User Profile: phony benoni

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Phony Benoni
Member since Feb-10-06 · Last seen Jun-11-22

Greetings, O Seeker After Knowledge! You have arrived in Dearborn, Michigan (whether you like it or not), and are reading words of wisdom from a player rated 2938--plus or minus 1000 points.
However, I've retired from serious play--not that I ever took playing chess all that seriously. You only have to look at my games to see that. These days I pursue the simple pleasures of finding games that are bizarre or just plain funny. I'd rather enjoy a game than analyze it.
For the record, my name is David Moody. This probably means nothing to you unless you're a longtime player from Michigan, though it's possible that if you attended any US Opens from 1975-1999 we might have crossed paths. Lucky you.
If you know me at all, you'll realize that most of my remarks are meant to be humorous. I do this deliberately, so that if my analysis stinks to High Heaven I can always say that I was just joking.
As you can undoubtedly tell from my sparkling wit, I'm a librarian in my spare time. Even worse, I'm a cataloger, which means I keep log books for cattle. Also, I'm not one of those extroverts who sit at the Reference Desk and help you with research. Instead, I spend all day staring at a computer screen updating and maintaining information in the library's catalog. The general public thinks Reference Librarians are dull. Reference Librarians think Catalogers are dull.
My greatest achievement in chess, other than tricking you into reading this, was probably mating with king, bishop and knight against king in a tournament game. I have to admit that this happened after an adjournment, and that I booked up like crazy before resuming. By the way, the fact I have had adjourned games shows you I've been around too long.
My funniest moment occurred when I finally got a chance to pull off a smothered mate in actual play. You know, 1.Nf7+ Kg8 2.Nh6+ Kh8 3.Qg8+ Rxg8 4.Nf7#. When I played the climactic queen check my opponent looked at the board in shocked disbelief and said, "But that's not mate! I can take the queen!"

Finally, I must confess that I once played a positional move, back around 1982. I'll try not to let that happen again.

>> Click here to see phony benoni's game collections.

   Phony Benoni has kibitzed 18634 times to chessgames [more...]

   Jun-11-22 M Blau vs Keres, 1959

Phony Benoni: Not a good recommendation for the DERLD. Out of 59 moves, White makes only three in Black's half of the board. And two of those conist of 3.Bb5 and 6.Bxc6.

   Jun-11-22 chessgames.com chessforum

Phony Benoni: Er, it's back. Karpov vs Timman, 1988

   Jun-10-22 Orlo Milo Rolo

Phony Benoni: Marco!

   Jun-10-22 Lilienthal vs Bondarevsky, 1947

Phony Benoni: Another one for you King Hunters. Black's monarch travels fron g8 to b8, then takes the Great Circle Route back to h3 before calling it a day.

   Jun-10-22 GrahamClayton chessforum

Phony Benoni: <GrahamClayton> I've posted a question for you at L T Magee vs J Holland, 1948

   Jun-10-22 L T Magee vs E L Holland, 1948

Phony Benoni: <GrahamClayton> The source you cite, <Chess Review, May 1948, p. 24>, gives Black's name as <E Holland> "Chess Life" (June 5, 1948, p. 1) has a table of results giving <E L Holland>. That form also appears in USCF rating supplements for a player fro ...

   Jun-09-22 Biographer Bistro

Phony Benoni: SkinnVer Here Among the Fold?

   Jun-09-22 Flohr vs Bondarevsky, 1947

Phony Benoni: Black's bishop makes me think of Godzilla emerging from the depths of the ocean to wreak havoc. However, in the end it's his Two Little Friends who steal the show. Well, maybe not so litt.

   Jun-06-22 W Ritson-Morry vs G T Crown, 1947

Phony Benoni: it was the last round. Rison-Morry was mired in last place. These things happen.

   Jun-06-22 W Adams vs M Kagan, 1947

Phony Benoni: Some more informztion. The game was published in <Chess Review>, March 1948, p. 23. Black's name is given as "M Kagan", and the location as "Massachusetts". There is no other game data, but I think we can now safely assume Black is <Milton Kagan>. Earlier in the ...

indicates a reply to the comment.

