May 05, 2012
— Open Blogger Welcome back once again to the legendary Saturday Nite AoSHQ Chess Thread
Igor and Gleb
These guys crack me up. We all know there's a metric buttload of instructional chess videos available on Youtube, and elsewhere on teh interwebs. But I really like these guys. The way they interact with each other is very entertaining. For example, listen to the taunting ("take your time, take your time!") that goes on in this blitz game while both are offering commentary on what's going on as the game progresses.
Here is another one, a discussion of the position from a famous study by Reti.. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, I would recommend you pause the video and try to solve it yourself before you listen to Igor and Gleb explain it. This position is one of the great "optical illusions" of chess; you look at it and think that there's no way that the King is going to catch that pawn -- until you see the solution.
I have no idea who these guys are, I think one of them may be an Israeli NM or IM, but I don't know for sure.
Unfortunately, Igor and Gleb only made 3 or 4 other videos. Which is a shame, because I think they're entertaining enough that they probably could have cranked out a whole series of instructional topics and their schtick wouldn't have gotten old.
I can't say that about this next bit.
Extreeeeeme Chess!
I love chess very much, but I am realistic enough to know that it is never going to be a spectator sport. Not for large audiences, anyway, and definitely not in America. Even though the largest audience in PBS history was the one they got for the Fischer-Spassky WC match. I think this was an outlier. The fact is, some things just don't work well on TV. What could be more antithetical to the zap and pow that modern television demands than a bunch of geeks and fat guys hunched over chessboards for a couple of hours?
So I have to give these guys credit for at least trying to make it exciting, and for trying to communicate the struggles that go on in a chess game. I'm not sure if what they're doing actually works, so judge for yourself. It's the X Chess Championships, Episode 1. Other episodes are available.
One thing that I think detracts from this effort is that the primary woman commentator has a voice with a "Valley Girl" quality that makes it really, really annoying. Also, and this is just a technical note, they should make all the games available online in PGN format. I would have liked to have taken a closer look at that second game, for example, where White was on the ropes and in severe time trouble, and yet somehow managed to come back and win.
There are other episodes available to watch, but the main question is, can this format work, or is it just too silly?
Game of the Week
This week's famous chess game is Petrosian vs Gligoric, Zagreb 1970. Watch as Gliga brilliantly sacs a knight which enables him to launch a ferocious king-side attack. Petrosian tried to defend, but after about move 22, it's basically rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
You can play through it yourself here
Thanks to those of you who have sent me tips for this thread. They may be sent to me at
OregonMuse
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Added [rdbrewer]: Chess, anyone? Add "AoSHQ" to the end of your name, so we can tell who's who.
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03:35 PM
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Posted by: rdbrewer at May 05, 2012 03:44 PM (Iyg03)
Posted by: the new, improved arhooley -- now with 10% more cynicism! at May 05, 2012 03:44 PM (xqug+)
Posted by: the new, improved arhooley -- now with 10% more cynicism! at May 05, 2012 03:44 PM (xqug+)
Posted by: Waterhouse at May 05, 2012 03:47 PM (nIZa7)
Posted by: steevy at May 05, 2012 03:47 PM (7W3wI)
I love the chess thread
Check out some of the vids presented by MatoJelic on youtube. All short games with devastating tactics, blunders, sacrifices and attacks.
Posted by: Tom_Ohio at May 05, 2012 03:47 PM (ysWJ9)
Posted by: alexthechick - SMOD 2012 at May 05, 2012 03:47 PM (Gk3SS)
Posted by: Purple Avenger at May 05, 2012 03:48 PM (jtGyz)
Posted by: Whores, Hermaphrodites, and Lickspittles at May 05, 2012 03:49 PM (BB0/w)
Posted by: rdbrewer at May 05, 2012 03:53 PM (Iyg03)
Posted by: Comrade Arthur at May 05, 2012 03:55 PM (5H1lG)
Posted by: iamahaiangttiam at May 05, 2012 03:58 PM (uXdJq)
Posted by: OregonMuse at May 05, 2012 04:03 PM (xm1A1)
my little niece is growing up very fast.
rugby is in NO WAY a better game than our beloved NFL-football....no way in hell.
didnt that gary fischer guy condemn america and go live abroad or sumthin?
