chess roadtrip
i was thinking about how cool it would be to take a chess roadtrip. just driving around, state to state, looking for chess clubs to visit and play in, looking for bad ass closet chess players who never play in tournaments but have studied and played online and would easily be a 2100 right off the bat.
just driving around in my piece of shit car, sleeping in it, crashing on the occasional couch. i would show up at some chess club, play, talk to the folks, get info on another chess club, and just travel as the wind and tides take me.
eventually i would meet someone who has heard from a brother who knew a guy who knows someone who heard of a guy who is the greatest unknown chessmaster in the world, knows some secret moves that will destroy anyone. i will drive around, looking for him, following clues to get me closer to him, having crazy encounters along the way.
like the guy i’d meet at a club, lets me stay at his house. it’s just him and his three beautiful daughters, all over the age of 18, and the “traveling salesman meets the farmer” jokes seem like art imitating life. he runs me off the next morning with a shotgun. but i have a lead which will get me one step closer to this mystery guy.
i spend time at the underground chess clubs in chigago and detroit, or the backwoods chess clubs in the swamps of florida, i see the real chess, the chess played by the people down in the trenches, playing lines no one has even thought of or could imagine. all along the way my chess improves. i learn various techniques, i learn positional, tactical, brutal chess, guerilla chess. maybe i finally meet the guy, maybe i don’t. maybe he is just a dream, a goal, an idea, but along the way, in my search, i’ve found him in the spirit of the people and in my own chessplaying, which has improved greatly.
i don’t know, sounds like it would be a cool movie, or if i really did it, a neat thing to write about.
but now i gotta go to work. so there is that.
just wierd crap in my head
this post will have nothing to do with chess. if you wanna read about chess, check out any of the blogs i link to, they are far better chessblogs than i’ll ever be….
chivalry and crap. men open doors for women, let the women go first. this is now accepted as gentlemanly, but i question it’s true intent.
this came up back in the days of yore, right? we didn’t just come up with this. back then, you didn’t know what would be on the other side of that door. it could have been a rabid bear, it could have been a room full of angry bees, or a trap, or someone who would kill you. back then, when it was a more male dominated society, women were expendable. so maybe they let women go first so they would clear the way of any bad things.
see, that is why i go first through a door. i want to meet whatever is on the other side first, clear the room and make it safe for my lady. now to me, THAT is chivalry.
another thing on my mind is how i as a nobody can go up to a grandmaster and talk freely with him, albeit in a limited fashion. thing is, in other sports or whatever, you can’t just go up to a pro and start talking. i doubt some kid can go up to a pro nfl guy or whatever and say “hey, can i do an interview with you?” and the guy would be “yeah, sure, go ahead.” that is so cool, the accessibility of grandmasters. i know they are just guys and gals who play chess, but still, to me they are rock stars, and the fact i can talk to them freely amazes me. which leads me to my other idea.
i go up to a GM and say “excuse me, you are GM such and such, can i get a picture”? he will say yes, and i will give him my camera and ask him to take a picture of me. i will use one of those old kodak insta cameras where the picture comes right out. then i will have him sign it and i’ll keep it. eventually, i will have all these cool pictures of me taken by all these chess Grand Masters. how cool would that be?
finally, my wife had an interesting experience at the tournament and wanted to write about it, so i will close this weeks posts with an interesting anecdote that my wife wrote.
anyone reading this, have a great kick ass weekend, and chess it up….
The first game of the tournament started at noon on Friday. I amused myself poking around the casino for about 45 minutes or so. It isn’t really that big. Then, I popped up to the mezzanine to see how chessloser’s game was going. He seemed to have a lot of material, which I took to be a good sign. All of the chess-moms were reading their books and a few players were up grabbing some coffee. I was on the landing trying to make sense of the posted information when I was approached by an elderly gentleman with a distinct accent. It was 12:55 He wanted to know if the pairings had been posted yet. I said that they had and that the first round had been going on for almost an hour already. He seemed somewhat confused. I assumed he was there to support someone. But, no, he panicked because his cell phone had the wrong time. He said he was an expert and asked if I could show him where he had to play. We rushed into the tournament hall and found the pairings. They were all of the way at the front of the hall by the masters. We had to pass everyone and he was making a lot of noise. I shushed him. His opponent appeared to be sleeping while waiting to be credited with a win because the elderly gentleman had not shown. The minute the gentleman saw where he needed to be, his entire demeanor changed. He sneaked up to the table, assumed his position, made his opening move (he was white), and oh-so-quietly hit the clock. He sat looking innocently at his snoozing opponent. It was 12:59. He had one minute to spare.
plans to change my attitude
ok, so the first game of the tournament i lost and i was on the downward spiral of self destruction, i knew i had to get out of the desert of despair.
the north star that i followed to get me out was the game plans. that is now my pre-game ritual and shall be so until i find something better. not that i’m gonna look. i firmly believe in this method, i really like it.
i have three openings. one as white, one as black against e4, on as black against d4. during my studies, i found three violent attacking games using these openings. i don’t know if they are sound, i don’t know if they are feasible, but they worked in those games, so i wrote those moves down.
although i had a plan for the first game, i lost it somewhere along the way. and i felt like i was playing timid and scared. so i got out the moves and before my second round, i went over each game two or three times.