Living in the Past

< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 17 OF 914 · Later Kibitzing>
Dec-20-06		WannaBe: I knew, when I nominated you, I had a winner. Congratulations <Phony Benoni>!

Dec-20-06		cu8sfan: Same here, congratulations! And I nominated you too knowing there was no way you wouldn't win the Caissar.

Dec-20-06		Phony Benoni: Thanks to both of you, and to the voters. I promise not to change my avatar until my pictures with Britney become available.

Dec-20-06		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN (Composed by I. V. Zhek, 1938. Published in Chessboard Magic by Irving Chernev, #69.) click for larger view Would you believe an epulatte mate? <1.h8Q Qxh8 2.Qc1+ f4> 2...Kg6 3.Qg1+ Kh6 4.Qh2+ Kg7 5.Qg3+ Kh6 6.Qh4+ Kg7 7.Qg5+ Kh7 8.Kf7 is a standard type of combination. <3.Qg1+ Kf5 4.Qg4+ Ke5 5.Qg5+ Kd4 6.Qg1+ Ke5 7.Qa1+ d4 8.Qxa5!#> click for larger view

Dec-20-06		Phony Benoni: For those of you who care, I've snuck one of my recent correspondence games into the kibitz section of my alter ego page, David Moody

Dec-21-06		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND DRAW (Composed by F. J. Prokop, 1925. Published in Chessboard Magic by Irving Chernev, #70.) click for larger view A draw by quadruple frustration. <1.Nf8+ Kh8 2.Ng6+ Qxg6 3.f8Q+ Kh7 4.Bb1!> click for larger view So that if 4...Qxb1 5.Qf5+ Qxf5 is stalemate. Black counters by trying to give away his bishop to put White's king on a better square, but White just keeps repeating the pattern. <4...Bc3+ 5.Ke3!> 5...Qxb1 6.Qf5+ Qxf5= <5...Bd4+ 6.Kd2!> 6...Qxb1 7.Qh8+ Kg6 8.Qh7+ Kxh7= <6...Be3+ 7.Kc3 Qxb1> Conceding the draw, since 7...Bd2+ 8.Kd4 just puts us back where we started. <8.Qxg7+ Kxg7=>

Dec-22-06		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND DRAW (Composed by L. A. Kayev, 1933. Published in Chessboard Magic by Irving Chernev, #71.) click for larger view Pulling the strings! <1.Ng7+ Kf8 2.Rf2> That was easy. <2...Bd1+! 3.Ke1 Bf3> click for larger view Rats. Too bad the queen's not on f3 instead of the bishop; then the White king would be stalemated if we could get that other bishop to g5 somehow. Wait a minute... <4.Rxf3! Qxf3 5.Ne6+ Kg8 6.Rg7+ Kh8 7.Rh7+! Kxh7 8.Ng5+ Bxg5> And that's a big Q.E.D, Good Buddy.

Dec-22-06		Phony Benoni: Despite popular demand, three of my own games have been added to the Chessgames.com database. A Christmas gift, I suppose.

Dec-23-06		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN (Composed by A. A. Safonov, 1929. Published in Chessboard Magic by Irving Chernev, #72.) click for larger view In which the White queen gets more help from the opposing pieces than from her own. <1.Bf3 Qxf3 2.Qf7+ Ke4> click for larger view Throughout, alternatives for Black lose the queen. Now Qe6 would be mate if only that pawn weren't guarding the square. Let's see if we can fix that. <3.Qe8+ Kf5 4.Qf8+ Ke4 5.Qa8+ d5> There we go! <6.Qe8+ Kf5 7.Qf7+ Ke4 8.Qe6#>

Dec-24-06		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND DRAW (Composed by B. A. Bron, 1939. Published in Chessboard Magic by Irving Chernev, #73.) click for larger view Don't play a good move too soon! <1.b6 Kc8 2.Ne5 Kd8 3.Nxd3 Nb2+! 4.Kxc5!> The pawn must promote anyway, so White continues the attack. <4...Nxd3+ 5.Kd6 e1Q 6.Rh8+ Qe8> click for larger view All right; we can take the queen with check! And after 7.Rxe8+ Kxe8 8.Kc7 Nc5 9.Kd6 Nb3 10.Kc7 Na5 ... wait, that's not so good. Ah! <7.Rg8!> 7...Qxg8 is stalemate, and knight moves mean that Black will not be able to protect the b-pawn after White plays Kc7.

