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Chess
Sept 23, 2017 23:08:32 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2017 23:08:32 GMT -5
I have never been better than a certain Jr. High boy. . 20 years ago I played every day with junior high boys and girls. I convinced the shop teacher to allow the students to build chess boards. They were very nicely made with beautifully stenciled playing squares. When they brought me their board I presented them with a Staunton set. We never played with clocks or went to tournaments;we just pksyed before and after school, recess, and lunch. When I was in cognitive rehab, the new board games were mastered by the assistants. I couldn't grasp winning strategies. Turns out the recesses of my mind held on to chess and I was a winner again, albeit against stroke victims and other traumatic brain injury victims. When I returned to my iPad however, I was back to wood pusher status. Very annoying Tonight, Netflix introduced me to Magnus Carlsen. Anyone here familiar with him? magnuscarlsen.com
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Chess
Sept 24, 2017 0:15:47 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by t-bob on Sept 24, 2017 0:15:47 GMT -5
I might play chess again thanks matt
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Chess
Sept 24, 2017 6:03:36 GMT -5
Post by millring on Sept 24, 2017 6:03:36 GMT -5
The day I met my future brother-in-law.
We didn't know each other at all. We sat there awkwardly looking for something to talk about. Most marriages involve stepping into a different family culture. I stepped into a different universe. Most Americans still marry into families that are generally of their same social caste. I didn't.
Dar -- straight A honors student through her entire school career -- was born into and raised by a family with very little education -- grandparents with one sixth grade education between the four of them, and parents who graduated rural high school....but barely. If you heard Dar speak and you heard her family speak, you wouldn't guess a connection. Their grammar is rural and Appalachian. But if you're around them for any length of time you find that they -- just like many of the culture -- don't see the difference as inferior. They see the a peculiar superiority in it. They aren't uppity like the educated folk are. They aren't snobs. Only snobs put on the airs of correct grammar and education.
I only point to that background to help you understand the unwitting gaff I was about to commit as Dar's brother, having exhausted all small talk said, "You play chess?"
I didn't. And I don't. My friends did and they were good. They were all strategic thinkers and I, being essentially a dreamer, wasn't. I knew the rules and hung around with the chess players enough to grasp some of the concepts of sacrificing pieces and planning steps in advance. And I hung around players enough to have heard about the four move checkmate. Everyone who ever played chess knew about the four move checkmate.
Dar's brother hadn't.
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Chess
Sept 24, 2017 9:58:38 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2017 9:58:38 GMT -5
As I laid awake listening to my dog, Bindi, bark at ghosts, I remembered when I offered an after school chess program at a different school in our district. The first day we had twice as many kids as boards. A week later it had dropped considerably when the Latino kids found it harder than Mexican checkers. By the end of the semester, the dedicated group of about ten was doing very well.
Another memory was of teaching my 8th grade teachers assistant the four move checkmate and other devious tricks to prepare him for easy victory at the district tournament. The chess coach at another school fancied himself a chess whiz with an online rating. My guy soundly took first place as the coach watched a kid he didn't know obliterate his team. Maybe playing with a teenager intimidated them. The coach was yelling at his kids, trying to take back moves, and generally behaved like a spoiled brat.
Made me all warm and fuzzy when I heard about it.
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Chess
Sept 24, 2017 12:35:19 GMT -5
paleo likes this
Post by godotwaits on Sept 24, 2017 12:35:19 GMT -5
When I was in Vietnam, I was most often in the night shift in a message center (commo) and there were scads of "monotony" time in the wee hours. But I preferred the night shift because when we were mortared (almost every night) I didn't have to wake up and run anywhere. I was already in a bunker. A very good friend shared it with me and he was the world's greatest raconteur. Guy had fabulous stories. Don.
So one night a chess board showed up and Don asked if I wanted to play. So, of course, I humbly submitted my excuses of being a sorry beginner. And he, of course, professed the same. First game... he suckered me right into Fool's Mate...! Hmmmm...I thought. He continuosly beat me, althoooh...it was taking him more moves to do so. I finally brow beating asked after his experience with the game. And he admitted that he had gone to Jesuit High School and played in the chess club...presided over a brother who it just happens to have been a Grand Master champion of the sport. Don played tournament chess (by the clock) in many meets. So....hmmmm again. But I was determined to beat him.
So here's what I did. The basecamp had a library of sorts. Such as it was. But I did locate a copy of Capablanca. So shifts change etc and I spent at least a month or two going through that book game by game.
So here;s the final upshot. We must have played somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 games anyway. And I finally beat the bastard. And man oh man was he pissed!
So I would recommend Capablanca.
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Post by Rob Hanesworth on Sept 24, 2017 13:40:16 GMT -5
I am far too lazy to play chess.
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Post by RickW on Sept 24, 2017 14:02:39 GMT -5
I do not have what it takes. I pride myself on my intelligence and logical approach to things. But I have never gotten past simply understanding the rules. That may also be because I have not spent the time to learn and practice, as well. But I'm pretty sure I'm just a chess idjut.
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Post by Chesapeake on Sept 24, 2017 14:38:20 GMT -5
One of my barracks mates when I was stationed at Ft. Meade was a guy from Yugoslavia who was a ranked national championship player in that country. I used to beat him about once out of every eight games, which was a great source of pride to me until I figured out he was probably just throwing me a bone every so often so I'd keep coming back for more punishment.
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Chess
Sept 24, 2017 14:55:33 GMT -5
Post by Doug on Sept 24, 2017 14:55:33 GMT -5
I play but I can only beat people who can't think ahead at all, I can think ahead about 1 move . My HS considered chess a sport so I have letters from 2 years of playing chess. I considered that funny but I took the letters anyway.
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Post by drlj on Sept 24, 2017 17:02:41 GMT -5
Some of my favorite artists were on Chess. Chuck Berry, Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon. And Etta James! 2120 South Michigan Ave. Everyone should know Chess.
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