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 39 OF 914 · Later Kibitzing>
Jan-07-09		Phony Benoni: <1.Qxf6+ Kxf6> (else 2.Qf7#) <2.Bc3+ Kf5> (2...Be5 3.Bxe5+ Kf5 4.g4#) <3.g4+ Kf4 4.Bd2+ Kxf3 5.Re3+ Kf4 6.Re6+ Kf3 7.g5#>. Obviously, nobody wanted to tease me about how Mondayish this was. I think you for your sensitivity.

Jan-07-09		fich: <Phony> Good evening. How did you manage to acquire these tons of information? You seem to painstakingly post these things for the sake of others, well that includes me. You may happen to have some knowledge about certain tournament I would like to inquire about.

Jan-07-09		Phony Benoni: <fich> Well, you need to know that I've been playing and reading about chess for about fifty years now. Invevitably, some of it sticks. Also, if you read my profile, you'll know that my hobby is being a cataloger in a library. This means I have an infinite capacity to do detail work that normal people would consider drudgery, and an equally infinite obsession about accuracy.

Jan-09-09		fich: <PB> Good afternoon. Do you mind if I asked for your email? I will ask about some tournaments. Thank you.

Jan-09-09		Phony Benoni: <fich> It would probably be better if you asked here. If I couldn't provide the answer--and that is very likely, I have to admit--it would be easier to get help from someone else.

Jan-10-09		sneaky pete: <PB> About your puzzle: very nice! The first move is obvious, but the actual mate (with Re1 to e3+ to e6+ and 24.g5#) isn't (unless I overlooked a shorter mate). What puzzles me: how did you reach that position? The preceding moves must have been 16... pd4xNc3 17.Qc2xpc3 .. and now black probably should have played 17... Nxd5, but I would like to see the moves leading up to the diagrammed position. How did that bishop on h5 get there?

Jan-10-09		Phony Benoni: <sneaky pete: ...What puzzles me: how did you reach that position...> Through my usual combination of sheer stupidity and blind luck: <Moody - McMahon Correspondence, 1979 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.c3 dxc3 6.Nxc3 d6 7.Qb3 Qf6 8.0-0 h6 9.Nd5 Qd8 10.Re1 Nge7 11.Nf6+ gxf6 12.Bxf7+ Kf8 13.Bh5 d5 14.Bf4 Bd6 15.exd5 Na5 16.Qc3 Kg7 17.Bd2 b6 18.Qxf6+ 1-0> The sacrifice on move 11 was completely unsound; I simply overlooed 13...d5. 15.exd5 is sort of interesting; if 15...Bxf4 16.dxc6 threatening 17.Qf7# and 17.cxb7 would be OK for White. You're right about ...Nxd5; Black should have played it on move 16. White can win the queen, but has too give up too much material. But we both thought 16...Kg7 was forced. 17...Nxd5 isn't that bad either.

Jan-11-09		Phony Benoni: For those who have followed the scattered notes about multi-decade players, here's another nine-decade player for your list: Francisco Benko. And, according to the kibitzes, he was still active in 2008, giving his a chance to be a ten-decade player in 2010.

Jan-11-09		technical draw: <Phony Benoni: <Everyone> That's what I thought too, but apparently odd things happen when the opposition includes Technical Draw W. Bush.> Hey! I just read that! Uh, is that good or bad?

Jan-11-09		Phony Benoni: Hey, I just write the stuff. It's up to other people to interpret it.

Jan-11-09		technical draw: <PB> Well, um, uh, same to you with butter on it!

