offramp Member since Aug-16-03 · Last seen Jan-11-26 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.>.>

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Jan-11-26 offramp chessforum   offramp: Vincent Keymer Germany Rating: 2776 Arjun Erigaisi India Rating: 2775 Anish Giri Netherlands Rating: 2760 Praggnanandhaa India Rating: 2758 Gukesh D India Rating: 2754 Nodirbek Abdusattorov Uzbekistan Rating: 2751 Javokhir Sindarov ...      Jan-11-26 Tata Steel Masters (2026)    offramp: Vincent Keymer. 🇩🇪 4 2776 22 Erigaisi Arjun. 🇮🇳 5 2775 19 Anish Giri. 🇳🇱 6 2760 32 Four of the 13 players are Indians. There are 2 Uzbeks, 2 Dutch. Just one American, Niemann. He speaks Dutch.      Jan-10-26 J Hu vs S Badacsonyi, 2025   offramp: 14...Nb7. [DIAGRAM] White does not want to castle. It looks risky. White wasn't sure what to do. Instead, he played a2-a4, then a5 and a6, creating an important outpost for his knight at b7. 20. Nb7. [DIAGRAM] 20...e3 21. f3. Mate in 3.      Jan-10-26 Firouzja vs D Lazavik, 2025   offramp: I was drawn to this game from the home page. Some other people were discussing Two Knights (C58) . In a blitz game GM Firouija played the 2♘ opening. I was interested to see the modern ideas in this very ancient opening. Here is a new one: White had played 4. Ng5, that is      Jan-09-26 Kasparov vs Nunn, 1989    offramp: It's a really good game, mainly because Kasparov is White against the King's Indian, which he normally played as Black. White had a big shock but managed to defend.      Jan-09-26 Mackenzie - Reichhelm US Championship (1867)    offramp: I have played through these games and I have found them interesting, but not setting the world on fire. I think that MacKenzie was <professional>, but not exciting. He did not really give his opponent a chance, he outclassed him.      Jan-09-26 Mackenzie vs G Reichhelm, 1867   offramp: The French Defense (C15). MacKenzie kept the position in control. Mainly, he did everything he could do to keep that dratted black QB in a prison. 34...Bxd7. [DIAGRAM] Black was in real trouble.      Jan-08-26 P Wells vs K Hanache, 2025   offramp: I've been pondering about this game. <Are you pondering what I am pondering?> (Brain & Pinky.) The whole game is interesting, right from the start. E.g., Black was 13. Wells was 60. Wells played in the traditional English weekend circuit style. That style includes Kim ...      Jan-08-26 Tata Steel India Rapid (2026)   offramp: Good old Niemann. He is a globe-trotter. I have seen his suitcase. It is pretty small, and it is covered in stickers: <London>, <Tashkent>, <Beijing> and many others. Now he is in <Kolktata>. My Indian friend told me that Niemann was a bit <funky>. And ...      Jan-08-26 G Reichhelm vs Mackenzie, 1867   offramp: The powerful Evans Gambit might resurface in the 2030s. Many players might get fed up with the Joko Piano. I don't know the Evans. I don't know how far the theory goes down. In that era they played 1000s of the Evans. Oh blimey! 19. Nfd5. [DIAGRAM] There was available to Black a

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Ye Olde Offrampe Predicktions

< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 29 OF 86 ·  Later Kibitzing> Sep-10-17    offramp: A gymnast attacked me with an axe. We rolled in the mud. I was hacked by an adobe acrobat. Sep-10-17    offramp: As a tribute to Magnus Carlsen I am watching The Thing (2011). Sep-10-17    saffuna: I chose "The Harder They Fall" (1956). Sep-11-17    offramp: How about a caption competition? http://bucket2.glanacion.com/anexos... Provide a witty caption to that picture in a million words or less and you could win a set of 3 surgical wheelchair-enabled steps. PLUS if you respond within the next ten minutes you'll be eligible for a copy of my out-of-print autobiography, <"Bikes Babes Bombs Bullets Benonis and Benkos: My Journey of Self-Discovery From Krakatoa to Hiroshima via Tunguska & Roswell."> The guest judge for this round is Sir Richard Branson. Also, use the hashtag #freewheelto help make the Primorsky Stairs (aka The Odessa Steps aka the Potemkin Steps) wheelchair accessible. Sep-11-17    offramp: Tolstoy, Levin and the scythe. http://russianbooks.blogspot.co.uk/... Sep-12-17    offramp: The obverse of a coin is normally the heads side. Some of these posts are just reminders to myself. Sep-13-17    offramp: <offramp: How about a caption competition> There are two days left to try to win that super first prize, worth over 10,000 stotinki! Sir Richard says that at the moment User: Benjamin Lau is winning with his corker about leaving and never coming back! Don't miss out! Sep-14-17    offramp: I'm at a beer festival! The Wandle Beer festival, SM4 6BF. That code will show you exactly where I am at 13:00 GMT today. Sep-14-17    offramp: The second beer I had was a pint of REUNION Opening Gambit, 3.8%, £3.00. Sep-18-17    offramp: I wonder who would win this: click for larger view Sep-18-17    offramp: Years ago I sometimes set myself a theme for that day's league game. I once read a comment by Raymond Keene about a Korchnoi Karpov game and I said to myself, Today I'm going to avoid all exchanges. I won easily. I'm one of those players, and there are many of us, who think that playing, as Black, QxQNP early in the game is good for Black. SO I'm gonna play a dozen games on Lichess with that very idea in mind. I'll post here how I get on. Sep-19-17    Arconax: <offramp: Today I'm going to avoid all exchanges. I won easily> But as my godfather advised me: "Life is not worth living if you don't exchange some pieces now and then". Never quite understood what he meant. Sep-20-17    thegoodanarchist: So your avatar is Albert Pike? I always thought it was Steinitz... Sep-20-17    offramp: Yes, definitely Pike. I think Steinitz was a lot balder but less grey. I reversed the picture of Pike so as to have him looking INTO the page. That's standard practice in the press industry. I tried to get FSR's avatar changed but his vanity would have none of it, so FSR still looks resolutely out into nothingness, while I gaze beatifically at well-informed discussion of historic chess feasts. Sep-20-17    offramp: I like Ren & Stimpy. The cat's voice is obviously Larry from the 3 Stooges. Ren is Peter Lorre. I also like Beavis & Butthead. Mike Judge's voices recur throughout <King of the Hill>. Sep-26-17    thegoodanarchist: When I read your bio I don't know what parts to believe. For example, Gustav Richard Neumann isn't on anyone's list of top 10 favorite players. Certainly not at number 7. Sep-27-17    Big Pawn: <offramp's> bio is awesome! I love it. How did he come up with so much stuff? LOL! Sep-28-17    offramp: Everything after the word Klein is definitely true. Sep-28-17    offramp: <offramp: ...I also like Beavis & Butthead, by Mike Judge...> I've been re-watching it. It really holds up well. I NEVER saw the film because I knew that it would be garbage. It's well animated and pretty funny. It is a great way to pass 5-10 minutes. No good beyond that. Sep-29-17    thegoodanarchist: <I also like Beavis & Butthead. Mike Judge's voices recur throughout <King of the Hill>.> You're thinking of <The Lion King>. Oct-01-17    offramp: <The Flying Death (1902) by Samuel Hopkins Adams <Dr Richard Colton, vacationing in <Montauk, stumbles across a series of <seemingly impossible murders. He <deduces that some of them are the <work of an insane knife-thrower from the circus. <Other deaths, however, cannot be explained <until he comes across curious footprints on the beach. <An earthquake has released a pteradon, a prehistoric flying reptile, from an underground cavern.>>>>>>>>> Oct-04-17    offramp: 8:35am. I was thinking about my invention of wikimancy. I thought "The trouble is that it tends to throw up a lot of villages in Iran." I clicked "Random Article" and imagine what turned up: <Mowtowr-e Gol Mohammad Palangi From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Mowtowr-e Gol Mohammad Palangi موتورگل محمدپلنگي is a village in Bampur-e Sharqi Rural District, in the Central District of Bampur County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 408, in 75 families.> So it's true! Oct-05-17    FSR: Did you recently play a banter blitz game against Jan Gustafsson? Oct-06-17    offramp: <FSR: Did you recently play a banter blitz game against Jan Gustafsson?> NO! I have seen the disastrous game and it's just a coincidence. Oct-06-17    offramp: Cardamon pips: if you eat one by accident it's quite nice. Eat one on purpose it's bloody awful. Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 86) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 29 OF 86 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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