going over the games showed me the attacking possibilities. they got my mind on attacking, and like a fighter who goes through moves before a fight, warming up, they warmed me up. they made me feel like i knew what i was doing, they showed me what i need to do.
i now had a plan. i was going to replicate those games as close as possible. if they won once, why not again. perhaps my opponent will fall for the same moves and i can lead him down the road to destruction.
doing this also gave me a calm, peace of mind. i was confident because i knew i had a plan. i had a map to where i wanted to get, i wasn’t just fumbling around in the dark hoping i find my way.
maybe someday i’ll be good enough to just show up at the board and play and win. i hope so. but until then, i will keep looking for good games that i like that use the openings i play, and i’ll write them down in my book and go over them before each tournament game, and i will play those games as close as possible.
the brisk walk in the sun to the coffeeshop, and the strong coffee, both also helped change my mood and attitude, and they too are part of my pre-game ritual.
i wonder what pre-game rituals and preparation the real chessplayers do, if any.
interview with GM Khachiyan
so my round was done, my day was over, and i was hanging out watching how the real chessplayers do it, when one of them finished their game.
GM Melik Khachiyan had just won his game and was standing around talking, so i asked him if i could do an interview with him, he agreed, and here it is.
chessloser: ok, this is a chess interview, so first things first. coke or pepsi?
GM Khachiyan: pepsi.
cl: if there was no chess, what would you do?
GM Khachiyan: no chess at all? mathematics. or maybe poker, i like to play poker for fun.
cl: how do you handle losing?
GM Khachiyan: now, not so bad. ten years ago i took it personal, i would get angry, i couldn’t sleep, it was bad. but now, it’s a loss, i have to see what i did wrong and learn.
cl: who are your favorite chess players?
GM Khachiyan: petrosian is top of the list. i studied under him, he was a good man, he died too early. fischer was one of the greatest. kasparov is a good man.
cl: if you could have dinner with a chessplayer, not play chess, who would it be?
GM Khachiyan: fischer, spassky, petrosian, alekhine. i had a chance to talk with spassky for five hours once, he knows so much about life and chess, a very interesting man.
cl: how long can you hold your breath?
GM Khachiyan: now, not so much, i smoke, i drink….maybe 20 seconds.
and i thanked him and that was that. what a super cool guy, very personable, very open, very approachable. there was so much more i wanted to ask him, but it was evening, he just finished a game, i didn’t’ want to keep him or waste his time. i’m glad i had the opportunity to speak with him, even for just a brief moment, you could see the joy and happiness in his eyes. just like GM Petrosian, his coach, GM Khachiyan is a good man.
“D”struction in the D section: a tale of the 2008 far west tournament
first off, a belated happy birthday to Liquid egg product.
just got back from the 2008 Far West Open Chess Tournament in reno, damn i feel good. it may have been “small”, what with it being easter weekend and foxwoods going on at the same time, but there were a few grand masters, a whole chess hall full of people, and it was a damn good time.
the drive across utah and nevada is long, and there is a whole lot of nothing, so you can drive 100 mph and it doesn’t matter. we stopped at the bonneville salt flats, 
and my wife met a ghost in a rest stop, so that was surreal and interesting. driving for hours through the arid wasteland makes me think of post apocalyptic movies like damnation alley and road warrior, makes me think of the dark tower series by steve king, makes me wonder what the pioneers did without a highway or cd players. those guys had some stones. i drive, looking for signs of aliens, wondering which mountain is the hollow one with the huge city in it. it gives you time to think, i thought about lots of crazy crap, some of it i might post later this week.
so i get to the tournament hall for registration, and a few minutes later some tough looking young chessslinger comes up to me and introduces himself, it’s Kevin, who is cool like the other side of the pillow. also chris is with him and it feels cool to show up and kind of know people. i feel like i’m part of a community, it’s neat. then, i’m standing around, and this guy walks by and kind of surreptitiously takes a picture of me, but i see it. i move to another room and he walks by and does it again. i don’t mind pictures, just come up and say “hey, let me get a picture” but this is odd. later in the tournament i talk to him, his name is bob, he is a super cool, wierd chess enthusiast who is a bit of a brilliant mad genius and totally fascinating. he gives me this wierd “crash course” in chess that involves determinism, stienitz and morphy, fischer, and was just out there, cool. chess people are strange. i hope i see him again.
GMs Larry Evans and Sergy Kudrin were there, i didn’t think they would remember me. i went into the bathroom, and next thing i know, kudrin has my arms pinned back and evans is kicking me and punching me. this is payback for the shitty embarrassingly sucky interviews, i can’t argue with them. (ok, that didn’t happen, but it would be hilarious if it did).
wahrheit gives me a call, he isn’t playing but stops by to see everyone, we get some coffee and pie and talk, it’s great to see him again.
overall it is a great tournament totally worth going to. reno is a cool town, two blocks away is the riverwalk with parks and coffeeshops and restaurants and bars and art and architecture. what a damn cool town. the tournament itself is cool, the vendor is good, the people and players are pretty interesting and rather freindly. i was a bit surprised, not a lot of kids, less than i would expect. i think there were more older people in the d section than kids, but the kids there were having a good time, there was a cool relaxed vibe to it all.
the coolest hair and most fucked up opening will go to mike
who won 2.5 points in the A section playing 1. e3, 2. Ke2, 3. Kf3. no shit. it’s gotta be the hair.