Jan-14-09		Phony Benoni: I've posted these the last couple of years, and we all know what happened. Nothing daunted, here we go again! <SILLY DATABASE STATISTICS> As is traditional, the first category is: <The Hortense Wallflower Award for Least Used Opening> 1. Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Main line with 8...dc and 9...cd (E57) (5 games) 2. Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox, Rubinstein Attack, Main line (D65) (21 games) 3. Benoni, Classical, 9...a6, 10.a4 (A74) (22 games) 4. King's Indian, Four Pawns Attack, with Be2 and Nf3 (E78) (29 games) 5. Benoni (A66) (37 games) 6. Dutch, Ilyin-Genevsky Variation with Qc2 (A98) (37 games) 7. Benoni, Classical, 9...Re8 (A76) (41 games) 8. Benoni, Classical without 9.O-O (A72) (46 games) 9. Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack, 12.h4 (B79) (46 games) 10. Catalan, Open (E03) (50 games) 11. King's Indian, Samisch, Orthodox Main line (E89) (53 games) 12. Nimzo-Indian, Samisch Variation (E27) (56 games) 13. Dutch, Stonewall, Botvinnik Variation (A93) (60 games) 14. King's Indian, Four Pawns Attack, Main line (E79) (61 games) 15. Benoni, Classical with ...Re8 and ...Na6 (A78) (63 games) 16. Dutch, Stonewall with Ba3 (A94) (63 games) 17. King's Indian, Orthodox, 7...Nbd7, Main line (E96) (79 games) 18. Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense, Classical, 13.de (D69) (80 games) 19. Benoni, Fianchetto, 9...Nbd7 (A63) (83 games) 20. Dutch Defense (A91) (84 games) E57 continues to go from strength to strength--it somehow lost 50% of the games it had last year! I also find it interesting how #1 and #2 insist they are the <main> line.

Jan-14-09		WannaBe: One can't but wonder, why so many Benoni are among the 'top' of this list... =)

Jan-14-09		Phony Benoni: <WannaBe> It's because Benoni players are like the Marines: The Few, The Proud, the Totally Reckless of Personal Safety... < From the Halls of Queen Knight Seven, To the shores of King Rook Three, We will fight our chessboard battles Wherever they may be. Just to find a sneaky checkmate Or a cheapo on on the fly, We are proud to claim the opening Of B-E-N-O-N-I.>

Jan-15-09		WannaBe: Dear Mr. <Phony> Quite a few of my friends are/were in the Marines, (Yes, I'm serious on this one). You'll be 'hearing' from them soon. <As soon as the Navy lets them go on shore!! :-)))> I also have more friends, who were in the Navy! Bwahahahaha....

Jan-15-09		Phony Benoni: <WannaBe> I'd better shut up while I'm ahead, or at least still have one.

Jan-15-09		Phony Benoni: <SILLY DATABASE STATISTICS> And the category for tonight: <The Chigorin-Bogolyubov "When I am White I Win Because I Am White" Award for the Line with the Best Winning Percentage for White>. 1. Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox, Rubinstein Attack, Main line (D65) (78.55%, 21 games) 2. Dutch, Stonewall with Ba3 (A94) (70.70%, 63 games) 3. Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Main line with 8...dc and 9...cd (E57) (70.00%, 5 games) 4. Catalan, Closed (E08) (69.00%, 305 games) 5. Queen's Gambit Declined (D06) (68.75% 402 games) 6. Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense, Classical (D68) (68.65%, 126 games) 7. Dutch, Ilyin-Genevsky Variation with Qc2 (A98) (67.60%, 37 games) 8. Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox, Rubinstein Attack (D61) (67.10%, 391 games) 9. Dutch, Ilyin-Genevsky Variation with b3 (A99) (66.65%, 90 games) 10. Queen's Gambit Declined, Anti-Neo-Orthodox Variation (D54) (66.35%, 98 games) 11. Dutch, Stonewall, Botvinnik Variation (A93) (65.85%, 60 games) 12. Queen's Gambit Declined (D35) (65.75%, 1847 games) 13. Ruy Lopez, Old Steinitz Defense (C62) (65.50%, 367 games) 14. Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox, Rubinstein Attack (D64) (65.45%, 177 games) 15. King's Indian, Averbakh, Main line (E75) (65.05%, 375 games) 16. Queen's Gambit Declined Semi-Slav (D46) (64.75%, 884 games) 17. Ruy Lopez (C66) (64.45%, 419 games) 18. French (C10) (64.25%, 2110 games) 19. Old Benoni Defense (A44) (64.15%, 473 games) 20. King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Variation, 8.e4 (E68) (63.85%, 545 games) I am sure that my good friend <WannaBe> will note the general lack of Benonis in this list, despite the fact that 17 of the 20 are d-pawn openings.

