User Profile: offramp

Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players ·

Kibitzing

offramp
Member since Aug-16-03 · Last seen May-01-26

The Kindle app might have saved my life. My house was full of books. Now I am able to actually get rid of books.
I was born in Clapham, London. I am therefore a supporter of Chelsea FC. My son supports Arsenal FC.
I love travelling around Europe, by train. I try to speak in various languages by almost everyone I meet speaks English, which is a good thing.
??????
Some chess books that I think are outstanding:
1. <Fundamental Chess Endgames>, by Müller & Lamprecht, reprinted 2020. 400pp+, £25.
2. <Secrets of Practical Chess>, by Dr Nunn. 256pp (the USUAL 256pp!, i.e. the usual 2^8). £20.
3. <Capablanca's Best Chess Endings>, Irving Chernev's best work. 300pp. £15.
4. <107 Great Chess Battles 1939-1945>, written by Alexander Alekhine, but edited by Edward Winter. 256pp, £15.
5 (a) <Petrosian Year by Year Volume 1 (1942-1962)>, and - Karolyi & Gyozalyan, 484pp.
(b) <Petrosian Year by Year Volume 2 (1963-1984)> - Karolyi & Gyozalyan, 516pp.
They are £34 each. I bought one, then a few months later, the other volume.
They are available in Kindle format!

6. <The Queen's Gambit Accepted: A Sharp and Sound Response to 1. d4> by Chris Ward.
Ward wrote a superb book about the QGD, many years ago. I think this is useful for a book about the QGA. A total antidote to 1. d4, 2. c4.
And now some total clinkers. NOT those well-known garbage chess books.
The following are really bad chess books.
1. <Capablanca: A Compendium of Games, Notes, Articles, Correspondence, Illustrations and Other Rare Archival Materials on the Cuban Chess Genius Jose Raul Capablanca, 1888-1942> by Edward Winter. 360pp. c. £35. The title is the best thing.
2. <Larsen: Move by Move> - Cyrus Lakdawala
Paperback, 488pp.
3. <Emanuel Lasker Volumes 1, 2 & 3 - Forster, Negele & Tischbierek>. £55 each.
This book is unbelievably boring and tedious. Just look through it, then forget about it.
AT THIS SAME TIME a totally superb book has just come out: <Emanuel Lasker All Games Volume 1 & 2: 1889-1940 (2 books)>, £55 for two books:
Volume 1 covers the time Lasker became World Champion and played matches against Steinitz (twice for the World Championship), Bird and Blackburne amongst others. He also took part several famous tournaments including Hastings 1895, St Petersburg 1895-96 and Nuremberg 1896.
Volume 2 covers the time Lasker played matches against Marshall, Tarrasch, Janowski, Schlechter and Capablanca for the World Championship. He also took part several famous tournaments including St Petersburg 1914, New York 1924, Moscow 1935 & 1936 and Nottingham 1936.
Hardbacks, 388 and 342 pages, Russian Chess House. A real bargain.
4. <Pal Benko : My Life, Games and Compositions>, £140. Who is the most famous chess player out of Benko and Fischer? Who published the most plush, most opulent book? Benko.
.....
Here are another 7 books:

<He received a letter from his bookseller, informing him that only seven copies had been sold, and concluding with a polite request for the balance.
Scythrop <[SKI-throp]> did not despair. <Seven copies,> he thought, <have been sold. Seven is a mystical number, and the omen is good. Let me find the seven purchasers of my seven copies, and they shall be the seven golden candlesticks with which I will illuminate the world.>.>

>> Click here to see offramp's game collections.

   Current net-worth: 1,436 chessbucks
[what is this?]

   offramp has kibitzed 25973 times to chessgames [more...]

   May-01-26 TePe Sigeman & Co (2026)

offramp: ᥫ᭡.🍥⋆🐇་༘🌷.ೃ࿔White rabbits! Jiner Zhu often plays in Chinese tournaments. She is known as <Local Jiner>. This week she is <Far Jiner>.

   Apr-29-26 offramp chessforum

offramp: Karjakin vs Anand, 2006 (kibitz #374)

   Apr-28-26 Chessgames - TV and Films

offramp: On telly tonight there is a film called <Murders in Sarlat>. It's 90min; it is part of a police series. I want to see another on of 'em: <Murders in Lille>. I know that town really well.