GM kudrin played some cool games, also GM yermolinsky was there,
GM Melik Khachiyan, who looks like phil collins was there.
i got an interview with him, which i will post tomorrow, and i even talked for a few minutes with jennifer acon, who was pretty cool.
the whole thing was pretty damn fun, i saw people i met in october last time i was in reno, i met new folks who were pretty damn cool, i didn’t go to the casino though, so no roulette for me. still had a great time.
DAY ONE
ROUND 1 – i’m playing black against a 1281, an old guy, looks like the distant cousin of death. perhaps it’s his game face, perhaps he just doesn’t smile ever, maybe he isn’t feeling that well, who knows. i’m not feeling all that into it, i’m detached, not “in the moment.” i get the first 5 moves of the grunfeld out, but the guy is taking his time, he is wearing me down. i am jared from subway, he is a jelly donut wrapped in bacon and dipped in chocolate, and i just can’t take it. mentally i toss the game like a trucker tosses a pissbottle out the window as he drives down the highway. by move 13 all my pieces have returned to the back rank. by move 16 i don’t want to play and i just want it to be over. i suck and i hate it. i lose and i’m embarrassed and i hate myself. while i didn’t blunder, i played like a scared, shell shocked little timid pussy. here is the game in all it’s gay ass embarrasing glory.
winters – chessloser
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3
6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 O-O 8. h3 c5 9. Be3 Nc6 10. Qd2 cxd4
11. cxd4 Re8 12. Rd1 Bf8 13. d5 Nb8 14. Be2 a5 15. O-O Nd7
16. Bb5 b6 17. Rfe1 Ba6 18. Bc6 Rc8 19. Rb1 Rb8 20. Bh6 Qc7
21. Bxf8 Nxf8 22. Bxe8 Rxe8 23. Rbc1 Qd7 24. Ne5 Qa4 25. Qf4 f6
26. Ng4 Nd7 27. d6 Ne5 28. Nxe5 fxe5 29. Qxe5 exd6 30. Qd5+ Kg7
31. f3 Qa3 32. Rc7+ Kh6 33. Qd2+ g5 34. Re3 Qa4 35. Qxd6+ Kh5
36. Rxh7#
back in my room i sulk and lay on the bed and my mind is filled with thoughts of “fuck reno, i hate it here. i hate this fucking dirty shitty town, i hate this crappy ass tournament held in this shitty hotel. the bed is uncomfortable, the room is ugly, i hate it here. fuck chess, i clearly am not smart enough to play it, and it bores the shit out of me, i’d rather be home riding my bike. in fact, i suck at that as well, and now that i think about it, my whole life is a huge failure, i hate me and i hope i die soon.
i let this all out to my wife, who silently listens and doesn’t’ say anything, just lets me vent. i then decide i said i would play violent chess, i need to. i need to be like morozevich, all or nothing, balls to the wall in your face go big or go home chess. we walk to the starbucks, get a cup of coffee and the sun and air and caffeine rejuvenate me. back at the room i take out my chess notebook and look at the moves i wrote down for three attacking games, one as white, one as black against e4, one as black against d4. i go over them and decide no matter what happens, i will play these moves as a guide. this moment is important, it is the birth of my “pre-game rountine.” (there will be more on that later this week)
ROUND 2
ok, its me against an unrated kid, it’s his first tournament. by move 5 i realize he has no idea what he is doing. it won’t matter how sloppy i play, i will win, and i do. i’m not proud of the win, but it is a confidence boost and i do actually feel a bit better. at least i can go to bed feeling ok.
DAY TWO
ROUND 3
i play white against another kid, alvin “king” kong, rated 1279. i go through my pre-game moves, i am ready. he makes some small errors, i realize they are not the best moves but i don’t know how to capitalize on them. at least i know enough to recognize they are not good, now i need to know how to exploit them. i miss a tactic on move 10, but i saw it as soon as i castled. i need to take my time and think and look. i do, i wear him down. i have this attack going, but i can’t make it work, he beats me back. it feels all positional, lots of threats and moving, not much actual taking. his damn bishop is hampering me, my light squared bishop is useless. for some reason, he lets me open up my white squared bishop and i eventually take his annoying bishop. i feel like a back alley abortionist as opposed to a skilled johns hopkins surgeon. i might get the job done, but it’s ugly and ungraceful. i feel bad for the kid, i wish i was better, he has to be sitting there thinking “come on you stupid old man, just kill me.” i reposition, i trade some stuff off, i move in for the kill and he finally, thankfully resigns when he sees i will take all his pieces. my second win, and at least i am a bit proud of this one. there is hope for me. i go down to the river walk to meet my wife, it’s sunny and beautiful. reno is a cool hip awesome town, people are in the park, there are kyackers doing tricks in the river, there are kick ass restaurants, i love it here, what a great vibe. i want to move to reno.