....motorhead still rocks after all these years.
sorry for the random spewing.
Posted by: george lucas's neck-pouch at May 05, 2012 04:06 PM (Jv9tc)
Posted by: OregonMuse at May 05, 2012 04:07 PM (xm1A1)
How poor were you?
We were so poor, that we had to kill the dog to feed the cat (and the rest of the family).
Posted by: Barack Obama at May 05, 2012 04:11 PM (O3R/2)
Posted by: Whores, Hermaphrodites, and Lickspittles at May 05, 2012 04:18 PM (BB0/w)
Posted by: Deli LLama at May 05, 2012 04:20 PM (uv9eO)
Haven't checked the last couple of chess threads, but has anyone brought up Chess Boxing?
It's a Scandi thing, apparently - started out as a joke in a movie, then became a real, semi-regular event. Make a few moves, box a round or two, then back to the chess board, und so weiter until things are resolved with a K.O. or a mate.
We should import it over here and merge it with MMA and the Iron Chef format for the ultimate in directed schizophrenic entertainment activity. Maybe dredge up Matt Frewer to host.
Posted by: A. Pendragon at May 05, 2012 04:24 PM (pYA5L)
Posted by: rickl at May 05, 2012 04:25 PM (sdi6R)
Yes, I intend to bring this up in a future thread. Don't want to burn through all my material at once.
Posted by: OregonMuse at May 05, 2012 04:29 PM (xm1A1)
Posted by: Comrade Arthur at May 05, 2012 04:29 PM (5H1lG)
Posted by: Gran at May 05, 2012 04:33 PM (hl09R)
Posted by: Inspector Asshole at May 05, 2012 04:36 PM (YSyyZ)
Posted by: Whores, Hermaphrodites, and Lickspittles at May 05, 2012 04:37 PM (BB0/w)
Posted by: rickl at May 05, 2012 04:39 PM (sdi6R)
Posted by: GolfBoy at May 05, 2012 04:41 PM (M0ftf)
Posted by: Hydrocarbon Liberation Front at May 05, 2012 04:41 PM (NVu2l)
Posted by: rickl at May 05, 2012 04:44 PM (sdi6R)
Posted by: rickl at May 05, 2012 04:47 PM (sdi6R)
You can just go to the alilg site and play chess, pick the not registered kind, pick your name and play. That way you can still refresh the comments here and post comments etc without getting forced out of the game room.
Oh and rdbrewer is good. Someone come in and beat him
Posted by: Tom_Ohio at May 05, 2012 04:50 PM (ysWJ9)
Posted by: rdbrewer at May 05, 2012 04:51 PM (Iyg03)
Posted by: Tom_Ohio at May 05, 2012 04:54 PM (ysWJ9)
Posted by: Alec Rawls at May 05, 2012 04:55 PM (kTTUz)
Posted by: bergerbilder at May 05, 2012 05:02 PM (j+Izh)
Posted by: Comrade Arthur at May 05, 2012 05:15 PM (5H1lG)
Posted by: Comrade Arthur at May 05, 2012 05:19 PM (5H1lG)
I would have played a3, but that is the idea.
Posted by: fluffy, pedantic end-game 'B' player at May 05, 2012 05:20 PM (z9HTb)
...Kb7 still loses.
..Kb7
a4 Kc6
a3 f7
Kg7
Black can force a draw here?