Dec-25-06		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND DRAW (Composed by A. A. Troitzky, 1910. Published in Chessboard Magic by Irving Chernev, #74.) click for larger view This one is hard to believe. A quick count shows the knight needs four moves to guard d1, but the pawn is queening is three. White can try to gain a move with Nc6-e7-f5+, but then he can't play Ne3. The king can catch the pawn, but it would have to start immediately and the knight would fall. Clearly, we need another tack here. <1.Nc6 d3 2.Nxa7 d2 3.Nb5 d1Q 4.Nc3 Qd6+ 5.Kh1> Against any other fourth move for Black, White will just go into what happens in the main line. Now, Black's king can't move due to the fork on e4, so the queen must move. And it doesn't matter where she goes! Let's say, for the sake of argument, that Black plays <5...Qf6 6.Ne4!> click for larger view And the game is a draw! If the queen checks on the back rank, White plays Kh2 and the threat of g3# forces the queen to leave the back rank, allowing the king to return. If the queen guards h2, White just shuffles between g1 and h1.

Dec-26-06		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND DRAW (Composed by E. N. Somov-Nasimovitsch, 1925. Published in Chessboard Magic by Irving Chernev, #75.) click for larger view Noble play by White's pawns, sacrificing themselves for the greater good. <1.a7 Bg1 2.a8Q Nb6+ 3.Kb4 Nxa8 4.f7 Nc7 5.f8Q Bc5+> click for larger view Let's look at the lines here: (a) 6.Kxc5 Ne6+ 7.Kxc4 Nxf8 8.Kd5 Nd7 and wins. (b) 6.Qxc5 Na6+ 7.Kxc4 Nxc5 8.Kxc5 Kd3!, and wins. (c) Don't take the bishop, try to win Black's pawns and hope he can't mate with ♗+♘. Which is best? Why plan (c), of course, since <6.Kxc4 Bxf8> is stalemate.

Dec-26-06		WannaBe: Late May 2007, Chicago, you in? (read my profile)

Dec-27-06		Phony Benoni: <WannaBe> Thanks, but probably not. I have some health restrictions that make tournaments out of the question for now.

Dec-27-06		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND DRAW (Composed by T. B. Gorgiev, 1929. Published in Chessboard Magic by Irving Chernev, #76.) click for larger view This is probably a draw if White can bring his knight to safety. That is one big IF. <1.Nf7 Ke6 2.Nd8+ Kd7 3.Nb7 Kc7 4.Na5 Kb6> click for larger view This isn't going to be as easy as you thought. White's king cannot move without losing the knight. The knight's only safe move is 5.Nb3, but that allows 5...Nc3#. And what good can 5.c5+ do? <5.c5+ Nxc5+> Else the knight escapes. <6.Kb4 Nb7+ 7.Ka5 Nxa5> Stalemate!

Dec-28-06		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN (Composed by A. S. Selesniev, 1929. Published in Chessboard Magic by Irving Chernev, #77.) click for larger view There are chess variants in which a player is allowed to capture his own pieces. This can come in handy at times. <1.Kg4 Kc8 2.Kh5 Kd8 3.Ng7! Bxg7> click for larger view This looks easy. We just go for the inept bishop with 4.Kg6 Bh8 5.Kf7 Kd7 6.Kg8 Ke8 7.Kxh8 Kf7--and get stalemated. Rats. If only the White king could eat his pawn on h7. Wait a second--White can't capture that pawn, but he can force Black to take it! <4.h8Q+! Bxh8 5.Kg6 Ke8 6.Kh7 Kf7 7.Kxh8 Kf8 8.Kh7 Kf7 9.Kh6> Amd Black's king must give way.

Dec-29-06		WannaBe: <Phony Benoni> Saw your comment on fast play, and I think it's got merit, because when I slow down, I can do pretty well. (It also helps that your opponent blunders a lot =) Example: http://www.schemingmind.com/minitou...