here is the game:
chessloser – kong
1. d4 e5 2. d5 Nf6 3. c4 Bc5 4. Bg5 O-O 5. Nc3 h6
6. Bh4 c6 7. e4 d6 8. Bd3 Nbd7 9. Nge2 Qb6 10. O-O Qc7
11. Ng3 Nb6 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. Nh5 Qe7 14. Qf3 Kh8 15. Ne2 Rg8
16. Neg3 Nd7 17. Nf5 Qf8 18. Qh3 Rg6 19. a4 cxd5 20. exd5 Qe8
21. Nfg3 Nb6 22. Qh4 Qe7 23. Bxg6 fxg6 24. Nxf6 Kg7 25. Nge4 g5
26. Qg3 Bf5 27. Nh5+ Kg6 28. Qf3 Rf8 29. Nhg3 Bd7 30. Qd3 Kf7
31. Nxc5 dxc5 32. Rae1 Bc8 33. Re3 Nd7 34. Rfe1 Ke8 35. Qc3 Kd8
36. Qa5+ b6 37. Qxa7 Qf6 38. Rf3 Qe7 39. Rxf8+ Qxf8 40. Ne4 g4
41. d6 Qf4 42. Qc7+
ROUND 4
i am black against a 1256 who looks like bill engvall. i feel froggy, i try an attack. on move three i expect him to block with his knight, but he blocks with the bishop. i don’t think it will work but i go ahead with my plan anyway, just to see how far i can get. things go otherwise according to plan, then he plays d5 which fucks up my whole program. do i deal with that like i should? do i play my pawn out, get my knight into the attack? no, i stubbornly force my plan, knowing full well it won’t work, thinking “i’m committed, its all or none” when it wasn’t. i think i can sac my knight and still get what i need, turns out my calculation was way off and i just end up a piece down for no reason. i know i’m gonna lose but i go ahead anyway, and my raging attack turns out to be an impotent old man’s advances on a young hot girl. i lose. i don’t feel too bad, i wanted to see what would happen, i had a plan and wanted to see how far i could go with it.
here is the game:
kelly – chessloser.
1. d4 e6 2. c4 Bb4+ 3. Bd2 Bxd2+ 4. Qxd2 f5 5. Nf3 Nf6
6. Nc3 O-O 7. e3 b6 8. Be2 Bb7 9. O-O Ne4 10. Qc2 Rf6
11. Rfd1 Rg6 12. d5 Ng5 13. Nxg5 Qxg5 14. Bf3 Nc6 15. dxc6 Bxc6
16. Bxc6 dxc6 17. g3 Rh6 18. f4 Qg4 19. Qg2 Rh3 20. Qxc6 Rf8
21. Qxe6+ Kh8 22. Ne4 h5 23. Nf2 Rxg3+ 24. hxg3 Qxg3+ 25. Kf1 Rf6
26. Qe8+ Kh7 27. Qxh5+ Rh6 28. Qxf5+ Rg6 29. Qh3+ Qxh3+ 30. Nxh3 Rg3
31. Ng5+
we go out and i soothe my sore soul with a gin and tonic at the imperial, the coolest hippest bar in reno. why did i choose this bar? cause there were a bunch of fixed gear riders there, so you know it’s gonna be good. they have tasty chicken satay and calamari as well. i’m not upset when i go to sleep.
2:30 am, i wake up. all i can see in my mind is that last position, me foolishly sacing a knight. i think about how all i had to do was move d3 and bring my knight out, or push the fucking h pawn, anything but what i did. fuck, i hate me, and i can’t sleep, that damn game is going over and over in my mind. i read a bit and eventually fall back asleep, but i’m gonna be tired and out of it the next day, i just know it.
DAY THREE.
it’s easter sunday, we get up early and go to church before the next round. i would have tried sacrificing a chicken or something, but since i’m in church, i beg and plead and try to make a deal with god to let me play well and win another game. after church, we go to the starbucks, i go to the room to play over the moves, and i head down to the chesshall for a fight.
ROUND 5
i’m black against a 1349. dude plays 1e4 and i hit him with the sicilan pin variation, cause no one knows it. i fuck it up a bit, lose some momentum, but i think “no, i gotta play attacking chess” and i attack. my bishop comes develops with an attack, my queen sets up with an attack, i am playing well. this is my best game of the tournament, i am in control, i feel good. we get to a position where i could take his knight and he cant do shit cause i mate, but i miss that and attack his rook with a pawn. no matter, whatever happens, i take his knight. he resigns. perhaps he was tired, perhaps i distracted him by getting up and down and squirming like an impatient 5 year old. no matter, i got lucky and i won. sweet ass sweet! here is the game, i’m very proud of it. i treat myself by going to the vendor and buying chessbase 9.
i now own chessbase9. i have to keep playing chess to justify buying this.
here is the game, i think it’s my best game of the tournment:
mayfield – chessloser. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bb4
6. Bd3 Qa5 7. Bd2 Qe5 8. Nf3 Qc7 9. Qe2 e5 10. a3 Bxc3
11. Bxc3 O-O 12. Bxe5 Qb6 13. Bd4 Qd8 14. O-O-O d5 15. e5 Re8
16. Rhe1 Nc6 17. Qd2 Ne4 18. Bxe4 dxe4 19. Rxe4 Bf5 20. Rf4 Qc8
21. Qc3 Qe6 22. Kb1 h6 23. h4 Rac8 24. Rd2 Qg6 25. Ne1 Nxe5
26. Qg3 Ng4 27. Be3 Nxe3 28. Qxg6 Bxg6 29. fxe3 Rxe3 30. Nf3 Be4
31. Rf2 Rd8 32. Kc1 g5
ROUND 6
i don’t want to play. i’m happy, i’m a bit tired, i don’t’ want to play and i don’t care if i win or not. i was hoping to get three wins, and i did. i figure i will just have fun. i meet my opponent, i am white, he is rated 737. fuck. i can’t lose to someone rated under 1000, pressure is on.