   Apr-28-26 A P Barnes vs NN, 1874

offramp: User: FSR is right about this funny omelet. Bouncing Barnes, John Barnes , invented the spherical omelet. John C Barnes , Baby-Face Barnes, only ate poppadums and omelets: they were the only food that could pass under his door.

   Apr-27-26 A McCarthy vs L Penny, 1974

offramp: For the game: 💣/★★★★★★ (0 out of 6 stars) LOWEST RATING. This could be the worst game in the database at chessgames.com. This game have no redeeming qualities. To draw attention to an obviously weak player - is a bit unsporting. For the pun: ✮/★★★★★★ ...

   Apr-27-26 O Feldman vs Savon, 1959

offramp: Savon 99.44% accurate.

   Apr-26-26 Bobby Fischer

offramp: <60MG> in Uedemann Code starts, <"1. GEGO Best by test!">

   Apr-26-26 J Carleton vs G Pyrich, 1994

offramp: <"Yeah another victory like that and we're done for, good evening folks I'll be here as king every night I'll see ya!">

   Apr-25-26 Aronian vs I Khamrakulova, 1993

offramp: Is this the only game in chess history that is "99% tactics"? What makes this game stand out as having "99% tactics"?

   Apr-25-26 Viktor Komliakov (Popa)

offramp: <Messiah: Popa? Is that a nickname?> <Popa> is a rank in the hierarchy in the Roman Catholic Church. The rank is immediately above Cardinal and slightly lower than Jesus Christ.

indicates a reply to the comment.

Ye Olde Offrampe Predicktions

< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 23 OF 91 · Later Kibitzing>
Apr-17-17		thegoodanarchist: everyone stop saying "gravy"

Apr-18-17		Everyone: Why not ride the gravy train?

Apr-19-17		WinKing: Hi offramp, 2 days till Shamkir Chess - Gashimov Memorial 2017 - Friday Apr. 21st 2017!!! ♘Shamkir Chess♘Gashimov Memorial♗Shamkir Chess♗ This tournament will run from Apr. 21st thru Apr. 30th 2017. (9 Rounds) Participants include Adams, Eljanov, Harikrishna, Karjakin, Kramnik, Mamedyarov, Radjabov, So, Topalov & Wojtaszek. Average rating: 2761 - Category: 21 (FIDE-ratings as of April 18th. 2017) *** * <<> Gashimov Memorial 2017 <>> http://shamkirchess.az/ < 2 Prediction Contests: (Win virtual medals - Gold, Silver & Bronze) > * User: lostemperor - Predict the order the players will finish. Run & hosted by <lostemperor>. (3 categories to medal in) * User: Golden Executive - Predict the result 1-0, 1/2, or 0-1. Run & hosted by <Golden Executive>. (3 categories to medal in) This year will be the 11th Anniversary for this contest! (from 2007 to 2017 - 11 years running)** User: OhioChessFan - Predict the result 1-0, 1/2, or 0-1 & the number of moves. (4 categories to medal in). This contest is run by <chessmoron> & hosted by <OhioChessFan>. *No confirmation from <lostemperor> that he will be running his contest* Status - Unlikely <GoldenExecutive> has confirmed he will be running his contest Status - Definitely <chessmoron> has confirmed he will be running his contest Status - Definitely *** * Also, don't forget about <chessgames> ChessBookie game for this event. He can't wait to take some or all of your chessbucks. ;) ChessBookie Game Don't miss out on the fun for this Super Event!!! ****** ********

Apr-20-17		offramp: Amongst the ragged Cleeves those monstrous giants sought: Who (of their dreadful kind) t'appal the Trojans brought Great Gogmagog, an oake that by the roots could teare; So mighty were (that time) the men who lived there: But, for the use of armes he did not understand (Except some rock or tree, that coming next to land, He raised out of the earth to execute his rage), He challenge makes for strength, and offereth there his gage, Which Corin taketh up, to answer by and by, Upon this sonne of earth his utmost power to try.

