleans @ a tourney there in '92 after he won the U. S. Championship. He played a simultaneous exhibition vs ~20 players the day before the tourney. I remember that he had only 1 draw & he won the rest of the games. He played in the tourney & won it; he had a Q & A session as well. I asked him who some of his favorite chess players are & he mentioned Emanuel Lasker because: "He epitomized the struggle in chess."> <23 of the games that I submitted to be game of the day (w/ my puns) have been chosen for it!<>>: S Li vs Ding Liren, 2011 — S Factor vs Gilg, 1928 — Kasparov vs Anand, 1995 — Stockfish vs Rybka, 2013 — N Evseev vs Flohr, 1949 — J Polgar vs A S Rasmussen, 2013 — D Bit-Narva vs R Egilstoft, 2014 — L Bruzon Batista vs C Zhu, 2004 — Bagirov vs N Iordanov, 1976 — Kramnik vs Bluebaum, 2017 — Speelman vs J Horner, 1976 — L Day vs B Nickoloff, 1977 — Pelletier vs C McNab, 2012 — Ding Liren vs Wei Yi, 2015 — W M Byland vs C F Tears, 1951 — M Diamond vs Santasiere, 1922 — Bondarevsky vs Smyslov, 1946 — Leko vs Nepomniachtchi, 2016 — Anderssen vs C Mayet, 1855 — J Turn vs Petrov, 1929 — D Monokroussos vs L Barcarola, 1999 — Benko vs J P Dominguez Sanz, 1972 — Smeets vs Bacrot, 2008 <<>some of my analysis<>>: N Karaklajic vs Smyslov, 1955 -- I Odesskij vs P Skacelik, 2001 <to see my games & stats/profile page on gameknot.com (username: eternaloptimist): http://gameknot.com/players.pl -- Type in eternaloptimist in the search box. (You have to have a gameknot acct. to see it.)<<<>>>> <Right now I'm trying out different chess variants for something different. Please feel free to mention variants that you like in my forum.<<<<>>>>> <Some of my favorite chess books are: 1) My Best Games by Anatoly Karpov 2) The Search for Chess Perfection by C. J. S. Purdy 3) 125 Selected Games by Vasily Smyslov 4) Modern Chess Strategy by Ludek Pachman 5) Transpo Tricks in Chess by Andrew Soltis 6) Pawn Structure Chess by Andrew Soltis 7) The Wisest Things Ever Said About Chess by Andrew Soltis 8) The Development of Chess Style by John Nunn & Max Euwe (Nunn added material to the original text that Euwe wrote.) 9) Salo Flohr's Best Games of Chess by Salo Flohr (translated by Gregory S. Donges) 10. H.O.T. Chess by Paul Motwani <<<<<<>>>>>>> <1 book that helped me improve a lot is "How to Reassess Your Chess" by Jeremy Silman. Although he wasn’t the most honest guy in the world b/c he made himself out to be a better chess player than he actually was. (I'm aware that he was an IM so I'm not saying that he wasn't a strong player.) He did that by giving a lot of his moves in the book a "!" or "!!" that don't deserve them. If you analyze some of his games on a chess engine then you will see that some of his moves that got a "!" or "!!" actually aren't anywhere close to being the best move. In addition to that sometimes he didn't mention if his opponent played a move that deserves a "?" to make some of his victories appear brilliant & to show the triumph of a strategical theme in a particular section of the book.<<<<<<<>>>>>>>> <*profile updated on 1/25/2025<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>

eternaloptimist has kibitzed 2031 times to chessgames   [more...]