i open with d4 he has no idea what to do against it. i’m relieved yet i feel bad. i’m lucky though, my last game is a gimme, i don’t have to think, an easy win, but that is kinda cheap. i tell chris i feel bad, he says “punish him or he won’t learn, then take him to the skittles room and teach him.” that is excellent advice and sets me right. i win and we go over the game and he is a super cool guy, really nice. i don’t know much, but i show him what i know, i tell him the basics of blunderchecking and such.
the tournament is over, i got 4 fucking points!!!! i came in hoping to at least score two or three points, i got four. ok, in reality, two of my games were gimmes, so they kinda don’t count, and the kid wasn’t feeling good, i think he was sick, so he wasn’t on his best game, i got lucky on that one. but i had one really good win and my two losses weren’t slaughters. i didn’t blunder huge, i think i played better than i ever have before. i don’t’ know what place i’m in, but i know i’m in money. me, kevin and vern go to the bar for some beers, the cage is right there, the d section is done, and i get paid $101. holy crap, i won money playing chess. i don’t want to sound like a rapper, but i have to thank god for my victory. i know i made a deal with him, i forgot what my end of the bargain was. this could be bad. we’ll see what happens.
i still don’t know what my rating is, but it has to have gone up. i’m no longer provisional either. now its a long, hard, rocky climb. i’m kind of excited to see what happens.
i want to give a super huge thank you to Kevin, chris, soapstone, wahrheit, and vern, for being so damn cool, making me feel so welcome, making me feel like a local. there is a huge chess community, and i feel like i’m part of it, and that is awesome.
next tournament in reno is in october, i hope i can make it. anyone who has the time and can make it should go, it is so worth it.
ok, now i gotta get ready for last vegas…
last post before the tournment
a bunny is hopping through the woods and comes upon a bear who stops him and says “hey mr rabbit, mind if i ask you a question?” rabbit says “sure mr bear, what’s up?” bear asks “mr rabbit, when you poop, do you have problems with it sticking to your fur?” rabbit says “why, no, not at all mr bear.” bear says “that’s great!” and picks up the bunny and wipes his ass with him.
last night, playing the founder of the soon to be world famous tourmanet of leppers, mr liquid egg product himself, i was the rabbit. he just got off work and was tired, and i should have won, but i think the mascot was helping him. he spent lots of time on each move, as if the egg was looking up the position in fritz and telling him what moves to make. i tried to throw him off with a tactic of playing really crappy illogical moves that weakened my position, or as i call it, “how i play chess,” but as usual, it didn’t work. it was a really fun game, it just turns out my kung fu, while very good, was no match for his drunken crane style, so to speak.
so tomorrow morning i wake up and drive drive drive to reno. i’m pumped, i’m excited.
you know that moment of energy at the first note of a concert? right before the band takes the stage, everyone is standing around, then the lights go out, you feel it building, the band walks on the stage, the tension is palpable, and when the first note is played everything erupts and you all surge forward and it’s crazy?
that moment right there, that is how i feel.
i am going to throw down some violent attacking decisive chess. my hope is that if i play violent attacking chess, my opponent will be too busy reacting to my moves and won’t be able to get his own plan going. i will keep him off balance until he falls. i’m planning on having a damn good time no matter what. it’s freakin reno, how can i not have a good time?
i’m hoping that for most of my games, i’m the bear, not the rabbit.
no computer or internet until i get back, i drive back monday, so there will be no posts until tuesday, when i’ll have the tournament report. seeing as sunday is easter and all, happy easter to everyone. i leave you with my two favorite internet easter bunny pics. click on the pictures and enjoy the easter feeling.
training aids
hey, what happened to
edwin, the artist formerly known as dutch defense?
i have a cool idea for a sandwich shop. i will serve the best, gourmet french dip sandwiches with the most kick ass crack laden addictive jus for dipping, (the term au jus means “with juice. jus is just the broth that you dip the stuff in) which i shall make using pork and duck, not just beef, and other special secret ingredients. and i shall call my awesome sandwich shoppe:
KING OF THE JUS
and my logo will have two baguettes in a cross type formation. of course there will be chess played there, and everyone will come by and eat my tasty sandwiches and play bad ass chess and it will be such a scene, all the gm’s will come by, and i can name sandwiches after them so people can come up and order a Morozevich, or a Shabalov.
so i was thinking…..if i play unprotected chess using chessboards of strangers i just met, what are the chances i could get training aids?
anyway, its not a new idea, i’m sure most people have already figured this out, but i finally realized how i could use the time i have standing around at work to study.
flash cards.
thanks 3rd grade for giving me the secret to learning. it worked on my times tables, it should work in chess. i’m gonna photocopy pages from the tactics book, cut out each puzzle, write the answer on the back, then laminate and BAM, i got a deck of flashcards that i can shuffle and go through whenever i have a moment. training, constant hardcore training.