Apr-22-17		offramp: Amongst the comments at Levon Aronian I slightly overdid it. I made comments about GM Aronian's nn-n... About the area between his eyes and his mouth. I was, quite rightly, issued a cease and dentist order by User: ChessHigherCat. I HAVE NOW made a promise to never refer to GM Aronian's schno... to GM Aronian's central face area again. And there let us let the matter lie.

Apr-22-17		thegoodanarchist: Can we still talk about Aronian's unibrow? What do the EU guidelines say?

Apr-22-17		offramp: I have checked with Brussels and it is OKAY on the unibrow. Repeat it is GO on the unfrozen caveman unibrow.

Apr-24-17		offramp: “Slowly the ivy on the stones Becomes the stones. Women become The cities, children become the fields And men in waves become the sea.”

Apr-24-17		alfamikewhiskey: <Slowly the ivy <...>> What pregnant sentences.

Apr-24-17		offramp: The lines are from Wallace Stevens, the great American poet.

Apr-24-17		ChessHigherCat: <offramp: Amongst the comments at Levon Aronian I slightly overdid it. I made comments about GM Aronian's nn-n... About the area between his eyes and his mouth. I was, quite rightly, issued a cease and dentist order by User: ChessHigherCat. I HAVE NOW made a promise to never refer to GM Aronian's schno... to GM Aronian's central face area again. And there let us let the matter lie.> Forgive offramp, brethren, for he nose snot waddy does.

Apr-24-17		ChessHigherCat: Thanks for the Wallace Stevens quote, they don't have any of his stuff on gutenburg.org but I'll bite the bullet and buy an anthology from amazon. I remember a totally "inappropriate" novel named "Gog", of the many my big brother used to throw on top of my head when he finished reading. There's a partner volume named Magog (a distant forefather of the multitalented actor whose name was changed to Mr. Magoo at Ellis Island). I remember the guy had a "love" "hate" tattoo on his knuckles like Charles Manson or Robert de Niro in Cape Fear. Did you ever read that, or do you have any idea who wrote it?

Apr-25-17		offramp: <ChessHigherCat> LOL my brother used to do the same thing. But he didn't do it with that book, and I don't know that book... I lost my old Collected Wallace Stevens, but recently I bought a Kindle version. One of the advantages of that is its searchability; I can find my old favourite poems very quickly. BTW I used to know a <very> rough guy who had <LOVE> and <HAT> tattooed on his fingers - the result of a knife fight.

Apr-25-17		ChessHigherCat: That's a coincidence,I just bought a Kindle version of the Cambridge Guide to Wallace Stevens last night, too. I was surprised to learn in the introduction that he made the equivalent of $250,000 a year as an insurance CEO and was a friend of Marcel Duchamp of the art trouvé urinal school. I haven't had time to read the poems yet but I'm looking forward to it. Here's the Gog Squad I mentioned: https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Go... You can get the paperback for 1 pence, which shows how much it's cherished by our contemporaries. Very good back though! That's funny about the guy who lost his tattooed pink-E! (do you say pinky for the little finger in UK?)

Apr-26-17		ChessHigherCat: Correction: very good book, not back (no, I am not from Boston (Baston) where everybody talks like that.) I remember I was on a streetcar there and was supposed to get off at "Park Street" but I foolishly stayed on the train when the conductor announced "Pack Street".

Apr-27-17		offramp: <ChessHigherCat: Correction: very good book, not back (no, I am not from Boston (Baston) where everybody talks like that.) I remember I was on a streetcar there and was supposed to get off at "Park Street" but I foolishly stayed on the train when the conductor announced "Pack Street".> What's that joke? "Where can I get scrod?"

Apr-27-17		offramp: <ChessHigherCat: That's a coincidence,I just bought a Kindle version of the Cambridge Guide to Wallace Stevens last night, too. I was surprised to learn in the introduction that he made the equivalent of $250,000 a year as an insurance CEO and was a friend of Marcel Duchamp of the art trouvé urinal school. I haven't had time to read the poems yet but I'm looking forward to it.> I did know that he was a big CEO, the opposite of a struggling poet in a gantry (whatever that is). I didn't know he knew Duchamp - (chess connection there!) - but I know he really loved Picasso. And so do I! The greatest artist over multiple media ever!! <Here's the Gog Squad I mentioned: https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Go... You can get the paperback for 1 pence, which shows how much it's cherished by our contemporaries. Very good back though! That's funny about the guy who lost his tattooed pink-E! (do you say pinky for the little finger in UK?)> No. I think some very young people might do, but most people say little finger. That is quite odd! I am going to look for that book