May-05-25 So vs A Liang, 2019   eternaloptimist: Awonder played the endgame exceptionally well to get the win! I'm actually the first person ever to get an autograph from Awonder! That's the only “first” autograph that I've ever gotten. I saw him @ the 2018 US Championship which was his first US Championship ever. He ...      Mar-12-25 W J Donaldson vs V Ravikumar, 1980   eternaloptimist: I noticed that we’re having repeat puzzles from last week. I guess the puzzle picker(s) are busy this week. I solved it last week & I must admit that it's a good puzzle. I met IM Donaldson @ a tournament in Denver back in ‘03. He did a Q & A session there & it was ...      Feb-18-25 P Vargas vs R Bassan Noriega, 2005    eternaloptimist: I solved it. I played the same moves as Vargas until his 24th move. I played 24. ♕d5 instead of ♕c4. Stockfish 17 said my 24th move is the best move!      Feb-03-25 Tata Steel Masters (2025)    eternaloptimist: Pragg the raspberry mess❓❓🤷‍♂️🤔      Feb-03-25 Salov vs Minasian, 1983   eternaloptimist: <Hercdon> I chose 31. d8=Q also but no black doesn't have plenty of opportunities after it. Stockfish says white has a +5.73 pawn advantage @ (30 ply) w/ blacks best reply (31…Rxd8). White has an easy win w/ d8=Q      Feb-03-25 Anthony Wirig    eternaloptimist: I see that CG changed his pic to a pic where he looks normal. <Karpova> posted this link that shows the pic that used to be his profile pic here, where he has a bizarre-looking hairdo.: https://en.chessbase.com/news/2007/...      Jan-24-25 Abdusattorov vs D Gukesh, 2025    eternaloptimist: <goodevans> u missed the point. The reason I pointed out that he's not the best is b/c if I don't then someone will probably correct me & say that Gukesh isn't the best/not the *real* world champ. Yet still an idiot (<dheilke>) just had to disagree w/ me & say ...      Dec-30-24 World Rapid Championship (2024)    eternaloptimist: Congrats to GM Murzin! He played a brilliant tournament & beat some really big-name chess players on route to becoming the world rapid champion (Caruana, Naka, Duda & Pragg r some of the players that he defeated). I'm really looking forward to watching live streams of the ...      Dec-24-24 Irina Krush    eternaloptimist: Happy Birthday to 1 of the best combinations of beauty & brains, GM Irina Krush!! I had the privilege of meeting her & have talked to her a couple of times. She's really nice, has a good personality & she's 1 of my favorite chess players as well <MissScarlett> She ...      Dec-23-24 eternaloptimist chessforum   eternaloptimist: WE ARE NOW FOLLOWING Kotronias vs J Gustafsson, 2011. YOU ARE PLAYING THE ROLE OF GUSTAFSSON. Your score: 47 (no par) Kotronias vs J Gustafsson, 2011

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< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 1 OF 3 ·  Later Kibitzing> Jul-11-14    eternaloptimist: Well today I finally decided to start my own chess forum! I've been contemplating starting a forum for a long time but decided not to until now. I named it "Great Reads" b/c I would like my forum to be primarily about great books & great articles on chess websites. Although we can chat about other chess topics also. The timing is right for this forum since I'm checking out chessgames.com almost every day now & I'm really excited about this! Jul-13-14    OhioChessFan: Here's an article I hope is true: <Check out these seven surprising health benefits of playing chess and then consider your next move.> http://www.chesscafe.com/skittles/s... Jul-15-14    eternaloptimist: Thx for posting that link <Ohio>! It's a good article & that article is a great way to kick off my forum by showing the benefits of chess. I remember reading somewhere (probably Chess Life magazine) that GM Denker mentioned that he has never heard of anyone getting Alzheimer's who was an avid chessplayer. Considering that he lived to be 90 yrs old that is saying something! The other benefits listed in the article r probably true as well. 1 of the pics in the article shows chess master Jude Acers "the man w/ the red beret". I played him a long time ago & lasted a pretty good while but I lost the game. Anyone who wants to play him can go to the Gazebo Cafe in New Orleans & play him for $5 a game. It's interesting that at a place in France they use chess to treat schizophrenia. Chesscafe.com is 1 of my favorite websites. I really like their book reviews. This also mentions some benefits of chess.: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eVRLtsZU2... Jul-16-14    OhioChessFan: ChessBookForum chessforum You'll find some book lovers there. Jul-17-14    eternaloptimist: Thx <Ohio>. I'll definitely check out that forum. Jul-17-14    Deus Ex Alekhina: The benefits of chess?!? Several prominent chess players have committed suicide. F.D. Yates died from an "accidental" gas leak during the early years of the depression; Schlechter died of starvation during the blockade of 1918. Steinitz and Rubenstein were institutionalized. Morphy slowly went mad. Carlos Torre, who drew with Capa & Alekhine & beat Lasker, went nuts. Bobby Fischer, no comment needed. Brad Darrach, who wrote a book on Fischer, many, many years ago, said that chess was " a cesspool stinking of death". Jul-18-14    eternaloptimist: Well the players u mentioned are only a very small sampling of all the people who have played chess for a long time. I've played chess for 36 years & I've never attempted suicide. I disagree w/ Darrach. I think of chess as being a spring of life for chessplayers' brains. Quite often brilliant people (non-chess players also) are crazy &/or eccentric. It's nothing unusual. Jul-19-14    perfidious: Something tells me that Darrach's comment was a bit of journalistic licence--I read that book many years ago and did not come away favourably impressed by Darrach's portrayal of Fischer. Jul-19-14    eternaloptimist: It's quite possible that u r right about that. Some authors figure if they do the journalistic license thing, then their books, magazine articles etc will be more colorful & will sell more copies which will translate to more $ for them. There could be some lies in this book. I haven't read it, but I'll take your word for it. Jul-25-14    eternaloptimist: I'm curious as to what books r the favorites of the cg community. Listing a top 10 list would be good but u can list more or less if u want. Please mention if u r ranking them in order or in no particular order. Thx in advance! Jul-25-14    Mr. V: Hi there! Do you mean only chess books? Jul-26-14    eternaloptimist: Hi! Welcome to my forum! I want u to mention books preferably but if u would rather list articles on the web then that's ok too. Jul-26-14    master of defence: Hello eternaloptimist! Do you play chess on any website currently? If so, which one? I would like to play you. Jul-26-14    eternaloptimist: Hi! I'm not currently playing chess online but I used to play a lot on chess.com & chesshere.com. Although I've thought about playing online again. Which website(s) do u play on? Jul-26-14    master of defence: I'm currently on chess.com and gameknot.com, playing most correspondence games, actually, but I may play bullet/blitz games as well. Does you still have active accounts on such sites you mentioned? Jul-27-14    eternaloptimist: Well my chess.com acct is no longer active but my chesshere.com acct still exists. I like both of those websites a lot but I'm in the mood to try something new. I will create an acct on gameknot.com soon & I will be able to play u then...say on Tuesday or Wednesday. Btw what's your username on gameknot? I'll send u an invite shortly after I create my acct. Actually chess.com (#1) & gameknot (#2) are the 2 most popular chess websites. Chessgames.com is ranked #7. The rankings change daily.: http://chess-links.org/index.html Jul-29-14    master of defence: Hm, isn't this account on gameknot yours? Note it also has the same country as you(United States): http://gameknot.com/stats.pl?eterna... Have you forgot your password? You can create a new account on chess.com if you wish, it's actually have more features than gameknot.com, to be honest. I didn't even knew there were a website just to rank the chess websites! But on which bases they're ranked? Nº of members, views, feedback, etc? Jul-29-14    eternaloptimist: Wow! Yes actually it is my acct! I completely forgot that I created that acct! Although on my profile page, it says I created my acct on April '08 & I never played any games. Since that was several years ago & I never played any games, I guess that explains why I forgot about it...LOL! I guess I created this acct just in case I didn't like chess.com & chesshere.com. Although since I liked (& still like) both of these websites, I never played a game on gameknot. I would like to start off by playing 1 correspondence game w/ u. Just send me a game invite when u r ready to start playing a game. As far as how alexa.com works, I did some googling & I found out that it is based off of Internet traffic of people that have downloaded their toolbar. After u download the toolbar to