this shit is gonna get embedded in my head like a cnn reporter on a special forces a-team in iraq. i’m gonna see tactics wherever i go. on the highway, i will see that if i take out this car, then the diagonal to that other car will be open and i will have a double attack on two different cars. perhaps i will look up at the sky at night, and while others see beautiful stars and feel insignificant compared to the whole universe (unless you are zaphod beeblebrox, but that’s another story) i will look at the constellation “orion” and think if his foot takes out the star on the left side of the belt, and the middle star retakes, then his other foot, Rigel, can take out the shoulder, Betelgeuse.
there is probably already some “tactics deck” out there with tactics flashcards, but its easier to just make my own (in my bizarro world the cutting and pasting and writing and laminating all is easier than just making a purchase).
it’s a beautiful day out, i think i shall get a mountain bike ride in before i return to the chessitorium and study some more.
five days to reno
monday morning, st patricks day, i am going to dye my chessboard green and play drunken chess in honor of the day.
i haven’t been online in two days, i haven’t played chess since the game with wahrheit, i’ve had my head stuck in books, going over tactics and grandmaster games. i spent the entire sunday on the couch, playing through master games and watching tv.
i don’t’ know how i feel about the upcoming tournament. i almost feel confident, then the doubt creeps in like a draft coming under the door, chilling me a little at first and building until i am all cold. but then i think, “fuck it, i’m a bad ass chess playing fool, i can take on anyone and beat them, yeah!” with a little false bravado i can sometimes trick myself into being confident.
thing is, reno is my waterloo, it’s where i took my first bit hit and things have gone downhill since then. i am returning to face my demons, and buy wahrheit a coffee. and i’m excited about that. i’m also planning on finishing in the top three in my section.
back when i fought, my friend joe enlightened me a bit. he was warming up, shadowboxing, just like you see the professional mma fighters do. i too was warming up, but more low key, which also meant less “seriously” or less “in the moment.” i said i felt stupid warming up like the pros, i’m not a pro, who am i to act like one. joe explained to me, they don’t warm up like that because they are pros, the are pros, and that is just how they warm up, because that is how you should warm up. no one looks at them and says “who do they think they are?” if you are gonna be serious, you act like it. if you are gonna be a pro, you act like it. your actions help shape you, if you act a certain way, you become that.
kinda the same with chess. if i act like i am going to win, and of course back that up with good solid chess, then i will win. if i act like i am in control of the board, then i will be in control of the board. its part of my visualization.
again with the fighting and pro sports. the pros visualize their victories, they see themselves crossing the finish line first, beating the other guy, getting the trophy. i have to convince myself i am going to play strong moves, i am going to win the games, and i am going to win the tournament. then, even if i fall a bit short, i will at least have done better than i might have done without it all.
so i’m excited, we drive out thursday. for today i will go to the gym, go to work, and study. perhaps i shall even get a blitz game or two in.
not a big surprise
holy crap, keanu reeves is rated 1800????? he is according to the link blunderprone had in my last comment
http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lab/7378/famous.htm
now THAT is a surprise.
however, what is not a surprise is my loss last night.
played wahrheit last night in the tournament of leppers. it only took me 16 moves to fuck up and lose a bishop for no good reason, other than i knew what i wanted to do and didn’t care that he had prepared for it. dammit, i wanted that pawn, i was gonna take that pawn, i don’t care if the knight blocking had moved and my bishop would be free for the taking. i took that pawn and got in that awesome check, yeah! then he just took my bishop with his queen and i proceeded to lose pieces quicker than the fat people on biggest loser lose pounds.
i can blame it on the time (it was late for me, i’m one whole hour ahead, so he was an hour less tired) i can blame it on distractions (i was looking for cool music to play on youtube, and i had to get up and get a cup of tea) but really it came down to making a move without looking at the CURRENT situation on the board.
weird how every time someone moves a piece the situation on the board changes. ya think?
anyway, had a great time anyway, and i’m all excited to see wahrheit and soapstone and others in reno in a week and a half.
which means i gotta get back to studying. i really liked looking at shirov’s games, he’s a wild attacking player. that guy may lose more than anyone, but damn, his wins are spectacular. he is solidly of the “no guts, no glory/go big or go home” kinda mindset. i’m now going over morozovich’s games and going over tactics. i’m hoping i get at least two wins in reno, if not just outright win the whole damn d section. yeah, i’ll plan for that and see what happens.
making chess the new black
i swear if i could just get mcain, obama, or clinton to hold up a HARDCORE PAWNOGRAPHY sticker, the chess scene would totally explode.
i also think if i could get paris hilton, lindsay lohan, emeril legassi, flavor flav, amy winehouse, metallica, or some other pop icon to hold up a HARDCORE PAWNOGRPAHY sticker, the chess scene would explode.
thing is, all it would take would be one damn celebrity to say they like chess, then other celebrities would jump on that bandwagon, then there would be celebrity chess matches on espn, much like the celebrity poker shows, and people would get into it, recognize it as a badass “sport” or game or pastime, and it would more prevalent.
its not like it hasn’t been in pop culture. a whole episode of malcom in the middle was about a chessplayer in the park (played by jason alexander, george on sienfeld). it’s referenced in songs and seen on tv, yet it seems to be on the fringe, and goes by unnoticed.
but if just one freakin celebrity would mention chess, just one, i swear it would generate interest, which would lead to more “chess sales” and more people playing, and who knows how many bobby fischers or paul morphys are out there now not realizing their talent.
chess would be on tv, covered on espn, talked about in the newspapers. GMs would be on the cover of rolling stone magazine. how cool would that be? in schools, cheerleaders and hot chicks would leave their football player boyfriends and go after the chess team, colleges would give chess scholarships, it would all be awesome.
i still maintain, chess is punk rock, chess is cooler than cool, it’s ice cold, it’s the perfect blend of art and science and philosophy, and it can reach a new level if only given the right catalyst….
sith or jedi?
