losing at a much higher level
still in st louis, still a great chess scene. every night the people gather to play, and there are some brilliant chess players.
i’ve played against marko, the russian, and his russian friend. when he plays me, he plays like he is playing against a child, a slightly retarded child. and i’m not complaining, i take it as a compliment. i feel like i am wasting his time, but he is patient, points out my errors, the guy is fantastic. when he plays against others, he is different, he is a chessplayer. i watched one amazing game, in about 7 seconds, each player made 5 moves, it was magic. i blinked and there was a huge pawn chain and centralized pieces. i honestly didn’t see it, it just…..happened. he moves his pieces with all his weight behind him, like they are heavy and he has to use his whole body to push them. people fuck up and in a thick russian accent he says “oh, present. thank you for the present” and takes them.
then there is the guy who plays “lazy,” it was like watching someone who didn’t care, each move was done with apathy, and each move was deadly. the guy almost looked bored, like he was falling asleep, the guy was amazing. he moved gracefully, languid.
i played against steve, a super friendly guy, i played pretty shittily against him, i was embarrased. i played another guy, had a decent position against him and fucked it all up at the end. i clearly didn’t know what i was doing.
but losing has never been such fun. i think i would move to st louis just to play chess every night with these guys. i feel like i’m wasting thier time, but they are nice about it. i play against them, then they kind of shuffle me off to the lower players, people more my level. i won two games last night, actually played pretty well. tonight was all losses, but fun losses, i think i learned some things. i watched a guy play some crazy ass french opening, winning a bishop in about 6 moves. cool stuff.
tomorrow i’m going to the warped tour, so i wont get any chess in, but wednesday i’ll get some in. i look forward to it. i think i might be actually getting a bit better, i know if i lived here and played against these guys every night, i coudln’t help but improve. i’m so glad i get to play here, i hope my new home in colorado has a scene like this….
Pawn Shaman said,
August 13, 2007 at 8:18 pm
I know a guy who plays “lazy” style. For him its a psychological game thats pretty effective. You always feel like your winning, even when your being crushed. It saps your will to play strongly and can be very effective. Towards the endgame he always says something like “oh Im really screwed now” or “you got me I dont think thier is a way out of this.” Thats when you know to keep your eyes open because a plan is brewing. Similiar to one of my own tactics which is to switch the bishop and knight on one side of the board when setting up and then “notice” it right before the game starts and correct it. A new opponent always thinks your an idiot with tactics like these, until the endgame. Thanks for throwing me a bone in tag form. Ill get on it soon. Tour your warped hard.
liquideggproduct said,
August 13, 2007 at 8:27 pm
“I got my butt whooped, but it was a fun butt whooping.” It doesn’t make sense until you’ve experienced it.
Atomic Patzer said,
August 14, 2007 at 12:06 pm
“Oh present. Thank you for the present.” – I love that line! I have to remember and use that. One of my class D co-winners was from Colorado Springs. His wife was also playing. So they might have a good chess scene. If not – start your own club. They will come.
wang said,
August 14, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Maybe its a Russian thing. There was a strong expert Russian player at my club in NJ. He would say things like “thank youfor the present”, or when you were starting an attack or made an odd move he’d say “oh really?”, or “where is that pawn going?”
Glad you’re having a good time my friend. I hope to see you in Reno, still not sure if I’m going.
chessloser said,
August 15, 2007 at 9:11 am
pawn shaman – i like the “lazy style” a lot, i am currently trying to establish some kind of effective “drunken master style” like in kung fu…perhaps i will have the “drunken patzer style”….
liquideggproduct – yeah, something you gotta “know” to know….
atomic patzer – ive been thinking about it a lot, if they don’t alread have one, i might have to start my own club, and i know the place for it too….
wang – unlike me, you have a real life with real things to do, so i understand if you can’t make it to reno…but i hope you can, it would be great seening you again…
Ray said,
August 22, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Are you still in St. Louis? I am one of those players who goes down to the loop a lot to play at the Bread Co. Glad to see someone from the outside found it so much fun!
chessloser said,
August 22, 2007 at 10:01 pm
ray – sorry man, i’m back home now. too bad we missed each other. perhaps next time i’m in town? thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a note, i hope you stick around…
Ramin said,
September 19, 2007 at 1:57 pm
Oh present is from Michael the old russian
chessloser said,
September 21, 2007 at 6:36 pm
Ramin – yeah, michael….that guy is awesome…and so helpful…if you are reading this, tell him i say hello…
Joseph Garnier said,
May 27, 2008 at 2:26 am
I’m from St. Louis and I know most of the guys mentions in this article. The Russian guys name is Mikhail and he’s one of the mid range players down there. I, of course, and the best! I’m Joseph Garnier the best bullet chess player in MIssouri. Who’s your daddy?