Dec-29-06		Phony Benoni: <WannaBe> You certainly seem to be demolishing that group. Slow correspondence games can help you learn how to avoid obvious blunders, and that alone should shoot your rating up to 1500 or so. (At that point you have to actually start thinking to improve further, and I can't help you.) I've never been a particularly good correspondence player because I don't make good use of the time available. Too often, I play correspondence like blitz, which is a very bad idea. This habit dates back to the 1970s, when I was playing over 100 games at once through the mail. That is not a good idea if you want to play well.

Dec-29-06		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND DRAW (Composed by A. O. Herbstmann, 1928. Published in Chessboard Magic by Irving Chernev, #78.) click for larger view Reminsicent of #73 from earlier this week. <1.b5+ Kxb6 2.Ke1+> Don't you just love writing moves like that? <2...Kc7 3.Bh2 cxd2+ 4.Kd1> click for larger view Obviously 4...Qxh2 is answered by 5.b6+ with stalemate to follow. <4...b6> So that if White replies hastily with 5.Bxd6+, then 5...Kxd6 just kinda wins for Black. But no problem. We just have to find a move that keeps the stalemate intact. <5.Bf4!> Ah-ha!

Dec-30-06		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND win (Composed by K. A. L. Kubbel, 1936. Published in Chessboard Magic by Irving Chernev, #79.) click for larger view We've all seen sacrificial orgies. This is more of an appetizer. <1,Rf2 Bd1 3.Rh2+ Bh5 3.Be2 Rxe2 4.g4> click for larger view With the pretty point that 4...Rxh2 allows 5.g5#. However, a question arises: can Black draw with 4...Rf2+ 5.Rxf2 Bxg4? And the answer is no; one possible line is 6.Rh2+ Bh5 7.Rh1 e5 8.Rh4 e4 9.Rxe4. Now, after the bishop moves, 10.Rh4+ forces 10...Bh5 and 11.Kf5 zugs the Black king away from the bishop.

Dec-31-06		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND DRAW (Composed by G. Neukomm, 1935. Published in Chessboard Magic by Irving Chernev, #80.) click for larger view THIS is a sacrificial orgy. <1.Nb1+ Rxb1 2.Qa6 Rh4> Necessary to stop mate on a4, as are his next five moves.) <3.g4 Rxg4 4.f4 Rxf4 5.e4 Rxe4 6.d4 Rxd4 7.c4 Rxc4> An unusual example of the rambling rook. <8.Qxa4+! Rxa4> click for larger view Ah, so that's what the bishop was doing on g1!

Jan-01-07		Phony Benoni: WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN (Composed by E. N. Somov-Nasimovitsch, 1940. Published in Chessboard Magic by Irving Chernev, #81.) click for larger view Life imiates art. <1.Bd6+ cxd6 2.Kc3> With a small, but noticable threat of mate. <2...Ka2 3.Rb2+ Ka3 4.Rb7> click for larger view Same threat of mate as before, but now the rook is just a bit better placed. <4...Ka2 5.Kc2 Ka3 6.Ra7+ Kb4 7.Nc6+!> And White does indeed win, as Black's pawns are not far enough advanced to do any damage. Now, just to show you that this sort of thing happens in real life, here is Ragozin vs Veresov, 1945 with White to make his 24th move: click for larger view 24.Rxg6+!! fxg6 25.Rf7+ Kxf7 26.Qxh7+ Ke6 27.Qxg6+ Ke5 28.Qg7+ Kxe4 29.Nf6+! And White has enough extra pawns to win the ending, Black streamlining the process by forfeiting on time a few moves later.

Jan-02-07		WannaBe: I came here to see more opening stats, instead I got a puzzle. Maybe I'll use the Benoni more, and hopefully it will gain popularity. (I have seen a few Sicilian, Prins variation in my on-line corrsp. games. I think <JDK> actually uses it in one of our current game!)

Jan-02-07		suenteus po 147: <WannaBe> Don't forget that I played the seldom seen Prins Variation, Venice Attack against you in my last game as white.

Jan-02-07		WannaBe: <suenteus po 147> I try to forget the pain and suffering you inflict upon me. =)

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