“strike me down with all of your hatred, and your journey to the darkside will be complete” d. vader
it’s been said, i’ve been told, i’ve heard and i’ve read about how you should hate your opponent, really hate him and be angry at him, so you destroy him. i don’t know about this.
i understand the concept of hating your opponent so you play your best against him, with a desire to never quit, never surrender, hurt him as bad as possible with the most painful moves, cause him as many problems as you can.
to me, if i work up the energy to hate him, i’m wasting some energy that could be used to calculate stuff, and some energy i need later after the game for the restaurants, bars, casinos, etc. also, then it gets all emotional, and quite often, emotions cloud logic. look at spock, look at fritz. their logic never gets clouded by emotions. fritz doesn’t hate me, he/it just coldly calculates the best move and kills me efficiently.
if i get all angry with my opponent and desire to crush him, my rage may cloud my better judgment, i might go for the quick kill, i might go for the slow painful torture, i might not make the best move or the most efficient move. i might get so wrapped up in his destruction, i fail to see my own.
but i don’t think hating my opponent is the right way for me. i’d rather crush him with impartiality, hating him gives him too much credence as a threat. if i treat him as a non-entity, like a lion treats a fly, and i play the pieces not the man, then i remove a bit of his sting.
now, if i meditate before a game, i get all calm, my head is clear, i can think, i can see. i see which of his attacks are real and which are bluffs. i can maybe detach myself from the game and be just an observer, not somehow emotionally attached to it. as a third party observer, i can be unbiased, more critical, more fritz-like.
of course, all this would be great if i actually knew how to play good moves and play good chess. i can be as cold and calculating like a computer as i want, but when i play dumb ass moves, emotions or not, i’m gonna get my ass handed to me, so there is that.
either way, assuming i eventually learn what moves to make, what is best, i shall endeavor to remain as calm as possible, knowing i will never totally get that “cold, calculating computer” kind of mindset. i will always have that “oh fuck, i’m gonna lose” or “oh yeah, i’m gonna destroy him” voice in my head. my heart will race no matter how calm on the outside i seem. but i just can’t see, for me, hating my opponent, even for the brief time we play that game.
perhaps that might be why i will never make it to the higher levels? i lack the killer instinct? maybe you need that to really go higher?
damn, now i really don’t know what way is best, or if it’s just up to each player to find what path he chooses, sith or jedi.
sith does have force choke though, so there is that to consider….
rainy days and mondays
it’s not rainy, but it is monday. i think i somehow broke my hand, i have no idea how i could have done this, but suddenly, the bones in my left palm hurt. i know it’s not a chess injury, and i use my right hand for everything else, so i have no idea how it happened. went to the gym this morning and benching hurt and was a pain cause my hand hurt. that sucks. i can still move chess pieces and hit a clock though.
i didn’t play any chess this weekend. i didn’t’ even get on the computer. saturday i went to work and i went over tactics and shirov’s games. yesterday i went snowboarding, then i went over some games and tactics. today i gotta get to work, maybe tonight i’ll play a game or something.
for tactics, i find a good problem in the book, then i set up the position on a board and physically move the pieces. i don’t’ know if this is worth it, but for me, i like to see how it would actually look on a board in real life, and i like to physically move the pieces. its a bit of a pain in the ass and time consuming to set up the pieces, but i feel like i really learn the tactic/position better.
this going to work shit really gets in the way of chess, i think next month i am going to have to ask for less hours. i have stuff i want to write about, blogs i want to read and comment on, but alas, i am currently in time trouble, so i gotta make shitty moves and get going.
the joker vs batman
last night was pizza and beer night, followed by a round in the tournament of leppers. i love pizza and beer night, we ride our bikes to the local pizza joint for tasty pizza and i drink til i’m fuzzy. i love riding my fixed gear home buzzed/drunk.
