<achieve: [...] The balloon < System Alert: Malware threats > is constantly in my face when the puter is on, (I.e. when I'm lurking)

Get it?? MAL-ware ---

---a remote attacker performing various malicious actions"...

Funny HUH?? [...]>

Sounds maliciously mischievous and it must be malevolently musty! ~lol~

My Best, MAL-[ware]content <wink>

I haven't the foggiest to what you might be referring

to.

Hi <Ziggurat> and <mal>!!

Thanks so much for your well-wishing it's much appreciated.

A hedghog could play better chess than me right now.

I have a "tummy morphine patch" on. It doesn't actually kill the pain in my hip-- but it makes it so I kind of don't care any more.

Remind me never to become a opiate-addict. I can't imagine a more boring life myself.

Sigh. No shortcuts here. It means memorizing. Here I am working hard to understand every move after the third move in this game:

Karpov vs Kasparov, 1985

And here it is:

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 b6 8. Be2 Bb7 9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. cxd5 exd5 11. b4 c5 12. bxc5 bxc5 13. Rb1 Bc6 14. O-O Nd7 15. Bb5 Qc7 16. Qd3 Rfd8

click for larger view

Yes, the feared <D58: Queen's Gambit Declined, Tartakower (Makagonov-Bondarevsky) System>.

Yep, every posted move here is theory and this system has at least 10 points along the road where the moves deviate into other <QGD> lines.

I swear to God, if the names for these systems weren't so freaking cool I'd give up chess altogether.

Heh

"Makagonov-Bondarevsky" system indeed. I'm of the opinion that Eastern European names "sound" intellectual. Or, at least, they sound "chessy".

Example, I submit that memorizing this particular system for your own opening prep against <1.d4> would be considerably more tedious if it were called the <Bob n' Doug MacKenzie System>.

Just saying.

PS this game was from the Second <World Championship> (very exciting!) and was a draw.

Also, <Kasparov> played this system. or versions of it, many many times against <Karpov> in the first two <World Championships> they fought.

I wonder what would have happened if <Kasparov> had tried his KID at this point?

I suppose that's pointless conjecture. I'm just thinking, do you think <Kasparov> got tired of <QGD> lines and made himself an expert on the <KID> so he could enjoy more exciting games?

I feel like a punk but I've abandoned the <KID> after several months because it's simply too complex for my chess understanding and ability at this point. I'm trying to learn the <Tarrasch> on the recommendation of <Open Defence> and <Eyal>.

Holy moly OK same game, a scant few moves later and WHERE DID ALL THE PIECES GO???

Yes, a sudden and MASSIVE simplification to this:

click for larger view

And did they call it a draw here?

NO

they tested each other's MAGNIFICENT endgame technique till their fingernails started bleeding.

indeed! That's one of the best lines I've read in a while!

That's why I'm lousy at theory and admire people like Deffi and alike, who have a firm grasp on alla them systems...

My once firm grasp on the Scheveningen has loosened quite a bit over the years.

It didn't sound intellectual/chessy enough? (After all it's a Dutch name)

Not sure... The fact that it was written by Kasparov/Nikitin (I like the word "nikitin" for some reason) made me study it with vigorous drive as a kid/student...

Where was I?

Opiates!!

heh

Holy crap what incredible vision.

Do you see how <Kasparov> can hold the position with Black here? <Karpov> to move:

click for larger view

<Kasparov> whips his Rook back and forth on the third rank-- preventing <Karpov> from getting his King over to the a-file via the threat of pawn capture on the kingside while the Rook manages to guard White's a-pawn the whole time.

Heh I study <Swine again> all the time cuz I play <1...c5> and <1.e4> all the time.

I'm just marvelling at the end game technique-- this is an incredibly thrilling draw.

What a torunament!! <Karpov v Kasparov>II: the Revenge-- This Time it's Personal (starring Michael Caine)

Hang on there, lemme get the key...

You're right; why can't I act like a grown-up, who is in total control alla time!

I've always been a zucker for endgames... there is a link in my profile to a great site with thousends of fascinating endgame positions...

Engines have trouble with them cuz "it is beyond their horiiiizon..." (Imagine that last sentence with a slow, whiny, nasal type of voice...)

Bit of a mouthful compared to <Petrov>, isn't it?>

Try: <English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense. King's Indian Formation> (D Byrne vs Fischer, 1956)

<RookFile: What in blazes is the <English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense. King's Indian Formation> anyway?

In the old days, we just called this the Gruenfeld.>

Your memory plus your "search skills" means you have all world knowledge at your finger tips.

BTW, I have to say I find <Rookfile> kibbutzes on many, many of the games I go through and i like his analysis and ascerbic brand of humor

HI CRABBIN!!

The <Doctor> and I were just glancing at a <Karpov v Kasparov> game.

How is your study of the <Tal road to the Championship Going>?