[thechat] email chess

[Morgan Kelsey]

> Hey now..if you get all cocky I'll have to find the time to play a game
> of chess and bring in my ringer to advise me.  He is a competetive chess
>   player and I've seen him win 4 simultaneous games blindfolded.  He's a
> bit scary.
>

ok, wait a minute, let me stress that i've never said i'm any good.
just compared to these rusty old web geeks.

i could probably play a 6 move opening wearing 5 blindfolds.....but that's about
it.
:o)


> Ronimzovitsch said:
>>- try to gain control of the center four squares of the board.
> Can't stress this one enough.  *This* is where I _really_ lost the game.
> Probably on the 2nd or 3rd move. If you don't have control or fight hard
> for control of these squares at the very beginning of the game, then your
> opponent has 'position' and dictates the pace and direction of the rest
> of the game.  Can you lose a game on the very 1st move? Yes - if you don't
> use your very first move to attack the center of the board ... then any
> decent opponent is going smile wide.  They can smell the blood, They know
> the game is already over. (Dang it!  I _know_ this one and still got
> taken to school over it! Rats!)

this is an area too, where thought really changed at the turn of the century.
the real old-schoolers said you had to occupy the center. the modern dudes say
its about control. you can own the center without having a piece in it.

once you're there though, you can try to secure a knight on the 5th rank (i like
to think of em as outposts). from there your knight can put pressure on the 7th
rank. if you can safely land a rook or queen onto the 7th rank under the guard
of the knight you probably have a forced win on your hands. (fer instance)

> If you are facing a 'stronger' player in a game and get a chance to 'trade
> even', (like trade queens for instance), take it.  The better player will
> see more possibilities with the piece than you will - so trading even
> actually improves your odds. And a stronger player will see more potential
> combinations with many pieces on the board - so removing pieces puts more
> 'restrictions' on your opponent than on you.

let me stress again too, if you're up a piece, trade! trade! trade!
if you're down a piece, pull back, shore up your defenses and avoid trading.

> ('Bad Bishop'? Oh sorry, I was reading the news .....

ba-dum-dum-dum-dummididdily-bonk crash!

> If you reach  a level where you can consciously think about trading away a
'bad bishop'
> during a game ... you are probably already a pretty advanced player.)

you guys think i don't see what;'s going on here?
you really think i like being used this way?
falsely inflating mebecause you know that in a week you'll be wiping the walls
with me.

i repeat, it's not that i'm good, it's you guys.

no really, i've won half these games with parlor tricks.
i'm awaiting my due punishment.



nagrom