Apr-27-17		ChessHigherCat: <ChessHigherCat: I remember I was on a streetcar there and was supposed to get off at "Park Street" but I foolishly stayed on the train when the conductor announced "Pack Street". <What's that joke? "Where can I get scrod?"> That's a good one: "Listen buddy, I've been asked that question many a time but never in the pluperfect subjunctive." No, the joke (if you want to call it that) is that Bostonians pronounce "park" like "pack" so I thought they announced "Pack Street" and waited for the "Park Street" stop, which made me arrive late for an interview for a job that I'm now incredibly glad I didn't get. Almost as funny as randy scandy, huh? Do you think Picasso is an even greater artist than his somewhat coarse eponymous counterpart in the chessworld, Pick-ass So? He lost his pink-E is a "triple entendre" (did you know the French really say "double-entente", not "entendre" BTW) because the E of hate would have tattooed on or near the pinky of his right hand and 2) the E would have been bloody and thus pink. I hope you include that whole list of posters in your nightly prayers! One moment of forgetfulness could cause them years of purgatory and it would all be your fault!

Apr-28-17		offramp: <ChessHigherCat: ...Do you think Picasso is an even greater artist than his somewhat coarse eponymous counterpart in the chessworld, Pick-ass So?> That is brilliant. I am going to try to find a game that that pun will perfectly fit. It will drive the Somniacs mental!

Apr-28-17		moronovich: Hi´<offramp> ! Here is a puzzle,may be to your taste.It is from chessbase,some days ago: White to mate in 5 moves.The mate shall be given with the B-pawn.The starting position is the initial one. Kramnik solved it in 33 minuttes(and then he also answered a couple of phonecalls ;).I made it in 45 min). So good "luck" and have fun. All the best - moro - .

Apr-28-17		offramp: < moronovich: Hi´<offramp> ! Here is a puzzle,may be to your taste.It is from chessbase,some days ago: White to mate in 5 moves.The mate shall be given with the B-pawn.The starting position is the initial one. Kramnik solved it in 33 minuttes(and then he also answered a couple of phonecalls ;).I made it in 45 min). So good "luck" and have fun. All the best - moro - .> That sounds really good. It'll take me a while. A useful thing to remember, as I am sure you know, is that almost always the solution is "unique". There will not be an alternative solution.

Apr-28-17		moronovich: <A useful thing to remember, as I am sure you know, is that almost always the solution is "unique". There will not be an alternative solution.> When they give this puzzle to Kramnik I´ll take their word for it.

Apr-30-17		offramp: ***OFFRAMP IS WORLD RECORD HOLDER* *START* At 13:43 on 26th April 2017 I checked a ticket at Fulham Broadway and thereby set a new world record. I have now done every job mentioned on both Career Opportunities by the Clash and What A Waste by Ian Dury and the Blockheads! I did it in 35 years, 2 months and 4 days, beating the old record by 6 days. **END****

May-03-17		offramp: Farmer Selby has some pretty exotic fruit on his farm nowadays. I am having some now. It's a Pasture Selby Date.

May-04-17		offramp: "This is a total work conceived graphically, musically, lyrically and accidentally - as a whole. The performances were guided by the given compositional structures and the audibly inspired beauty of every player. The whole unfolded like a mystery. It is not my intention to unravel that mystery for anyone, but rather to offer some additional clues..." Bleuurgh!

Jump to page # (enter # from 1 to 91)
search thread:
< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 23 OF 91 · Later Kibitzing>

NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion.

Please observe our posting guidelines:

No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language.
No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts.
No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members.
Nothing in violation of United States law.
No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members.
No trolling.
The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited.
Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers.

Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times.

See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator.

NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific user only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors.
All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration.

Participating Grandmasters are Not Allowed Here!

You are not logged in to chessgames.com.
If you need an account, register now;
it's quick, anonymous, and free!
If you already have an account, click here to sign-in.