my tummy filled with garlic, onion, artichoke heart and white sauce pizza and new belgium beer, i went against l3rucewayne. it was truly the joker against batman, and this time, somehow, the joker actually won. i think l3rucewayne was being kind, or heavily distracted, but i managed a win. maybe it was cause i was chatting the whole time, especially when it was his move. it was a pretty tactical game, maybe it was the beer and music, but my moves flowed. anyway, here is the game:
[Date "2008.03.07"]
[White "mandalorian"]
[Black "TheDarkKnightTwo"]
[Result "*"]
[WhiteElo "1437"]
[BlackElo "1644"]
[TimeControl "0+0"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 e5 4. d5 Nf6 5. Bxc4 Nxe4
6. Qf3 Nf6 7. Bg5 Bg4 8. Qb3 b6 9. d6 Qd7 10. Nc3 Bxd6
11. Bxf6 gxf6 12. f3 Be6 13. O-O-O Nc6 14. Nd5 Nd4 15. Rxd4 exd4
16. Nxf6+ Ke7 17. Nxd7 Kxd7 18. Ne2 c5 19. Qb5+ Kc7 20. Bd3 Rhg8
21. Be4 Bd7 22. Qa6 Bc8 23. Qd3 Rb8 24. Kb1 Rxg2 25. Rc1 Be5
26. f4 Bg7 27. Bxg2 Bb7 28. Bh3 Re8 29. Nxd4 Be4 30. Nb5+ Kb7
31. Nd6+ Kc7 32. Nxe4 Rd8 33. Qg3 Bh8 34. f5+ Kb7 35. Nd6+
one thing i love about playing chess on the internet is i have another browser open to youtube, and i listen to cool music while i play. last night i was listening to “common people,” both the original version by pulp and the shatner version, which really rocks. then i listened to “bump” by rehab and then the game was over.
i’m taking advice and carrying around reinfeld’s 1001 winning chess sacrifices and combos and looking at it every chance i get, along with ray cheng’s book. i’m not playing blitz (well, except i did play a quick game last night before the game with l3rucewayne).
i actually think i’m learning this game, i actually think i might have a chance at getting to 2000. at least for today it feels that way. it’s friday, i have to work, and i’m walking on sunshine.
one last thing….mr parx brought this to my attention in the comments, so i’ll post it here for all to see
i wish a spectacular weekend to anyone reading this.
ok, this time for sure
just signed up for the Far Out West Chess Brawl in reno, march 21-23. i’m excited. i think i’m playing in the d section.
the entry form didn’t have an e section, it had d and unrated. and that is ok. last time i played in the d section and lost all but one game, and i felt horrible. my current rating right now is the lowest yet, even though i won 3 games, and i beat someone rated higher than me, i still managed to go down in rating points, which i don’t understand.
but i had a small epiphany there at the tourny in sturbridge, i was thinking about it all and it struck me. fuck ratings, learn chess. if i play in the d section at every tournament, regardless of my crappy ratings, i will eventually learn to get better and start winning. and that’s what i want.
also, i honestly think i’m learning. now, when i read a book or go over a game, it feels like the information is sticking. i have enough experience, limited as it is, and familiarity with positions, that i understand the moves now, why things are good or not, underlying potentials, etc. i think i’m actually getting it, and i think i can play good solid chess.
there are two schools of thought. 1) play in your section until you get good enough, learn, you can’t run until you walk. 2) play up, it forces you to play better and you learn.
well, my feelings on playing in the lower section is, when i do play in the lower section, i play worse and my bad moves are not punished, so they get somehow reinforced. i get away with shit and i think “this works, i’ll use it.” it’s almost a different kind of chess. it’s the difference between a boxing match with pads and protection and a back alley brawl.
so i’m gonna go back to reno, and again i’m gonna play in the d section. but this time, i’m going to play better, and if/when i lose, i won’t let it get to me as much. that is part of it, and i know that. my ego will have to deal with it.
another epiphany i had in sturbridge is the fun factor. i had a blast, i had fun, and my losses didn’t affect me as much. everyone has their reason for doing what they do. i’m not in chess for the money, i’m not going to be a gm. i’m in it to play the game and learn the game and have fun, and to meet new people, see places, etc. i’m in it for the whole experience.
soapstone questioned himself about if “just having fun playing chess” is a sour grapes answer to his lofty goals. i had lofty goals, and i still do, but i don’t think having fun and getting to 2000 are mutually exclusive. i don’t’ think you have to sacrifice one for the other. it might take longer, it might be a harder road, it might be setting myself up for failure, but if at the end of the day i don’t make my goal, i still have the fun and experiences, and to me, the people i meet, the cool fun i have, means way more to me than a number to say how good at chess i am. fuck, i can be rated 800 and as long as i pay the entry fee, i can play in the A section. cool thing is, you would take everyone by surprise when you won.
i have lots more on my mind and such, but i gotta get going to work. then i gotta come home and study tactics tactics tactics, and i want to look at shirov’s games. that will be my focus this week.
interview with GM Sergey Kudrin
this will be short. I saw GM Kudrin waiting to play, i somehow had the audacity to ask if he would answer some questions and he agreed. he was gracious enough to talk to me and politely answer my pathetically stupid questions and i felt honored he would humor me. He plans to be in Reno during easter weekend.
chessloser: first question, coffee or tea?
GM Kudrin: during a tournament, tea.
cl: if you were to study only one person, living or dead, who would it be?
GM Kudrin: this is tough. Alekhine. I grew up on Alekhine, and he was the first person who understood initiative.
cl: what would you do if there was no more chess?
GM Kudrin: I would probably be a mathematician.
cl: do you think at higher levels there is room for creativity or is it all just move move move?
GM Kudrin: no, there is room for creativity.
cl: if you could change anything about chess, what would it be?
GM Kudrin: most people are not interested in chess, I would like to see the public more interested, but I don’t know how.
cl: how long can you hold your breath?
GM Kudrin: i don’t know, i never tried.
at this point, i thanked him for the interview. i still can’t believe he talked to me and he was so professional and nice about it.
