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.

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 ...

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Living in the Past

< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 29 OF 914 ·  Later Kibitzing> May-12-08    positionalgenius: <PB> good game May-12-08    Phony Benoni: <positional genius> Thanks. Those unprotected pieces can be murder. May-15-08    wrap99: I read your description of your game with e.s. jackson. I saw him a tourney in the 1980s, knew something about his long career in chess. That is one of the best things about the game, the historical connections. I was a spectator at lone pine and saw reshevsky and was blown away when thinking whom he had played. May-16-08    ahmadov: Hello and good luck to you in our game on QA! By the way, I really hate the position we have reached there :-) (the Bishop sacrifice) May-16-08    Phony Benoni: <wrap99: That is one of the best things about the game, the historical connections.> Indeed. It's staggering to think that, through Jackson, I'm just one more chain link away from Alekhine, who played Blackburne who played many opponents of Morphy. Through such links, I'm probably no more than six steps away from every important Master of the last 150 years. May-22-08    fictionist: I'm waiting for you to move and also my downfall. :) :( May-23-08    ahmadov: <fictionist: I'm waiting for you to move and also my downfall. :) :(> This man has almost crashed me as well... I think he knew that I always have problems with the King's Gambit... ;-) May-23-08    fictionist: I blundered on my 10th move. I don't know how <Phony> really plays. But I'd always love to challenge anyone rated higher than me. May-23-08    Phony Benoni: I play a lot like Morphy. Bishops along diagonals, rooks in straight lines, stuff like that. May-23-08    technical draw: Tell me something how many players here will capture en passant just to show the opponent that you know the rule? AT the beginning I would do that and sometimes my opponent didn't know the rule I would explain it to them and they wouldn't believe that that rule existed. May-23-08    WannaBe: Good thing with computer play, once the move is registered, it's up to your opponent to find out what happened, and why the rule is that way... May-23-08    Phony Benoni: You have to be careful with testing the rules in practical play, as I found out in one of my correspondence games back in the early 1970s. I can't remember the entire position, but here's the basic idea: click for larger view I was able to trap Black's bishop by castling queenside. My opponent wrote back angrily that 1.0-0-0 was illegal since the rook would pass over an attacked square. I quoted chapter and verse back at him, and he resigned in a huff. This wouldn't have been a problem, except that the fellow was a prisoner serving ten years for aggravated assault. My so-called friends at the club took delight in broadcasting news bulletins whenever I walked in: "Prisoner escaped from State Prison today. The last words he was heard saying were "<Moody. MOODY">. By the way, nothing ever came of it. I moved soon afterward. May-24-08    technical draw: <PB> Yes I've been in a similar situation. I castled queenside with a bishop attacking the same square as yours. My opponent said I couldn't castle. I told him it was only if the King crossed the attacked squared. He got up and left and said I didn't know the rules. Sometimes other players would castle across an attacked square and you would tell them that was illegal they would say I was making up the rules. Beginners! May-24-08    fictionist: <This wouldn't have been a problem, except that the fellow was a prisoner serving ten years for aggravated assault. My so-called friends at the club took delight in broadcasting news bulletins whenever I walked in: "Prisoner escaped from State Prison today. The last words he was heard saying were Moody MOODY> But have you ever been in a heated argument over a game? :) May-25-08    Phony Benoni: <fictionist> I can recall a pretty heated incident, but it was more of a monologue than an argument. I was on the receiving end, and probably deserved everything I got. This was a tournament before sudden death time controls became customary. Instead, we were supposed to play at 50 moves in the first two hours, followed by 25 moves per hour thereafter. Following a time scramble, my opponent just made the first time control. He then asked me (according to his story) if the second time control was also 50 moves in two hours. I was too dazed to realize what he had asked, and just nodded my head politely. Naturally, he didn't make 25 moves before the next hour expired and I claimed a win on time. He got quite upset, but the tournament director was on the spot and explained the time control to him. He was still pretty hot but beginning to calm down a bit when I said without thinking, "Well, you were lost anyway." That's when the argument turned into a monologue. I leave the details to your imagination. May-26-08    fictionist: Well, in my club here, I am always at the receiving end of a verbal tussle. I just keep quiet all the time. I do often wonder why some people can't accept losing. May-26-08    Phony Benoni: And they probably wonder why we mild-mannered types don't get mad when we lose. If we don't care what happens, why do we even bother playing chess? I try to suppress my rants until I'm alone. Though there was the one time I hit <Resignation Trap> over the head with a chessboard. May-27-08    fictionist: Is that a joke again about <Resignation Trap>? May-27-08    Phony Benoni: No, it's literally true. But I should explain the circumstances. <Resignation Trap> (known to the rest of the world as James Kulbacki) and I go back to the 1970s. We share a number of chess interests, and even made several pilgramages to the Cleveland Public Library to visit the John G. White collection. Our ratings have always been close, but for a long time I had an incredible streak going against him. In our first eight tournament games, I scored seven wins and a draw. Finally, Jim beat me. I pretended to be sulking, rolled up the vinyl chess board we had been playing on, and gave him a little tap on the head. It was meant to be a joke, and he took it as such. He also beat me the next three games we played. May-27-08    Benzol: I'd love to see the John G White collection. May-28-08    Robin01: <PhonyBenoni>I do not know how I managed to get into a Marshall Gambit with you. I guess I was not expecting you to play it and then you did. I actually try to avoid the Marshall because of the deep theory involved. It is also very easy to go wrong, especially over the board (OTB). I have only faced it once OTB with the white pieces, and I got my head handed to me by a young master. Anyhow, just rambling. I am enjoying our game. May-28-08    WannaBe: Heheheh... You'd be in theory for another 50 moves, and it will be a draw!! :-)) May-28-08    fictionist: Hello <Robin01>. Marshall nowadays is safe, right? Why do you worry against <Phony>? lol! May-28-08    Robin01: <fictionist>I guess any opening is safe if one plays the correct moves. I am not worried, but only discussing the gambit. I never worry about a chess game. I think it is a difficult opening to play OTB because one small mistake can lead to immediate catastrophe!:) May-28-08    fictionist: I would love to face the Marshall in one of our cg/qa tournaments. In my club here, my record against it is +3 -0 =10. Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 914) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 29 OF 914 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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