Posted by: fluffy at May 05, 2012 05:24 PM (z9HTb)
Posted by: OregonMuse at May 05, 2012 05:38 PM (xm1A1)
Posted by: Comrade Arthur at May 05, 2012 05:44 PM (5H1lG)
Posted by: Whores, Hermaphrodites, and Lickspittles at May 05, 2012 06:01 PM (BB0/w)
Posted by: rickl at May 05, 2012 06:10 PM (sdi6R)
<em>In the position IN THE VIDEO, black moves first.</em>
Yes, but if you read carefully, you will notice that I said that "White wins by making G3 its first move." I didn't say that that white moves first. I'm assuming that black moves first and goes to b2, as in the video. THEN white makes g3 its first move.
I'm sure Igor and Gleb were not unaware of this way that white can win. I think they were just showing quick and dirty what would happen if white just carelessly ran the pawn for the border without taking care to deal with the black pawn first.
Posted by: Alec Rawls at May 05, 2012 06:29 PM (kTTUz)
Posted by: rickl at May 05, 2012 06:39 PM (sdi6R)
No, White can't win. This is not some position they made up, this was a study done by Reti decades ago. I will show you how your suggested strategy of moving to g3 then pushing the pawn fails, but right now I'm at work, so I can't do the analysis. If someone else doesn't beat me to it tonight, I will discuss this next week.
Posted by: OregonMuse at May 05, 2012 06:46 PM (xm1A1)
I liked the Gligoric game very much. Always nice watching a Soviet grandmaster getting smashed.
As for the X Chess championship, it's more hype than anything else. How could they promote those players as some of the best young players in the country? If you look at the UFCF website, youi'll find Kassa Korley as the 28th highest 21 year old and under player in the country. Keving Wang is 40th (if that is the same guy), Alisa Melekhina is 45th and Alena Kats is 91st. Couldn't find the others on USCF, but chessgame.com has Elliot Liu and Alex Barnett and has their latest FIDE ratings at 2302 and 2243 respectively.
These are all very good players, but if you wanted the best young US talent you could start with Hikaru Nakamura, who is only in his mid-20s and in the top ten in the world. If he is too old, you could try Robert Hess, Sam Shankland, Ray Robson, Parker Zhou, Conrad Holt, Daniel Naroditsky, and Darwin Yang, all of whom are under 21.
I would really like to know why they didn't bring these guys into the X Chess championship.
As for the 'valley girl', that's Jen Shahade, whom I think put these X games together.
Posted by: RC Speck at May 05, 2012 07:08 PM (qkrBd)
Of course, if I was good at it, I'd think it was great.
Posted by: rdbrewer at May 05, 2012 07:19 PM (Iyg03)
Posted by: rickl at May 05, 2012 07:22 PM (sdi6R)
Posted by: Comrade Arthur at May 05, 2012 07:36 PM (5H1lG)
A chess book I used to own that I'd like to get again is Fischer's 'My 60 Memorable Games'. Fischer doesn't pull an Obama (that's Chris Matthews' job), he pretty honestly breaks down some of his games without tooting his own horn too much. Wish they would release it and Nimzovitch's 'My System' on Kindle, they were fun books to work through.
Posted by: waelse1 at May 05, 2012 07:50 PM (VaU8E)
You can still get it on Amazon -- there is a new algebraic edition that is supposedly is much better than the first one (history: in the 90s, a British publisher acquired the rights to M60MG and came out with an algebraic edition that was controversial in that it had a number of really egregious errors that the original edition didn't have. Bobby Fischer, who was already crying like a little girl over royalties he felt he was entitled to, went ape-shit over the sloppiness some other grandmasters got involved, and the accusations and finger-pointing was epic. But now (and I hadn't heard this before) I guess the new algebraic edition has been cleaned up considerably)
Posted by: OregonMuse at May 05, 2012 08:13 PM (xm1A1)
Posted by: waelse1 at May 05, 2012 10:27 PM (VaU8E)
Posted by: Most Talkative iBooks at May 08, 2012 04:09 AM (lHIrn)
Posted by: City of Lost Souls ePub at May 08, 2012 04:38 AM (L61Se)
Posted by: Hard Country epub at May 08, 2012 05:10 AM (BZ8t+)
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Posted by: Death at May 05, 2012 03:44 PM (qhHI4)