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 58 OF 914 ·  Later Kibitzing> Jun-16-09    Phony Benoni: The 1968 Tigers were simply a good team that caught the breaks. Happens all the time, and there's nothing sinister about it. Just from that era, consider the likes of the 1960 Pirates, 1961 Reds, 1965 Twins, 1967 Red Sox, 1969 Mets. One time, McLain was getting knocked around pretty good by the Orioles when Boog Powell hit the hardest line drive of the game--which McLain cuaght in self defense and turned into a triple play. Or take this game: http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/... The box score doesn't desbie those game-winning hits in the bottom of the ninth. Every one of them was a dribbler that found a hole or a broken-bat pop fly that barely made it over the infield. On of my co-workers was at the game, and to this day he just shakes his head in disbelief when the subject comes up. The 1968 Tigers were a totally different team from the 1961 club, the only significant holdovers being Kaline and Cash. The 1961 team probably had more punch throughout the lineup, but were inexperienced and had some defensive holes. They also had deeper pitching, with three solid starters (Lary, Bunning, Mossi) and a dependable closer in Terry Fox. Outside of McLain and Lolich, the pitchers on the 1968 Tigers were about average--but when your top two go 33 games over .500, average is about all you need frm the rest of the staff. <Playground Player> Yep, Brinkman had a speaking problem. He once let a couple of F-bombs fly on live TV during a clubhouse celebration after the Tigers won the division in 1972. Jun-16-09    Jim Bartle: My mistake above. The A's led 4-3 going into the ninth, not 5-4. Jun-16-09    Jim Bartle: Will Clark swore up a storm in a TV interview after the Giants clinched in 87, and it sounded worse in that high-pitched whine of his. He (honestly) appeared not to realize it was going out live, and apologized profusely the next day. Concerning catching the breaks, winning teams do. But if you're always in the hunt, it gives you more chances to benefit from luck. The Tigers didn't have any in 67, and did in 68. OK, I guess that's pretty obvious. Jun-17-09    Phony Benoni: <GAME OF THE DAY> http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/... "I wonder who's Kessinger now?" Jun-17-09    Jim Bartle: You know, Kessinger can lead to six, I mean six-for-six. Jun-17-09    Deus Ex Alekhina: It is true that in 1968 the Tigers were a good team but I am talking about the almost "magical" 31 wins of Mr D.D. McLain. The mob was very powerful in Detroit back then & if you don't believe me, just ask Jimmy Hoffa. The police & FBI couldn't (or wouldn't) solve that one & the newspapers willingly printed stories about Hoffa absconding to South America with $1,000,000 in union funds, & other B.S. stories. Yes the Tigers were good, but was McLain really THAT good to win 31??? Jun-17-09    Jim Bartle: Well, that same year Marichal won 26 and slowed down toward the end of the year. Gibson had a 1.12 ERA, but still lost 9 games because the Cards didn't score for him. Drysdale threw 55 consecutive scoreless innings. It was a weird year, and the last year of the really big strike zone and the high mound. It seems reasonable that somebody could have won 30 that particular year, especially for a high-scoring team like Detroit (in 1968 terms). Jun-17-09    Jim Bartle: Took a look at McLain's record. He didn't have a single cheap win all year. He gave up four runs twice in the wins, and never more than four. Just a series of 0, 2, 2, 1, 3, 0... Marichal got his 25th win on Sept. 6, and was usually two wins behind McLain near the end of the season. He also could have gotten 30 with a really strong finish. Jun-17-09    Deus Ex Alekhina: So McLain goes 31-6 in the regular season, THEN loses the first two that he pitched in the World Series, the Tigers trailing in games (1 win 3 losses), then puul it out with 3 straight wins (McLain finally winning his 3rd start, aparrently not tired). Fishy. In 1967 he had a "mysterious" injury & was ineffective the last month with the Tigs losing the pennant by ONE game. So maybe the 31 wins was a "reward" in 1968 for the 1967 performance. True he was agood pitcher but maybe, just maybe, he was getting some good calls & maybe, just maybe, some batters were swinging at bad pitches on purpose. But what do I know? Jun-17-09    Jim Bartle: Fuhgeddaboutit. McLain was of course up against Gibson in those first two WS games, so the losses aren't a big surprise. That he would give up a leadoff homer to Brock and then a homer to Gibson in Game 4 wasn't what anybody expected, I guess. Jun-17-09    Phony Benoni: I may not be around as much for a few days. Nothing big: just switching computers and finally upgrading from dial up access. Yes, I've been dinosauring it all these years. No wonder I only have 3,333 kibitzes. Which is a tidy total. Maybe I should stop! Jun-17-09    Phony Benoni: Oops. Me and my big mouth. Jun-17-09    Jim Bartle: Way to go, PB. Get us hooked on the Game of the Day, get us waiting with bated breath, then cut us off cold turkey for a few days. Jun-17-09    Phony Benoni: Well, since the masses are demonstrating in the streets, I'll see what I can do. Jun-18-09    Phony Benoni: <GAME OF THE DAY> http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/... "Sutton for punishment" Jun-18-09    Jim Bartle: I really wonder about Pettis leading off. Great outfielder, very fast, but not a good enough hitter. Pettis was a baby-faced guy, and one year he had his 15-year-old cousin stand in for him for his trading card picture. I believe they are still floating around. Jun-18-09    Phony Benoni: Pettis played in Detroit for a few years. He seemed a natural lead-off batter, but a poor average and a tendency to strike out 125+ times a years negated that. He's still around, coaching first base for Texas: http://mlbpaa.mlb.com/team/coach_st... Of course, the way that team hits the ball, not too many players stop at first. Jun-18-09    Deus Ex Alekhina: I missed this but it may be repeated:Tuesday night PBS (Toledo) showed American Experience Roberto Clemente while PBS(Detroit) showed AmericanExperience Berlin Airlift. Jun-18-09    technical draw: <Deus> It's strange but Clemente died in the Nicaragua airlift. Jun-18-09    Phony Benoni: Longest full name for a major league baseball player? I'll start the bidding with: http://www.baseball-reference.com/p... Jun-18-09    Jim Bartle: That's a winner, no need to look. OK, here's a riddle, probably not too hard: What player was named for a president and played in the movies by another president? Jun-18-09    Phony Benoni: The Tigers have placed Dontrelle Willis back on the disabled list with his anxiety disorder. To replace him, they have called up Alfredo Figaro. Time will tell if he'll be the next Sal Maglie or more like Sweeney Todd. Waiting in the wings are Donny Pasquale, Bronko Rigoletto, and the knuckleballer, M. Butterfly. Jun-18-09    Phony Benoni: Well, let's see. Probably not George Washington Bradley. Was Tony Lazzeri ever president? Jun-18-09    crawfb5: I forgot to tell you guys the other day that the childhood home of Hall of Famer James O'Rourke in Bridgeport, CT was finally torn down. http://www.connpost.com/ci_12594950... As you drove by on I-95, you could look over on the right and there stood a lone house in about six blocks worth of empty fields, in an area slated for redevelopment where the funding has repeatedly fallen through. Google maps doesn't quite have the resolution to link to that specific address, but if you search Google maps for "Ann Street Bridgeport, CT" you can see the house on Pembroke Street between Ann Street and Stratford Avenue, outstanding in its field. I'm no baseball historian, but O'Rourke sounds like an interesting fellow. Jun-18-09    A.G. Argent: Ok, Jim Bartle, Giant's fan - speaking of great baseball names; Dusty Rhodes. RIP. Jump to page #   (enter # from 1 to 914) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 58 OF 914 ·  Later Kibitzing>

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