your computer, they can see which websites u r going to. I wouldn't recommend u doing this though since u can get malware on your computer from downloading toolbars. I just found out today that they only base it off of people that have downloaded their toolbar so that makes me question the accuracy of it. Anyway I'm looking forward to playing chess w/ u soon! Jul-29-14    eternaloptimist: I'm able to login to my gameknot acct. I tried some passwords that I use for other websites & the 3rd time was the charm! We can play on gameknot for now & possibly on chess.com in the future. Aug-02-14    morfishine: <eternaloptimist> Sure, no problem. I've been highly critical of the pun selection over the past few months. My main point is a GOTD (Game of the Day) should be exactly that. The GOTD should be a high quality game, or why bother calling it "Game of the Day"? Too often, the game is chosen for some silly, shallow play on word or "pun" without the game being very high quality. BTW: Today was mine (Purdy) and not a pun at all: just a silly rhyming play on words. But I think the game is good enough BTW(2): Nice username and avatar: A cat with 9 lives must be an eternal optimist ! ***** Aug-03-14    OhioChessFan: I realize it's tough to come up with 365 puns a year, and to be limited to high quality games strikes me as a bit much. I think some great puns aren't used because of low quality games. Why not? Go for the cheap laugh, I say. I agree the vast majority of puns are shallow/obvious. That's not to cg.c's discredit. When cg.c had 25 or so puns from the kibitzers a few years back, there were a handful that were even remotely interesting. Aug-07-14    eternaloptimist: I think both of u guys made some good points.  <morf>: It's always good when the GOTD is a high quality game. It's more enjoyable to play over it then. <Shams> knocked your Purdy pun but it fits the game as <Mating Net> said in his kibitz. It's a good game & I enjoy playing over his games. His book "The Search for Chess Perfection" is a great book. I've read a good bit of it & played over a lot of the games in it. It's 1 of the best books of all time IMO. U mentioned the voters @ the Purdy game. When I vote in the "pun voting booth", I try to only give the high quality games w/ good/great puns the highest marks. I've only judged 34 of them so far but I plan to keep it up to help out some. The best 1 I've voted for that got picked was this 1: Letelier vs Najdorf, 1954 Thx for the complements about my username & the cat pic. <...A cat with 9 lives must be an eternal optimist !> Indeed! :D   <Ohio>: It is indeed a tough predicament about the GOTD situation. If cg decided to bypass the voting process & intervene by having some of their employees go through some of the games & pick some of the GOTDs themselves, it would be time consuming so I agree w/ u that it's not to their discredit. Cg does a great job w/ their website! I do like "cheap laughs" as well! There's nothing wrong w/ some levity when it comes to puns. :D Pls elaborate on the "...25 or so puns..." that u were referring to. When did that happen & what were some of the games? Aug-20-14    morfishine: <OhioChessFan> The issue is attaching all these "puns" and sub-par games to something called the "Game of the Day". GOTD to me means at least, an exciting, high-quality game. I was going to suggest to <CG> to create a separate column for just fun and puns, while leaving the GOTD for a decent game. However <DomDaniel> dissuaded me as he had already suggested this idea. So we are stuck with the GOTD as it is Aug-20-14    OhioChessFan: The member submitted Pawn contest was in 2009.....wow, that long ago? Anyway, here's a link: Game Collection: 2009 pun contest <morf> yeah, I get that GOTD sort of announces a good game. I have thought they should attach a pun once a week and let the other 6 days just be good games. Aug-20-14    OhioChessFan: I had forgotten I've officially submitted 4 puns. I don't think that accomplished much, so I normally just put my pun suggestions in quotes on the game in question's kibitzing section. Here's the official submissions: Puns submitted by OhioChessFan: How Low Can You Go? Timman vs P Limbos, 1969 Dead Poetz Society F Poetz vs C H Marais, 2008 I'd Like To Buy a Vowel J Aagaard vs Hoi, 2010 First! Castellvi vs Vinyoles, 1475 Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 3) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 1 OF 3 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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