Jan-16-09		YuanTi: Interestingly my friend plays Dutch Stonewall and Old Steinitz Defence. I'm sure he'll appreciate another excuse for failing so often.

Jan-16-09		Phony Benoni: <SILLY DATABASE STATISTICS> Our category for tonight: <The Andras Adorjan "Black is OK!" Award for the Line with the Best Winning Percentage for Black> 1. Sicilian, Boleslavsky Variation, 7.Nb3 (B59) (64.10%, 302 games) 2. King's Indian, Four Pawns Attack, with Be2 and Nf3 (E78) (58.65%, 29 games) 3. Sicilian, Closed, 6.Be3 (B26) (57.20%, 644 games) 4. Sicilian, Najdorf, 6...e6 (B95) (56.20%, 371 games) 5. Two Knights (C57) (56.15%, 735 games) 6. Richter-Veresov Attack (D01) (55.15%, 575 games) 7. Queen's Pawn Game (D04) (55.10%, 514 games) 8. Sicilian, Fischer-Sozin Attack (B88) (54.85%, 535 games) 9. Benoni, Classical with ...Re8 and ...Na6 (A78) (54.80%, 63 games) 10. Sicilian, Closed (B25) (54.65%, 1008 games) 11. Bird's Opening (A03) (54.55%, 736 games) 12. Benoni, Four Pawns Attack (A68) (54.50%, 133 games) 13. Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack (B51) (54.25%, 1478 games) 14. Benoni, Fianchetto, 9...Nbd7 (A63) (54.25%, 83 games) 15. English, Symmetrical (A37) (54.20%, 874 games) 16. Bird's Opening (A02) (53.95%, 825 games) 17. Sicilian, Dragon, Classical (B73) (53.45%, 324 games) 18. Neo-Grunfeld (D71) (53.40%, 149 games) 19. Sicilian, Kan (B41) (53.15%, 739 games) 20. Two Knights (C59) (53.15%, 382 games) Nothing surprising here. The Sicilian works well for Black, lovers of Bird's Opening continue to scoff at statistics, and the Benoni rocks.

Jan-17-09		WannaBe: E78 is an statistical anomaly, too few games to really 'count', statistically wise... That's all I have to say about that, statistically...

Jan-17-09		Phony Benoni: Conisdering that the average (mean) ECO section contains about 1000 games, I'm sure there are a number of statistical anomalies here. I have no idea what a "significant" number of games would be; after all, I'm a reporter, not a theorist. But I never intended for these to be taken seriously. Why do you think they appear in my forum?

Jan-18-09		Phony Benoni: <SILLY DATABASE STATISTICS> Today's statistical anomaly features: <The Alfred, Lord Tennyson Half a Loaf, Half a Loaf, Half a Loaf Onward Award for the Line with the Highest Draw Percentage> 1. Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, Exchange Variation (D14) (71.7%, 614 games) 2. Queen's Gambit Declined, Tartakower (D59) (69.4%, 278 games) 3. Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense, Classical, 13.de (D69) (66.2%, 80 games) 4. Queen's Gambit Declined (D56) (65.8% 336 games) 5. Queen's Indian, Old Main line, 9.Qxc3 (E19) (64.0%, 669 games) 6. Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox, Rubinstein Attack (D62) (63.7%, 135 games) 7. Neo-Grunfeld, 6.O-O, Main line (D79) (60.9%, 412 games) 8. Sicilian, Accelerated Fianchetto (B36) (56.9%, 557 games) 9. Queen's Gambit Declined, Tartakower (Makagonov-Bondarevsky) Syst (D58) (56.0%, 1358 games) 10. Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, Exchange Variation (D13) (55.9%, 952 games) 11. Ruy Lopez, Closed, Smyslov Defense (C93) (55.9%, 479 games) 12. Neo-Grunfeld, 6.cd Nxd5, 7.O-O Nb6 (D76) (54.8%, 341 games) 13. Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Gligoric System, Bronstein Variation (E55) (54.2%, 404 games) 14. Queen's Gambit Declined, Orthodox Defense, Bd3 line (D67) (53.8%, 208 games) 15. Grunfeld, Spassky Variation, Main line, 10...cd, 11.cd (D88) (53.7%, 121 games) 16. Queen's Indian (E17) (53.5%, 1506 games) 17. Queen's Gambit Accepted, Classical (D27) (53.2%, 1603 games) 18. Catalan, Open, Classical line (E05) (52.5%, 632 games) 19. Ruy Lopez, Closed, Breyer Defense (C94) (52.5%, 162 games) 20. English, Symmetrical (A38) (52.3%, 302 games) In this category, you can't beat the Exchange Slav. Of course, you can't win with it either.

