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

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

offramp has kibitzed 25205 times to chessgames   [more...]

Jan-16-26 Tata Steel Masters (2026)    offramp: <Freelance Assassin>, in Giri's last major tournament I predicted that would end up no where. I lambasted him. I face-planted because Giri won that tournament easily. SO NOW I have made a volte-face, whatever that is. I believe that <GIRI> will win this Tata Masters. ...      Jan-16-26 offramp chessforum   offramp: Here's a good DVD Database: <ChessBase '26 Premium-Package Expand Your Chess Horizons Only available as download - Most computers no longer have DVD drives and the amount of data is now so large that it can no longer be stored on a DVD. After your purchase you will receive ...      Jan-16-26 M Schekachikhin vs C Dolgun, 2024   offramp: The Caissa Hotel is on the Aegean Sea, in Ayvalik, Turkey. This game is very interesting all the way through, right from 4...Qh4!      Jan-15-26 Julien Song   offramp: The first game is dead level. I reckon Song will win this match easily.      Jan-15-26 Giri vs Niemann, 2025   offramp: Giri said... <"Before the game I visualized a victory against Niemann. There's this technique.... I saw myself win. Then I went a bit too far and I started thinking about who would be in my team for the Candidates' - and that's when I realized I had gone too far."      Jan-15-26 Dickson    offramp: Someone asked, "What the dickens??" The answer is "No."      Jan-15-26 S Rosenthal vs Count Isouard, 1871    offramp: "Is You Is or Is You Ain't Isouard?"      Jan-14-26 Keymer vs Carlsen, 2023   offramp: Keymer Rouge.      Jan-14-26 Garry Kasparov    offramp: <Petrosianic>. I dislike stories about the 3rd Reich... Kasparov was expounding about Molotov and Stalin and the Germans. I could have followed the details but I <hate> checking WWII facts on Google because you get sucked into a whirlwind of right-wing horror. So I am ...      Jan-14-26 J Puccini vs J P Gomez, 2015    offramp: Good pun and a good game. The final move is hard-to-spot! I was expecting some hay-maker final blow, but it is a quiet move. In fact, that last move, 19. Qd2, could be a <CREEPING MOVE>. Creeping moves can only made by queens; Spassky specialised in them.

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Ye Olde Offrampe Predicktions

< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 67 OF 86 ·  Later Kibitzing> Apr-21-24    Teyss: Hi offramp, <So far, only 4 Berlins out of the 48 games, which is a blessing.> You mean because there are few? Agree. Although the score is interesting, with as many as 2 decisive game out of 4. This tournament definitely has surprising openings or opening outcomes. <I was thinking of the song by Herman's Hermits: imagine a country & western song called "NO SCOTCH TODAY..."> Ha, good one. Apr-21-24    thegoodanarchist: <Teyss: Hi thegoodanarchist, I didn't say Single Malt Scotch is crap,> I know. It was a bit of wordplay - you took it seriously?! Apr-22-24    Teyss: Hi thegoodanarchist, No I didn't take it seriously as proves the second part of my post ;) Although I didn't get the worldplay. Single crap... 🤔 No. Malt crap... 🤔 No. Scotch crap... 🤔 No. SMS crap... 🤔 No. I give up. Hi offramp, Thanks for letting us use your profile page for silly posts. Apr-22-24    offramp: 1. In Round 1 will Caruana beat Nakamura? NO 2. Will the Scotch be played; i.e. any C45 game? NO 3. Will Firouzja lose 2 or more games? YES! 4. Will a game be 25 moves or less? YES 5. Will a game go to 100 moves or more? YES 6. Will Nakamura score 50% against Firouzja? NO 7. Will this ending appear: ♗♗ v ♘♘, and no heavy pieces? NO 8. Will the 3 Indians (Gukesh, Pragg & Vidit) draw all their games among them? NO 9. Will Abasov end up on 50% or more? NO 10. In the final round will Caruana beat Nepomniachtchi? NO. That is, 1. No 2. No 3. Yes 4. Yes 5. Yes 6. No 7. No 8. No 9. No 10. No. Mark your own paper. I think I will do the same thing at the next big event, but I'll think of some better questions. Apr-22-24    Teyss: Hi offramp, Thanks for hosting this. I scored 9/10. Would have been 10/10 but for easy draws below 25 moves, bunch of sissies (there were actually two games like this). The questions are fine, it's sometimes the cursor that was too obvious notably "3. Will Firouzja lose 2 or more games?", "8. Will the 3 Indians (Gukesh, Pragg & Vidit) draw all their games among them?", "9. Will Abasov end up on 50% or more?" Apr-22-24    thegoodanarchist: <Teyss: Hi thegoodanarchist, No I didn't take it seriously as proves the second part of my post ;) > Yes, of course! I have a bad habit of skipping over the 2nd parts of posts in my rush to reply. May-04-24    offramp: If you have ever read < The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy> then you will know about the character named <Bowerick Wowbagger>. He is immortal and has decided to insult everyone in the universe in alphabetical order. I believe we have a real-life avatar in the form of User: JedwardDance. <HE> has decided to make a brilliant pun about every single game by the late Michael J R White. <THAT> is in itself a wonderful pastime - very similar to the pastime of <Bowerick Wowbagger>. <HOWEVER> there is a very inky fly in the ointment. User: JedwardDance has a nemesis in the Dick-dastardly-form of User: mrlager. <He> has decided that there is a race taking place, and <HE> intends to win this bloody race. Both punsters are galloping along furiously, desperate to append puns to even the most obscure games from Michael J R White. May the sceptre be given to the swiftestest!! May-04-24    offramp: Here we are after 2 furlongs in the Michael J R White Stakes. This is a four-horse race and at the moment User: mrlager is ahead by one length just in front of User: JedwardDance. Bringing up the rear are User: MissScarlett and User: Sally Simpson. MrLager has 55 puns, JedwardDance has 44. May-05-24    offramp: At the 4 furlong mark a new contestant has joined the race: User: idesofmodernity. He has 7 <Mike White Puns>, which puts him in third. May-08-24    thegoodanarchist: <offramp: At the 4 furlong mark a new contestant has joined the race....> Sir, it seems you've missed your calling in life. You should be announcing Darbys, methinks. May-09-24    Messiah: Gukesh is so cool! May-12-24    offramp: Here is an update on the Michael J R White Pewter Cup, a race over an indefinite distance with an uncertain number of contestants, but it could be as many as 5 and as few as none. Here is the state of the race. Remember that this race takes place in total pitch darkness, and no one has been informed where the finishing line is, or even whether or not is exists. Steaming along well in the lead is User: mrlager with 75 puns. In a bit of stasis is User: JedwardDance with 47 puns. Closing the gap rapidly is User: idesofmodernity with 27 puns. The rest of the field is at 12-1. May-13-24    offramp: My doctor says that I have GOUT. I have been prescribed 1 A wheelchair with one leg UP 2 A monocle 3 A walking stick to berate anyone nearby. May-14-24    technical draw: <offramp> Is it acute gout or an ugly one? May-14-24    offramp: User: technical draw I'm the GOAT of GOUT. May-17-24    offramp: Capablanca chess is played on a 15 x 15 board with these extra pieces: Laufer, Giraffe, Bouncer, Thwacker & Quisling. It's called LGBTQ+ chess. May-19-24    offramp: I know a lot of paddies. If you ask him for twenty quid he'll hum and haw and say that he wants to think about it blah blah blah... But if you ask for £6,000 he'll say that he can get it for you in about two days. May-19-24    offramp: In Aldi I saw the shelf price for chilis: 59p. What a bargain! When I picked up the cellophane packet it contained <TWO> chilis! May-21-24    offramp: <Un Balla in Maschera> is based on a real life assassination. I have bought the DVD of the stage opera to see it There isn't enough time to see the films, programmes, and listen to songs... There isn't enough time! May-22-24    offramp: The Euro Championships start on 14th June 2024 and they go on to 14th July 2024. It takes place entirely in Germany. The opening match is hosts (Germany) v Eduard Scotland. Recently, Germany have been a bit shaky. It could be worth a punt on a Scottish win <especially> your bookie has a free bet. Opening matches can give some surprises. May-23-24    offramp: Cats never get claustrophobic. May-24-24    technical draw: <offramp> Cats get catstrophobic. May-29-24    offramp: `1234567890-= ¬!"£$%^&*()_+ qwertyuiop[]# QWERTYUIOP{}~ asdfghjkl;' ASDFGHJKL:@ zxcvbnm,./ ZXCVBNM<>? I have a new keyboard... Jun-06-24    technical draw: <offramp> ׳ראטוןןם אאטוןןם ננךךששדגכע סבהנמ דגכעיחל So do I. Jul-04-24    offramp: Will you join me in reciting the <The 368 Holy Exclamations>. The list is here: https://badspit.substack.com/p/the-... Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 86) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 67 OF 86 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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