Roll up, roll up for the OTF chess tournaments

[Etienne]

Shit, he's on to us. Still, at least we managed three tournaments without him.

[The_Purple_Cow]

Bastards!

As an aside, how irritating is it when you review a game you think you dominated from start to finish only to get a comment from the app that says "Nice comeback win!"?

It's like, wait, what?

[The_Purple_Cow]

When I stop taking Prozac my chess rating collapses in a matter of weeks. When I start taking it again my rating slowly improves, without any noticeable increase in my mental well being. Is it fair that I'm asking the NHS to subsidise my chess performance?

[Levin]

I found my chess ability did the same as yours with SSRIs. But I also got a change in my mental health with them. It took me ages to get the correct dose though.

[Levin]

And, I was using strings of poor performances as a canary for a dipping in my mood.

[Sam]

The odd thing performance-wise for me was that when I first got really really into chess, after a few weeks I found my pool game improving markedly. Not my technique or what I could do with the cue ball or making pots, but in terms of the mental side of the game and in particular decisions at the table. After playing a load of chess, standing at a pool table there just seemed like far fewer options to choose from, and it made deciding what to do easier.

I take it we still don't have a preferred platform for a new tournament yet?

[Etienne]

Someone called me a "dirty jew" the other day, for having the temerity to beat them. Pretty depressing to see it as a generic insult (nothing about my name, nationality or avatar would imply that I'm Jewish, nor am I).

[ad hoc]

fucking hell

[Etienne]

Yeah, I was pretty taken aback. Obviously blocked and reported the guy.

[Bored Of Education]

That is fucking horrendous in any circumstances. Interesting about the SSRIs. I started a new one - Mirtazopan - about 18 months ago and didn't notice any particular difference.

[Etienne]

Just paired against a Gert from the Well on chess.com. Coincidence?

[Gert from the Well]

Not me, trouble with these collective identities is that we are never sure who we are

[Levin]

really liked this Nigerian chess set in the British Museum

[The_Purple_Cow]

The good people of r/AnarchyChess are already calling this the "Immortal Game of 1200 chess". Gotham Chess analyses...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQw0rTc5734

[Guy Profumo]

Come on then

Explain to this complete dullard who never got beyond chess at junior school (i.e. age 10-11) can white not reply to the Sicilian Defence with
2. b5 …

Preventing 2 … d6

?

[Etienne]

A6 immediately forces the Bishop to retreat in ignimony.

[Guy Profumo]

But doesn't that weaken Black's a column, meaning, first a5 then Ra6 can't be played?

Isn't the point to control the centre, but not at the expense of losing the wings?

[Etienne]

I don't see how it weakens the a column.

[Etienne]

I'd also say that the point of the Sicilian is not so much to control the centre but to deny White a target.

[Guy Profumo]

Like I said, not played since I was 10, so I know nowt
- Get your pieces into the fray and start mixing it - except your queen was the order of the day

[Guy Profumo]

<thanks for the reply>

[Etienne]

To give you a longer answer, a6 is a strong defensive move as it blocks white using b5 which is a strong attacking position. It doesn't prevent any development as if (for some unfathomable reason) you wanted to play a5 then Ra6 later you could. The downside for Black is that it's not a very attacking move so it could lose tempo in an opening. However this would not be the case if White had played b5 as white would lose more tempo from having to retreat its bishop immediately, wasting 2 moves. The Bishop would have to retreat all the way to e2 (a position barely more threatening than its starting position) as it would be captured on c4 or on a4 (as it would be trapped by Pb5) and d3 would seriously delay the development of the Queen and other Bishop while offering no attacking threat.

[Guy Profumo]

Cheers, E

Much appreciated

[matt j]

I'm oddly having a bit of a good streak over on gameknot, with 7 straight wins in tournament games. It's amazing how you win games when you don't massively blunder.

(Two of those games I set up on a fairly(?) obvious checkmate - both rook mates on the back row - and just hung onto the game for several turns before the opponent forgot about the danger. In another the opponent let me fork his queen and king with a pawn.)

All of which may be due to me trying to actual concentrate on games, as my kiddo has decided to join the chess club (but has no interest in learning anything from me).

[The_Purple_Cow]

So a couple of days ago I began with E5 in response to D4, and the guy messages me to say "Yeah, I watch Eric Rosen's YouTube channel as well."

It's definitely a problem for me.

For the record the Englund gambit is supposed to go..

1. d4 e5
2. dxe5 bc5
3. nf3 d6
4. exd6 (here the trick is to pre-move, so white thinks you've fucked up) Ne7
5. dxe7 bxf2+
6. kxf2 QxQ...