Jan-19-09		suenteus po 147: <Phony Benoni> I've finally updated the 46th Soviet Chess Championship thanks to your links. It looks pretty good to me, but have a gander for yourself: Game Collection: USSR Championship 1978 Hopefully, next weekend I can finally get to the 1963 Soviet Championship you set up for me :)

Jan-19-09		Phony Benoni: <SILLY DATABASE STATISTICS> Today's category: <The John Paul Jones "I Have Not Yet Begun to Fight" Award for the Line with the Lowest Percentage of Draws>. 1. King's Gambit Accepted (C37) (9.1%, 408 games) 2. King's Knight Opening (C40) (11.4%, 464 games) 3. King's Gambit Accepted (C38) (12.1%, 440 games) 4. Two Knights (C57) (13.1%, 735 games) 5. Center Game (C21) (14.2%, 337 games) 6. Evans Gambit (C51) (14.3%, 823 games) 7. King's Gambit Accepted (C34) (15.0%, 1118 games) 8. King's Gambit Accepted (C39) (15.3%, 680 games) 9. Evans Gambit (C52) (15.3%, 528 games) 10. Bishop's Opening (C23) (15.4%, 253 games) 11. King's Gambit Accepted, Cunningham (C35) (15.8%, 462 games) 12. King's Gambit Declined, Falkbeer Counter Gambit (C31) (17.1%, 719 games) 13. King's Gambit Declined (C30) (17.4%, 1323 games) 14. King's Gambit Accepted (C33) (18.0%, 1079 games) 15. Benoni, Classical, 9...a6, 10.a4 (A74) (18.2%, 22 games) 16. Two Knights (C58) (18.3%, 378 games) 17. Dutch, Staunton Gambit (A83) (18.5%, 184 games) 18. Dutch, Staunton Gambit (A82) (18.6%, 97 games) 19. King's Gambit Declined, Falkbeer Counter Gambit (C32) (18.8%, 451 games) 20. Queen's Gambit Declined, Albin Counter Gambit, 5.g3 (D09) (18.9%, 322 games) The dominance of the King's Gambit increases. Last year eight of its ten ECO codes made this list; this year we're up to nine! Only the boring King's Gambit Accepted, Abbazia Defense (C36) (23.8%, 785 games) at #41 broke ranks with its fellows.

Jan-20-09		playground player: <Phony Benoni> Months and months ago you asked me to let you know if I ever found a successful means of coping with the French Defense. Well, I think I have! I've been playing 1.b4, the Polish Opening (or more affectionately, "the Orang-utang), and when I do, I never have to see the French Defense. In fact, I don't have to worry about the Sicilian anymore, either. The Polish is tricky to play, and doesn't have great stats, but I usually win with it, and I'm still learning. I recommend "Play 1.b4!" by Yuri Lapshun (see some of his games on CG's database). Greatly in its favor is that a lot of players have no idea how to play against it, never having seen it before.

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